Wednesday Cardinal Couple -- One less to watch

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- LA cuts Nita

- Sara to play in FIBA 3 on 3



You had to hope it would work out for her.

When we looked at the number of players invited to the Los Angeles Sparks tryout camp...though, it became obvious that the three-point specialist for the Cards would have an uphill battle to make the WNBA squad.

Uphill battles are nothing new to the Louisville native. She overcame a life-threatening situation that played out in front of 10,000 hushed fans back in November.

Nita is headed back home, though. The Sparks cut her, Cierra Warren, Keena Mays and Jamie Nared on May 5th.

Cinco de Mayo wasn't a celebration day for her. What's next for the smiling, long range assassin?

There is the very remote possibility, we suppose, that another WNBA team could invite her in. With all the overstocked tryout rosters that exist in the league currently, we see the chances of that slim.

International hoops could be a venue as well. Candyce Bingham did that successfully for a few seasons and other ex-Cards have graced the Euroleagues and other foreign basketball rosters over the years. Monique Reid did well in her stint over the past few months as an international player.

Whatever path the Christian Academy crusader chooses, we're sure it'll be one that will be successful. She's been a winner in our books for a long, long time already.

Meanwhile, up in Minnesota....A-Tayy survived yesterday's Minnesota Lynx roster lessening. Asya Bussie and Theairra Taylor were waived from the squad. Keep battling #31 !!!!

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Sara Hammond will compete in the USA 3x3 women's basketball tournament for a chance to go to Russia in June and play for the world title. Looks like she's got some pretty impressive teammates:

Takeover
Sara Hammond	6-2	194	2015	Louisville / Mt. Vernon, Ky.
Jewell Loyd	5-11	150	2016	Notre Dame / Lincolnwood, Ill.
Cierra Burdick	6-2	160	2015	Tennessee / Charlotte, N.C.
Tiffany Mitchell	5-10	154	2016	South Carolina / Charlotte, N.C.

They'll face seven other squads May 9-11 in Colorado Springs, CO.

paulie

Tuesday Cardinal Couple - Shoni Picked 8th...Nita and Asia selected also in WNBA Draft

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

JEFF MCADAMS BRINGS US WNBA, LACROSSE, TENNIS AND SOFTBALL NEWS IN THE TUESDAY EDITION OF CARDINAL COUPLE

 

Shoni Schimmel Going to Atlanta

In what may be nearly a dream, if you'll pardon the pun, for Louisville Women's Basketball fans, Shoni Schimmel was picked eighth in the WNBA draft by the Atlanta Dream.  She will be...barring trades...playing with another Louisville great, Angel McCoughtry.

Nita Slaughter was selected in the third round...35th. overall by the Los Angeles Sparks. The final pick of the draft was Asia Taylor...the Columbus native was 36th and is headed to the Minnesota Lynx.

With two of the Louisville Women's Basketball greats playing for the Dream, what are the best opportunities to see them play?  The closest WNBA franchise to Louisville is the Indiana Fever.  The Dream will be playing in Indianapolis at the Banker's Life Fieldhouse, the home court of the Fever, on Saturday May 17th at 7pm, Sunday June 29th at 6pm, and Saturday July 12th at 7pm.  For our Oregon readers, the closest franchise would be Seattle.  There is only one Dream game this season in Seattle on Thursday August 7th at 7pm (PDT).

Tickets are (at the time of this writing) readily available for the first game at Banker's Life starting at $30 and topping out at $76.95 (halfcourt, 6th row).

Previous University of Louisville WNBA Draft Picks:  2009 WNBA Draft – Angel McCoughtry (1^st Pick, Atlanta Dream); Candyce Bingham (39^th Pick, San Antonio Silver Stars); 2003 WNBA Draft - Lori Nero (19^th Pick, Houston Comets); 2000 WNBA Draft – Jill Morton (34^th Pick, Charlotte Sting).

Tennis Seeded 4th

Earning a 4th seed in The American Conference Tennis championship means that Louisville gets a
first round bye and won't play until Friday the 18th.  The doubles matches will start at noon against Rutgers.

With Tennis scheduling being a bit odd, the Cardinals only had three conference matches all season, but we did indeed play Rutgers for one of them.  On February 21st, UofL beat Rutgers 6-1, taking all three doubles matches and winning all but one of the singles matches in the convincing win.

Assuming we defeat Rutgers, we will match up with the winner of match 3 which will be Houston, Cincinnati, or UConn.  Houston is the number 1 seed in the tournament and receives the bye to play the winner of the first round match between 8 seed Cincinnati and 9 seed UConn.

Lacrosse Polls

Despite two very good wins this week in Philadelphia vs Temple and Villanova, Louisville Lacrosse didn't advance in the polls.  To be fair, though, even at 19th, Louisville is getting into the rarefied air of the Lacrosse world with Albany, Virginia, and Penn State being the next three teams ahead of the Cards.

The current polls do a great job of showing just how tough the competition in the ACC next year will be, with the top three spots, as well as sixth, eighth, tenth and 17th all being held by current ACC schools.  The top spot is held by current ACC school Maryland, but of course they will be moving on to the Big 10 next year.

Softball Picking up Steam

With some good wins of late, Softball seems to be picking up some steam.

 No Louisville players picked up player of the week honors this week, but freshman pitcher Maryssa Becker, and senior second baseman Katie Keller continue to get attention from the conference office by making the honor roll.

Maryssa Becker picked up two wins in the circle.  Katie Keller batted .600 in the four games UofL played this week, while also having a .532 on-base percentage.

The Cards take a road trip to Orlando this weekend for AAC Conference action.

jeffmcadams

Wednesday Cardinal Couple -- Rally falls short. Maryland 76 - Louisville 73

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Schimmel's 31 lead Cards in loss to Maryland

Photo by Charlie Springer - UofL Card Game

They ran the play to perfection. 3.5 seconds on the clock, Maryland not guarding Sara Hammond throwing the inbound pass to Asia Taylor. Asia finds Shoni on the right side of the three-point arc. Pass delivered and Shoni sends her fourth three of the last 29.2 seconds toward the rim. A clear look despite the defensive pressure.

A sickening bounce off the back of the rim.

Time expires and Maryland advances to the Final Four with a 76-73 win over Louisville Tuesday night in the KFC YUM! Center in front of 14,002 screaming fans...99% of them dressed in red or black.

Do not blame Shoni for this loss. She put this team on her back and erased a 70-60 Maryland lead after two Alyssa Thomas free throws with three threes in 29.6 seconds.

Tia Gibbs two free throws got Louisville within three points at 73-70 with 14.5 seconds left. Louisville had just benefited from the second of Shoni's threes and Gibbs drew the foul on the Maryland inbounds possession. The Cards fouled Shatori Walker-Kimbrough after Gibbs' scores and the freshman Terps guard calmly sank both to make it 75-70.

Six seconds later, it was Sho-Time again. Another deep three made it a 75-73 game with 3.3 left on the clock. Another foul by Louisville on the inbounds play and senior Maryland star Thomas missed the first but made the second charity attempt to set up the Cards desperation attempt.

If that wasn't the most exciting final minute of basketball I've seen this season...I challenge someone to point out another.

The whole game had the aura and intensity of a championship match.

Maryland...hot early...grabbing an 8-2 lead at the 16:40 mark. The Cards fighting back to get within one at 11-10 after a Jude three. Maryland going on a five minute, 11-2 surge to take a 22-17 advantage. The Cards grabbing a 24-22 lead off a 7-0 run over the next three minutes...capped by a Nita Slaughter three at the 5:45 mark. Louisville going on a 8-2 run in the last 2:53 of the half to lead at the 20-minute mark 36-32.

Shoni had 14 of her game-high 31 at that point. Alyssa Thomas...the other All-American on the court...had 9 for the Terps and sharp-shooting UM guar Katie Rutan had bagged four trifectas.

The Cards began the second half with a quick 5-0 spurt in the first minute and the KFC YUM! Center was pure bedlam.

Maryland fought back determinedly. Shoni's incredible driving, twisting layup gave the Cards a tenuous 43-40 edge with 16:14 to go.

Then...the train screeched to a halt. Louisville would muster but two points in the next five and a half minutes and a 14-2 Terp run put them ahead 54-45 with half of the second half gone. It was 60-51 with four minutes remaining and Shoni had missed her last seven shots. Louisville could not buy a layup.

The Cards would score eventually...A Tayy dropping in two free throws. Maryland would counter. Shoni's layup with 1:55 left cut the UM advantage to 10 but it looked like time was running out on the Cards. It was her first basket in 13 minutes.

It was 66-56 Maryland.

Four Maryland free throws in the next minute set up the wild, final 56.8 seconds. 

An incredible but heart-wrenching end to an incredible season by these UofL players. A superlative senior scoring night...where Asia, Tia, Nita and Shoni had 65 of Louisville's 73 points.


A group that will be missed greatly and remembered fondly. An effort that got the dejected group of girls leaving the court a standing ovation from an appreciative and admiring fan base. To hear these four seniors pour their hearts out in the post game press interviews will endear this group of ladies to me for a very long time.

To see Sonja with tears streaming down her face at the same time Asia's fall on the podium. To see Walz gently comfort Shoni as she breaks down in mid-sentence. To see four girls who left it all out there on the court and get so close, but fall so very short on a silly bounce of a rubber ball off an iron rim...sitting there...bravely answering questions about the final game of their college careers. Hurting inside. Having given their best and finishing second best.  

Losing sucks so bad...

A perfectly run final play. A shot that probably goes in 4 out of 5 times attempted.

This game they call basketball...it never ceases to amaze, does it?

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Tournament awards:

MOP: Alyssa Thomas, Maryland

Shoni Schimmel, Louisville

Antonita Slaughter, Louisville

Meighan Simmons, Tennessee

Lexie Brown, Maryland

paulie
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Friday Cardinal Couple -- Louisville Classic starts today for Softball

FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Softball welcomes UM, UW, Kent State and Iowa State

- Hoops commentary


Sandy Pearsall's sluggers begin play in the Class Act Federal Credit Union Louisville Classic today at 4:30 p.m. against Kent State. It's one of five games the Cards will pitch and catch in over the next four days at Ulmer...they'll play #7 Michigan on Saturday and Sunday and Wisconsin twice on Monday. A little different approach to this Classic format...where the Cards would normally face each visitors once...they won't play Iowa State while they are here.

According to the UofL official schedule, that is.

Louisville went 5-1 in the Red & Black Classic last weekend beating Ohio University twice, Ohio State and UMass once and going 1-1 against Illinois State. The Cards (13-7) have been hitting the ball well lately and getting some promising efforts out of the four pitchers on staff.

- Walk this way. Junior Brittany Duncan has received 19 base on balls in 20 games. When opposing pitchers do decide to pitch to her, she's hitting at a .404 clip. In any event, she's gotten to know the location of the first base bag pretty well in her first season here.

- Show me? Yes, can do...Kelsi Jones transferred in from Univ. of Missouri...the "Show Me" state. She's revealed quite a lot in 20 games...with a .364 batting average, team-high six home runs and 18 RBI's. She's also 4-4 in stolen base. Maybe Maggie Ruckenbrod is the only one in the nation who could gun her down?

- Coaching record?  Could Coach Pearsall be the leader in games coached all-time at UofL? She's coached 847 of them since arriving in 2000. Not sure how many Denny Crum or Peck Hickman had total...but Sandy has to be close to the title, if she doesn't own it. The term "game day" to her has to be as common as the term "crazy weather" is to any Louisvillian.

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As Nita Slaughter and Shoni Schimmel prepare for their final NCAA Tournament run, let's take a look back at what was going on when they first arrived on campus in the fall of 2010. Jeff Walz and the Cards were coming off the school's worst season since 1993-94...a 14-18 record and loss in the first round of the post-season WBI Tournament to Bradley. They were joined on campus by fellow freshmen Sherrone Vails, Ashley Rainey and Charmaine Tay. Tia Gibbs was eligible after sitting out a year after transferring from Vanderbilt.

Rainey eventually ended up at Lindsey Wilson, where she had a very good career. Tay transfered to Clemson and had a good season for the Tigers this year. Sherrone Vails, of course, is still here...sitting out this season with an injury.

The Cards were moving from Freedom Hall to the KFC YUM! Center for home games and out of the returning letterman, it looked like Monique Reid, Asia Taylor and Becky Burke would be the impact players. Shelby Harper was the returning point-guard and Keisha Hines was expected to do great things prowling the paint.

The place was packed for opening night...a tussle against Pat Summit and Tennessee. A tough loss against the #4 ranked team in the nation, a breakout party for freshman guard Meghan Simmons. But signs of improvement and cause for optimism and hope.

We know the effect Shoni had on that year's team. Who could forget Schimmel magic on a March night in Cincinnati, OH when the Cards took down Xavier? Nita was providing valuable minutes off the bench and the squad made it to the Sweet Sixteen before losing to Gonzaga in Washington.

22-13 for that squad and the emergence of two new shooting stars.

There would be many more memorable moments for Shoni and Nita over the next three years. They'll be remembered, along with Tia, as three of the greatest players to don the Cardinal jerseys and take the court.

A free-wheeling, rez-ball trained and perpetual shooting machine out of Oregon and a shy, smiling all-over-the-court baller from Louisville's Christian Academy.

Who knew back in 2010?

Thanks for some great memories and some great ones still ahead. It'll be hard to ever watch anyone in jersey #23 and #4 down the road and not think of you two...

-paulie

Thursday Cardinal Couple -- Cards pick up 24th. win...Louisville 60 - Tempe 50

THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Shoni's 21, Asia's double-double lead Cards to win


It was a win.

And that might be one of the most positive and encouraging things I can say about Louisville WBB's 60-50 defeat of the Temple Owls Wednesday night in the KFC YUM! Center.

It wasn't a game to school young hoopsters on the mechanics for successful free throw shooting, as Coach Jeff Walz mentioned in the post-game presser.

Louisville was 12-26. Temple 1-9. The Owls didn't successfully put one through the hoop from the charity stripe until 6:43 remained in the game.

And, the Owls wouldn't go away quietly. It was 46-41 Louisville after that lone made Temple free throw. A 6-0 UofL run over the next three minutes...capped by a Sara Hammond layup with 3:45 left...gave the Cards a buffer zone at 52-41.

Temple still wasn't getting the message.

A three by Rateska Brown set the score at 55-48 with 34 ticks remaining. Give Shoni credit...she hit three of four free throws the rest of the way and a Monny Niamke buzzer-beater layup gave the Cards the ten point win. A win that had some Cards fans shaking their heads as they piled out of the arena.

I even had one comment to me as I headed to the post-game presser..."Should we put lipstick on this one?" And, yeah...at times it was a pig. At times it was ugly.

Sometimes you win that way. It's not the most fun to sit through. I was actually checking out the stands in the second half to see if people I know were in their seats. Give 'em credit, they all were.

Shoni gets the lipstick award, I guess. Without her pointage, it's a "L". I was surprised when I saw she had 21 points. Maybe I was just watching the missed shots. 7-21 for her.

Shoni's 21 included only one trifecta and 6-10 shooting from the free throw line. Asia Taylor had another solid 32 minutes...at least when she was moving...going 6-8 from the floor and grabbing 12 boards. She took almost as many free throws as the entire Temple squad and out-shot them by one...going 2-8.

In practice, the Cards have to take 50 free throws for each missed charity atempt they've had in the prior game. Asia may need to pack a lunch, bring a cot and cancel any weekend plans.

Louisville led 27-19 at halftime, overcoming a 12-11 Temple lead at the 10:46 mark.

Walz summed it up pretty well when he mentioned he was proud of the Cards defensive effort Wednesday night and not-so-pleased with the offensive output.

Nevertheless, it's one that goes on the left side of the ledger.

QUICK HITS


-Temple outrebounded Louisville 41-40. Starting a four guard line-up. Granted...Erica Colville is a 6'1" guard and had 10 of those for the Owls...but it's the third out of the last four games that Louisville has played where the opposition has had more grabs.

-Nita Slaughter had three of the four threes Louisville made. Louisville was 4-17...Tia Gibbs having a rough bombing experience at 0-4 and Shoni going only 1-7 from the deep.

-Sara Hammond saw just 26 minutes tonight but contributed seven points and nine grabs.

-Walz mentioned that Monny Niamke saw just two minutes because of a slight groin injury. She was used primarily as a defensive stopper late, replacing Nita...but did get the breakaway layup to end the game.

-Bria Smith is expected back for the Memphis contest and Walz indicated she'd come off the bench. She's expected to practice Friday and Saturday.

CARDINAL COUPLE WILL BE CONDUCTING INTERVIEWS WITH COACH WALZ AND COACH KELLIE OF LACROSSE FRIDAY. GOT A QUESTION FOR THEM?
PUT IT IN THE COMMENTS SECTION OR E-MAIL US AT:

CARDINALCOUPLE@TWC.COM 


We'll play the interviews on our Saturday morning radio show. You can catch it, or listen to our archived broadcasts at:

www.crescenthillradio.com  

The station has applied for and received an FM broadcasting permit. Pretty soon, the voices of Jenny, Jeff and Paulie will be heard from St. Matthews to Jeffersonville and Northfield to the Highlands.

If that's not enough to make you buy an IPOD and scrap radio listening, we don't know what else it takes...

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Finally (and thanks to our anonymous poster) we can see how Jeff Walz would do as a sportscaster on the nightly news. Ron Burgundy he isn't...but if this coaching thing doesn't work out...he's got options. Link below:

AND....NOW WE GO TO YOU, JEFF


Maybe I'll test him Friday with some off-the-cuff radio commentary on a random subject. No, we dont have a teleprompter...shoot, we barely have microphones.





paulie
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Monday Cardinal Couple -- Cards bombard Bulls 79-59

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Four in double figures in 20-point WBB win


Louisville used a 13-0 close to the first half to gain control and led by as many as 26 before defeating USF Sunday afternoon in the KFC YUM! Center.

Tia Gibbs sank (4) second half threes and finished with 19 points to lead all scorers. Shoni Schimmel added 14 and Sara Hammond and Nita Slaughter finished with 12 points each for Louisville. Asia Taylor's eight points and 10 rebounds helped Louisville improve to 22-1.

It took the Cards awhile to pull away from USF. A slow start, where Louisville was 1-10 to begin the game, had the scoreboard showing 10-7 Louisville after Taylor sank two free throws with 13:31 left in the first half. USF wasn't going away quietly...Sara Hammond's free throw with 9:34 in the game gave the Cards a 18-14 edge.

Shoni gathered her first score of the game after a jumper put Louisville up 22-16 and Tia Gibbs first trifecta of the contest had Louisville leading 28-18 with 6:24 on the clock.
A technical on the Louisville bench seemed to spur USF with 5:10 to go and the Bulls down 32-22. They scored six points in the next minute and Inga Orekhova's "3" made it 32-28 with four minutes to play.

USF would get no closer the rest of the way. Threes from Shoni and Nita pushed the lead back to ten. Three Shoni free throws increased the Cardinal lead to 41-28 and two free throws each from Nita and Tia gave the Cards a 45-28 margin with 10 seconds left in the half.

The Cards had capitalized on 12 USF turnovers to score 21 points and Nita was leading the way with 12 points on 4-7 shooting.

Shoni's third three got the second half off to a great start and then it was Tia time. Her second three of the game set the tally at 51-35 with 17:20 remaining. She connected from beyond the arc again with 15:40 showing to push UofL ahead 54-37. She connected again from the deep to give Louisville a 59-39 cushion with 13:16 to play and her fourth three of the half gave the Cards a 62-39 margin.

Emmonnie Henderson inside provided Louisville a 66-43 gap with 9:46 showing. The Bulls would outscore the Cards 16-13 the rest of the way...narrowing the gap to 18 before a Megan Denies long-ball set the score to 79-58 with 33 seconds left in the game.

THE FINAL WORD

Louisville drained 11 threes in the contest and shot 72% from the charity stripe. The slow start is almost something we've come to expect out of UofL as of late...but 20 assists on 25 made baskets is something to point to with a little pride.

The Cards (22-1) forced USF into 20 turnovers while committing only 11. No Card saw more than 32 minutes in the game (Shoni) and the UofL bench outscored the Bulls 23-9. USF did outrebound the Cards 42-39.

It was a usable win, if a bit uneven at times...against a squad that has much more potential than their 11-10 record would indicate. Orekhova nailed four threes against the Cards and Akila McDonald grabbed 11 rebounds against the Louisville front line.

Jose Fernandez, USF head coach, did not make the trip to Louisville...hospitalized with intestinal trouble after the Houston game earlier this week.

The Cards return to action Tuesday night in Orlando against UCF.

paulie
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Monday Cardinal Couple -- Gibbs, Slaughter thwart Mustangs upset bid 81-66

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Five Cards in double figures in win over SMU

It's often said that the mark of a good team is the aspect of an opponent not knowing who or where the "boom" is going to come from.

The University of Louisville got explosions from Tia Gibbs and Nita Slaughter yesterday in a 81-66 win over SMU yesterday in Dallas, TX at the Moody Coliseum in front of 1650 white-clad fans.

Tia Gibbs had 20 points on 7-10 shooting and Nita Slaughter added 17...two of five Cards that reached scoring double figures...as Louisville erased a two-point halftime deficit and led by 20 at one point before corralling the Mustangs by 15 points.

It was the third loss in a row for SMU and 11th. straight win for the Cards 

The Cards shot 55% in the final twenty minutes.

Louisville used a 11-0 run shortly after the final half started to erase any doubt that SMU would pull off the upset. Trailing 37-33, the Cards got a Shoni Schimmel three and Sara Hammond layup to take the lead. After Hammond drew a charge to get the ball back in UofL's hands, Schimmel and Slaughter drained threes and SMU suddenly found themselves down 44-37 with 17:23 to go. 

The run extended to a 21-7 advantage when Slaughter buried another trifecta to make it 54-44 and UofL would eventually push that to a 20 point advantage with 3:41 remaining before settling for the 15 point win.

It wasn't easy for the Cards in the first twenty.

SMU led most of the way early and pushed their lead to 32-24 when Korina Baker sank a three with 5:30 showing on the clock. Louisville responded with a 9-1 run to tie it at 33...Gibbs getting seven of those points.

For SMU, Keena Mays led the way with 20 points...but couldn't explain the second half collapse of the Mustangs:

" I don't know if it was a lack of focus, a loss of focus, but they (UOFL) came out shooting threes and came out more aggressive. We had to come out with the same energy that we had in the first half and it just didn't happen for us."


The Cards sank 10 of their 24 long range bombs...Shoni hitting two and Tia and Nita four each. The Cards even shone at the charity stripe...sinking 17 out of 21 for 81%.

Coach Walz was complimentary about Nita's big game:

" It's big for our program and big for the ball club. She's felt good conditioning-wise the past two weeks, but there's a big difference between running sprints and being on the treadmill to getting out there and getting your game legs. When you've got to stop and get your composure and knock down a shot, it takes awhile. I still think she's about a week away from getting back into her prime."


That could spell trouble for Memphis...who visits the KFC YUM! Center on Jan. 26th.

Besides Nita and Tia, Shoni hit double figures with 12 points...Asia Taylor contributed 11 and Sara posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards. Walz used Bria Smith (7 points), Hammond, Taylor, Nita, Shoni and Tia most of the way...Emmonnie Henderson picked up four points, two rebounds and four fouls in just five minutes of court time.

Cortnee Walton ( 8 minutes -- 0 points), Megan Deines ( 7 minutes -- 0 points) and Monny Niamke ( 7 minutes -- 0 points) also hit the court for the Cards. Nita drew the start yesterday in place of Monny. 

It was another sit-and-watch event for Jude Schimmel (ankle) and Shawnta Dyer (knee).

The Cards  (18-1, 6-0) travel south to Houston next for a Tuesday 8 P.M. tilt against the Coogs. No TV for this one (yet) as far as we know.

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THE FINAL WORD

ANOTHER EVENT WHERE THE CARDS PLAY TO THE LEVEL OF THEIR OPPONENT EARLY AND THEN USE A DOMINATING RUN TO CREATE SOME DISTANCE. IT IS ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL TO SEE TIA AND NITA STEP UP WITH HUGE GAMES. THESE ARE TWO PLAYERS THAT WILL BE ESSENTIAL IF THE CARDS ARE GOING TO CHALLENGE THE HUSKIES THIS SEASON AND THEN ULTIMATELY GO TO NASHVILLE.

THREE STATS THAT STOOD OUT TO ME:

1) LOUISVILLE CONTINUES TO MASTER THE BOARDS AGAINST OPPONENTS. A 43-30 ADVANTAGE IN REBOUNDS. COACH WALZ LIKES REBOUNDING. IT GIVES HIS PLAYERS A CHANCE TO SCORE.

2) 45.8% FROM THE FLOOR. THE CARDS HAD BEEN STRUGGLING OF LATE TO REACH THE 40% MARK. TO DO THIS, ON THE ROAD AND AGAINST A TEAM THAT HELD LOUISVILLE TO JUST 71 POINTS IN THE KFC YUM! CENTER IS IMPRESSIVE.

3) 17-21 FROM THE LINE. WE HARP ON IT HERE. COACH WALZ HARPS ON IT. A 70% RATE ON UNGUARDED SHOTS IS A MANDATE. SARA HIT ALL SIX OF HER ATTEMPTS SUNDAY, BRIA NAILED THREE OUT OF FOUR.

LOUISVILLE COULD EASILY GO INTO THE RUTGERS TRIP 20-1 AND 8-0 IN CONFERENCE. WE SHOULD PROBABLY AVOID LOOKING AHEAD...AND MEMPHIS VISITS SUNDAY AFTER KNOCKING OFF RUTGERS LAST WEEK.  A 20-1 START WOULD BE THE BEST IN LOUISVILLE WBB HISTORY, THOUGH, AND IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE CARDS COULD BE 23-1 WHEN THE CARDS VISIT UCONN ON SUNDAY 2/9/14.

BUT...WE'LL VOW TO WATCH THIS TEAM UNDER THE 'ONE DAY CONTRACT' THAT RICK PITINO SPEAKS OF. HOUSTON NEXT.

PAULIE
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Saturday Cardinal Couple -- WBB faces Bearcats today

SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- #7 Louisville takes on Cincy today

Despite the frigid arctic blast emcompassing Louisville, the hot UofL WBB squad welcomes Nita Slaughter back to the bench for Saturday's game against the University of Cincinnati in the KFC YUM! Center at 2 p.m.

Louisville brings their 14-1 record into the game against a UC squad that is 7-6 and coming off a 54-43 loss to SMU.

Who to watch for Jamelle Elliott's Bearcats?

Jamelle Elliott is a lively sideline coach

Redshirt senior Dayeeshia Hollins leads UC with 13.3 a game. Senior Jeanise Randolph totals 12.2 for the Bearcats and Alyeshia Lovette...who scored 17 against SMU...averages 8.9 a contest.

Cards win by as many as they want to today.

It will be good to see #4 dressed and available. If she gets any court time is up to Walz (and her....we'd expect) but a couple of complimentary minutes would do her and the Cardinal fanbase a lot of good.

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NO CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO TODAY.

THE ENTIRE CRESCENT HILL RADIO ENGINEERING STAFF IS EITHER SICK OR HAS GUITAR LESSONS.

YEAH...

WE'LL RETURN NEXT WEEK....PROVIDED WE'RE NOT SICK OR LEARNING HOW TO PLAY THE GUITAR.

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A nice read at the link below about one of our favorite Butler Bears...sixth-year UofL WBB star Tia Gibbs. Despite the pain, "Grandma" still has game.

It seems just like yesterday when Gibbs won the Kentucky Girls High School Player of the Year award and then booked for Vandy. We privately wondered if she'd ever get back on Denny Crum Court and try a trey or lock someone down on defense again


http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/10238983/women-college-basketball-final-season-worth-wait-louisville-cardinals-tia-gibbs

paulie
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Friday Cardinal Couple --- Nita Slaughter is back !!!

FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

           ********BREAKING NEWS********

Senior wing Nita Slaughter has been cleared to practice and play the remainder of the season by doctors. Jeff Walz broke the news in a press conference today, stating that Slaughter participated in practice Thursday, will practice today and will dress for the Saturday game vs. Cincinnati at 2 p.m. Saturday.

It is surprising...but great news for the Cards. The leader in three-point percentage for the Cards is back

Nita is back !!

FROM GOCARDS.COM...

Slaughter was sidelined initially because a blood clot was found in her lungs and the use of blood-thinners prevents an athlete from competition. The most recent scans taken at the Mayo Clinic were clean of the previously seen blood clot in her lung and no further treatment is needed, therefore clearing her to play. After her full evaluation, the treating physicians are confident in her clearance at this point. She has returned to team practices and will be able to return to games once deemed ready by the coaching staff. "I am excited about returning to the court," said Slaughter. "After being away the last month, I realized how much I love the game of basketball. I am grateful for the opportunity to return and being able to contribute to my team. I am looking forward to competing with my team and picking up where we left off last year."

Walz said Slaughter was referred by doctors at Jewish Hospital to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., where she underwent extensive tests that all returned within the normal range for heart activity. The tests also showed no trace of the blood clot, and no further treatment is needed. Walz said she has been taken off all medications.

"We've had some great news on Antonita," Walz said. "As of (Thursday), Antonita has actually been cleared to play. . . . We're thrilled to have Antonita back. But more importantly, we're thrilled that she's okay. What took place on Dec. 3 was probably the scariest moment that I've been involved with in college coaching. To see her now back, smiling, and in good health, is what we're most concerned about and most excited about."

Walz said Slaughter could play a few minutes in Saturday's 2 p.m. home game against Cincinnati, "depending on situations, just to get her a chance to get back out there, depending on how she's feeling" and that her return will be gradual.

Walz said both Slaughter and her teammates were excited at practice on Thursday.

"She was absolutely thrilled, relieved, just, you know, it's a situation for a month you're just doing extensive tests, EKGs, looked at her heart, and everything came back and looked great," Walz said. "It's not something that was taken lightly, by no means. We've gone to the best of the best. They've consulted with others after looking at all the tests and results, and believe that she's good to go."

Walz said he'd just judge her ability to play moving forward based on what he sees in practice. He said that he'll proceed cautiously, and he has that luxury.

Slaughter is the team's fifth-leading scorer at 9.3 points per game, and she is the Cardinals' most consistent three-point shooter. She started 30 of 38 games during U of L's national runner-up season last year, averaging 10.1 points and 4.9 rebounds while shooting 36 percent from three-point range, and making the All-Final Four team.

"It's going to take a while. It's not something where she'll just jump back and play 25 or 30 minutes a game," Walz said. "She's gone an entire month with no activity. You can't take a month off and then expect to jump back into college athletics at this level. We're fortunate, we play Saturday, then we have a week off. So she'll get some time to get some conditioning in. But what's really exciting for our program is the fact that we have a deep group. It's not something that she's going to have to be pressed to get right back out there. We're going to be able to take our time and get her in as we see fit."

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- A few AAC and Cardinal WBB stats


Here's a few numbers for the AAC and UofL nationwide:

CONFERENCE STANDINGS

UCONN     14-0    2-0   won last 14
Louisville  14-1   2-0   won last 7
Rutgers     10-2   1-0   won last 6
SMU          10-3   1-1   lost last 1
UCF           8-5    1-1   lost last 1
Temple      7-5    1-1   lost last 1
USF           6-7     1-1   won last 1
Memphis    7-6    0-1   lost last 1
Cincy         7-6    0-2   lost last 2
Houston     4-9    0-2   lost last 2

NEXT?

1/4/14

Houston @ Rutgers
Cincy @ LOUISVILLE
UCF @ Temple
UConn @ Memphis
USF @ SMU

1/7/14

Rutgers @ Cincy
Houston @ UConn
Temple @ USF
Memphis @ SMU

NATIONAL RANKINGS


Defensive Scoring  (per game)

#2 UConn     47.5
#9 Rutgers    53.8
#14 TCU       54.9

Offensive scoring (per game)


#7  Louisville
#13 UConn

Rebounding Margin (per game)


#11  Louisville  +12.5   48.5 -36.0

Assists

#19  Louisville  18.5

Steals

#24  Louisville   11.1


paulie

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Wednesday Cardinal Couple -- More on #4 Nita Slaughter

 

 

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

( WE OFFER THIS READ BY MICHELLE SMITH OF ESPNW ON LOUISVILLE WING NITA SLAUGHTER FOR THE WEDNESDAY EDITION OF CARDINAL COUPLE)

 

 

 

 

Cards move on without Slaughter

 

AP Photo/James CrispSixth-year senior Tia Gibbs started in Antonita Slaughter's spot on Saturday.

What Louisville coach Jeff Walz wouldn't give for a simple ankle sprain, something that might require one of his players to sit out a couple of weeks and get physical therapy before quickly returning to the floor.

Don't misunderstand. Walz isn't rooting for that. He'd merely trade it in a heartbeat for the gut-wrenching, season-ending injuries that seem to plague his team every season.

"All of ours seem to be year-ending," Walz said. "I feel bad for the kids."

Walz said Monday morning that his team is still absorbing last week's news that senior guard Antonita Slaughter will miss the rest of the season after she was diagnosed with a blood clot in her lung.

Slaughter collapsed on the bench last Tuesday during the Cardinals' game against Missouri State. The clot was discovered in follow-up examinations. Walz said Monday that doctors believe the clot was not related to her collapse, but was discovered during the subsequent evaluation. The collapse, doctors believe, was caused by a "cardiac event" and Slaughter is still being evaluated. In the meantime, Slaughter has begun to take blood thinners, the treatment expected to last six or seven months.

"They don't know if the clot was there before or after," Walz said. "But they are two separate incidents. They are still trying to determined what caused the cardiac event."

AP Photo/Timothy D. EasleyTo help fill in for Antonita Slaughter's absence, power forward Asia Taylor moves to the wing position.

Slaughter was back on the Louisville bench Saturday for the team's game against Wright State. She came to shootaround before the game and she's back living on campus.

"Things have settled down. I think just seeing her have interaction with everybody, there's a big relief there," Walz said. "I mean, when she was taken off the court on a stretcher she was unresponsive. The kids were terrified. Everybody was. She wasn't able to give us a thumbs-up."

It wasn't until about 10 minutes after she left that court that Walz and the team got word that she was conscious and responsive.

"The medical people felt good about things at that point," Walz said.

Now the task for the Cardinals is to move forward and to replace Slaughter's production on the court. She was averaging 9.3 points a game in nine starts.

Walz is used to this part. Seniors Tia Gibbs and Asia Taylor missed last season with hip injuries. Junior Shawnta Dyer suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in December and missed the rest of the season.

"This is kind of what we've gone through the past four years," Walz said. "Players have to step up."

Walz said Slaughter's points will be the easiest thing to replace.

"We'll find the points. It's the intangibles she brought," Walz said. "She defended well, and we are really trying to figure out that role. She is 6-foot-1 and with her length, she could defend the perimeter.

"Somebody doesn't have to shoot the ball as well, but somebody else has to become a threat, because Antonita gave us the ability to spread the floor."

Slaughter's absence on the floor means Taylor will move to the wing from power forward.

Sophomores Megan Deines and Cortnee Walton will pick up the slack as well, and Gibbs, a sixth-year senior, might have to play a few more minutes.

Gibbs missed the past two seasons with shoulder and hip injuries and her time on the floor has been limited, but she started in Slaughter's spot on Saturday and played eight minutes.

"We are managing her minutes, we want to get her feeling better," Walz said of Gibbs. "We will try to play her more if she's able."

Walz admires the way his team has handled the situation over the past six days.

"Nobody has ever been through anything like that," Walz said. "I'm not sure how we even kept playing after that."


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