Becky Burke named head WBB coach at University of Charleston -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FORMER CARDINAL STAR GETS NEW GIG


University of Charleston has hired Becky Burke as its next head women's basketball coach to lead the Golden Eagles into the 2018-19 season.

"Double B's" spent the last two seasons as head coach of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University where she led the new Eagles program to a remarkable record of success in just two seasons of competition. In the second season of play, Burke led ERAU to a 21-6 overall record and a second-place finish in the regular season in the California - Pacific Conference (Cal-Pac) where the Eagles posted an 11-3 mark and qualified for their first Cal-Pac Tournament appearance. Embry-Riddle also recorded another program first in 2017-18, appearing in the top-25 national rankings as high as No. 24 during the season.

Burke's impact was immediate. In
her first season with ERAU she led the team to a winning record, with the Eagles finishing 14-12 in their inaugural season. She basically built the program from scratch.

Prior to taking on the job of building the Embry-Riddle program, Burke was a member of the staff at Saint Joseph's College (Ind.) where she was the first assistant coach for the 2014-15 campaign. She was primarily responsible for individual development at the guard position, along with implementing defensive schemes, as well as serving as the Puma's recruiting coordinator and strength and conditioning coach.

During the 2013-14 season, Burke was the director of basketball operations at California State – Fullerton where she helped the Titans record an 8-8 record in Big West Conference play.

We all remember, hopefully, her time as a Cardinal.  A 2012 graduate of the University of Louisville with a degree in sports management, She was the three-point threat on Walz teams and a part of three NCAA Tournament teams, including helping the Cardinals to the NCAA championship game in 2009 and to the Sweet 16 in 2011. Burke led the team in scoring as a sophomore and was second as a senior, averaging 13.8 and 11.9 points per game respectively. As a senior she tied the school record for three-pointers in a game, draining eight against Syracuse.

Burke's Louisville career ended as a member of the school's 1,000-point club and became just the second Cardinal ever to participate in the State Farm College Three-Point Championship her senior year, placing second.

Burke's playing experience at NCAA Division I and immediate success as an up-and-coming coach will be huge in rebuilding the Golden Eagle women's basketball tradition of success. "It's exciting to hear Coach Burke's enthusiasm for coaching the Golden Eagles" said University of Charleston President, Dr. Ed Welch. "She has played on championship teams and knows every detail about how to run a championship program. She is clearly committed to winning championships for Charleston."

University of Charleston decided on Burke following a national search for a new WBB head coach to replace Adam Collins, who was below .500 the past two seasons.

The Golden Eagles had (18) players create stats in the 2017-18 season and just two were seniors, so Burke will have plenty of student-athletes to evaluate. Three double-digit performers return and nine of the athletes on last year's roster were from Ohio....zero from Kentucky.

"Becky emerged as a talented leader that is most prepared to coach the Golden Eagles in this era of highly competitive college basketball" said Director of Athletics, Dr. Bren Stevens. "Coach Burke will be able to develop our student-athletes and prepare them for productive lives both on and off the court which aligns perfectly with our mission."

Don't get the program and University confused with the College of Charleston, which is located in South Carolina. It's not quite that huge and dramatic step up...but a significant one at the very least. They participate in the MEC (Mountain East Conference) with these West Virginia, Virginia and Ohio schools:

Glenville State, Notre Dame College (no, not the South Bend Irish), WVU State, West Liberty,  Fairmont State, Wheeling Jesuit, Urbana, Shepherd, Concord, WVU Wesleyan and UVA-Wise.

It's an NCAA Division II Conference., too...a step up from the NAIA. The Golden Eagles went 13-17 in 2017-18 season...8-14 in-conference.

If you are on I-77  headed to the West Virginia Turnpike and going south to ACC Country...you can see their football stadium right next to the Interstate.

 We're not sure whether B.B. could ever get Coach Walz to put University of Charleston on the schedule or not. They traveled out-of-state a mere (4) times last season.

We wish the best of luck to "the Burkes-ster" as she continues the pursuit and passions of a life-long dream of continuing in basketball after graduation. We'll be watching and...hey, Becky...if you find you're looking for a great three-point shooting guard...we know of one that recently left Louisville...

Another branch from the Walz coaching tree that is in bloom and one that basically started as a small twig and continued to grow and sprout. A long way from the Pennsylvania 4A Player of the Year days in high school. A long way from the heart-to-heart, let's sit down and talk and figure it out days with Stephanie Norman and Jeff Walz.

Becky Burke, CARDINAL COUPLE salutes you and....go "Coach 'em up!" From Eagles to Golden Eagles and originally a Cardinal...Burke continues to soar high and keeps climbing.


(Parts of today's article from the University of Charleston sports information department) 


paulie
xxxxx

Louisville Women's Basketball...Cards Cage Cougars for 86-58 Win -- Saturday CARDINAL COUPLE

FOUR IN DOUBLE FIGURES IN UOFL WBB ROMP

On Ugly/Holiday Sweater promotion night for Louisville women's basketball Friday night...the Cards delivered a win and it wasn't ugly at all...a 28-point win in the KFC YUM! Center. Myisha Hines-Allen had a double-double (14 pts/12 boards), Asia Durr delivered 20 points in 20 minutes, Mariya Moore had a solid 19 minutes and 12 points and Bionca Dunham came off the bench for 12 points in 10 minutes to improve the Cards record to 10-2

This one was over pretty quickly. Louisville raced out to a 7-0 lead in the first two minutes and Hines-Allen had nine points in the quarter to go along with 4-4 three-point shooting by Moore and Durr to give the Cards a 23-8 lead after ten minutes. The defense was on duty as well...forcing nine Charleston turnovers and getting five steals. 

Lookin' Good, J.C! 

UofL began the second period with a 9-0 run...starting with a Moore three and the Cougars found themselves down 32-8 with 7:71 still left until halftime. Would Louisville rack up 50 first half points? They had a chance with 23 seconds remaining in the second...but a Sam Fuehring layup off a Taylor Johnson somehow rolled off the rim. Asia Durr's jumper at the buzzer set the slate at 49-19 going into halftime. 

It was another excellent first half of defense for UofL...creating 18 turnovers, getting 10 steals and holding College of  Charleston to 23.3% shooting and just seven made baskets. The Cards were having their way on the boards as well...with a 32-19 advantage. Hines-Allen and Durr had 14 points each and Jeff Walz had played everyone but Jessica Laemmle in the half. 

My buddy Bobbie and the family XMAS stylin!!

The parade of substitutions continued in the third quarter...Walz trying multiple front-line and back court combo as the Cards maintained the 30-point lead for most of the third. Durr added two more threes...Moore started the half with one...and the Cards pushed the edge to 62-22 after Durr's second trifecta. With Kylee Shook, Ciera Johnson, Jazmine and Brianna Jones closing out the period with Fuehring and Johnson...Louisville held a 69-40 lead as action headed to the final period. The 7567 in attendance were celebrating. 

Dunham and Fuehring combined for 10 of UofL's 17 fourth quarter points and Sydney Zambrotta knocked back her second three of the game as Louisville coasted to the victory. Brianna Jones took over as chairwoman of the board(s) with six final period grabs and the Cards fearless attack Yorkie Jessica Laemmle got in the scoring column with 14 seconds left to close out the 86-58 win.

Cards win. The Cards win !!



HOW DID FRED DO? 

Fred "Mr" Rogers knew a thing or
two about sweaters...

Free Throws -- Take a bow and remember how you got there...Louisville went 14-16 from the free throw line. Five Cards attempted them and all were perfect except for Hines-Allen (2-4) We proudly bestow a capital "F" for this 87.5% effort 

Rebounding -- A whopping 61 rebounds and everyone on the squad had one...for a decisive +17 in this contest. Jazmine Jones with seven in 14 minutes was great to see and Ciera Johnson was showing an aggressive side tonight as well. No problem in handing out a capital "R" for the grabs tonight.

Effort/Execution -- No doubt about the hustle and performance in the first half -- it was off the charts. With as many minutes as the non-starters played, a bit of a drop off probably should have been expected...Louisville had 42 points in the paint but probably could have added an additional 20 on close-in but missed chances. Still, they were hustling and let's give them a capital "E" for that. 

Defense -- I thought the defense was excellent in the first half. Coach Walz liked the first 24 minutes of the Cards defensive effort. Coll. of Charleston did outscore Louisville in the final two quarters and only had four turnovers in the second half...so we're going to offer a small case "d".

FINAL FRED COUNT:  F-R-E-d


THINGS WE LIKED

Relieving the worry early. Watching Louisville get off to roaring starts is a thing of beauty. If there was any worry that CofC would duplicate the close game from last year...those thoughts were gone by halftime...probably earlier for most. 

Hitting the unguarded ones. So very nice that the free throws were falling for Louisville tonight. The Cards will have games this year where free throws could make the difference and we can only hope that this level of marksmanship continues. 

Everybody dance! We're partial to the games where everyone gets a good amount of court time. No player saw less than nine minutes Friday night and everyone scored but B. Jones (who was too busy rebounding). The Cards used a plethora of combinations...including a stint where an all-freshman lineup was on the court.

Sweater night! It's fun to see all the festive and ugly sweaters that the fans and coaches wear. Sam Purcell deemed it was ugly 'casual suit night' and wins our award as "person most likely to try and sell you a used car" award. Player reaction ranged from "I loved it"...to "That's just hideous!" (I wonder if he rents it by the hour and whether it lights up in the dark...


THINGS TO WORK ON

Consistency was a bit off tonight...especially in the second half. Louisville went just as deep in the lineup in the win over an arguably stronger South Dakota State squad and won each period. And Louisville only led that one 38-14 at the half. This was 49-19 at the half Friday night. The Cards slipped just a bit in the final twenty.

No fast break points? The Cards are usually good for 10 or so of those a game. They had 0 against the Cougars. They also didn't win the points off turnovers by a large margin either (18-14). Yes...CofC played a four guard offense for most the game and did get back pretty quickly...but the transition game wasn't as strong as it usually is in this win.


SO...

The dapper Mr. Purcell (sorry I cut the white shoes out) 

A good, serviceable win that was expected against a team that hasn't had the best of starts to their season. Maybe the Cards were not as sharp as they were on Wednesday night but they took control of this contest early and got a chance to get everyone a good amount of playing time. It was nice to see Bionca get some good vibes on the court and see Sam Fuehring battling again. 

No, Louisville didn't put up 140 or hold their foe to two first half points. What they did do was take care of business and deliver a solid "W" in their third game in six days. And that's good enough for now. Asia Durr's 20 and MHA's double-double in a relatively short playing time shows us that they have a lot of good teammates around them that help them create and that kind of teamwork and recognition is exactly what you want to see this time of year. 


THEY SPEAK TO US

Myisha Hines-Allen and Asia Durr were the players sent to the podium ( I guessed Myisha and maybe Bionca.) They were entertaining and informative. It's so fun to see how "at ease" and professional they are now...compared to their freshmen years. 

LINK: MYISHA AND ASIA COMMENT ON A LITTLE OF EVERYTHING


Coach Walz followed and gave us his take on the win (and Sam Purcell...who, according to Jeff, Sam was wearing the suit he got married in). That must have been one heck of a wedding! 

LINK: COACH WALZ ADDRESSES THE CofC WIN



😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅


RADIO DAZE

"Hey, ma! Turn on the radio!
 the boys
at Crescent Hill are on! I got
no opposable thumbs 

We'll be doing The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour this morning at 11 a.m. on WCHQ 100.9 FM (or at www.crescenthillradio.com) and we have an extensive Louisville women's basketball recap and preview for you. We'll be a man short in the studio...Case will be at the men's game vs. Eastern Kentucky...but Worldwide and I will carry on in the finest tradition you've come to expect. 

What gremlins will be present today? How many times will be say "Uh" or "Ummm" It is live radio at it's finest...with all the fixins' and side platters you want. Why not tune us in on your way to the YUM! today? It don't cost nothing!

Link below: 

THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO AURA


good morning dear!
Paulie
xxxxx

Louisville women's basketball -- Cards, Cougars battle tonight in YUM! -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

#8 LOUISVILLE COLLIDES WITH COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON TONIGHT

The 9-2 University of Louisville women's basketball team plays their third game in six days this evening when College of Charleston Cougars take Denny Crum Court tonight for a 7 p.m. clash at the KFC YUM! Center. Despite the 2-5 record, CofC poses a challenge to the Cards...last year they gave the Cards a scare in Charleston by narrowing losing to Louisville 71-67.



The Cards went on a 13-0 run in the second period to erase a Cougar lead but the Cards trailed 36-35 at the half. UofL produced a 9-0 run in the third frame to build a six-point lead against the South Carolina college. The Coogs made it interesting until the end, though, knocking Louisville's lead down to three twice in the fourth quarter at 62-59 and 68-65 on three-pointers. Myisha Hines-Allen had 22 points and 14 rebounds in that Dec. 20th. contest...Briahanna Jackson added 19 and Mariya Moore contributed 15 points and 12 assists for a Cardinal squad that was just starting to come together after a slow start to the season. 

That win was the fourth in a 15 game win streak from 2015-16...Louisville enters tonight's game on a two game win streak while the Cougars have dropped four out of their last five. Louisville has played two "feline" mascot schools so far this season (Lafayette Leopards and UK Wildcats) and is undefeated against this category of animal. 

CofC has fallen to ACC members North Carolina State, Virginia Tech...plus North Florida and Houston in their last five...owning a win over App. State. Breanna Bolden, a 5'11" senior guard leads the way for Charleston with 15.6 ppg. Joining her in double figures is Tanisha Brown, a 5'11" forward/wing from Myrtle Beach who contributes 14.4 per contest. Bolden had 15 against the Cards last year...Brown was one a red-shirt season after transferring from Charlotte. Both Kelsey Booth and Jackie Luna-Castro...who had double-figures against the Cards last year...have graduated. 

Darian Huff is a sophomore who played at Elizabethtown (KY) and was a teammate of Notre Dame's Erin Boley. She's started all seven games at guard and averages 7.6 points per  game. She did score 12 against Virginia Tech...but her playing time has dropped over the last couple of games. It'll be interesting to see how many minutes she acquires against the Cards and what may be a sizable contingent of people who drive up from E'Town to see her play. She played in the game last year against the Cards and had six points. 

Tonight's contest is the second game in the series between the two schools. Charleston stays in the area after this one and travels to Bowling Green to take on Michelle Clark-Heard's WKU squad on Sunday. 

Something on your mind...JoAnne P? 

Clyde the Cougar's team plays in the CAA (Colonial Athletic Association) along with Elon, James Madison, Delaware, Drexel, Towson, Hofstra, Northeastern and William and Mary. Head coach Candace M. Jackson is in her second year with the Cougars...going 11-20 last year. She spent time as an assistant at Wake Forest and most recently at Duke with JoAnne P. McCallie. She also played for McCallie from 2000-04 at Michigan State. She started with the Duke program as Louisville assistant coach Samantha Williams was leaving Durham for Louisville. 

The Cards will be in fine shape if they can continue to get good overall and consistent play from the starters and we'd like to see another extensive bench participation in this one tonight. That, of course, depends on how quickly Louisville can gain a substantial advantage on the scoreboard. Louisville has probably looked at their performance from last year against the Cougars and will be inspired to see how much they've improved from then in tonight's game...so motivation and "getting up" for the contest shouldn't be a problem.  It would be great to see Myisha Hines-Allen continue on her quest to defend her ACC-POY title from 2015-16. The Cardinal junior has had four game in a row now scoring in double figures...she had 16 against Maryland, 26 in the Kentucky game, 16 when WKU visited and 10 versus SD State...despite playing no more than 22 minutes in any of the four contests. 

Not a sweater on Sonja but pretty festive garb. 

We know...it's cold out there, and there are plenty of things to do on typical Friday nights...but this should be a fun one to witness...so try and get to the YUM! for it. It is the annual Holiday/Ugly Sweater Night promotion...so find yours and drag it out for the festivities. 

Ol' Paulie just might be walking around taking a few pictures...

We'll have the recap for you tomorrow...


paulie
xxxxx