Louisville women's basketball releases non-conference schedule -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS FACE SIX FOES WITH OVER 20 WINS LAST YEAR

We now know the non-conference slate of the University of Louisville women's basketball schedule. Highlighted by appearances against Ohio State and UConn plus a trip to Bloomington to face IU...the Cards will play in 15 non-conference contests. The UConn contest will fall in the middle of the ACC schedule on February 12th. in Storrs, CT and UofL travels to Lexington this year to match up against the Cats on Sunday, Dec 17th. 

Things get underway officially in the WNIT preseason tournament with a matching against Southeast Missouri State on Friday Nov. 10th. at the KFC YUM! Center. Louisville could play as many as three more game in the Bucket in the tournament on the 14th, 16th and 19th of November...some of the participant in the WNIT this year are Michigan, Oregon and Texas A&M. The Cards started out well in the preseason tournament last year...winning their first three games before South Carolina dealt them their first loss of the season. 

The first road trip for Walz and crew is a doozy...Louisville goes to Columbus, OH and faces Ohio State in the Countdown to Columbus tournament on Sunday Nov. 12th. That's where the Final Four will be staged to end the season and Walz and Durr will run into fellow teammates Kelsey Mitchell and Linnae Harper from the USA U23 squad in that battle. OSU also has former ACC nemesis's Stephanie Mavunga (UNC) and Sierra Calhoun (Duke) on their roster.  

Walz ball returns home for a visit from Murray St. on Nov. 24th. before they take to the road again. They'll participate in the ACC/BIG10 Challenge against the Hoosiers on Nov. 30th. and then head out to that major metropolis Brookings, SD to chase the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State on Dec. 3rd. 

The "Tennessee" part of the non-conference schedule ensues when the Cards come home to entertain UT Martin (12/5), Vandy (12/7), Middle Tennessee (12/9) and Tennessee State (12/12). 

After the UK game on 12/17...Myisha and the gals go off into the wild blue yonder and visit Air Force on 12/20. It'll be conference time after that...with the UConn ball game the final non-conference contest a couple of months later.  

Definitely six and as many as nine home game all before Christmas. A schedule that presents some big tests. Coach Walz was matter-of-fact in his discussion of the non-conference slate: 

"Once again, we have a tough non-conference schedule, but that's what it is all about. We want to play the best because it helps us get better throughout the year and prepares us for conference play."    

It is a schedule that will present some challenges. Ohio State looks very strong and the Cards have to tangle with them up there. IU had a 20 win season last year. Teri Moren has turned the Hoosiers around and will have home court advantage against the Cards. South Dakota State went 23-9 last season and advanced to the second round of the WNIT before losing to Colorado in overtime. Vandy and MTSU should be improved over last year and...of course...there's Matty Mitchell and the Cats....probably in Memorial Barnyard again. 

We all know what UConn is capable of...

Would I rank it as difficult as last year's non-conference slate? Probably not...you're not facing the eventual National Champions South Carolina nor Maryland...the two squads that dealt the Cards losses in non-conference play. Also gone from last year are WKU (and I do hope they resurface next year) plus Belmont and Chattanooga...a couple more Tennessee schools that held their own with the Cards in 2016-17. With Cam Newbauer gone to Florida, Belmont will have challenges but they do return a strong team. 

Also missing in action is South Florida...which is another game I hope will resurface next year. WE will miss not seeing our pal Jose Fernandez (pictured above). 

One could argue that you're replacing MD and SC with Ohio St. and UConn...I don't go much for those types of comparisons. I will say that if the Cards do get the 15 non-conference games possible here...they have a good shot at going 13-2. I'll prognosticate that Ohio St. and UConn get wins over the Cards. And that Louisville beats IU and UK on their home hardwood. 

I hope I'm wrong about the projected defeats. 

All in all, though, it's a schedule that should be fun to watch as the Cards kick off the 2017-18 campaign. Since we haven't had any exhibitions added yet...I'll go with this: 

78 days until Louisville women's basketball starts. 


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SPEAKING OF WOMEN...

These are your women's coaches at UofL. Can you name them all? 

Let's give a shout out to Mike Rutherford for his excellent article on Women Leaders Of Louisville Athletics in the Voice-Tribune. 

Here a link to it: https://voice-tribune.com/featured-posts/women-leaders-louisville-athletics/

There is a lot of discussion on Tom Jurich's role in Louisville women's athletics and also the athletic administrators for the women's programs.  I think you will find the article quite an interesting read and we'll talk it over on our Saturday morning radio show THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR. 





paulie
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