Sunday Cardinal Couple -- WBB plays Mays & SMU today

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Rematch in Dallas against league-leading scorer

The University of Louisville womens basketball team begins their two-game two step through Texas with a stop in Dallas this afternoon against Rhonda Rompola's SMU Mustangs. The Cards currently sit #5 in the nation and haven't lost a game since falling to the Kentucky Wildcats on Dec. 1st. in Memorial Barnyard.

It's been a reversal of fortunes for league-leading scorer Keena Mays and her horsey teammates lately...going on the road and taking losses to Temple (GO OWLS!) and Rutgers. They're probably happy to be back in Moody Coliseum and today's game will be shown on ESPNU and ESPN3.com. Tip is 1:30 EST.

Last time out, Mays poured in 23 points but it wasn't enough to lead her Mustangs past Temple. She was one of four SMU players to reach double figures in the 80-66 loss. SMU challenged the Owls for 27 minutes but a 18-4 run by the Philly school over an eight minute stretch proved too much for Rompola's crew to overcome.

The Mustangs are 11-6 on the season and 2-4 in AAC play. They visited the KFC YUM! Center on Dec. 29th. and were disposed of 71-51 by UofL. It was a game where the Cards kept track of and shut down Mays...Akil Simpson led SMU in scoring with 14 points and Kiara Perry added 13.

Head coach Rompola and assistant Lisa Dark have been on the Dallas campus for 23 years and has taken SMU to the NCAA Tournament seven times. They've been crowned conference tournament champions twice...winning the WAC in 1999 and C-USA in 2008.

Louisville (17-1, 5-0) enters the game after a 19 point win over UCF in the KFC YUM! Center on Weds. night. The contest was decided by two late half Louisville runs...a 17-3 first half finish that saw Jeff Walz implement the "out-of-the-box" 3-on-5 strategy and a 9-1 final half finish after the Golden Girls had pulled within 11.

Big doings in the Moody today...fans encouraged to dress accordingly for the announced "white out". No word on whether Coach Walz will be setting the opposition crowd up with $2 Lone Star beers...but after corralling the Mustangs this afternoon...let's hope the team gets a chance to hit one of the many excellent Barbecue joints in and around Dallas. Lockhart SmokeHouse and Pecan Ridge are two of Dallas' finest and the beef ribs at either are most excellent.

It is another trek for Louisville into a foreign arena with a bulls eye painted squarely on the back of the Cardinal jersey. SMU draws less than 2000 a game and with the NFC and AFC Championships being played today...it is doubtful they'll top that for attendance. Even if the Cowboys are out of the running. 

Coach Walz will be reminding his high-flying Birds of Mays' scoring potential and that Simpson and Perry can light it up as well. We'd love to see a repeat of the post-Christmas bash these two had...if the Cards can hold the horses to 51 points again, we've no doubt they'll add an 18th. victory to the ledger.

Actually, we don't see Louisville losing this one even if Walz plays 3-on-5 most of the second half. As long as the three are Bria, Shoni and Sara. It'll also be interesting to see how "lil sis" and her ankle are doing and if she hits the court.

We'll have a full report of the contest in Monday's CARDINAL COUPLE. We'll offer the write-up to the poignant JENNY O'BRYAN and see if she nibbles.

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Saturday's edition of CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO is now up on the SoundCloud over at CHR. Jeff and Paulie discuss hoops, more hoops, a bit of hoops, some hoops and a dash of swimming and track. Click the link below and immerse your ears.

THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE HAS A WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM

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