Sunday Cardinal Couple -- Cards face LSU today in NCAA Regionals

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE Gary Witherspoon previews the action ahead!         Women’s college basketball fans should get a big treat this weekend in the  Louisville regional of the NCAA tournament. From top to bottom, the Louisville regional probably has the best set of four teams of any of the four  regionals. The Lincoln regional looks like a cakewalk to the Final Four for UConn. The   Stanford regional will also be very competitive; and, like the Louisville regional, it seems very possible that any of the four teams in that regional could win it. Notre Dame got by Oklahoma State, but they could be   challenged by Baylor in the Notre Dame regional. The   Baylor/Kentucky matchup looked to be the best matchup of  the first round of games this weekend. Baylor dominated. Despite not being the number one seeds in their regionals, I think Louisville and Stanford should be viewed as the favorites to win their regionals because they  are probably the best teams in  those regionals and because they  are playing at home.  But they should only be considered slight favorites, and could lose either in  the semifinals or in the finals of  their regions. The two biggest stars in the Louisville regional are Shoni Schimmel and Alyssa Thomas of Maryland. Beyond these two, thereis a great array of individual talent that includes Theresa Plaisance and  Danielle Ballard of LSU, Lexie Brown of Maryland, Izzy Harrison and Meighan  Simmons of Tennessee, and Louisville’s Sara Hammond and Asia Taylor. Beyond the stars, there are also some great role players in this regional like Shanece McKinney and Jeanne Kenney of LSU, Cierra Burdick, Bashara Graves and Andraya Carter of Tennessee, and Tia Gibbs, Antonita Slaughter, Bria Smith andJude Schimmel of Louisville. Any of these great role players could wind up  being the deciding factor in these games that are likely to be closely contested. Louisville and Tennessee have by far the most depth in talent and experience of  any of these four teams, but Danielle Ballard and Theresa Plaisance of LSU and Alyssa Thomas of Maryland are the most versatile players in the regional because  they can all play in the post as well as on the perimeter, and they can all rebound  as well as play in transition. Louisville and Maryland have been  the most consistent teams through  the season, and Tennessee and LSU  have been the most inconsistent.  LSU beat Tennessee 80-77 at Tennessee in January, and LSU lost to Tennessee 72-67 at home late  in the season. LSU lost 88-67 at Louisville in the  early season WNIT, but LSU led that  game through most of the first half.  Louisville went on a 21-0 run starting at 10:53 of the second half, taking the score from 60-54 to 81-54 with 5:30 left. Asia Taylor led the Cards in that game with 23 points, but all five starters finished in double figures. Jude had 3 rebounds,2 assists, 2 steals and 6 points in 14 minutes off the bench. The big thing to keep in mind is that Danielle Ballard had only 4 points in 12 minutes  in that early season game against Louisville. She has since then developed into one  of the best players in the country. In LSU’s win over 2 seed West Virginia,  Ballard had 22 points, 15 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals in 38 minutes. Ballard is only about 5’9”. In LSU’s victory at Tennessee, Ballard had 25 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, 1 block and no turnovers in 34 minutes. In LSU’s loss to Tennessee at home, Ballard had 3 points and 3 rebounds in 18 minutes. It seems as Ballard goes, so goes LSU. LSU has been inconsistent losing 6 in a row and 8 out of 10 late in the season, but now they are on a two game winning streak in the NCAA tournament. They can be very good. The have size, quickness, and are tough on the boards and in the open court.   Plaisance is 6’5” and alternates between playing point guard and shooting threes to playing center and posting up inside. She was a teammate of Shoni’s on the World University Games USA team. Shanece McKinney is a big body inside at 6’4’’ and over 200 lbs. She had 7 rebounds, 13 points and 5 blocked shots in 32 minutes against West Virginia. Jeanne Kenney is  a 5’8” guard who shoots well from distance and usually runs the offense. Like Ballard, Plaisance and Kinney have both scored more than 20 points in games this season. Kinney is LSU’s active leader in assists with over 300. Dashawn Harden  has replaced Moncrief (injured) in the starting lineup and has done well recently.  Because of a concussion in the last game, Kenney may not play in this game. -gary witherspoon- ******************************************************************** EDITOR'S NOTE: I asked this question of Shoni Schimmel at the Media presser Q&A Saturday. Fully tongue-in-cheek, concerning the surprising "E" coast to coast ramble against Iowa. 2/3rd of the people in the media  room were clueless. It even took Shoni a few seconds to catch the  parody Q.  Shoni, is the Emmonnie Henderson coast‑to‑coast lay‑up something that's  new for the offense?             SHONI SCHIMMEL:  Yes, that's something we've definitely practiced.     For her to just finish a lay‑up.     But she's learning the game, and so for her to just make that move, she's pretty beastly,  and for people to not get in her way, it's probably smart.  We've got to keep pushing her  to be the best that she can be.     Full‑court, coast to coast, whatever it may be, she's going to learn and figure it out.     I think that was kind of a once‑in‑a‑lifetime kind of thing.  She was tired after that.   She needed an oxygen tank after that.      No, she's figuring it out, so it's good for us ***************************************************************************************************** In case you missed Saturday action...UConn, Notre Dame, Baylor and Texas A&M punched their tickets for Monday night games. Bye-bye Bruno, Mattie, Mormons and Cowboys. In addition to Louisville facing LSU today, the Maryland Terrapins will face the Tennessee Vols at the KFC YUM! Center (noon tipoff). In the Stanford regional, a battle of the Carolinas (North vs.South) and Stanford faces Penn State. In case you wondered, two #1 seeds have advanced so far (Notre Dame and UConn). Baylor moves on as a #2 seed and the A&M bunch enters as a #3 seed. Today, it's #1 vs #4 when UT plays the Terps and #3 vs #7 when the Cards battle LSU. South Carolina is a #1 seed. North Carolina a #4. #2 seed Stanford hosts #3 seed Penn State. PAULIE ... .. .