Cougars on tap at YUM

With the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament looming in a little more than a month away, seeding for that tournament is all the talk of message boards and basketball fans alike. 

Before we get too carried away, there are still some very important conference games remaining to be played.   One such game tips off on Wednesday, February  19 at 7:00 p.m. at the  KFC Yum Center.   The Cardinals will be hosting the Cougars of Houston for the final time in the regular season of the American Athletic Conference. 

Houston is anchoring last place in The American and is 5-20 overall, and 1-13 in conference play.  The lone win in conference match ups comes against Cincinnati.    The Cardinals pummeled the Cougars in Houston with a 93-52 win in mid January.   That being said, you can never overlook an opponent.  Upsets happen and if Houston is looking for a hook to hang their hat on, it would be an upset win over the #3 team in the country.  While that scenario is unlikely, you play the games for a reason. 

That being said, the Cardinals will need to be focused and take care of business on the hardwood Wednesday night.   In their last meeting the Cougars had 3 players scoring in double digits.  Center Yasmeen Thompson, guard Demetria Foreman and forward Marche Amerson all notched 10 points against the Cardinals.   Te’onna Campbell leads the Cougars in scoring averaging 9.7 ppg, though the Cards held her to 6 points on the day.  Look for Yasmeen Thompson to be crashing the boards for the Cougars, averaging 8.1 per game. 

On paper this looks to be another blow out of our one-year conference mate.  In these types of games you could expect the team be focused on certain areas of the game that needs shoring up.   What excactly the mad scientist will have his team focusing on is any fans best guess.  As a regular sideline observer, I would expect to see several things as a point of focus:

-rebounding and battling on the boards

-limiting and controlling turnovers

-free throw shooting

-defense, defense, defense

We will be there to cover the game and will report back on Thursday. 

In the meantime, the Cardinals need to remain focused as the season winds down.  Wednesday’s game is one of 3 remaining home games in the regular season, and a lone road game remaining at Cincinnati.   While our specific seeding in the tournament at this point primarily depends upon what other teams do, taking care of our own business is paramount.   It begins Wednesday night.  #unfinishedbusiness

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Looks like our very own Worldwide Jeff McAdams missed out on a paycheck.  In yesterdays edition of the Cardinal Couple he speculated on weekly honors for Lacrosse. 

As speculated, senior Nikki Boltja was named Big East Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week.   With a combined 8 goals in the first two games of the season, 5 of which came against #6 Duke in the opening game of the season.  She followed up on that with a hat-trick at home, facing Detroit.  Congratulations Nikki! 

Sophomore Kaylin Morissette was named to the 5-member honor roll scoring a career best 6 goals against Detroit at home.  Congratulations Kaylin!

It’s a strong start for these young ladies and bodes well for a successful season for our lacrosse team.  

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The AAC Conference swimming tournament gets underway today in the Ralph Wright. It's a "pay-for" event and ticket information is:

All-session tickets can be purchased up until the start of competition on Feb. 19.Prices are as follows:All-session adult: $33.00All-session 18 and under, college student, and senior citizen: $18.00Swimming preliminaries will be held each day in the morning beginning at 10 am. Finals will start in the evenings at 6 pm. Diving preliminaries are at noon every day, with finals combined with swimming in the evening sessions.For ticket information click here: Tickets or call the University of Louisville ticket office at 502-852-5151.Swimming preliminaries will be held each day in the morning beginning at 10 am. Finals will start in the evenings at 6 pm. Diving preliminaries are at noon every day, with finals combined with swimming in the evening sessions.There are a limited number of single session tickets available and will be sold at the Natatorium beginning at one hour before the sessions begin.Ticket prices are as follows: Finals Sessions: $8.00 Adults $4.00 Students/Seniors 65 & older/18 & youngerPrelim Sessions: $5.00 Adults $ 3.00 Students/Seniors 65 & older/18 & younger

jennyobryan
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