Cards look to fly past Flyers today -- Saturday Cardinal Couple

#3 SEED UOFL HOPES TO JOIN THE ELITE EIGHT

We have half the Elite Eight in the NCAA Women's Tournament established. Seated at the table are South Carolina...who got a basket from Tiffany Mitchell with five second to go...to advance over UNC 67-65. 

I called this one wrong yesterday..but I did see a close game and this one certainly was.

Also grabbing a chair is Baylor, who rolled past the Iowa Hawkeyes 81-66. This wasn't a surprise.


Notre Dame was able to knock down the Trees and send the Stanford Cardinal winging back to the Farm with a 81-60 triumph. It still amazes me that the Stanford squad actually beat UConn earlier this season. The team I saw last night would be hard-pressed tp beat WKU or UPitt...much less UConn.

FSU also has become elitists with a squeak past ASU 66-65. This one was ugly early, with the score stuck at 9-9 for what seemed like an eternity. The offense for both heated up as the game progressed and Sue Semrau's Seminoles are next in line to challenge South Carolina. 

Two out of the three ACC teams move forward. Two more (Duke and Louisville) look to advance today.

The Louisville Cardinals look to grab a reservation in the Great Eight party against Dayton. The Flyers out-pointed UK to get to Sweet Sixteen status and ousted Iowa St in the opening round by 12. They were the #7 seed in the
Albany Region coming in and currently stand at 27-6. 

They narrowly missed the A-10 regular season and conference tournament titles...losing a total of three times to George Washington...but the Flyers got an at-large berth and have pulled off one of the major upsets in the 2015 NCAA WBB Tournament with the beating of the Cats.

  
Dayton does it with teamwork, much like the Cards do. They have Ally Malott, a first team A-10 selection, that posted UK up for 28 points and 13 rebounds. She'll present a challenge to the Cardinals paint committee. Amber Deane was selected the A-10 Sixth Player of the Year, averaged 10.5 a game and dropped 23 on the Cats. 

Also ready to fly are Kelley Austria, a defensive team selection in the A-10 and Andrea Hoover, the leading scorer for Jim Jabir's squad at 17.3 ppg and also the team leader in assists, 3-pointers and free throws. Jodie Cornette and Jenna Burdette add valuable minutes as well...Cornette gets 2.6 blocks per game.


The "A" team (Ally, Amber, Andrea and Austria) also downed 11 threes against the Cats and went 28-31 from the line. 

So...what does Louisville have to do to advance to a probable matchup against UConn in the regional finals? How do the Cards achieve an Elite Eight entry?

It is beautiful in its simplicity...  

They follow whatever game plan Walz and the coaches have devised. 

The Cardinal coaches have had five days to get this one together.And it is all about working the plan and fulfilling your duty in it. We expect to see the Cards go inside early and often. We expect to see the Louisville defense shut down the Flyers long range bombing with aggressive defense and ball pressure. 

And we expect to see Louisville win.


Maybe by not double-digits. Maybe way less on the scoreboard than the 189 points that Dayton and UK posted. 

But Louisville will win this game. 

And then contemplate the next round. Survive and advance, one game at a time...

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Softball has two today at Ulmer Stadium against the Syracuse Orange...first pitch at noon...in case you want to get a little early cheering practice in. This one was scheduled for Syracuse but weather conditions prevented it, so the Cards are hosting...as the away team. Not sure if this involves the Pearsall birds wearing the away jerseys and taking to the 1st base dugout instead of the 3rd...but it is always nice to crowd in an extra couple of unexpected home games. 

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Cardinal Couple Radio airs today at noon with me in the studio and Worldwide joining later from the Ohio Valley Volleyball Center. It seems the NetCards have a few foes and friends in town for a off-season series of scrimmages. 

In addition to hooking up with him, I'll sample the sounds of Softball and the Cards wins last week over UNC and IU. We'll also talk WBB hoops and take a look at other things in the Cardinal and NCAA women's sports world. 

11 a.m. on WCHQ 100.9 FM or www.crescenthillradio.com

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Kentucky already has a NCAA championship in hoops. 

Thomas More won the DIII title over George Fox last night to finish a perfect 33-0 season.

The MVP? Anyone remember northern Kentucky resident Sydney Moss...who was a Louisville possible until she took off to Florida? She came back home after a year and has been dominant at Thomas More.

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Finally....congratulations to MBB for their 65-55 win over NC State to gain Elite Eight Status. This one wasn't easy for Pitino's players...the Cards getting a lead and losing it for most of the game. A strong late performance from Gill and Trez's dominance plus Rozier's acrobatics keep the Cards in Syracuse.

Izzo and MSU next. God, I want to beat them...so bad.

paulie