Threes lead UConn to "threepeat"...63-53 over Notre Dame -- Wednesday Cardinal Couple

UCONN CAPTURES NCAA WOMENS TOURNAMENT BY 10

The University of Connecticut Huskies won the NCAA Tournament for the third year in a row...fighting off a determined Notre Dame squad 63-53 Tuesday night in Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.


The game mirrored the comic strip Peanuts in a fashion. Picture Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown as he prepares to kick it. As the hard luck Chuck runs up to plant his foot on it, Lucy raises the football, Charlie Brown misses and ends up on his posterior. Every time, the Irish would make a run at the Huskies last night, "Lucy" would drain a three and Notre Dame would end up falling back again.


It has to hurt, being the perpetual bridesmaid...Notre Dame is a great team and has plenty of players returning to be a threat again next year. Unfortunately for them, Breanna Stewart returns for Geno along with starters Moriah Jefferson, Morgan Tuck and Kia Nurse. 

The Irish were competitive early (stop me if you've heard this one before...) and led 9-6 a mere 3:13 into the game after a Michaela Mabrey three. UConn responded with a 12-2 run and Muffet's marauders never quite recovered from it.

A bit of intrigue near the end of the first half when Stewart rolled an ankle making a cut on offensive with the ball. The Huskies didn't falter, though, while trainers re-taped her and she professed she was ready to go as the teams returned for second half action

It wasn't Stewart who won this...quite frankly...rather ugly game, though. Her 15 rebounds and eight points didn't hurt...but it was UConn's 5-10 three-point shooting in the final twenty that put the dagger into the girls in green.

Cut it to five, will you Irish? Jefferson drains a three. Climb back within six? Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis steps up and connects from behind the arc. 

It is what championship teams do...weather the storm and respond with their own thunder. 

UConn led by 13 with 2:37 to go and you wondered if the King would let some of his lesser known All-Americans play...but he stayed the course with the five that gave him 187 minutes of a possible 200. 

It is finished. The season over. Players at over 300 schools will spend the summer working on their cross-overs, their positioning for rebounds, mid-range jumpers and reverse layups. They'll get to know their teammates better, indoctrinate the incoming freshman on the style, tempo and in's-and-out's of their program. 

They'll suit up again officially in October and begin the battle to win games, conference and advance to the Big Dance. Hope springs eternal. Wins equal hope. 

There is a gorilla still in the midst, though and a determined "Stewie" looking to make good on her promise to win four titles in four years. She will call the tune and her teammates will crowd the dance floor. Just ask those who attempted an Irish jig last night and ended up second best in the dance-off.

We can hope that a talented class of incoming freshmen and a stellar returning contingent based on the Belknap Campus can throw a wrench into that well-oiled UConn machine. If not the Cards...maybe someone can get on a roll and win six straight. Maybe the NCAA should just tell Notre Dame to stay home if they get to Tuesday and let someone else try to stop the dog sled.

The 2016 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament Final Four is in Indianapolis next season. A mere 90 minutes north of Louisville up I-65. 



The path to get there, unfortunately...looks like it will have to go through either Storrs, CT or South Bend, IN.

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Congratulations to Charlie McAdams and Sonja...who won the CARDINAL COUPLE PICK 'EM CONTEST. Since Sonja is part of the staff here, she will not claim the $25 gift card, even though her final game point total was closer to the actual 116 points scored than Charlie's was. Second place and the CARDINAL COUPLE absolutely fabulous tee-shirt goes to K.Starks. 

Send me those mailing addresses, fellas, to our e-mail address so we can get the swag to you. Our customer fulfillment chimps will get right on that. 

cardinalcouple@twc.com


paulie

  

3rd Time Isn't The Charm - Tuesday Cardinal Couple

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

UConn Takes The AAC Title

Well, its not really a surprising outcome, with the UConn Huskies downing The Cards 72-52.  What may be the biggest surprise of the game was to hear even UConn alumna Rebecca Lobo taking the officiating to task for not calling fouls on UConn.  22-3 was the number of foul shots taken by UConn and Louisville respectively.  While admittedly UConn plays in a very disciplined and clean way, the disparity was noticeable.

That having been said, foul shots weren't going to change the outcome of this game.  Unlike their previous meeting last week, UofL did manage to control the boards, block out and get some rebounds...some of the time.  Unfortunately, the boards weren't consistent and UConn was able to take advantage of the times when Louisville wasn't rebounding well to get 2nd and 3rd chance points.  Stephanie Dolson and Breanna Stewart were particularly effective at cleaning the glass with 16 and 9 rebounds, respectively.  UConn outrebounded UofL 47 to 37.

Louisville only shot 30.3%, but UConn only shot 42.4%.  If there's a particularly bright spot, its that
Louisville was perfect from the charity stripe...although with only three attempts, that may not have been enough to be statistically significant.

Shoni Schimmel finally shook off the Huskies Blues by scoring 20 points, although not many other players on the team were able to hit their full potential.  Nita Slaughter went scoreless, Asia Taylor only got seven.  Tia Gibbs and Jude Schimmel both connected for six, while Sara Hammond tallied five.  Bria Smith gets four points in only 16 minutes of play that was clearly shortened by continued knee pain.

UofL will now wait to see what the people that matter think about whether we should be the 4th #1 seed in the NCAA tournament.  The NCAA will announce the field on Monday the 17th at 7pm.  Louisville will host an event, as they did last year, at the KFC Yum! Center.  This event was a lot of fun last year, so make plans to attend.

Softball Defeated by Illinois State

In a game rescheduled from Saturday, The Illinois State Redbirds beat UofL out at Ulmer Stadium 5-2.  Freshman Maryssa Becker pitched most of the game, with Rachel LeCoq coming in to pitch for a disastrous third of an inning in the 5th, allowing three of ISUs five runs before Becker returned to the circle to finish out the game.

Louisville's two scores in the game came in the third inning with Katie Keller, who had been in a bit of a hitting slump coming into this weekend's games continues to roar back with a single.  Whitney Arion followed with a double, scoring Keller.  Maryssa Becker with a single gets Arion home.

The Cards had runners in scoring position in the last three innings of the game, but, as has seemed to be the case often this year, couldn't finish it out and get the runs.

UofL and Illinois State continue Spring Break play with a game at 1pm today.

jeffmca
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Tuesday Cardinal Couple -- UConn 68-UofL48

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- More of the same..."Stewie" and UConn dismantle Cards




photo by charlie springer. uoflcardgame.com

Stop me if you've heard the one before. #1 UConn comes to town. KFC YUM! Center is filled with Cardinal fans (22163) to watch the WBB squad do battle. Louisville hangs tough for the first ten minutes but falls by 20 to the Huskies.

Breanna "Stewie" Stewart had 22 points and 13 rebounds, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis added 13 points and 10 rebounds and Moriah Jefferson shut down Shoni as the Huskies sled into town for a 68-48 win.

It was an energetic crowd. Maybe the loudest I've ever heard it for a WBB game...especially when the Cards jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first two minutes. You had to believe. You wondered how long the Cards could ride the Senior-night, emotion train.

About 10 minutes.

another charlie photo...shoni's only three of the night

UConn broke open a 21-21 deadlock with 11:57 left in the opening half and took a 43-31 lead into the locker room after twenty minutes.

When the Cards cut it to 12 in the second half, a faint glimmer of hope arose again. The Huskies proceeded to hold the Cards scoreless for ten minutes and led 62-42 before Shoni made a layup with 2:19 left.

FIVE TAKEAWAYS FROM MONDAY NIGHT:

1) Geno thinks the Cards are a #1 seed. When asked what he would think of the NCAA Selection Committee sending UConn to Louisville as a #1 seed, he responded:

"I would feel like they spent most of the night here in the bourbon bar drinking."

He thinks the Cards will be a #1 seed. Three losses to UConn should affect that.

Dallas Dick in the red hat. Yeah, I know. I'm not a photographer

2) Dallas Dick is cool. He's a native American photographer and flew in for the game. A smiling guy with ponytails and a laid back approach, he told me this:

"I wasn't going to do anything fancy for this shoot, but people were calling me and telling me I would be on national TV a lot...so I cleaned up a little and did my  braids." 

Dallas, we can dig it. A pleasure meeting you.

3) Breanna Stewart is the best player in the nation. Louisville held her to seven first half points. Geno commented:

"In the first half, Louisville had some kind of triangle defense going and she was content to stand on the outside of it and watch the game. I suggested to her she move a little bit and she did That got her open, she got shots and they went in."

4)  47-30. That was the rebounding margin. Blocking out, going for the ball and contesting every missed shot. It's what the Huskies do. A 15-2 second chance margin. Speaks volumes.

5) Bob is cool, too. He was one of the officials last night with Dee Kanter and Cameron Inouye. He is an approachable sort of guy. I asked him during a time out if he was going to the ACC with the Cards. He grinned broadly and said he was already there waiting for us. I asked why he and his brother and son (all NCAA refs) didn't call the game. He laughed and said that would have been fun...then he looked at Dee and said..."But..." Keep whistling, Bob Enterline

Plenty of hoops to go. Shoni says UofL will beat UConn this season. They have one, maybe two more chances. But, maybe she needs to take Geno, Breanna, Mosqueda-Lewis to the bourbon bar and "keep 'em coming" to help that happen...


paulie
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Monday Cardinal Couple -- Stewart stifles WBB...UConn 81-64

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- WBB falls to Huskies by 17

- Softball stops RedStorm 7-0

- Lacrosse battles but loses to Duke


Taylor's 18 not enough...UConn remains undefeated

For awhile, there was a glimmer of hope. Louisville WBB had cut into the Huskies 11-point halftime lead and Tia Gibbs 3-pointer had pulled the Cards within seven at 47-40 with 15:36 left in the second half. A steal, a score and Louisville is right back in this one, right?

Unfortunately, the "boom" was delivered and it wasn't the Cards igniting the charge. A 17-5 Connecticut run over the next four minutes had UConn comfortably ahead 64-45 with 11:38 to go in the game.

A Breanna Stewart three, a Stewart layup, Moriah Jefferson with a three, Dolson inside...you know the story...UConn showed why they are the #1 team in the country. By a landslide. Stewart finished with 24 points and 10 boards.

Louisville kept it close for a long time, in regards to how UConn has been blowing opponents up. Asia Taylor's inside score made it 10-7 Huskies four and a half minutes into the game. A jumper from Sara Hammond and three from Nita Slaughter had the contest at 21-18 UConn halfway through the first half.

UConn responded with a 6-0 run.

Louisville kept battling. Two straight baskets from "E" (Emmonnie Henderson) made it 29-24 Huskies with 5:45 showing on the clock.

Breanna Stewart responded with two threes in a row.

Asia connected on a layup to pull the Cards within eight at 39-31 with 2:10 left in the half. A technical on Coach Walz contributed to the five UConn free throws that gave the Huskies a 44-33 halftime advantage.

Walz had cause justification to be upset. The Cards were whistled for 11 first half fouls, UConn seven. The Huskies got 14 free throw attempts, Louisville three in the first half.

Welcome to Storrs, CT.

If there is any silver lining in this cloud, it is that Louisville kept the Huskies from running away with the game. Louisville actually outscored UConn by two after the Husky run in the second half. It gives hope for a re-match 3/3/14 in the KFC YUM! Center in front of what deservedly needs to be 23,000 screaming Cardinal fans.

UConn got 79 of their 81 points from the starters. Five in double figures...Stewart's 24 led all scorers, Moriah Jefferson had 18, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis 13, Stefanie Dolson 12 and credit 12 to Bria Hartley.

Yeah...that's one impressive starting lineup, no question.

Louisville, who was outscored in the paint 40-18, had Hammond also in double figures with 11. Nita Slaughter added nine and Shoni contributed a mostly invisible nine as well.

A lot to reflect on before the re-match. Mostly, the Cards need to take care of business before the Dogs sled to Louisville. Wins over Temple, Memphis, Houston, Rutgers and Cincy must happen.

There is no disgrace in losing by 17 to the best team in the nation on their home court. There are some very good things to takeaway from Louisville's loss.

They'll meet again. With Bria. In our house. On Senior Night.

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Connell shines in Cards win over St. John's.


Caralisa Connell tossed a one-hitter against the St. John Red Storm in the Cards' final game in the FAU "Kickoff" Classic Sunday morning in Boca Raton.

Louisville jumped on the BIG EAST squad early...gathering five runs in the first two innings.

Pearsall played 17 players in this one, letting Taner Fowler share the catching duties with "Marge"...getting Autumn McDuffie her first at-bat and Kristina Dillard time at third base.


“I thought we did a great job of coming out and taking care of business right away today,” said UofL head coach Sandy Pearsall. “Caralisa did a great job on the mound. Offensively, we did a good job of not swinging at balls that were out of the strike zone and we did what we needed to do.”

Louisville (3-2) comes home to see if they can solve the "sometimes bats...sometimes not" dilemma before heading to Jacksonville for another three-day, five game classic that begins with Missouri on Friday.

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LACROSSE LEADS EARLY, FALLS LATE AGAINST DUKE


It couldn't have been much of a better start for Kellie Young's lacrosse warriors. They jumped out to a 4-0 lead on #6 Duke in Durham, NC and led 5-1 before Duke rallied to take a 9-6 halftime lead.

The Cards held Duke scoreless in the first seven minutes of the contest.

Louisville battled back to get within one in the second half at 12-11 with seven minutes remaining in the game...but the Blue Devils scored the final two goals of the contest to escape with a 14-11 win.

Nikki Boltja pacing the Cardinal attack with five goals.

The Cards come home for a game next Sunday against Detroit.

Please warm up Louisville. Lacrosse in below freezing weather isn't exactly the best thing to endure on metal bleachers.

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Worldwide pleads his point...

Oh, yeah....our radio show from Saturday is now up on the soundcloud....in case you missed the live broadcast. Hear Louisville WBB's leading scorers today talk about the game. Take the quiz, play Paulie's picks. Have a burger!

LINK below:

GIVE ASIA THE DAMN BALL AND CLEAR OUT

paulie

Wednesday Cardinal Couple -- Redemption Train halted. UConn93 - UofL 60

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Lady Cards fall in Championship Game by 33


Connecticut stopped the Cardinals in their tracks. The UConn squad that emerged with a new purpose after losing to Notre Dame in the BIG EAST finals didn't miss a beat tonight in a dismantling of Jeff Walz's Louisville Cardinals 93-60 Tuesday night in New Orleans.

The Cards did make a game of it for awhile. Buoyed by a game-opening three from Sara Hammond, Louisville battled the Huskies with skill and smarts for the first six minutes of the game. Bria Smith's free throw with 13:53 left in the first half gave Louisville a 14-10 lead.

You had to believe at that point. The Cards were hitting shots and making free throws. Taking the fight right to UConn and frustrating them...as evidenced by Caroline Doty's flagrant foul, cheap-shot elbow to Bria Smith's face just three minutes into the game.

Then, the wheels fell off Redemption Train. The ugly ducklings and party crashers got tossed by the bouncer. 

Bria Hartley scored back-to-back baskets to tie it. Kaleena

Mosqueda-Lewis cashed in on a +1. Breanna Stewart drained a three and then hit a two on the next possession. She scored again with 9:46 on the clock. Hartley nailed two free throws and Mosqueda-Lewis popped another three home to cap a 19-0 UConn run over a five minute stretch...making the score 29-14 UConn at the 8:44 mark. 

Three players. Nineteen points. Walz looked on helpless. It was sound, fundamental clutch basketball and you can't coach against that.

And...that was the end of any hopes of Louisville pulling off the major upset. Although the Lady Cards would play the Huskies even until halftime...Louisville went in at the half behind 48-29.

The Cards would offer a brief rally in the final period. Down 60-38...back-to-back threes from Monique Reid (surprise!) and Jude Schimmel had the Cards within 16 points with 13:03 left on the clock.

It was just poking the bear.

UConn responded with a 23-6 run over the next six and one half minutes before Bria Smith hit a jumper to make it 84-52 with 6:20 left in the game.

Breanna Stewart led all scorers...the freshman ending her incredible tournament run with 23 against the Cards. Sara Hammond finished with 15 for Louisville. 11 in the first twenty minutes. 13 in the first 21 minutes. No other UofL players reached double digits.

An incredible run for the Lady Cards, though, this season. a cornerstone in creating an image that isn't based on the Angel McCoughtry effect. An incredible post-season run by  a team that believed, bought in to the coaches teachings and shocked the women's basketball world several times over the last couple of weeks.

Sometimes...you just get beat by a better team, though... and that happened Tuesday night. Congrats to the Huskies.

They were incredible to watch Tuesday night...those Huskies were. And, they have most of their squad returning next season.

It won't be the BIG EAST...instead, the AAC or whatever you want to coin it. Maybe the BIG EAST will take them back...or us, for a season. You don't want these Huskies.

 Oh, boy...

This Cardinal team will be back, however... and a contender again next season. A heartfelt thanks to all the Lady Cards for making this party a fun one to crash. You gave us joy, pride, hope and the incredible, improbable, wild thrill of beating a team that everyone said would not lose. Covering you was a privledge, not a task and very incredible at times. Win or lose, you girls are the greatest.

The future looks bright for Jeff Walz's Lady Cards.

When's the first pre-season game for 2013-14?

--Paulie

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