CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDINAL COUPLE
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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Cards face hot Boilermakers in NCAA WBB 2nd round



TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


-Boilermakers on a win streak as they face UofL

-Caralisa Connell named BIG EAST Softball pitcher of week.

Quentin Voigt with the preview of tonight's Louisville v Purdue NCAA Women's Tournament 2nd round game. GOOD SEATS IN THE END ZONES ARE AVAILABLE FOR JUST $5 FOR THIS GAME. COME TO THE YUM! and GET YOUR TICKETS AT THE BOX OFFICE. THIS IS THE NCAA, FOLKS!


The Purdue Boilermakers have won five in a row coming into tonight's game and six out of their last seven. They are purported to be a tough-nosed team. Purdue brings a 25-8 record into the contest. They were 10-6 in BIG TEN regular season games but came on strong to win the conference tournament.

Coach Sharon Versyp is in her seventh year as Boilermaker boss and her success has been note-worthy. She has had 17 All-BIG TEN performers, three players on the All-BIG TEN Freshman team, six BIG TEN All-Defensive team selections, 11 BIG TEN All-Tournament players (three of then MOP's) and three WNBA draft picks. Just as importantly, 32 of her players have been named Academic All-BIG TEN members, including Lauren Minton -- a Rhodes Scholar finalist.

The 2012-13 team is loaded with talent, including all five of their starters. Leading scorer is 5'6" guard Courtney Moore at 13.5 ppg. 6'2" paint specialist Drey Mingo averages 12.3 ppg and 5'6" guard K.M Houser adds 11.4 a game. 6'2" Sam Osterrella contributes 9.7 ppg and 6'2" Taylor Manual is good for 8.1 ppg. Osterella grabs 10 boards a game and Mingo adds 6 per contest.

Purdue averages 68 ppg, creates 16.1 assists and gets 8.1 steal a night. Losses of note -- UConn 91-57, Notre Dame 74-47, Iowa 62-46, Penn State 69-61, Michigan State 68-61. They also fell to lowly Indiana 62-61.

The Lady Cards chances are good...but they would certainly be boosted by a YUM! Center full of rowdy fans. Louisville needs to ride the momentum of the final 10 minutes against MTSU and play as a unit with the single-minded goal to win.

-Quentin Voigt

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The Purdue team I saw dismantle Liberty does a lot of things well. They crash the boards hard, block out well and Moore had a spectacular scoring performance against the over-matched Liberty Flames. With three 6'2" starters, it'll be interesting to see if Walz stays with his previous starting lineup of Shoni, Bria, Sara, Sherrone and Nita.

The three keys I see to a Cardinal win are another double-digit performance from the "Sho and Mo" show, Vails giving a solid 20 minutes and the Cards hitting 70% or better from the foul line. The Boilermakers should provide Louisville plenty of free throw chances. The Cards must capitalize.

Versyp will probably try to come up with a game plan to limit Shoni's effectiveness. If she does, it'll be up to Smith, Mo, Sara and Nita to step it up. If Nita can find that three-point efficiency she displayed prior to the BIG EAST Tournament...Purdue will have to drop the "stop Shoni" scenario.

I see the Cards advancing to the Sweet Sixteen with a hard-fought 69-63 win. Not that it matters, but a lot of Cards fans were surprised that Purdue got the #4 seed and Louisville the #5 in the region.

Time to start up the redemption train engine again.

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Congrats to Cardinal softball pitcher Caralisa Connell for being selected the BIG EAST Softball Pitcher of the week. She punished both Iowa and Oklahoma last week and held the batters she face to a meager .171 batting average.

Louisville entertains Syracuse this weekend at Ulmer. A Friday doubleheader that starts at 2 p.m. and single game Saturday at noon.

The Cards are #11 in the nation and 26-5 on the season.

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We'll update the CARDINAL COUPLE Pick 'Em challenge in Wednesday's column...after all the second round games have been completed. Like I care. I'm so far behind the leaders...I think I'm in the lead.

Paulie


10 comments:

  1. Paulie - Change the headline...the Boilermakers are facing the Cardinals, not Purdue.

    Seriously, I think we don't win without better outside shooting than we've been showing, and better FT accuracy. How may open looks has Nita had last four or five games, and virtually none have fallen? She's a key if Purdue is able to slow down Shoni. The FT issue speaks for itself. Hope we get a solid 15-20 minutes out of Mo.

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    1. LOL. What headline?

      Thanks for the "catch" Mike...was doing article while watching the improbable but very exciting USF vs. Cal game last night. Incredible comeback by the Bulls to send it to O.T. but the magic didn't last. THe Russian Rocket Inga Orehkova with three clutch free throws. Hoops mania!

      Note to CAL. NEVER foul a three-point shooter twice in the final minute of regulation. TWICE. What are they teaching these girls in college basketball?

      Also. I think I may have a "thing" for the Cal head coach. Reminds me of this skinny. little co-ed I courted for awhile back in the days of my college experience. I'd call it an education but who would I be kidding? Move over, Chris Dailey. Poppa's got a brand new bag. Sonja's new favorite team to hate? Cal. Go figure.

      Paulie

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  2. Hi

    I came across your site while looking for information about UofL women's basketball. I am a big Purdue fan, in all sports, and have enjoyed the volleyball battles my Boliers have had with the Cards the past few years. Most of them, anyway. Great site you have!

    Driving down from West Lafayette for the game tonight with friends. Like the $5 seat idea and will be in one of the endzones. Any tips on close-in parking and pre-game dining around your arena?

    Thanks,

    Molly Y.
    West Lafayette, IN

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    Replies
    1. Well, welcome to the Ville Molly! Highly recommend parking in the Skywalk Garage, which is on Third St. between River Rd. and Main St. It is adjacent to the KFC YUM! Center and offers a enclosed skywalk that leads directly to the arena. I think it's $10 to park there. Easy in, easy out too.

      For food, quite a few great places to eat around the arena. Two favorites of ours are the The Troll Pub and Bearno's Pizza which are next to each other on Second and Main. Next to the Second St. bridge. Also good stuff on Fourth Street Live, which isn't too far from tthe YUM!Center.

      Be safe on your drive and congratulations on your win over Liberty. WE hope your tournament run ends this evening, obviously, but just hoping for an exciting game...which we have no doubt Purdue will provide us.

      Paulie

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    2. I bet you have enjoyed the Volleyball battles since you all have won most of them, but we did get you this year. As the resident Cardinal Couple Volleyball crazy, that made me happy. Plenty of good matchups between the BoilerMakers and the Cards in all sorts of sports over the years. Let's hope this is another great game.

      For dining, I'm a fan of Doc Crowe's on Main between first and second (closer to second), and BBC (Main and 3rd, opposite corner from the arena). And Impellizzeri's makes a mean pizza pie.

      Safe driving in the snow...not much on the ground down here, but I understand farther north the accumulations have been a bit more substantial. I've made the drive up to West Lafayette for Volleyball tournament time a couple of times, so I suspect its been pretty well handled.

      Jeff

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  3. I was extremely disappointed in the turnout Sunday. What a shame that 4,000 fans will turn out for an NCAA men's soccer match in the snow and we can't get 8,000 or better in the greatest arena in the country for an NCAA women's basketball game. What a missed opportunity to show what a great fan base we have to a national television audience. I also think there is a better way to reward priority points. Buying the tickets should not be enough. Using them should score the points.

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    1. More speculation on the priority points system today with the announcment that UofL gets only 1500 or so tix for the Regional men's action in Indy for Friday. The place holds 32,000 for hoops in Lucas Oil Stadium. 1500 is an embarrasment offering.

      Wonder how many Oregon will buy?

      Paulie

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  4. Molly
    It is great that you are driving in for what I hope is a well played game. There are several places to eat to where you can walk after parking - you need to get there early as the closet places fill up. BBG was mentioned and Troll under the bridge as well as Bernero's are all within easy walking distance from the garage. For my $10 I prefer to park in the YUM! Parking garage with entrance on same side as indicated for the other garage. Elevator takes you ro arena lobby.
    Be safe driving down. Bring friends!

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  5. THANKS ALL for the tips and advice. We're leaving in a few. We've written the info down and look forward to the game!

    Molly Y.
    West Lafayette, IN

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  6. It was HAMMER TIME!!!!

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