Better late than never...Cards WBB finishes strong in 76-69 win over Pitt -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

8-0 Run In Final Two Minutes Pushes Cards Past Panthers

A lot of Cardinals fans I know assumed it would be a pretty easy and fun win over 0-5 in-conference Pittsburgh Sunday in the KFC YUM! Center.

Well, you know what happens when you assume. 

I hope those people were a part of the 9218 in attendance today, because they got to see a exciting, nerve-wracking at times and come-from-behind UofL WBB win. The Cards "W" propelled them into a three-way tie for second place in the ACC standings. 

Things looked a bit bleak when Pitt's Amber Brown nailed a jumper with 3:15 left in the fourth quarter to give the Panthers a 67-63 lead, but Cards guard CC Carr took a Morgan Jones pass 21 seconds later to cut the margin to one and get the Cards started on a game-ending 13-2 run. Pitt would see the lead just one more time, at 69-68 with 1:46 but Louisville would hit two of their three final shots and all three free-throws to finish the game, while Pitt would miss or have blocked their final five attempts. That occurrence happening much to the delight of Cards fans, I might add, who got VERY loud during that UofL run.  

To get to that point, though, Louisville had to find a way to overcome Pittsburgh's potentially best effort this season. It was obvious, from the get-go, that Lance White's squad wasn't here just to pay homage to the Cards 2013 class that was honored at half-time

The first quarter was pretty-evenly played until UP's Liatu King broke a 10-10 tie with two free throws after 6:55 of play. A Pitt jumper, two free throws and three-pointer all contributed to Pitt building a 18-12 lead the rest of the way, while the Cards could only manage a Nyla Harris jumper in the paint,

It had looked, from the opening tip, that the Panthers weren't going to play docile or scared. They were having a pretty easy time getting the ball inside on UofL to score and that was about to continue.

Pitt started the second quarter on a 8-2 run and Louisville found themselves on the short end of a 26-14 score with six minutes until halftime. Louisville's shots weren't falling and Walz had reached pretty deeply into the bench by then and had a lineup of Norika Konno, Carr, Van Lith Jones and Russell on the court.

The Cards began a rally of sorts at that point...four straight made free throws, and a Carr three had trimmed the Panthers lead to 28-21 with three minutes until halftime. Pitt responded with a 4-0 run, though, and Dayshanette Harris' jumper rebuilt the lead to 11 at 32-21. Louisville was able to salvage a bit of momentum, closing the half on a 5-0 run on a Dixon jumper and Konno's first three of the night. 32-26 Pitt wasn't anything to excite the Cardinals' fanbase, but, it was a start in the right direction

(Monique Reid and Shelby Harper at halftime re-union)

The halftime festivities featured a reunion of a lot of the 2013 National runner-up squad members. It was great to see Shawnta Dyer, Sherrone Vails, Sara (Hammond) Barnum, Tia Gibbs, Cortnee Walton, Monique Reid, Shelby Harper, Monny Niamke, Antonita Slaughter, Bria Smith and Megan Deines on the court again, some with kids and spouses.

(Shelby Harper and daughter) 

Only the Schimmel's and Asia Taylor were absent for the players and Taylor is currently playing in Puerto Rico, so her absence is explainable. 

(L to R: Megan Denes, Cortnee Walton and Monny Niamke)

Louisville regrouped at halftime and outscored the Panthers 50-37 in the second half. Let's look at now they did it.

 

A strong start to the third quarter benefitted the Cards and they outscored Pitt 12-6 in the first four minutes to tie things up at 38-38. The teams traded the lead back and forth a bit and found themselves tied up at 46-46 with 2:22 left in the quarter. Van Lith and Nyla Harris jumpers, plus a Van Lith three gave Louisville a 53-48 lead with 30 seconds left in the quarter and it looked like Louisville might be ready to assume control of this contest, winning the quarter 27-17 and leading 52-48. Van Lith had 11 of the Cards points in the quarter and Louisville went 5-7 from three-point range.

 

Louisville would build the lead to seven early in the fourth quarter after another Konno three made it 58-51 after a minute of play, but Pitt wasn't ready to get on the bus and leave just yet. The Panthers steadily cut into the Cardinals lead and a Maliyah Johnson layup tied things at 60-60, with 5:37 to play. .Pitt found a spurt of momentum and grabbed a four-point lead at 67-63 on a Amber Brown jumper with 3:15 left on the clock. They held the lead until the Cards closing 8-0 run we discussed earlier turned a 69-68 game into a 76-69 Cardinals win.

 

Louisville, in horse racing parlance, started the affair slowly, kept the leader in sight in the backstretch, led briefly but settled back... off the front runner's pace and then hit the top of the stretch in a battle for the lead before steadily pulling away. 

THE FRED REPORT

(Jared reads J Fred Muggs selected stories about the 2013 Cards WBB squad) 

FREE THROWS -- 13 for 17 is 76.5% and we just ask for 70% to award a CAPITAL "F". Morgan Jones going 5-6 gets a nod of approval from us.

REBOUNDS -- We mentioned earlier that Pitt was pretty much having their way in the paint and the 40-35 rebounding edge backs that up. Dixon had nine for the Cards and Jones eight, but we cant award a letter.

EFFORT/EXECUTION -- After a horrid shooting start (7-28 and 25%) the Cards finally found te eye to finish at 25-64 (39%). 11 turnover is more than we'd like to see but 19 assists on 25 made baskets is top notch. The Cards won the second chance points battle 14-10 and got 2 bench points (11 from Konno) but we can offer just a small-case "e'

DEFENSE -- Pitt had a higher shooting percentage 42%, outscored Louisville 32-18 in the paint and Amber Brown torched the Cards for 20 points (or 29% of her team's output, but Louisville managed to shut the Panthers down in the most crucial part of the game...the final two minutes. Louisville has to do something about stopping teams from scoring inside, though, and I can only go with a small case "d". 

FINAL FRED TALLY: F-_-e-d

The Cards go on the road for the next two, next week, and thy foes look to be a couple of very challenging ones in Virginia Tech and FSU. Both lost Sunday, though....FSU to Boston College and Virginia Tech to Miami, so "bizarro world" in the ACC escalates and thrives. Louisville is quite liable to run into a couple of teams seeking a bit of payback and wins, so let's hope the Cards don't start (or finish) slowly. .

 Ah, the joys and intricacies of the ACC, right?

(PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON) 

THEY SAID IT: 

HAILEY AND C.C POST GAME

JEFF WALZ POST GAME

Basketball Separated by a Decade - Sunday Cardinal Couple

Pitt Preview

Round two vs the Pitt Panthers today, this time here in Louisville.

The Panthers are oh-fer in conference so far, 0-4, with one of those coming at the hands of the Cardinals (77-53) as mentioned.  They've also lost to Syracuse and Miami, both of which are in the 2-2 traffic jam in the middle of the conference right now, as well as Wake Forest, with a conference record of 1-4.

Outside of conference, they're 7-4, but the competition hasn't been great.  The best opponents, and the four loses, are to DePaul, Maryland, Illinois, and Ball State.  Pitt wins have come against the likes of George Mason, Towson, and Loyola (MD).

Of course we have some familiarity with the names already.  Liatu King, Amber Brown, Dayshanette Harris, and Maliyah Johnson are the leading scorers, ranging from 11.4 to 8.5 points per game.  The biggest threat in our previous matchup was Taisha Exanor, off the bench with 12 points and a trio of steals.

Pitt isn't particularly well regarded in the ACC conference for Women's Basketball, and yes I do find the contrast with Volleyball somewhat amusing, where a Final Four bound team lost to Towson.  In any case, if there was a day of competition in the ACC where you could maybe sit back and take it easy, this would be it, but those days just don't exist.

Coach Walz has said rather pointedly that you can't take any teams for granted in this conference.  UNC is currently 0-3 in conference, and they're a nationally ranked team.  NC State is 2-2 in conference, and they're a top 10 ranked team.  You just can't let your guard down, regardless of how unimpressive the competition looks.

The Cards will count on Hailey Van Lith a lot, per usual:

Hailey Van Lith led the Cards last time out ( vs GT) with 24 points marking the third-straight game she has scored 20 points or more and the 10th time this season.
She is the first player to have 20 or more points in the first four conference games of the season since Angel McCoughtry in the 2006-07 season. She scored 20 or more in each of the first five BIG EAST games that season.
She is averaging 22.8 points in conference games.
Van Lith shot 50 percent from the floor after going 10-for-20. It was her third-straight game shooting 50 percent or better and the seventh time she has done it this season.
It is the second time in her career she has shot 50 percent or more in three-straight games.
She led the team with four assists, the fourth time in the last five games she has led the team in assists.

Tip is a 2pm, and the game is on ACCN on your tuner in addition to streaming.  And, of course, you always have the option of catching Nick Curran along with one of the alumnae of the 2013 Final Four team, Cortnee Walton on 93.9FM for the radio call.

2013 Celebration

Speaking of that 2013 with a freshman Cortnee Walton, they will be honored during today's game.  The surprise team of the tournament that year, knocking off Baylor, headlined by Brittany Griner on the way to a national championship game matchup with UConn in New Orleans.

What was that 2013 team doing on January 8th of that year?  Beating Rutgers 66-57 in overtime.  Shoni Schimmel had 21 points, which to that point was a season high.  Monique Reed had 18 points, with Nita Slaughter and Bria Smith both adding 10.  And we gotta give a shout out to one of the best names ever in college basketball, playing for Rutgers was Precious Person.

It appears that nearly all of the 2013 team is in town for the celebration, including a gathering last night at the men's game.  Kim Pemberton, who was Sports Information director for the squad back then, posted a picture of them on Twitter.

Who was your favorite player from that squad?  The Schimmels, Jude and Shoni, of course were big crowd favorites, but the local players also had quite a following, Nita Slaughter, Mo Reid, Shelby Harper, Sara Hammond, and Tia Gibbs, all from Kentucky.  And, of course, Asia Taylor has long been a Cardinal Couple favorite.

Sound off in the comments and then get down to the game today against Pitt to cheer on both our current team and this 2013 squad.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

It was a good crew, and a good discussion on the CCRHP yesterday as we kicked off the 2023 podcasts.  Case was out, but Paulie, Jared, Daryl and Jeff held fort. We spent most of the time on basketball, because it's that time of year.  We recapped some of the Georgia Tech win, and we talk about what's still needed for this team to put together the quality of play that we hope for from a UofL squad.

We got a quick bit of Volleyball news in towards the end, plus a rundown of what's going on with Cards in the Pros in both Soccer and Volleyball.  Some good news and a little bit of tough news in there.

Find it at anchor.fm:

https://anchor.fm/cardinal-couple/episodes/Kicking-of-2023-with-the-Cardinal-Couple-Radio-Hour-Podcast-e1t6nhi

and at any other significant podcast directory.

-- JMcA

What They Are Doing Today -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CATCHING UP WITH.....SHONI SCHIMMEL

(PAULIE CONTINUES WITH THE SUMMER WEEKLY FEATURE OF "WHAT THEY ARE DOING TODAY" WITH A LOOK AT ONE OF LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL'S MOST-LOVED STARS -- SHONI SCHIMMEL) 

When one thinks of the history of University of Louisville women's basketball, the name Shoni Schimmel quickly comes to mind. 

A 2010 high school All-American out Oregon and featured in the independent documentary/film Off the Rez...Schimmel came to Louisville for her career as a student-athlete and created some very impressive stats and memories in her four years as a Cardinal. 

As a junior, she led the Cards to the 2013 NCAA Women's Championship game. Who could ever forget her eye-popping move over Brit Griner and the subsequent verbal add-on Shoni directed at Griner after the score? Schimmel went on to score over 17 points a game her senior season and was an All-American. Her 2174 college points  placed her third on the all-time scoring list at UofL and she was selected eighth in the first round of the 2014 WNBA Draft by Atlanta.

As a member of the Dream, she played along side another "Cardinal Forever", Angel McCoughtry, made the 2014 WNBA All-Star game anD was selected MVP after her 29 point performance. She led Atlanta in assists in 2014 and 2015 but the Dream, despite these two and stars like Sancho Lyttle and Erika de Souza were upset in the first round of the 2014 playoffs by Chicago and did not make the playoffs in 2015. Schimmel was also selected for the 2015 WNBA All-Star game, thanks in part to the huge Native America vote and fan adoration of the flamboyant shooter from Pendleton, Oergon. 



2016 brought changes for Shoni. Then head coach for Atlanta --  Michael Cooper -- expressed disappointment that Schimmel showed up for training camp "out of shape" and she was traded to the New York Liberty. Her role and stats diminished in New York and she missed the second half of the season due to a concussion. 

In 2017, there were more changes in store for Schimmel. She didn't report for the New York Liberty's training camp. She released a statement that she would be taking the 2017 WNBA season off to deal with some personal issues. Her grandmother, a strong force in her life, had recently become ill and Shoni wanted to spend time with her and her family before she eventually passed away.  Shoni indicated she would return for the 2018 season, and did...but she failed to make the Liberty's roster and was picked up by the Las Vegas Aces...playing in just two games before getting waived. 

Undaunted, she went overseas after being waived by the Aces and played briefly under contract in Israel but she returned to the USA and went in a different direction. 

Coaching. 

She accepted the job of girls basketball coach at New Town High School in North Dakota on the Fort Berthold Reservation. Details are skecthy and hard to find on her year of coaching there but, it appears the Eagles went 14-18. She is not listed as the coach for the upcoming 2019-20 season. 

Shoni's mother Ceci Moses and father Rick Schimmel were successful coaches on the high school level until a controversial firing in 2016 at Santa Fe (NM) Indian School. Click on the link below to read about the Schimmel's side of the incidents.

LINK: SCHIMMEL SIDE OF THE STORY

Shoni did return recently to Spokane's Hoopfest this summer...her first time playing in the outdoor basketball tournament since 2008. Playing in the Elite Division with other former NCAA DI standouts and ex-WNBA players, she teamed up with a couple of Eastern Washington ex-players and New Mexico forward Abby Scott and formed the All Rez team. 

After losing their first game, Shoni's squad met and sent her sister Jude's squad (Air Natives) to the losers bracket in the double elimination format. Hoopfest is the world's largest outdoor 3-on-3 basketball tournament. 

Shoni's team won the Elite women's bracket. Here's a recap. 

LINK:  All Rez wins

Will Schimmel play competitively again in the WNBA or overseas? 

"I'm just chilling right now. After playing basketball for 23 straight years, I think I deserve a break after everything. I'm getting ready to possibly get another coaching job." 

The Jeff Walz player-to-coaching tree sprouts another branch. Honestly, I didn't think it would be Shoni, but, when you consider the facts, it makes perfect sense. A love for the game. tremendous knowledge of the game. The ability to pass on what she's learned to younger players. Her parental influence and her knack for being a leader. 

I remember seeing Shoni work the summer Jeff Walz camps "back in the day". Her easy-going smile and love of children made her a mecca...a "gravitate-to" source on the court for the younger players. Maybe this was Shoni seeing the "younger Shoni" again. 

We've seen the transition from player to coach in Becky Burke, Candyce (Bingham) Wheeler, Sara Hammond, Cortnee Walton and more. All of them have paid dues and are still paying dues to be where they are and where they dream of being eventually. Here's hoping Shoni has the "stick-to-it" mentality to continue to follow this new avenue in her life. Maybe someday we'll see her on the sidelines as a DI NCAA coach.  The big question is: how much does she want it? 

Baby steps first, though. Remember Jeff Walz got his start coaching middle and high school teams. 

The best of luck to Shoni Schimmel. Here's hoping she can develop a new set of "shake 'em" prodigies for women's basketball in the future. If it turns out not to be coaching, her (and Jude's) work and efforts with the Native American tribes across the nation could be a venue to examine and continue to build upon. 

A young woman who has seen so much, so fast in her 27 years. What will the next 27 years, or even next 27 months bring? 

(Acknowledgment to Ryan Collingsworth's article on Hoopfest for information on today's article. https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/jun/29/former-wnba-all-star-shoni-schimmel-happy-to-retur/ )


paulie
xxxxx

What They are Doing Today -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CATCHING UP WITH....MONIQUE REID

(OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF MONTHS, PAULIE WILL BE DOING AN ARTICLE EACH WEEK CATCHING YOU UP WITH FORMER LOUISVILLE WBB STARS. WE START WITH "33" -- MONIQUE REID.) 

"Mo" is the answer to a trivia question I like to pop on Cardinal women's basketball fans. Who is the only Cardinal WBB player to play in both of UofL WBB's NCAA Championship games? 

Monique Reid.

As a freshman at UofL, she saw 24 minutes in the Cards 2009 loss to UConn. 7 points on 2-9 shooting with three rebounds. Fast forward to her redshirt-senior season...Reid played 15 minutes in 2013 NCAA Championship game, against UConn again, and totaled five points and four rebounds. 

People will argue that the math doesn't work...it was five years in between the Cards appearances in the Big Dance's Final dance. I point out to then that Reid was injured in the 2011-12 season and only played in eight games and was granted the extra year. 

Monique is 8th. on the all-time scoring leaders list at UofL, with 1725 points and 802 rebounds. 

Let's fast forward now to 2019. We currently find Monique playing for Colegio Los Leones Quilpe in the Chile Women's League. In two games, she's put up 64 points...41 in a game two days ago. 

So...what got her to Chile and where has she been? 

She graduated from UofL in 2013 but was not selected in the WNBA Draft. She needed and had knee surgery in the summer of 2013 and, instead of heading overseas to play, decided to try her hand at coaching. She accepted the head girls basketball job at her alma mater (Fern Creek High School)...(replacing Jess Laemmle's dad, Rick)...but when the opportunity presented itself to get back out on the court as a player, she took it. 

2014 found her with New Basket Oberhausen and in the DBBL, which is the premier women's basketball league in Germany. Reid rapidly became a starter and averaged 14.9 points in 18 games in the 2013-2014 season. Her 2014-15 season with New Basket Oberhausen was even better, with 15.6 points per games in 20 games.

In 2015-16, she split time between two European teams. Monique started the season with BC Univ. Goldis ICIM Arad in the Romania National League. A total of 22 games produced a 18.6 points per game average. In January of 2016 she decided to move again and went to Montana. 

That's interesting, you might query...moving from southeastern Europe to the fourth largest state in the United States...but, this Montana is in Bulgaria. She played for Montana 2003 in the Bulgarian National League and averaged 23.8 points in 19 games. 

The 2016-17 season had Ms. Reid on the move again. Staying in Bulgaria but playing for Beroe Stara Zagora where she put up 23.5 points a contest in 32 games. After that season ended, she switched locations to Puerto Rico for two games with Atenienses de Manatee.

2017-18 brought a return to Europe and a starting role with Wasserburg Germany in the DBBL. 21 games with them and an 18.6 ppg average. After the DBBL season ended, it was back to the USA, where she played five games with the Atlanta Monarchs in the WBCBL. Meighan Simmons and Evelyn Akhator were on the same squad on this developmental team for the WNBA. She and her squad won the WBCBL Championship.  

Last season, Monique decided to try her skills in Israel with Hapoel Petah Tikva and had another great season with a 21.3 ppg clip per night with 11.8 rebounds as well. She was named to the All-Israeli League 2nd Team. One of her teammates was Brittany Sykes (Syracuse) who is currently with the WNBA's Atlanta Dream. When the Israel-D1 league concluded their season, she went to Chile...where's she's currently playing. 

Six different countries. Nine different teams. And she's not even 30 yet. A great example of how a player can take her NCAA DI skills and turn them into a colorful, adventurous opportunity to travel the world doing what she loves to do....play basketball. 

For Monique Reid it's "game on" and it really doesn't matter the venue. If there's a backboard and rim, teammates and an opponent to play, you can bet she's ready to muscle her way inside the paint and score, drill from the perimeter and grab missed shots. 

We heartily say..."Go, Mo...GO !"  


DREAMS

I have this recurring hope that someday the WNBA will come to Louisville. Of course, I'd love to see a squad that had a bunch of former Louisville players on it. I can think of one that would be a powerful presence in the paint. Monique Reid.

I could get used to seeing this view
every morning

Such are the nature of dreams, though. On this Monday morning, I'm back in Louisville but still dreaming of my brief respite from the site and city. Thanks to Joe Hill for the wonderful Gatlinburg chalet and the "knuckleheads" for managing to hold this site and The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour together on Saturday with little collateral damage and no reader/listener complaints. 

There are times when one needs solace, time to reflect and a change of venue. It so happened Sonya and I both needed all of the above. Renewed and refreshed, it's time to get back into reality. Grudgingly, almost reluctantly...but realizing that dreams don't last forever and life goes on. 



paulie
xxxxx

Louisville women's basketball -- 16-0 and a long way to go.

CARDS SWEEP 2017 

Paulie and Sonya at TaxSlayer Bowl

OK, technically they have lost in 2017, if we go back to the end of the 2016-17 season...but as far as the 2017-18 competition goes...they are unblemished. 

The road trip to start ACC play, one that caused a bit of consternation and white-knuckle time to close 2017 nevertheless was a success in terms of wins. Two tough trips, maybe too soon after the Christmas break, but two wins against two opponents that we'll probably see at the end of the year in the field of 64 for the NCAA Tournament. ACC wins are gold, no matter the margin or opponent and Louisville has accomplished that. 

We were fortunate to see both. The slow start against the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta that showed us why Asia Durr IS the best player in women's college basketball and the "what-appeared-to-be-a laugher-early" but ended up being a gut-check and fortunate win in Raleigh. Two schools not ranked in the top 25 but getting votes in the USA TODAY/COACHES poll and with a combined record of 23-4. Each unique in their method of getting a "W" and games that were still in doubt with 120 seconds remaining on the clock. 

This is the conference we are a part of. 

-- A conference that has gone 150-44 against non-conference foes. 

Held hostage by Mr. and Ms. Wuf !!

-- A conference that has 15 players on national award watch lists. The Wooden Award, Naismith Trophy, Wade Trophy, Nancy Lieberman Award, Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, Cheryl Miller Award, Katrina McClain Award and Lisa Leslie Award.  OK, maybe a couple of too many awards? And...of course...the prestigious Cardinal Couple Award, which will be awarded in a clandestine ceremony in a un-disclosed location at an undetermined date and time by a variable amount of Cardinal Couple staffers for a yet-un-named category and achievement.

-- Two espnW National Player of the Week honorees so far...Asia Durr (Nov. 20th) and Shkayla Thomas (FSU - Dec 4th.) 

-- Four teams in the Top 25 with #2 Notre Dame, #3 Louisville, #11 Florida State and #17 Duke. 

So, how are the Cards measuring up in the ACC Conference categories? The ACC tracks and reports on 19 team and 13 individual statistics. We'll close today's Cardinal Couple with Worldwide's favorite thing to follow and monitor...numbers on how Louisville is doing in ten of these 32. The numbers are through Dec 29th.

SCORING OFFENSE. Louisville is third with a 82.4 average through 15 games. On top is Florida State with 87.1. 

SCORING DEFENSE. The Cards are fifth allowing 56.5 a contest. Leading the league is Clemson who has held opponents to 51.2 in 13 games.  

SCORING MARGIN. UofL leads the league with a +25.9 margin of victory. 

FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE. Louisville atop the ACC with a .496 mark. They've attempted 936 shots and made 464. 

FREE THROW PERCENTAGE. Holy cow! The Cards are on top here with a .786 success rate. They've tried 271 and made 213. 

INDIVIDUAL SCORING. UofL has two in the top 30. Durr is #3 with 20.3 a game and Myisha Hines-Allen sits at #19 with 13.5 per outing. Lexie Brown (Duke) leads the way with 21.2 per contest. We'll see her in the KFC YUM! Center Thursday night. 

OMG! Walz's Christmas list has an ENTIRE
undefeated season! I just brought the 2017 part. 

HIGH POINTS PER GAME. Hello, Asia Durr! She's atop the conference with her 47 against OSU and also has the third place with her 38 against Georgia Tech. 

3 - POINT FG MADE. Have we mentioned Asia Durr in the stats columns yet? She leads the ACC with 45 threes...an average of 3.2 per game. 

ASSIST/TURNOVER RATIO. Louisville has two in the top five. Checking in at #3 is Arica Carter with 53 assists and just 22 turnovers for a 2.4 ratio. At #5 is Dana Evans with 67 assists and 32 turnovers for a 2.1 ratio. 

ATTENDANCE. The Cards lead the way! In 15 games, an average of 5206 have attended.  At home, an average of 6126 in nine games, which is second to Notre Dame's 6333 for five games. 

***********************************************************************************************************

The first reader who can correctly guess who in conference is #3 in total attendance average will be entered in our Panera Card drawing !!!!

***********************************************************************************************************

Everyone have a great second day of 2018! Stay warm and don't stay outside too long...it's cold out there (in the Louisville area) baby! 1 degree as I write this Tuesday morning. Hot coffee, please...


Paulie
xxxxx

Cal Bears next for Louisville WBB -- Sunday Cardinal Couple

Gray, Boyd could pose problems for Cards

The University Of Louisville women's basketball team faces their third top 25 opponent of the season with a 5 p.m. EST tip today against California in the Haas Pavilion on campus.


Louisville (10-1) and Cal (7-2) have met once before...the winner advancing to the 2013 NCAA Championship game. The Cards took a 64-57 win over the Golden Bears in New Orleans Arena after trailing by 10 at halftime. This one was tied with 1:51 remaining after Layshia Clarendon dropped a three on Louisville....but Louisville outscored UC 7-0 the rest of the way to advance.

Of particular concern for the Cards today will be the tandem of seniors Brittany Boyd and Reshanda Gray. Boyd, a 5'9" point guard,  leads the NCAA with 8.9 assists per contest and averages 14.1 ppg and 8.1 rebounds. She and Gray are also on the John L. Wooden Award Women's Preseason Top 30, the WBCA's Wade Watch List and the Naismith Top 50 Watch List. 

Gray brings 19.2 ppg to the stat sheets per contest and is

the Bears leading scorer. She dropped 37 on Sacramento State earlier this month. The 6'3" forward goes to the boards with abandon and will be a matchup problem for the Cards. 

Gabby Green, a former Louisville recruiting target, has stepped in as a freshman and seen considerable playing time for Lindsay Gottlieb.

It's a homecoming for Mariya Moore...who played her high school ball in the shadow of the Berkeley campus and Arica Carter is also a California native from San Diego. Both freshman will be heavily involved in trying to curtail the strong UC guard contingent. 

Cal has dropped their last two outings...and Lindsey Gottlieb has never lost three in a row during her tenure on the Berkeley campus. Cal hasn't defeated a ranked opponent yet this season. 

The Cards will need to play a much better game than their

last outing against GCU. Free throws must improve and shots attempted in the paint must fall...especially those second chance opportunities. We're hoping the GCU contest served as a wake up call to Walz's charges...all expectations are that there will be a large pro-Cal crowd in attendance today because of the many promotions Cal Marketing has attached to this afternoon's tilt. 

We'll have the recap later tonight. This one is scheduled to be live on the Pac-12 Networks and Cards Radio 790 WKRD with Matt Andrews and AJ will have the call on the radio. If you are a Time Warner subscriber...the Pac 12 Network can be found at 530

This one promises to be a tight battle and could evolve into a track meet...given both teams' propensity for putting points on the scoreboard. For Louisville to take the "W"...it'll require the Cards best effort of the season so far. 

#################################################

Speaking of effort, we encourage you to give it that old

college try and listen to our latest broadcast of the CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR. It's archived on Crescent Hill's Soundcloud and available now. Paulie and Worldwide Jeff talk hoops past and present and Jeff plummets into the Grand Canyon with his woeful performance on THE WORLDWIDE QUIZ. 

Don Paulie stops in to spread a little Christmas cheer and Coach Walz delivers another lesson to Paulie...this time about the irrelevance of social media and ambiguity of statistics. Plus...you get three minutes of pre-show bonus audio (unknown to us) where we discuss height, the WCC and Argentina.   Linkie below:

CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO DEC.20TH BROADCAST