Dayton Flyers ground Cards 82-66 -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

13-0 Flyer run in second half sends Cinderella to Great Eight, Cards home.

It is often said that defense and rebounding wins game. Shooting the ball well is a third caveat that can be added as well... and the Louisville WBB squad had a tough time of that in their 82-66 loss to #7 seed Dayton in the NCAA Regionals Saturday afternoon in Albany, NY.

Louisville shot 31.5% (23-73) against UD in 40 minutes while their counterparts put up twenty less shots and made four more than the Cards (27-53) to register 51% from the floor. 

Louisville also went a dismal 1-15 from the three point range in a contest that had a series of runs.


The Cards trailed 7-2 in the early going before a few substitutions paid off and spurred Louisville to a 16-4 run that gave then a 18-11 lead. Myisha Hines-Allen was riding the pines with two early fouls...but Shawnta' Dyer and Bria Smith were handling the offensive for Jeff Walz's crew. 

Dayton roared back. They outscored Louisville 19-11, including a 12-0 run, the rest of the twenty minutes to take a 30-29 halftime lead. 

The Flyers continued finding offense to begin the second half and went on a 15-8 run to lead 45-37 in the first six minutes of the half. Myisha Hines-Allen, who didn't start the second half, came in and was hitting...getting the Cards back into the came. All of her team high 14 points came in the final twenty minutes. 

Hines-Allen helped spur the Cards back into contention...her layup with less than nine minutes to go drew Louisville within two at 55-53. Just when it seemed the Cards were rolling and ready to roar past the Flyers...two things happened:

First, Hines-Allen picked up her fourth foul and went to the bench. 

Next...the Cards went over four minutes with out a score and a 13-0 Flyer run pushed them to a 68-53 edge with 4:49 to go. Eight consecutive Louisville possessions without a score. Dayton getting points on their eight possessions.

It was Hines-Allen, re-inserted into the game, who broke the scoring drought...but the damage had been done and Dayton outscored Louisville 14-13 the rest of the way to advance to a Monday night matchup against Connecticut. 

Cinderella advances but gets as a reward the powerhouse Huskies...the glass slipper doesn't fit here, in our opinion.

Jim Jabir (Dayton head coach) jabbed a sharp stick at the state yesterday when he wondered aloud who else he could beat in the commonwealth of Kentucky. Maybe a dead man walking musings before falling through the Geno-built gallows awaiting him. 

A poor poke, Henry Kissinger look-alike. Your next round? Well, it's going to go badly for you. 

Put 100 on them, Huskies. Win by 50.  

We saw Tennessee yesterday erase a 17-point Gonzaga lead

with less the six minutes to go to force overtime and beat the Zags. They were getting easy shots and making them. Dayton was not providing Louisville many easy looks in the final eight and when they did...the Cards had difficulty in sinking them. Jeff Walz will tell you...if you don't shoot well, it is hard to win. It was evidenced yesterday. 

Hines-Allen led the Cards with 14 points. Bria Smith ended with 12, Jude finished with 11 (on 4-23 shooing) and Shawnta' Dyer completed the Cards double digit scorers by posting a double-double with 10 points and 10 grabs.

Guard Andrea Hoover perfected the dribble drive against Louisville and led all scorers with 26 points. Amber Deane came off the bench for Jim Jabir and totaled 15.

Tough way for the season to end for the Cards. 27-7 is better than most expected and third in the ACC after losing four major players from the previous season quite the feat for Walz's Warriors.

How this bunch would have fared against UConn in a Great Eight matchup is anyone's guess...but Walz got a lot...maybe more than expected out of two freshmen and five stalwart seniors that took incredible journeys to get this far. 

Sara, Bria, Jude, Shawnta' and Sherrone...you will be missed. So many great memories and contributions here. 


Myisha, Mariya, Arica, Emmonnie, Cortnee, Megan, Syd and Ariana...it is time to go to work for next season. Time to set the foundation for the future and make room for the #1 recruiting class of 2015 to join you. 

Although the sun has set on this season, the future looks bright, indeed. 

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PICK 'EM CONTEST A CLOSE AFFAIR

Our CARDINAL COUPLE Pick 'EM rolls along with 56 total point and three rounds of action in the books. Atop the leader board is Charlie McAdams with a 46-10 mark. The proud father of our Worldwide Jeff McAdams, Charlie was a teacher before his retirement and is schooling the field at this juncture. He has a Final Four roster of UConn, Tenn, Notre Dame and South Carolina prognosticated. 

Close behind at 45-11 are Cardinal Couple's Sonja, Kenny S, K. Starks and Curtis Franklin. Sonja has indicated she'll give the $25 Cracker Barrel gift card to second place if she wins. She's got a Final Four of UConn, Maryland, Notre Dame and South Carolina.

Good luck to all contestants over the next seven games! 

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SOFTBALL SLUGS PAST SYRACUSE

Softball continued their winning ways with a double-header sweep over Syracuse yesterday at Ulmer Stadium. The Cards outslugged the Orange 15-11 and 5-4. 

Louisville enjoyed shutout leads in each contest (8-0 and 5-0) before holding off Syracuse challenges. 

Hailey Smith went 4-4 in the first game with two home runs and Kelsi Jones drove in 4 runs. In the nightcap, Whitney Arion's three RBI double was the key blow...

The Pitch and Hit Cards have won 11 of their last 12 and sit atop the ACC Softball standings. Pearsall is getting hitting production from a good mix of freshman and returning players...the pitching is working their way out of jams and Maryssa Becker has shown she can be a dominant force in the circle or at the plate. 

The Cards and the Orange do it again today at noon. Free Louie Beanie Babies to the first 350 in the ballpark. Gates open at 11. 

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WE'RE ON CRESCENT HILL RADIO...

Our Saturday broadcast should be available on the crescenthill.com SoundCloud later today. It was a fun show...with me in the studio, Jeff joining in on location at the Ohio Valley Volleyball Center and Sam the Intern AWOL. 

If you go to the Crescent Hill Radio home page at crescenthillradio.com and click on Programming and then click of Cardinal Couple...you can hear any of our previous shows all the way back to November. That's a lot of shows! 

The link for today's show is below when it does become available on Soundcloud:

WHAT? YOU LEFT PAULIE ALONE IN THE STUDIO? HEAVEN HELP US ALL...

PAULIE
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