Saturday Cardinal Couple -- WBB faces Pitt, Softball splits in Vegas

SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-WBB hosts Pitt today at 2 p.m.

-Softball splits in first day of Sportco Classic


(Quentin Voigt gives us the scout on today's opponent -- the Pittsburgh Panthers -- with some comments by Paulie. Also, softball defeats Texas Tech 10-6 but falls to UNLV 10-1 in Vegas.)

WE'RE DOIN' THE PANTHER WALK THIS WEEKEND!

This Saturday, Feb 9th...at 2 p.m., the Louisville Cardinal women's basketball team entertains BIG EAST foe Pittsburgh in the KFC YUM! Center. The Panthers are coached by Agnes Berenato, in her ninth year as the head Panther. She brings a young team into the YUM! that is made up of mostly  freshmen and sophomores. Add in a few juniors and no seniors for the 0-9, 9-13 BIG EAST Pennsylvania invader.

Junior Asia Logan, a 6'0" guard/forward leads Pitt with 15.3 ppg.  Along with 5'7" sophomore guard Brianna Kiesel, who averages 14.4 ppg, they've led Pitt in scoring 19 of their 22 games.

The smart money goes on the Cards today. Wouldn't surprise me to see a Louisville win by 20 or more.

-Quentin Voigt.

OK, these aren't sneaky Pink Panthers and their 0 for BIG EAST leads me to believe it just might be Peter Sellers' character Inspector Clouseau as the head coach instead of loveable, long-suffering Agnes...one of the nicest ladies you'll ever meet.

Indeed, what intrigues me the most about this team is someone who isn't playing for them...6'11" (yes, 6'11") freshman Marvadene "Bubbles" Anderson...who is red-shirting this season. The highly sought-after Rutgers Prep High School star landed at Pitt, her coach at RPHS the twin sister of Pitt assistant coach Patty Coyle. 

Pitt's been in a few games...losing narrowly at DePaul 57-55 and falling in a close one when Providence came to Steel City Wednesday and left with a 85-83 double overtime win. Non-conference wins aren't spectacular...with triumphs over William & Mary, Siena, Wagner, Brown, Longwood, Loyola (MD) Mt.St.Mary, Buffalo and ODU.

Louisville went to overtime against them last year before winning 71-66 at "the Pete", Walz is 5-2 against them and the Cards are 7-2 lifetime over the Panthers. The Panthers have never won in the YUM! or Freedom Hall.  

Louisville in a romp today. I hope Bubbles makes the trip. Never seen a 6'11" girl in person before.

-Paulie


( We'll be back with the recap later today.)

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Louisville softball split two games Friday on the opening day of the Sportco Classic in Las Vegas. The Cards overcame a 5-0 deficit to thump Texas Tech 10-6 in the opener but the bats disappeared in a 10-1 loss to host UNLV in the nightcap.

CARDS 10 - Texas Tech 6

Caralisa "Carl" Connell got rocked by the first seven batters she faced in the first inning of the game. That brought transfer Rachel LeCoq to the mound and she pitched the final seven innings allowing just two runs.

Down 5-0 in the bottom of the third, the Cards strung together four singles, two walks and a wild pitch to tie the game. In the bottom of the fourth, they brought out the heavy artillery...a two-run homer by Katie Keller and solo shot by Alicja Wolny put Louisville ahead to stay 8-5. UofL added two runs in the fifth, Keller's single scoring Jennifer Esteban and Keller reaching home on an error.

UNLV 10 - CARDS 1

Connell drew the starting assignment again in game two, but a two-out, three run homer had her behind after one inning. The Cards lone run came in the second when Jordy Trimble reached on an error and freshman Jasmine Smithson-Willett, who started both games in right-field, doubled her home.

The Cards had the bases loaded in the third with no outs, but a double play and ground out kept them from drawing any closer to the Runnin' Rebs.

Smithson-Willett treated rudely
in first collegiate pitching effort.

After four innings, and Vegas up 6-1, Pearsall turned the pitching assignment over to Smithson-Willett. The Rebs touched her for four straight runs and the game was ended after five innings.

Rough Friday for Connell. Rude introduction to DI pitching for Smithson-Willett. The Cards return to the diamond today for two more contests. They'll face BIG EAST foe DePaul in a non-conference game first and then UCF in the nightcap.

In the movie Caddyshack, the character Carl spent most of his time looking for an elusive gopher. On the Cardinal softball team, their Carl is searching for the form that got her to 19-1 last season.

Coach Pearsall mentioned that the Louisville pitching didn't show up Friday and when the bats fell silent in game two, it was a deadly combination. And, with 16 runs allowed in 12 innings of play...we'd have to agree that the Cardinal combination of Connell and Smithson-Willett was less than effective.

Sometimes, you go to Vegas and take a bath. Let's hope the Cards can start rolling sevens and elevens (on the scoreboard) and take two today. 
.
..
...