Asia Taylor impressive in opening Mystics exhibition...Ciera Johnson to Texas A&M -- Wednesday CARDINAL COUPLE

TAYLOR'S 13 LEAD WASHINGTON OVER INDIANA

Louisville grad Asia Taylor totaled 13 points in almost 18 minutes yesterday for the WNBA Washington Mystics in their first exhibition game of the season...a 88-68 win over the Indiana Fever in Indianapolis yesterday afternoon. 

The free agent, who most recently played for the Sydney Flames in Australia, was 4 for 11 from the floor...hit 5-6 from the free throw stripe and gather four rebounds. Taylor, who did nit start, was one of five Mystics in double figures...Elena Della Donne and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough added 12 points each. 

A nice return to "the Big Dance"...where Taylor has been twice before. She began with the Minnesota Lynx after her 2013 senior season at Louisville...playing in 22 games in 2014 and spent 2016 playing four games for the Connecticut Sun late in the season. 

The Mystics final preseason game will be Monday, May 8th when they face the Lynx in Washington. 


CIERA JOHNSON TO TEXAS A&M 

The Tweets started yesterday evening. 

"Proud to call myself an Aggie" 

And, so...we know the destination of two of the three transfers from the University of Louisville women's basketball program this spring. Earlier, we learned that Jonesie was headed to Georgetown (D.C.) 

Looking at A&M, where Johnson will be eligible starting in the 2018-19 season...they currently have three players 6'2" or taller...but all will be graduated by the time Johnson hits the court. 

Hopefully, a good fit on Gary Blair's squad for the Duncanville, TX native. Texas A&M was one of five school that made the final cut before Johnson became a Card...Notre Dame, South Carolina and Duke also on that list. 

Best of luck to Ciera on this new opportunity. 


LATER THIS WEEK

Case Hoskins will be handling the Friday write-up and Worldwide Jeff McAdams doing Saturday as Paulie gets into full Oaks and Derby mode. I'll be appearing on our Saturday radio show via phone with the lads as well. 

I'll have my annual Oaks and Derby picks over at: 

LINK: HANDICAPPING HEROES

This is my secondary website and we look at horse racing there, plus a radio show that follows The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour on Saturdays. The handicappers do pretty well. They keep me around for entertainment, I'm pretty sure...but I did pretty well on Oaks and Derby Day last year. 

I hope the Handicappers jump in as well. It's a busy time of year for them.


paulie