LADY CARDS HEADED TO CINCY VS. VANDY 1ST ROUND

-CARDINAL COUPLE WILL BE AT NCAA WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT 1st ROUND WITH FULL COVERAGE OF THE SUNDAY GAMES.
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LOUISVILLE TO FACE COMMODORES
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WATSON HAS A TAKE ON 1st ROUND GAME.
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THE SIDELINE ANNOUNCERS SWEET 16.
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CARDINAL COUPLE has received word from the NCAA Tournament poobahs that WE have been approved for and will be granted media access and coverage of the games in Cincinnati on Sunday. WE'LL be there to cover the action, post game presser and all the fun and excitement surrounding the Cards vs. 'Dores. Sonja and I look forward to a 'Natti' weekend and bringing our readers the event. (Now, if they'll let us bring Bill the Goat and the intern Chimps along...WE'LL really have some fun. Strangely, they haven't been approved yet...)
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The NCAA Women's Basketball Championships have been announced and the University of Louisville has received a #7 seed in the Spokane Region and will face #10 seed Vanderbilt in Cincinnati at noon on Sunday, March 2oth.

If the Cards are successful, they would most likely face #2 seed Xavier in the next round...in a rematch of an earlier season meeting between the two teams. Xavier takes on #15 seed South Dakota State in the 2:30 p.m. game. The games will be played in the Cintas Center...on the Xavier campus.
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The game is also scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN2.





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The Vanderbilt game has an interesting sidebar...Cardinal guard Tia Gibbs transferred from Vanderbilt two years ago to come back home at play for Louisville.
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As of 8:25 p.m. Monday...Ticketmaster still had lower level seats available for the game. Cardinal fans can also call the UofL Ticket Office at 852-5151 or 852-5863 and get tickets beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning. Lower level seats are $20, according to Ticketmaster's website.
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The Commodores (20-11) bowed out in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament to Kentucky 69-56...the third time the Wildcats defeated Vanderbilt this season. Kentucky is the 4th seed in the same region, but plays their first and second round games in Albuquerque, New Mexico. If the Cards handle Vandy and Xavier...they would travel to Spokane to play in the Sweet Sixteen.
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This will be the 12th straight season that Vanderbilt has been selected for the NCAA Championships and their 24th appearance overall. The Commodores are 37-23 in all-time NCAA Tournament appearances and have advanced to the Sweet Sixteen six out of the last ten years.


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Louisville and Vanderbilt met in the first round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament in Nashville at Memorial Gym, on the Vanderbilt campus. The Commodores took a 76-64 victory from the Cards on March, 18th. and were ranked #25th in the nation at the time. Louisville is 3-8 all-time against Vanderbilt and the last meeting was the 2006 NCAA contest.
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Tom Collen was the Cardinal coach at the time. He had originally applied for the Vanderbilt job before coming to Louisville..but a mistake in his resume and transcript disqualified him from receiving the job. Instead, it went to Melanie Balcomb...who is still there and in her ninth season as the Commodores head coach. Coincidentally, she previously coached at Xavier before taking the Vanderbilt job and led the Musketeers to three NCAA Tournaments while there, including a Elite Eight appearance in 2001.





In the "what will he do this time?" category:
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The last time Louisville and Vandy played, CARDINAL / LOUISVILLE SPORTS REPORT guru Howie Lindsey was so upset over the officiating...he decided to leave the arena and go in for an emergency appendectomy. All kidding aside, the 'Howster" started feeling bad during the game and went to a Nashville hospital emergency room, where it was discovered that his appendix had burst. Some say he hasn't been the same since...WE'RE guessing Howie will be a no-show in Cincy...men's hoops and all going on this weekend. WE'LL alert EMS, just in case he attends...
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Vanderbilt comes into the contest with a 4th place finish in the SEC. At 10-6, their losses were to Tennessee and Kenticky twice, Mississippi and Florida. They made it to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament before losing to UK. Other losses on the season were to Fla. State, Bowling Green, Denver, and Virgina Tech. The Commodores have lost three of their last five games and are 6-4 over the last ten. They are 2-1 on neutral courts. The drew well at home, with an average attendance of 4589. Common opponents are UT-Martin, who they beat 72-40, Kentucky and Tennessee. All three schools received NCAA Tournament bids.
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The Commodores feature a balanced attack...with five players in double figures. Lence Rhoads leads the Commodores in scoring (11.9). Jasmine Lister, Hannah Tuomi, Stephanie Holzer and Christina Foggie also score over 10 points a game. Tuomi and Holzer are the leading rebounders...6.2 and 6.1 a game. The three point threats are Lister (62-171), Foggie (41-114) and Angela Puleo (40-104). Rhoads and Lister see the most court time...about 35 minutes a game each. They shoot 70% from the free throw line...Tuomi, Foggie and Holzer the ones you want to keep off the stripe. Holzer has blocked 39 shots this year, Rhoads has 30 steals and she is the assist leader, too...with 4.8 per game. Tiffany Clarke came on strong beginning in Feburary for Coach Mel's squad, leading the 'Dores in scoring in the Florida and Miss. State games in conference play and in the Miss. State and Kentucky games in the SEC Tournament. She also led Vandy in rebounding six out of the last ten games and in both SEC Tournament games. Clarke was a late bloomer for Vanderbilt, starting only 16 of the 31 games for Vandy. She saw early schedule starts and then was banished to the bench until late in the season
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Vandy averages 71.6 points a game and allows opponents 63.6. They out-rebound foes 39.8 to 36.5. In three pointers, they're 173-498 (34%) and teams shoot 30% against them from beyond the arc.
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SONJA SAYS:
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Vanderbilt plays the smart, paitent basketball that has been a Melanie Balcomb trademark since she arrived there 11 years ago. With a little less than 17 turnovers per game, they tend not to beat themselves with unforced errors. Against Kentucky in the SEC Tournament, they got off to a very slow start...hampered by Kentucky's all-out full court defensive pressure. Walz would be wise to employ the same strategies against the Commodores. A rapid-fire transition game could work to Louisville's advanage...because Vandy would rather take you down to the half court game and make you beat them from outside. Louisville can rebound against them...but blocking out and positioning will be a key...since they swarm to the ball and there really isn't one player...it's a team effort...who is the dominant force for them in the paint. Strength against them has been successful...UK's Victoria Dunlap and Tennessee's powerful front line prospered on the boards.
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Louisville wil win this game if they have a decent shooting afternoon and can get the powerful Monique Reid into her inside game. The ball-hawking Tia Gibbs and Shoni Schimmel have to be ready to roll and take the transition game right at the Commodores. Hines needs to avoid the foul trouble which usually plagues her in big games and a strong Asia Taylor effort in the paint could be a key factor to Louisville advancing to the second round. Cards by 5 in a nail-biter, in my personal opinion.
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DAVID WATSON looks at the Lady Cards opening
game as only he could possibly see it:
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Yeah, yeah,. The Commodores again. At least it's on a neutral court. I was at the last match, down in the barn where Vanderbilt plays their home games. A weird little venue...benches under the baskets and an elevated floor. It's like somone saw Memorial Coliseum in Lexington and said...'Hey, what if we add this and subtract that?' Whoever designed the Tennessee version should have his architect license revoked but they've probaby gone on to their great reward years ago. This matchup could be called The Gibbs Grudge Match..since Tia Gibbs started at Vandy and ended up at Louisville. Also could pass for being called the Tom Collen Spurned Suitor Event. The 'Dores dumped him and he dumped the Cards.

Would anyone get upset if I referred to it as the L&N Collision...since the schools are located in Louisville and Nashville? How about the Derby City vs. Music City Showdown? What I really want to see happen, though, is the Cards advance to play Xavier on Tuesday night. Louisville has become a much better team since the Muskies put a 15 point beatdown on Louisville back in November. I'll be in the seats somewhere. Ticketmaster, here I come.

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Eamon McAnaney downed Sam Ryan in the Sideline Announcers contest by just one vote. Guys are now 2-0 against gals in the tournament. On the left, Rebecca Lobo (or "B") as they refer to her at the four letter network takes on veteran sideline troll Andrea Kramer (right) in the final match of the Sweet Sixteen round. Lobo is best known (away from her stellar hoops career) as following the UConn Huskies women's team from the sidelines whenever they're on TV...but she does occasionally do other basketball games. Kramer (right) is a football side liner mostly, but we've seen her on other sports sidelines as well. WE think she bears a striking resemblance to Edie Falco (Carmela Soprano on The Sopranos). Separated at birth? Vote in the comments section here or by e-mail to cardinalcouple@insightbb.com.

Carm checks out the wide screen to see if her twin sister Andrea Kramer is on the sidelines for the Giants vs. Eagles game. Tony Soprano refutes any rumors that he had an affair with Kramer on his boat...and denies that Paulie wanted to marry Kramer after meeting her while she was slugging back Cosmos at the Bada-Bing. Also unconfirmed is the alleged "hit" that Erin Andrews ordered several years back on Andrea and Carm. Seems Andrews thought the two were part of the conspiracy when some guy secretly taped Andrews in a hotel room undressing and practicing the alphabet. Turns out Andrea hired the guy to video her in Andrea's hotel room...doing a Sopranos screen test as Carm's long lost sister April... but the doofus showed up at the wrong location. Allegedly.

Fagettaboutit...

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