Myshia's Mystics lose Elena Della Donne (again) and to the Sun -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CONNECTICUT 92 - WASHINGTON 84

It was a double blow for the Washington Mystics Sunday, first, losing Elena Della Donne for second half with an injury to the same ankle that had her on the sidelines for a couple of games, and, secondly, losing (again) to the Connecticut Sun..  

We got the treat of having two Cards WNBA players ion the rosters in the nationally televised matchup between the Washington Mystics and the Connecticut Sun yesterday. Myisha Hines-Allen, who came in for an injured Elena Della Donne, saw 18 minutes for Washington, scored 14 points, hit three of her four three-point attempts and four out of her eight shots overall. Nope, not a misprint, either on the stats... Mooks went 3-4 from beyond the arc. I guess playing all those years with AD at Louisville finally paid off, in terms of long-range bombing. 

The Mystics lost this one in the fourth quarter after leading by one after three quarters. You can't blame MHA for the loss...but the squad scored just 18 points in the final stanza, while the Sun put up 27 points 

On the winner's side, Liz Dixon is on the Connecticut roster. She did not play in the contest...a coach's decision apparently, since we know of no injury to Liz. 

The two Cards greats have the distinction of being on the second (Connecticut) and third (Washington) best teams in the WNBA's Eastern Division and third and fourth best teams overall in the league. 

The Connecticut (14-5) win makes them 3-0 against the Mystics (10-8) this season. Ageless Dewanna Bonner hit six threes in the game for homestanding Connecticut  and had 28 points for Stephanie White's Sun. 

I

It had to be a heart-breaking ordeal for Mystic fans and players to see "E.D.D" leave the court again hobbling after just getting back out there again. Although limited to 13 minutes and not scoring, her leadership on the floor and respect she draws from opponents makes life a lot easier for the rest of the Mystics when she's on the court. She came down on another player's foot with 1:20 left in the first half and did not return. 

The injury was to the same ankle that she had injured earlier this season. No report has been released on the extent of this injury, but E.D.D. was helped off the court by a couple of Mystics.

Here's hoping Liz can start seeing a bit of playing time at Connecticut and Myisha continues to shine 

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SAILING, SALING,,,

We'll be tossing a few off-sped pitches at you this week, with Jared "on a boat, "%$#@&" -- his honeymoon cruise with wife Katy. They've told me Case will write Tuesday and Jeff Thursday. I just smile and nod. Glad to see the lads showing a bit of planning...

paulie

CARDS in Sunday WNBA Action -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

FOUR CARDS IN SUNDAY WNBA GAMES

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. 

paulie

CARDS in WNBA action Sunday -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

SUN DOWN DREAM, SKY SINK LYNX

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. 

paulie

A WNBA Sunday -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 FEVER HOLD ON AGAINST SKY...MYSTICS HANDLE SUN

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  

paulie

 

WNBA...No surprises at the top so far. -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

As the WNBA rolls into the dozen games played mark of their season, a look at the standings offers no real surprises at the top so far. Atop the standings are the Minnesota Lynx with an 11-1 record. The Lynx came in second in 2016...losing the best of five championship series to the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks are, coincidentally, in second place with a 9-3 record. 

For the Lynx, Sylvia Fowles and Maya Moore lead the way...which is no big surprise either. Along with Lindsey Whalen, Seimone Augustus and Rebekka Brunson are also big factors in Minnesota's success...all but Whalen are averaging double figures in scoring...and she is at almost nine points a game. They all average over 24 minutes a game for the Lynx and pose a multi-dimensional threat to anyone who faces them. Only the Connecticut Sun have claimed a victory over them...although the next two games see them on the road in Phoenix and LA and could be challenges. 

The L.A. Sparks have Nneka Ogwumike, Candace Parker and Chelsea Gray leading the way...all above 15.0 p.p.g. and that's as good of a threesome as you'll find in the league. Complimented by Alana Beard, Odyssey Sims and Essence Carson...L.A. doesn't seem to be missing Kristi Tolliver all that much from last year. Tolliver, meanwhile has been one of the factors that has gotten the Mystics off to a good start. Indiana, Atlanta and Dallas have hung losses on the Sparks...but none of these were by more than six points. 

So, have these two become the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers of the WNBA? 

Washington might argue that...along with New York. Those two hold third and fourth places with five losses each. The Mystics have one more win that the Liberty and the big news in D.C. is the arrival of Elena Della Donne. Washington probably has to be wondering what life would be like if they didn't have to play Minnesota...two of their five defeats have come at the hands of the Lynx. Phoenix is 7-5 also...the story there is, of course...Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi. Griner leads the league with 23.1 p.p.g. and Tauasi is sixth in scoring. 

Out of the other seven squads...Dallas, Connecticut and Seattle are playing .500 basketball. Indiana is close to that at 6-7 while the Atlanta Dream, obviously feeling the effects of no Angel McCoughtry, are 5-6.

That gets us to the doormats of the league...Chicago (3-10) and San Antonio (0-14). The Stars only need to lose six more games in a row to equal the league's worst losing streak...put up by Tulsa in 2011. Welcome to the WNBA...Kelsey Plum. 

Four players are averaging over 20 points per game. We mentioned Griner earlier...behind her are Fowles (21.0), Tina Charles (20.5) and Ogwumike (20.3). Della Donne is knocking at the door with 19.3.

Now that the conference system has been scrapped in terms of playoff eligibility and the top eight teams wherever make the playoffs...if played today, the "odd teams out" would be Indiana, Atlanta, Chicago and San Antonio. 

A pleasant and maybe unsuspected surprise this season has been 6'6" Jonquil Jones and her play for the Connecticut Sun. Jones was impressive at George Washington University during her college days...no doubt...but the second-year pro has doubled her points and rebounding average from last year and leads the WNBA in grabs. 

Morgan Tuck just might find herself out of a job when she returns from injury...


paulie
xxxxx

Atlanta Dream Classic and WNBA COMES TO LOUISVILLE -- Sunday Cardinal Couple

SUN, MYSTICS WIN IN ATLANTA DREAM CLASSIC. 

6347 fans watched the two WNBA pre-season games in the KFC YUM! Center on a Memorial Day Weekend Saturday night...Louisville's first-ever WNBA games in the Atlanta Dream Classic. 

Fans of the Indiana Fever and Atlanta Dream didn't get what they hoped for...the Connecticut Sun rallying from an early deficit to knock off the Fever 76-68 and Washington taking control early against a depleted Atlanta roster to defeat the Dream 79-55. 

WNBA Basketball is a bit different than the college ball normally played in the KFC YUM! Center. The games are four quarters instead of two halves and the music decibel level rivaled that which was being played down River Road at the Abbey Road on the River festival. 

Mix music is the soup du jour during a WNBA game and it goes on non-stop, even when the teams are on the court playing. A bit different...and geared toward the younger generation. The jury is still out (at least for me) on that...

We actually tried to get a short interview with the D.J. playing the tunes but were rather brusquely informed by his "handler" that every second of his time was booked and that would be impossible. 

(I hope he didn't have to pee while at work...or maybe they had that built in for him also...) 

CONNECTICUT SUN 76 - INDIANA FEVER 68


The first game of the night looked to be a blow-out in the making early on...and it looked like Indiana was going to deliver the romp. The Fever held a 22-8 lead over the sun after Natalie Achonwa (yes she played...with a heavily wrapped knee) hit a hook shot with 2:01 left in the quarter. 

Connecticut closed the quarter strong with a 11-4 run, though...Chelsea Gray scoring five points and the Sun continued to cut into the Fever lead in the second quarter by scoring the first eight points and taking a 27-26 lead on a Kelsey Griffin three with 6:34 until half. 

The Fever regained their composure, though...and regained the lead...going up 35-31 after Achonwa hit a free throw with 2:23 left in the second quarter. They got a steal and Achonwa layup at the buzzer to go in up at the half 41-36.

Jeanette Pohlen led the way for Indiana in the first twenty minutes with nine points and Achonwa added seven. Chelsea Gray led the Sun with nine points and Kelsey Griffin contributed eight.

The Fever held the lead throughout the third period until a Kelsey Bone "and 1" gave the Sun a 48-47 lead. Layshia Clarendon's jumper gave Indiana a 57-54 edge with 14 seconds and it looked to be the final goal of the quarter but Gray hit a jumper at the buzzer to get Anne Donovan's team within one with 10 minutes to play. 

The fourth quarter belonged to Connecticut. They regained the lead on a Bone layup to start the fourth quarter and a Bone put-back gave them a three point lead at 62-59. The Fever stayed within striking distance...a Pohlen jumper made it 67-65 Sun with 5:48 to go.

Connecticut went on a 8-0 run over the next five minutes...aided by the strong board play of Elizabeth Williams...and led 75-65 until Shenise Johnson hit a three for the Dream with 37 seconds left. Kayla Pederson added a free throw for Connecticut with a second left for the final 76-68 score. 

The Fever no doubt missed Tamika Catchings and Shevonte Zellous who did not play...but Connecticut was without Chiney Ogwumike..so the star power was missing on both squads. Shenise Johnson tried to keep Indiana in the contest with seven of the Fever's 11 final quarter points...but the Sun shone brightly in the paint in the fourth to get the win. 

WASHINGTON MYSTICS 79 - ATLANTA DREAM 55

Missing starters were key in the second game...Atlanta leaving starters from 2014 Tiffany Hayes, Erika De Souza and Sancho Lyttle at home in the nightcap. 

The crowd greeted former Cards and current Dream starters Angel McCoughtry and Shoni Schimmel with a rousing welcome and the two seemed fired-up to be back in front of the Louisville fanbase.  

The ball just wouldn't go in the basket for Atlanta early on. 

They fell behind the former UConn Huskies trio of Stefanie Dolson (who was rocking purplish-blue hair), Kalana Greene and Bria Hartley. The three had 18 of Washington's 24 first quarter points. The Dream went 4 for 17 in the first ten minutes and managed just 10 points...Angel and Shoni going a combined 0 for 7. 

It got worse for the Dream in the second quarter as Washington continued to get easy layups and solid three point shooting from Hartley. Angel broke loose in the second quarter...scoring 10 of Atlanta's 13 points...but the Mystics doubled the score on the Dream at the half 46-23. Shoni was making some nice passes and defensive stops but was still scoreless.

McCoughtry played just 1:11 in the third quarter and Schimmel logged over nine minutes...finally getting on the board with a desperation three as the shot clock expired with 4:12 left in the quarter.

The basket drew the biggest cheer of the evening.

Speaking of cheers, I'm not sure I'm a real big fan of an event's PA announcer repeatedly chanting "Defense" or "Let's Go Dream" into the microphone during action. Isn't that why there are cheerleaders and spirit groups? Once again, small beer really...but it got annoying. I'm sure a number of local high schools would have gladly lent their cheer squads or dance teams to the event. 

"Sho-time" hit another three at the 2:45 mark, elicting another loud crowd response but Atlanta wasn't cutting into the Mystic lead and was trailing 67-40 with one quarter remaining. It was Shoni's final basket of the evening. 

The teams played fairly evenly in the final stanza. Angel sat while Shoni logged all ten minutes in the fourth...picking up two more assists for a team high six. The Dream actually outscored the Mystics in the final ten minutes 14-12 to lose 79-55. 

Atlanta got inspiring play from Sequoia Holmes and Ify Ibekwe off the bench but missed the 60% of their starter base that wasn't there. Also disappointing was that Washington's Kara Lawson was there but did not play. 

We wanted to see if she would try interviewing her teammates and opponents while running up and down the court. The "headband cam" and accompanying audio feed is coming in the WNBA...we just know it ! 

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Both Schimmel and McCoughtry met with the media following the game. Both were thrilled to be back in front of the Louisville fan base...Angel playing in the KFC YUM! Center for the first time and almost wistfully commenting that it would have been nice to spend four years in the arena. 

Angel had a bag of ice strapped to her knee when they entered the media room but professed that nothing was wrong...it was just "getting old" aches and pains. 

Other tidbits from the post game chat:

- Shoni hasn't read Jude's book yet...being quite busy with "playing hoops, sleeping and getting up and doing it all over again the next day..." but marvels that her sister was able to do it at the age of 21. She also hopes they can travel Europe playing ball together after the WNBA season is over.


- Angel still avidly follows UofL WBB...noting that she would be "watching at 3 a.m. in Turkey" to support the team.

- When asked if playing against three Washington players that formerly played for Geno Auriemma reminded her of the old days of facing the Huskies...Shoni jokingly made a vague reference to officiating and burst out laughing with Angel and the media. 

All in all, a great evening of the WNBA in the YUM! 6347 for a pre-season exhibition double-header isn't bad at all. Whether or not a franchise could do that consistently here without the benefit of the two greatest players in Louisville WBB history on their roster is debatable. I'd go, how about you? 

It was fun to have women's hoops back and it just whetted our appetite for the 2015-16 UofL WBB season.

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Meanwhile, a level up from Denny Crum Court, the lines were long to meet Jude Schimmel and buy an autographed copy of her DREAMCATCHER book.

A short conversation with co-author Rick Laemmle revealed they brought 300 books and ran out of them -- necessitating a hasty trip to go pick up and bring back more.

Jude, ever-smiling and greeting each person in line...Shoni showing she is ready to assume the starting point-guard role for Atlanta. It seems the Schimmel's "held court" on two levels of the KFC YUM! Center Saturday evening and it was a pleasure and treat to see them  "back in the house" they helped build and fill. 

paulie
xxxxx 
  

WNBA Preseason Doubleheader Tonight in KFC YUM! Center -- Saturday Cardinal Couple

DREAM VS. MYSTICS...FEVER VS. SUN 

The WNBA takes over the KFC YUM! Center tonight with two preseason games. Atlanta faces the Washington Mystics in the nightcap and the Connecticut Sun squares off against the Indiana Fever in the 5 p.m. opener.

Tickets are still available and Robbie Valentine, the arena director of premium sales and services expects a big walk-up crowd. Valentine also indicates that the lower bowl of the YUM! Center will be full for tonight's events.

Let's look at the four participants: 

INDIANA FEVER

Our northern Hoosier neighbors went 16-19 last season in the Eastern Division. They were led by Tamika Catchings's 16.5 ppg and T.C. is back on the roster this year. Shavonte Zellous tossed in 11.1 and also returns for Indy. Other essentials back on the pre-season roster are Erlana Larkins (10.0), Briann January (10.5), and Marissa Coleman (8.9).

The Fever also have rookie Natalie Achonwa on the roster but it is highly unlikely she'll hit the court with the bum knee. Cardinal fans will remember Layshia Clarendon from California and Sydney Carter from Texas A&M. 

CONNECTICUT SUN

Will Sean be in the YUM! tonight or
calling baseball on the radio? 

Head coach Anne Donovan may be the tallest person on the sidelines in the first match-up. Her rays of sunshine went 13-21 last year in the Eastern Division. Three rookies will be familiar to Cards WBB followers...Inga "The Russian Rocket" Orekhova (USF), Elizabeth Williams (UNC) and Chelsea Gray (Duke).

Leading scorer in 2014 Chiney Ogwumike (15.5) returns for the Connecticut squad. Also on the roster from last year are Alex Bentley (12.2) and Kelsey Bone (9.3). UConn heart-throb Kelly Faris is trying to make the team and there are two Thomases...Alyssa, who played with the Sun last year and averaged 10.0 and Jasmine...who was with the Dream last season. 

WASHINGTON MYSTICS

If Sean isn't there, maybe they'll let
WorldWide be the PA !!!

They'll face the Dream in the second game and went 16-18 last season in the Eastern Division. Three ex-Geno Huskies are on the roster and played last year for Washington. Stefanie Dolson (6.0), Bria Hartley (9.7) and Kalana Greene.

Lots of returnees from that 2014 squad. Veteran Kara Lawson (7.0), Ivory Latta (12.8), Emma Meesseman (10.1) and Kia Vaughn (Gwen Rucker's best friend) with 9.7 ppg.

Dayton's Ally Malott, who helped sink Louisville WBB last season is a rookie on the squad.

ATLANTA DREAM

The "Big Five" for Michael Cooper's Dream are all back. Our beloved Angel McCoughtry (18.5) and Sho-time Shoni Schimmel (8.3) will try and take the mystery out of the Mystics. Tiffany Hayes (12.9) will face her old UConn pals.
Veteran front-liners Sancho Lyttle (12.2) and Erika DeSouza (13.8) will prowl the paint tonight on Denny Crum Court.

Also back from last season Aneika Henry (4.5), Matte Ajavon (3.2) and Celine Dumeric (3.3). 

Rookies trying to earn a jersey are Brittany Hrynko (DePaul), Sam Logic (Iowa) and Ariel Massengale (Tennessee). 

It should be big fun tonight on the court and off the court as well with the Louisville WBB squad in attendance and Jude signing and selling copies of her book DREAMCATCHER

We hope to see you there! 

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RADIO THIS MORNING! 

We'll discuss the upcoming games on this morning's radio show and also look at hoops, softball, track and field and much more. We'll be without Sam the Dry Weather Intern today but WorldWide will cover the gap and also toss in his clever, snarky remarks that have become a staple of the show.

My lazy butt did not get out and secure any interviews this past week (I'll more-than-make-up for that tonight) but I have prepared a WorldWide Quiz and we'll find other mischief to get into starting at 11 a.m. on WCHQ 100.9 FM and on the Internet at www.crescenthillradio.com

Maybe we'll sing our favorite Beatles songs...since Abbey Road On The River is in town...nah, bad idea.

Join us, won't you. It don't cost nothing.

paulie
xxxxx