Tim Eatman on the move again -- Friday Cardinal Couple

FORMER LOUISVILLE ASSISTANT WBB COACH GOES TO RUTGERS

Tim Eatman was one of the people influential in getting Angel McCoughtry to the Louisville campus. When Tom Collen left for Arkansas after Angel's sophomore year, Eatman went with him.

Eatman has been named an assistant for C. Vivian Stringer at Rutgers. It also means he gets to work with Julie Hermann again.

Tim's pretty excited: 

"There are three reasons I decided to accept the challenge of my life by joining Coach C.Vivian Stringer as part of her staff at Rutgers University," said Eatman of joining the Scarlet Knight coaching ranks.

"First, it is an incredible opportunity to once again have the chance to work with a pioneer and hall of famer. Secondly, I embrace her vision to have a chance to win a national championship. Lastly, I will be reunited with Athletic Director Julie Hermann, who was my Senior Women's Administrator (SWA) at the University of Louisville. Julie was an amazing asset in assisting the staff in recruiting the core players that propelled Louisville to their first two Final Fours in the program's history. I am looking forward to competing in the Big Ten. It is an exciting day to be a part of the Scarlet Knight family."

We wish him well in Jersey. He built some pretty awesome defenses at the "Ville" 

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USA v CANADA TODAY

USA U 19 WBB looks to advance to the Final Four of the FIBA U 19 World Championship when they play Canada today at 1:15 p.m.

This one will be back at Chekhov and on You Tube again. Someone put Walz and Jacob in a cab and keep him away from public transpotation. 

USA defeated Canada last week in the Spanish International Invitational 95-40.

I like their chances here...

paulie

xxxxx

Sunday Cardinal Couple -- Time to shine

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-WBB faces Rutgers today

-Softball sweeps in Day 2 of Cardinal Classic

-Lacrosse faces William & Mary today

-Swimming takes AAC Championships


Time to play.

The UofL WBB squad faces Rutgers tomorrow in the KFC YUM! Center at 3 p.m. in a showcase game of two of the hottest teams in the AAC (and the nation) tomorrow.

Louisville has lost just once in their last nineteen games and sits #3 in the nation with a 26-2 record. Rutgers is 16-3 since December and currently on a five game win streak. The Scarlet Knights are 20-5 and looking to close the gap on the Cards hold on second place in the AAC.

Oh, yeah...this one should be fun.

Louisville will look to put the hiatus on one of the best freshmen in the nation is Tyler Scaife. No problem, right? She's only 5'7".

Think again. She lit Louisville up for 25 back in Piscataway on Jan. 28th and is the reigning AAC Freshman of the Week.

She averaged 19 points in two Rutgers wins last week against Houston and UCF.

This Rutgers squad is not a one-horse stable, though. Kahleah Copper is shooting 56.5% from the floor this season, averaging 16.1 p.p.g. and will make you pay inside. Rachel Hollivay is ninth in the nation in blocked shots (81) and Syessence Davis 15th. in the nation in steals with 73. Betnijah Laney has 11 double doubles on the season, scores at a clip of 12.5 a contest and grabs 9.1 a night.



(OK...it's a little late for that but I like the pic...)

The Scarlet Knights are coming to town with their own 'unfinished business'...the trip to Louisville is their final away game of the year and hanging a loss on Louisville would assure them of a definite third place conference finish and a legit shot at tying the Cards for second place.

They will be running into a Louisville team, though, that beat them by nine in "The RAC" and one of the top-five players in the nation in Shoni. Another motivation factor for C.Vivian Stringer's squad.

Give Shoni 13-15,000 screaming fans and a Sunday matinee and she just might top the 24 points she put on them in Piscataway. She averages 17.6 per tilt.

Shutting down Shoni won't get an opponent out of the woods, though. Sara "The Hammer" Hammond pounds down 11.3 per tussle and has 6.4 rebounds. A-Tayy (10.9 ppg and 6.9 rebounds) is dangerous in the paint or with the jumper. If Nita Slaughter and Tia Gibbs are bombing threes successfully, "E" is on one of her point-per-minute rampages and Jude and Bria are slicing and dicing up defenses...well, you get the picture. There's more than one Card in this deck.

This one will be a classic college basketball matchup. You don't want to miss it. If you can't get there, it's a ESPNU game. Maybe one of the last times these two meet for a stretch in a regular season matchup, since Rutgers is off to the BIG 10 and the Cards to the ACC.

Show up. Get loud. Stay loud. Wear your pink because it is the annual Pink Game. Get there early and get one of the 2,000 Pink T-shirts being given out for a donation to Gilda's Club. Help your Cards get the 'W'. Help Louisville add to the 16-0 home record they have this season and increase on the 7-4 win/loss record UofL has against RU in the series.  

See ya there!

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CARDINAL SOFTBALL GOT BACK ON THE WINNING TRACK AT ULMER YESTERDAY WITH TWO WINS...BOMBING IUPUI 12-1 AND SCORING THREE RUNS IN THE BOTTOM OF THE SEVENTH TO BEAT CMU 3-2

THE CARDS RUN-RULED THE VISITORS FROM INDIANAPOLIS IN THE FIRST GAME...BATTING IN ONLY FOUR INNINGS AND AMASSING 16 HITS. A NINE-RUN THIRD INNING WAS THE 'BOOM'.

AS THE WAY IT ALMOST ALWAYS SEEMS THIS SEASON SO FAR IN NIGHTCAPS, LOUISVILLE'S BATS DISAPPEARED IN THE SECOND GAME...GOING SCORELESS IN SIX INNINGS.

THESE GAMES ARE SEVEN INNINGS USUALLY, THOUGH...AND UOFL MADE THE MOST OF THEIR FINAL AT-BAT...SCORING THREE RUNS WITH JUST ONE OUT.

In the bottom of the seventh, Hannah Kiyohara led off with an infield single and Brittany Sims reached on an error by Cox. Katie Keller followed and sent a hard ground ball to third where CMU's Danielle Marlink fielded and stepped on third for the first out of the inning. She sailed a throw past first base on a double play attempt which sent Keller to second. With runners on second and third and one out in the inning, Whitney Arion powered a two-run double to left field to tie the game. Jones followed with an RBI double to center field for the 3-2 win..

UOFL WILL FACE NKU TODAY IN FINAL DAY ACTION OF THE CARDINAL CLASSIC.  12:30 FOR THIS ONE. YOU SHOULD MAKE A CARDINAL DOUBLEHEADER OF IT TODAY BY HITTING SOFTBALL FIRST AND THEN HEADING TO THE YUM! 



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Lacrosse looks for their second win in Virginia today when they face off against William & Mary at 1 p.m. in Williamsburg, VA.

The Tribe is 0-1 this season, losing 11-8 to Duke last Sunday.

Louisville is 2-1...coming off a road win against ODU. In the Cards 15-12 triumph, Nikki Boltja had five goals and Faye Brust added four. Two late goals by Cortnee Daly helped the Cards maintain the win.

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Congratulations to the men and women's swimming squads, who wrapped up the AAC Tournament championships at the Ralph Wright yesterday. Many of the Cards have put up times in their events that will give them a chance to participate in NCAA qualifying events and we wish them the best of luck in the continuing post-season.

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In case you missed Saturday's broadcast of CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO, do not worry or fret. It is on the Soundcloud and you can give it a listen at the link at the bottom of the article.

Hear Jeff heap abuse upon Paulie, hear Shoni and Sara talk about 2K. Hear Jenny narrowly lose in the weekly quiz. The agony and ecstasy...the pain and pride. The total nonsense we babble about weekly.

Come join us...

LINK:

THE AIRWAVES ARE NOT SAFE. STAY OFF THE INTERNET !!

paulie
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Tuesday Cardinal Couple -- Louisville WBB set to play in Piscataway

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Cards, Scarlet Knights on CBS Sports Network

- Hermann the architect looking to build again

- Shoni named AAC Player of the Week

The University of Louisville women's basketball squad brings its 20-1 record and #5 ranking into the RAC tonight at 9 p.m. to face a 15-4 Rutgers team in a battle that will be shown on CBS Sports Network. Debbie Antonelli and Brent Stover will have the call in a contest that features two teams with a common denominator.

Julie Hermann.

One of the driving forces behind the success of Louisville women's basketball for the past dozen years, Hermann is now trying to resurrect a program which has taken some hits and loss in attendance since the glory years of 2007-08.

It's also one of those dreaded Sunday-Tuesday turnarounds that Coach Walz isn't particularly fond of...but an occurrence that he and the squad are in the second week out of three that they have the sequence.

Rutgers is 2-2 in their last four...falling at Memphis and to UConn before knocking off UCF and Temple on the road last week. They'll look to deflate the ball a bit against the high-octane offense the Cards have displayed as of late...RU has held opponents to under 70 points the entire season except once...when UConn rolled up 94 on them.

The Scarlet Knights are led by sophomore forward Kahleah Copper (16.9 ppg), junior G/F Betnijah Laney (13.4 ppg) and freshman guard Tyler Scaife (12.6). 6'4" Center Rachel Hollivay is eighth in the nation in blocked shots and leads the AAC with 3.3 a contest.

Will C.Viv Stringer and her team, which has no seniors, be able to slow down the streaking Shoni Schimmel...who has blasted the nets for 16 threes in the last two games? The affable C.Viv...whose been drawing up X's and O's for 43 years (19 at RU) has been under fire the last couple of seasons for not duplicating the successes of her teams 7-8 years ago

But most importantly...will we see Precious Person play...a member of our Cardinal Couple All-Name squad?

Road wins are worth their weight in gold. The RAC could hold double its season attendance numbers of almost 1900 for this one tonight.

After all, it is Louisville coming to town.

It will be a serious test for a Louisville team that really hasn't been severely tested since losing to UK.

Should be a good one tonight. Another rivalry that will go by the wayside at the end of this season.

Time to go to work, ladies.

We'll have a full recap in the Wednesday CC. Just who will write it remains to be seen. It's rumored Worldwide is back on dry ground and wasn't on the "sick" cruise...but he hasn't indicated what day he wants to return to keystroking.
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HERE'S AN ARTICLE ABOUT MS. HERMANN

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Julie Hermann says Rutgers women's basketball has potential to replicate Louisville's success    

 

Rutgers athletic director Julie Hermann watches a basketball game at the RAC in November. / JASON TOWLEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Written by

Ryan Dunleavy

@rydunleavy

 

ADVERTISEMENT

PISCATAWAY — The 6,000-plus empty seats at the Louis Brown Athletic Center during almost any given Rutgers women’s basketball game is the constant reminder of momentum lost over the last six years, as a program tumbled from annual Final Four contender to 2013 NCAA Tournament outsider.
Maybe only Rutgers athletics director Julie Hermann looks around at nearly 1,900 fans and thinks not of wreckage but of a foundation. After all, the crowd is twice the average size seen at Louisville a decade ago, before an explosion of popularity occurred under Hermann’s watch as the sport’s administrator.
“It can happen anywhere if you have the right combination of a program people want to support — which involves many things (like) right coach, right players representing the institution at a high level, and competing at a high level,” Hermann said in an exclusive interview. “If you have those pieces, then your marketing effort — or your reach to the demographic that will answer — can happen anywhere.”
When Louisville visits Rutgers at 9 p.m. today at the RAC in a televised (CBS Sports Network) matchup of teams with contrasting levels of popularity, it might notice a familiar script for everything surrounding the action. It is part of a long-term vision of interaction developed for a program in spite of the fact that its Hall of Fame coach, C. Vivian Stringer, is operating on a short-term basis, with a contract due to expire June 1.
“She is going to take us into the Big Ten,” Hermann said. “I don’t know how long we will arm-wrestle over the details of a contract about what she wants and what Rutgers can do, but my intent is for (her) to lead us into the Big Ten and her intent is to do so.”

Empty seats

Rutgers’ attendance reached its all-time peak of 4,740 in 2007-08 — off of a run to the NCAA Tournament final — but has experienced a steady and dramatic drop-off ever since. Last season’s average (2,084) was the program’s lowest since 1996-97 (1,571) but still is higher than the current 1,894 through nine games.

FOR MORE, GO TO THE LINK BELOW:

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20140127/NJSPORTS0210/301270056/Julie-Hermann-says-Rutgers-women-s-basketball-has-potential-replicate-Louisville-s-success


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We know the power of "Sho-time". The AAC recognized it this week...

Louisville senior Shoni Schimmel was named American Athletic Conference Player
of the Week the league announced on Monday.

Schimmel averaged 27.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists for Louisville last
week as the Cardinals improved to 8-0 in league play. She finished the week
shooting 63.3 percent (19-for-30) from the field and 69.6 percent (16-for-23)
from 3-point range.
Against Houston, Schimmel scored 25 points while going 7 of 11 from behind the
3-point line.  She also pulled down a season-high eight rebounds and dished out
five assists.

Schimmel hit a school-record nine 3-pointers against Memphis and finished with
29 points in 27 minutes of action. She drilled six 3-pointers in a span of four
minutes to lift Louisville to a 35-19 lead with 3:58 left in the first half.
Schimmel made eight 3s in the first half and Louisville never looked back. She
left the game with 8:55 left to cheers and an ovation from the crowd of 10,345.

Freshman Emmonnie Henderson was named to the weekly honor role after averaging
14.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game last week.  Henderson scored career-highs
in back-to-back games last week against Houston and Memphis. Against Houston,
Henderson scored a career-high 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds.  She
finished the game shooting 6 of 9 from the field.  She also dished out two
assists and grabbed three steals.  Against Memphis, Henderson tied her
career-high with 14 points and pulled down two rebounds.  She went 4 of 5 from
the field and 4 of 4 from the foul line against the Tigers.

paulie
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Tuesday Cardinal Couple -- Ellison commits to...

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Aja Ellison headed to Maryland

-The American: A year of hoops old and new

Aja Ellison, daughter of former University of Louisville men's basketball great Pervis Ellison, has chosen her college and it is the University of Maryland.

The 6'2" center and 2014 prospect played her junior season at Life Center Academy (Burlington, NJ). She helped lead Life Center to the National Association of Christian Athletes Division I national title.

Her mother, Timi Crawford, is a former Maryland track and field athlete.

This one isn't a huge loss for UofL...yes, it would have been nice to have "Never Nervous" Pervis' daughter wearing the red and black but the Cards are pursuing quite a few top flight high school stars for 2014 and already have Sydney Brackemyer and Arianna Freeman on board for a recruiting class that can probably accommodate one or two more players as of now.

Honesty, we're also not sure just how actively Aja was considering the Cards or vice versa. She was listed as undeclared and had no favorites listed according to a couple of recruiting services. Louisville extended an offer when she was a freshman. Notre Dame looked at her also.

With interest from some of the nation's 2014 best and possible transfer possibilities looming, the Cards won't have to worry about having a short, or untalented class to join the returnees.

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As we have discussed before, some of the University of Louisville women's athletic squads will participate in the American Athletic Conference (AAC or 'The American') for a season before joining the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference). 

Over the next few weeks, we'll take a look at what the UofL women's teams will be faced with in this transition conference. Today, we'll look at hoops.

First...the top two teams in the nation are in the AAC. Louisville and Connecticut. That, alone...gives the conference a huge measure of respect and viability for at least one season.

There is no official AAC WBB schedule out yet...but taking a look at some of the schools Louisville will likely face in hoops doesn't cause a great deal of consternation. 

USF (22-11)...who delivered a rare loss to Louisville in the KFC YUM! Center last season...is there. They don't have the Smith sisters, though or Inga Orekhova.

Cincinnati finished 12-18 in 2012-13 and remains a squad that has improved under Coach Elliott...but isn't at Louisville's talent level yet.

Rutgers, 16-14 last year, is infused with new talent...freshman and transfer wise...and always plays Louisville tough.

New opponents for the Cards, based on what the conference looks like while glancing at the volleyball contingent, are listed below:

-SMU. They went 21-10 an made it to the WNIT...where they lost in the first round.

No Muffet in 2013-14. Whatever will we do?

-Memphis. Finishing 17-15...they also qualified for the WNIT and fell to Arkansas in Round 1.

-UCF. 16-18. No post-season.

-Temple. 14-18. No post-season.

-Houston. 13-17. No post-season.

Our best guess? Louisville is the 2nd best team in AAC WBB for 2013-14. Yes, we had to stay up late and do massive research on that prognostication. Rutgers should improve after a disappointing 2012-13 and gets our nod for third best. We'll go with SMU, based on last year's results, to round out the top four. Jose Fernandez does have some talent returning at USF and could challenge for a fourth place finish.

After that...it's anyone's guess. It will be interesting to see how the former BIG EAST schools do (wins vs. losses) against the non-BIG EAST members of The American.

A stop-over to a final destination. A final goodbye to Cincy, Rutgers, UConn and USF. And, no XL Center for a conference tournament venue.

See, there are some good things about The American...after all. And, it'll only be a year before Coach Walz is reunited with Muffet, "Q" and "Bubbles" Anderson (who WE desperately want to see play...)

Courage...

-Paulie

Monday Cardinal Couple -- Cards face Tennessee State

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Louisville in final pre-conference game New Year's Eve.

- Brackemyre injures knee.

Jeff Walz's Louisville Cardinal basketball team engages Tennessee State Monday night at 6 p.m. in their final tuneup before BIG EAST conference play begin. The foe is 4-7 on the season, with wins over Cumberland, Samford, Idaho and Lipscomb and losses to South Alabama, Kansas State, UAB, Montana, Montana State, Cleveland State and E. Illinois.

For Louisville, the challenge is to resume the intensity that they showed against Washington State and Wagner. Ten days off for a team is never really something that a coach desires...but through individual workouts and a few team practices...the Cards should be ready to go against a team which has lost four out of their last five.

It's a chance to improve the Cardinal record to 12-2 before heading to Chicago to face dangerous DePaul, always tough Rutgers in the KFC YUM! and pesky Providence on the road all in one week's span, starting January 5th. 

The overall series against the Lady Tigers is 2-2, with Louisville losing to the Nashville school last time out on
Feb. 14th, 1987...78-65. TSU is the fourth Ohio Valley Conference school Louisville has played this season...the Cards winning against Eastern Kentucky, UT-Martin and Austin Peay earlier this season.

The nation's "fiscal cliff" aside, the Cardinals face a cliff of thier own, beginning in early January. Hopefully, they'll have their ropes in place and climbing gear in order to navigate the climb back into the nation's top 10.

We'll have the recap in the Tuesday edition of CARDINAL COUPLE.

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

Future Cardinal target Sydney Brackemyre suffered a knee injury Saturday night and will undergo an MRI Monday to determine the extent of the damage. Our thoughts and hopes for a good diagnosis and speedy recovery go out to the top-rated 2014 prospect.

The Clinton-Massie junior has impressed college coaches greatly over the last year and Louisville, Dayton and Michigan are the final three schools in the hunt for her services, according to most reports. Clinton-Massie was playing Wilmington when the injury occured and ended up losing 46-35.

She had 32 points on 11-22 shooting and 13 boards in the semifinals of the Clinton County tournament Thursday night against East Clinton.

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Monday Cardinal Couple - A Big East update

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- BIG EAST ROLLING ALONG IN NON-CONFERENCE SLATE

With the start of BIG EAST conference play less than two weeks away, we thought we'd take a look at how the 15 teams are doing so far. Here's the latest standings:

UConn     10-0                          Georgetown  7-4
Syracuse  11-1                          Pittsburgh    7-4
N.D          9-1                           Marquette     6-5
Villanova  9-1                           St. John        5-5
Louisville 11-2                          Seton Hall     5-5
USF          9-2                           Providence    3-8
DePaul     10-3
Rutgers    8-3
Cincy       7-3



No real surprises at the top of the leaderboards...although Villanova at 9-1 is mildly surprising. They've also held opponents to 50 or less points in seven of their ten games.

Superstar Skylar Diggins returns for Notre Dame

The BIG EAST is 117-50 in games so far and Muffet McGraw recently got her 800th. career win. Agnes Berenato (Pitt) also recorded her 159th. win, tops in Pittsburgh women's basketball history.

After Tennessee State on 12/31/12, the Cards will go into conference play on the road at DePaul on Jan. 5th. Rutgers visits the YUM! Center on Jan 8th., Louisville hits Providence on Jan. 12th. and UConn on the 15th. A tough start to the conference for Louisville...but none of the games in the BIG EAST appear to be easy this season.

Katherine Harry controls the boards for DePaul

Louisville was a combined 1-4 against these four BIG EAST schools in the regular season last year...the lone win coming against DePaul 75-62 in the YUM! Center. DePaul has Brittany Hrynko, Katherine Harry and Anna Martin back from last year's 23-11 squad that made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Cards are on a few days of Christmas break currently. Although there aren't any scheduled practices until a few days after Christmas, Coach Walz and the staff have asked the girls to run and get some shots up while at home. We like the idea that they do get to spend some time with their loved ones this time of year and wish all the Louisville Cardinals...along with our readers...a very Merry Christmas!
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Lady Cards fall to Rutgers

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SUNDAY WITH THE COUPLE...

-Cards need to use Rutgers loss as a building block

-BIG EAST Saturday results.

"Big shot" Becky played
45 minutes yesterday.

The University of Louisville women's basketball team was no doubt heartbroken after losing a close contest in overtime on the road to Rutgers yesterday. Louisville led at the half, led by 13 in the second half and had a great chance to win at the end of regulation. Some circus shots by Rutgers and untimely miscues by the Lady Cards took them to defeat, though. A solid effort from Walz's crew, but people don't read "solid" into box scores and W/L records.

The team needs to use the loss as a important building block to future success. What should Louisville "takeaway" from this one? (A term our buddy Howie Lindsey loves to overuse...takeaway.)

-Yes, Louisville..you can play a zone effectively. The Lady Cards were in a 2-3 zone defensively against Rutgers. It worked most of the time. Zones are designed to make an opponent shoot from outside. Rutgers has had problems with outside shooting this season. Erica Wheeler had a career game yesterday against Louisville, other than that...the zone did what it was intended to do. We'd like to see the Lady Cards in it more often.

Louisville plays Rutgers
to within three with just
five points from Shoni.
Who'd thunk it?

-A rotation that works. Walz used Smith, Burke, Shoni, Vails, Dyer and Warren extensively yesterday. It worked. Louisville substituted less than at any other time this season...Jude, Hammond and Harper seeing spot relief and Slaughter and Taylor no time. Whether it was just a one game deal or not obviously remains to be seen...but players build continuity and togetherness when they're on the court together. Witness Rutgers yesterday. Four players had 68 of their 71 points. This time of year, you need combinations that work well together.

-Go big, go big. The "bigs" had 40 of Louisville 68 points yesterday. Getting the ball inside worked. Combine that with Smith's ability to drive and either score or go to the line and Louisville actually won the points in the paint battle 34-30 against a brutal Rutgers front line. Yes, Shoni had a "off" shooting game. That won't happen often. We were impressed with Vails, Dyer and Warren's work inside the paint. WE hope it continues to improve. If opponents continue to employ the "stop Shoni" strategy...Walz has a remedy.

-Finish the game. Louisville had Rutgers on the ropes with a 41-28 lead in the second half. Teams like Notre Dame and UConn take situations like this and drive the final nails in the opponent's coffin. Louisville let Rutgers go on a 11-2 run to climb within four. For Louisville to become a Notre Dame or UConn, they have to develop a killer instinct. And, play effectively against a press.

Even though yesterday's game goes into the "L" column, we're still encouraged about how the Lady Cards played on the road, in a hostile environment and against a top ten team. Something they can use when on future road trips to Georgetown, DePaul and West Virginia...where the crowds will be less, the competition good but not top 10 quality and we get television on two out of the three.

SONJA SAYS...

Who knew about Erica Wheeler? Her best game of her career. A falling down, shot clock beating 3 when Louisville had two chances to get the ball and preserve the lead late. Karma's a &^%$# sometimes. I hope that yesterday's effort continues. I hope that Asia, Sara, Nita and Jude don't get discouraged by their lack of playing time yesterday. You know Shelby won't. Their times will come. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few (I think Spock said that in "Star Trek") and Louisville had good chemistry yesterday.

PAUL:

From 14 at the start of the year, to 11 and down to six yesterday. The Louisville coaching staff knows so much more than we, the fans do, about this team. Jeff Walz out coached C. Viv yesterday. Erase two key turnovers late in regulation yesterday and the Lady Cards leave with a win. I'll agree with Sonja that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. And, you never know. Wednesday night could be a breakout game for Sara Hammond. We know Asia Taylor can rebound and play defense. We've seen Jude handle the point with skill and Nita has had great perimeter shooting games. Shelby the Yorkie is a threat anytime she hits the hardwood. You go with your current strengths and that's what the Lady Cards did yesterday. Tomorrow, it could change. If the ones who didn't play much want to play more, they must challenge those in front of them for playing time.

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An upset, a closer than expected game and a few blowouts highlighted the rest of the BIG EAST women's basketball schedule yesterday. Here's what went on.

-- UConn got 22 points from Tiffany Hayes in a 72-49 rout. This one was actually close for awhile...the Wildcats led 16-11 in the first half and closed it to 41-36 in the second half before the Huskies took over. UConn played a five guard lineup at times. Hmmm....

--Providence turned a ten point halftime deficit into a three point win against WVU with a 51-48 win. Surprise, surprise...Barnes had 19 for the Friars. The Rhode Island college comes to Louisville on Wednesday. Rut, row....

-- Notre Dame got 21 from Lexingtonian Natalie Novosel and 17 from Deve Peters in a 76-50 slashing of Cincy. UC had their highest attendance of the season thanks to the Novosel fans heading up 1-75 to see her play.

-- DePaul also got a big game from a Lexingtonian...Anna Martin tossed in 29 against Pitt to lead the Blue Demons to a closer than expected 86-83 win. Pitt was down 12 before roaring back to make it 84-83. Martin hit two insurance free throws with 19 seconds left to preserve the win.

--South Florida got another big game from the Russian Rocket Inga Orekhova and their other two talented guards in a 68-49 win over hapless Seton Hall. Inga tossed in 20, Jazz Wynne added 14 and "shootin' Saunders" contributed 10 for the improving Bulls. Said it earlier and will say it again, Jose Fernandez's squad is going to pull off some upsets the rest of the way....

SUNDAY ACTION...

Syracuse and Georgetown
Marquette against St. John's

We'll take...the Hoyas and the Red Storm in these. Both will be close.

How are we doing?

We went 4-1 yesterday...Providence's win over WVU the only incorrect pick. Only loss of the week...so far. We'll see if we can finish 8-1 for the week.

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We had a lot of very good picks in the Rutgers "name the score and winner" contest. 42 of us participated and we could grumble about the game going to O.T. but we won't. Your winner was "Uncle Miltie" Milt Strasberg....who offered 70-66 Rutgers.

We'll do it again when we can get more gifts cards out of Panera. It's like trying to climb Mt. Everest in a speedo, but they eventually come through...
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Lady Cards lose in overtime 71-68 to Rutgers.

GAME REPORT:

-Louisville loses by 3 in overtime.

Erica Wheeler hits a desperation 3 with the shot clock running out in overtime to give the Scarlet Knights a 70-68 lead with 1:13 left to give Rutgers a lead they would not relinquish. Louisville could not score on their final possession, Bria Smith missing a driving layup, Shawnta Dyer rebounding the miss but is stripped by Khadija Rushdan, who is then fouled by Becky Burke. Rushdan hits a free throw for the final margin with 1.3 left.  Louisville could not get a shot off on the inbounds play.

The action was fast and furious from the opening tip. Burke nailed a three to give Louisville the early lead but five straight Rutgers points gave them the lead. A Sherrone Vails layup tied it at 5-5 but the Scarlet Knights responded with 5 straight again to lead 10-5 with 15:45 left. Louisville rallied back with Shawnta Dyer inside and regained the lead 15-14 in Shoni Schimmel's only basket of the first half. The Cards would stretch that out to 23-17 after two more Dyer baskets, A Cierra Warren layup and score from Vails inside.

The 2-3 Louisville zone was confusing the Scarlet Knights but they went on another 5-0 run to tie it on a Wheeler 3 - her second of six in the game. The final 2:23 of the first half belonged to the Lady Cards, though...Warren with a put back, and then a layup on a Shoni feed. Becky Burke's three had UofL up 30-23 and two Shelby Harper free throws made it the Lady Cards by nine. Cierra Warren missed the first of a 1 and 1 with .02 left in the half...but the Cards took a 32-23 lead into the locker room.

Dyer led Louisville with 10 points, Warren and Burke had six each, Vails 4, Smith, Shoni and Shelby (the "S" squad...) 2 each. Sara Hammond played in the first half but did not score. Jude Schimmel, Nita Slaughter and Asia Taylor did not see action in the first twenty minutes. Rutgers was led by Monique Oliver's 10 points.

Louisville pushed the lead to 11 when Warren hit the opening bucket of the second half an held a 41-28 advantage with 16:30 left  in the game when Burke hit three free throws after being fouled on a three point attempt. Rutgers responded with a full court press, though and it seemed to rattle the Cards. The Scarlet Knights took off on a 11-2 run to close within 43-39 after a April Sykes jumper with 11:52 to go. 

A technical foul was called on Rutgers' Monique Oliver for taunting at the 10:36 mark and Shoni hit 1 of 2 free throws...but Rutgers took off on a 11-4 run to grab the lead at 50-48 when Sykes hit two free throws with 6:41 to go. Louisville tied it on two Smith free throws and the game went back and forth in lead changes for the next four minutes...Sykes canning a three to put Rutgers up 58-56 with 2:53 remaining. Smith tied it with two more charity tosses at the 1:58 mark, after a Scarlet Knight free throw following Vails fifth foul. Two more free throws from Smith gave Louisville a 60-59 advantage with 29 seconds left. Wheeler tied it with 1 of 2 free throws and 16 seconds on the clock. A Shoni errant pass gave the ball back to Rutgers with 8.7 left but they could not score on two attempts and it was 60-60 at the end of regulation.

The Lady Cards drew first blood in overtime when Warren connected in the paint. After Oliver countered with a jumper, Warren put back a missed Cardinal shot and UofL led 64-62.

Sykes was effective for the Scarlet
Knights in the second half.

Sykes bombed a three with 3:15 left to make it 65-64 Rutgers but Burke nailed both charity tosses with 2:26 left to give the Lady Cards a 66-65 lead. Oliver hit another jumper to make it 67-66 but a Dyer putback had Louisville on top 68-67 with 1:43 to go. That set the stage for Wheeler's heroics and Louisville loses by three in overtime. 

The Cards shot 43% for the game but went just 2-9 from three range, both hit by Burke. Rutgers shot 39%, hit a season high 9 of 17 three pointers (6 from Wheeler, 3 from Sykes) and outrebounded the Cards 40-33. Louisville did hit 20-22 free throws. They committed 18 turnovers. 21 points from the "killer B's" today (Burke and Bria) and Smith had the final four Cardinal points in regulation.

Dyer led Louisville in scoring with 16 points. Warren had 14, Burke 11, Vails 10, Smith 10 Shoni 5 and Harper 2. Hammond and Jude played but didn't score. Taylor and Slaughter did not see action. For Rutgers, Wheeler led all scorers with 23 points (17 in the second half), Sykes had 19 (17 in the second half) and Oliver finished with 17. Rushdan had nine for R.U.

WHAT WE LIKED ABOUT THE GAME:

-Big effort from the "bigs". 40 points from Vails, Dyer and Warren. Some excellent passing from Shoni and Smith to set them up, but a lot of hard work from the trio against the talented RU front line.

-Smith at the line. The freshman showed nerves of steel with 6-6 free throw shooting in the final 6:39...when Louisville needed her.
Her drives to the basket resulted in missed shots but free throw attemps...which she cashed in on.
THINGS TO WORK ON...

-Rebounding. Louisville was killed time and time again on Rutgers putbacks and Oliver and Sykes did most the damage. Rushdan was effective as well.

-Shoni shutdown. The Scarlet Knights kept Shoni from creating...just five points in 45 minutes. She did find others open and they benefited...but when was the last time she played a game without hitting a three and got shut out in the final 13 minutes of a game?

All in all, a heartbreaking loss that the Lady Cards suffer. A great effort by Rutgers in front of 5,500 fans to overcome the Louisville second half lead and win. A team that was second worst in the league in three point percentage gets hot today. Defense was the difference... and Rutgers played it better.
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Rutgers next for Lady Cards

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SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Louisville faces tough road test against the Scarlet Knights.

-Saturday action and predictions...WBB

Jeff Walz's University of Louisville women's basketball team returns to the east coast for hoops action today...visiting the 14-2, 3-0 #8 Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Game time is 2 p.m. Programming note...the radio feed locally will be on 1080 AM. WHAS and WKRD are slotted for Cats and the UofL men's team. Hey, 1080 is better than hard to pick up 101.7 FM. Thanks, UofL!

Ok, girls...back to practice. We know you're cute and witty...

The Scarlet Knights handled Pittsburgh last time out pretty easily 63-39. Senior Khadijah Rushdan scored a game-high 14 points against the Panthers and junior Monique Oliver added a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. In the game, Rushdan scored 12 of her points in the first twenty minutes, leading RU to a 37-24 advantage. Senior April Sykes had nine first half points and finished with 11. She is getting close to the career 1000 point-mark with 980 currently on the books. It also seems she's picked up a bit of maturity in her senior season. Lady Cards fans might remember her cheap, flagrant foul last year as the game ended in the KFC YUM! Center. Louisville won 56-45. Sykes had 20 points in the contest, launching nine 3-pointers against UofL and hitting three.

The Scarlet Knights dominated Pitt offensively, outscoring them 40-12 in the paint. They also dominated the second chance points 20-6. The defense was there for C.Vivian Stringer's squad as well...Pitt did not score inside until 3:34 remained in the first half. Rutgers scored 29 points off 21 Pitt turnovers. 

Only Miami and Tennessee have hung losses on RU this season. Rutgers is seventh in the BIG EAST is scoring offense (65.7) and third in scoring defense (51.7). 

Sykes (no relation) can take over
games.

Rutgers gets it done with the team concept. Sykes (14.4) and Rushdan (12.4) are the leading scorers, Oliver leads in rebounds (8.2) and also shoots 55% from the floor. Erica Wheeler is the theft leader, with 34 in 16 games. She also leads in blocked shots with 30 this season...fourth best in the BIG EAST. Wheeler and Sykes are the three point threats.

Impact players for the Scarlet Knights also include Betnijah Laney and Briyona Canty. Rutgers will try and use their incredible strength in the paints and Stringer's dreaded "55" defense to keep the Lady Cards off balance and away from the boards today. WE don't expect a high scoring affair in the RAC. We hope that the "stripes" don't get whistle-happy either, but with the physical play of C. Vivian's squad...it could happen.

Louisville simply MUST get some sort of positive production out of the combination of "bigs" Warren, Vails, Dyer, Taylor, Hammond and Slaughter. Rutgers will try to contain and shut down Burke and Shoni Schimmel's outside shooting and Smith's penchant for driving the baseline and scoring. Whether or not Jude Schimmel and Shelby Harper can have much of an effect on the talented RU guards remains to be seen.

We'll have a full recap of the action for you here at CARDINAL COUPLE later today.

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Besides the Lady Cards and Rutgers...five other BIG EAST contests are taking place today. Here's who is playing and who we pick...

West Virginia at Providence. A good matchup. WVU is 3-1 in conference, Providence 1-3. The home court advantage for the Friars won't be enough...WVU goes to 4-1.

UCONN at Villanova. Another Husky blowout. Yawn. Next?

Notre Dame at Cincinnati. The Irish may get a tough test from the under-rated UC guards but the Irish prevail here by 20 or so.

USF at Seton Hall. We think the USF guards will have another field day. They should handle Seton Hall by double digits.

Pittsburgh at DePaul. Even without Keisha Hampton, DePaul is still a top five BIG EAST team. They'll handle the 0-4 in BIG EAST Panthers with little problem.

WE are split on the Louisville v. Rutgers game...Sonja picking the LADY CARDS and Paul choosing Rutgers...so we're not making this one part of the prediction thread. GO GET THE UPSET, LADY CARDS...

How are we doing? Quite well, thank you. 7-0 on the week. We expect to be 12-0 after today.
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Cards play first of three on the road against UC tonight

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CARDINAL COUPLE WEDNESDAY EDITION

-UC, Louisville open BIG EAST play tonight

-Tennessee outlasts Rutgers

#13 Lady Cards open the 2011-12 BIG EAST Conference campaign with a trip to Cincinnati tonight. The Cards are coming off a 92-27 romp over Gardner - Webb...UC a loss on the road to Marshall.

Cierra Warren, the
Cards leading
rebounder

Louisville (8-2) is led in scoring by senior Monique Reid, who is averaging 14.6 points a game. The Lady Cards have three others in double figures...Shoni Schimmel (13.5), Becky Burke (11.7) and freshman Bria Smith (10.9). Schimmel leads the Cards in assists (5.1 a game) and Cierra Warren is the leader in rebounding through 10 games.

Shoni needs to perform her wizardry
tonight in Cincinnati

With the probability of the Bearcats starting four guards most of the season, will Jeff Walz tinker with the starting lineup from the Gardner Webb game? Walz started Shoni, Smith, Warren, Burke and Asia Taylor last time out. Although we doubt Walz will bring senior forward Reid into the starting five mix, he could possibly call on one of his reserve guard tonight to begin the contest to replace Taylor and give the Cards quickness to match that of the Bearcats. Maybe a Schimmel/Schimmel beginning?

Louisville has produced both of their losses on the road this season...at Texas A&M and Kentucky. In both contests, the opponents used huge first half runs to put the Cards at a deficit that they could not overcome. A fast start would be beneficial to the Louisville squad tonight...UC likes a little slower pace and works the half court set when they can.



This is a real bearcat



Rebounding and blocking out have been the prime objectives of the coaching staff and players since the Kentucky loss. Although improvements were noticeable in the win of Gardner Webb, where the Cards enjoyed a 15 rebound advantage over the smaller Bulldogs, the substandard quality of the opponent was a benefit for Louisville. A huge game from center Cierra Warren tonight would be a good step in the objective to get UofL more active in the paint.

This is the mascot version

Although we think Louisville will win tonight's contest, it may not be by the numbers that the Lady Cards handled the Gardner Webb crew. Even though the Bearcats have been a cellar dweller the last few years in BIG EAST conference play, the addition of transfer Daveesha Hollins and guard play from Bjonee Reaves and Kayla Cook have bolstered the UC backcourt and UC probably should have won at Marshall...leading by as many as eleven in the second half before falling to a hot-shooting three point effort by the Thundering Herd...when they sank (6) treys en route to a 55-47 win.

UC holds opponents to 49.5 points per game. We think the Cards will surpass this number...but we're not looking for an 80 or 90 point Cardinal effort. If the Cards can get significant production out of the fearsome foursome of Shoni, Mo, Bria and Becky and Nita Slaughter can continue her re-born outside shooting touch...we can see Louisville winning tonight's contest by 20+...We'll call it 76-56 Lady Cards.

WE'LL HAVE A FULL RECAP FOR THE ACTION LATER TONIGHT HERE AT C.C. and a report from Cincy by contributing writer Sandra Walker...who will be in attendance. Be sure to check out CARDINAL COUPLE shortly after the game for our report, thoughts and analysis.  
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April Sykes has evolved from a dirty tactics punk
to a leader of C Viv's squad this year

Exciting action last night in Piscataway, NJ as the Tennessee Vols and Rutgers Scarlet Knights engaged in a back and forth battle in the RAC. UT looked like they were going to blow Rutgers out of the water early...leading by 13 a couple of times in the first half...before a furious Rutgers comeback led by senior April Sykes cut it to five at intermission.

Rutgers gained the lead in the second half, looked like they were poised to spring the upset...but the air went out of the ball for C.Viv Springer's ballers during a eight minute stretch late...no points...Tennessee racing to a 10 point lead and then surviving one last try by the Scarlet Knights to win 67-61.

Rutgers deserves their #10 ranking. Their ferocious "55" defense creates havoc when an opponent tries to advance the ball up the court. They have legit scoring threats in Sykes, Rushdan and Oliver...and a very talented group of freshmen....led by Laney. Still, we wonder why Tennessee kept trying to pound the ball in the middle time and time again when it was closed. Turnover after turnover and deflections. UT has very good outside shooting when Simmons and Spani are "on"...but the Vols seemed content to keep going to the "bigs" with less than desirable results.

Louisville will have their hands full with the Scarlet Knights down the road. They swarm to the boards and rebound well. Sykes can beat you inside and deep. She resorted to cheap shot tactics last year against the Lady Cards in the Rutgers loss in the KFC YUM! Center. This year, her shooting and hustle are doing the talking. Looks like a bit of maturity and senior leadership have been acquired.

And...that should worry Lady Cards fans.
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Tonight's game will be on 790 WKRD, or http://www.uoflsports.com/ Also, CatsVision will show it live, over at the UC website. http://www.gobearcats.com/ You can purchase a monthly subscription for $9.99 to view it.

We're sticking with the radio. Once you purchase one of those subscriptions for another school, they're darn hard to get rid of. We did it once last year to
watch Louisville play Villanova. Three months later, we were finally able to get it cancelled (they automatically renew it and charge your credit card) and eventually saw a refund.

We'll just spend the $9.99 on pizza and listen to the excellent call from the Cards Matt Andrews on play-by-play and A.J. with her impeccable analysis and commentary. Listening to Matt call a game on the radio is almost as good as having front row seats for the contest and he and A.J. are worlds better than some of the radio crews we've heard at other college campuses.

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