Louisville women's basketball -- Durr honorable mention AP...Newbauer to Florida...WE have a Final Four--Tuesday CARDINAL COUPLE

Asia Durr was named to the AP All-American honorable mention team on Monday. A nice recognition for the Douglasville, GA sophomore...who led the Cards in scoring at 19.2 ppg and sank 119 threes during the season. Asia broke the previous record for threes...held by Shoni with 118 in the 2013-14 season. Asia was second in the NCAA in threes made. 

Durr led the Cards in baskets made for 2016-17 with 233. She also led the team in steals...with 46. 

Big things ahead, no doubt, for the Cards guard. When one looks back on the 2016-17 season...the image of Durr knocking down threes will certainly come to mind. 

Asia shot .424 from the field for Louisville this season and .405 from the three-point line. She was also one of the most productive from the free throws line with a 78% success rate. 

No Cards were selected for the Wooden Award teams. 

As a by-line, I was on the Louisville First show with Howie Lindsey and Matt Wilinger this morning. The topic turned to a starting line-up for Louisville WBB next year. (Is it too early to think of such things? We thought not...) Howie came up with Durr, Mariya Moore, Myisha Hines-Allen, Kylee Shook and Dana Evans. I can see that...but I think you may have to consider a healthy Arica Carter and Ciera Johnson....as well as the talented Jazmine Jones into that candidate pool. 

What say you, Cardinal Couple readers? 


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Cameron "Cam" Newbauer has been named as the next head women's basketball coach at Florida. Newbauer, who was an assistant at Louisville from 2011-13, is the first male coach in the history of the program. Another Walz protege gets a bump. 



Newbauer achieved great success at Belmont University...where he went after working with Walz...in his four seasons there. He complied a record of 51-14 (29-3 in the Ohio Valley) over the last two seasons and led the Bruins to the NCAA Tournament twice. 

The Bruins' athletic director...Scott Stricklin...seems pleased with the hire: 

“Cameron Newbauer brings energy, vision and an incredible work ethic to the University of Florida. In addition to developing well-coached teams, he’s a hard-charger when it comes to recruiting and fan engagement,” Scott Stricklin of his first coaching hire since becoming the Gators’ athletic director. “He’s coached in our league with Georgia and coached in the Final Four with Louisville. As a head coach, Cameron’s built the Belmont program and led them to back-to-back NCAA berths. I share his confidence that he can build Florida women’s basketball into a conference and national contender, and look forward to Cameron, Sarah and their family joining the Gators.”

Cam will have his initial work cut out for him. The Gators went 15-16 last season and graduates three players. Three of the top four scorers are gone...with the transfer of Eleanna Christinaki to Maryland. 

UF's new coach will have some tools to work with in three returning starters, led by All-SEC freshman guard Delicia Washington, plus the addition of transfer point guard Funda Nakkasoglu, who averaged 19.1 points per game at Utah State in '15-16 on her way to first-team All-Mountain West Conference honors. UF will return guard Simone Westbrook, a starter on the '16 NCAA tourney squad who missed the entire season following knee surgery last summer 

Prior to joining Walz, Newbauer spent four years with Andy Landers at Georgia as an assistant. Landers, now retired, has been seen on TV quite a bit recently as one of the analysts for the NCAA women's college basketball tournament. 

Congratulations to Cam! A great guy whose trajectory continues to soar. If anyone can draw talent to the Gators in the extremely competitive SEC...it's Cam. 


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The Final Four for NCAA women's college basketball was set last evening with UConn rolling over Oregon 90-54 and South Carolina holding off Florida State 71-64. 

Stanford, Mississippi State, Connecticut and South Carolina are your Final Four participants. Two #1 seeds and two #2 seeds. 

Not that hard a stretch to come up with these four...although no one in our Cardinal Couple contest had all four in the Final Four. Three people did have 3 out of 4. 

LEADERBOARD. 

51-9 The Deb Factor, Cliff

50-10  Curtis F. 

49-11 Charlie Mc., Kenny S. 

All five have UConn winning. Charlie Mc. and Cliff have three of the Final Four. Deb, Kenny S. and Curtis have 2 of the 4 finalist. 

Cliff has Stanford vs. UConn in the title game.

Charlie Mc has South Carolina and UConn

Deb had Florida St. vs UConn 

Kenny S. had Notre Dame and UConn

Curtis F. had UConn and Notre Dame. 




paulie
xxxxx

10 questions...Catching up with Cam Newbauer...Thursday Cardinal Couple

Catching up with Cam

To celebrate the return of former UofL WBB assistant
Cameron Newbauer to the KFC YUM Center as the head
coach of the Belmont Bruins...we contacted him and 
asked ten questions. He graciously and quite eloquently
sent us this.

Enjoy!  

( We apologize in advance for the formatting in today's
CARDINAL COUPLE.)

1) Your feelings on returning to the KFC YUM! Center?

CAM:"I am very excited about our trip to the 'Ville               tomorrow night. Sarah and I have so many great                  memories...from our time there and Sarah and I are             looking forward to... seeing some good friends and great 

people. We do understand this is a "business trip" and know  it's one heck of a challenge for our team but our players      are excited for the opportunity to play in such an                  atmosphere." 

 
2) Who should we look for as your key players on the court  against Louisville? 

CAM:"We have seven seniors on our team and we rely pretty heavily on them. However after our last game, we will be making some adjustments to our starting lineup.  Players to watch would be #13 Luffman-Hartsfield, #50 Sally McCabe, and #3 Frankie Joubran. 
 
3) Your a dad ! Tell us about that.

CAM: "The birth of Chloe Joy has been such a 
blessing to Sarah and I! Cannot even begin to explain how   amazing the experience has been. She will be making the    trip tomorrow night as well but unfortunately she'll be        dressed in Navy & Red." 
 
4) What coaching skills you picked up from Coach Walz have helped you the most? 

CAM: "Really learned a lot from Coach Walz. As you all know   he is one of the best coaches in the country and his game tactics and brilliant. Jeff Walz taught me the importance of keeping your players loose on thegame days and not letting them get so uptight...you want them to be happy on game day! There are a number of plays, drills & game strategies    I have stolen from him as well. Jeff continues to be a great mentor plus a great resource for me." 

 
5) What will it take to turn Belmont into a major player on the NCAA scene? 

 
CAM: "It's hard to turn a mid-major program into perennial NCAA tourney teams. But that is the challenge that excited me about this job. The key will be recruiting the right type of players who believe in what we are doing and the vision we have....as I learned a couple of years ago against Baylor If you players believe it, they can achieve it." 
 
6) Your fondest memory of your time here? 

CAM: "WE BEAT BAYLOR! And went to the Final Four.            Really was so impressed with the fan support and how         incredible Card Nation truly is." 
 
7) A funny anecdote or story during your time here? 

CAM: Off the top of my head, can't think of any really          funny stories for some reason right now but I have a 
lot. Just drawing a blank on my best one. 

( EDITOR'S NOTE...I'll embarrass myself here and admit

that I referred to Coach as "Cam Cameron" in a few of

my articles when he was here. Old guy syndrome...) 

8) What you love about being the Belmont head coach? 

CAM:  "I truly love the players I get to coach every day.  Are exceptional student-athletes and are a lot of fun to coach.  It is great to face challenges with them and doing all I can to try and help lead us to where we have never been before"  

9) What were you thinking..scheduling both Louisville and 

Kentucky? 

CAM:  "Haha! "

Well our players like challenges, big challenges, I guess you could say. I think it's a great opportunity playing....in such neat environments with big crowds.  The David and Goliath mentality I suppose you could say and it's also just a fun     experience for our team. Additionally, those two games are NCAA tournament atmospheres... hopefully... preparing ourselves for the future. 
 
10) How do you beat Louisville? (without giving away game plan, etc...)

CAM:  "Well, they are very athletic and they do use that to their advantage ... how they play on both ends of the floor. We must limit our turnovers because TOs lead to transition points in most cases. We also need to do our best to limit

 their offensive rebounds. They have a lot of size and length so we must keep them off the glass if we are to have that  chance."

( We sincerely appreciate Coach taking the time to share these thoughts and answers with us & hope Belmont can go the rest of the season undefeated...beginning Fri.) 

Thanks to Louisville asst SID Ira Green for the following info 

THE SERIES – Belmont vs. Louisville



THE LOVELY AND TALENTED MARIYA
MOORE IS AVERAGING 17 PPG ! 
The Cardinals boast a 1-0 all-time record against the Bruins after posting an 80-51 victory in Freedom Hall on Dec. 16, 2006. Chauntise Wright came off the bench and totaled 21 points and seven rebounds in 14 minutes. Angel McCoughtry registered five of the team’s 14 steals and helped UofL force 23 Belmont turnovers. Shaunda Strayhorn had a team-high 12 points to pace Belmont, which shot just 30 percent (18 of 60) from the field.








GAME FACTS - Belmont at Louisville 
Date: Thursday, Nov. 20
Time: 7:05 p.m. ET
Site: KFC Yum! Center/Crum Court (22,000), Louisville, Ky.
Video: The game will be available on CardsTV through GoCards.com.
Radio: WKRD 790 AM will broadcast the game, with Matt Andrews (play-by-play) and Adrienne Johnson (analyst) calling the action.
Series History: UofL leads the all-time series 1-0 (1-0 in Louisville). Louisville defeated Belmont 80-51 on Dec. 16, 2006, in Freedom Hall.
Next UofL Game: Sunday, Nov. 23 vs. Ball State in KFC Yum! Center, 2 p.m. ET

Which Belmont team will show up Thursday night? -- Wednesday Cardinal Couple

OVC Preseason # 1 looking to get untracked

Ex-Cardinal WBB assistant coach Cam Newbauer will bring his 0-2 Belmont Bruins to the KFC YUM! Center Thursday night to face the Louisville Cardinals at 7 p.m.

The Bruins have lost a couple of close ones...playing well against Vanderbilt in Memorial Gym and being tied 58-58 with 2:07 remaining...only to see the Commodores go on a 7-0 run to win 65-58. The victory just wasn't there next time out in the Bruins home game against North Alabama either..falling 72-69 late after getting within 1 at 70-69 with six seconds left and missing a potential tying three at the buzzer. 



This Bruin team is a senior-laden squad...seven of them on the roster and two of them leading the way. 6'1" forwards Frankie Joubran (Soph) and Jordyn Luffman-Hartsfield (Sr) lead the way in scoring with freshman center Sally McCabe. Luffman-Hartsfield went for 22 against Vandy and Jouban riddled North Alabama for 17. McCabe, who's 6'3", was in double figures in both games. Senior guard Taylor Mills  is a three-point specialist along with Luffman-Hartsfield...the Bruins attempt 27 of them a game.

Coach Cam is knowledgeable of the Walz system and has had a couple of days..."interesting practices" as he calls it since the North Alabama loss to teach his team how to react to it. 

JLH can light it up from three point land. 

Which Belmont team will show up? The squad that went on the road (well..across town, at least) and nearly beat a strong SEC squad? Or the team that fell at home to a DII team in North Alabama...who barely beat Bellarmine by two? (Not saying Bellarmine isn't good this year...but...). 

Freshman center McCabe has been
impressive in two outings. 

So...Can Cam jam the wham and slam that Sara "Ham" and "the coaches Sam" plan to ram as these Bruin madams cram for this exam? 

Once again, I'll be happy with a 20+ Louisville win. And with 9,000 in the seats. I don't ask for much, huh? 

I have "reached out" to coach Cam to do a little "Q" and "A" with us for tomorrow's article. There is interest there from him. We hope it comes to fruition. He was great on Walz's radio show last night. We hope he's 'not-so-great' Thursday night... but great after this one for the rest of the year. The Bruins also face Kentucky, Georgia and WKU in their pre-conference schedule. 

They should nominate the man for sainthood status...

paulie

Tuesday Cardinal Couple -- Shoni pleased, Walz prepping.

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Walz, Schimmel address media

-Newbauer accepts Belmont position

For someone who had just completed three intensive days of basketball, flown across country and even attended class on Monday...Shoni Schimmel looked fresh as a daisy and ready to go out and pop threes for several hours.

She and Jeff Walz answered various questions from the media yesterday in the SAC and both seemed quite pleased with the way things had been going lately.

Schimmel is excited about being selected to the 12 player USA Women's World University Games team roster and related that all she did was go out and play as hard and as smart as she could during the trials. She also added that draining five or six threes in a row during competition probably didn't hurt her chances.

The selection list announcement had her a bit nervous and confused at first. The committee was going in alphabetical order and she was the second to last one named to the team...the final being Odyssey Sims. Technically, Bria Smith was still alive in the naming, too...for the last spot...but the Baylor guard got the nod.

When asked how she and Sims got along, Shoni smiled and commented, "Pretty good, actually."

I asked Shoni if playing against quite a few of the players involved in the tryouts over her career helped her in preparation for trying to gain a spot. She replied that it wasn't so much that...but playing with them during the sessions is what she believed helped her make the squad.

Shoni will tell you, she likes to play and that is what she goes out there to do. It has reaped pretty good rewards for her. A first trip ever to Russia coming up in a couple of months. The chance to shine on the world's stage. And being on a roster that includes seven other guards and "even bigs that can step outside and light it up"....according to her.

She also mentioned that Bria and Sara were excited for her selection and helped her celebrate...something that she noted some of the other players on other teams didn't seem as excited when their teammates, but not them, got selected. The mere experience of getting invited to participate with such a select group of college players is quite an honor in itself. It will be most beneficial to all three Cardinals who took part in the sessions.

Shoni also mentioned that several parents of the players and a few recruits complimented her and the squad on their magical run to the NCAA Championship game. When asked how many autographs she has been asked to provide over the last couple of months...she grinned broadly, in that unmistakable Shoni style, and replied:

"You'd be surprised..."

A fun summer ahead for the illustrious Shoni, doing what she loves best...playing the game.

Something she does quite well.

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Jeff Walz is a humble man.

When asked if he would follow in Coach Pitino's footsteps and own a few thoroughbreds or Derby contenders...he smiled and replied that it would more likely be a couple of plow mules in his case. He's not ready to enter the world of horse-racing ownership.

He also dowplayed his role in helping get Cameron Newbauer primed and ready for his first coaching job...explaining that it was the incredible group of young ladies that drew the attention of the world to Louisville women's basketball and eventually Newbauer. He is proud and happy for Cameron, proud of all three assistants that have left his tutelage and assumed head coaching roles...but insists that his role in getting them there was based on what they wanted to achieve in terms of future goals and how he could help them get there. A true sign of humility and unselfishness. 

Walz also explained that there is no secret system or magical strategy involved in his successes and runs he has had at Louisville. He defers to the teaching that Paul Sanderford provided him when he was an assistant at Western and Nebraska and insists that the most important thing he learned was just how to "roll with it" as the game progresses. 

He also doesn't expect the proposed 10 second rule for women's college basketball will change the game dramatically. Maybe a bit at the end if a team is trying to protect a lead and can no longer dawdle in the backcourt for 15-20 seconds...but not for the majority of a contest. 

He is excited about Emmonnie Henderson, Janelle Cannon and Starr Breedlove arriving on campus to join the returning team and thinks they'll provide depth and immediate rewards for the squad. When pressed about the potential depth of sixteen players being a great benefit to Louisville...Walz gently reminded the questioner that he had similar teams with just as apparent depth but things can happen and he is choosing to take a wait and see approach on how things turn out.

Roll with it.

Walz maybe satisfied with mules in the field...but the championship fillies he'll have on the hardwood will provide Cardinal WBB fans with plenty of happy returns and exciting wins.  

A link below with Walz discussing Shoni's selection:
It'll get you to the main video page and you can go to
"Sports" and check out Walz's words.


WALZ ON SHONI'S WUG SELECTION

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Cameron Newbauer made his acceptance speech at Belmont this afternoon and displayed a nice sense of humor in his opening remarks. Here's a link to Cam's words:

Cameron Newbauer talks about being head coach


-Paulie


--

Friday Cardinal Couple -- Cards hope third time is charm

FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Softball faces IPFW in Louisville NCAA Regional

-Three named to NFCA All-Great Lakes Region team

-Cameron Newbauer named Belmont head coach


Julie Hermann was fond of speaking about a sense of urgency around the UofL campus when it came to sports. Sandy Pearsall is a firm believer of taking games one at a time. So, can you combine urgency and systematic approaches when it comes to advancing in the NCAA softball tournament?

For Louisville, hopefully the answer will be yes. The Cards begin their quest to get to the WCWS (Women's College World Series) tonight when they take on the Mastadons of Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne at 7:30 p.m. in Ulmer Stadium.

The regional also represents the third title that the Cards will try for in the 2013 season. Louisville appeared to be in the driver's seat for the BIG EAST regular season crown...but a rough weekend in South Bend to end the regular season left the Cards in third place in the regular season standings. UofL came into the BIG EAST Tournament in Tampa, FL last weekend looking for redemption and blasted Syracuse over into the Gulf of Mexico briny deep with a 12-3 shellacking. The homestanding Bulls thwarted the Cards chances of getting to the title game, though...blanking the Louisville bats in a 3-0 win en route to the BIG EAST Tournament title.

Round three approaches. The Louisville lineup, filled with powerful hitters from leadoff to ninth batter, will look to bombard Brandeis Avenue behind the left field fence as they try to advance to a 2 p.m. semifinal date Saturday.

If you're sitting out on the grassy knoll behind the outfield, a hard hat or motion sensing device might not be a bad idea. Louisville led the BIG EAST in home runs and with fence swingers Maggie Ruckenbrod, Alicja Wolny, Taner Fowler, Katelyn "Mannie" Mann and Katie Keller capable of saying goodbye to Mr. Spalding at any time...the Mastadons might need radar tracking devices to keep sight of the flights and the Cardinals' ability to clear the bags.

UAB and UCLA start it off at 5 p.m. Louisville is offering a free shuttle bus from Papa John's Stadium to Ulmer Stadium for fans from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m....in case you're looking to avoid the $5 parking fee closer to the stadium.

See you at Ulmer.

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Alicja Wolny and Katie Keller were named to the NFCA All-Great Lakes Region First Team yesterday and Maggie Ruckenbrod received second team honors.

What Louisville and its' vicinity to the Great Lakes have in common is anyone's guess...but it's still quite a huge honor for these three softball Cards.

ALICJA WOLNY, a senior from El Dorado Hills, CA., was also selected for the first team last year. She's been a four-year starter and four-year member of the All-BIG EAST Conference team. Wolny led the Cards with a .417 batting average and had 10 home runs, 52 RBI's and scored 39 runs. If Katy Perry had been a Cardinal Softball season ticket holder, Wolny probably would have batted .600 and had 30 fence clearers. The steady first baseman for the Cards is also the team leader when it comes to advice, confidence and style.

KATIE KELLER, a junior second baseman from Livermore, CA. is also a two-time All-Great Lakes Region selection. She hit for .412 in 2013 and set a school single season record with 54 RBI's. Her 12 home runs led Louisville this season and she was selected as the USA Softball National Player of the Week this year as well. "Killer" Keller also plays a mean second base defensively and it's also reported that the Louisville International Airport air controllers have requested that special tracking devices get implanted in the softballs when Keller comes to bat....so they can identify the moon shots and not get them confused with meteors...

MAGGIE RUCKENBROD, a junior hailing from St. Louis, MO. is batting .349 in 57 games and has seven home runs, 40 RBI's and 35 hits. "Large Marge" also knows a thing or two about catching and baserunners who think about stealing on her usually regret the decision if they attempt it. She has thrown out 15 thieves this season and picked off 10 slow-to-react base dwellers. She holds the school record for season and career pick off and stealers retired. We're not sure if it's true or not, but it is rumored that the Louisville Metro Police Department anxiously awaits her graduation so  they can add her to the Crime Prevention Unit. No one steals when Large Marge is around.

In this columnist opinion, center fielder Jordan Trimble should have been the fourth Card to receive NFCA All-Great Lakes Region honors. She's a prime-time, tournament star...however and you can expect her to rattle some fences and shake the confidence of a few pitchers over the weekend.

Congratulations to our Softball stars!! Keep it up, ladies.

Readers, please try to get out to Ulmer tonight and this weekend to cheer on your softball Cards. One of the most common themes I've run into when talking to these incredible ladies that make up the UofL Softball team is the joy, excitement and delight they feel when they see the seats and outfield watching areas packed with red-clad fans.

You help them be what they are.

Make them great this weekend.

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Louisville assistant women's basketball coach Cameron Newbauer is headed to Belmont.

No, not the third leg of horse racing's triple crown. The university in Nashville, Tennessee. As the head coach.

Cam was a Louisville assistant for one year under Jeff Walz before taking the plunge and accepting the head position at Belmont University.

Cam is a rising, young star of women's college basketball coaches. He was instrumental in getting the University of Louisville women's basketball team to the National Championship game in 2013. His knowledge of skills, defense and fundamentals were a great help to the Cards in his one season here.

Another success story springs from the coaching tree that is Jeff Walz. We figured his time here at UofL was limited, at best....a man with so much talent and expertise doesn't stay un-recruited and ignored for long.

The wheels got into motion when Belmont head coach Brittney Ezell resigned April 28th. after three seasons to take the East Tennessee State head coaching job. Newbauer was an obvious choice and accpeted yesterday. A press conference is scheduled for Monday.

We have a feeling it's not the last stop on Cam's rise to head coaching. Recognition of talent and skill is always rewarded.

We wish Cam the best of luck with Belmont...he was always a great interview and know he'll be successful in this...his first head coaching opportunity.  



-Paulie


--

Monday Cardinal Couple - UofL women ready for ACC Golf?

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Cards and ACC women's golf

-Louisville WBB 9-1. Not too shabby.

When the Louisville Cardinals join the ACC in 2014, the women's golf team will have three established veterans on the squad and three promising members of the 2013 recruiting class.

Katie Petrino, Emily Haas and Sara Karlsson will be seniors then and all three have been steady contributors since their arrival on campus. Coach Courtney Trimble has also inked three golfers due to arrive on campus next fall who have very impressive credentials.

Louise Oxner

Louise Oxner, from Greenville, SC is a Palmetto state two time champion. Emily Kurey out of Alpharetta, GA was second in the state last year and has won four major junior golf events throughout the south over the past couple of years. Shannon Gramley, from Shady Side Academy, PA is a two-time Pennsylvania state champ. These three look to be golfers that can come in and contribute right away for Trimble and the Cards and will have a year of experience in their bags when the Cards join the ACC.

Emily Kurey

Women's golf is a little different than the other ACC (and BIG EAST) sports in the nature of the season. Teams play in classics and tournaments and there are no two-team contests...like basketball, softball or field hockey have. The schools gather for a tournament at the end of the season to determine the conference champ...but there is no regular season title at stake.

The ACC had nine schools field teams (including Maryland) in 2012 and Duke won the ACC Women's Golf Championship. Seven of the teams qualified for the NCAA tournament regionals.

Shannon Gramley

Besides Duke...UNC, NC State, Virginia, Florida State, Wake Forest, Miami and Boston College field teams. Duke was ranked #4 as of November 30th...UNC #9, Virginia #16 and NC State #19. Notre Dame will add to ACC strength, ranked #17. The Cards were #58. Future members Syracuse or Pitt do not field field women's golf teams.

Emily Haas

How the tournaments and events that Louisville will participate in over the next couple of years set up probably won't change too much. The level of competition come tournament time, though...looks to be much stronger than the Cards have been facing in the BIG EAST...where they finished third in the tournament this fall.

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The Louisville women's basketball team (9-1) is ranked at #8 in the nation as the Cards prepare to spend a little time on Fall semester finals...then games on Friday and then next Tuesday and Friday before getting 10 days off for Christmas break.

Despite this success, there has been dialouge here (and on other sites) about the effectiveness of Jeff Walz's coaching style. Namely, the game against Kentucky...where the Cats came back from a 14 point deficit to win in the KFC YUM! Center.

Coach Walz will tell you that he will do what he and the staff feel is necessary to win games. We agree and trust fully in the options and style of play that the Lady Cards employ in their contests.

Witness the DePaul Blue Demons. They went into the Kentucky game Friday night with Doug Bruno (DePaul head coach) thinking they could run with UK.

Big mistake. UK 96 - DePaul 64.

Louisville, on the other hand, knew the Cats strength and turned it into a defensive struggle. They held UK to 48 points...their lowest point total of the year. Even Baylor gave up 51 to UK.

(Photo by Charlie Springer - UofL Card Game)

Walz has also developed his bench into players that can come in and produce immediately. Witness the improvement of Jude Schimmel and Nita Slaughter this season. Sherrone Vails and Cortnee Walton had strong games against Valpo and there's nothing to suggest that those two won't continue to contribute as the season goes on.

Still, the griping about Walz continues.

We hope the Louisville women's basketball fans realize what a great coach and staff the Lady Cards have. We hope that they are here a long time. The women's college basketball world realizes it...with Bethann Ord and Michelle Clark-Heard getting head coaching jobs after several years of Walz's tuteledge. Cam Newbauer is being groomed for a head coaching spot down the road as well and so is Samantha Williams. Both will make great head coaches someday. Stephanie Norman has been with Walz since he arrived here. Coach Steph is equally responsible for the Cards success over the last five years and she's probably had offers to have her own program as well. We'd hate to see her go as well.

The old adage is that you don't miss what you've got until it's gone. We hope we don't have to worry about that in regards to the UofL head coach and his staff for a very long time.

Sonja and I have sat through the lean years of Louisville women's basketball in the past. We endured the losses to Western, UK and lesser schools like FIU, Oakland, Evansville and Chattanooga. We have no desire to re-visit those days. We're confident that under the leadership of Jeff and staff, we won't.

The Cardinal football team implores you to "get on the train". We ask you to "enjoy the Sho" and quit tearing down the "Walz". (Sorry about the steal from the late President Reagan when he pleaded "Tear down that wall, Mr. Gorbechev" )

9-1. #8 in the nation. Not too shabby, Cardinal fans. Beats a double-digit loss to UNC-Charlotte any day of the week. We recall travelling to Muncie, IN back in 2002 to see the UofL women's team play Ball State in the first round of the WNIT and lose. That's when things were rough. Sometimes a glimpse into the past makes one realize how good you've got it currently. 

You've got it good, Cardinal WBB fans. Appreciate it.
.
.

...

.
MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


-IU vs UofL in WBB: Why not? 


-Cards south of the border


(David Watson has the Monday Cardinal Couple for you. As usual, he's got questions. Enjoy) 

The campuses of Indiana University and the University of Louisville are only about 90 minutes apart but they've only met in women's basketball nine time in 37 years. Only three of these meetings have been on the Cards home court, all wins. The series record is, coincidentally, 3-6 in favor of IU. The two haven't met since the 2005-06 season, under Tom Collen, when Louisville won 72-67 in Freedom Hall. Helen Johnson had 20 points that night for the Cards and Katie Olson and Missy Taylor added 12 points each. 


Isn't it time for these two to get together again? 

There have been a few changes in Bloomington. Following a 6-24 season in 2011-12, the Hoosiers decided to change coaches and brought Curt Miller on board. A good move. Curt is the 16th winningest coach by percentage in NCAA D1 history. 258-92 (.737) 


Wins are good, IU. Have some.


Curt goes westward from Bowling Green, where he also accomplished a 100% graduation rate in 11 years and a team G.P.A. that never dropped below 3.0 


Knowledge is good also, Curt, Good job. 

UofL assistant coach
Cam Newbauer has
a little sister who plays
at IU. 

The Hoosier are probably tired of being the laughingstock of Big 10 women's basketball. 1-15 last year probably didn't have them lining up early to get into Assembly Hall. Since Tom Crean is busy with turning the men's program around, the brain-trust at IU probably figured that if one change is good, two just might be better. Enter Curt, Exit Felicia. 


It may not be easy at first for Curt. He's losing three out of his top four scorers via graduation. Two players of note that I'm guessing will be back are Andrea Newbauer and Quaneishia McCurdy. 


Newbauer is UofL assistant coach Cameron Newbauer little sister. She got around 28 minutes a game last year and will be a senior in the upcoming season. She was a terrific guard in IU high school hoops. 

Quaneishia McCurdy was an early verbal to UofL back in her high school days at Dalton, GA. She suddenly changed her mind and announced that she was signing with IU. At 6'5" she has the height to be effective in the post. She may have glanced at the UofL roster, though and realized she'd be an after-thought in the playing rotation. In her freshman season at IU last year, she played about 15 minutes a game and averaged around five points a contest. 


It's time to span the bridge and get these two schools playing again. An IU game would probably draw a few more into the YUM! than Gardner-Webb or Austin Peay.


Jeff, meet Curt. Curt, meet Cam. Cam, call your sister. Shake hands and add each other to your non-conference schedules. 


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UofL WBB is headed to Mexico for hoops before Thanksgiving. CARDINAL COUPLE writer Sandy Walker will have more on that tomorrow. I backed off the article because every time I think of my horrible week in Cancun I get nauseous and run to the bathroom. 


When they tell you that you shouldn't drink the water, that also includes ice in drinks. 


Bleck. 


Stay with the bottled stuff, Shoni and Bria. 


(David Watson is a special correspondent for CARDINAL COUPLE. He also claims he invented the sticky stuff on the back of Post-It notes but we're pretty sure he didn't.) 
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