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Monday, March 19, 2012

Monday Cardinal Couple - Terrapins next for Lady Cards.

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MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


-Maryland next challenge for Lady Cards


The University of Louisville women's basketball team will play the #2 seeded Maryland Terrapins Monday night at 7 p.m. in the Comcast Center on the University of Maryland campus in College Park, MD. 


At stake is a trip to the Sweet Sixteen. 


What will Louisville run into tomorrow night? 


First, they're facing a Terrapins team that won the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, NC. - defeating Georgia Tech 68-65 back on March 4th. 


As the automatic bid from the ACC and finishing with a 28-4 regular season record, Maryland received a #2 seed and defeated Navy in 1st round tournament action 59-44 on March 17th. Alyssa Thomas led Maryland with 17 points and 10 rebounds in the outing and Laurin Mincy added 14. 


They also got the advantage of staying home for their first two NCAA games. Home has been good to Maryland this season - they're 14-2 in the Comcast Center - losing to only Virginia Tech and Miami there.


Maryland is on a eight-game winning streak their last loss coming to the aforementioned Miami back on Feb. 12th. Miami beat the Terrapins twice this season and Duke defeated them in Cameron. Three of the losses came by eight points and one by two points (Miami at Comcast). 


Numerous awards for Brenda Frese's players at the end of the regular and conference championship season. 

--Alyssa Thomas - ACC Player of the year, First Team All-ACC and ACC Tournament MVP.
--Tianna Hawkins - Second team All-ACC, ACC All-Tournament team
--Lynetta Kizer - ACC Sixth Player of the Year, All-ACC Honorable Mention. 
--Brene Moseley - ACC All-Freshman Team
--Alicia DeVaughn - ACC All-Defensive team


The Terps have four players that average in double figure scoring...Thomas (17.4), Mincy (12.8), Hawkins (12.0) and Kizer (11.2). Hawkins grabs 9.2 rebounds a game and Thomas 8.1. Maryland's rebounding margin of +14.1 is second in the nation. 


Maryland is also in the top ten in the NCAA in scoring offense, field goal percentage, scoring margin and assists. 


Lofty figures and accolades for Brenda Frese's team. She's been to the Big Dance eight of her 10 years at Maryland...going 17-6. She has three Elite Eights to her credit an a National Championship in 2006. This is the fifth time Maryland has been a #2 seed in the NCAA Women's Tournament under Frese. 


Jeff Walz was an assistant and associate coach for six years under Frese (Five at Maryland and one at Minnesota) and left after the title to take the Louisville job. He is 1-0 against Maryland, defeating them 77-60 back on March 30th, 2009 in the Elite Eight in Raleigh.


What must Louisville do to defeat the Maryland Terrapins? WE'LL offer five categories where the Lady Cards need to do well.


1) Rebound. The Terps are strong on the boards. Louisville must grab missed Terrapin shots, stop second chance opportunities and get put-backs on missed UofL field goal attempts.


2) Shoot well. Over 40% against Michigan State was a good number. The Cards will need to reach that or better to defeat Maryland. Burke needs to be "on" from long range and Schimmel and Smith can't have 3-13 nights.


3) Stop the Terps' inside offensive game. Thomas, Hawkins and Kizer all can go to the basket and score inside. Louisville must prevent the pass into the interior and contest shots that occur from in the paint. The defense has looked good lately for Louisville. It will need to be great tonight.


4) Avoid "dead" stretches. The Cards scored only eight points in the final nine minutes against MSU. That won't cut it against the high-scoring Terrapins. 


5) Create turnovers. The Louisville back-court is just as good, maybe a bit better than Maryland's. The Lady Cards need to apply pressure, get steals and make it difficult for Mincy to score and Barrett to create assists. 


We'll have a full recap of the game after the action tonight and try to provide a halftime report. Be sure to check out CARDINAL COUPLE for the results and analysis of Monday night's game and....GO CARDS!
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6 comments:

  1. Shades of last year! 7 seed, going up against a tough 2 seed on their homecourt, not many giving the ladies a snowball's chance in he**! I'm sure Coach Walz has some kind of game plan, up to the girls to execute it. Believe an upset is entirely possible as long as they stay focused!
    L1C4!!!
    Stark61

    ReplyDelete
  2. Survive and advance, that is the name of the game. I do not know what kind of Coach leads the Terrapins, but I do know about our Coach. Coach Walz is one of the best in the business when it comes to game plans, studying the opponent and playing to take them out of the game. That being said, he is going to give us a heck of an opportunity to win this game. His mind in this facet of the game amazes me. Look at the '09 run. We beat teams all along March Madness that "should have" beat us. The kids have to implement it game time, but no doubt he will have them as ready as he can.
    Coach the hell out of, Coach Walz. This is your time to showcase your mind for the game.
    Go Cards, beat Maryland!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Coach the hell out of *them, Coach Walz"

      Delete
  3. Is there any information about an alternate local channel from ESPN2 except for ESPN.go or 3 ?

    As they are announcing that UConn is going to be the primary game with whip around to others.

    Sandy W

    ReplyDelete
  4. The map of coverage that ESPN sent out indicates the state of ky will see the entire u of l game. Course, it showed that on Saturday, too, and once the score got out of hand they started he whip around. I do have a link, I'll go get it and come back in a minute.
    Jenny

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Direct tv 731
      Dish 146
      Dish full court 457
      None of which I have.
      I could not get the link to post( Paul ident it to u, can you post it)? It shows a coverage map and it clearly states the u of l game will be aired in its entirety, a protected market game.
      Jenny

      Delete

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