Hartlage third round action -- Liberty face Wings tonight -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 LAUREN HARTLAGE AT EVEN PAR FOR NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS 

The golfing continues in Arizona for the collegiate NCAA Championships today, as the participants enter their fourth round of play. University of Louisville golfer Lauren Hartlage fired a 75 Sunday to slip out of a tie for second and slide into a tie for 10th after 54 holes. 

Hartlage remains as the participant with the best score for golfers not playing for the team title, but as individuals... with an even par 216 after the third round. The Stanford golfers had the right answer for the Grayhawk Golf Club course in Scottsdale, AZ....three of their team participants were on fire with Rachel Heck putting up a 70 to go to -10 under for the 54 holes, Angelina Ye carding an eye-popping 65 for Sunday to move to -5 for the event and Brooke Seay firing a 68 Sunday to go to -1 under. 

Hartlage began well Sunday with a birdie on the first hole, a par 4, and stayed at -1 under until the eighth hole, where she recorded a bogey on the par 3. She finished the first nine with an even par 36. 

The final nine was a bit more turbulent for the Elizabethtown, KY graduate student. It began well with a birdie on the par 4, Hole 10 and she stayed at -1 under until a bogey on the par 3 13th hole. Lauren recovered to fire a birdie on the par 4 -14th hole. 

The final four holes were a roller coaster ride for Hartlage. She fired a par on 15, a par 4, but produced a double bogey 5 on the par 3 - 16th hole. Holes 17 and 18 were bogeys for Hartlage for the final round score of 75.   

She takes to the links at 12:33 today (Mountain Time Zone) 

In team competition, Stanford has run away and hid from the rest of the field with an impressive -18 par after three days.  ACC member Duke is in second, 20 strokes back at +2 for the 54 holes. The Blue Devils are one of three ACC schools in the top ten team competition -- Wake Forest is in seventh place with a +16 and FSU stands in eighth place with a +17 mark after three days. The PAC 12 also has Arizona State, Arizona and Oregon in the top 10 and the SEC is represented by Ole Miss. The Big 12 is doing pretty well with 3rd place Okla. St and 4th place Texas. 

Here's hoping Lauren can solve the mysteries of the Par 3's in Scottsdale and finish strong in Day 4. 

DALLAS COMES TO BROOKLYN TONIGHT

The Dallas Wings bring their game to the New York Liberty in the (Brooklyn) Barclays Center tonight -- meaning we get a matchup of former Cards Dana Evans (Dallas)  against Jazmine Jones and Kylee Shook.

The trio aren't a major factor in either lineup, so far, in the early season WNBA contests  

Yesterday, New York downed the Chicago Sky 93-85 to improve to 4-1. It was the Betnijah Laney (20 points) and Sabrina Ionescu (19 points) show for the Libs  -- who broke open a halftime 52-52 tie to outscore the Sy 41-33 in the second half. Kylee Shook produced five points and six rebounds in 18 minutes for New York and Jaz Jones added three points and three grabs in ten minutes.

Dallas sits at 1-1 after an overtime 100-97 loss to Seattle on Saturday. It continues to be the combination of Arike Ogumbowale (28 points) and Marina Mabrey (26 points) piloting the Wings...Dana Evans got seven minutes Saturday and contributed five points, after seeing two minutes in the season opener for Dallas against the LA Sparks. 

Sadly, viewing options for this one tonight consist of just a broadcast on the YES Network, which is a "pay" network that primarily covers New York City professional sports squads. It's also on FUBO, if you have that. I have neither.

I can't figure out, after due deliberation in this senile brain, why aren't these WNBA games aren't getting more ESPN or another readily available sport network coverage? The WNBA is a popular, resurgent and growing-in-popularity professional sport and one would think it would draw more viewers than cornhole contest or the Monaco Grand Prix Formula One racing...but I'm looking at it through a basketball junkie's viewpoint. 

I'm no network executive, though, so take the rant for what it's worth.

Nevertheless, let's hope Dana has a good game but the Libs continue their winning ways and Kylee and Jaz have big nights !! 

Have a marvelous Monday!

paulie