CARDINAL COUPLE

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Thursday, January 22, 2015

Tough Thursday ACC test for Louisville WBB -- Thursday Cardinal Couple



WBB CARDS TO FACE FSU IN TALLAHASSEE 


You knew the assortment of cupcakes and pastries the UofL WBB squad had been feeding on in ACC play had to end eventually. Only one of the Cards five wins has come against that is over .500 in conference play.  #4 Louisville faces Florida State tonight in the Donald L. Tucker arena in a game that will be televised on ESPN3 at 7 p.m. An arena that holds slightly over 12,000 will host two of the hottest teams in NCAA WBB. 

The 'Noles are averaging about 2700 per game for home contest...a number that will most likely swell with the advent of bringing in #4 in the nation. FSU happens to be a perfect 8-0 at home this season...owning quality wins over Florida and Duke in the "DLT". 


Sue Semrau's squad is also on a four game win streak and have won 13 out of their last 14. Sue's been there 18 years and has complied a 332-216 record. Sitting at 17-2 overall and 4-1 in ACC play...FSU is a team that averages 76.6 points per game while allowing just 55.6 to their opponents. They also hold a 44.2 to 30.6 rebounding edge per game. Very impressive stats for a squad that hasn't had an ACC Player of the Week or Freshman of the Week this season.

Losses have come to Washington (68-80) in Cancun and at Notre Dame (68-74). 



The 'Noles are a well-balanced squad that has nine players that average over 14 minutes a game. They've also been aided by two key transfers...Maegan Conwright (from UK) and Leticia Romero (from Kansas State). Romero, you might remember, showed an interest in and visited Louisville after leaving K-State. FSU has five players who average over 10 points per game. 


Adut Bulgak, a 6'4" junior center, leads the squad with 14.0 ppg and 10.3 rpg a game. Conwright, a 5'9" redshirt senior guard is good for 11.5 ppg a contest. Romero has been eligible for the last six games and has made an immediate impact at point guard...the 5'8" sophomore guard brings 11.2 ppg. Ivey Slaughter ( no relation to Nita) is a 6'1" sophomore forward with 11.1 ppg and 6.3 rpg numbers. 5'11" freshman forward Shakayla Thomas averages 10.5 ppg.
Brittany Brown, a 5'8" sophomore guard is a starter that also sees significant minutes. 



No easy task tonight for Jeff Walz's crew. Louisville will need to get off to a good start and try to go toe-to-toe with the strong rebounding Seminole paint dwellers. FSU in second in the ACC in rebounding offense and tops in ly rebounding defense. They trail only Duke in total rebounds on the season. They also average over six "threes" made per game. 

Walz has had since Sunday night to develop a game plan to win this one in Gatorland and four days of strategy for the mad scientist is like free gas at the pump...beneficial, never wasted,  always appreciated and "a win-win". 


Whether the strategy will be adhered to by the sometimes attention deficit disordered Cards remains to be seen. In any event, it should be a whale of a game to watch and would be arguably UofL's biggest win of the season on the road since defeating California in Berkeley.

Louisville has won the last two meetings with the Seminoles in a series that is tied at 12 games apiece. Last time the teams squared off, Louisville recorded a 69-59 overtime victory in the KFC Yum! Center. Jude Schimmel forced the extra session following a steal and uncontested layup with less than 30 seconds in regulation. Her sister Shoni had a game-high 21 points, and the Cardinals scored 29 points off of Florida State’s 26 turnovers.

We'll have a full recap of the action in the Friday edition of Cardinal Couple. 

paulie  


16 comments:

  1. Welcome to Hassee, Cards! We are tough in 'The Donald' so you can expect a close game. This is a very nice write up, Paulie. I like how you focus on the opponent in your article instead of propping your own team. Will you be attending?

    Nola the Nole

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    1. Thanks for reading and commenting! Should be a good one.
      Paulie

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  2. Coach Walz said he considers the Noles to be a top ten team. I respect his judgement. Tough competition is what we expected when we joined the ACC and that is exactly what we will get this year. With that being said, let me say, GO, CARDS.

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  3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    1. LOL. Charlie provided a double team on the e-mail

      Paulie

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  4. Not that it will make a difference, but we should start an email campaign to get the lady's tournament games at Freedom Hall (if they get to host). This just doesn't seem fair to our team. All about the $$$.

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    1. OK. Where are you sending the e-mails? I'm in.

      The Real Joe Hill

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    2. Hey....just remember gang that we need to be one of those teams are are eligible to host first. And, things can change. There's plenty of hotel lodging available for seven teams fans to choose from and if UK get assigned here, most of them would probably drive in-and-out and not stay. The logistics of working out being the hosts school for two NCAA Tournament events would be challenging but not impossible. My sources indicate that Louisville is not currently considering any acceptance scenario if the WBB squad qualified to host. Never say never, though. If we can pull off 55,000 for football...is 22,000 in the YUM and 10-12,000 in Freedom Hallall that big of a stretch?

      Stay tuned...


      Paulie

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    3. Sounds like a good idea, but I'm sure that the response from the University's athletic administration would be that it's impossible to host two events at the same time because the personnel get stretched too thin.

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    4. This is a very good point. I saw how thin they were stretched they were in 2013 between Atlanta and New Orleans, and that was just being participants, not hosting!

      Hosting these events is a lot of work, and our Athletic Department makes it look easy, but its definitely not.

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    5. So, the ladies get hosed if they nail down a #1 seed? And we bring UK into the KFC YUM! Center? This is terribly wrong.

      The real Joe Hill

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  5. Greetings from FSU! Hey! It's good to find a website that is dedicated to women's sports. I will be attending the game tonight and excited to see this Louisville squad. We thought we had you last time in the KFC YUM! Center but the Schimmel's did us in. I can't wait to see your excellent freshman.

    I do have a question for you or whoever knows the answer to it. Emmonnie Henderson looks like a powerful, impact player but I've noticed her playing time is pretty insignificant lately. Is she injured? Just curious.



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    1. Thanks for reading and commenting! We look forward to the game as well and I'm nervous about it...because of the way you handled Duke and Pitt on your home floor.

      With "E" ...no injury. Just Coach's need for her to follow the game plan better, improve her court awareness and defensive skills. She can give the Cards good 5-6 minute stretches...especially on offense and is great shape as compared to her freshman year...but she needs to "buy in" to what the coaches are expecting of her and telling her more efficiently.

      Paulie

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  6. Great overview Paulie! Should be a good game. We're in the heart of the season now and the next four or five games will really show where Walz and the Cards need to concentrate to be ready for the NCAA's.

    With success come pressure so this should be really good for our club. One thing is for sure...we won't continue to win close games unless we finally improve our free throw shooting so lets hope we get over that hump.

    Nice to see comments from some Tallahassee folks. Hope you pack the house tonight.

    Go Cards!

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  7. This from the FSU website:

    FSU, meanwhile, will welcome the return of star center Adut Bulgak, who is expected to play after missing two games with a concussion.

    The 6-foot-4 Bulgak averages a double-double (14.0 points per game, 10.3 rebounds per game) and makes more than 53 percent of her shots.

    (Rut row...)

    We should have an independent team of doctors check this out. I'm recommending Dr. Seuss, Dr. Scholl and Dr. Pepper...

    Paulie


    Paulie

    She’s been FSU’s leading scorer in seven of the 17 games she’s played this season.

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