Cards Past and Present -- Sunday Cardinal Couple

 The Cardinal Couple crew is busy these days.  Of course, we all have our "day jobs", but even in the world of sports fandom, even without collegiate team play happening in the UofL world, the CC crew is finding plenty of sports to be excited about.

Much of that centers on Cardinals, past and present, in their pursuits individually, or on pro teams.

WNBA

The Cards are actively represented on three different WNBA teams, and the CC crew is keeping an eye on them.

Myisha's Mystics

No, that's not just alliterative.  Myisha Hines-Allen returned from her European playing time and has made a major impact on the Mystics.

The Mystics did end up losing yesterday's matchup in Las Vegas, but it was a thriller down to the wire, 96-93.  Hines-Allen's stat line is impressive to say the least.  32 points, and 13 rebounds is the headline, but even beyond that, a trio of assists, a pair of steals, and a blocked shot.  Then look at her 9-10 from the free throw line and she definitely earns the "F" in her personal FRED report.

As is Myisha's playing style, most of her shots were inside the arc, going 11-19 in field goals overall, but she did try a pair of three pointers and made one as she has been improving her distance shooting skills.

Dana's Sky

Dana Evans is still looking to find her groove at the pro level.  She played almost seven minutes in the Chicago Sky's game against the Candace Parker-less Los Angeles Sparks.

After a disastrous start, the Sky were able to eat into the Sparks' lead over the course of the game, but weren't able to get it done in the end with the Sparks taking the victory 68-63.

Unfortunately, Dana didn't really help much in this one, missing both of her shots and not getting any supporting stats.

Kylee and Jaz's Liberty

The Liberty got blinded by the Connecticut Sun.  Going down in a  85-64 loss.

Shook as largely a non-factor with only one made field goal and an assist.  Jaz Jones did a bit better with a pair of field goals, a perfect four free throws, and trios of rebounds (all defensive) and assists.

The CC crew's assessment seems to be that the success of the Liberty goes the same way as the success of Sabrina Ionescu (five points, five assists, three rebounds).

NWSL

Emina's Racing

Two Cards are playing top level women's soccer.  Emina Ekic and the hometown Racing Louisville FC were in Portland to play the Thorns.  The Thorns would win this one 3-0.

Racing was at a fairly distinct disadvantage for this one, with a 7:30pm local start, equating to a 10:30pm start here in eastern part of the US.  Combine that with some travel disasters getting to Portland that even drew some snark from the Racing social media account.

Tonight’s final.

Quick turnaround to tomorrow and a tough rematch with @united on the way home. pic.twitter.com/pcwDxV6l8w

— Racing Louisville FC (@RacingLouFC) June 6, 2021

 

Emina Ekic got the start and played for 61 minutes, but this one was all Thorns.  The Portland club maintained control over nearly all of the play, with limited opportunities for Racing to get forward and attack.  Ekic only had one chance at an attack on the right side, but was called offsides.

Gaby's KC

Kansas City will be in action today, with Gaby Vincent on the squad.  KC will be looking for their first win of the season today at 2pm against the Houston Dash.  Kansas City is 0-2-2, and the Dash are 1-2-1.

WCWS

Less of a connection to UofL with the Women's College World Series, but the CC crew is having a lot of fun watching it, for sure.

The closest connection the Cards have to this event this year is fellow ACC squad FSU is a participant, with former Card Danielle Watson in their bullpen.

Yesterday, day three of the WCWS, was the first day of elimination games, with play moving down to the elimination bracket and four teams eventually packing their bags to go home yesterday.  Well, technically three teams lost yesterday, and one lost in the early hours of this morning.

The early session started with Oklahoma putting a bit of a beatdown on Georgia, beating them 8-0 in six innings.  That was followed up by an exciting Florida State vs Arizona game.  FSU would come back from a 2-0 deficit to win it 4-3.

The evening session was delayed by rain and lightning, finally getting underway about two and a half hours late.  In the first game of the session, top seeded Oklahoma defeated two seed UCLA, 10-3.

The final game of the "day" saw Florida State dispatch Oklahoma State, 4-2.

There will be two games for sure today, with top seed Oklahoma emerging from one elimination bracket to take on the Cinderella of the event, James Madison in a rematch of the opening game of the WCWS on Thursday.  This one will be at 1pm.  The other definite game will be Florida State emerging from the second elimination bracket to play Alabama at 3:30pm.  Both are on ESPN.

The "if necessary" games would be on ESPN2 and would be JMU vs Oklahoma at 7pm and FSU vs Alabama at 9:30pm.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Finally, three of us hit the airways against, with Jared, Paulie, and myself getting together to talk about the WCWS, WNBA, Field Hockey honors, and another Cardinal Couple Quiz!

Check it out below.

JMcA