At 5'6", Dana Evans isn't the player that soars above the crowd, but her numbers are soaring this season for the ex-Louisville Cardinals guard in her third season in the "W".
Evans has seven games (at the time of this writing) in as the starting point guard and has scored in double figures in all seven. The Sky are 3-4 on the season, droping a close one to Indy 71-70 on Saturday. Evans had 12 points in 35 minutes of court time and four assists and four rebounds in the loss. She averages about 30 minutes a game for Chicago, and recently had five steals against the LA Sparks, in a 83-72 Chicago win.
It is a different Chicago sqaud this season,since Candace Parker has reitred after 16 seasons in the league. The Sky are ninth in the WNBA standings...and in fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
Teresa Weatherspoon is in her first year as the head coach of the Sky and recently lauded Evans "incredible leadership" and recognizes Dana's "wantng it" as a player....calling her a playmaker that leads by example. And Evans is a prime example of knowing what Weatherspoon wants on the court and facilitating it .
The Sky stress defense on the court and have done a great job against their opponents in that regard, not allowing anyone to score 90 points on them yet this season. Despite losing three out of their last four games, the Sky have a strong starting lineup with Evans, Marina Mabrey, Angel Reese , Diamond de Shields and Elizabeth Williams.
At 12,4 ppg, Evans is the second leading scorer on the Sky's squad, behind Mabrey.
We, at Cardinal Couple, wish Dana the best this season and a long and productive areer in the "W".
Mercury, Sky and Mystics have UofL WBB alumnae on rosters.
With the WNBA scheduled to start Tuesday., let's look at the Louisville Cards WBB players.that are on the teqam rosters in the league.
Liz Dixon -- Phoenix Mercury. Dixon was a recent addition to the Phoenix squad,brought back on a training game contract. She did play in 10 games with the Mercury back in 2023 and was re-signed again this year, to replace Charisma Osbourne. She averages 5.6 points per game, and 4.4 rebounds a contest.
Dana Evans -- Chicago Sky. Dana returs to the Sky this year, her third season in the WNBA. The sharpshooting guard should be an essential part of a roster that had seven guards most recently listed. Here is an interview with her, done on May 10th. DANA EVANS INTERVIEW
Emily Engstler -- Washington Mystics. Engstler begins her second year in the league. She was originally drafted by Indiana last year. She'l averaged 1.8 points per game last year and 0.6mrebounds. Here is a brief spotlight on her....EMILY ENGSTLER
Myisha Hines-Allen -- Washington Mystics. Hines-Allen enters her sixth season in the WNBA,and was drafted back in 2018, She vaerages 5.6 points per game and 6.4 rebounds. The Mystics list only four forwards on their roster currently, so we like her chances to see a starting role and a lot of court time.
We wish all our "Cardinals Forever" the best of luck this season and we're already ready for a little hoops this spring...
We are fond of following the pursuits of Louisville Cardinals women's basketball players in the WNBA and Sunday had four Cards in action.
LAS VEGAS ACES 93 - CHICAGO SKY 80
Dana Evans did not start for the Sky, but saw 26 minutes in a loss to the 8-1 Aces. She managed 10 points for Chicago (5-5) and had a team high eight assists for the Sky. Home-standing Las Vegas is atop the Western Conference Standings and A'Ja Wilson had another huge game for Vegas.
CONNECTICUT SUN 89 - ATLANTA DREAM 77
Two former Cards had the potential to face off in this one -- Liz Dixon (Connecticut) and AD Durr (Atlanta), but Dixon did not see action (a coach's decision). AD came off the bench for ATL and totaled 17 minutes of playing time and nine points.
The Sun are atop the Eastern Conference with a 8-2 record and the Dream are still struggling a bit in the early season with a 2-5 mark. ATL trailed 48-44 at the half against the visiting Sun, but Connecticut won the decisive 4th quarter 24-17.
WASHINGTON MYSTICS 71 - SEATTLE 65
The visiting Mystics improved to 5-3 on the season with a win over 1-5 Seattle, a game that Washington led 46-21 at the half before coasting in.
The Mystics are slowly working Myisha Hines-Allen back into the lineup and MHA saw 11 minutes and grabbed six rebounds. She also added a free throw to the Mystics win. The Mystics got the win without Elena Della Donne as well -- who sat with an undisclosed injury.
Washington will visit Indiana Tuesday and Atlanta heads to New York.
EVANS 20-POINT SECOND HALF HELPS LIFT SKY OVER INDIANA
The Chicago Sky rallied to force overtime last night against Indiana in Chicago's Wintrust arena and got a huge contribution from Dana Evans to help them win the game.
Despite Indiana's Aliyah Boston single-handedly trying to defeat the Sky, the Chicago squad was able to tie this one 91-91 as time ran out in regulation. Poor Chicago, down to eight active players for this one and getting killed inside by the former South Carolina star, but Chicago had a surprise of their own and it came in the form of the former Louisville guard Evans. As the teams battled through the overtime, Dana drilled a three-pointer with 50 left in o.t. to give Chicago a 101-96 lead.
And, she wasn't through. A bucket with 26 seconds to go from Evans increased the lead to seven at 103-96. And, that pretty well cinched it. Evans would add a free throw with six seconds to create the final score of 108-103. Indiana had seen victory snatched from them by the Evans express.
Evans played 32 minutes in th Sky win, going 8-16 fom the field and 3-4 from trifecta land. Add seven assists and three steals to tose Tueday night stats, too.
Chicago also got a ton of production from Marina Mabrey (28 points) and .Kahleah Copper (24pts.) but Evans, who did not draw thee start, spend the first half setting up players with assists and making steals. Down 67-62 after three, it didn't look promising for Chicago (5-3) but they battled for the home crowd and Evans, who has been in double figures in five of her last six games...gave Chi-Town a look at why she was one the the most illustrious scorers on UofL WBB history.
We hope the Sky can get back up to sufficient roster numbers soon. In the meantime, though, Dana Evans is relishing the playing time, success and showing the Sky coaches that the littlest gal on the court can step up very big and give them huge numbers.
Its Daryl stepping in with ya midweek. Bats are in town but Paulie phoned a friend for some back up to get something posted today so you get me to cover the summer Pro Cards.
WNBA
Sky vs Dream
The Chicago Sky visited the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday evening where the Dream led pretty much the entire way and got the 83-65 victory. The Sky are now 3-2 on the season while Atlanta moves to 2-2. Both squads are in the middle of the pack in the standings at 5 and 6 respectively. The Las Vegas Aces are the lone undefeated squad at 4-0... they're averaging an almost 25 point differential over opponents.
Dana Evans scored 11 points to lead Chicago. Kahleah Copper, Marina Mabrey and Kristine Anigwe each added 10. Sky starters Courtney Williams was 2 of 10 from the field and Elizabeth Williams went 3 for 10.
Rhyne Howard scored 20 points, Allisha Gray and rookie Haley Jones each added 13 points each. AD had a free throw make in 14 minutes.
The Dream made 18 of 24 free throws compared to just 9 of 11 makes for the Sky.
The Dream led 40-25 at halftime after Chicago shot just 28% and turned it over eight times. The Sky finished the game 25 for 77 (33%) with 15 turnovers.
The Sky will head back to Chicago to face the NY Liberty, who stand third in the league standings, Friday at 6pm.
Also happy belated birthday to Myisha Hines Allen who celebrated her 27th birthday yesterday at the Washington Mystics. They have yet to make their debut with the squad but some say it is getting near...
Good luck to the Cards!!
Please, if you know anyone who can be a living donor or if you would like more information on how to be a organ donor, please call Madelyn Hunt at the Trager Transplant Center at UofL Hospital (502) 587-4358 option 5.
Three of the Cards in the WNBA saw action on Sunday.
In Atlanta, it was the visiting Connecticut Sun defeating the Atlanta Dream 72-61 and in Chicago, the Sky held home court advantage with an 88-85 win. Connecticut is 13-6 on the season after their win, Atlanta 8-10, Chicago goes to 13-5 and Minnesota 5-14.
Connecticut broke open a close first quarter (19-17) and outscored the Dream 20-5 to amass a 39-22 halftime lead. Jazmine Jones played two minute for the Sun and hit a free throw. For Atlanta, Asia (AD) logged 26 minutes and contributed eight points and two assists.
Chicago lead Minnesota 72-60 after three quarters but had to battle to hang on and win by three over the Lynx. Dana Evans saw eight minutes and had three points for the Sky.
All of our Cardinals WBB greats play in the Eastern Conference and the conference is a real battle as we draw near to the end of June.
Chicago Sky 13-5
Connecticut Sun 12-5
Washington Mystics 12-9
NY Liberty 8-10
Atlanta Dream 8-10
Indiana Fever 5-14
Emily Engstler and the Indiana Fever play tonight at Phoenix (10 p.m. ET) and the Mystics and Myisha go Tuesday against AD and the Dream in Washington.
A big day for WNBA action on Father's Day, with four Cardinals alumnae in action in the league.
Dana Evans with the Chicago Sky visiting Emily Engstler and the Indiana Fever. Myshia Hines-Allen and the Washington Mystics hosting Jaz Jones and the Connecticut Sun.
(Just imagine what a double-header like this would draw to the KFC YUM! Center).
SKY VS FEVER
Dana and her 10-5 Chicago Sky came to Indy to take on a Indiana Fever squad that desperately needed a win. And, after being down by 13 at halftime, the Fever fought back and got the nail-biting win over the visitors 89-87. Courtney Vandersloot missed a jumper that could have tied it up and the Fever had the "W". Indiana improved their record to 5-13.
"We had a very intense conversation at halftime, to say the least..." Fever head coach Carlos Knox commented after the game. "I wanted them to understand the game plan and I wanted them to pick up their game the way we had prepared for the game." It was Knox's inaugural game as the Fever head coach, you may know him as having been a superstar at IUPUI on their men's team from 1997-99.
Emily Engstler saw 19 minutes in this one for the Fever and had five points and nine rebounds. Dana Evans had six minutes for Chicago and had two points and a rebound.
MYSTICS VS SUN
The home-standing Washington Mystics roared out to a 29-17 lead on the visiting Connecticut Sun and pushed that to a 16-point half-time edge. Washington was on top 61-41 after three. The Sun were not totally giving up the fight and got back within eight points before losing 71-63 to Myisha and the Mystics. Washington improved to 11-7 on the season, while the Sun went to 12-5.
Myisha saw just six minutes in the contest, grabbing a rebound and scoring a bucket.
For Connecticut, Jaz Jones contributed a scoreless eight minutes. It's good to see Jaz getting some minutes after being with the Sun for such a short time.
Turnovers plagued the Sun, while Washington committed just four in the first three quarters
As you probably know, if you've been reading Cardinal Couple this week or heard our Saturday podcast, Cardinals alumnae standout Louisville golfer Lauren Hartlage participated in the US Women's Open at Pine Needles Golf Course in North Carolina this week, starting Thursday.
72 holes later, the meet has drawn to a close and Hartlage finished with a 10 over par total of 294. That was good for a tie for 51st., and earned her $24,103. Lauren was four under par with a score of 140 after Friday's round, but shot a 78 on Saturday and a closing round of 76 on Sunday. The final score of 294 seemed to be a popular one in the field, six other golfers besides Hartlage had 294 for the 72 holes.
The event was won by Minjee Lee with a four round total of 13 under par 271. That score was the lowest ever in the history of the event and four strokes better than second-place finisher Mina Harigae. Lee hails from Perth, Australia and has a brother on the men's PGA Tour. She's been on the pro circuit for eight years.
Making the "cut" for women's golf's biggest event for the year is quite the feather for the "rookie on the tour" Hartlage and one can only anticipate what lies in wait next for, arguably, the best golfer to ever graduated from the University of Louisville. I, as well as many others...I would expect, look to the future with excitement on just how good Hartlage will be eight years from now. Or even eight months from now.
Being on the professional tour, I would assume, takes a golfer awhile to get into the routine, travel, different courses each week and different climates. Going from a college atmosphere, focus and competition into the professional ranks is, obviously, quite a change in routine. Hartlage was fortunate to have a college coach in Whitney Young, who had played on the tour and was available to help Hartlage prepare for what life might be like "in the bigs".
It's a whole different realm than the cart golf I played when I participated in the game. A good day was losing less than half a dozen golf balls and getting the rare chance to actually putt for par. I'm sure my compadres here at Cardinal Couple could join me in telling some stories about life on the course. To do what Lauren, of any pro golfer or excellent amateur does never ceases to amaze me.
We here at Cardinal Couple wish Lauren all the best a her journey continues.
DANA DOES IT
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT, we have a clip below of Dana Evans incredible shot from beyond half court yesterday in the Sky vs. Mystics game
Chicago downed Washington 91-82 and is now two games out of first place in the WNBA East at 7-3. Evans played 19 minutes yesterday and had 12 points, 4 assists and 2 rebounds. On the Washington side, Myisha Hines -Allen had 13 points in 22 minutes.
Sunday competition smiled down upon two UofL women's sports squads and a Cardinals great got a championship ring in her first year in the WNBA. It was a "funday Sunday" if you cheer for the Red and Black -- let's jump right in to the successes.
FIELD HOCKEY BLANKS NORTHEASTERN
A weather term used in New England for in rough weather is called a "northeaster".
Basically, it means a strong storm or wind blowing through the New England area, coming out of the north east. In Dedham, Mass. yesterday , it was the #4 Cardinals Field Hockey squad playing the role of the northeaster, as they went to the Northeastern campus and accomplished a one-sided 7-0 win over the Huskies.
Sophomores Aimee Plumb and Embry Jane Imorde registered two goals each for the Cards and freshman Mila de Kuijer produced seven saves in the contest. The seven goals were the most recorded by a Louisville Field Hockey team since 2016 --when the Cards put up eight scores on Central Michigan.
A mere 22 second into the match, the Cards received a penalty corner and Plumb got her first score on the sequence. That lead was increased in the second quarter when Erica Cooper, the hero of the Friday win over Boston College with her game-winning score, pushed the UofL lead to 2-0 with her fifth goal of the season . That lead held through the remainder of the first half. -- Northeastern was actually out-shooting the Cards 7-6 and had a 3-1 edge on penalty corners -- but de Kuijer was stepping up big in net and had three first half saves.
Louisville exploded offensively in the final half. Plumb picked up her second goal of the match and Imorde added a score within a two-minute period to set the tally at 4-0. After three quarters, that 4-0 lead still stood.
The Cards piled on the scores late in the four quarter. Katie Schneider started it off, converting on a penalty stroke attempt with five minutes left in the match. Imorde followed with her second score of the afternoon and the Cards closed out the scoring late when Alli Bitting converted off a penalty corner.
The Flock's head coach Justine Sowry played "good cop, bad cop" in her post-game remarks:
"I don't think the score line was indicative of how the game was played. Northeastern was able to pierce our defense easily at times and put our deep defense under a lot of pressure. Moving forward, we need to tidy up defensively. On the flip side, we were able to to link some good on-ball passes together and we were efficient in pur circle play. Two road wins is a lot to be proud of."
And seven goals absolves a lot of sins...
Louisville Field Hockey, now 13-2, continues the road trip Friday, when the visit Karen Shelton and UNC and then to James Madison on Sunday.
The Cards should remain at #4 in the NFHCA poll, due out tomorrow.
VOLLEYBALL SHAKES WAKE IN FOUR SETS
Maybe the biggest news in #2 Louisville Volleyball's four set, 25-23, 25-19, 21-25, 25-19 is that the Cards actually lost a set for the first time in over a month.
Also of interest was sophomore Ayden Bartlett stepping in to play libero for Louisville --freshman Elena Scott out with an undisclosed (but possibly a thigh) injury.
Nevertheless, the Cards move to 18-0 on the season with the win over the Demon Deacons. Four VolleyCards recorded double figures in kills -- Claire Chaussee leading with 12, Amaya Tillman and Anna DeBeer getting 11 each and Anna Stevenson providing 10.
Wake Forest proved to be a tough "out" for Louisville at the beginning of this one. They led briefly in the first set and were tied with Louisville at 21-21 late. The Cards "called for DeBeer" though, and ran off four of the next six points to get the "W". DeBeer had six kills to lead Dani Busboom Kelly's charges.
Louisville made it look easy to start set two -- bumping a 5-4 lead to 13-4. New Albany's Ceci Rush held the hot serving hand --producing a 7-0 service run. Wake, though, refused to back down and climbed within five late at 23-18. A Demon Deacon service error and Amaya Tillman kill ended the set successfully for the Cards.
After the break, Wake came out intent on business. They held sway with the Cards early,
creating a 10-10 tie, and then went on a 5-1 run to grab a four point lead. Louisville would manage to cut that to two late -- at 22-20 -- but the Winston-Salem school closed it out with a set-ending 3-1 run to give the Cards their first set loss since Sept. 15th vs. Kentucky.
A close fourth set developed at the start and the Deacs actually held a 14-13 lead. Anna Stevenson produced a kill to tie it at 15 all, though, and then the Cards exploded on a 10-4 run to close out set and match.
Not much you can say about this one...except "hop on the bus, Gus and head it back home." Louisville has certainly looked much more sharper this season and some of that can be attributed to the absence of Scott, I suppose you could say. Wake Forest was, no doubt, buoyed from their win over Notre Dame on Friday and donned the upset hat and gave it their all. Kamryn Malloy is a legit hitter for the Demon Deacons and had eighteen kills against the Cards.
Still, road wins are always appreciated and the Cards now come home to prepare for two toughies this weekend in the LNFCU. Virginia comes to town Friday and then the highly anticipated match against Pitt will take place on Sunday.
CHICAGO SKY WINS WNBA CHAMPIONSHP
If Dana Evans is walking around with a bigger-than-normal smile this Monday, it's perfectly understandable and explainable. She and her WNBA Chicago Sky teammates are the WNBA Champs for 2021 -- knocking off the Phoenix Mercury 80-74 yesterday in WinTrust Arena to pull off the four-game series "W".
At 13-13 to end the regular season, not many had the Sky winning it all, and, considered them lucky to just be in post-season at all.
Something happened. Candace "Ace" Parker hadn't left LA to come home to Chicago and play just for the lakeshore drive and Chicago dogs. Veteran Allie Quigley had found a home in Chicago after bouncing around the league and so had Kahleigh Copper. Quigley's 26 points in the final and Copper's Tournament MVP award dwarfed the "established guard trust" of Phoenix's Diana Taurasi, Skyler Diggins Smith and
With 4:42 left in the fourth, this one looked like it might go Phoenix's way. They led 72-65 and were intent to taking the series back to Phoenix.
Not so fast, Mercury,
An 11-0 run by Chicago over the next four minutes gave Chicago a 76-72 lead. Credit Steph Dolson for the final two buckets in the run over the taller Brit Griner. Diana Taurasi drew a foul on a three-pointer and sank two of her free throws to cut the lead to two, but Courtney Vandersloot connected in the lane to seal the win and kick off a massive celebration among Sky fans.
Phoenix, on the other hand, was not so chipper. The Mercury failed to appear at the post-game presser. It was later revealed that the door to their locker room was broken and sources indicated it was one of the Mercury who did the damage. (Talk about your bitter feelings !) An "investigation" is pending. Call in Matlock, Colombo and Chief Bill Gillespie...and...aw, forget it...who cares? It's over and the Sky are your champs.
As for Evans, it's been a topsy-turvy, but ultimately rewarding season. She was drafted later than many expected and ended up in Dallas. Then, early into the season, Chicago head coach James Wade decided he wanted the Louisville great and brought her to Chicago in a trade. Evans knew her role, to be a back up guard to Sky point-guard Vandersloot. She performed her duties without any fanfare or issue.
And now....a ring in her first season. It doesn't get much better than that and all of us at Cardinal Couple are extremely happy for her. If you believe, you can achieve -- and Evans is proof of that. I can't wait to see her make a triumphant return to the KFC YUM! Center this season to watch her former Cardinal teammates play.
She's bonafide. She's Dana Evans and she'll remain one of our favorite Cardinals forever. .
UofL had a couple of alumni competing in the Olympic swimming trials yesterday and wrapped up their involvement. Zach Harting swam in the finals for the 100M butterfly, while Kelsi Worrell Dahlia swam in the 50 freestyle semifinals.
Harting finished in 6th place, while Dahlia finished in 10th in the semifinals, missing the mark to make it to the finals swim for that event.
If I've been able to follow the updates out of this event through it all, Harting is the only Cardinal affiliated swimmer to qualify for the US Olympic team. He touched the wall first in the 200M butterfly several days ago.
While the Olympic Swimming Trials continue today, in their last day, there will be no Cardinals represented in the last finals swims.
FIBA Women's Americup
(Yes, there's still a headache-producer in Lexington)
To the surprise of really no one, the US defeated Puerto Rico in the finals of the FIBA Women's Americup. The mainlanders took this one by a solid margin, 74-59. Kentucky's Rhyne Howard won the MVP of the event, averaging 13.2 points over the course of the event.
There were no Cardinal rooting interests in that game, but the 3rd round game, between Brazil and Canada did have Cardinal Merissah Russell on the Canadian roster. Russell did not play in the game.
WNBA
Turning to WNBA action, the Chicago Sky beat the Connecticut Sun 91-81 in Chicago. A back and forth game, the Sun did get out to a fairly sizable lead in the first half before the Sky closed it down in the 2nd quarter. Several lead changes throughout the rest of the game kept the excitement level high.
Dana Evans saw just over four minutes of action, corralling a not-so-great pass to her just in front of the bench, collecting it, curling back out straight in front of the basket, with a pump fake getting the defender off her feet, and ripping it through the net from about 23 feet.
Evans is still struggling to find substantial playing time, though when you're in the lineup behind excellent guards like Courtney Vandersloot, Diamond DeShields and Allie Quigley, the challenge is real.
The Washington Mystics, with Myisha Hines-Allen sidelined, were able to beat the Indiana Fever in an 82-77 contest on the Mystics home floor.
That leaves the New York Liberty, among the UofL rooting interests in the WNBA, to play today. The only game today in the WNBA schedule, meeting the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks has the home court advantage today, but good TV coverage is great to see, with ESPN carrying the game. Tune in at 4pm for it.
NWSL
Also today, after a couple of weeks break, Racing Louisville FC resumes their season here in Louisville, hosting the Houston Dash.
Emina Ekic is, of course, the UofL rooting interest here, and the hometown hero. The game is at 3pm, and the only video of it is available via Paramount+.
Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast
The Wizard hat is a staple on Saturday mornings when Paulie is trying to out-smart the knuckleheads.
We had a full house for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast yesterday. We covered FIBA and WNBA, results from the Swimming Olympic Trials, some of the positive academic news for UofL sports team that were announced this week. Of course we also had the Cardinal Couple Quiz.
This episode does run a little long as we underestimated how long it would take in this format to get through the quiz with four of us competing. It was fun, and the quiz was quite competitive!
In addition to our regular summer updates on Cards in the WNBA, we get an additional, frenetic Basketball event to report on today. The Red Bull USA Basketball 3x Nationals.
Red Bull USA Basketball 3x Nationals
If you've never watched International style 3v3 Basketball, you're in for a treat. This is high paced, quick, flashy, and fun basketball with very few stoppages of plays. And four of our favorite Cardinals are participating on a team. Liz Dixon, Kianna Smith, Mykasa Robinson, and newcomer Payton Verhulst.
Yesterday's play in the event was pool play, with the Cards facing off against Force 10, Oregon, and Maryland.
The Cards emerged from pool play with a record of 2-1. No real worries here as all of the teams from the pool play advanced to the tournament bracket today, with the pool results only determining seeding. Where did UofL end up in the seedings? Your guess is as good as mine as three of the four teams in the pool ended up with records of 2-1, and the event uses FIBA tie-breaker formulas to decide.
What we do know is the UofL will be playing against the Midwest Money Makers at 10:05am in the quarterfinal round. Semifinals would be at 12:35pm, or 1pm, with the Finals at 2:15pm.
In yesterday's play, the Cards started out playing Force 10 during the first part of the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast livestream. The Cards were able to nearly continuously, but slowly, stretch out a lead against Force 10, winning at the 10 minutes of game play, 16-10.
Next up in the afternoon was Oregon, and this was a battle of two great 3v3 teams. Tied at 12 after regulation, Oregon would go on to win the OT for a final score of 15-12.
The last game for the Cards was against Maryland. I was working on a home project, and didn't tune into the game until about three minutes in with Maryland leading 10-1. I saw a mind-blowing comeback happen in front of my eyes with Louisville winning it in the end, 20-18.
We don't have full stats for these games, and I would pity a stats crew trying to keep up with gameplay. So some subjective impressions.
..
UofL only has two big offensive producers on this team, in Kianna Smith and Payton Verhulst. Liz Dixon will produce if she gets a good possession close in to the basket, but that just doesn't happen all that often in a compact game like 3v3 basketball. Mykasa Robinson did sink some shots, but she is still significantly a defensive player and distributor, but that can work in the 3v3 format.
Much of CardNation is probably interested in seeing Payton Verhulst in anticipation of her appearance on the KFC Yum! Center floor in the fall, and I'm delighted to say that I think you're going to like what you see. She's a good shooter, dropping shots from beyond the arc, but also not afraid to body players up and use contact, a particularly important skill in 3v3. She's quick, but wasn't just blowing past defenders like Kianna Smith was. She did have a tendency to pick up her dribble without having a next step in the action ready, which is particularly problematic in 3v3. In full court, you have four teammates who can work to create an option for you in this situation, in 3v3, you only have two options available so you generally want to have your outlet pass, or shot, lined up and ready to go before you stop your dribble.
If there's a star of the team, it's probably Kianna Smith. She's burying "threes", blitzing past defenders on the drive and just generally doing it all.
And if you are going to tune in today, and you should, let's do a quick rundown of rules for the 3v3 form of the game.
It's played on a "half court", though it's really more like a third of a court. A change of possession requires to the new team to take the ball out past the "three point arc" with no stoppage in play required. A field goal scores a single point, a "three point" shot scores two points (thus the "sarcastic quotes" above), and a free throw still scores a single point.
The teams play for 10 minutes, or until a team reaches 21 points, whichever comes first. Overtime is decided by the first team to score two points. In the case of rare stoppages from foul shots or out of bounds, play is started, playground-ball-like, with the defensive player "checking" the ball at the top of the key to the offensive player.
There are, as the name implies, three players playing per side, with a roster of four, allowing for a substitute. Teams will almost always cycle the substitute in for one of the players on the floor at every stoppage of play.
This form of basketball is loads of fun and I can't recommend that you tune in to this strongly enough. The games in this event are available via Twitch at https://twitch.tv/nba. Again, the Cards start play today at 10:05am against the Midwest Money Makers that went 0-3 in pool play vs Legacy, Kansas State, and NC State.
WNBA
The Chicago Sky with Dana Evans were in action yesterday in Indianapolis against the Fever. We think Cardinal Couple Writer Daryl Foust was in attendance, but never got confirmation of that.
Dana played just under 10 minutes of this game, got a three pointer and a pair of free throws for five points. Also chalk up a pair of assists for a good contribution for a rookie.
I wasn't able to catch this one live, so no real subjective observations other than from the highlight clips, but the Sky look like a lot of fun to follow. Candace Parker is back on the court and got a casual double-double with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Stef Dolson is also back from helping the US National Team qualify in the Olympics for 3v3 Basketball, and let's face it, "Big Momma Stef" is a always a joy to watch, on or off the court. Add in the Allie Quigley and Courtney Vandersloot, "How did she do that?" style of play, and how can you not love the Sky?
The rest of the Cards in the WNBA will be in action today. Myisha Hines-Allen and the Washington Mystics will tip it off at 3:30pm against the Atlanta Dream. This one is on NBA TV, Bally Sports South, or TSN2.
Kylee Shook, Jasmine Jones, and the New York Liberty will tip (with Shook almost certainly doing the actual tip) at 6pm with the Phoenix Mercury. Catch this one on Bally Sports AZ+, Yes, or TSN2.
Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast
The prodigal son has returned! Case was back with the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast (which means it also got published to the usual podcast directories and feeds, which Case takes care of), along with myself, Jared, and Paulie.
Basketball was the subject of a lot of discussion with the 3x3 Nationals getting underway during the show. We recapped the end of the WCWS which the Cardinal Couple crew all enjoyed in general, even without a great deal of UofL connection. We did touch a bit on the iniquities between the WCWS and the CWS, because, well, the NCAA is still being the NCAA. And another challenging Cardinal Couple quiz....Jared extended his win streak to three weeks in a row, barely edging out "Yours Truly" by a mere 10 points. Check it out!
