UCONN, NOTRE DAME ADVANCE TO FINAL
Notre Dame eked out a close-as-expected win over South Carolina in the opener 66-65. The Irish watching a double- digit second half disappear to the Gamecocks in the second half but getting a basket from Madison Cable (her only score of the game) with 16 seconds left and then putting the defense on South Carolina to take away any easy final shot to win 66-65.
Jewell Loyd leading the way with 22 points for Muffet McGraw's ACC squad, Brianna Turner adding 17 and Taya Reimer contributing 16 in the win. The nightcap was an after-thought, forgone conclusion as UConn shrugged off the early Maryland contention to advance. Up by 11 at half, the Huskies pulled away from Brenda Frese's Turtles to win 81-55.
So...the championship game is set for Tuesday night at the Amalie Arena with the two teams just about everyone figured would be there. Irish vs. Huskies. Geno vs. Muffet.
AAC vs. ACC and Stewart vs. Loyd.
Will you watch?
Connecticut handled the Irish 76-58 in the Jimmy V Classic on December 6th in South Bend 76-58. Tuck had a huge performance in that one with 25 points. Kiah Stokes grabbed 18 rebounds that night. Since Jan 16th., 2010...the two schools have met an eye-popping 18 times, with the Huskies holding a 11-7 advantage. At 37-1, UConn had the one blip on the radar, a still puzzling loss to Stanford earlier in the season.
Will Tom Cruise show up again? And...is that Cuba Gooding sitting next to him? Rumor has it that the two were spotted walking around Tampa Easter Sunday morning yelling "Show Me The Bunny!"
Choose your clothes carefully for the UConn coronation. You don't want to displease King Geno by wearing something green or red...
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In our CARDINAL COUPLE Pick 'Em contest, it has come down to a trio.
Charlie McAdams, Sonja and K.Starks are atop the
Who gets the CARDINAL COUPLE T-SHIRT for second?
Charlie has determined a 74-61 win for Geno (135 points) for a tie breaker. Sonja went with 112 total points...picking UConn to win 111-1 (just kidding...)
And, a special salute to all of you who took part in the contest. We'll announce the April Contest in a couple of days...(You might want to study up on a bit of softball...just sayin'...)
Good luck!
paulie
xxxxx
Paulie, I probably won't watch the whole thing tomorrow night. It's not because "my team isn't playing" but more because it's the same old story with a pre-ordained ending. I'll probably follow the score on the phone and hope for the upset, but it's not happening.
ReplyDeleteUnderstandable. We'll be watching but we're also big NCIS fans here and hate to miis any of those episodes. I do think Notre Dame will be in this thing for awhile and will watch with interest to see if Jewell Loyd can have much success against the Dogs.
ReplyDeletePaulie
Same old, same old. They should just show a replay of the Louisville win over Baylor a couple of years ago. Would be better ratings. UConn wins by 15 and Stewie is crowned Homecoming Queen. Someone should smash a whipped cream pie in Geno's face for comedic effect.
DeleteAttended both games last night. Three and one half hours on the road for some fun basketball and, yes, I did buy a Maryland T-shirt and cheered for them and South Carolina just as a way of hoping for something different.
We figured Tom Cruise was there to film a short sequence for a Mission Impossible movie.
The Real Joe Hill
LOLOL, Joe. A plot developing where Geno's clones are ready to attempt world domination shortly after the NCAA Tournament and Tommy Boy gets wind of the plot and leads the MI team in to prevent it.
DeleteWhere's Sean Connery when you need him?
Love the whipped creme pie idea. Moe, Larry and Curly working on of the concession stand booths and things get out of control per Three Stooges normalcy. Pie fight breaks out in the concourse and extends to the court...where Rebecca Lobo ducks while interviewing Geno post game and he catches one in the kisser. Uncle Vern Lundquist shows up and delivers one to Dee Kanter and the entire Notre Dame Pep Band has green slime dumped on them.
It could be a classic finish. Chris Dailey running around with a towel cleaning off faces. Brit Griner grabbing a pie and dunking it. Shoni draining a pie from three point range.
What do we have to do to make this happen?
Paulie
Here's to hoping McGraw, Lloyd and co. are just as sick of Geno and co. as the rest of America. Notre Dame's freshmen have come a long way since that December game so at the very least it should not be a complete massacre.
ReplyDeleteAnd best of luck to you, sir...in the contest! Notre Dame is going to need a whole lot of Loyd, Reimer, Allen and company if they want to slay the dragon. Defense and rebounding, it is often said, wins games...the Irish will need to dispay the ability to create both....especially in the final twenty...if they want the trophy.
DeleteIt is that final twenty minutes where the Huskies are adept and shutting opponents down to get wins. A friend suggests to us that there is no need to watch the first twenty minutes of any UConn game, since the "boom" comes after halftime.
Here's to a hopefully close and competitive game.
Paulie
Anyone hearing anything about Arica Carter looking to leave and go to a west coast school?
ReplyDeleteWe have heard nothing on this. Will round up the usual suspects and see if there is anything to this...
DeletePaulie
This, if true, doesn't make a lot of sense. She's the guard returning with the most minutes and she showed flashes of being an efficient guard. I hope there is nothing to this.
DeleteA source close to the program indicates that Carter wants to stay at Louisville. It is rumored, however, that Jimmy Carter (ex-prez) and Coach Carter (from a great movie) might be interested in UofL WBB season tickets.
DeletePaulie
Nick Carter is a Backstreet Boy. Maybe he would come in and do the National Anthem?
DeleteHey Paulie, Remember Sydney Carter who played at A&M and went on to the WNBA? Maybe she could play on nights that Arica doesn't want to. She was with the Fever last year, so transportation wouldn't be a issue.
DeleteNick O
Maybe Sgt. Carter from Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C TV show fame could offer his services to Walz as a drill and conditioning advisor for the team. Maybe Teena Murray could use his help?
ReplyDelete"Move it, move it, move it..."
I leave you guys alone for an hour to get a little lunch and anarchy reigns....
DeleteIt never ends...and Nick O...that's five demerits for using my access code to the site to leave a comment under my Google sign in.
Paulie
Paulie
I can see the Freeman transfer. Carter transfer would not make a lot of sense. If she dedicates herself to the game as challenged, she could be quite a star here.
DeleteI'd like to see Carter develop a three point shot. I do think she could become an excellent mid-range jumper from what I saw out of her this year and she definitely has wheels. I hope she dedicates herself to a summer in the gym working on her skills.
DeleteBlue Lou
I am sorry, Paulie. Still having trouble getting a Google account set up. By the way, that was a real nice breakdown of the Derby Contenders that you did on your personal website! I think Ocho Ocho Ocho will improve a lot after his last run and it would not surprise me to see him leading the Derby field into the stretch at Churchill. My longshot candidate to win right now. Also, I agree that American Pharoah needs a win over a few serious contenders. We will see what happen at Oaklawn this Saturday.
DeleteNick O.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteAll right, that's where I have to delete. No need to bring Andrew Harrison into the fray.
DeletePaulie
Based on 2015-16 roster probabilities, wouldn't Carter be second in guard experience behind Megan Deines?
ReplyDeleteBefore this final games begin, I want to say that i will be cheering for Notre Dame and if they win K,Stark will win the the Cardinal Couple Pick em contest, and that will OK with me to see someone beat Connecticut.
ReplyDelete