WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
(Game Report -- Louisville defeats Seton Hall 72-62 on Senior Night in the KFC YUM! Center. Nita Slaughter with 17 points and Shoni Schimmel 15. Jenny's report on the win coming shortly...)
-Cards say goodbye to Harper and Reid on Senior Night.
-Cards look to secure double bye in BIG EAST Tournament with win over Seton Hall
It's Senior Night, and the Cards and fans will say goodbye to two very good and popular ones in a pregame ceremony.
Monique Reid is the last direct player connection to the 2008-2009 National Runner-Up team and she's had a spectacular career here at UofL. She was a starter on the team that went to St. Louis and has scored 1657 points in her career at UofL. That puts her fifth all-time in UofL women's basketball history...she needs 92 to advance to fourth and pass Kristin Maddox (1992-1996). A scorer from anywhere in the paint, Mo led the team in scoring in 2009-10 and 2010-11. Knee problems have been a constant problem the past two years...limiting her time on the court...but she will remembered as one the Cardinal WBB greats of all time and a tough competitor.
Shelby Harper joined the squad as a walk-on in the 2009-10 season and ended up starting 17 games at point-guard. Known for her excellent ball-handling skills and tenacious defense, Harper has become a crowd favorite over the years and a player that Jeff Walz knows he's always to get 100% out of on both ends of the court. She's been a key reserve off the bench since her freshman year and has been a hustler...full of energy, fast and ready to take on any defensive assignment. The 'blonde blur' has brought a special kind of excitement and love to the Cardinal WBB fans these past four years and her dedication and energy will be missed.
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Senior Brittany Morris has led them in scoring this year and averages about 13 points a game. Anne Donovan has done a great coaching job with them....given the circumstances.
Last time the Cards and Seton Hall met....Louisville won in South Orange 63-53. Shawnta Dyer's 22 points paced the Cards and Becky Burke added 11.
Louisville leads the all-time series 7-0 and Coach Walz is 5-0 against the Pirates.
Louisville should go to 11-4 in the BIG EAST without a lot of trouble against SHU...if they do, they would technically be in 3rd place in the BIG EAST. Syracuse is at 10-4 after losing to Notre Dame last night. St. John's is 9-4 and plays at Villanova tonight.
The Cards end the regular season against Syracuse next Monday. The 'Cuse has Villanova Saturday and St. John's plays Seton Hall and DePaul in their final two.
Programming note: The game will be on 1080 AM, the guys will be on 790 tonight.
Anyone listen to the radio show? Any takeaways to share?
ReplyDeleteMost interesting was the injury update. Dyer is doing well with her knee rehab. Taylor could play if needed but will redshirt and play next year. Gibbs is still hurting and the docs will further evaluate her situation over the spring/summer. And (of course) Davionna Holmes, who would provide another big body inside, hurt her knee after three days of practice...sigh. And following one-on-one meetings with the team on Monday, everyone is back on the same page.
DeleteThanks, Mike!
DeletePaulie
And I guess it could be assumed that Jude is okay and ready to go, since coach didn't mention anything about her injury.
DeleteHe did say that they had individual player meetings on Monday and a team meeting Tuesday and that everyone came out of it on the same page--another assumption is he mostly meant Shoni.
Davionna Holmes is now on the team permanently, will redshirt this year and have 4 years eligibility left. Did not say if she will still be a member of the volleyball squad. If I remember correctly, he said she basically asked to try out, he said yes, and found out she can play, so there you are.
Asia is practicing currently, has been for the last couple of weeks, he could use her if he wanted, but will go ahead and redshirt her instead of having her come back this late in the season.
Enjoyed Walz's call-in show last night. Hope it continues.
ReplyDeleteDue to prior commitments, neither Sonja, Jenny or I were able to catch the show. Anyone who did and would like to provide a recap here in the comments section for us and our of town readers...well, we'd sure appreciate it!
DeletePaulie
if we win tonight,do we get the double bi going into BE tourney?
ReplyDeleteIt would put Louisville in good shape but doesn't guarantee a double bye. As win puts Louisville at 11-4. That has the Cards currently in 3rd place. Syracuse is 10-4. UofL play them to end the regular season. A loss to Syracuse puts the Cards at 11-5. If Syracuse wins their final two, they are 12-4. If St. John's (9-4) wins their final three...they'd finish 12-4 and nudge past UofL to get the double bye.
DeleteIF the Cards can take care of business tonight and Monday night, they would be the 3rd seed in the BIG EAST Tourney with a 12-4 record. If they lose to either Seton Hall or Syracuse, they go to 11-5. They would need St. John's to lose one of their final three (Villanova, Seton Hall, DePaul)to get to 4th place. UofL owns the tie-breaker over St. John's because the Cards beat them earlier in the year. They do have to play Syracuse Monday night at Syracuse...never an easy task.
So, win both UofL and you are in as a #3 seed. Lose one and it get dicey. Lose both and we burn down the YUM! Center...just kidding.
Paulie
Better to have control over our own destiny, ladies. Take care of business tonight and Monday and the double bye in the Big East Tourney is yours!
ReplyDeleteAre replays of the call in show available anywhere?
ReplyDeleteWe haven't been able to find a source yet. Hopefully WKRD will link them up to their web site. Beats looking at Vanetti's pictures of half-clad women.
DeleteSonja