WBB bests Belmont 80-66 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 FOUR FINISH IN DOUBLE FIGURES IN LOUISVILLE WBB WIN

Look who Jeff McAdams ran in to at basketball

Louisville women's basketball used a strong first half to put away a pesky Belmont women's basketball squad to go to 7-1 on the season in the KFC YUM! Center Sunday afternoon before 7002 fans. 

The Cards placed Olivia Cochran, Kianna Smith, Chelsie Hall and Hailey Van Lith in double figures and shot 54% in the win. If you're a fan of solid defense, you got that in the first twenty minutes of the game -- the Cards held the Bruins to just 24 points in building a 39-24 lead. 

Kianna Smith scored six of her 14 points in the opening quarter, but it took a 7-2 quarter-ending run by the Cards to gain the 17-12 first quarter advantage. Tied at 10-10, Liz Dixon, Van Lith and Smith went to work to push the Cardinals advantage to 16-10. A Van Lith free throw sent the score to 17-10 with 28 seconds to go, but a Belmont shot and bucket at the buzzer cut the lead to 17-12. 

Look who Jeff Walz ran into at basketball

Early in the second quarter, the Bruins rallied to cut the UofL lead to 22-20 with just 90 seconds gone in the quarter, but the Cards picked up the offensive pressure and  outscored Belmont 17-4 the rest of the first half...seven different Cardinals joining in the scoring spree and Louisville limiting the Bruins to just 33% shooting while forcing five turnovers in the quarter. A Peyton Verhulst steal led to a VanLith layup with 42 seconds to go gave the Cards a 39-24 lead and that's how the half ended. 

The squads played pretty even in the first half of the third quarter, Louisville holding a 54-37 lead at the media time out break -- and Jeff Walz decided to bring in the "second squad" -- a wholesale five-player substitution -- in Ahlana Smith, Dixon, Verhulst, Norika Konno and Kasa Robinson. Their 10-4 run extended the Cards lead to 64-41 as the quarter expired, but Belmont's Destinee Wells fired a three pointer right before the buzzer that went in to set the score at 64-44 at the end of three. 

Louisville could only muster four points in the opening three minutes of the fourth quarter, so Walz played Chinese Fire Drill again and reinserted the five starters at the 66-49 score tally. Belmont never gave up the offensive pursuit, though, and managed to cut the lead to 11 with 4:47 to go, at 72-61 after a Tessa Miller basket and free throw. But, the Bruins would get no closer. Olivia Cochran scored the Cards final basket with14 seconds to play off a Kianna Smith feed and Louisville got the 80-66 win. 

A win that could have turned into a "trap" game. Yeah, the defense looked rough in the second half, but, the Cards were never in any serious danger of losing this one. 

THE FRED REPORT

(Cards dance to a win the way Fred Biletenkoff used to dance to the endzone)

Free Throws -- Th Cards went to the line ten times and sank seven of them for 70%. Chelsie Hall led the way with a perfect 4-4. Since the earning of a "f" in this category is mandated by the 70% success rate, I'll assign a small-case "f"....not a capital one

Rebounding -- The Cards held a commanding 40-24 edge in this category. Engstler led the way with eight and Cochran added seven to pace Louisville. No problem in awarding a CAPTIAL "R" here. 

Effort/Execution -- Louisville shot 54% for the game and sank five threes. They also had 17 assists on 34 made baskets. Sixteen turnovers is still more than I'd like to see, but the starting guards only had four. A whopping 46-28 points-in-thee-paint edge convinces me to award the CAPITAL "E" here. 

Defense -- It wasn't the Cards best defenssive effort of the season, allowing Belmont 45% shooting on the floor and Destinee Wells to explode for 19 points on them. Louisville did have 10 steals, though, and blocked a couple of shots. Only nine fouls for the Cards as well, with no one getting more than three. 'll go with a small-case "d" here, because we won. 

FINAL FRED TALLY:  f-R-E-d

The Cards return to action Sunday at 1 p.m., bringing in the Kentucky Wildcats. It should be a fun one, they always seem to be, lately, against "Blue". 

photos by Jared Anderson

is Coach saying "let's hear it for Jared?"

paulie 

Volleyball Rolls On, Basketball GameDay - Sunday Cardinal Couple

Volleyball Rolls On to Sweet 16

Volleyball closed out it's appearances at the L&N FCU Arena last night with a three set sweep over Ball State, but not without some drama early, 29-27, 25-11, 25-19.

I keep tweeting at teams to quit swinging left
side against Aiko and Amaya,
but do they listen?

Louisville was playing host to the first and second round games in the NCAA tournament and hoping to continue their undefeated season.  UofL will host third and fourth round games, but because of NCAA requirements for seating capacity, LNFCU Arena is not eligible for hosting.  Instead the next set of matches will be at Freedom Hall.

The Louisville Cardinals, as opposed to the Ball State Cardinals, started the match off not playing their best.  They may have been a bit overexcited, or maybe a little complacent, it's hard to say, but Louisville clearly wasn't sharp.  Some credit has to be given to Ball State's excellent defense and ability to scramble to keep plays alive as it can be very frustrating to being swinging away on bomb swings and watching the other team dig it up and get it back over the net.  But 12 hitting errors and five service errors in the first set, combined to give Ball State the majority of their points.

Claire with a tip shot.

We've seen slow starts by UofL several times this season, and it's one of the marks of maturity of this team that they are able to take stock of the situation and get mentally reset.  They don't compound their problems by getting flustered and trying to force their play, making it worse.

The result was clearly seen in the second set when Louisville got back on the court and just dominated the Indiana Cardinals.  After the first handful of points, Claire Chaussee tied the set at two apiece that started an 8-0 run that included a pair of service aces from Ayden Bartlett.  There were no more really big runs in the set, but nearly every side out was two or three points for Louisville, and only one for Ball State which will, of course, steadily increase that lead.

Anna says, "Nope."

A similar start to third set, Ball State got a 3-2 lead, and then a 4-4 tie.  Anna Stevenson decided that she had enough and put down a kill in the middle before rotating back to serve.  Frequently seeing middle hitters serve is a recipe for cringe, but "Steve" has proven that she can be quite dangerous from the service line (a good sign for her future prospects in international play where middles serving is much more frequent).  The kill set of a 7-0 run featuring three services aces from the super-senior to get the lead out to 11-4.  Ball State did put together a 5-0 run later in the set to shrink the lead down to 15-12, but the two teams would never put together more than two points at a time for the rest of the match, with UofL getting the slight advantage in siding out to stretch the lead out slightly to close out the match on an Anna DeBeer kill.

We mostly feature pictures from our own Jared Anderson here, but this one, that William Caudill shared on Twitter is too good not to share.  The cropping in the embed of the tweet is unfortunate, the original image deserves a click-through.

She sees herself someday and that is what its all about. @UofLVolleyball pic.twitter.com/J0O3gu8IhG

— Williamncaudill (@wncaudill) December 5, 2021

My amateur scout on Ball State was that they didn't have much of a block, but their digging and passing was amazing and the overall stats are in line with that.  Only four blocks for BSU, while UofL had 12.  UofL also only hit at a .240 clip, though much of that can be contributed to the .128 in the first set.

Aiko Jones led the team in kills with 10 (.389).  The Anna's, Debeer and Stevenson, had nine and seven respectively.  Claire Chaussee had six and Amaya Tillman put down five.  The Louisville blocking, though!  "Steve" solo blocks alone accounted for three, with DeBeer solo roofing a pair.  Jones and Chaussee each struck out on their own once as well.  Three shares for Tillman and Dilfer, with Stevenson and Jones contributing to a pair each.

The Cards move on and will meet up with Florida at Freedom Hall on Thursday the 9th.  Times have apparently not yet been set for each session.  They should be announced later this morning.

Florida advanced over Miami (FL) in a sweep, and Florida A&M before that.  The teams advancing to the Louisville regional are completely chalk, with Florida being the 16 seed, along with eight seed Georgia Tech and nine seed Ohio State coming from the other half of the region.

As we look around the whole tournament bracket, our whole half of the bracket is chalk in the Sweet 16 with four seed Wisconsin hosting 13 seed UCLA (who squeaked past UCF in a five setter), along with five seed Baylor playing 12 seed Minnesota.

Two upsets made it into the Sweet 16 in the other half of the bracket, however.  Kansas eliminated 14 seed Creighton on Friday and will be traveling to Pittsburgh to take on the three seed Panthers who survived a bit of a scare against Penn State.  Also travelling to Pitt will be six seed Purdue and 11 seed BYU.

Finally, two seed Texas will host a dangerous 15 seed Washington team that made quite a bit of noise in the tournament last year.  And, saving the best for last....  Also in Gregory Gym, 10 seed Nebraska will do battle with Illinois who upset seven seed Kentucky to advance.

PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON

Basketball Gameday

Belmont trundles up I-65 from Nashville to visit the Jeff Walz basketball squad in the KFC Yum! Center today at noon.

Belmont arrives with a 4-3 record, but don't let that fool you.  While the wins over Chattanooga, Alabama A&M, and Lipscomb are nothing to especially write home about, they do have a win over Mississippi, in Oxford, and their losses are all to teams receiving votes or better in the rankings.  Georgia Tech was ranked 17 and 20 for their 58-45 win.  UCF was receiving votes for their 57-45 win, as was Arkansas for their 83-63 win.

Destinee Wells (jersey number 11), and Tuti Jones (jersey number 0) are the big scoring threats for the Bruins, shooting from range and short.  Madison Bartley (jersey number 3) is mostly an interior shooter, while Conley Chinn (jersey number 20) seems to be mostly a threat from outside.

Belmont does seem to like to get into the passing lanes, with 58 steals on the season, while holding opponents to 38, though UofL has 68 steals on the season, and have held opponents to 43.

The game is being carried on the linear ACC Network, so if you can't make it downtown, you can find it on your TV tuner, and as always also through ESPN's streaming.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

A return to the days of when we aired from the now defunct WCHQ FM, with a trio on the CCRHP again, this time, Case, Paulie, and myself were on the call.  We had great fun talking about the ongoing volleyball roll through the tournament, as well as basketball.

You can check it out at its Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP00cZrftkM or for a version with some tweaked audio, you can find it at it's anchor.fm podcast home: https://anchor.fm/cardinal-couple/episodes/Volleyball-Advances-in-NCAA-Tournament-WBB-Romps-Michigan-e1b88r6.

You can also find it in any of your favorite podcast directories.

JMcA

Louisville women's basketball...Cards ruin Bruins visit 73-50 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

ASIA, CIERA WITH 18 EACH IN HOME OPENER

Patience is a virtue.

It is also one of the things that led Louisville women's basketball to a 73-50 win over Belmont Bruins Sunday afternoon at the KFC YUM! Center in front of 8347 fans. 

Coach Walz is quick to point out, when asked, that when Louisville is patient in the offensive set and makes the passes to create the openings or mismatches...he's a happy camper. If the Cards lapse too much into the one-on-one mode, it isn't as productive and effective and gets his attention.  

Effective starts in this game with Ciera Johnson (hereafter known as "C")...who tallied 18 points on 6 for 7 shooting and 6 for 9 free throw marksmanship. We'd have to grade her much higher than a "C" in our report card, though...the only real flaw is the 0 rebounds in 19 minutes of play.

Effective continues with Asia Durr...who continued her mastery over OVC competition by dropping four trifecta on the Bruins in eight attempts and going 7 for 12 overall in 22 minutes. This is the Asia Durr Jeff Walz recruited for the class of 2015. When shooters are makers...it makes the servers happy.

Happy includes Mariya Moore who had a full and busy 24 minutes (tops for the team in playing time) with 13 points, a team high six assists and a very effective 6 for 8 from the floor. Add five rebounds...second best for the squad...and we are seeing the evolution of her all-around game continue to improve. 

AND, YES...THE GAME? 

Louisville struggled a bit at the start against the better-than-your-average-bear Bruins...trailing 8-7 at the 6:40 mark.

Paging Ms. Durr. Will Ms. Durr please report to the three-point line? 

Two successful bombs in a row from her, a Moore jumper followed by a Bionca Dunham jumper capped a 10-0 Cardinal run over a two and a half minute span and the Cards went on to hold a 26-16 lead after the first ten minutes. 

The Cards stretched that out to 32-16 in the first three minutes of the second stanza and closed out the first half on a 150 seconds...9-0 run that started with a Durr three, Durr layup, Moore layup and "C" score in the paint to haul a 47-25 advantage into the locker room. 

Durr's 18 points in 16 minutes led all first half scorers and the Cards were shooting a robust 55% (20-38) from the floor. "C" had the only free throws in the first half (for both teams)...going 3-6. 

If the first half belonged to the Douglasville, GA sophomore...the freshman from Duncanville Texas paint-dominator laid claim to the final 20 minutes. "C" posted 11 points... six of them in the third quarter (2-3 shooting and 2-2 free throws) and Moore added five as the Cards pushed out to a 66-37 edge. 

Walz began the final ten minutes with Jazz Jones, Briahanna Jackson, Bionca Dunham, Kylee Shook and Taylor Johnson on the floor and had Brianna Jones, Sam Fuehring and Jessica Laemmle out there with six minutes left in the contest. Note to my buddy Christian Payne...who was doing the ACC Network Extra play-by-play...it's pronounced 'Lem-Lee'...not 'La-Meal' when referring to the Mercy Academy freshman. As we've seen in both fourth quarters this year, the opponent has won them...Belmont with the 13-7 edge.


HELLO FRED! 

A reader pointed out to me a couple of days ago that I had not done a "Fred" segment so far this season on the games. Thank you for reminding me. Senility is a curse at times. 

In short..."FRED" is looking at Cardinal free throws, rebounding, effort/execution and defense. We grade the four and determine whether we can award a letter for each, and if it is large or small case or not at all. 

Free Throws. The Cards went 6-13...which is 47.7% That's a big "no bueno". We look for a 70% or better. Here's the thing...only three Cards attempted them in 40 minutes..."C" going 6-9 (which is good for her) but out Attack Yorkie Laemmle and "Der Fuehring" went 0-2 each. Sorry Cards, no letter for you here.

Rebounding. Only four offensive rebounds for Louisville (yes, they shot 55%..but four is way too few) and out-rebounded 52-32. Once again, we cannot award a letter here. MHA's eight gets a nod of approval. 

Effort/Execution. The Cards hustled for the most part, created 23 turnovers while committing just nine and had 10 steals. 21 assists on 73 points is acceptable and the starting front line of MHA, Mariya and "C" shot 14-20 (70%) so we'll gladly award a capital "E" here. 

Defense. Belmont shot 31% for the game. 4-25 from the deep. Save for the fourth quarter...when the Cards were getting the bench significant playing time...the defense was sharp and made things difficult for Cam Newbauer's squad. 50 points for the visitors and we'll give Louisville a lower case "d" here...the Cards won the second half by a less-than-awesome 26-25 margin. 

Final Analysis   _-_-E-d


LINK: Walz's post game comments: JEFF WALZ

LINK: Ciera and Asia post game comments: CIERA AND ASIA


WHERE'S PAULIE?  

Sleeping on the job again?

It was the first home game I've missed since November 19th, 2010 (against SEMO). A knee-draining had me off my feet for a couple of days back then. Ironically, it's a knee draining later today that had me AWOL yesterday. Damn body parts...

I felt like I was there, though...with Nick Curran and A.J.'s radio call and I did get to watch the ACC Network Extra replay and the nice commentary there. Since I did make the away trip to UTM Friday and football Saturday night...I'm not going to be too bothered by my absence. (Thanks for the e-mails and messages inquiring about me and Sonja...all is well, just a case where we had to do what was necessary because of mobility instead of what we wanted.) 

A special thanks to Oldham Era sports editor and AP writer Sam Draut for keeping me in the loop during and after the game. I trained him well, no? 



UP NEXT? 

Louisville travels to Mufreesboro, TN to face the Blue Raiders in a Wednesday night tilt.

I did the trip the last time the Cards played there (Dec 4, 2008) but won't be making this one. I spent a week in Murfreesboro that day and besides the excellent fare at Demos Restaurant there wasn't much more to rave about....except the Cards 67-44 win. Someone named McCoughtry had a pretty good game that night.

If you're making the trip down to Murfreesboro...get there early. You owe yourself a meal at Demos.  



Middle Tennessee began their regular season in Charlottesville, Va losing to the Cavaliers 51-63. With only 21 first half points, they dug themselves in a hole they couldn't climb out of. You can expect that the Raider faithful will be packed into The Charles M. Murphy Center (and how nice of them to name the facility after Eddie Murphy's hilarious comedian older brother!) for their home opener. They averaged 5,046 a game at home last season...which was 17th best in the nation  

Let's hope the Cards can say..."What did the five fingers say to the face? SLAP!" to the C-USA opponent. No TV yet that I know of...STAY CALM...we'll monitor that for you and let you know what we discover. 

After all, patience is a virtue. Ask Coach Walz. 

paulie
xxxxx

Louisville women's basketball...Getting Ready -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

MIX OF FRESHMEN, RETURNEES PREPARE FOR THE SEASON

No...the game of women's college basketball doesn't just magically reappear in November. Before that, the players are working hard in the off-season to prepare for the five months that lie ahead for them. 

In UofL WBB's case...the month of June has been all about the conditioning and getting to know each other. With four of the five freshmen already on campus, they and the returnees are hitting the gym and the weight room to prepare themselves for their trip to Cuba in August and beyond. 

It's not all about the weight room and Cardinal Arena, though. Group building exercises, excursions and classes are also on the summer agenda for the 2016 team. 

Preparations in the summer are key for fall and winter success. Based on the way the players looked at the recent Walz Skills Camp, they're staying fit and ready to shine.

QUICK HITS

-- We've had a few questions on the foot fracture that Sydney Zambrotta suffered. It's doesn't seem to be of much worry to the coaching staff...based on the conversations I've been a part of. The leg scooter she's using is a preventative measure...it's a "slight" fracture and expectations are that "Syd" will be ready to go for the Cuba trip. 

-- Nashville, anyone? There is a rumor out there (unconfirmed as of yet) that the Cards may be heading south in December to visit the Music City for a game against Vanderbilt. The Commodores have new coaching in place...if this does go down, I hope they play somewhere else in town besides the "crackerbox" campus gym called Memorial Gym. How about Bridgestone Arena? Louisville fans would travel for this one...could the 'Dores fans muster enough interest to make this a 10,000 or so attended event?

Also, I would love to see the Cards "make a weekend" of it and play former Cardinal assistant Cam Newbauer's Belmont squad while in town. If not this year, maybe it's something they could work on down the road (if, in fact, it happens at all). 

Conjecture and conditioning...have a great Saturday.

            *            *            *             *

THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR

We hit the Crescent Hill studios again this morning for another exciting edition of THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR. Show begins at 11 a.m. on WCHQ 100.9 FM and on the Internet at: www.crescenthillradio.com

A variety of things to discuss today...the Walz camp and audio from Dez Byrd, swimming, academics and a WorldWide quiz...it should be frivolity at a frantic pace!

Join us, won't you?

paulie
xxxxx

Louisville WBB 95 - Belmont 35 -- Friday Cardinal Couple

Five Cards reach double figures in 60 point rout

Belmont should have enlisted Saratoga, Aqueduct and Santa Anita Thursday night to help corral the thoroughbreds that ran past them in the KFC YUM! Center Thursday night before 7404 fans. This race was over before they reached the first turn...to use a horse-players parlance. 

Up 8-3 two minutes into the contest after Taylor Mills' second trifecta, the Bruins stood by...watching helplessly at times it seemed...as Jeff Walz's ballers took off on a 30-2 run. It included a 24-0 stretch as the Cards sprinted off to take a 33-10 lead with 7:11 left in the half.


In the 11 minute whirlwind, seven different Cards scored and forced Belmont into 14 turnovers. The Bruins were getting no inside looks...when they were able to get the ball into the offensive set..and Louisville ended up scoring
28 points on turnovers in the first twenty minutes to take a 48-17 lead into halftime.

Freshman sensation Mariya Moore had 13 of UofL's first half points and Shawnta' Dyer came off the bench to add 10 more on 4-4 shooting. Louisville shot 56% in the half and limited Belmont to 30% shooting. The Bruins actually had more points from the three point arc (3 for 11) that the rest of the court (4-12). 

The Cards started the second half on a tear also...with a 7-0 run and at the 15:36 mark...Walz had the starters on the bench...leading 59-19. Led by the inside play of Emmonnie Henderson...and using every player combination imaginable...Louisville pushed the lead to 79-25 after a Sara Hammond three with 6:21 to go.

Caption this picture. Are the guys practicing a line dance?

Shortly thereafter... Belmont head coach Cam Newbauer emptied the bench to give his reserves a KFC YUM! Center playing experience. Arica Carter hit a jumper with 17 seconds remaining to give the Cards a 62-point lead at 95-33 before Belmont scored with two seconds left for the 95-35 final tally. 

Cam has a good squad and they'll compete as the front-runners for the OVC title this year. They just ran into a Cardinals team that was having a very good night.

It was a great overall and team effort by the Cards...all 11 players able to go scored and saw at least nine minutes of playing time. Louisville ended the game going 37-63 from the floor, a decent 58.7%...30 of those hoops coming from inside the paint. The Cards scored 48 points off turnovers.

The Bruins had almost as many turnovers (34) as they did points.

Moore led all scorers with 17 points...her average going into the game...and was joined in double figures by Hammond (13 in 18 minutes). Hines-Allen, Dyer and Henderson all had 12 each. Bria Smith and Megan Deines finished with eight each, Carter had six points and six rebounds, Jude Schimmel and Sherrone Vails added three points and Ariana Freeman hit a free throw. 


Jude's time was limited because of a bumped knee in the second half while going for a loose ball...but she did return from the locker room later and Coach Walz proclaimed she was OK in the post game press conference. 

Another scary moment occured when Dyer and Vails collided on the court but neither were injured. Same team, ladies... 

What we liked

- Louisville committed only nine fouls in the game and Belmont attempted no free throws in the 40 minutes. The Cards cleared the 70% mark again from the charity stripe with 18-25 shooting. 

- Dyer and Denies...(the "D" troops) came off the bench with very solid contributions...going 9-10 from the floor in 34 combined minutes. Dyer seems to "understand it" down on the block and reminds us more and more of the way Asia Taylor scored in proliferation inside last year. 

- "E" with no fouls in 14 minutes. She jokingly explained (we think) in the post game player interviews that it was because Belmont's posts were blowing by her before she had time to react. 

What needs work

Not much to discuss here. Maybe a better recognition and guarding of the three-point shooters early in the game and a bit more accuracy and a few more attempts from Louisville beyond the arc (they were 3-9...Belmont was 7-26...) but who can complain too much about a 60 point win?

The Cards return to action Sunday when they'll host Ball State at 2 p.m. 

For Cam Newbauer, a long three hour drive back to Nashville where the Bruins will prepare for a Tuesday 10 a.m. tilt against Kent State in Akron. 

95 points...only 9 of them from three point land and just 18 from the foul line. Looks like this "inside job" that Walz and the Cards are basing the offense on this year suits them very well...and Cortnee Walton should be returning soon to make it even more powerful. The maintenance crew at the KFC YUM! Center may have to "paint the paint" again before the season ends...if the Cards continue to frequent it with this current success and repetition.  

Some highlights in the link below:

CARDS PUT BRUINS INTO HIBERNATION

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Louisville Volleyball returns to Cardinal Arena for an ACC clash with Duke tonight at 6 p.m. It's the first of a three game home stand in the on-campus facility that will, in all likelihood end the 2014 season for the Volley Cards. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


In case you still had any interest in it....the NCAA Field Hockey Final Four starts today. ACC foes #1 UNC and #4 Syracuse will face off at 2 p.m....then #3 Connecticut and ....Albany? will go at 4:45 p.m.

Albany slayed both Wake Forest and Maryland to get the semi-finals. David vs. Goliath here. Go Great Danes !!!

paulie
...
..
. 

10 questions...Catching up with Cam Newbauer...Thursday Cardinal Couple

Catching up with Cam

To celebrate the return of former UofL WBB assistant
Cameron Newbauer to the KFC YUM Center as the head
coach of the Belmont Bruins...we contacted him and 
asked ten questions. He graciously and quite eloquently
sent us this.

Enjoy!  

( We apologize in advance for the formatting in today's
CARDINAL COUPLE.)

1) Your feelings on returning to the KFC YUM! Center?

CAM:"I am very excited about our trip to the 'Ville               tomorrow night. Sarah and I have so many great                  memories...from our time there and Sarah and I are             looking forward to... seeing some good friends and great 

people. We do understand this is a "business trip" and know  it's one heck of a challenge for our team but our players      are excited for the opportunity to play in such an                  atmosphere." 

 
2) Who should we look for as your key players on the court  against Louisville? 

CAM:"We have seven seniors on our team and we rely pretty heavily on them. However after our last game, we will be making some adjustments to our starting lineup.  Players to watch would be #13 Luffman-Hartsfield, #50 Sally McCabe, and #3 Frankie Joubran. 
 
3) Your a dad ! Tell us about that.

CAM: "The birth of Chloe Joy has been such a 
blessing to Sarah and I! Cannot even begin to explain how   amazing the experience has been. She will be making the    trip tomorrow night as well but unfortunately she'll be        dressed in Navy & Red." 
 
4) What coaching skills you picked up from Coach Walz have helped you the most? 

CAM: "Really learned a lot from Coach Walz. As you all know   he is one of the best coaches in the country and his game tactics and brilliant. Jeff Walz taught me the importance of keeping your players loose on thegame days and not letting them get so uptight...you want them to be happy on game day! There are a number of plays, drills & game strategies    I have stolen from him as well. Jeff continues to be a great mentor plus a great resource for me." 

 
5) What will it take to turn Belmont into a major player on the NCAA scene? 

 
CAM: "It's hard to turn a mid-major program into perennial NCAA tourney teams. But that is the challenge that excited me about this job. The key will be recruiting the right type of players who believe in what we are doing and the vision we have....as I learned a couple of years ago against Baylor If you players believe it, they can achieve it." 
 
6) Your fondest memory of your time here? 

CAM: "WE BEAT BAYLOR! And went to the Final Four.            Really was so impressed with the fan support and how         incredible Card Nation truly is." 
 
7) A funny anecdote or story during your time here? 

CAM: Off the top of my head, can't think of any really          funny stories for some reason right now but I have a 
lot. Just drawing a blank on my best one. 

( EDITOR'S NOTE...I'll embarrass myself here and admit

that I referred to Coach as "Cam Cameron" in a few of

my articles when he was here. Old guy syndrome...) 

8) What you love about being the Belmont head coach? 

CAM:  "I truly love the players I get to coach every day.  Are exceptional student-athletes and are a lot of fun to coach.  It is great to face challenges with them and doing all I can to try and help lead us to where we have never been before"  

9) What were you thinking..scheduling both Louisville and 

Kentucky? 

CAM:  "Haha! "

Well our players like challenges, big challenges, I guess you could say. I think it's a great opportunity playing....in such neat environments with big crowds.  The David and Goliath mentality I suppose you could say and it's also just a fun     experience for our team. Additionally, those two games are NCAA tournament atmospheres... hopefully... preparing ourselves for the future. 
 
10) How do you beat Louisville? (without giving away game plan, etc...)

CAM:  "Well, they are very athletic and they do use that to their advantage ... how they play on both ends of the floor. We must limit our turnovers because TOs lead to transition points in most cases. We also need to do our best to limit

 their offensive rebounds. They have a lot of size and length so we must keep them off the glass if we are to have that  chance."

( We sincerely appreciate Coach taking the time to share these thoughts and answers with us & hope Belmont can go the rest of the season undefeated...beginning Fri.) 

Thanks to Louisville asst SID Ira Green for the following info 

THE SERIES – Belmont vs. Louisville



THE LOVELY AND TALENTED MARIYA
MOORE IS AVERAGING 17 PPG ! 
The Cardinals boast a 1-0 all-time record against the Bruins after posting an 80-51 victory in Freedom Hall on Dec. 16, 2006. Chauntise Wright came off the bench and totaled 21 points and seven rebounds in 14 minutes. Angel McCoughtry registered five of the team’s 14 steals and helped UofL force 23 Belmont turnovers. Shaunda Strayhorn had a team-high 12 points to pace Belmont, which shot just 30 percent (18 of 60) from the field.








GAME FACTS - Belmont at Louisville 
Date: Thursday, Nov. 20
Time: 7:05 p.m. ET
Site: KFC Yum! Center/Crum Court (22,000), Louisville, Ky.
Video: The game will be available on CardsTV through GoCards.com.
Radio: WKRD 790 AM will broadcast the game, with Matt Andrews (play-by-play) and Adrienne Johnson (analyst) calling the action.
Series History: UofL leads the all-time series 1-0 (1-0 in Louisville). Louisville defeated Belmont 80-51 on Dec. 16, 2006, in Freedom Hall.
Next UofL Game: Sunday, Nov. 23 vs. Ball State in KFC Yum! Center, 2 p.m. ET

Which Belmont team will show up Thursday night? -- Wednesday Cardinal Couple

OVC Preseason # 1 looking to get untracked

Ex-Cardinal WBB assistant coach Cam Newbauer will bring his 0-2 Belmont Bruins to the KFC YUM! Center Thursday night to face the Louisville Cardinals at 7 p.m.

The Bruins have lost a couple of close ones...playing well against Vanderbilt in Memorial Gym and being tied 58-58 with 2:07 remaining...only to see the Commodores go on a 7-0 run to win 65-58. The victory just wasn't there next time out in the Bruins home game against North Alabama either..falling 72-69 late after getting within 1 at 70-69 with six seconds left and missing a potential tying three at the buzzer. 



This Bruin team is a senior-laden squad...seven of them on the roster and two of them leading the way. 6'1" forwards Frankie Joubran (Soph) and Jordyn Luffman-Hartsfield (Sr) lead the way in scoring with freshman center Sally McCabe. Luffman-Hartsfield went for 22 against Vandy and Jouban riddled North Alabama for 17. McCabe, who's 6'3", was in double figures in both games. Senior guard Taylor Mills  is a three-point specialist along with Luffman-Hartsfield...the Bruins attempt 27 of them a game.

Coach Cam is knowledgeable of the Walz system and has had a couple of days..."interesting practices" as he calls it since the North Alabama loss to teach his team how to react to it. 

JLH can light it up from three point land. 

Which Belmont team will show up? The squad that went on the road (well..across town, at least) and nearly beat a strong SEC squad? Or the team that fell at home to a DII team in North Alabama...who barely beat Bellarmine by two? (Not saying Bellarmine isn't good this year...but...). 

Freshman center McCabe has been
impressive in two outings. 

So...Can Cam jam the wham and slam that Sara "Ham" and "the coaches Sam" plan to ram as these Bruin madams cram for this exam? 

Once again, I'll be happy with a 20+ Louisville win. And with 9,000 in the seats. I don't ask for much, huh? 

I have "reached out" to coach Cam to do a little "Q" and "A" with us for tomorrow's article. There is interest there from him. We hope it comes to fruition. He was great on Walz's radio show last night. We hope he's 'not-so-great' Thursday night... but great after this one for the rest of the year. The Bruins also face Kentucky, Georgia and WKU in their pre-conference schedule. 

They should nominate the man for sainthood status...

paulie