UConn wins BIG EAST Tournament, Softball Thursday

RAINY WEDNESDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE

-Huskies collect another trophy.

-Softball scheduled for Thursday

-Mail Bag

-Sideline reporters: Cox vs. Smith

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-Girls sweet sixteen starts today.

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Congratulations to the Connecticut Huskies for their 73-64 win over Notre Dame last night. This is the 17th. BIG EAST Championship win for Geno Auriemma's teams. They got big games out of Maya Moore (22 points) and Stefanie Dolson (24 points) and this was their 20th. win in a row. Credit to Notre Dame for not getting totally blown out of the water. Former Lexington Catholic star Natalie Novosel had 17 for the Irish.

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It leads to the question...should Connecticut be thrown out WBB and be forced to play Division II men's teams? We've all had quite enough of 'UConn won this,,,The Huskies did that...blah, blah, blah.' That's why it's time to boot them over to playing men's programs like Bellarmine, Lindsey Wilson and IU Southeast. Find me one person outside the state of Connecticut that gets thrilled or overjoyed after a Husky win and I'll buy that person a Happy Meal and even let them keep the toy. Slap a ten second clock on 'em and let's see how they deal with opponents alley ooping and slam dunking on them 4-5 times a game.

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Will they win the NCAA Tournament? Probably. They're playing much better now than they did when Stanford beat them early in the season. Baylor can't take them down, especially now that manchild center Stefanie Dolson has figured out how tall she really is and what types of advantages come with said height. A Stanford repeat victory? Not bloody likely...Geno rarely loses to the same team twice in one season. The matchup we really want to see is Tennessee. and Connecticut. Geno vs. Pat. The Vols and Huskies. The Barbecue Kings vs. the Insurance Adjusters. If the other 62 teams that get invited to the BIG DANCE will kindly stay out of the

pathways of UT and UC..we should get a semifinal or final matchup.

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And that'll be "must see" TV. (We, of course, wouldn't mind seeing Louisville or Rutgers ruining this matchup...but, let's face it. That ain't gonna happen.)

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Louisville softball has scheduled a Thursday game versus Morehead State. It's a recent addition to the schedule. Let's hope Mother Nature co-operates. The Cards got only 1 day and 2 games in at the Combat Classic in Cookeville, TN. before the skies opened up. They were wins, though and Louisville is 11-6 on the season. Morehead comes in at 6-10. Game time is set for 4 p.m.

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Alicja Wolny, Maggie Ruckenbrod and Chelsea Bemis have been toting the big lumber lately for Sandy Pearsall's squad. Both Wolny and Bemis are batting over .400 and Ruckenbrod is a freshman catcher who has stepped in and filled the void created behind the plate after Melissa Roth graduated.

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Louisville will also host the Louisville Softball Classic this Saturday and Sunday at Ulmer Stadium. The Cards will play top ten ranked Michigan at noon and the Hilltoppers from WKU at 4 p.m.

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We selected these two from the mail our readers have sent to share with you...

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Hi Cardinal Couple. My name is Taneisha and I am 11 years old. I love the Lady Cards basketball team and I have been going to games with my Mom and older sister for 4 years now. Angel McCoughtry is my favorite player of all time and I like Shoni Schimmel and Monique Reid on this year's team. I found your site on the internet a few days ago and now I read it every day. I have a question and it is this. What is the best thing I can do to become a good basketball player and play for the Cardinals someday?

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Welcome aboard, Taneisha. The best thing you can do to make sure you get to play for Jeff Walz and the Lady Cards is grow to 6'7" and learn how to dunk. (Just kidding). WE asked a former college player your question and she gave us this answer...

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"The best thing any young ballplayer can do to get better is to practice, practice, practice your shot. I recommend 500 a day. As you grow older, you'll find that your shot style will change as you get bigger but getting comfortable with the ball and developing a smooth shot is the best thing you can do. Scoring points wins games and if you can become a scorer, coaches will pay attention."

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From Herb:

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Hey Paul and Sonja! Thanks to you, I have now become a fan of women's basketball. I found a link to your site on another site and started reading daily. By fall, I was determined to attend some games this season. I talked it over with my wife and we decided to get a family plan for us and our two daughters. What a great time had! I wish that I had started going years ago now. My daughters love Shoni Schimmel and Shelby Harper and they got their autographs after a game. Cardinal womens basketball is a great evening out for our family, it isn't very expensive at all and it is very exciting to watch. Keep up the great work here at Cardinal Couple and THANK YOU for turning us on to such a great entertainment product.

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ALL RIGHT HERB! Now, let's see what we can do to get you and the family involved in a little softball, volleyball, field hockey and the other great women's sports at UofL...WE think you'll have a great time at these events, too. Thanks for writing...and GO CARDS!

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In our "Sweet Sixteen" tournament of sideline reports...Erin Andrews won in head to head competition against Jenn Brown...but it was a close one. Erin advances to the round of eight. Today's matchup is Heather Cox (left)versus Shelly Smith (right). You can vote for your choice here in the comments section or e-mail us with your pick. Sonja is going with the 'Shellmeister', Paul is in the Cox camp and David Watson is Heather's biggest fan. We aren't "seeding" our face-offs...because we have no idea about how one would rank these sideline reporters or what criteria to use. I'll offer a point spread...Heather a six point favorite. Good luck in getting that wager up at an off-shore sports book...Cox does a variety of sideline sports...and she was a star volleyball player in college. Smith is probably best known for football sideline reports. You can e-mail your vote to cardinalcouple@insightbb.com ....

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The Kentucky High School Girls Basketball Sweet Sixteen begins today in Bowling Green, We'l follow the action and give you a full report on Wednesday's games tomorrow. Marion County, Butler and Manual play today. Jennifer Smith has a great preview of the teams and matchups over at http://www.kentucky.com/ It's worth a click and look...

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