Sunday Cardinal Couple -- Tigers come to town

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Dangerous Memphis next for #5 WBB

               *************GAME FINAL************

Shoni Schimmel hit nine threes in Louisville's 88-61 win over Memphis. Eight in the first half. Jenny O'Bryan will have the review in the Monday edition of Cardinal Couple

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The Louisville Cardinals host the Memphis Tigers on Sunday.  The tip for the game is 1:00 p.m. and will be televised on ESPNU. 

The Tigers are 10-9 overall, and 3-4 in conference play, holding steady in the middle of the pack of the AAC standings.    The marquee win of the season for the Tigers was at home against Rutgers.  Memphis held on to win that game, edging out the Scarlet Knights, 74-73.  A puzzling win for the Tigers came against Houston (think cellar dweller here in the AAC, 0-7 in conference play) by a 48-40 margin.  Just how good is this team, and how much should the Cardinals worry?

The Tigers start a young team, 4 underclassmen and one senior.  They love to run their offense, and if they get hot early, the Cardinals will need to watch out.  When scoring 70 or more points this season, the Tigers are 8-1.  The key here for the Cardinals will be to come out strong defensively and not let the Tigers get in to any kind of offensive rhythm.    This team is athletic, and when managing their turnovers, can really put numbers up. 

Sophomore Asianna Fuqua-Bey is looking to extend her hot hand in this one.  In the last two games    She is also the leading rebounder for the Tigers pulling down 7.6 boards per game.  The Cardinals will look to keep Fuzua-Bey quiet in this one. 

She has been in double digits and looks to be more confident in her shooting.

The Tigers are led in scoring by sophomore Ariel Hearn who is averaging 17.8 pts. per game.  Breigha Wilder-Cochran rounds out the scoring for Memphis averaging 9 pts per game. 

The Cardinals, on paper, should win this game going away.  The slow starts from this team, though, could instill confidence in the Tiger players especially if they start out hot, offensively.  The Cardinals will need to come mentally prepared to hit the floor running.

Memphis is prone to turnovers.  With a strong defensive effort from the Cards I can see a lot of points in transition.  Likewise, Memphis likes to play uptempo offensively.  A good defensive effort should take them out of their offense and play to the liking of the Cardinals with transition scoring. 

A strong defensive effort, limiting turnovers while executing defensively, creating turnovers will be a recipe for a Cardinal win. 

The game is National Girl and Women in Sports Day.  Former U of L female athletes will be in attendance.  It is also Girl Scout day at the YUM Center.  Activities are planned for troops at noon, prior to the 1:00 tip. 

It should be a fun crowd in attendance on Sunday.  Get down to the YUM Center to enjoy the festivities.  

Jenny O'Bryan

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The University of Louisville Lacrosse team is holding their KickOff Dinner on Feb 1st at the PNC Plaza in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. Cash bar begins at 4 p.m. on this Saturday (see you there!) and the evening looks to be a fun one.

We think you should go.

Lacrosse is fun to watch and the players are a blast to talk to. You like fun don't you? Banquets are fun, Lacrosse is fun. Go have fun. Go to the Lacrosse kickoff banquet. You have your assignment. Be there.  

You can find more information on it at www.gocards.com and we will be running more information about it as well this week.

Lacrosse begins their season on Feb. 7th. @ #6Duke. 

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OUR RADIO SHOW FROM SATURDAY JAN 25TH IS NOW UP AND RUNNING ON THE HEAVENLY SOUNDCLOUD AT CRESCENT HILL RADIO. IT MAY JUST BE THE BEST THING THAT HAS EVER BEEN ACCOMPLISHED IN THE 21ST. CENTURY.

OK...WE'RE PROBABLY WRONG ABOUT THAT...BUT IT WAS A GOOD SHOW, GREAT INTERVIEWS AND FUN WAS HAS BY JENNY, PAULIE, MONK AND PUMPKIN.

GO LISTEN.

TEARING DOWN THE BARRIERS THAT SEPARATE US...OR DRIVING IN WHITE OUT CONDITIONS...WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED. CLICK HERE

Paulie
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Big East meetings: Whistling in the dark?

NOTE TO OUR DEAR READERS AND ALL YOU INTERNET BOTS. CARDINAL COUPLE WILL BE GOING DARK FOR A FEW DAYS. THE HAMSTERS THAT POWER OUR HARD DRIVE ARE HEADED TO THE ANNUAL RODENT AND PREDATOR CONVENTION/GAMES IN TRUCKEE, CA. WE HOPE THEY RETURN...

WE'LL BE BACK (WE PROMISE) BIGGER, STRONGER, STEROID AND CAVITY FREE. IN THE MEANTIME, PLEASE AMUSE YOURSELF BY CHECKING OUT THE SITES WE RECOMMEND OVER ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE SITE. OR, ORGANIZE YOUR SOCK DRAW. SEE YOU REAL SOON AND DON'T STOP BELIEVING. SOME ONE OUT THERE JUST MIGHT MAKE IT HAPPEN FOR YOU.

PAUL, SONJA, SCOOTER, RODNEY and MAX AND BERTIE..THE WONDER HAMSTERS.

Big East commisioner John Marinatto just might be feeling like General George Custer these days. The Indians are coming...masked as the Big 10...and they've got plenty of arrows (dollars).

Big East athletic directors and coaches headed to Jacksonville early this week to converge and confab on the league and the future. If the circumstances felt eerily similar to the meeting seven years ago when the league was raided by the ACC and Miami, Va.Tech, and Boston College left...consider the future.

The Big East will likely be raided by another war party in the future. This tribe is called the Big 10 and they are considering the scalps of Pittsburgh, Rutgers, UConn, Syracuse and Notre Dame. Although a snatch and grab of all these schools is unlikely, defection by two or more could have the grim reaper walking down the Big East sidewalk.

And, as it is so often anymore...it's all about the Benjamins. The green stuff. The coffer fillers. Member schools in the Big 10 fare much better financially than their Big East associates. The ESPN package is worth a bilion dollars. The Big East...well, not nearly as much.

We deal with women's sports here at CARDINAL COUPLE. A Big East defection will rock the men's basketball and football programs the most. But, consider Big East women's basketball without say...a UConn or Rutgers. Big East softball missing a Notre Dame or the league's tournament champion Syracuse? Track and field and swimming without the strong prescence of the Irish and the Orange? (As far as Pitt goes...don't let the door hit you in the backside on the way out. When's the last time Pitt won anything of consequence except for the Dave Wannstadt lottery?)High on the hill...staring down on what is definitely a pro sports town...Pittsburgh is the only away football tailgate trip I've ever been to where the NFL leather jackets and team jersey logos outnumbered the college team's.

When the battle begins, the Big East will return the favor and go shopping for replacements. It's hard to buy a Camry when you've been driving a Lexus but there are schools that are probably on the addition list.

Depending on the extent of pilfering, these schools would seem to rank as the (3) logical contenders to change affilitations and conference logos.

1) Memphis. The scorned lover back when the Big East expanded last time...the folks down on Beale Street still have an upside this time around. Strong TV market. Successful men's basketball program. A football stadium that can hold 70,000 fans. And Graceland. Ribs and Mud Island. Casinos nearby.

2) East Carolina. They love their football in Greenville and if football is the transmission to the Big East vehicle...you could do a lot worse by adding the Pirates to the drive train. Basketball...well, mediocre basketball teams in the Big East are a dime a dozen (see Rutgers, Seton Hall, South Florida. OK, you get the picture.) Adding another is a moot point at this juncture.

3) Central Florida. Media, media and location. Successes in football and a desire to grow. They are considered by some sources the "Louisville of the late ninties" a university on the verge of exploding into national prominence and growth. Whether they have a Tom Jurich type at the controls flying the athletic department plane is uncertain...but AD's are susceptible to career changes. Ask Wood Selig.

You may differ with these prognosticated picks. The Big 10 may decide schools like Missouri or Bellarmine are more lucrative. Aliens could land tomorrow and return Barack Obama to the mothership. But, something's going to happen down the road and, as usual...he who displays the most marbles usually wins the game. We'll see who the Big 10 adds to their pillage sack.

C. Viv Stringer and Geno Auriemma playing Northwestern and Illinois instead of Louisville and DePaul? It just could happen...