Friday Cardinal Couple -- Lacrosse ranked #3 in BIG EAST

FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Lacrosse picked to finish third in BIG EAST

- Women's Tennis achieving success


The University of Louisville lacrosse team has been picked to finish third in their final season of the BIG EAST. The BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll has the Cards behind Georgetown and Connecticut. All eight BIG EAST lacrosse coach participated in the voting and were not allowed to vote for their own team or players.

Three Louisville lacrosse players were selected to the All- BIG EAST Preseason team.

MONICA NEGRON was an unanimous selection and was also named the BIG EAST preseason Defensive Player of the year. It's her second season on the squad. She led the BIG EAST in draw controls per game and led the Cards in caused turnovers in 2013. She's a senior.

NIKKI BOLTJA was also a unanimous pick. NB was an All-American selection last year and is the BIG EAST's top returning points earner and goal scorer. She was also an All-BIG EAST selection in 2013 and scored 63 goals in 17 games.
Senior Boltja is the all-time leading goal scorer for UofL.

KAYLIN MORISSETTE makes the All-BIG EAST squad after a successful freshman season where she scored 40 goals and won 66 draw controls. Morissette, from Canada, was part of a highly-heralded freshman class that cracked the Lacrosse starting lineup last year in several positions. 

Coach Kellie Young is understandably proud of the trio:

" THIS IS A WELL-DESERVED HONOR FOR THESE THREE STUDENT-ATHLETES. THEY ARE A PART OF OUR PROGRAM'S CORE, THE WORKER-BEES, PASSIONATE ABOUT THE SPORT AND THEIR TEAM, AND DRIVEN TO SUCCEED."

First up for the Cards is a trip to Duke on Feb. 9th. Coach Young will take 21 letter-winners from last season and a talented incoming class to Durham to battle the #6 Blue Devils. The Cards were 11-6 last season, 8-1 at home but inexplicably left out of the NCAA Tournament.

You can congratulate Nikki, Monica and Kaylin at the Lacrosse Kickoff dinner Saturday night at the PNC Plaza in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium but you need to make that call today.

The University of Louisville women's lacrosse program is hosting its annual Crease Club Banquet and Silent Auction on Feb. 1 at the PNC Club in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.

Tickets for the event can be purchased for $40 apiece by e-mailing executive director of operations, Patty Norton, dennison@louisville.edu, or calling (502) 852-0100. At 4 p.m., doors to the event open and the auction will begin and dinner will be served at 4:30 p.m. The team opening ceremony takes place at 6:30 p.m. Headlining the banquet is Kelly Berger Rabil, a 2013 World Cup gold medalist for Team USA. She was a member of the U.S. Lacrosse Developmental Team in 2005-06 before moving to the Elite team.

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Louisville women's Tennis travels to Chicago Saturday to face DePaul. The Cards are coming  off a 4-0 sweep of Missouri in the ITA Kickoff Weekend, contested in Gainesville, FL.

Fellerhoff and Shine are doing just fine.

Shine teamed with Manuela Velaquez to win 6-4 in doubles and Fellerhoff took the court with Olivia Boesing to capture a 6-2 victory. The Cards also swept all three singles matches...with Fellerhoff, Shine and Elle Stokes getting wins.

Five matches, four points. I will never understand tennis scoring.

Louisville returns home for Bass-Rudd action beginning Feb. 6th. against Morehead. Evansville visits on Feb. 8th. and Cincinnati comes in on Feb. 9th.

paulie
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Cardinal Couple - Thursday

THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( JEFF MCADAMS has returned to the land of the ice and snow and muses today on softball, basketball recruits and volleyball...)



I know what single digit temperatures make me think of, how about you?

Softball!

OK, maybe not, but Softball season is rapidly approaching with the first pitch of the season only 9 days away.  Consequently, we've had a lot of Softball news hits in the past couple of days.

Pre-season Polls

The first poll to be released was the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (based right here in Louisville), where the Cardinals come in at 19th.  Other teams appearing in the poll that Louisville will face include Michigan at 5th, Kentucky at 12th, Missouri at 14th, UCLA at 16th, and conference-mate South Florida at 25th.

The next poll on the hit parade to announce a Louisville appearance was College Sports Madness.  They're revealing their pre-season picks one at a time, so we don't know their whole top 25 yet, but they did put UofL at #13.  They have Kentucky at #10, UCLA at 17th and Missouri at 20th.  They don't have a listing for Michigan, yet (presuming they will come in better than 10) or for USF.

The last major preseason poll is the USA Softball/ESPN.com poll.  Completing the pre-season top-20 hat-trick, this poll has Louisville at 18th.  Other opponents showing up with Michigan at 4th, UCLA at 13th, Kentucky at 14th, Missouri at 17th, and USF at 23rd.

Individual Awards

Maryssa Becker

Freshman pitcher Maryssa Becker is a finalist for the Oregon Sports Awards Prep Softball Player of
the Year award.

This award is for the past year of play, which would've including Maryssa's senior year in high school.  Becker has already won this award once, last year, and another victory looks quite possible for the right handed pitcher after she led her team to the 6A state title.

Katie Keller

Senior second baseman Katie Keller was the leader of the Berm Bombing Brigade at Ulmer Stadium on Floyd Street last year, landing a team-high 12 softballs out on the berm, though perhaps one or two of those made it out to Brandeis Street.

Keller was named to the Top 50 "Watch List" for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year honors.  The winner of the award will be announced May 27th prior to the start of the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City.  A player isn't required to be on the watch list to eventually win the award, but a Top 25 will be announced on April 9th.  The POY will be one of the players from the Top 25.

Moore. please!

Basketball McDonald's All-Americans Announced

Two Louisville signees were named to the McDonald's All-American East Team Roster.

Myisha Hines-Allen and Mariya Moore will both be playing for the East Team.  The Women's McDonald's All-American game will be April 2nd at 6pm and will be televised on ESPNU.

A Couple of Quick Volleyball Tidbits

Two players have joined the UofL Volleyball squad in the spring semester, both Libero's.

First up is Eleni Georgiafandis, from Knoxville, TN.  Eleni apparently graduated from high school early (as Javoni Faucette did last year) and enrolled as a freshman in the spring semester to join the team.

Also coming to UofL in the spring semester is Roxanne McVey, a transfer from Mississippi State.  Roxanne's hometown is Magnolia, TX which is just to the northwest of Houston.  Here's hoping we haven't already scared her off with single digit and negative temperatures!

Roxanne will be a Junior at Louisville and have two years of eligibility left to play.  I have not heard whether she has gotten a release from Mississippi State to be eligible to play immediately, or will have to sit out a year.  With it not being an in-conference transfer, I would expect that she has been released, but don't have any confirmation of that.

With the graduation of Libero-extraordinaire Caitlin Welch, and Haley Pouliezos choosing to not return, we were looking for an answer for the Libero position moving forward.  The additions of Eleni and Roxanne certainly fulfills that need.

-Jeff McAdams

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Wednesday Cardinal Couple -- Cards win at Rutgers 80-71

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

17-4 second half run leads Louisville past Scarlet Knights

Louisville broke open a close game in the second half to blow past Rutgers and win their first game ever in the RAC Tuesday nights 80-71. With 10:55 to go and down by six at 47-53...Louisville erupted on a 17-4 run to go ahead 64-57 in a three minute run that saw five different Cardinals score.


A crowd of around 1800 saw Shoni Schimmel lead the Cards with 24 points, Asia Taylor added 19 and Sara Hammond finished with 17 for the Cards...who are only the second team this season to score 80 points against C.Viv Stringer's club. UofL out-rebounded RU by three in the game and forced 19 turnovers.

Louisville (or Shoni) actually got off to a good start in this game for once, leading 8-3 on eight points from Shoni. The Cards still led 21-15 after a Shoni three with 11:23 in the first half. A Bria Smith layup made it 34-28 with 5:09 remaining...but Rutgers went on a 10-2 run to go up 38-36 after Betnijah Laney hit a free throw with 10 seconds showing to take a two-point lead into the half.

The Cards shot 39% in the first half...Rutgers 50%. The Cards needed to stop Tyler Scaife, the freshman guard had 15 first half points and was basically doing anything she wanted against the Cards defense.

Louisville spent the first 10 minutes of the final half trying to regain the lead. They finally did at 56-55 with Smith's "and 1" with 9:21 to go. Asia countered with another "and 1" and after a Gibbs layup...it was 61-55 UofL. After a Rutgers score, Shoni's three put Louisville ahead by seven and it looked as if the RU squad was on the ropes.

The Scarlet Knights would not let the Cards acheive a double digit lead, though...and Scaife and Laney tried to get Rutgers back into the contest. It was not enough.

A Sara inside move gave the Cards a 70-63 edge with 3:30 on the clock. Shoni tallied four of the next six Louisville points and her two free throws put it out of reach at 76-68 and 1:04 to play. Four Asia Taylor free throws in the final minute finished out the Cardinal scoring for the nine-point 80-71 "W".

THE FINAL WORD

-Free throws? Sit down before you read any further.

Louisville sank 19-22. Asia had seven of them and Shoni six.

-UofL showed a lot of poise in the second half to overcome Rutgers lead and not allow them to regain it. Asia, Shoni and Sara scored all but seven of the UofL second half points. Louisville outscored RU 44-33 in the half.

-Shoni has now hit 20 threes in the last three games.  That ties for a NCAA WBB best for a three-game stretch this season. She had all of Louisville's tonight except one...a wide open trifecta from Sara in the second half.

-Asia was huge in the final minutes...crashing the boards and converting on the line. Clutch free throws in the final minute by A-Tayy to ensure Rutgers wouldn't send it to O.T.
Six of her seven made charity tosses came in the final five minutes.

-CBS Sports announcer Debbie Antonelli needs to be smacked with a wet grouper. The Schimmel sisters are not twins, Asia did not play in either Final Four appearance (Deb placed her in both) and neither Schimmel sister is named "Shimmy". Monny Niamke is not a freshman. And, quite honestly...you do really think anyone cares that you like salad and yogurt? It's a college basketball game you're working...not a food show.

Nice prep work, Deb.

Plus that, you could hear the excitement drain right out of her voice when the Cards put the Scarlet Knights away. Homerism is for campus/student radio announcers, dear. Not for ancient TV talking heads. Sorry the Cards ruined your party, D.A. They are kinda known for that, though.

- Tyler Scaife is going to be something special for C.Viv. 25 points tonight and all of her 10 field goals looked effortless.

It was a Louisville team that went into a hostile environment, took a quality opponents best shot and emerge holding the trophy.

'Shimmy' rocks.

The Cards come home to face the USF Bulls on SuperBowl Sunday. Roll out for this one, fans...a bit of unfinished business to transact in regards getting some payback on the win USF took on Denny Crum Court last year.


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Just a reminder, the Louisville Lacrosse banquet is this Saturday at the PNC Plaza in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.

Cash bar opens at 4 p.m. We've also heard that a ticket to it will get you access to the Volleyball banquet across the way in the Brown-Williamson room.

Our Jeff McAdams will be over there. Sonja and I will be hanging out with the gals who carry sticks with nets.

Attend.

Go to www.gocards.com and get the ticket information. Lacrosse has a strong, talented team returning and you'll have a huge time at the pre-season dinner.

Kellie Young's squad begins the season at #6 Duke. She has a mix of talented returnees and a group of very talented freshmen that will contend for playing time. Nikki Boltja, last year's leading scorer is back for her senior season and watch out for Kat Gordon, Kay Morrisette and Aussie freshman Steph McNamara.

paulie

Tuesday Cardinal Couple -- Louisville WBB set to play in Piscataway

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Cards, Scarlet Knights on CBS Sports Network

- Hermann the architect looking to build again

- Shoni named AAC Player of the Week

The University of Louisville women's basketball squad brings its 20-1 record and #5 ranking into the RAC tonight at 9 p.m. to face a 15-4 Rutgers team in a battle that will be shown on CBS Sports Network. Debbie Antonelli and Brent Stover will have the call in a contest that features two teams with a common denominator.

Julie Hermann.

One of the driving forces behind the success of Louisville women's basketball for the past dozen years, Hermann is now trying to resurrect a program which has taken some hits and loss in attendance since the glory years of 2007-08.

It's also one of those dreaded Sunday-Tuesday turnarounds that Coach Walz isn't particularly fond of...but an occurrence that he and the squad are in the second week out of three that they have the sequence.

Rutgers is 2-2 in their last four...falling at Memphis and to UConn before knocking off UCF and Temple on the road last week. They'll look to deflate the ball a bit against the high-octane offense the Cards have displayed as of late...RU has held opponents to under 70 points the entire season except once...when UConn rolled up 94 on them.

The Scarlet Knights are led by sophomore forward Kahleah Copper (16.9 ppg), junior G/F Betnijah Laney (13.4 ppg) and freshman guard Tyler Scaife (12.6). 6'4" Center Rachel Hollivay is eighth in the nation in blocked shots and leads the AAC with 3.3 a contest.

Will C.Viv Stringer and her team, which has no seniors, be able to slow down the streaking Shoni Schimmel...who has blasted the nets for 16 threes in the last two games? The affable C.Viv...whose been drawing up X's and O's for 43 years (19 at RU) has been under fire the last couple of seasons for not duplicating the successes of her teams 7-8 years ago

But most importantly...will we see Precious Person play...a member of our Cardinal Couple All-Name squad?

Road wins are worth their weight in gold. The RAC could hold double its season attendance numbers of almost 1900 for this one tonight.

After all, it is Louisville coming to town.

It will be a serious test for a Louisville team that really hasn't been severely tested since losing to UK.

Should be a good one tonight. Another rivalry that will go by the wayside at the end of this season.

Time to go to work, ladies.

We'll have a full recap in the Wednesday CC. Just who will write it remains to be seen. It's rumored Worldwide is back on dry ground and wasn't on the "sick" cruise...but he hasn't indicated what day he wants to return to keystroking.
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HERE'S AN ARTICLE ABOUT MS. HERMANN

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Julie Hermann says Rutgers women's basketball has potential to replicate Louisville's success    

 

Rutgers athletic director Julie Hermann watches a basketball game at the RAC in November. / JASON TOWLEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Written by

Ryan Dunleavy

@rydunleavy

 

ADVERTISEMENT

PISCATAWAY — The 6,000-plus empty seats at the Louis Brown Athletic Center during almost any given Rutgers women’s basketball game is the constant reminder of momentum lost over the last six years, as a program tumbled from annual Final Four contender to 2013 NCAA Tournament outsider.
Maybe only Rutgers athletics director Julie Hermann looks around at nearly 1,900 fans and thinks not of wreckage but of a foundation. After all, the crowd is twice the average size seen at Louisville a decade ago, before an explosion of popularity occurred under Hermann’s watch as the sport’s administrator.
“It can happen anywhere if you have the right combination of a program people want to support — which involves many things (like) right coach, right players representing the institution at a high level, and competing at a high level,” Hermann said in an exclusive interview. “If you have those pieces, then your marketing effort — or your reach to the demographic that will answer — can happen anywhere.”
When Louisville visits Rutgers at 9 p.m. today at the RAC in a televised (CBS Sports Network) matchup of teams with contrasting levels of popularity, it might notice a familiar script for everything surrounding the action. It is part of a long-term vision of interaction developed for a program in spite of the fact that its Hall of Fame coach, C. Vivian Stringer, is operating on a short-term basis, with a contract due to expire June 1.
“She is going to take us into the Big Ten,” Hermann said. “I don’t know how long we will arm-wrestle over the details of a contract about what she wants and what Rutgers can do, but my intent is for (her) to lead us into the Big Ten and her intent is to do so.”

Empty seats

Rutgers’ attendance reached its all-time peak of 4,740 in 2007-08 — off of a run to the NCAA Tournament final — but has experienced a steady and dramatic drop-off ever since. Last season’s average (2,084) was the program’s lowest since 1996-97 (1,571) but still is higher than the current 1,894 through nine games.

FOR MORE, GO TO THE LINK BELOW:

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20140127/NJSPORTS0210/301270056/Julie-Hermann-says-Rutgers-women-s-basketball-has-potential-replicate-Louisville-s-success


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We know the power of "Sho-time". The AAC recognized it this week...

Louisville senior Shoni Schimmel was named American Athletic Conference Player
of the Week the league announced on Monday.

Schimmel averaged 27.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists for Louisville last
week as the Cardinals improved to 8-0 in league play. She finished the week
shooting 63.3 percent (19-for-30) from the field and 69.6 percent (16-for-23)
from 3-point range.
Against Houston, Schimmel scored 25 points while going 7 of 11 from behind the
3-point line.  She also pulled down a season-high eight rebounds and dished out
five assists.

Schimmel hit a school-record nine 3-pointers against Memphis and finished with
29 points in 27 minutes of action. She drilled six 3-pointers in a span of four
minutes to lift Louisville to a 35-19 lead with 3:58 left in the first half.
Schimmel made eight 3s in the first half and Louisville never looked back. She
left the game with 8:55 left to cheers and an ovation from the crowd of 10,345.

Freshman Emmonnie Henderson was named to the weekly honor role after averaging
14.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game last week.  Henderson scored career-highs
in back-to-back games last week against Houston and Memphis. Against Houston,
Henderson scored a career-high 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds.  She
finished the game shooting 6 of 9 from the field.  She also dished out two
assists and grabbed three steals.  Against Memphis, Henderson tied her
career-high with 14 points and pulled down two rebounds.  She went 4 of 5 from
the field and 4 of 4 from the foul line against the Tigers.

paulie
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Monday Cardinal Couple -- The Tigers got Schimmeled

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Shoni's nine threes "Schimmel" Memphis

- Annual Alumni game was fun to watch

Teammates mob Shoni after her 8th three ends the 1st half

Louisville Women’s Basketball tipped it off on Sunday afternoon against the Memphis Tigers.  We were hoping for a good solid 40 minutes of basketball, although we did not get that, it was an exciting win for the Cardinal squad.  The Cardinals win, 88-61. 

It was another slow start for the #5 team in the country.   Asia Taylor and Sara Hammond kept the Cards in it early, making strong moves in the paint and scoring all the early points in the first half.  Taylor had 8 of the Cardinals first 10 points, 6 coming from the free throw line. 

Shoni Schimmel had missed 4 straight shots before she found herself on the sidelines, watching her team.  With eight minutes left in the first half, Shoni reenters the game, and gives the Cards the BOOM that shut the door on the Tigers. 

The early success of the post players opened up some opportunities from the perimeter.  Like any good shooter, Shoni took advantage of it.  In a 3 minute span Shoni launched, and hit, 6 shots from beyond the arc.   Before the half was over she would go on a 9-9 shooting spree, 8 from beyond the arc, scoring 26 points.   

With 15 seconds left in the first half, Coach Walz called a time out, and drew up a play.  The Cardinals executed perfectly, to end the half with a Shoni 3, and a commanding 47-25 halftime lead.  (The first half ended with Shoni at 26, Memphis at 25.). 

WBB alumni take to the court at halftime ceremonies

Basketball is a game of two halves.  They did have to play the second half, though the game was over at halftime.  At times the second half was tough to watch with little offensive momentum due to a lot of hand checks and fouls.

The second half bright spot was Emmonnie Henderson.  Matching her career high of 14 points, she has put together back-to-back double-digit performances.  The freshman is putting it all together, and is seeing success.  Success breeds success, and I imagine it will fuel this young player to continue to condition and work hard to push through her fatigue.  Thinks are looking mighty good for the lone freshman on the squad. 

While Shoni stole the show, and rightfully so, there is much to celebrate in this win.

 

Tise Wright warms up for the Alumni game

~Shoni broke her own record of most 3’s made in a game (8), by matching that in the first half.  The second half provided one more three for the sharp shooter, breaking her own record, and setting a record for the school for the most 3’s in a game.  It was a dominant performance from Shoni.   Shoni was efficient, scoring 29 points on 10-16 shooting in 27 minutes of play. 

~ Jude is back!  The hobbled Schimmel played 16 minutes and looked good.  She did not show any signs of pain until late in the game when she was fouled and went down, apparently tweaking something.  Her speed was good and, to this observer, there were no lingering effects of the ankle sprain.  In 16 minutes of play Jude had 5 pts, 3 rebounds and most importantly, 4 assists.   She also had 2 steals and 2 turnovers.  A very nice return for Jude. 

~ Less dribbling, more passing.  The Cardinals had some very nice ball movement going on, specifically in the first half.  Apparently Coach Walz challenged the squad to dribble less, and pass more.  There were very crisp passes in to the post allowing for easy buckets, and nice perimeter passing.  It was a good effort on the day. 

Brandie Raddie drains a three in Alumni game

~ Sharing the ball.  With the directive to pass the ball, the assist numbers are piling up.  Shoni could not have set a school record 3’s, were it not for teammates passing her the ball.  Feeding the post with crisp passes, further tallies up the assists.  We will need to continue to see this kind of effort as the team moves in to the meat of the conference schedule.  Bria Smith led the Cardinals in the assist category with 6.  This is the 3^rd game in a row where I have been impressed with Smith racking up the assists. 

While there is much to work on for this squad, it is hard to not be impressed with the best start in school history.  At 20-1 the Cardinals are sitting in the 5 spot in the country.  It is a good place to be.  However, with the season motto of Unfinished Business, the Cardinals still have quite a task ahead of them. 

The next obstacle in front of the Cards is a road trip to Rutgers on Tuesday, January 28.  Tip time is 9:00 p.m.   The rest of these conference games matter, and the Cardinals are going to need to care of business each and every outing, not becoming complacent.   As a regional host in the NCAA Tournament, winning out (except for UConn) will go a long way in securing a top spot in seeding.  

(Shoni, Sara and E talk about the win at the link below.) 

http://www.courier-journal.com/videonetwork/3109311158001/Shoni-Schimmel-talks-UofL-record-9-3-pointers 

(Jeff Walz on Shoni's efforts at the link below)

http://www.courier-journal.com/videonetwork/3109597229001/Jeff-Walz-on-Shoni-Schimmel-s-9-threes
 

jenny o’bryan


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The annual UofL WBB alumni game was staged after the contest and it was great to see some of the former stars of Louisville teams out there playing. Score really doesn't matter in a contest like this...and, as Jeff Walz commented as he finished up his media comments...defense wasn't going to be a priority.

Some of the participants that were out there included Candyce Bingham, Laura Terry (with hair!), Shelby Harper, Tise Wright, Brandie Raddie, Dez Byrd, Misty Smith, Kristen Maddox (Cox) and another dozen former Cardinals.

-Dez has not lost any of the intensity that she displayed when she was helping lead the Cards to their first FINAL FOUR trip. She still has the "look out I'm driving the middle and going to the hoop" move and it was successful a couple of times.

- Kristen Maddox, in my top five favorites of all time for WBB, drained a couple of threes and still motors up and down the court with speed. That unmistakable big smile is still present also.

- Brandie Raddie was also sinking the three-ball and leading the fast-break. She looks like she could step back out there and provide instant offense for the Cards.

-Shelby Harper...dashing here and there with that frantic Yorkie style, creating turnovers and setting up her teammates.

-A slimmed-down Tise Wright, banging the boards and hitting on follow ups and interior passes. Laughing a lot. Enjoying the game and the chance to be out with her teammates again.

-Asia Taylor taking over PA duties from Jared Stillman and, along with Nita Slaughter...providing a "AND 1" style of commentary...complimenting, taunting and exhorting the players.


It brought back some great memories. Once a Cardinal, always a Cardinal.

paulie
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Sunday Cardinal Couple -- Tigers come to town

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Dangerous Memphis next for #5 WBB

               *************GAME FINAL************

Shoni Schimmel hit nine threes in Louisville's 88-61 win over Memphis. Eight in the first half. Jenny O'Bryan will have the review in the Monday edition of Cardinal Couple

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The Louisville Cardinals host the Memphis Tigers on Sunday.  The tip for the game is 1:00 p.m. and will be televised on ESPNU. 

The Tigers are 10-9 overall, and 3-4 in conference play, holding steady in the middle of the pack of the AAC standings.    The marquee win of the season for the Tigers was at home against Rutgers.  Memphis held on to win that game, edging out the Scarlet Knights, 74-73.  A puzzling win for the Tigers came against Houston (think cellar dweller here in the AAC, 0-7 in conference play) by a 48-40 margin.  Just how good is this team, and how much should the Cardinals worry?

The Tigers start a young team, 4 underclassmen and one senior.  They love to run their offense, and if they get hot early, the Cardinals will need to watch out.  When scoring 70 or more points this season, the Tigers are 8-1.  The key here for the Cardinals will be to come out strong defensively and not let the Tigers get in to any kind of offensive rhythm.    This team is athletic, and when managing their turnovers, can really put numbers up. 

Sophomore Asianna Fuqua-Bey is looking to extend her hot hand in this one.  In the last two games    She is also the leading rebounder for the Tigers pulling down 7.6 boards per game.  The Cardinals will look to keep Fuzua-Bey quiet in this one. 

She has been in double digits and looks to be more confident in her shooting.

The Tigers are led in scoring by sophomore Ariel Hearn who is averaging 17.8 pts. per game.  Breigha Wilder-Cochran rounds out the scoring for Memphis averaging 9 pts per game. 

The Cardinals, on paper, should win this game going away.  The slow starts from this team, though, could instill confidence in the Tiger players especially if they start out hot, offensively.  The Cardinals will need to come mentally prepared to hit the floor running.

Memphis is prone to turnovers.  With a strong defensive effort from the Cards I can see a lot of points in transition.  Likewise, Memphis likes to play uptempo offensively.  A good defensive effort should take them out of their offense and play to the liking of the Cardinals with transition scoring. 

A strong defensive effort, limiting turnovers while executing defensively, creating turnovers will be a recipe for a Cardinal win. 

The game is National Girl and Women in Sports Day.  Former U of L female athletes will be in attendance.  It is also Girl Scout day at the YUM Center.  Activities are planned for troops at noon, prior to the 1:00 tip. 

It should be a fun crowd in attendance on Sunday.  Get down to the YUM Center to enjoy the festivities.  

Jenny O'Bryan

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The University of Louisville Lacrosse team is holding their KickOff Dinner on Feb 1st at the PNC Plaza in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. Cash bar begins at 4 p.m. on this Saturday (see you there!) and the evening looks to be a fun one.

We think you should go.

Lacrosse is fun to watch and the players are a blast to talk to. You like fun don't you? Banquets are fun, Lacrosse is fun. Go have fun. Go to the Lacrosse kickoff banquet. You have your assignment. Be there.  

You can find more information on it at www.gocards.com and we will be running more information about it as well this week.

Lacrosse begins their season on Feb. 7th. @ #6Duke. 

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OUR RADIO SHOW FROM SATURDAY JAN 25TH IS NOW UP AND RUNNING ON THE HEAVENLY SOUNDCLOUD AT CRESCENT HILL RADIO. IT MAY JUST BE THE BEST THING THAT HAS EVER BEEN ACCOMPLISHED IN THE 21ST. CENTURY.

OK...WE'RE PROBABLY WRONG ABOUT THAT...BUT IT WAS A GOOD SHOW, GREAT INTERVIEWS AND FUN WAS HAS BY JENNY, PAULIE, MONK AND PUMPKIN.

GO LISTEN.

TEARING DOWN THE BARRIERS THAT SEPARATE US...OR DRIVING IN WHITE OUT CONDITIONS...WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED. CLICK HERE

Paulie
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