Lady Cards win was sealed from the stripe

GREAT WEDNESDAY (WE SAY)...AT CARDINAL COUPLE

(The freshmen sensations...Ms. Schimmel and Tay)

-CARDS win...by the numbers

-Watson writes on Louisville victory

-Softball vs. UK today

-Sideline reporters challenge continues

Charmaine Tay sank seven out of eight free throws in the final 1:15 of the game and Louisville made twelve out of fourteen total in the final 1:23 to take a 10 point win back to Derby City in the 85-75 victory over #5 in the nation Xavier. During that 1:23 stretch, Xavier had three crucial turnovers, went 2-4 from the foul line and hit only 1 of 5 three point attempts...a meaningless three by Amber Gray with 3 seconds left in the game. The Cards had three steals in that fateful 1:23...two by Tia Gibbs and one from Tay.

Can't say enough about how well the fearless freshman from Bloomfield Tech in New Jersey played in the final eleven minutes of the second half. Her second half stats were very impressive...nine points, three rebounds, two steals and two assists...all in just twelve minutes of second half action. Louisville, meet your new Energizer bunny...

Schimmel, the Cards other freshman guard, was lights out in the final twenty minutes as well. 17 points, three steals, a block, two assists and three boards in the second half. Rounding out the Cards second half assault were Monique Reid (8 points, 1 steal and rebound) and Becky Burke (a three and free throw). Keisha Hines battled the Xavier twin towers with all her might for 19 of the twenty final minutes...scoring a basket and getting a block and steal. Louisville got 24 points off of turnovers in the final twenty minutes...an amazing stat...Xavier just 2...

The Cards went 28-53 from the field for the game (52.8%) while Xavier shot 50% (27-54). Louisville connected on nine of sixteen three point attempts (56.3%)while the Musketeers put up a season high 30 three balls, hitting 14 of them (46.7%). The Cards were deadly from the foul line...going 20-25 (80%) while Xavier sank seven of twelve (58.3%). Louisville actually tied the Muskies in rebounding with 28 grabs (Tay 6). The duo of Amber Phillips and Ta'Shia Phillips had 15 of the Xavier rebounds. The Cards had a very credible 20 steals while Xavier managed seven.

Louisville had a very low 12 turnovers in the contest, Xavier doubled that with 24. Despite the obvious height disadvantage...the Cards swatted 4 Xavier shots away and the Muskies had 8 blocks... Phillips with five and Harris with two. Louisville and Xavier both had 8 points off of fast breaks, the Cards with 12 second chance points compared to Xavier's 16 and both teams had 24 points in the paint. The telling stat...the Lady Cards put up 33 points off of turnovers, Xavier just 12.

Individually, Schimmel led all scorers with 33. Reid finished with 13, Gibbs added 12, Tay was good for 11 and Burke rounded out the double figure producers with 10. Hines was the only other Cardinal to score...with six. Harris led the Musketeers with 20, Tyeasha Moss finished with 17 (4 for 8 from three ball range) Katie Rutan added 15 (5 for 14 from deep) and Phillips rounded out the Xavier double figure scorers with 11. Special Jennings played a hard fought and gutsy game for Xavier at the point guard....playing 39 minutes and getting eight points, seven assists and four rebounds. Katie Rutan was the only player who fouled out on either team...Hines collected four for Louisville and Harris 4 for "X" .

Reid and Schimmel logged 38 minutes for Jeff Walz, Tia Gibbs played 37 and Keisha Hines saw 33 minutes on the court. Tay had 22, Burke 17, Asia Taylor 7, Sherrone Vails (hampered by a strained calf) with 7 and Shelby Harper, Polly Harrington and Rachel Story got in for the final 19 seconds of the contest.

Louisville's freshmen accounted for 44 for Louisville 81 points...all from Schimmel and Tay. They shot 14-22 from the field, 6-11 from three point range and 10 for 14 from the free throw stripe. 10 rebounds and 6 steals...all from Tay and Schimmel.

In a game that looked to be evolving into Xavier's hands with five minutes left, the Cards...behind the magic of Schimmel and clutch charity tosses at the end...take the win and move on to Spokane. We probably haven't seen the end of Harris or Phillips's basketball careers, though. Any WNBA team that passes on the chance to grab one or both of these powerful post players hasn't done their homework. And, they'll probably both make some serious $$$ in Euroball, too. But, it was "youth be served" on Tuesday night in the Cintas Center in a game that Lady Cards fans will remember for a very long time.

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Tia Gibbs had the best player quote in the post game presser, about Schimmel:

"Now you know why we call her the 'Show'. When the stakes are high and the lights come on..she's shows up."

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Second best quote, by Monique Reid, about Schimmel's 33 points:

"Hey...don't forget who was her host when she came here to visit. She's here because of me. I take full credit for the recruiment and signing of Shoni and deserve half of those 33 points tonight...(Laughter)."

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DAVID WATSON sent in his game report at 3 a.m. Wednesday morning. Sounds like Watson...I presume...took his time driving back from Cincy and got a nap in afterwards...He writes:

Paul may have hit it on the head when he renamed Sho-Time Schimmel to Judge Schimmel. She did rule the court Tuesday night in the Cintas Center. Check the BIG EAST highlight film of the game over at bigeast.org. Three and three and steal after steal. Is there anything this freshman sensation can't do? Wouldn't surprise me if she didn't drive the team bus back to Louisville. If not, Charmaine Tay probably did. Freshmen sensations, indeed.

As I sat directly behind Paul (without his knowledge) during this epic battle, several rows up and surrounded by Cardinal crazies, I went through a myriad of emotions. Elation at the start of the game when Louisville rolled out to a 5-0 lead. Nervousness when X took a seven point lead late in the first half. Hope when the Cards knotted it up at 56-56. A sinking feeling of doom when Xavier promptly hit two 3 balls in a row to go up 62-56. Despair when the Musketeers led by six and five minutes remained. Giddiness after Schimmel put Louisville up to stay 73-70 with a three that had the entire Cardinal section in a frenzied state of celebration. I even saw the usually sideline stoic Paul give a vigorous fist pump when the Oregon Oscar winner nailed the bomb. And pride and joy, with another dash of nervousness tossed in, when the Cards sealed the deal from the line late. If a manic/depressive syndrome sets in with me come Wednesday, you'll know full why. And, that had to be the longest 1:23 in the history of

women's college basketball. I swear..I grew a "five o'clock shadow" in that final 83 seconds. What were the refs doing for so long over at the scorer's table? Watching the UConn game on ESPN2?

A team that had Jeff Walz going crazy for the vast majority of the season because they had no "killer instinct" just committed a major homicide in the Queen City. Let the murdring spree continue on the West Coast. Louisville's version of Bonnie and Clyde are Spokane bound.

I-70 is one lonely road at midnight. Thank God for classic oldies, a patronizing younger daughter and the recruiting techniques of a certain coach who may be the first coach in history to get a technical for stuttering. I can say one thing, he'd make an effective alarm clock. His theatrics provided a wake up call to a Cardinal team that was about to slip into a coma in the first half.

It's 3 a.m. It's time for bed. Louisville put Xavier to bed 5 hours ago. Just call me 'Mr. Night Owl'.

DAVID WATSON is a special correspondent for CARDINAL COUPLE and is treating anyone who wants to go to an all-expenses paid trip to Spokane this weekend. Just kidding, but the enthusiasm and pride he has for the Lady Cards program will be there in spirit with them.

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Cardinal Softball today at the Ulmer and it's a big one...UK comes to town. Kats come in at 19-6 and ranked #24 in the nation. Chandra Bell the big arm on the mound for UK. Game is at 6 p.m. Come out and have a ballpark dinner and catch this one. Admission is $5. Expect the outfield "grassy knoll" to be rocking...Most likely, the torrid Tori Collins will draw the assignment for Sandy Pearsall's squad. Let's hope the predicted isolated rain chances tonight are isolated somewhere else besides the UofL campus.

The Cards are getting strong at bats from Chelsea Bemis (.394 and four homers), Alicja Wolny (.394 and 27 RBI's) and Colby Wherry (.382 and eleven runs scored). Louisville (18-9) has lost to top 15 ranked teams six times this year. In UK, they'll face a team that just won 2 out of three on the road at LSU.

CARDINAL COUPLE will be there...and providing a full and live report on the battle.

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In the battle of Sideline announcers, Erin Andrews sent Heather Cox to the showers (can we watch?) convincingly and moves on to the FINAL FOUR. Today's match up is surprising Tony Siragusa vs. upstart Allison Williams. Let us know if you need to know which picture here is who. We'll get right back to you. Paul is backing Allison, or at least hoping to back in to her. Sonja in the Williams camp, too. Watson will weigh in later, we suppose and Bill the Goat is in full support of "the Goose".. It's an animal thing, we're guessing. Comments section can record votes or e-mail it in @ cardinalcouple@insightbb.com

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