Cards, IU to face in Women's basketball -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville women's basketball, Hoosiers to face for first time in Walz era.

What scheduling couldn't put together...the Four Letter Network has accomplished. Louisville women's basketball now knows their 2017 opponent in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge..and it will be the neighbors to the north...the Indiana Hoosiers. 

The Cards will travel to Bloomington, IN to take on IU on Nov. 30th. in Assembly Hall. That's a Thursday, in case you are looking ahead, a week after Thanksgiving. No game time has been set yet for the border battle. Last year, the Cards faced Maryland in the challenge and fell 78-72 in the KFC YUM! Center. It may be best remembered for the game that Jeff Walz explained his views on participation. 

Walz has never faced the Hoosiers during his time at Louisville, nor has he faced IU head coach Teri Moren since he has been at Louisville. The Cards last played the Hoosiers back during the Tom Collen era back in 2005 and took a 72-65 victory on Dec 4th.

It was in that game we found out how valuable Helen Johnson could be for the Cards...with 20 points off the bench and we got one of our first looks at a precocious freshman by the name of Angel McCoughtry. The Cards held a double-digit lead late in that one before IU started connecting on threes late in the contest to narrow the score. 


The Cards draw an IU team that will have a little different look for 2017-18. The Hoosiers have picked up Notre Dame transfer Ali Patberg and Pitt departee Brenna Wise...but both will have to sit for the 2017-18 season per transfer rules. They do bring in one of the best in Kentucky Girls Basketball...Louisville Butler's Jaelynn Penn. Penn was the 2017 Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year and also led Butler to two state championships in her career as a Bearette. She's one of four freshmen that will give Moren back-ups and potential key contributor strength. 

IU does return some very familiar faces. Top scorer Tyra Buss (18.2 p.p.g.) who also led the squad with 60 threes enters her senior season. Also back is Amanda Cahill...the 6'2" senior front-liner finished second in points with 14.8 a contest and led the Hoosiers in grabs with 8.9 per outing.

The Hoosiers went 23-11 last season...10-6 in the Big Ten and went to the WNIT. Some thought they might fall into the NCAA Tournament off the fence...they were a solid bubble team. The WNIT adventure did give them four additional games to end the season, though, and they did defeat Ball State, St. Louis and SMU before falling to Villanova. All four games were played at Assembly Hall. 

Teri Moren on playing Louisville:

"This is a really intriguing match-up...not only for our team but for our fan base as well. They are a very solid opponent that will be a challenge in our non-conference schedule...as well as prepare for Big Ten play." 

We did reach out to Jeff Walz to comment on the match-up as well: 

"We're very excited about the opportunity to play Indiana. It's a start to what I would love to see become a year-in, year-out series. Teri's done a fantastic job with them since arriving there and they have a knowledgeable and passionate fan base...so visiting them relatively early in our season will be a true test and challenging match-up for us. We hope our fans will make the trip to Bloomington for what will be an exciting game." 


paulie
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