Lady Cards 78 - Cincinnati 40

Welcome to the THURSDAY EDITION of CARDINAL COUPLE. If your reading this Wednesday night, it's OK...go right ahead!!! We're taking tomorrow off.

Be careful out there today if you're on the roads in the Louisville
area. Ice is everywhere.

CARDS ROLL PAST BEARCATS 78-40

Louisville used an opening 13-0 run and then went on a 15-0 run to lead U.C. 28-4 in the first 13 minutes of the game tonight in the Fifth-Third Arena in Cincinnati to begin BIG EAST play with a convincing victory. The Cards (8-3) used a suffocating 1-2-2 press to force the Bearcats into 31 turnovers and five Cardinals hit double figures tonight.

Louisville got a game opening three from Tia Gibbs and never trailed in the contest. Gibbs had eight of the Cards first eleven points and Monique Reid added four to put the Cards up 13-0. The next 13-0 run saw Sherrone Vails, Becky Burke and Shoni Schimmel take over the scoring.

Burke would go on to have 10 first half points as Louisville actually was outscored 13-12 in the final seven minutes of the first half. Schimmel, Gibbs and Vails eight each for Louisville in the first half. The Cards created 17 first half Cincinnati turnovers with their stifling defensive pressure.

Louisville began the second half with a 6-0 run, then saw the Bearcats go on a 6-0 run with 15:50 to go in the game and the score 46-23. Louisville then took off on a 11-0 run over the next four minutes and led 57-23. The Cards increased that margin to 72-33 after an Antonita Slaughter three with four minutes to go, led by 40 when Shelby Harper hit her first three of the year with 50 seconds in the game and ended up winning by 38.

All eleven who played for Louisville scored. Burke and Reid with 13 each, Gibbs with 11 and Schimmel and Vails 10 to round out the double figure scorers. Slaughter added 7, Keisha Hines had 4 points, Charmaine Tay 4 points, Harper 3, Rachel Story 2 and Polly Harrington 1.

La Toya Johnson did not play because of illness and Asia Taylor sat out the final game of her three game suspension. Both will accompany the team to Las Vegas for the Duel in the Desert classic that starts Saturday.

Louisville shot 29-56 from the field (51%) and 10-24 from three point range. The Cards dished out 21 assists, had 20 turnovers but created 31 Cincinnati miscues and Louisville ended up with 15 steals.

A surprisingly big win on the road against a Cincinnati team that had played Xavier and Dayton fairly close in their two previous losses. The Cards expected a slow down pace from the Bearcats but scored the most points against U.C. this year and held the Bearcats to their lowest point total of the season.

With the expected inclimate weather due to hit the region tonight, let's hope the Cards get out of Cincy safely and to Sin City for the 3 games. Louisville opens against Marist, faces Houston on Sunday and finished with Nebraska on Monday.

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HARPER HITS ONE!

Shelby Harper finally hit her first three of the year as the game ended and we all breathed a sigh of relief here around the radio. She does a lot for the Cards, especially when at the top of the Cardinal 3/4 court press, but the ball just wouldn't go thru the net for her so far this year from long range. She nailed five from beyond the arc last year in Freedom Hall against the Bearcats.

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BATTERED BEARCATS

Cincinnati played all eight players Janelle Elliott had available for action tonight. The Bearcats are going thru similar dire straights that the Cards did last year...with a short bench and not much experience. Shareese U'lis is a talented point guard and Tiffany Turner grabbed a dozen rebounds against Louisville tonight but besides the outside shooting of Shelly Bellman and Reeves, the Bearcats don't have much on the table. Their "slow it down" weave approach on offense will keep them in a few BIG EAST games this year against the lower echelons of the BIG EAST schools like Seton Hall, Providence and maybe Pittsburgh and Villanova...but anyone with an effective press and a decent transition game won't have much trouble with Cincy.

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ASIA RETURNS ON SATURDAY

Glad that Asia Taylor has finally served her suspension and will be back in a Cardinal uniform for the rest of the season. Taylor adds rebounding strength and inside scoring prowess to the Cardinal roster. Plenty of that on the way next year with Cierra Warren, Quaneisha McCurty and Sara Hammond coming in and hopefully a healthy Shawnta Dyer on the court...but the Cards definitely could use Taylor's "paint" skills the rest of this year.

Always a sad thing when a player has to go through this kind of thing...but responsibility is a full time thing, on and off the court. We're confident she's learned from the situation and hope she'll look at the time off as a learning experience and go on and have a great career at the 'Ville.

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A quick quiz...no prize but if you get it right, have another cup of coffee and parade around the computer like you're a champ (or chimp).

Which state has the most teams playing in College Football Bowl Games this year?

a) California

b) Texas

c) Ohio

d) Florida

(No peeking)....

Wait for it....

NO GOOGLING!

.

.

.

.

.

The correct answer is both (b) and (d). FIU, USF, FSU, UCF, Florida and Florida State represent the Sunshine State. UTEP, Baylor, SMU, TCU, Texas Tech and TexasA&M from the Lone Star state. Six each. What's the chances of either state going 6-0?

(Astronomical...)