Louisville women's basketball -- Walz, Durr review USA U 23 Experience -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Walz, Durr review Tokyo trip and USA U23 Experience

Who would have figured it wold take Jeff Walz three days to find sushi rolls in Tokyo? What did Asia Durr think of the total experience? What's a 12 hour flight (twice) like? What did coach think of the FIBA based rules for the event? 

These were some of the many things Walz and Durr discussed with the media Monday afternoon at the "Little Yum" conference room on Floyd St....shortly before the eclipse. 

For Durr, it was an incredible experience start to finish. To be able to compete against the best of the women's college basketball world, to make the squad and get the chance to travel to Japan and soak up the sights and culture...while playing an integral role in the USA's three game sweep during the round-robin affair will be memories she'll never forget. Jet lag? Yes, she is experiencing a bit of it, and....coupled with the first day of classes on the Belknap Campus...she's been going full tilt, non-stop for quite a few days. As she put it, though...she wouldn't have it any other way...it's what she signed up for and why she came to Louisville. 

Walz relayed in great detail what he experienced on the trip. You can catch the interview (including the "fake" start) at the bottom of today's column. The three visiting squads shared the same hotel and a common dining facility that featured "Westernized" food...but at night, Coach, his wife and the staff hit the town to check out some of the local cuisine. He found it strange that the restaurants didn't feature sushi rolls...commenting that you can find them on just about any street corner in America but that he didn't find a place that offered them until the third night there. That particular restaurant had a three-hour wait to be seated...so they passed on it and went back the next day for lunch. As it turned out, sushi rolls weren't on the lunch menu. 

Temples, shrines and scenic views were all a part of the trip...but the reason they were there was to compete and USA U23 rolled through their three game round-robin undefeated. Walz commented that he thought Asia looked her best in the final game...against Japan. He thought she looked more into the flow of the action -- she was the leading scorer in that win and also in the first game of the tournament. 

No trophies or awards were handed out at the completion of play...but Japanese jackets (known as sukijans) were given to the participants. Unfortunately, Walz didn't bring his for  us to see. 

Coach is also a big fan of the FIBA based rules for games. A shorter shot clock, a timed clock after an offensive rebound and the fact that a coach or player can't stop action with a time-out. The request for one has to be made at the scorer's table and then it is granted at the next stoppage of play.  

All in all, a great experience for the two and the USA squad as they participated in an event that Walz hopes will continue. He's a big fan of the USA Basketball format and structuring...commenting that they even request the coaching staff to wear the same clothing as a group and were provided several different outfits and a schedule of what to wear each day. (Somewhere, Doug Bruno is nodding his head in agreement.) 


After it was all over, another 12 hour flight to return stateside. Asia related that there wasn't much to do expect watch movies and sleep but was grateful that the flight wasn't jammed full of people and the seats were spacious.

Volleyball's Tess Clark is ISO and ready to go!

On a day where totality and darkness were the buzz...and a sense of disappointment here locally from some that it didn't get completely dark in the metro area...Coach and Asia brought sunshine and brightness during their presser. They were even provided with "eclipse" glasses and went outside after the press conference to try them out.

Walz invited the media to the second floor balcony in the women's basketball offices to see the eclipse and tour the facilities...I passed on that... but women's hoops got a "heads up" on the men's program...having the southern exposure on their side of the building and a full view of the event. I wonder if Pitino and his staff sauntered over? Would the NCAA investigate this eclipse viewing as extra benefits? 

For Cardinal women's basketball on a Monday afternoon, the future is so bright...Coach is wearin' shades. 


LINK: 

ASIA AND COACH DISCUSS JAPAN, USA U23 HOOPS


paulie
xxxxx

USA U23 Women's basketball completes the sweep -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Durr's 16 leads USA over Japan 

While most of you were asleep this morning, the USA U23 team "hosted" Japan in their final game of the round-robin event in Tokyo. (While my colleagues have tried to explain to me how USA could host in Japan...I remain unconvinced). A resounding win for USA...103-71 over Japan.

Asia Durr led the Americans in scoring. She tallied 11 first-half points to help USA lead at the break 52-33. She finished with 16 in the contest...the second time in the three game round-robin event she has led the squad in scoring. A look at the stat line shows she was 5-6 on two-point attempts and sank two of her four 3 point attempts in 20:24 minutes of court action. The Japanese squad reportedly did a little media woofing before this one and were a bit chippy...but USA quickly turned that noise off and did work. 

A nice shooting effort from USA...they went 50% from 3 point range (9 for 18) and 53.6% from two-point range (30-56). They wouldn't have been awarded a letter in our regular-season FRED scenario for free throws...going 16-23 from the stripe for 69.6%. The stat line also shows one other interesting stat on the sheet....they list Jeff Walz under the players and he was credited for 3 defensive rebounds. Good hustle, Coach!

Defensively, USA did the job....holding Japan to 25% beyond the arc and 33.6% on two point efforts. 19 turnovers and 49 rebounds for USA -- only 8 turnovers for Japan but just 
35 rebounds. 

Lost in translation? Also in double figures for USA were Kelsey Mitchell (listed as Michelle on the sheet) with 13 points, Jamie Nared (listed as Nard) with 11 points and Kalani Brown (listed as Karani) with 11. 

So...a nice effort for Walz's team over the three-game event. Would you like to see this event enlarged next year? Maybe bring in eight teams instead of four. The Russians would probably jump in...as well as a few of the European nations and China if asked. Should WNBA players under the age of 23 be included? Just a few hypothesis I ran across from others while doing my research for today's write. Personally, I'd love to see the event enlarged but would vote against using WNBA or even college graduates in Euroball play.

I do lament the fact that none of these contest were shown on-line or on cable. I would have settled for even a Japanese broadcast (maybe with subtitles) but it was not to be. You would figure with today's technology....something could have transpired. Thanks to USAB for providing Twitter feeds and the photos here today...they helped me to construct parts of this article...but being a basketball junkie, I probably would have gotten up early than I normally do to watch.

I also wouldn't mind seeing this event come to the United States next year...or down the road. I suppose, if it did, they might choose the USAB training facility in Colorado Springs to host it...but I'll venture that if you brought it to the KFC YUM! Center, Rupp Arena, Knoxville, South Carolina or any of the other hotbeds for women's college basketball...they would be a sizable attendance. I'd go if it was within a reasonable driving time...how about you? 

A special congratulations to Asia Durr for her efforts. Our buddy Howie Lindsey actually got a live interview via phone yesterday in Tokyo with her on his morning show Louisville First. You can hear that HERE It would be my guess that...if they do All-Tournament teams and Most Outstanding Player awards for this round-robin...she would be a prime candidate for each category. I'll continue to monitor social media and see if this develops. 

Asia has stamped her mark as the natural floor leader for Louisville women's basketball this season. Remember the questions, concerns and doubts we had about her as a freshman? Let's not forget, she was injured then...but she's turned into the player we all expected we would get out of high school and as one of the top five in the nation on the women's college basketball scene. 

We now turn our focus on Louisville women's basketball to the season ahead. I had an interesting chat with a huge Louisville WBB fan the other evening and was presented with her possible starting and game ending lineup. I think it's probably way too early for such speculations...but her list is definitely doable. She has Asia and Arica Carter at the guards, Myisha Hines-Allen at the "3" and Sam Fuehring and Bionca Dunham in the paint. 

Time will tell...

Coach Walz sent out a couple of tweets after the contest:

Jeff Walz‏ @CoachJeffWalz  1h1 hour ago

Always fun coaching @A_Hooper25 Been an awesome 2 weeks with @usabasketball 

Jeff Walz‏ @CoachJeffWalz  1h1 hour ago

What a great experience these past two weeks have been! Thank you to these 12 wonderful young women and @usabasketball

QUOTES:

USA head coach Jeff Walz (Louisville)
On the game:I thought that was the best we have played in our three games. The kids came out and did exactly what we asked them to do. We knew that Japan was very disciplined on defense, and we tried to attack early, which we did. We shared the ball extremely well and made open shots. It was the best we have shot the ball as well, but a big part of that was because of how well we shared it.

What has this experience been like overall?It’s been awesome, having the opportunity to work with the best of the best in our college game. I told the team after the game, as impressive as they were on the floor playing, was half as impressive as they were off the court. They are great young women. They are great ambassadors for our game, and I’m excited to watch not just my team play this coming season, but these young ladies’ teams, because college basketball is in good hands with this group.

Asia Durr (Louisville/Douglasville, Georgia)
On the game:We started off fast. We pushed the ball, and we played as a team, which was key. We knew that they were aggressive, and they played hard and they played fast. We figured if we could jump on them soon, then we could take them down quick.

So, a brief lapse in basketball action for us. We'll still be watching to see how Asia Taylor and the Mystics are faring in the WNBA and we'll be resuming the "Catching Up" series with former UofL women's basketball players in a couple of weeks...but, for now, we'll plunge headlong into fall women's sports....as Case lined out in his article Monday. We'd added a full listing of the women's Soccer, Field Hockey and Volleyball schedules on "The Right Side of The Site"...so you can keep up with the where, when, what and who. 

paulie
xxxxx

Lynn Stadium Sees Action -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Women's Soccer Opens Home Play

Though it is only exhibition play, Louisville soccer's Lynn Stadium will see its first action of the Fall 2017 season for both men's and women's soccer tonight. The women will get things started at 5:00 PM against DePaul, with the men following directly after with an exhibition game of their own against Lipscomb. Paulie lamented the struggles of covering exhibition games on the road, with many of those problems likely not coming to play at home tonight. True, there was no scoreboard, clock, or announcer for the spring exhibition games, but I believe that with the publicity around both of tonight's games and the double header format, we are likely to see a full production for this game. If not, at least we'll be there to keep track of things with our own eyes.

The women's soccer and field hockey teams will start Louisville's 4th season in the ACC officially next week. For now, the spotlight is on the women's soccer team as the first home game of the year, even in an exhibition fashion. Louisville will take on DePaul in an exhibition game for the second time in two years. Last season, the Cards took on the Blue Demons on the road. While I don't have access to real stats, as it was an away exhibition, if memory serves, that game was a loss. Louisville will look to repay DePaul at home. The Cards last faced DePaul in an official capacity in 2012 when both teams were in the Big East. Louisville took home a win that day and a lot has changed for both schools in the five years since. Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes will look to use tonight's scrimmage as a springboard for the upcoming season. Louisville has slumped in recent years but have the team for a strong season this year. Getting a victory against an old foe is a great way to hit the ground running. Admission today is free for both games, so come out to Floyd Street and enjoy the nice summer evening. Sports are back in Louisville.

Asia Durr in Japan

(Information per usab.com and Twitter) After scoring 11 against Australia in U-23 team's August 9th scrimmage, Asia Durr outdid herself in the team's first real game early this morning. Team USA downed Australia again, this time with a final score of 78-60. Durr led Team USA with 14 points in the victory. I apologize for the small update, but the recap of the game has not yet been posted at time of writing since the game just ended. Be sure to return to Cardinal Couple in the coming days for additional information as this tournament goes on.

An Update on the Statistical Recap

Unfortunately, due to increased stress at work and trying to balance my life outside of work in general, I was unable to complete the statistical recap prior to fall action getting underway. However, this is something that I am still interested in so I will still be pursuing it, just with a slight change in format. I will be performing some statistical analysis of our covered sports throughout their respective seasons and will do statistical recaps for each sport at the end of play. I will compare this season's success to my goals and to last season. That way it is a bit more engaging and fresh in everyone's minds. At the end of the last season next spring/summer, I'll see what I can put together for overall comparisons of every sports. I'm sorry to anyone that was looking forward to this (I'm a bit disappointed in myself), but I hope the final product is worth the wait!

The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

It's another Saturday Cardinal Couple which means it's time for another reminder about the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. Every week we bring you an hour of conversation about things covered here at Cardinal Couple. We have a unique group of hosts and often bring exclusive interviews you can't find anywhere else. If you're ever unable to tune in, you can find archived broadcasts via the Crescent Hill Radio website at this link where you can also listen to the show live. You can also listen on 100.9 FM in the Crescent Hill extended area or anywhere by downloading the WCHQ app. This week we'll discuss the upcoming fall sports seasons which are right on top of us, as well as the fall sports media day yesterday. We'll have audio from yesterday and tons of fun in studio. Tune in at 11:00AM for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour!

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Women's Soccer scrimmages Ohio State...THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

LOOK ON THE SCOREBOARD AND SEE...NEVERMIND.

Activity actually got underway for fall sports at UofL last night...the women's soccer team traveled to Columbus, OH to face the Buckeyes in an exhibition match. We're trying to piece information together about how it went in Ohio...not a lot out there. Exhibition games are just that...many times the stat crews and assistant SID's aren't keeping any official numbers or statistics. The scoreboard isn't on at times. Sometimes they are without public address announcers as well. The games don't go in the records. 

Ohio State had their scrimmage against Louisville on the Internet last night but I couldn't figure out how to download the platform from a viewing device named Stanza that they use. It seemed more interested in trying to get me to set up a calendar on-line and gather personal information than showing soccer...so I gave up on it after awhile and kept searching Twitter for updates. I'm pretty sure it would have cost me something to watch it...but I never got that far in the process. Allegedly, a lot of BIG10 schools use Stanza. I'm glad Louisville is in the ACC. 

There were only a couple of mentions on the Ohio State women's soccer Twitter account. They announced the game would be starting soon. They show the Ohio State players doing the O-H-I-O for the fans after the game. No scores, no highlights...no "so-and-so looked good or "so-and so didn't do this" quotes. 

There was also a quote from the OSU coach Lori Walker Hock after the game. 

"It was great to get out and play. We were able to see where our returners were and we had a lot of young players out on the field. It was a productive scrimmage and it was a benefit for us to get experience against a physical team." 

That as vanilla as it gets in post-event comments. What do we gather from that? That Louisville is physical...which is probably a good thing for the Cards...and coach knows where her returners are. I've seen similar quotes from coaches who've been drubbed by 30 points and from coaches who were up by 5 going into the second half.  

They posted a few pictures. Those are posted here.

I also checked the Louisville women's soccer Twitter feed to see if any mention was made on the scrimmage. 

Blank.

Articles about Saturday's double header, reasons why players chose Louisville and a motivational Monday hashtag but no recap, no score. In fairness, UofL may not have had a sports information person on hand for the contest. Those folks are really busy on campus right now. 

Searching by coach name, I checked the Karen Ferguson-Dayes twitter feed. Nothing there since late September 2016. I get it. It's an exhibition, Paulie. The team has been practicing less than a week (ridiculous...when you consider football and basketball get months and months of preparation for the season). How much can you read into the first scrimmage of the year? 

As you have probably deduced by now...I didn't make the trip to Columbus to watch the action. I have gone to WSOC away games in the past...but this one just wasn't in the wheel-well for me yesterday. And, once again, it was just a scrimmage after only a couple of days of practice. I expected maybe just a brief mention of a score, maybe who scored...but I tend to set my expectations way too high at times, I suppose. To paraphrase Allen Iverson...

"Scrimmage. Scrimmage? We talkin' 'bout scrimmage?"  

(From last year's Fall Sports Media Day) 

We'll find out more about women's soccer and other sports at the Women's Fall Sports media day Friday at Lynn Stadium. WSOC, Field Hockey and Volleyball coaches and players will be on hand for interviews. This is a fun event. After they feed the media, they're gathered into a room and the coaches talk about the programs and then the media given access to another room and allowed to talk to specifically picked players from each sport. We've gotten some great interviews out of this event since they started holding it a couple years ago. We've found out what shampoo Worldwide uses (one of the best questions ever by a player -- Molly Sauer -- directed to a media member... The answer was Pert Plus...). We found out where Maya McClendon prefers to eat (her parents house).  Based on last year...the Field Hockey girls are usually pretty serious, the WSOC girls open and humorous (thank Inger Katrine Bjerke for that...) and who knows what we'll get out of Volleyball this year? New coach and all...

We'll have those interviews on THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR Saturday morning at 11 a.m. They'll consist of our "Catching Up" sequence...normally we'd bring you a former UofL WBB player but we'll catch up with the fall sports instead. 

So...let's recap. We know that one UofL women's fall sports team (WSOC) has faced someone else. Louisville is an aggressive team. We also know that Jeff Walz has safely arrived in Tokyo with Asia Durr and the rest of the USA U23 squad and they went to practice shortly after the plane landed. We know that Field Hockey had their first practice yesterday and so did Volleyball. We even know the UofL women's golf schedule for the season. 

Things are happening. The doldrums of summer have passed. Fall sports have begun. We'll be here to tell you about what we see (or don't see). 

paulie
xxxxx

Harper joins USA U23 squad...WSOC around the corner -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

LINNAE HARPER ADDED TO USA U23 SQUAD

Just in the few times I was able to watch Ohio State guard Linnae Harper perform in the USA U23 trials...I thought she had the stuff to be one of the 12 to make the roster. That happened for her yesterday...as South Carolina center A'ja Wilson is now sidelined with a groin strain and Harper gets added to the roster for the practice sessions and upcoming trip to Japan.

We all remember Linnae...right?  She began her career at UK and was instrumental in helping the Cats beat the Cards in her freshman and sophomore years. Things didn't quite work out for her in Lexington...so the Chicago, IL native decided to move north and join the Ohio State Buckeyes after the 2014-15 season...one of the schools that was in her top five consideration list in high school. She took to Buckeye ball quite well in 2016-17 and was named the Big 10 Sixth Player of the Year in the 2016-17 season as a junior after sitting out 2015-16 under NCAA transfer rules. 

She joins Buckeye teammate Kelsey Mitchell on the squad and also brings an extensive USA and international basketball resume to the roster. She was on the 2011, 2012 and 2013 FIBA World Championship teams playing for the U16, U17 and U19 USA teams. She was on the 2015 USA Pan American team and also played on the 2016 FIBA USA 3X3 squad.

Maybe a bit interesting that the committee replaces height (in Wilson) with guard play (Harper)...but certainly the experience factor Harper has in International play should be beneficial for the team. Erin Boley, at 6'2" impressed me during the medal round games and she can also step out and hit the three. Naturally, I would have loved to see Myisha Hines-Allen get the call...but I'll trust the deciders' judgement here.

With the addition of Harper, three teams now have two players on the roster....UCLA (Monique Billings and Jordin Canada) and Tennessee (Jamie Nared and Mercedes Russell) and Ohio State. Louisville's Asia Durr is also on the squad that includes ACC and Notre Dame's Arike Ogunbowale, Ariel Atkins, Kalani Brown, Sabrina Ionescu and Brittany McPhee. 

USA U23 continues their practice sessions under Jeff Walz in preparation for their August 12th. opener in Tokyo. 

FINALLY, THE COMPETITION IS HERE

We get to see some actual competition in women's fall sports this week...with Louisville women's soccer starting the action off tomorrow with an exhibition game at Ohio State and then returning home to face DePaul on Saturday in another exhibition contest. The DePaul game is part of a double-header at Lynn Stadium...the girls will go first with a 5 p.m. start and the #9 ranked men's team takes on Lipscomb around 7:30 p.m. 

We'll get our first look at some very talented freshmen that have joined Coach Karen Ferguson Dayes roster...including a couple with International backgrounds in Nadage L'Esperance (Canada) and Mollie Rouse (England). There's also some local flair on the roster...with Emina Ekic DuPont Manual) and transfer Kennadi Carbin (2015 Kentucky Player of the Year).

The Kickin' Cards return a wealth of experience on the attack with standouts from last year. Nine of the Cards top 10 scorers return and Ferguson-Dayes will have plenty of options in Shelby Cohen, Daryl Bell, Brooklyn Rivers, Gabby Vincent, Sarah Feola, Alison Price, Kaela Dickerman, Allison Whitfield, Niahm Nelson and Callie McKinney.

Senior Inger Katrine Bjerke returns to lead a defense that allowed just 1.11 goals last season. She'll get help from Arianna Ferraro and Bailey Florek in front of the goal. With the graduation of goalkeeper Taylor Bucklin...we've heard the competition between Gabrielle Kouzelos, Tori Gabor and Lana Batson has been intense for the net-keeping spot.  

Admission is free for the exhibition games at Lynn and season tickets get you into both men's and women's soccer....so why not grab a few for the family and enjoy the action on the pitch? 



paulie
xxxxx

Durr to Represent USA -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Final U-23 Roster Set

Because of our daily post format here at Cardinal Couple, we may not always be the first to bring you major news. You may also see the information presented in a daily post reflected in a previous day's comment. Such will be the case today. However, we do our best to bring you the news about Louisville women's sports that is most pertinent to you. We have our own opinions and viewpoints about those sports and we try to provide an honest and personal commentary. I have said before that I do not have as much inside knowledge about some of the topics that grace these pages, but I do what I can. With that said, let's talk about some international basketball.

The women's U-23 team roster was determined yesterday after the "gold and bronze medal matches." I'm not completely sure why they deemed the mini tournament important enough to award medals instead of just playing the game (it was just an exhibition tryout format after all), but that is neither here nor there. You can read more about all of the players and coaches' reactions at the USA Basketball website here, but the team is as follows:

Ariel Atkins - Texas

Monique Billings - UCLA

Kalani Brown - Baylor

Jordin Canada - UCLA

Asia Durr - Louisville

Sabrina Ionescu - Oregon

Brittany McPhee - Stanford

Kelsey Mitchell - Ohio State

Jamie Nared - Tennessee

Arike Ogunbowale - Notre Dame

Mercedes Russell - Tennessee 

A'ja Wilson - South Carolina

I'm not going to lie to you all this morning and pretend that I know who most of these girls are. They're names that I've heard of course, especially those that are on teams Louisville played last season, but I am not as "tuned in" to NCAA WBB as you may be accustomed to or as you may yourself be. I am proud of Asia Durr for making the team and having the opportunity to represent her school and country. She is an amazing player and, by all accounts, a wonderful person. Louisville is lucky to have her and I am excited for what she can bring this season. To say I am disappointed that Myisha Hines-Allen didn't make the team wouldn't really be the right word. That would imply fault of some kind, and it's tough to do that in this situation. Even though some of the players were at the trials for the exhibition and were ineligible to be picked, the selection committee still had the tough task of whittling approximately 30 of the best women's college basketball players in America down to just 12 for the roster. It would have been great to see Myisha suit up alongside Asia and Coach Jeff Walz but it was not meant to be.

All of these girls that were invited had a wonderful opportunity to get better over the past week. They played with and against some of the best of their peers and will be able to carry that experience forever. I think that the opportunity to play in all-star situations like this not only make a player better from a pure improvement standpoint, but I also think it makes players better teammates. Being able to come together in such a short time and perform as a team while learning new rules and styles of play is a testament to the mental fortitude that many of these players have. Those that were selected to go to Japan will have the opportunity to get even better, as well as experience a land rich with culture that many of them may never have otherwise gotten the chance to experience. I say congratulations to those that made it and good luck to the team in Japan.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We're back on the mics today as we are (almost) every Saturday. We'll talk about women's basketball trials, the upcoming seasons that are rapidly approaching at this point, have a wonderful chat with former Card, Candyce Bingham, and I'll try to beat Jeff at a quiz of some kind. I'm determined to beat him at some point. Check out today's episode of the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour on WCHQ 100.9 FM, the WCHQ app or on their website at this link. In addition to the live show, you can always catch the recorded version on the website about a day after airing. Tune it at 11AM for more joy and excitement of UofL women's sports!

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

USA U23 Decision Day...Volleyball welcomes new staffer -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

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. 

The 36 participants in the USA U23 tram tryouts and their respective four squads played semifinal games yesterday in Colorado Springs, CO in preparation for today's Gold and Bronze finals. We'll also see which 12 players the USA Committee designates to go to Japan for the round-robin format later today. All in all, exciting basketball on a collegiate level yesterday at the USA Training facility.  Jeff Walz has an abundance of talent out in Rocky Mountain Way land and they're leaving it all on the court. 


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...

Any of the 35 participating would probably be worthy...they're all top-notch, elite collegiate performers in their own right...and there are probably no "wrong" selections in this group.

(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.com

We 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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USA U 23 women's Basketball -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

TEAMS HEAD INTO THURSDAY SEMIFINALS

We now know a little more about how things are going and what's happening in the USA U 23 women's basketball tryouts in Colorado Springs. For example...the team coaches are Jamelle Elliott (Cincinnati) for Team 1,  Michelle Clark-Heard (WKU) on Team 2 , Cori Close (UCLA) heading up Team 3 and Courtney Banghart (Princeton) skipper of Team 4.  Jeff Walz is not coaching any of the four squads...which is probably best...so he can over-view all the action without a vested interest in a particular squad. 


We also have some player/squad correlations. Myisha Hines-Allen is on Team 2. Asia Durr is playing on Team 4. Erin Boley suits up for Team 3. We were able to find the nine-player rosters for Team 1 and 2...but nothing complete for Teams 3 and 4...so were not sure who Rebecca Greenwell and Mariya Moore are suited up with. 

The standings after yesterday's morning and evening sessions: 

Team 2 - 2-1
Team 4 - 2-1
Team 3 - 2-1
Team 1 - 0-3

The semifinals matchups that will start this morning at 10 a.m. EDT pit Team 1 vs. Team 3 in the opener and Team 2 vs. Team 4 at 11:30. Because three teams stands at 2-1, a point differential was used to determined the seedings. 

HIghlights from yesterday's evening games: 

-- Asia Durr scored 13 points for Team 4 in Wednesday night's win over Team 1 68-56. Kristine Angiwe added 11 points on 11 free throws. For Team 1, Brooke McCarty and Jatarie White finished with 12 each. 

-- Erin Boley had 20 for Team 3 in the Wednesday night opener...a 89-50 win over Team 2.
Kelsey Mitchell had 14 for Team 3 and Sabina Ionescu delivered nine assists. Ariel Atkins ended up with 15 for Team 2. 

Earlier in the day...

Team 3 downed Team 1 77-71. Kelsey Mitchell and A'ja Wilson had 13 each for Cori Close's Team 3. Destiny Slocum nailed three threes for Team 1 in the losing effort. 

Team 2 ran past Team 4 80-57. Azura Stevens (19) and Ariel Atkins (17) led Michelle Clark-Heard's squad in scoring. Napheesa Collins tallied 13 for Team 4. Looks like Myisha's squad got the best of Asia's in that one...

Jeff Walz has been watching. Effort seemed to be on coach's mind. His thoughts: 

"I've been really impressed with the effort by the young women. i know it was a tiring day for them. They put a lot of effort into it. But, I think its been better as they understand what we're trying to do. The competition is getting better and better. Overall, just very pleased with their effort." 

After today's games...we'll know who will participate in the Gold and Bronze medal contest on Friday. Tomorrow's matchups will be televised on usab.com. I didn't see any mention of telecasting today's semifinals...but I may just pop over there to see if there is any live streaming. We know for sure that either Myisha's or Asia's squad will compete for the Gold Medal....since #2 and #4 get a rematch today. 

FIBA rules for these contests are a little different than what you might be used to seeing in the NCAA. The squads play (4) quarters...eight minutes each. There is a 24-second shot clock. The back court clock is only eight seconds. Only coaches can call time outs.

So...what does it all mean? The competition gives the coaches and committee an opportunity to see how quickly the players can learn information and how they adapt and perform under it. The styles and play may be different than what they're used to in their college programs...but with four quality coaches in Elliott, Close, Clark-Heard and Banghart heading up the practice teams (and two of them assisting Walz when the final team is chosen) it's a "show-me" period on why you should make this squad. The committee and the coaches are looking for those twelve girls that can fulfill the roles of team players, leaders, motivators and instruction followers. The talent is there in all 36 at camp. The question is...which 12 will be the best combination? 

Think about it...what coach would turn down the chance to have Kelsey Mitchell, A'ja Wilson and Erin Boley in their lineup for 32 games? Or Asia Durr, Mercedes Russell and Kristine Anigwe? Would you be tickled to coach Azura Stevens, Myisha Hines-Allen and Linnae Harper through a conference schedule? Yes...this is the best of the best. Narrowing the 36 to 12 is going to be a tough job.   

The truth is, USA U 23 could probably take all four of these practice squads over to Japan and sweep the top four spots in the competition against Canada, Australia and Japan...there is that much talent on each of the nine-team rosters.

We still don't have any insight into how the four practice squads were picked. Obviously, we would have loved to see both Myisha and Asia on the same team. We did notice that two University of Texas players are on Team 1 (Brooke McCarty and Jatarie White) and that two Notre Dame girls are on Team 2 (Arike Ogunbowale and Jessica Shepard.)  

We'll continue to monitor the action in Colorado Springs and provide you information tomorrow on today's action. Stay with CARDINAL COUPLE for your USA U 23 news! 



(thanks to USAB.com and gocards.com for some of the information used in today's article.)  


paulie
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