CLOSE GAMES HIGHLIGHT SEMIFINALS
On a day where Lamar Jackson (Not a top-five college player?) and the pre-season UofL Football ranking (#19) are being bandied about in main-stream Louisville sports media....we're going in a different direction here a Cardinal Couple...your leader in college women's sports.
TEAM 3 65 - TEAM 1 60
Jamelle Elliott's Team 1 squad was win-less going into the semifinals and had previously been beaten by Team 3 earlier in the scrimmages but they came out with a vengeance Thursday and led Cori Close's Team 3 28-25 at halftime of the contest. They stretched that out to 47-37 near the end of the third quarter but a 9-0 run by Erin Boley's Team 3 made it a contest gain in the fourth period. Down 55-52 with 3:38 to play...Team 3 took off on another 9-0 run and secured the victory to advance to today's Gold medal game.
Leading the way for Team 3 was OSU's Kelsey Mitchell with 13 points. Hallie Thome (Michigan) and Gabby Williams (UConn) had 12 each for Close's winners. Jackie Young (Notre Dame) had 16 points in defeat for Team 1. Team 3 advances to Gold medal play to face Team 2 at 11:30 a.m. EDT.
Thome discussed the win:
"We were mentally tough. This being our third full day -- we are all mentally tired and a bit exhausted so finding that fourth or fifth gear to push through was what helped us."
TEAM 2 79 - TEAM 4 71
It was Myisha Hines-Allen's Team 2 versus Asia Durr's Team 4 in the second semifinal and another exciting contest. Michelle Clark-Heard's Team 2 took an early 19-11 advantage in the contest and pushed it out to a 45-35 halftime lead over Courtney Banghart's squad. Asia Durr's team wasn't ready to toss in the towel, though, and with Asia playing a key role tied the contest at 65-65 with four minutes to play. Team 2 got clutch play from Arike Ogunbowale and Azura Stevens down the stretch, though and prevailed for the eight-point win. Team 2 placed five players in double figures...led by Stevens (UConn)15. Ogunbowale (Notre Dame) had 14...as did Jordin Canada (UCLA) and Ariel Atkins (Texas). Durr led Team 4 with 15 points.
So, who's likely to make the 12 player roster? I have no inside information and I'm purely going on scrimmage performances here...but I'll toss Azura Stevens, Arike Ogunbowale, Ariel Atkins, Asia Durr, Kelsey Mitchell and Jackie Young out as a six-pack that have a great chance of wearing the USA jersey. After that, it gets a bit tougher. A'ja Wilson and Erin Boley maybe? Victoria Vivians and Kristine Angiwe? I'll be a homer and pull for Myisha Hines-Allen and also toss Hallie Thome into the mix...but today's action will be a big determining factor. In any event, they'd be 12 to watch today. We'll know sometime Friday evening how many of my guesses I got right.
Also keep in mind that Stevens most likely won't go to Japan since UConn is scheduled to be in Italy during that same time. Will there be an auxiliary player named if Stevens is selected...or any of the other UConn or Duke participants make the squad...since Duke will be in Italy also. Intrigue awaits...
(Notice how I used all three varieties of 'they're', 'there' and 'their' in one sentence? And correctly! Bonus points!)
Action today on https://www.usab.com/live was previously announced to begin at 10 a.m. with the Bronze game.
Allegedly. The website live stream is just currently listing the 11:40 Gold Medal game...so we'll have to wait and see.
(EDITOR NOTE: As of 10:37 this morning...no Bronze medal game was being shown at the website.)
-- Paulie
I'll be watching and we'll discuss the games and the selections on THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR broadcast tomorrow at 11 a.m. on WCHQ 100.9 FM and live on the Internet at www.crescenthillradio.com. I'd also imagine some observations will be in Case's Saturday article here at the site.
Good luck Asia and Myisha in the process!.
(parts of today's article are courtesy of USA U23 basketball)
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WELCOME TO THE VILLE JASMINE BROWN
Dani Busboom Kelly, the head UofL Volleyball coach, has a bit more assistance coming her way in the newly renovated Cardinal Arena facilities. And, she's bringing in a "Volunteer" for the job...in a couple of ways. Jasmine Brown has been introduced as a volunteer assistant for Volleyball....she had an outstanding collegiate career as a Tennessee Volunteer wide-netter from 2011-14...playing under Busboom for two of those years. She was the Vols "go to" serving and defensive specialist during her time in Knoxville...originally joining the squad as a walk-on.
Brown has been involved in club coaching in the Knoxville area and high school coaching over the past couple of years. Coach Kelly comments:
"When Jasmine decided she wanted to go into coaching, it was a no-brainer to make her part of the staff. She has an amazing work ethic and has proven herself to be a great teacher of the game at the club level. I believe Jasmine has the potential to be one of the top coaches very early in her career."
Welcome to the Ville, Jasmine. Teach 'em right!
(Portions of the this article are courtesy of gocards. com)
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Catching up with...
We're pleased to announce our next guest on "Catching Up with"...a feature on our Saturday radio show. It's no other than #13....C.B. Candyce Bingham.
One of the guiding forces in UofL WBB's NCAA Tournament run in 2009...Candyce is back in the Ville and doing great things as an assistant coach for Chance Dugan's Bellarmine women's basketball squad. The Knights made the NCAA Tournament last year and we'll talk to C.B. about that and many other things Saturday around 11:30 a.m. on THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR. BE sure to catch the entire broadcast...it starts at 11 a.m. on WCHQ 100.9 FM locally and on-line at www.crescenthillradio.comWe had a great interview with C.B. Friday morning and we're excited about bringing it to you Saturday.
We've got a full house lined up for the broadcast with Case, Worldwide, Jared and Paulie and there are rumors there will be another chance for Worldwide to defend his four- show winner's title on the weekly quiz.
paulie
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Would have liked to see her play. I've heard she was a great 1-2 punch with Angel.
ReplyDeleteSaw the championship game on the live feed between Myisha team 2 and Mariya team 3. The live feed was not good but could have been my laptop. So Mariya's team behind Kelsey Mitchell took the game by 3 though they led by 13 midway through the 4th. Next thing I know my feed went dead and when it came back up it was a 1 point game with 2 minutes left. The game itself kind of stunk. Seeing players playing a game with new teammates didn't make for fun basketball to watch.
ReplyDeleteMyisha had a few nice baskets. A put back and a nice swish from outside. That's all I saw of her since the feed kept repeating or stopping. Btw, the announcer sucked royally. I'm not expecting much but at least be able to say who has the ball immediately. He didn't know all the players.
Mercedes Russell I can't see making it in the WNBA. I was way off on her. I predicted she would so good last year she would jump early to the draft. She really is sooo soft and kind of clumsy still. Lannae Harper and Kelsey Mitchell were standouts in the game. Jordin Canada rolled her ankle pretty bad but was up and walking after the game. Tyienna ? Paige from Penn State was having a magnificent camp and fractured her ankle the day before. Hate to see that happen. All in all I won't go out of my way to watch one of these games online again. I'd see it if it was in town though.
Erin Boley had a ton of points for Mariya's team #3 but did it so quietly I hardly noticed.
DeleteSo then Greenwell, Williams, Stevens, Samuelson and Collier won't be going to Japan because they will be in Italy. That leaves a few nice spots.
DeleteIt wasn't your laptop. I had the same horrible, skipping and freezing feed while watching. The guy they had calling the Gold game was horrible. Had he ever watched college basketball? He took most of the second quarter off...which was a relief...because he kept botching the players names and misidentifying them. He also created a new coach for Walz...Michael Clark Heard. Never met him.
DeleteLegalizing marijuana in Colorado is one thing. Having the guy behind the microphone stoned a s Willie Nelson is another... (snark, snark)
I was surprised Boley didn't make the team.
They didn't show the Bronze medal game...which was a 3X3 contest between Asia's Team 4 and Team 1. Team 4 won 22-9. Asia had 13 of the 22 points...10 for 12 shooting and 3-3 on threes.
PAULIE
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I don't understand why girls that are going to Italy are trying out? Can someone explain that to me? Not being fresh just asking....
ReplyDeleteI would imagine it's just the opportunity to play against and with some of the best players in at their level in the sport.
DeleteOk thanks
DeleteOff topic. Asia Taylor played tonight. Three min in the 2Q 3 pots 2 rebound 1 steal. Doesn't get back in the game. She had a great drive off a screen and was fouled but she is different. She looks fast. She also has developed into a very attractive young lady.
ReplyDeleteOkay I guess that was important to mention?
ReplyDeleteTHE TEAM:
ReplyDeleteMonique Billings - UCLA
Arike Ogunbowale - Notre Dame
Asia Durr - Louisville
Ariel Atkins - Texas
Kelsey Mitchell - Ohio State
A'ja Wilson - South Carolina
Kalani Brown - Baylor
Sabina Ionescue - Oregon
Brittany McPhee - Stanford
Mercedes Russell - Tenn.
Jamie Nared - Tenn.
Jordin Canada - UCLA
Conference breakdown was PAC 12 (4), SEC (3), ACC (2), Big 12 (2) and Big 10 (1). No Myshia...which is disappointing, but she didn't stand out at all in the championship game. I thought Erin Boley would get picked. That's a surprise. I thought Linnae Harper played well enough to get picked. No cigar. I wasn't very impressed with Kalani Brown but she got the nod. WE obviously didn't see all that happened there...though.
For those keeping score, I came up with (5) of my 12 picks making the squad. Ogunbowale, Durr, Mitchell, Atkins and Wilson.
Paulie
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No MHA? Really? I feel she should be more aggressive this year and take her shots instead of passing off to another as much! IMHO of course....The team seems to come up short constantly...I keep hearing about building the program...what Coach Walz is trying to do....etc ...what is it that he's trying to do? I keep hearing about all the recruits 5 star this and that... I feel concentrate on what you have this year and stop going on and on who coming to your program in 2018 or 2019....Same as last year too busy running all these programs ...try staying with your girls back at home Maybe that will work!
ReplyDelete