Louisville Women's Basketball Wallops Lindsey Wilson 97-50 -- Monday Cardinal Couple

FOUR IN DOUBLE FIGURES FOR CARDS IN WIN

As she took the podium for the post-game presser with Myisha Hines-Allen...there was a look in Asia Durr's eyes that Cardinal fans didn't see at times last year. A look of happiness and contentment. A healthy Asia Durr is bad news for the rest of UofL's opponents this season. A smiling Asia Durr is a joy and beauty to behold. 

All she did in action yesterday at the KFC YUM! Center in Louisville's 97-50 win over is steal the ball in the first ten seconds of the game, make a layup and then proceed to drain four three-pointers as a part of her team-high 19 points.

In the first ten minutes. 

Seems that everyone who was imploring with her last year and in the preseason to "shoot the ball" just may have been on the right track.

A healthy Durr? I asked her about it. Did it feel good to be back out there at 100%? 

" I swear...it does. Last year I played through a lot of pain and it feels so good to be pain free now." 

The smile on Durr's face was as large as the podium in front of her. Maybe almost as large as Hines-Allen's. When asked about Bionca Dunham and Sam Fuehring's 10 rebound efforts against Lindsey Wilson...the Montclair, NJ junior opened her eyes wide and started to giggle along with Durr. Having multiple board threats is good. Very good.

Lest you think it was all roses and champagne in the Sunday tilt, there are things that need work...according to Coach Walz and the players. 

Walz addressed free throw shooting immediately. 13-26 is far from the standard this team needs to set. Lack of concentration and consistency the culprits here. Walz also pointed out that there were 15 Cardinal turnovers (Louisville did force 26 LWC turnovers) and that the Cards needed to take care of the ball better.

Lapses in defense and spreading the floor were also on Walz's grocery list to work on before the Cards travel to Martin, TN.

Oh, yeah....we should discuss the game a bit...right? 

It was a "Ricky Bobby" start to the contest. The Cards wanted to go fast and they did. Blitzing out to a 17-5 start in the first five minutes...UofL got a great effort from two freshmen (Bionca Dunham and Ciera Johnson) early and Hines-Allen. When Durr started hitting from deep...LWC head coach John Wethington took a timeout and began substituting Justine Sowry style to get his kids some early-season court time...playing 12 players in the first ten minutes. Jazmine Jones entered the contest and demonstrated why all the pre-season hub-bub about her explosiveness was accurate...getting five points and a rebound before the buzzer signaled the end of the first period/quarter (have we decided what we're going to call these this year yet?) 

After the frantic first 10 minutes, the game's pace slowed a bit. The teams got a bit sloppy in ball handling (six UofL turnovers and eight LWC miscues) but Hines-Allen produced six points on 3-4 shooting and had three rebounds in seven minutes. The Cards steadily increased the lead and took a 53-19 to halftime...going on a 12-2 run over the final five minutes with another Durr three, three Hines-Allen buckets inside and Ciera Johnson getting a steal and finding J.J. for a half-closing layup.

Avert your eyes momentarily if you're not a stats fan...I'm giving you five key ones for the first twenty minutes. 28-4 points in the paint advantage Louisville, 27-2 edge in points off turnovers. 19.4% LWC shooting percentage. Durr with 17 (of her team-high 19) points and Dunham with six rebounds and four points in ten minutes of playing time. 

You may be asking "Where's Walton?" in this equation. Cortnee sat out because of a slight elbow injury suffered in the Ohio State scrimmage and should be back in a week or two. Kylie Shook? Preventative resting of a slight hip injury and could have played if needed and Arica Carter still dealing with a nagging groin injury from the summer...the plan is to bring her back gradually. 

No sense in risking further injury with these three in an exhibition game, right?

The Cards continued the runaway in the third stanza. Walz stayed with the same nine who played in the first half. An emphasis was made on getting the ball to Ciera Johnson and it met with success...she went 4-4 in five minutes and the Cards started the second half with a 14-3 run in the first five minutes...after a Durr steal and layup made it 69-22. Taylor Johnson's layup with six seconds left in the third gave the Cards their largest lead at 80-29...a quarter that Louisville held a 18-4 scoring advantage inside.

We figured we'd see the rest of the Cards in the fourth and we did...Sydney Zambrotta playing the entire quarter and Brianna Jones and Jessica Laemmle playing the final six minutes. LWC actually won the final ten minutes 21-17...with Brianna, Sam, Jessica, Sydney and Bionca finishing out those last six minutes. J.J had a layup and jumper early and retired for the night after an impressive 15 point debut. It was 90-34 UofL with six minutes to play...Laemmle got on the board with a jumper at the 1:52 mark and the Cards took the win by 47. 

Durr's 19 led both teams. J.J. and MHA added 15 and C.J finished with 14 to complete the Cardinal double figure list. All 12 Cards that played scored but Zambrotta (0-6, 0-2). Dunham had nine, B.J. eight, Mariya and Taylor Johnson five each, Sam three, and Brianna Jones and Laemmle two each. Furhring and Dunham's 10 rebounds led the way and B.J. was the assist leader with six...Mariya adding five. 

Things We Liked

--  Whaddya say, JJ? Jazmine Jones is high energy. Getting 20 minutes and going 7-8, grabbing four rebounds and creating two steals. Her 15 points were part of a freshmen effort that produced 40 for the Cards. 

-- Ciera in the midst. Ciera Johnson also saw 20 minutes and went 7-10 from the floor. Jot her down for 14 points. Only one rebound is a bit puzzling but plenty of time to work on that...especially with Sam and Bionca grabbing 10 each.

-- B.J. the point guard. She handled the rock well in her 22 minutes with only one turnover. Credit her for a team-high six assists and four rebounds to go with her 8 points. She has one speed...all-out...and if she can improve on the free-throws (3-6) we envision her out there directing traffic a lot this year. 

-- No baskets for you. The Cards held Lindsey Wilson to 25.4% from the floor. That was with a 35% effort in the fourth quarter...and Louisville had eight blocks and 15 steals...while creating 26 turnovers. Dunham with four swats was simply marvelous and narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and ten grabs. 

What Needs Work

-- Gotta make the unguarded ones. To paraphrase Coach Walz...13-26 is "awful, pitiful, unacceptable and embarrassment". Anyone wanna venture a guess what Taylor Johnson (1-4), Dunham (1-4), Hines-Allen (3-6) and Briahanna (1-4) will be probably be doing in practice and (hopefully) on their own this week? 

-- Taking Care of the Ball. Fifteen turnovers are a lot, given the competition. It's a controllable and will hopefully work itself out. "Bigs" accounted for nine of them...so the guards (with the possible exception of Taylor and her three) can't be held too responsible here. 

-- Spread out, you knuckleheads! Borrowing a phrase from Moe of the The Stooges...the Cards were a bit clumped up and too-close together in the early going. That eventually got better, and they were playing with two new starters, but spacing leads to mis-matches and scoring opportunities. 

We expected a big win Sunday...and we got that. We expected the freshmen to play well and they did. Myishia and Asia looked to be in mid-season form and B.J. looks very comfortable at point. Mariya may need to work on her shooting extra-session this week (1-6 and 0-4 from trey-land) but Sonja and I walked out of the KFC YUM! Center at 4:30 yesterday afternoon realizing that this team has the potential to be an elite squad and took a nice step toward that on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. 

Walz post-game presser LINK:  WALZ POST-GAME LINDSEY WILSON (Wait for it at the 4:40 mark...Coach critiques my performance on Sunday) 

MHA and Asia post-game LINK: MYISHA HINES-ALLEN AND ASIA DURR


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


VOLLEYBALL GETS OUT THE BROOM


Kudos to Anne Kordes' Wide-Netters for a strong performance Sunday at Wake Forest...sweeping the Demon Deaconesses 25-21, 25-17, 25-23.

Melanie McHenry with the "Mc-effort" in the kill department, slamming home 12 to lead the Louisville attack.  And, all this without Kali Eakin. 

Kordes comments: 

"This win had special meaning for us in light of the lineup change we had to make this morning when we found out Kali couldn't go. Lyndsey Palmer and Morgan Miller did a great job to set us to one of our highest hitting percentages of the season." 

Great to see Janelle Jenkins bak on the right side as well. Worldwide will explore the "W" in much more depth in his Tuesday column.

Louisville (8-16, 3-11) gets their third ACC win and comes home to host Notre Dame Wednesday night. 


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


FIELD HOCKEY HEADS TO DUKE FOR NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST/SECOND ROUND

WE found out last last night that Justine Sowry's Stick Girls will be facing #9 Delaware in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. #8 Louisville would face the winner of #1 seed Duke vs. the winner of the play-in game between Kent. State and American.

Surprisingly, only six of the seven ACC teams got in the total of 18 participants....Wake Forest receiving the snub. Upon further review, the committee considered the 0-6 conference slate and 11-8 overall record didn't quite have the *oomph* needed to join the dance. 

The Cards (15-6) and Blue Hens do battle in Durham on Saturday at 2 p.m. Delaware comes in with an impressive 19-2 mark...losing only to Princeton and Old Dominion. The Tigers made the Big Dance...the Monarchs did not. 

We'll have more on this as the match draws near, including (hopefully) an interview with Coach Sowry about what lies ahead. 


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

NOVEMBER IS CARDINAL COUPLE DONATION MONTH

To those of you who have rocked the donations this month, we salute you. 

We know there are a lot of very worthy and charitable donation opportunities out there. We'd be honored if you included us in your list in a very small way. 

In our writings, we're not trying to curing cancer, helping the homeless or giving our veterans support at Cardinal Couple...(although we DO financially support all three of those things privately and massively)...

We are just trying to support the joy and excitement of UofL women's athletics and bring you the news surrounding it. 

We've been fortunate to see cancer patients and veterans having the time of their lives at these activities. We're so honored that they also read and comment on our web-site. 

Bless you and we salute you. For serving, battling and over-coming.  

paulie
xxxxx 










"

Women's Soccer and basketball today

.

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Exhibition game for hoops team today at 3 p.m.

-Women's soccer quarterfinal match at 1 p.m.

-Football gets a win Saturday

-Field Hockey travels to Northwestern

The 2011-12 University of Louisville women's basketball team starts it up

today with a 3 p.m. exhibition game against Lindsey Wilson. CARDINAL COUPLE will be there to cover the action and give you a full report later
this evening on the results.

Interesting matchup against former teammate Ashley Rainey and potential future teammate Monny Niamke today for Louisville. Rainey had a spectacular season last year for Linsdey Wilson after leaving Louisville in mid-season two years ago.

Niamke chose Lindsey Wilson when it was determined that she didn't qualify academically for Louisville this summer. The French point guard will tangle with the Cards and we'll be interested to see how she matches up with her possible future teammates.

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

The UofL women's soccer team plays in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST tournament today at Cardinal Park against Providence. Game time is 1 p.m. The Cards have been on a hot streak lately and drew a first round bye in the tourney. Providence got past Rutgers 1-0 to advance to today's game.

The Cards beat the Friars 1-0 in a regular season matchup this year. WE'LL have the results of that one for you, too, later today.

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

Nice win yesterday for the football Cards, defeating Syracuse 27-10. We like the hard hitting, aggressive nature of Charlie's Strong defense and they really stepped up yesterday, keeping a Syracuse team that put up 49 points on West Virgina to just three until late in the game.

"Touchdown" Teddy Bridgewater continues to look a little better each week at quarterback and we saw the old Vic Anderson yesterday as well, running with the speed and skill that he showed as a freshman.

Headed to WVU next week. These two definitely don't like each other...

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

Don't worry, Tom. You've got two
daughters that are excellent field
hockey players...

Field Hockey heads to Chicago to face Northwestern today in their final game of the regular season. Cards will join Syracuse, Connecticut and Villanova in the BIG EAST tournament next week.

The Cards are in fourth place in the seven team league. With Syracuse leaving, the league will drop to six teams. Neither Pittsburgh or West Virginia have field hockey teams.

The Cards have had a good season with first year coach Justine Sowry. Former Cardinal field hockey coach Pam Bustin is having success, too. Her Duke Blue Devils team went 11-5, 2-2 in the regular season and will play in the ACC Tournament next week.

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



nochoiceisachoice

Lindsey Wilson tipoff changed to 3 p.m.

.
TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Lady Cards will go at 3 p.m. Sunday against Blue Raiders

-Conrad named BIG EAST Field Hockey Defensive player of the Week

-Women's Golf tied for 7th. in Vegas

To accomodate the BIG EAST Women's Soccer Quarterfinal match involving
Louisville at Cardinal Park, the University of Louisville Women's Basketball
exhibition start time against Lindsey Wilson has been moved from 2 p.m. to 
3 p.m. The Soccer Cards get the winner of the Providence vs. Rutgers match

Let's look at the Blue Raiders:



Rainey was an NAIA All-American last year

Lindsey Wilson returns two starters from a team that went 24-9 last year. Star forward and former Lady Card Ashley Rainey averaged 21.1 points for LWC last year. Also returning is 5'9" guard Tiffany Williams, who averaged 5.9 points. 

The Blue Raiders finished second in the Mid-South Conference in the 2010-11 season and made it to the 2nd round of the NAIA National Tournament in Jackson, TN...where they lost to Azusa Pacific University. 

They've been ranked #16 in the NAIA preseason poll for 2011-12. Two other Mid-South members made the poll...Shawnee State (OH) has been picked to finish fourth and Campbellsville (KY) ninth. The Blue Raiders  and picked to finish second in the Mid-South behind Shawnee State.

The Blue Raiders will look for help from an impressive incoming freshman class. Monny Niamke, originally headed to Louisville, will try to lock down the other guard spot. The 5'5" native of Rouen, France is a steady ball-handler and can knock down the three. Lindsey Wilson also signed some impressive height...with 6'3" Ranika Rose, out of Niceville, FL. and 6'3" Caitlyn Radeck, from Franklin, OH. LWC will play Berea the day before scrimmaging the Lady Cards. 

Rainey will be the player the Lady Cards will need to contain to secure an opening win. WE'LL be watching with interest on how well Monny plays...we're assuming she's still on schedule to join the Lady Cards after her freshman season at Lindsey Wilson.

Louisville is offering a $2 admission ticket to those who wear Halloween costumes to the game in the KFC YUM! center and there will be a halftime parade for those who don Halloween outfits. 

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

Cardinal field hockey goalkeeper Erin Conrad has been named BIG EAST Field Hockey Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season. The award comes after the Cards shut out Providence and Indiana last week. Conrad, a redshirt junior from Wilkes-Barre, PA., had three saves against each opponent. The Cards are 10-7 on the season and Conrad has six shutouts so far this year.

Louisville ends their regular season on the road against Northwestern on Oct. 30th.

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

Women's golf sits tied for seventh after the first round of the Las Vegas Collegiate Challenge. The Cards shot a team total of 288...11 strokes off leader UC Davis.

Freshman Emily Haas leads the Cards with a 69...six strokes off the leader. Maria Castellanos scored a 70, Katie Petrino carded a 74, Anna-Karin Ljungstrom toured the 18 with a 75 and Tara Lyons finished with a 76.

Three Cardinal golfers are participating as individuals...Maike Klein reporting in with a 74 and Candice Wiley and Sara Karlsson firing 79's.

36 more holes to negotiate for the Cardinal chippers. They begin play today at 7:30 a.m. Vegas time.




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

Just in case you were wondering about her, Lady Card and Atlanta Dream superstar is back in Europe...playing for Turkey's Fenerbache again. She's teamed up with WNBA legend Penny Taylor on the roster, which also includes several European stars. Angel did nothing to disappoint in her first game....scoring 19 points in a lopsided win for her squad.

McCoughtry can ill afford not making the trek across the Atlantic...since she's one of the highest paid players in women's Euroball. Should be interesting next WNBA season to see how much the Dream are willing to shell 
                             out to keep Angel... 




nochoiceisachoice