LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL -- #5 TERPS IN TOWN TONIGHT...CARTER DONE FOR YEAR -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

MARYLAND SECOND LEADING SCORING TEAM IN NATION 

They may be turtles...but they sure ain't slow. 

The #5 Maryland Terrapin women's basketball squad (6-0) comes to the KFC YUM! Center tonight to face the seventh-ranked 6-1 Louisville Cardinals WBB gals at 7 p.m. A great college basketball contest in the nation's premier facility. 


Welcome, December...right? 

UM will be the Cards second straight top 5 opponent and the first of seven December home games for the Cards. Maryland enters The Bucket off of a 79-69 win over Washington St. on Saturday. A close game that was eventually decided at the foul stripe...where the Terps went 27-38 and WSU 7-21. 

Don't get confused by this but Brionna Jones (no, not Louisville's Brianna Jones) had a 20-point, 20-rebound double-double against the Cougars. They played this one in Vegas, as part of the South Point Shootout. The 6'3" center is not the only Jones on the roster for Brenda Frese (like Louisville's 1 and 1A entry of Brianna and Jazmine) Stephanie Jones is a 6'2" freshman on the roster for the Terrapins...the difference here is that these two are sisters.

Keeping up with the Joneses. (I'm tempted to yell out toward the court 'Miss Jones?' during warm ups and see how many of them look over at me... 

Speaking of Jones stuff...see if you remember this classic 1972 groove by Billy Paul about Mrs. Jones.

LINK: ME AND MRS. JONES

The Maryland squad features plenty of others to keep up with beside the Jones. Kaila Charles and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough are proven threats from last year and Destiny Slocum is doing big things as a freshman guard for Frese...13.2 ppg and an impressive 14-29 from deep water. 

For the Cards, it'll be a test to see if they can contain a Terrapin squad averaging 95 points a game and that is out-rebounding their opponents by 20 a contest. Louisville is no stranger to the scoreboard with 80.3 points an outing and is forcing foes into 23.4 turnovers a night. 

Disruption would seem to be one of the keys tonight for UofL. Taking Maryland out of what they do and forcing them to play Cardinal basketball. A quick start from Asia Durr would be most beneficial for the Cards and keeping Myisha Hines-Allen on the court and away from early fouls. Rebounding will play an essential role in tonight's fray as well...the Cards must go to both baskets with authority and take advantage of all second chance opportunities. If Mariya Moore can continue her outside success and the Cards can get steady and successful point guard play from Briahanna Jackson and Taylor Johnson...Louisville's chances for a win increase greatly. 

Prepare for a track meet tonight in the KFC YUM! Center. If you can't attend...the superlative work of Nick Curran and AJ will be available on Cards Radio 790 WKRD A.M. and also on the ACC Network Extra with "Big Game" Don Russell and former UofL WBB head coach Sara White providing the details. 

This will be the first regular season meeting between the two programs. They've matched up three times in the NCAA Tournament. Last time out, Shoni Schimmel's heroic effort fell just short in a 76-73 loss in the 2014 NCAA Elite Eight action at the KFC YUM! Center. The Cards fell to UM 72-68 in the 2012 NCAA Second Round on the Terps home court but defeated them in the 2009 Elite Eight 77-60. 

We'll be back later tonight/early this morning with the recap. 


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NAISMITH TROPHY PRESEASON WATCH LIST

Myisha Hines-Allen, Mariya Moore and Asia Durr have been named to the prestigious list. They're three of 50 WBB DI womens' players to receive the honor...the list will be narrowed to 30 around mid-season. 

Durr leads the Cards in scoring with 18.7 per contest. Moore follows at 12.9 a game and Hines-Allen carries a 8.9 ppg a night. 

Louisville is one of two ACC teams that had three players named to the list...Notre Dame being the other. UConn leads the way with four players on the list. Louisville's foe tonight has two...Maryland's Walker-Kimbrough and Jones getting the nod. 

Add the Wade Watch list honors for the M&M girls, too. December starting out pretty good for them so far, right? 


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CARTER NAMED AS NOMINEE TO WBCA ALLSTATE GOOD WORKS TEAM 

WBB junior Arica Carter is one of 63 student-athletes nominated for the award that honors representation in the areas of community service and leadership among xxtheir peers. 

Carter has a 3.7 GPA at UofL and has actively participated in St. Jude's Walk, wheelchair basketball and Americans with Disabilities as a sponsor and mentor. 

We're proud of the smiling server...who also assisted Paulie on WBB Media Day as his assistant-interviewer with the players. 

Way to go, A.C!!! Representing the true embodiment of what a student-athlete is all about. 

Sadly, Carter's playing season is done for the year and she'll undergo surgery for the bad groin (an injury similar to Asia Durr's last year) and apply for a red-shirt.

paulie
xxxxx

CARDS WBB trip to Cuba -- A few details -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS SCHEDULED FOR THREE GAMES IN CUBA

With the first exhibition game scheduled for Saturday, August 6th...we are getting a few details on UofL WBB's trip to Cuba. 

Our writer-on-hiatus Jenny O'Bryan is making the trip and had offered to do a blog on her experiences there. We will publish whatever Jenny sends us here. We have been told that the internet infrastructure in Cuba is minimal at best...so how soon we get reports from her will depend on that. Also, our old buddy Don Russell will be down there with A.J. We have been informed that there will be no signal coming out of Cuba for live viewing or listening to the games. 

The Cards will play on Saturday, Sunday and Monday...August 6th through 8th. They'll face the Cuban National team (Primero) once and the Cuban junior team (Segundo) twice. 

The Cuban National team, as of a month ago, was comprised of nine Cuban and three Brazilian players from the country's Liga Superior league...encompassing six cities.  Camaguay's Leidis Oquendo led the league in scoring. She's listed at 180 centimeters...roughly 5'9". The Cubans didn't fare so well in an international "friendly" in Spain last month...falling to the Canadians and the Spanish.   

It is a great cultural experience for these student-athletes and the fans making the trip. What exactly we'll find out about the 2016-17 probably won't be a whole lot...we expect Walz to distribute playing time pretty equally among the players making the trip. What the players will gain in terms of history, cultural differences and travel is incredibly valuable and a lifetime opportunity. 

As more develops on the trip, we'll let you know.

paulie
xxxxx

Louisville women's basketball faces Wolfpack attack! -- Wednesday Cardinal Couple

11-5 NC STATE faces #4 CARDS tonight

Wes Moore brings the latest ACC foe up at bat and looking to see if they can take down the #4 Cardinals tonight when North Carolina State hits the river to play in the KFC YUM! Center tonight.

NC State is 11-5 and has a 2-1 ACC record...beating Virginia Tech and Clemson and losing to North Carolina.

Moore, the longtime head coach at University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, was 25-8 with these Carolina Wolves last year and reached the NCAA Tournament...getting sanctified by BYU in a 17 point first round loss. Moore may best be remembered for handing Holly Warlick and UT a stunning loss a couple of years ago in his final season at UTC. 

The other NC State losses beside UNC came to George Washington, Tulane, Minnesota and Villanova. They have no breath-taking quality wins on the 2014-15 slate worth mentioning. 

KELLIE HARPER used to coach
NC State. She's now at Missouri
State. (We're big Bears fans..) 

Leaders of the pack would be Miah Spencer who tosses in 14.8 ppg and shoots 47% from the floor. Dominique Wilson isn't far behind with 14.1 a contest. NCS gets scoring help from Carlee Schuhmacher and boards backup from Jennifer Mathurin...they both had doubles in their respective categories against Clemson last time out.

A return to Denny Crum Court after a prolonged absence by Walz's women. Sporting a brand new, elevated national ranking and atop the ACC standings...these Cards look to eliminate the first half road woes they've had in their last two outings and play with increased interest and intensity.

It's a ESPN3 game...lovers of the two minute differential in the radio vs. internet feed. Louisville trots out another broadcasting legend to sit next to Sara White for this one...longtime former Cardinal sports announcer Don Russell will call the action. This should be good...

No, this is NOT Briahanna Jackson. It is soph. guard Miah
Spencer...who will try to defeat UofL tonight. She will fail.

Who can forget Don's wild and wacky calls of Cardinal football "back in the day" with Dave Sullivan? Don's toupee almost flying off his head during a windy football afternoon in Houston...Standing next to Anthony Munoz in the original Dr. Evil/Mini Me configuration?  He's currently the play-by-play guy for the Gulf Coast Conference TV broadcasts. Nice golf weather down there...

What's up with this ESPN3 rotation of announcers pairing up with Sara White? Who's next? Van Vance? Uncle Ed Kallay? Barack Obama? 

Nice upgrade tonight, Don! 

We'll recap in the Thursday edition of Coupled Cardinals.

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Get those entries in. Or, we'll have "E" post up against
you in the paint. 

Final entries for the January Cardinal Couple contest MUST BE IN by 1 p.m. today. And...just what is that contest, Paulie? (Hmmm...someone hasn't been paying attention...)

Pick the total number of points Mariya Moore scores in January. You win a splendid CARDINAL COUPLE T-Shirt !!!

Send 'em in...cardinalcouple@twc.com

paulie