LSU is the National WBB Champ -- Softball cancelled because of weather in Syracuse -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

LSU downs Iowa 102-85 in Championship game

The LSU Tigers are the NCAA DI women's basketball national champs. 

A team that wasn't even considered the best in their own conference (SEC) and came into the tournament as a #3 seed in the Indiana regional (Greenville 2) has grabbed the crown with an incredible offensive explosion from three-point range, including Jasmine Bennett's five for five marksmanship. The Tigers were 11 for 14 from the deep and Iowa shot even better "make-wise'  hitting 14 of their three-point attempts. 

This was no defensive struggle Sunday afternoon and very few predicted there would be. . 

LSU put five players in double figures, with the NCAA M.O.P. Angel Reese netting 15, LaDazhia Williams 20, Alexis Morris totaled 21 points and Bennett led the squad with 22. It was the most points ever scored by a winning squad in the history of the tournament, LSU's first-ever national title and Kim Mulkey's fourth as a DI coach. 

It was also a game that was not even adequately officiated and supposedly had the best DI WBB crew out on the court. Mulkey grabbed at an official and swung wildly in the air at her and no foul was rendered, but Caitlin Clark rolled a basketball back in the direction to where it would have been in-bounded and was "t'd" up. Angel Reese mocked Clark and the Iowa bench by indicating she was going to put on a championship ring and no foul was called, but the refs had Iowa's best players saddled with four fouls when no one on LSU's squad had more than three. 

LINK: 

Mulkey "no tech" and Clark "tech" side-by-side

Ye who scores the most points wins, though and that was LSU. That 17 point halftime lead just proved to be too much for Iowa to overcome.

Honestly, it was a game I didn't have a "dog" in and hoped it might just be a fun, offensive-oriented battle and I got my wish. 

The good news for Iowa is that they get Clark for another season. The bad news is that they're still in the Big 10 and will to battle each night in conference play while losing four key players who played together for three years. 

It might well be remembered as the game where the officiating stank. The NCAA could care less about that, though...ratings for college women's basketball and viewers climb each year and that means more money in the NCAA checking account. 

Bluder "not-commenting" on officiating: 

Bluder postgame

I guess I'll remember Clark's big run for several games and the way Iowa put away the Cards when I think back about this particular NCAA Tournament. Also, how no #1 seed made it to the final game. The ACC had three of the Elite Eight teams and only Virginia Tech made it to the Final Four. 

I do hope this two regional sites instead of four is an idea that gets dropped. Louisville in Seattle was just ridiculous, except that it was near to Hailey Van Lith's home, but how many other Cardinals' fans made that trip up there?Starting the tournament in Ausin instead of the KFC YUM! Center was tough enough for the Cards' fan base.

Another season ended. I hope the time between now and the Cards first WBB game or exhibition this fall goes quickly, and. I'm glad we're a website that covers ALL the UofL women's sports. 

Stay with us for the news, won't you? 

SOFTBALL VS SYRACUSE CANCELLED

The ground temperature never got above 30 degrees in Syracuse Sunday, so the scheduled game between the Cards and the Orange was cancelled. I've never played on an infield that was below 30 degrees, so I can't tell you what differences it makes on ground balls and traction and such -- but it obviously does something. 

paulie

Monday Cardinal Couple - Louisville 73 - LSU 47

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

TIA'S THREES START CARDS TO 26 POINT WIN

MARYLAND SURPRISES TENNESSEE TO ADVANCE

For the first 7 1/2 minutes of Sunday afternoon's game between LSU and Louisville, it looked like the 'eye of the Tiger' was going to hang close with the Louisville Cardinals in the KFC YUM! Center. Up 12-9 after a Danielle Ballard jumper..her 10th point of the game, LSU was getting a All-American performance out of the sophomore guard.

Then, two things happened. A media timeout and the insertion of Tia Gibbs into the game. Shoni started the Louisville run with two free throws to put the Cards up 13-12. 16 seconds later...Tia buries a three. 35 seconds later... she nails another one.

Make it 19-14 Louisville. Make it ballgame over. A Shoni jumper and Jude three (off a nifty A-Tayy assist) and with eight minutes left...score it Louisville 24-LSU 14.

The Cards would push that advantage to 17 a couple of times in the final eight minutes of the first half and take a 41-23 halftime lead into the locker room.

Holly Rowe tries to explain to Sonja and I why she is
dressed in blue. Excuse denied!  

It was 32-11 over the final 12 minutes of the first half and the crowd of 11097 was going crazy or going to the exits...depending on whether they were wearing red or orange.

- The Cards made seven first half threes...LSU none.

- Louisville was shooting 43% from the floor...LSU 30%

- The Cards had a 12-0 bench advantage in scoring. 

- Louisville held a 9-2 points off turnovers edge.

The LSU fans seated behind us were an obnoxious bunch

Shoni had 14 points and Tia 9. Seven Cards scored in the first twenty minutes. For LSU, it was the Ballard show...she had 14 of the 23 LSU points. Forward Thersea Plaisance had been held to 5 points on 1-5 shooting by Taylor, Hammond and Walton.

LSU would make a last-gap attempt to rally, cutting the Louisville lead to 42-29 with 17:23 to go in the game when Ballard hit a jumper. It just served to get Louisville fired up and the Cards went on a 16-6 spurt which featured two Gibbs threes...the second one making it 58-35 with ten minutes left to play.

At that point, Louisville was 10-26 from trifecta range. LSU was 0-4.

Coach Walz started to rest the starters at that point. He had a lineup of Walton, Henderson, Breedlove, Deines and Smith in the game after Slaughter drained a three to make it 66-40 Cards with 5:35 remaining.

Louie and Mike the Tiger in a dance off. Mike narrowly won.

Shoni led Louisville with 19 points on 6-13 shooting. She also had a team high six assists. Gibbs finished with 15 points...sinking five threes on nine attempts. Nita rounded out the Cardinal double figure scorers with 10. A-Tayy finished with seven points and 10 rebounds. Sara, Jude and "E" tallied five points each. Bria added four and Megan nailed a three for her only score of the game.

Ballard had 24 points for LSU. She also had 24 in the LSU win over WVU.



Tia sinking another three (just out of camera range).

It's Maryland Tuesday night for victorious Louisville. The Terrapins a surprise winner over Tennessee 73-61 in Sunday's opening contest...the Turtles stand in the road of the Cards heading to Nashville for the Final Four. The Terps jumped out to a 6-5 lead four minutes into the first game and built that to a 26-15 advantage halfway through the first twenty minutes. Enjoying a 41-27 halftime advantage...UM had a large group of UT backers in the YUM! left with little to cheer about.

You could sense it was not the Vols afternoon...Thomas seemed to be able to score whenever she wanted against the pourous Tennessee defense and when she was stopped Lexie Brown and Laurin Mincy were there to pick up points. The trio will make Louisville's attempt to gain Final Four status difficult.

The party was over when Maryland was still double-digiting the Vols 67-53 and 4:00 showing on the KFC YUM! Center scoreboard.

The Vols cheerleaders were pretty good...the WBB squad...not so much 

This one was the Alyssa Thomas vs. Meighan Simmons showdown. Thomas had 33 points for Maryland and Simmons ends her college career with 31.

As for Mercedes Russell and Jordan Reynolds...two Vols players that Jeff Walz went after very strongly for the 2013 class...a combined four points in 31 minutes of play. Russell did have a couple of impressive blocked shots. Based on yesterday's performance...which is probably unfair given that Reynolds played huge down the stretch in conference play for UT...Louisville isn't missing a whole lot in not getting the two to sign as Cardinals.

Tennessee is going home. So is LSU. It was a rough day for the SEC Sunday...South Carolina lost also...to North Carolina. Only Texas A&M remains for the SEC.

On a day where fans attending Regional womens' basketball action in Louisville saw three incredible individual performances...it was the team that got solid performances from multiple players that looked the most impressive.

Walz vs. Frese. Former head coach and assistant go to battle to take I-65 South and dance. It should be a great one Tuesday night.

BE there if you can...

Another successful sale on the Unfinished Business trip. The Party-Crashers 2 get a step closer to a return trip to Final Four frenzy.


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The CARDINAL COUPLE Pick 'Em contest standings:


Paulie             45-11
Curtis F           43-13
Joe Hill
Charlyse          42-14
Blue Lou
Kenny S           41-15
Gary W
Willie Cat Fan  40-16
Sonja
David Watson
Vivian
Worldwide       39-17
Card Chimp      35-21
Jennifer B        34-22
Matt M             27-29
The Other One 26-30




paulie
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Sunday Cardinal Couple -- Cards face LSU today in NCAA Regionals

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE Gary Witherspoon previews the action ahead!         Women’s college basketball fans should get a big treat this weekend in the  Louisville regional of the NCAA tournament. From top to bottom, the Louisville regional probably has the best set of four teams of any of the four  regionals. The Lincoln regional looks like a cakewalk to the Final Four for UConn. The   Stanford regional will also be very competitive; and, like the Louisville regional, it seems very possible that any of the four teams in that regional could win it. Notre Dame got by Oklahoma State, but they could be   challenged by Baylor in the Notre Dame regional. The   Baylor/Kentucky matchup looked to be the best matchup of  the first round of games this weekend. Baylor dominated. Despite not being the number one seeds in their regionals, I think Louisville and Stanford should be viewed as the favorites to win their regionals because they  are probably the best teams in  those regionals and because they  are playing at home.  But they should only be considered slight favorites, and could lose either in  the semifinals or in the finals of  their regions. The two biggest stars in the Louisville regional are Shoni Schimmel and Alyssa Thomas of Maryland. Beyond these two, thereis a great array of individual talent that includes Theresa Plaisance and  Danielle Ballard of LSU, Lexie Brown of Maryland, Izzy Harrison and Meighan  Simmons of Tennessee, and Louisville’s Sara Hammond and Asia Taylor. Beyond the stars, there are also some great role players in this regional like Shanece McKinney and Jeanne Kenney of LSU, Cierra Burdick, Bashara Graves and Andraya Carter of Tennessee, and Tia Gibbs, Antonita Slaughter, Bria Smith andJude Schimmel of Louisville. Any of these great role players could wind up  being the deciding factor in these games that are likely to be closely contested. Louisville and Tennessee have by far the most depth in talent and experience of  any of these four teams, but Danielle Ballard and Theresa Plaisance of LSU and Alyssa Thomas of Maryland are the most versatile players in the regional because  they can all play in the post as well as on the perimeter, and they can all rebound  as well as play in transition. Louisville and Maryland have been  the most consistent teams through  the season, and Tennessee and LSU  have been the most inconsistent.  LSU beat Tennessee 80-77 at Tennessee in January, and LSU lost to Tennessee 72-67 at home late  in the season. LSU lost 88-67 at Louisville in the  early season WNIT, but LSU led that  game through most of the first half.  Louisville went on a 21-0 run starting at 10:53 of the second half, taking the score from 60-54 to 81-54 with 5:30 left. Asia Taylor led the Cards in that game with 23 points, but all five starters finished in double figures. Jude had 3 rebounds,2 assists, 2 steals and 6 points in 14 minutes off the bench. The big thing to keep in mind is that Danielle Ballard had only 4 points in 12 minutes  in that early season game against Louisville. She has since then developed into one  of the best players in the country. In LSU’s win over 2 seed West Virginia,  Ballard had 22 points, 15 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals in 38 minutes. Ballard is only about 5’9”. In LSU’s victory at Tennessee, Ballard had 25 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, 1 block and no turnovers in 34 minutes. In LSU’s loss to Tennessee at home, Ballard had 3 points and 3 rebounds in 18 minutes. It seems as Ballard goes, so goes LSU. LSU has been inconsistent losing 6 in a row and 8 out of 10 late in the season, but now they are on a two game winning streak in the NCAA tournament. They can be very good. The have size, quickness, and are tough on the boards and in the open court.   Plaisance is 6’5” and alternates between playing point guard and shooting threes to playing center and posting up inside. She was a teammate of Shoni’s on the World University Games USA team. Shanece McKinney is a big body inside at 6’4’’ and over 200 lbs. She had 7 rebounds, 13 points and 5 blocked shots in 32 minutes against West Virginia. Jeanne Kenney is  a 5’8” guard who shoots well from distance and usually runs the offense. Like Ballard, Plaisance and Kinney have both scored more than 20 points in games this season. Kinney is LSU’s active leader in assists with over 300. Dashawn Harden  has replaced Moncrief (injured) in the starting lineup and has done well recently.  Because of a concussion in the last game, Kenney may not play in this game. -gary witherspoon- ******************************************************************** EDITOR'S NOTE: I asked this question of Shoni Schimmel at the Media presser Q&A Saturday. Fully tongue-in-cheek, concerning the surprising "E" coast to coast ramble against Iowa. 2/3rd of the people in the media  room were clueless. It even took Shoni a few seconds to catch the  parody Q.  Shoni, is the Emmonnie Henderson coast‑to‑coast lay‑up something that's  new for the offense?             SHONI SCHIMMEL:  Yes, that's something we've definitely practiced.     For her to just finish a lay‑up.     But she's learning the game, and so for her to just make that move, she's pretty beastly,  and for people to not get in her way, it's probably smart.  We've got to keep pushing her  to be the best that she can be.     Full‑court, coast to coast, whatever it may be, she's going to learn and figure it out.     I think that was kind of a once‑in‑a‑lifetime kind of thing.  She was tired after that.   She needed an oxygen tank after that.      No, she's figuring it out, so it's good for us ***************************************************************************************************** In case you missed Saturday action...UConn, Notre Dame, Baylor and Texas A&M punched their tickets for Monday night games. Bye-bye Bruno, Mattie, Mormons and Cowboys. In addition to Louisville facing LSU today, the Maryland Terrapins will face the Tennessee Vols at the KFC YUM! Center (noon tipoff). In the Stanford regional, a battle of the Carolinas (North vs.South) and Stanford faces Penn State. In case you wondered, two #1 seeds have advanced so far (Notre Dame and UConn). Baylor moves on as a #2 seed and the A&M bunch enters as a #3 seed. Today, it's #1 vs #4 when UT plays the Terps and #3 vs #7 when the Cards battle LSU. South Carolina is a #1 seed. North Carolina a #4. #2 seed Stanford hosts #3 seed Penn State. PAULIE ... .. .

Saturday Cardinal Couple -- Call them LSFew

SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Injuries lessen Tigers roster

- Season over for Pitino's players

- Radio today


Louisville starts NCAA Regional play Sunday against LSU.  It's a 2:30 tipoff and will take place in the KFC YUM! Center. ESPN will have the broadcast.

LS(few) might be a better moniker for the Tigers (21-12)...who have lost a player in each of their two NCAA Tournament games so far. The Baton Rouge visitors are down to eight players.

Freshman guard Raigyne Moncrief suffered a season-ending knee injury against Georgia Tech in Sunday's game. In Tuesday's win over WVU, senior guard Jeanne Kenney was sidelined with a concussion and has played her last game of the year. Add a suspension to another player earlier in the season and Caldwell can now fit the entire roster in a Chrysler minivan.

It's nothing new to Tigers head coach Nikki Caldwell...who got to the Sweet Sixteen last season by beating Penn State with just seven players.

Freshmen guards Rina Hill and Jasmine Rhodes have been forced into starting duty and had solid games in the Tigers' win against the Mountaineers.

Yes, the schools have a history against each other. Louisville leads the series 3-1. The Tigers hosted the first and second round games back in 2009 and Louisville defeated them to advance to the regionals 62-52.

On a more recent note...Louisville downed the Tigers 88-67 on November 14th...when Jeff Walz drew national attention by having beerfest for the Cardinal fans and picking up the tab for 5,000 of his closest friends. Louisville used a 20-0 run to break the game open in the second half.

The Lady Tigers failed to contain senior forward Asia Taylor, who broke out for 23 points and 10
rebounds. Senior guard Shoni Schimmel provided another 15 points, and Caldwell expressed concern about guarding Louisville's leading scorer.

"Shoni is an exceptional player who not only can score for herself but can create other opportunities for her teammates," Caldwell said. "She's a great distributor of the basketball and really explosive in transition."

The Cardinals blew past Idaho and Iowa in the opening rounds, averaging a 38-point margin of victory between the two wins.

LSU's 2013 tournament run ended against California in the Sweet 16. The Lady Tigers' chances of taking the next step this year appear to be slim after the two key injuries, but they know it could be worse.

"We've got one more player than we did last year, so that's a good thing," Caldwell said. "...We're in March Madness right now, and it's madness for a reason. Our madness is that we're going to have eight crazies out there."

Jeff Walz has been there, done that. The 2010 UofL squad was decimated by injuries and Walz was down to six healthy players at times. It only takes five to play, though...and LSU has managed to get this far.

Game time is 2:30 Sunday. If you are a UofL student and one of the first 250 students to arrive...Jeff Walz has got your admission covered and will buy your pizza. Pizza and hoops? Says yes to me!

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A tough way to end the season for Rick Pitino's guys...leading almost the entire game against Kentucky then losing in the NCAA Regionals in Indy

The Cats move on...as an #8 seed...to face Michigan on Sunday.

The Louisville Lacrosse team adopts a word at the start of each season to serve as a primary guide post. This year it is "finish".

Maybe they should have loaned it to Russ Smith and Trez Harrell last night.

I hate losing to UK. The texts and e-mailed have already started...

**********************************************************************************

Cardinal Couple Radio today will feature Charlie Springer and also a phone call to Worldwide watching Volleyball. It airs at 11 a.m. on Crescent Hill Radio.

www.crescenthillradio.com

Give a listen, won't you?

paulie

Friday Cardinal Couple ---Taylor made...Asia's 23 leads Cards to 88-67 win over LSU

FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- 21-0 run...Asia's big game leads Cards to win.


It was the game we've all known she's had in her over the last five years.

Asia Taylor exploded for 23 points and 10 rebounds in #4 Louisville's 88-67 win over #14 LSU Thursday night in the KFC YUM! Center. The Cards advance to the finals of the WNIT...which will be played Sunday, November 17th. in Norman, OK. The Sooners defeated Gonzaga Thursday night to earn the right to host the final.

We don't understand it either..but OU was actually the #1 seed in the 16 team tournament.

(Photo by Charlie Springer - UofL Card Game)

It was Asia early...scoring 10 of Louisville's first 12 points and giving Louisville a 12-6 lead after a jumper from a Shoni assist with 15:06 left in the first half. The Cards would lead by as many as seven until a LSU 7-2 run tied the contest at 31-31 with 3:09 left in the first half.

Oklahoma would lead twice (34-33 and 36-35) before Louisville went on a 5-0 run in the final two minutes to take a precarious 40-36 into the half.

(Photo by Charlie Spirnger--UofL Card Game)

Asia had 10 points after 20 minutes, Shoni 11 and the Cards were actually outrebounding the taller Tigers 21-16. One had to have optimism that Louisville's overall quickness would eventually get to Nikki Caldwell's squad.

The Cards saw LSU climb within two to start the half...but used a 7-0 run to hold a 47-40 lead with just two minutes gone in the half. The Bayou Bengals rallied one more time...cutting the Cardinal advantage to 49-46 two minutes later. 

Then...the fireworks went off.

Taylor connected on a layup. 29 seconds later, she did it again. Bria Smith hit 1 of 2 free throws. Shoni knocked down a jumper and it was 56-46 UofL.

The Tigers would get within six at 60-54 with 10:53 left in the game after Jeanne Kenney's third three.

Louisville had seen enough and went to work. The Tigers had no gas left in the tank.

A Nita Slaughter three started the 21 point run. Smith followed with a layup. Shoni follow suit. Asia hit two free throws and then got loose for layup on a nice recognition from Tia Gibbs. Nita then hit the second of two three point attempts. Asia scored again inside. It was 76-54 with seven minutes left.

Jude knocked down a jumper and Nita followed suit. Tia cashed in on one of two free throws and the 21-0 was complete.

81-54 Cards and 5:30 left in the game.

Emmonnie Henderson, Monny Niamke, Jude, Tia, Megan Deines and Shawnta Dyer took the Cards the rest of the way. Taylor got a great round of applause when she left the game with 4:42 to go.

THE FINAL WORD

It was a encouraging win for the Cards over a highly ranked opponent. Louisville won the rebounding battle 45-33, had 54 points in the paint (compared to LSU's 26) and shot a blistering 57.8% for the game. The defense held LSU to 37.3% from the field (including an impressive 10-32 Louisville shutdown of LSU shooting in the final 20 minutes). If Coach Walz can find fault with anything...we surmise it might be the Cards' late free throw shooting. The Cards were 9-11 with 7:33 left. They finished 11-16 for the game (68.8%).

So, it's OU vs. UofL in Norman. Big hair Sherri against checkered shirt Jeff. Another WUGS performer in Aaryn Ellenberg. (Louisville held Shoni's WUGS teammate Theresa Plaisance to 13 points and eight rebounds in 29 minutes.

Maybe a chance for Shoni to show Sherri that she might have deserved a bit more playing time in Kazan, Russia?

It'll be the Cards first road game of the season. Maybe OU's Coale will buy the first 2500 beers or so for the Sooner fans.

After all...Asia seems to play better when there are freebies involved.

FINAL STATS below

http://www.gocards.com/sports/w-baskbl/stats/2013-2014/game03.html



-Paulie