Looking forward to the 2020 Olympics; FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Good Friday morning Cardnation !

It feels like a great morning, it really does.  We're in the all-star break in a couple sports (WNBA, mlb & milb), i have had the opportunity to see a live show again last weekend & it just seems like personally, it was a very rewarding week and i am looking forward to the weekend to relax! 

When I started typing, I had no plan for what I would type.. my routine is to read up on the gang's posts from the week and see if any wheels start turning.  With not much going on on the Cardinal sports front and pro sports reaching their halfway marks, I cant help but to look forward to the Olympics.  

TEAM USA WBB

Team USA WBB faced the WNBA All-Stars a couple nights ago... it was an entertaining game if you did not get to see it, the All-Stars beat Team USA 93-85.  The 3-point shooting contest was held at half-time, veteran guard Allie Quigley from the Chicago Sky won her third triples crown. 

Team WNBA was coached by Lisa Leslie and Tina Thompson, both former WNBA greats and Olympic teammates of Team USA coach, Dawn Staley. Thompson is coach of Virginia's women's team and Staley coaches at South Carolina. They are all good friends who won Olympic gold together and are Naismith Hall of Famers.  

After entering the 4th quarter tied at 66, the All-Stars beat USA 27-19 in the 4th quarter.  This site is not an Arike Ogumbawale fan-site, lets make that clear.. but she had 8 of Team WNBA's 4th quarter total.  She lead all scorers with 26 points in 26 minutes on the floor going 10-18 from the field and 5-10 from three point land which was good for the MVP honors of the game.  

If you recall, Team USA team started prepping for the Tokyo Olympics in November of 2019 when they went on a college campus tour making stops at Stanford, Oregon and Oregon State, Texas A&M, Uconn & UofL was the last stop in February of 2020 before the national team began its Olympic qualifying tournament campaign.  The IOC ultimately suspended the Tokyo Games on in late March of 2020 due to the condition of the global pandemic.  Angel McCoughtry should've gotten the opportunity to play in those games, unfortunately, a season ending injury in May of 2021 sidelined her for competition. She was, however, in the broadcasting booth for the All-star events this past week along-side LaChina Robinson and company.

Here is the Box Score from Team USA vs Louisville WBB 2/2/2020

Final score? It was ugly.. 

Clearly, the Cards could hang with the national team to open each half but lost all steam as it played out.  The Cards lost 60-15 in the 2nd and 4th quarters.  

Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird will be playing in their fifth Olympics.  Taurasi has had a hip injury and did not play vs Team WNBA saying she wants to be ready for Tokyo.  The Americans' Olympic opener is July 27 vs. Nigeria.

CARDS IN THE OLYMPICS

The University of Louisville is sending 10 athletes to the Olympic Games representing 10 different countries, in Tokyo, Japan.

The Cardinal contingent consists of Zach Harting (Swimming - USA), Tatiana Salcutan (Swimming - Moldova), Andrej Barna (Swimming - Serbia), Grigory Tarasevich (Swimming - Russia), Marcelo Acosta (Swimming - El Salvador), Murilo Sartori (Swimming – Brazil), Merissah Russell (Women's Basketball – Canada), Ayeisha McFerran (Field Hockey – Ireland), Ben Williams (Track & Field – Great Britain), Matt Hughes (Track & Field – Canada).

We do wish the Cardinals good luck in their events!  Its always Go Cards but ultimately its Go Team USA!! 

Have a safe weekend out there, readers!  Leave your favorite Summer Olympics sport in the comment section! 

~Daryl