Tuesday Cardinal Couple - Where are they now?

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TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


-We catch up on six former Cardinal foes.


With the WNBA in full swing now, we were looking at some highlights from games over the past few days and the questions arose about some of the foes that used to play against Louisville over the last few years and if they were in the WNBA.

We started our search with an easy one. Former Connecticut star Tiffany Hayes is playing on Angel's team...the Atlanta Dream. We saw some clips of the Dream's loss to the Fever on Sunday and Hayes appears to have lost none of the swagger and bravado that she had with the Huskies. She and Stefanie Dolson didn't have the best games in the KFC YUM! Center when they visited during the winter...but it was a UConn win. Dolson's going to miss Hayes when the 2012-13 version of the Huskies take the court.

Next on our magical player discovery tour was April Sykes. Besides sharing our last name, we watched her career at Rutgers over her four years with interest and saw her turn into a very good player after some rough earlier years. Still remember her uncalled for "enforcer" tactics in the KFC YUM! as a junior at the end of Rutgers' loss to the Cards. Friends of ours who follow the Rutgers program tell us she gained a lot more maturity and level-headedness as a senior. She's switched coasts...playing for the LA Sparks now. 

We followed the career of Natalie Novosel early on...starting with her days of high school ball at Lexington Catholic. Novosel was a key component at Notre Dame all four years that she toiled for Muffett McGraw. Her final appearance in the KFC YUM! Center was less than spectacular...Notre Dame won but a post game press conference revealed "Double N" was suffering from flu-like symptoms and allergy problems. Natalie is in our nation's capitol now...pounding the hardwood for the Washington Mystics. Skylar Diggins is going to miss the punch that Novosel and Devereaux Peters provided with Irish with last year...

Keisha Hampton had a fantastic collegiate career with Doug Bruno and the DePaul Blue Demons until injury cut her senior year short. She had a way of dominating the Lady Cards inside and was part of the injury train that went off the tracks for Bruno's ballers last season...leaving him with just seven bodies for the BIG EAST schedule. 


She was drafted 23rd in the WNBA draft by Seattle but didn't make the final roster cut. 

We also checked out a couple of players who made things rough for the Lady Cards from a couple of seasons ago. Although Hampton isn't going sleepless in Seattle, Victoria Dunlap is. 


She was the undersized center that over-performed during her years at UK. Hated it when she played the Lady Cards, but we did like watching her go up against SEC opponents for the Cats. She's on a Seattle Storm roster that looks awfully strong this season and teamed up with former Vol Shennika Strickland and powerhouse Lauren Jackson. 

We also wondered where Cardinal-killer Courtney Vandersloot ended up. We'll remember for a long time the whipping she and her Gonzaga teammates put on the Cards early in the regional match-up a couple of years ago...and the furious rally that Louisville mustered to get back in the game. Vandersloot has left the Pacific Northwest and taken her game to the Chicago Sky roster. 

Which Cardinals will we be tracking several years from now in the WNBA? We're confident Angel will still be wrecking havoc on opponents. We'd like to see Monique Reid get the chance to test her inside-scoring proficiency against some of the front-liners on the next level. Can "Sho-time" Schimmel take her magic act to the WNBA and have success with it? Will Becky Burke have success in the European leagues and maybe catch the eye of a WNBA team that needs a long-range specialist? 


Who do you think might be introduced as a ex-Cardinal and current WNBA player down the road?  


Maybe we can get Walz to lobby for a Louisville WNBA franchise, trade for Angel, add C.B. and staff the rest of the team with Lady Cards. It'd liven up the summer months around here...and we have no doubt that filling the lower bowl in the KFC YUM! would be no problem with (what to call our imaginary team?)...


The Louisville Lasers?
The Kentucky Fillies?


Nice mind-wandering on a rainy Tuesday morning...have a great day everybody!
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Sophomore Shoni Schimmel named All-American, Field Hockey blanks Appalachian State 6-0, Women's Soccer defeats Butler 1-0

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MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Shoni Schimmel selected for Sporting News All-American team

-Field Hockey handles Appalachian State by half a dozen

-Women's Soccer goes two overtimes to beat Butler 1-0

The accolades continue to add up for University of Louisville women's basketball star Shoni Schimmel. She has been selected for The Sporting News second-team All-American team in their preseason magazine selections. The sophomore from Oregon was second leading scorer for the Cards in 2010-11 with 15.5 points a game and led the team in assists.

Two other former Kentucky girls high school basketball stars join her on The Sporting News second team. A'dia Mathies, a junior UK guard from Louisville Iroquois and Notre Dame and Lexington Catholic star Natalie Novosel also received second team honors. 

The Sporting News also picked the Cards to finish ninth in the nation. Notre Dame was selected #1, followed by Baylor and Connecticut. UK was placed 18th. 

The Cards will begin practice on Oct. 4th. and can start conditioning and other work beginning this week. They'll face Lindsey Wilson in an exhibition contest Oct. 30th.

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The University of Louisville Field Hockey squad got two goals from Elizabeth Vance and whitewashed the Appalachian State Mountaineers 6-0 Sunday at Trager Stadium. The Cards (4-2) struck early with three goals in the first 13 minutes of action...Dominique Pasqualichio, Erin Schneidtmiller and Amber Thomas finding the net. Louisville added a fourth goal near the end of the first half when Vance tapped in a missed shot by Heather Stevens.

The Cards added two goals in the final half when Vance picked up her second score on an assist from Hayley Turner and Michelle Amon recorded her first score of the year from a Jacque Gerrick pass.

Erin Conrad had four saves to go with her shut-out goalkeeping and the Cards out shot App. St. (0-5) 25-6.

Next up, Louisville hits the road for a couple...with games at Georgetown on Saturday, Sept. 17th. and will face American University the next day. 

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Louisville women's soccer picked up their second win of the season Sunday in he net Lexington...defeating the Butler Bulldogs 1-0 in double overtime. The hero for Karen Ferguson-Dayes team was sophomore Katie Walz (no...not Jeff's sister) who took a pass from Kim Sharo and found the back of the net less than a minute into the second overtime.

Senior goalkeeper Chloe Kiefer had five saves in the match and the Bulldogs (4-4) barely out shot Louisville 11-10.

The Cards end a four game losing streak and three game scoreless streak with the win and finish 1-1 in the Tropical Smoothie Invitational Tournament. Selected to the All-Tournament team for Louisville were Walz, Nicole Mitchell and Erin Yenney.

Louisville will begin BIG EAST play Friday at Notre Dame and take on the Blue Demons of DePaul Sunday in Cardinal Park.
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Cards and Irish square off tonight

WEDNESDAY @ THE COUPLE:
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-Cards travel to South Bend for Irish
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Lacrosse signs eight for 2012

An early BIG EAST schedule tester for Louisville tonight in South Bend to face #14 Notre Dame in Purcell Pavilion. Reconfigured for basketball last year, Muffet McGraw (pictured right) can invite over 9,000 of her closest friends in to watch this one...the Irish have sold out the arena twice this year and could very well again tonight. Notre Dame is third in the BIG EAST in home attendance behind Louisville and Connecticut. (Photo by AP).
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The Irish were picked to finish 4th in the pre-season BIG EAST Coaches Poll and have amassed a 13-4, 2-2 record so far in the 2010-11 season. Devereaux Peters, fully recovered from knee injuries that have plagued her career at Notre Dame, has had the top hand for McGraw's team as of late and nearly averages a double-double (12.3, 9.7) on the year. She's deadly on the boards and can run the court very well. Skylar Diggins is another outstanding performer wearing the gold and green, the flashy and solid shooting point guard runs the show for the Irish and must be respected whenever she totes the rock. Impressive this year for Notre Dame
is 6'3" freshman post Natalie Achonwa...who hails from Ontario, Canada. She's a rebounding machine that also scores productively from in the paint.
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Natalie Novosel, a Lexington (KY) Catholic product, is a big time scoring forward for Muffet's muppets...a player that will post you up and take you to the rim or burn you from outside if you slack off her. Becca Bruszewski is the enforcer and pounder on the boards...close to scoring 1000 career points for the Irish and way over that total in elbows thrown and picks set. She's a brawler that doesn't back down or give way. She'll be trouble for the Cards. Erica Soloman is another that is capable of a double-double on any night. Brittany Mallory, a clever senior guard, can spark the Irish with her hustle and deadly outside shooting.
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So, it appears the Cards have numerous weapons and threats to worry about as they take the floor tonight. Given the Cardinal philosophy and creed, though...they'll concentrate more on what they can do, their game and try to dictate the pace and flow of the contest. This won't be easy for Jeff Walz's bunch. Notre Dame comes out smothering with defensive intensity and will trap, press and corner opposing guards into steals and turnovers.
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Shoni Schimmel's magician-like ball handling skills will get perhaps the toughest test of the season so far tonight...with no disrespect to Tennessee or Xavier. Connecticut struggled against the Irish defensive intensity and needed Maya Moore to take over the game late to stagger to a win in Purcell...a game that Geno's bunch trailed most of the way. Louisville has shown the ability to jump on opponents early, build a commanding lead and then maintain it the rest of the game...but such a performance tonight would be surprising for the Cards. If this bunch can overcome the road woes they've experienced this year...they'll be competitive and could take the Irish to the final buzzer.
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Game time is 7 p.m. No TV anywhere that we're aware of...which is a shame...but Jim and Paul will do the radio feed for CARDS RADIO 790 AM / 101.7 FM WKRD.
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Kellie Young has inked eight players for the 2012 University of Louisville lacrosse season and the group has a decidedly east coast flavor....four of them from Maryland, one from North Carolina and one from Pennsylvania. The class:
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-Faye Brust...midfielder/attack from Bel Air, MD. A three sport star at John Carroll H.S.
-Carissa Corbett...midfielder from Wilmington, NC. Team captain and MVP at Hoggard High
-Cat Gordon...midfielder/attack from Glen Arm, MD. Played with Brust at John Carroll.
-Kendall Gordon...defense from Worthington, OH. All league, all district.
-Taylor Hagin...midfielder/attack from Cummings, GA. Offensive MVP three years.
-Emily Kolsevich...attack from Pottstown, PA. Prolific scorer in high school.
-Danielle Lazo...midfielder from Stevensville, MD. U.S. Lacrosse U-19 member.
-Casey Pepperman...midfielder from Baltimore, MD. Speedy midfielder, huge potential.


Coach Young is building a solid program here at Louisville and threatens to contend for the BIG EAST top honors this year. We can't wait for the action to begin this spring and with a solid returning class....the CARDS should notch plenty of wins this season. Louisville went 11-6 last year and return stars Bergan Foley, Emily Dashiell, Katie Oliverio, Meghan Ryan, Danielle Pawliw and Liz Lovejoy along with 14 other players from last year and nine freshmen. 10 home games are scheduled for the Cards...beginning Feb., 20th. against Binghamton. If you haven't attended a match, be sure to get out this spring and watch the fast paced, exciting action on Louisville's state of the art field next to Papa John's Cardinal Stadium and the YUM practice facility on Floyd St.
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