CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDINAL COUPLE
We report on the joy and excitement of UofL women's sports here. Thanks for checking us out! Click the picture of Louie to hear the latest Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast!!

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Transfer News and Lacrosse

As we always say, all about the joy and excitement of UofL Women's sports, so we tend to like to put positive news at the top of our articles to celebrate the successes of the programs, but sometimes, the magnitude of the news and the relative popularity of the sports wins out.  So it is today.

Basketball Transfers


Brianna Jones


We've gotten word of two more transfers from the Women's Basketball program.  We have received word that Brianna Jones is leaving the program, again with the idea of being closer to home to be able to more easily have family in attendance.  She will be transferring to Georgetown.

I've always admired Brianna's hardwork and seemingly positive attitude towards playing on the UofL squad.  She frequently faded into the background, but continued to work hard, and apparently maintained a good attitude.  That hard work started to show dividends this past season as she started seeing more meaningful playing time and contributed valuable minutes, ball handling, and passing skills in several games.

If Jones continues to develop as she has, I expect her to make a real impact and become a strong foundational play at Georgetown.

Ciera Johnson


We have also heard word that Ciera Johnson will be departing the program, though I have not as of
yet received word of her destination.  Any program will benefit from having her size and presence in the paint, of course, but she does have some parts of her game that need further development, as any freshman will.  If she can gain better control of the ball in the scrum of rebounding, she'll become a very valuable player.  As it is, her size is a presence, but I feel like she struggles to get the handle on the ball frequently.

Johnson wanted to play closer to home. We would expect there would be several DI programs in Texas that would be interested in having a conversation with her. 



I don't envy these players their decisions.  These are hard decisions to be making, doubly so for 18-22 year olds to be making them.  It is important that they find a place where they can be happy with the whole package.  Sometimes that can mean a degree of proximity to home.  As always, we here at Cardinal Couple wish the best for these young women, and as with many other transfers, we'll keep an eye on their future successes and cheer for them, even if it is from a bit of a greater distance.

Lacrosse Makes Syracuse See Red


As with every team in the ACC, Syracuse Lacrosse is a very accomplished team, but Kellie Young's squad was able to put together just enough offense to edge out the Syracuse team in a 9-8 win at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium.  This is being hailed across the ACC and in sports media as a rather large upset.  Syracuse is 8th ranked in both major Lacrosse rankings, and was 5th in the RPI, so without a doubt this is a great win for the Cardinals.  It is also UofL's first win over Syracuse Lacrosse, so that's another hurdle cleared.

One of the sensational sophomores, Meghan Siverson, got a hat trick in the game, with one coming from a free position shot, and the other two on assists from Madison Hoover.  The scoring was generally fairly well distributed, Jillian Balog put a pair in, both accounting for Siverson's two assists.  Hannah Koloski, Emily Howell, Elise Koehl, and McKayla Conti all got a goal.  Brittany Read had 9 saves between the pipes.

The Cards got off to a 2-0 lead in the game approximately 10 minutes in, but 10 minutes later Syracuse would score two quick ones to tie the game up.  UofL put up another pair over the next couple of minutes on consecutive possessions before Syracuse would claw one back with 4 1/2 minutes left in the 1st half.  In the waning 2 minutes of the half, Emily Howell got her score on a free position shot to set the 5-3 halftime score.

According to Young, the team was fired up and motivated for the second half, vowing in the halftime
locker room "We're going to get that first goal." of the second half.  Indeed they did.  Less than 2 minutes into the second half, Balog took one of her assists from Siverson and slipped the ball in from an extreme angle to give the Cards the 6-3 advantage early in the 2nd half.  The Cards would score again, in the 24th minute before Syracuse would rally from a 7-3 deficit to close the lead to only 1 with a 3-0 run.  Opponent runs have been dangerous for this Cardinals team, but this one got shut down on the next possession with Koloski getting control of the ball out of the draw, sprinting down field, and dishing to Hoover, who found Siverson for her hat trick.  The Cards made it a 2-0 run with just under 8 minutes to play in the game when Hoover found Conti to make the score 9-6.

Syracuse put on another rally, scoring the final two with just over 2 minutes left and only a minute and a half left in the game, but the Cards would hold on for the 9-8 win.

In the ACC standings, the win leapfrogs UofL over Virginia Tech into a tie with Boston College for 5th place.  Since BC has the tiebreaker of the Cardinals, however, UofL will be in the 6th seed for the ACC tournament.  On the other end of things, the loss drops Syracuse out of a 1st place tie in the conference with UNC.  Syracuse had the tiebreaker over UNC with the win against them, so the loss drops them from the 1st seed to the 2nd seed in the upcoming conference tourney.

The Cards will be back in action in the conference tournament on Thursday against the 3 seed Virginia in an 8pm matchup.  The game will be streamed on the ACC Network Extra.



THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR

We had big fun in the studio yesterday discussing UofL sports on The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. Paulie, Worldwide and Case discussed transfers, WBB, softball, baseball, lacrosse and more!

Here's a link to the rebroadcast:  The CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR 4/22/17

-- JMcA

23 comments:

  1. All of the sudden I feel slightly nervous about next season.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A conversation with Coach Walz today indicates Coach is optimistic about the future and the Cards have thrwe talented freshmen coming on board plus returnees Asia Durr, Myisha Hines-Allen, Jasmine Jones, Kylee Shook, Sam Fuehring and much, much more. I feel good about next year's squad.

      Paulie

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    2. Strong nucleus for the team. I'm looking for Kylee and JJ to really step it up.

      Delete
  2. I am glad that we have an influx of young women from in the state coming into the program, hopefully we'll be able to cut down on some of the homesickness transfers.
    But I wish all these young ladies well. The hardest thing about youth is that you don't know what you don't know. You're under your parents thumb, in the same locale for all your life and the natural inclination is to want to go and get out, then you get out and all you want to do is be back home. Unfortunately for them, the program, and the fans, you don't realize that until you get away from home and people invest in you. The pressure of that too for these young women is tremendous.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I know player's transfer but I don't understand Mariya Moore transferring her Senior year.

    MLW

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Got no knowledge about this at all, mind you...but it just might be a case of Mariya and Minyon wanting to play together somewhere at a school where their parents can watch them more often in person. Mariya, from some reports, wasn't exactly Ms. Hospitality at UofL during her three years there. Just what I've heard...she was always cordial and friendly to me.


      Paulie

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    2. That makes sense. I saw her parents at a lot of games considering they live so far away. Maybe wanted to ease that burden. I'm wondering though where are they going to go? Don't know the PAC-12 transfer rules, but I know at least in the ACC if you transfer in conference it's a year out and a loss of a year of eligibility. So thinking in the case of her sister, if the same applies in the PAC-12 she wouldn't play a year and would lose a year so she would only have one year of eligibility left. That's fine if the goal is just to play with Mariya who would also have one year left, but I don't know what that does in terms of a body of work for a pro career, if that is her goal.

      Sad to hear that about Mariya, she always seemed goofy and easy going, but never one to take an active leadership role. But her court vision and Bball IQ is going to be hard to replace even though we still retain talent on the roster.

      Any word on why Ciera is leaving? Is it just wanting to be closer to home?

      Delete
    3. Oops missed the part where you said CJ wanted to be closer to home. Got it.

      Delete
  4. Thanks paulie moving on!


    Projected Starting lineup for the 2017-2018
    Dana Evans
    Asia Durr
    Jazmine Jones
    Myisha Hines Allen
    Kylee Shook


    MLW

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Going to miss Mariya Moore a warrior on the court,but she'll aways be a cardinal thanks you Mariya.

      MLW

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    2. That's not bad, MLW. Somemight see Arica Carter at that point guard spot.

      Delete
    3. Alternate UofL stating lineup

      Arica Carter
      Asia Durr
      Myisha Hines Allen
      Sam Fuehring
      Kylee Shook


      MLW

      Delete
  5. I feel better about next season. We had too many bodies. Hopefully Walz learns not to. carry 15 bodies. Not fair to the players.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Players make the decisions to come. Walz is frank and doesn't promise anything. Funny, listening to the interview after Mykassa Robinson committed and the guy asked her what Walz told her about what her role would be and she answered he said I would come in and be a role player. Now, if this young lady, the 13th ranked player in the nation, has any plans on coming in taking the team over it would be antithetical to what she even said Walz said her role would be. Walz's job is to build the best roster and be truthful to the kids about his expectations, which I feel like he has been. I don't begrudge any of these ladies from making the decision to go elsewhere, but let's stop this bologna about Walz not being fair to them. They see the roster and know the numbers when they commit

      Delete
  6. U of L needs shot maker & every team needs role players.
    Its about building a strong roster.



    MLW

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly. But is hard to sell that vision to young kids who were too dogs on their high school teams. There's not the same premium placed on winning anymore either. Some would rather play 30 minutes a game at a middling program than 20 win a contender.

      Delete
  7. Mariya surprises me and yet it dosent at the same time. Ciera would have definitely seen increased minutes bur Dallas is a long way from Louisville and I know how close she is to her parents, who are awesome btw. Brianna is less shocking but will miss her just the same. These are quality people. Their leaving won't change that. Work hard where ever you go, because no one hands you anything in life. Best wishes!

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  8. Just my opinion. Fifteen players is not fair to players. Again, just my not very humble opinion. Walz told C. Johnson she was the missing piece. You could tell from the McDonalds game she was not what we needed. Walz is getting overrated players in here that don't live up to there ratings C. Johnson, B. Jones. and can't help us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He and his staff evaluated a player that was rated high in their list and the lists of other schools and evaluators of women's basketball. I guess I'm trying to figure out what did Walz do wrong? She had already signed her letter of intent by the time the McDonald's game came around, so he pulls her scholarship because she didn't perform well in an all-star game? Ciera would have been in line to start this year if she worked this off season and progressed. I don't get your logic. He shouldn't go out and try to sign the players he thinks can make a difference in his program and build depth, although he promises them nothing, because it's not fair to have players come in and have to compete to play? Where is the responsibility of the player, the parents, their high school and AAU coaches to help them make the best decision?
      I think what's happening to some degree with out recruiting is we're going after, like all programs, the very very top tier players and with the exception of Asia, were just missing out on those girls, but were getting the mid-tier five star players who aren't as sure things as the top level and so while our class rankings look great, we're not seeing difference makers, again with the exception of Asia, emerge from these groups. And I'm specifically talking about the 2015 and 2016 classes.

      But I'm still trying to figure out how a coach fielding a team, giving no promises of playing time, but saying he we want you here and if you come in and work hard good things will happen for you is being unfair to the recruits.

      Delete
  9. She (ciera johnson) was home sick because she would have started the up and coming season.

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    Replies
    1. Johnson needed to lose about 25-30 pounds to be effective. She needed to develop a better set of hands. I hope she'll take this into consideration wherever she ends up. I hope she has a great rest-of-college-career but she MUST do the work to acheive it, not expect a team to adjust to her.

      Paulie

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  10. It's not a matter of Walz doing anything wrong. He just isn't recruiting enough kids good enough to get close to the final four.
    Thus highly rated players leave because they don't pan out.

    ReplyDelete

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