Louisville Women's Basketball hosts Dartmouth tonight -- Tuesday Cardinal Couple

CARDS LOOK TO REMAIN ON REDEMPTION TRAIN AGAINST IVY LEAGUE'S DARTMOUTH

The University of Louisville Women's Basketball team has a chance to get back to .500 on the season when Dartmouth (2-8) travels to 2nd. and Main for a 7 p.m. contest in the KFC YUM! Center. 

The Cards (4-5) are coming off a comeback win over IUPUI that was basically a three part opera. The first act, a brief one, saw Louisville jump out to a 9-4 lead and encouraged the crowd of 8484 that the inglorious loss to UK was water under the bridge. Act II saw the rise of the Hooiser squad to a incredulous, shoulder-shrugging 18 point lead with a mere 16 minutes left to play. The final act saw an emergence of heart, soul and accuracy as the heroines overcame the adversity and soared to the win. Frank Capra couldn't have written it any better...

Tonight...a squad enters the arena that has had a season of hard luck and that is looking to put a signature win on their resume. 

This is the Dartmouth mascot. Seriously?

Big Green isn't anything special to rave about. They managed to pick up their second win of the season in a snore-fest against Hartford Sunday on the road by seven in a 43-36 contest. 

The Cards scored 44 points in the second half against IUPUI. Any worries that Dartmouth will come and throw an offense blitzkrieg against UofL can be pretty much forgotten.

Dartmouth had lost their previous five games before knocking off Hartford...so it's not like the Ivy League competitors are walking onto the Denny Crum Court as a dangerous, uprising mid-major.

The Big Green were picked to finish fourth in the Ivy League and might well hold up that speculation...but losses to Drexel, New Hampshire, McNeese State, Jacksonville, Oakland, Rhode Island, Maine and Vermont tell us that they're either not very good against the northeastern part of our nation or...just not very good at all. Five of those losses were by ten or more. They did beat Boston University by 20...but the Terriers are 0-for-season so far in the win column. 

LAKIN ROLAND PLAYED ACROSS THE RIVER IN JEFF

Dartmouth, like Louisville, is a fairly young squad. Nine of their 13 players are either freshmen or sophomores. Lakin Roland, a 6'0" senior forward from Jeffersonville, IN leads the squad in scoring with 12.8 ppg and is also the leading rebounder for the team. She was one of the leaders of the 2011 Jeffersonville 4-A Girls High School Championship team and also played in the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star games that summer.  Kate Letkewicz, a 6'0" sophomore guard is good for 9.9 a game and is second in board-grabbing for the Hanover, New Hampshire college. 

A contest featuring some 'givens' awaits Cardinal WBB fans tonight. Given that Briahanna Jackson will turn in one of those all-over-the-court relentless attacks. Given that Myishia Hines-Allen will be menacing in the paint and that Mariya Moore will be trying to get off threes if the Big Green allows her open looks...although the coaching staff has been tirelessly working with her on perfecting a mid-range, pull-up jumper.   

Maybe this will be another game where Walz can get the freshmen a little extended playing time. With the probability of Asia Durr being around for the entire season now...it would be fun to see how the 2015 recruiting class plays as a unit with her, Taja Cole, Erin DeGrate, Sam Fuehring and Brianna Jones on the court for an extended stretch. 

It's Ugly Sweater Night at the arena tonight...so feel free to give your fellow attendees something to chuckle about. 

Cards TV is listed as the game watch option...but that hasn't exactly worked out too well this season from what I'm hearing from others. Your best bet is Matt Andrews and A.J. on the radio. We'll have a full recap of the action Wednesday for you.

paulie
xxxxx