TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE -Louisville releases 2013-14 women's basketball roster -Charlyn Corral named AAC women's soccer Player of the Week The official 2013-14 UofL Women's Basketball roster is now out and, on first glance...one notices that there are 13 players listed. This is down from the 16 that we've discussed most of the summer...but still looks quite impressive and still deep at guards, wings and post players. What happened to the other three? As we covered here at CARDINAL COUPLE a few days ago, DAVIONNA HOLMES had decided to transfer to Missouri to play basketball.  We learned Monday that JANELLE CANNON has also left campus and her next move or campus hasn't been revealed yet. From what we hear, STARR BREEDLOVE is finishing up some summer classes at a junior college and won't arrive at Louisville until later in the year. The Cards will miss Sherrone Vails in the middle (injury) but with a healthy Dyer and Taylor...plus Hammond, Walton, and Henderson available for paint duty...don't cry too long for Louisville. The Cards that are listed give Louisville one of the strongest rosters that this fan has seen in the history of the women's basketball program. Strong words? Maybe...but four out of five starters back and able to play, three former starters back and healthy from previous years,  three valuable contributors off the bench from last year's National Runner-up squad and two promising newcomers make Louisville look like a juggernaut in their only year in the American. Of course, UConn is still there. Sometimes, in regards to Cannon and Holmes...it just doesn't work out. Cannon has bounced around to three different Div. I programs now and we hope she finds her home somewhere. Holmes has landed closer to home...and sometimes that works best for a player. Fear not, fans. Still plenty of players to cheer for! The roster is listed below.	Last Name		Height			eligibility
00	hammond sara	Sara Hammond	74	6-2	F	5	JR	Mt. Vernon, Ky. (Rockcastle County HS)
2	niamke monny	Monny Niamke	65	5-5	G	4	RS SO	Rouen, France (Lindsey Wilson)
3	vails sheronne	Sheronne Vails	76	6-4	C	7	SR	Odenton, Md. (Arundel HS)
4	slaughter antonita	Antonita Slaughter	73	6-1	G	7	SR	Louisville, Ky. (Louisville Christian Academy)
12	dyer shawnta'	Shawnta' Dyer	73	6-1	F	6	RS JR	Marion, Ohio (Marion Harding HS)
13	walton cortnee	Cortnee Walton	75	6-3	F	3	SO	Surprise, Ariz. (St. Mary's HS)
15	deines megan	Megan Deines	73	6-1	G	3	SO	Springfield, Mo. (Glendale HS)
21	smith bria	Bria Smith	70	5-10	G	5	JR	Massapequa, N.Y. (Christ the King HS)
22	schimmel jude	Jude Schimmel	66	5-6	G	5	JR	Mission, Ore. (Franklin HS)
23	schimmel shoni	Shoni Schimmel	69	5-9	G	7	SR	Mission, Ore. (Franklin HS)
25	gibbs tia	Tia Gibbs	69	5-9	G	8	RS SR	Louisville, Ky. (Vanderbilt Univ.)
31	taylor asia	Asia Taylor	73	6-1	F	8	RS SR	Columbus, Ohio (Whetstone HS)
32	henderson emmonnie	Emmonnie Henderson	73	6-1	F	1	FR	Edwardsville, Ill. (Edwardsville HS)

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DESPITE the loss to Illinois Sunday, the UofL women's soccer team did get good news on Monday about "Char'

(thanks to Kim Pemberton for the release below)


University of Louisville senior midfielder Charlyn Corral has been named the
American Athletic Conference’s Offensive Player of the Week.  Corral opened the
2013 season scoring three goals and dishing out one assist.

Against Butler, Corral took a corner kick in the first minute of the second
period and bent it inside the box to teammate Christine Exeter, who headed the
ball into the middle of the net for a 1-0 lead.   In the 84th minute, Hannah
Konermann crossed the ball to a streaking Corral for a security goal as the
Cardinals handed Butler 2-0 shutout.

Against No. 17/25 Illinois, Corral gathered a deflection from a Kari Weinland
shot and sent it back at the keeper who deflected the ball back to Corral, who
then buried it into the back of the net, giving Louisville a 2-1 lead in the
25th minute.  Corral then scored on a penalty kick in the 51st minute for a 3-2
Cardinal lead before Louisville fell 5-4 in overtime to the Illini.

Corral finished the week with seven shots on goal for a 53.8 shot on goal
percentage.

-Paulie

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Tuesday Cardinal Couple

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Details on Louisville WBB

-Lacrosse announces fall schedule


A few nuggets (with commentary) on UofL womens' basketball.

- Sherrone Vails, last year's starting center, had knee surgery in July and her status is up and the air for the 2013-14 season. She may have to redshirt. Last season, Vails started 28 of UofL's 37 games...averaging 15.6 minutes per game, 4.0 points and 2.8 rebounds. We hope Sherrone heals completely and, if not available this year, comes back strong in the 2014-15 campaign. We hope it doesn't hinder her promising fashion runway model career, either.

- Davionna Holmes has left the team. She is looking to
find another school to play for...she will

transfer. She came to campus to play volleyball and was dismissed from Anne's Kordes squad. She was injured before she ever stepped on the court for Louisville WBB. This news may be the worst kept secret of the off-season. We were getting "rumors" and "insider" stuff for a week before Coach gave out any official notice.

We wish her well wherever she ends up and hope she can become a valuable contributor and follow team rules. No official explaination or reason was given for her decision to depart. If it was her decision. Maybe sometimes, that is best. Another "big" that leaves the Lady Cards.

- Tia Gibbs is back to full speed and looking good in the gym, according to our sources who have watched her in informal shoot-arounds. Gibbs was an integral part of Louisville's march through Cincinnati a couple of years ago when the Cards defeated Xavier and Vanderbilt. When healthy, Gibbs is a lock-down defender and has a good range of shooting. Has it really been two full seasons since we last saw her on the court? Bring it, Butler Bear...we're ready to see you tear it up.





- Asia Taylor is also healthy and going 100% on the court.
Taylor was the best jumper on the squad in the 2011-12.
 Asia's been "through it" on the injury docket over the last five years. We're hoping for a full and pain-free season for the Columbus, OH climber.
She is Sonja's favorite player. Yep, that's Sonja doing the "happy dance" because "31" is healthy and having fun.

A Tayy will be a success at whatever she attempts in life. We would love to see her have a fun and successful senior season. She can help this team a lot if she stays healthy.

-Shawnta Dyer is on schedule with her rehab after blowing out her ACL after 11 games last season. She was a force inside in those nine games she played and if she can return to that skill level...it gives UofL another powerful paint player and excellent rebounder.

Dyer averaged 19.5 minutes last season...scoring 7.4 ppg, grabbing 5.5 boards and shooting 53% from the floor. The only knock we can find in her game is free throw shooting..which struggled to get over 50%. We assume she's had plenty of time to practice those...

So, what was 16 is now 15 and possibly 14. Still plenty of players to go around. Good reports on the three who had to watch last year. A group of new and old. Of experienced and promising. And Shoni.

C'mon hoops season. We're ready. Get here soon.

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LOUISVILLE Lacrosse announced their fall schedule for 2013 yesterday and it involves some travelling for Kellie Young's squad. They start the journey in Boston, MA with a match against Boston University on Sept. 28th. They travel to Cambridge, MA the next day to take part in the Harvard tournament. Following that, LAX goes to Baltimore for competition against Johns Hopkins University on Oct. 6th.

Louisville does get one home exhibition match against Michigan on Oct. 12th. They end the fall slate at Duke on Oct. 27th.

The Louisville lacrosse banquet is on a Friday night this fall...Oct 11th. We'll get details on that as they become available.

We'll also have an interview with Coach Young on our Saturday CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR this week. She is one of four (possibly five) coaches we'll have words from this Saturday. You don't want to miss Saturday's show!

Last Saturday's show is archived on the heavenly SoundCloud and can be heard at the link below:

Don Paulie presents the Jenny O'Bryan UofL women's sports review






-Paulie

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Bulls avenge January loss, Cards fall

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THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

(Jenny O'Bryan with the post-game report on Louisville WBB loss to USF Wednesday Night in the KFC YUM! Center.)

Cards give a home win away in a tough defensive battle.
 

To hear Coach Walz talk in the post game interview with Matt Andrews, the Cards did not follow the scouting report tonight.  While that may have been true, even following the scouting report on a night with such poor shooting, it was going to be hard to win this battle. 

The Cards started the game sloppy.  The first 5 drives down the court there were missed shots or turnovers.  It looked like it was going to be a long night, and it was.  The first 6-8 minutes of the half was tough basketball to watch.  The Cards looked slow and uninspired.   

With 7:41 seconds left to play in the first half, the score was 22-12, USF.  The remainder of the half, the Cards held the Bulls to just 2 points with a strong defensive effort sparked by a Bria Smith steal and a coast to coast easy lay in.  Hammond took a charge next defensive set down court, and the Cards mounted what would turn out to be the best 8 minutes of basketball for the night.  The Cards took a 2 point deficit into halftime, down 24-22.  Hard to believe with the offensive woes and the slow start, the Cards were down just two at the half. 

The second half started much as the first, with the Cards just seemingly not present.  USF started the half on a 6-0 run and the Cards were never really in it the remainder of the way.  Sure, there were stretches of the game that the Cards looked good defensively, but it was not consistent. 

It was a brutal, physical game.  Had to be a tough game to play, physically.  The Cards had little offensive firepower tonight, shooting a season low 30% on the night.  They did shoot well from the free throw line, going 82% from the line.  It kept this from being a blowout.  It was still a big loss, in conference play, at home.  Those are especially hard losses. 

Andrea Smith, for the Bulls, could not be contained this evening.  Matching her career high of 35 points.  Unfortunately, it was not in the Cards tonight, in more ways than one. 

The Cards are playing for seeding in the NCAA Tournament.  These last games of the season matter.   It could be the difference between a 3 seed and a 6-7 seed. 

As a parent of a high school athlete, who also plays club volleyball, I find myself continuously amazed at the lack of consistency from the team (and individual players), from game to game.  I found myself thinking that tonight, except with these college kids.  How does a team play such great ball this past Sunday, and then not today?  It takes a greater mind than mine to figure that out.   Good luck with that, coaching staff...

I commend this team for all of the success it has had this year, despite all the injuries.  Losses like these are hard, because they could have been won.  21-6 is not a bad record, especially when you look at the personnel issues.  It is just hard to see such a tough loss on one’s home court. 

(Editor's Note: A flat effort from a team with so much to gain with a win tonight. Discretion being the better part of valor, I'm not going to editorialize on this very disappointing loss. Expected much more out of this Louisville squad this evening.)

Post game Walz below

COACH DISCUSSES LOSS TO USF
  

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One of the most intriguing things on the night was the newest player on the bench tonight!  Not sure how many of the Cardinal faithful caught this, but freshman volleyball middle blocker 6-3 Davionna Holmes was suited up and sat the bench tonight.   Her bio on the University of Louisville website indicates she was a dual sport athlete in high school and an “excellent basketball player”.  LINK BELOW:
 

Davionna Holmes

Not sure what we will see of Holmes on the hardwood the rest of the season.  Coach Walz had another middle blocker volleyball player on his team before, and we all know how well that worked out.  Gwen Rucker, while she opted to just focus on volleyball after her sophomore year, is stated to be one of the highest IQ basketball players Coach Walz has ever coached. 

I look forward to seeing what Holmes brings to the hardwood.  We all know that another body banging in the paint or shooting the long ball (which she is said to have led her high school conference in) can only be a good thing.    Welcome to Walz’s world, Ms. Holmes.  We hope you like it, and get the chance to contribute.
 

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It was asked earlier in the week what recruits were at the game this past weekend vs. DePaul.  Please keep in mind, just because a recruit was there is no indication of how hard they are, or are not, being recruited by the Coaching staff.  Any recruit can call the Athletic office and indicate they would like to attend the game.   With that caveat, the recruits that were known to be at the game were:

Janelle Cannon- 2013 signee

Sydney Brackemyre- Verbally committed in the class of 2014

Ashanti Thomas, 2015 out of Lexington, has been to several games this season and I believe was at Walz’s summer camp last year.

Dominique McBryde, 2015, out of Bedford, Indiana.

Celina King, 2016 out of Cincinnati, OH.  This kid was intriguing to me because she has her own youtube channel(or whatever you call it) and her own website!!  She has 22 videos posted.    

Tyuana Robinson, 2016

There is plenty of information on these kids if you google their names “and basketball”.  Until, or if, we know how hard the kids are being recruited, I will not bore you with lots of websites.  Google those you want to know more about, and we will keep you abreast of accomplishments of specific players as we know the extent they are being recruited. 
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