SHOOK, LIBS DOUSE SPARKS IN L.A. -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 LIBERTY 76  - SPARKS 73

The New York Liberty, of the WNBA, and featuring Cardinal greats Kylee Shook and Jazmine Jones were far away from their Brooklyn home court yesterday in their Fathers Day WNBA tilt with the Los Angeles Sparks in the L.A. Convention Center .  They got a huge fourth quarter from Shook and got the three-point win to improve to 7-6 in an exciting fourth quarter. 

Shook had five points in a key stretch in the final quarter, nailing a three and getting a wide open layup to keep NYL in the lead against the Sparks, who fell to 5-7 on the season. New York survived two late three-point attempts by LA, one of which was blocked by Rebecca Allen, in the final possession of the game to hold on.

 

It's a bit of a different look currently for the Libs, second-year guard Sabrina Ionescu saw just 21 minutes and totaled nine points for the visitors. Allen, Australian Sami Whitcomb picked up the scoring slack, though with 36 points combined  Jazmine saw 13 minutes of action and contributed a couple of rebounds and assists but no points. 

The Libs were facing their center from last year in Amanda Zahui B, now in a LA jersey, and Shook did the job defensively on her -- limiting her to four points in 11 minutes.   

It was a celebratory game of sorts, 24 years ago the Sparks and Libs squared off in what was the first official game of the WNBA. The league has been through some ups and downs in this almost-quarter century, but is riding an all-time high in popularity currently and providing some very exciting basketball. 

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

A quick Monday Morning check of the league standings shows New York in second place in the Eastern Conference, a game back of the Connecticut Sun and in fourth place overall in the conference standings. The Western Conference has the two current powerhouses with the Seattle Storm holding a 12-2 mark and the Las Vegas Aces sitting at 10-3

Myisha Hines-Allen's Washington  Mystics are at .500 in the East, with a 6-6 record and Dana Evans and the Chicago Sky are also at .500 in the East at 7-7. 

Hines-Allen will be out for a few upcoming games with a strained left patellar tendon strain, but the good news is that she doesn't appear to need surgery. 

Watching the end of the Mystics vs. Dream game Saturday nigh, t I was amazed to see so many Mystics on the sidelines in street clothes. Besides Hines-Allen, Alysha Clark is out with an ankle injury, Elena Della Donne is still having back issues, Erica McCall out with a knee injury, and Natashia Cloud injured an ankle in the game. The Mystics had just six available players by the end of the game against Atlanta. Fortunately for them, one of them was "the black hole of Washington"  Tina Charles, who ended up with 39 minutes,  30 points and 15 rebounds, 

It's rumored the last time Tina passed on a shot opportunity was in the Obama Administration. But, in the words of Jeff Walz and Deb Antonelli -- scoring wins games and brings in fans, so ice up the shoulder, Tina, and keep hoisting. 

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

A nice slate of games are on tap for Tuesday -- the Libs finally get back home and will entertain Dana and the Chicago Sky. (Three Cardinal greats in the same venue!) The Mystics will face a tough task at league-leading Seattle (most likely without Myisha)  and the Dallas Wings will travel to Connecticut to face the Sun. 

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

FINALLY...

If you're here looking for an update on the Shoni Schimmel situation, we are Sgt. Schultz on the issue, (we know nothing.) When main-stream media reports on it, you'll find out as soon as we do. 

Have a Marvelous Monday! 

paulie

Holly Aprile Interview -- Dana Evans All-American -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

INTERVIEW WITH LOUISVILLE SOFTBALL'S HOLLY APRILE

One of the spring sports that was impacted by the COVID-19 Virus was Louisville Softball. The 2020 version of the "hit and pitch" Cards had just completed their first home stand of the season, where they won three straight games in the Red and Black Challenge.

A series with Boston College was scheduled to start on Friday, March 13th at Ulmer Stadium. It wold have been the Cards and Eagles first foray into ACC play, but the Eagles -- like all the other ACC teams -- got grounded and never left Chestnut Hill to travel to Louisville. 

When the season was ended, Louisville was 10-13. The Cards were being led by the bats of the Greenwood sisters -- Carmyn and Cassidy -- plus Taylor Roby and Celene Funke at the plate. In the circle, Roby and Chardonnay Harris had seen the bulk of the pitching work and performed well -- Roby sporting a 2.00 ERA and delivering 44 strikeout while compiling a 5-7 record. Harris was 5-6 and had a no-hitter for Louisville. 

I hope you enjoy this interview with Coach Aprile. We cover many things and appreciate the work of Louisville softball S.I.D. Lori Korte Harmon with arranging the opportunity to "holler with Holly" and share it with you: 


LINK:  Holly Aprile Interview

We promise to keep the coaches interviews rolling over the weeks ahead.

I can tell you that we have already confirmed that Louisville WBB associate head coach Sam Purcell will be our next interview -- we'll have that for you on Monday morning Cardinal Couple. 

Over the years, I've been fortunate to have some very fun and informative chats with "Sam P" and it should be interesting to discuss this "social distancing" aspect of life these days with him. 




DANA DOES IT ! 

News came out Thursday that junior point guard Dana Evans of the University of Louisville women's basketball team has been selected as AP All-American Second team selection. 

She is the fourth Cardinal in history to receive either first or second team honors. Can you name the other three? Answer at the bottom of today's column.

Evans was the ACC Player of the Year and was influential in leading Louisville to the ACC regular season title. 

Evans has a season that was remarkable. She led the ACC with 90 made threes for the season. Other accomplishments: 

-- Led ACC in free throw percentage at 89%

-- Had 10 - 20+ points per game efforts

-- Was in double figures in 29 of the 30 regular season games. 

The First Team All-American Selections: 

Sabrina Ionescu --  Oregon
Rhyne Howard -- Kentucky
Lauren Cox -- Baylor
Ruthy Hebard -- Oregon
Megan Walker -- UConn

Just a personal observation here, but the west coast-Oregon bias here is pretty evident. Louisville, of course, defeated the Oregon squad in the Virgin Island and, do they really deserve TWO players on the first team? Boston or Dana deserved that Hebard spot, IN MY HUMBLE OPINION. South Carolina was the best team in NCAA WBB this here and to get just one selection (on the second team, while Oregon got three is ridiculous. 

Joining Evans on the second Team: 

Allyah Boston -- South Carolina
Chennedy Carter -- Texas A&M
Satou Sabally -- Oregon
Aari Mc Donald -- Arizona

(Don't be selfish, Americans. Resume normal shopping habits)

We wish you a well Friday, no word yet of out what the weekend guys are going to do with a Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast on Saturday, but Case will update you on that with his Saturday column. 

(Answer to the question we asked at the start of today's article:  the First and Second Team All-American WBB players from Louisville.)

--  Angel McCoughtry three times, first team once -- second team twice)

--  Asia Durr two times on the first team 

--  Shoni Schimmel -- second team once. 


paulie
xxxxx

What They Are Doing Today -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CATCHING UP WITH.....SHONI SCHIMMEL

(PAULIE CONTINUES WITH THE SUMMER WEEKLY FEATURE OF "WHAT THEY ARE DOING TODAY" WITH A LOOK AT ONE OF LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL'S MOST-LOVED STARS -- SHONI SCHIMMEL) 

When one thinks of the history of University of Louisville women's basketball, the name Shoni Schimmel quickly comes to mind. 

A 2010 high school All-American out Oregon and featured in the independent documentary/film Off the Rez...Schimmel came to Louisville for her career as a student-athlete and created some very impressive stats and memories in her four years as a Cardinal. 

As a junior, she led the Cards to the 2013 NCAA Women's Championship game. Who could ever forget her eye-popping move over Brit Griner and the subsequent verbal add-on Shoni directed at Griner after the score? Schimmel went on to score over 17 points a game her senior season and was an All-American. Her 2174 college points  placed her third on the all-time scoring list at UofL and she was selected eighth in the first round of the 2014 WNBA Draft by Atlanta.

As a member of the Dream, she played along side another "Cardinal Forever", Angel McCoughtry, made the 2014 WNBA All-Star game anD was selected MVP after her 29 point performance. She led Atlanta in assists in 2014 and 2015 but the Dream, despite these two and stars like Sancho Lyttle and Erika de Souza were upset in the first round of the 2014 playoffs by Chicago and did not make the playoffs in 2015. Schimmel was also selected for the 2015 WNBA All-Star game, thanks in part to the huge Native America vote and fan adoration of the flamboyant shooter from Pendleton, Oergon. 



2016 brought changes for Shoni. Then head coach for Atlanta --  Michael Cooper -- expressed disappointment that Schimmel showed up for training camp "out of shape" and she was traded to the New York Liberty. Her role and stats diminished in New York and she missed the second half of the season due to a concussion. 

In 2017, there were more changes in store for Schimmel. She didn't report for the New York Liberty's training camp. She released a statement that she would be taking the 2017 WNBA season off to deal with some personal issues. Her grandmother, a strong force in her life, had recently become ill and Shoni wanted to spend time with her and her family before she eventually passed away.  Shoni indicated she would return for the 2018 season, and did...but she failed to make the Liberty's roster and was picked up by the Las Vegas Aces...playing in just two games before getting waived. 

Undaunted, she went overseas after being waived by the Aces and played briefly under contract in Israel but she returned to the USA and went in a different direction. 

Coaching. 

She accepted the job of girls basketball coach at New Town High School in North Dakota on the Fort Berthold Reservation. Details are skecthy and hard to find on her year of coaching there but, it appears the Eagles went 14-18. She is not listed as the coach for the upcoming 2019-20 season. 

Shoni's mother Ceci Moses and father Rick Schimmel were successful coaches on the high school level until a controversial firing in 2016 at Santa Fe (NM) Indian School. Click on the link below to read about the Schimmel's side of the incidents.

LINK: SCHIMMEL SIDE OF THE STORY

Shoni did return recently to Spokane's Hoopfest this summer...her first time playing in the outdoor basketball tournament since 2008. Playing in the Elite Division with other former NCAA DI standouts and ex-WNBA players, she teamed up with a couple of Eastern Washington ex-players and New Mexico forward Abby Scott and formed the All Rez team. 

After losing their first game, Shoni's squad met and sent her sister Jude's squad (Air Natives) to the losers bracket in the double elimination format. Hoopfest is the world's largest outdoor 3-on-3 basketball tournament. 

Shoni's team won the Elite women's bracket. Here's a recap. 

LINK:  All Rez wins

Will Schimmel play competitively again in the WNBA or overseas? 

"I'm just chilling right now. After playing basketball for 23 straight years, I think I deserve a break after everything. I'm getting ready to possibly get another coaching job." 

The Jeff Walz player-to-coaching tree sprouts another branch. Honestly, I didn't think it would be Shoni, but, when you consider the facts, it makes perfect sense. A love for the game. tremendous knowledge of the game. The ability to pass on what she's learned to younger players. Her parental influence and her knack for being a leader. 

I remember seeing Shoni work the summer Jeff Walz camps "back in the day". Her easy-going smile and love of children made her a mecca...a "gravitate-to" source on the court for the younger players. Maybe this was Shoni seeing the "younger Shoni" again. 

We've seen the transition from player to coach in Becky Burke, Candyce (Bingham) Wheeler, Sara Hammond, Cortnee Walton and more. All of them have paid dues and are still paying dues to be where they are and where they dream of being eventually. Here's hoping Shoni has the "stick-to-it" mentality to continue to follow this new avenue in her life. Maybe someday we'll see her on the sidelines as a DI NCAA coach.  The big question is: how much does she want it? 

Baby steps first, though. Remember Jeff Walz got his start coaching middle and high school teams. 

The best of luck to Shoni Schimmel. Here's hoping she can develop a new set of "shake 'em" prodigies for women's basketball in the future. If it turns out not to be coaching, her (and Jude's) work and efforts with the Native American tribes across the nation could be a venue to examine and continue to build upon. 

A young woman who has seen so much, so fast in her 27 years. What will the next 27 years, or even next 27 months bring? 

(Acknowledgment to Ryan Collingsworth's article on Hoopfest for information on today's article. https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/jun/29/former-wnba-all-star-shoni-schimmel-happy-to-retur/ )


paulie
xxxxx

WNBA Update -- Sauer Finishes 4-1 in China -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards in the WNBA

While the NBA Finals began last night as they reach the final two weeks of the season the WNBA season is still young.  Teams have played anywhere between four-to-six games in their 34-game season.  The Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 124-114 in overtime in game one, that ended poorly with an ejection and a mild scuffle.

Shoni Schimmel- She gave it her best shot with two WNBA rosters in New York and Las Vegas but was waived from both.  She saw time in two games for the Aces for a total of 13 minutes.  Schimmel had no points, two rebounds, one assist, and one turnover. She was 0-5 from three range. When Plum and McBride returned from Euro ball, the three-point shooting was bolstered and Schimmel got shown the exit.

Angel McCoughtry- She has tallied 107 minutes in four games, which is fourth-most on the team.  Her 60 points is second on the team while she is third with 22 rebounds.  McCoughtry also has six assists, nine steals, five blocks, 11 turnovers, and 12 fouls.  It's safe to safe Angel has secured her spot in the starting lineup.

Myisha Hines-Allen- The Mystics have the second-best win percentage at .833.  Connecticut has only played three games so far so their 3-0 record can appear deceiving.  The rookie has recorded 100 minutes while playing in all six games.  She has 41 points and is second on the team with 32 rebounds.  Hines-Allen also adds one assist, three steals, two blocks, five turnovers, and 12 fouls.  Oh My-My-Myisha, you are having a solid rookie year including a double-double during Tuesday's game.  Hines-Allen will bounce back-and-forth between being a starter and a key reserve.

Sauer Returns Home

We gave an update on Molly Sauer and the US Collegiate National Team in China on Wednesday.  They went on to win their final two matches of the tour.  The US defeated Beijing BAIC 3-1 (25-23, 18-25, 25-21, 25-23) and Hebei 3-1 (25-11, 25-20, 19-25, 25-19).

Some of the top performers for the US include Stephanie Samedy (Minnesota), Dana Rettke (Wisconsin), Madison Lilley (Kentucky), and Rachael Kramer (Florida).

Cardinal Couple hopes to set an interview up with Louisville-native Molly Sauer in the upcoming weeks to learn more about the trip and get a preview of the upcoming season.


Baseball Begins NCAA Play

No. 21 Louisville Baseball plays their first game in the NCAA Tournament tonight at 7:00 p.m., against Kent State in the Texas Tech Regional.

The Cards hold a 16-12 edge over the Golden Eagles.  They last faced in the 2014 Louisville Regional and Louisville was victorious 5-0.

Louisville went 1-1 against Texas Tech this season, which is also their only to meetings ever.  The Cards are 4-1-1 against New Mexico State with the most recent game being 3-2 in the Cards' favor in 2012, but all other games came in the 1970's.

I expect Louisville will take the first game of the regional with ease as they ride a hot streak into the NCAA Tournament.  The Cards have won six of their last seven games.

You can catch this game online on Watch ESPN or tune into 93.9 The Ville on the radio to hear the always-colorful Sean Moth give play-by-play..


Cason goes rolling along

Olivia Cason completed her first round of 18 holes yesterday in the LPGA U.S. Open and fired a +4 over par at Shoal Creek in soggy conditions. Sarah Jane Smith, who is on the LPGA Tour and from Australia, fired a first round -5 under par to lead the way.

No idea on the projected cut line just yet, but a sub par round could definitely help Cason, a UofL junior out of Owensboro, KY make the final two days. (By sub par we mean below 72...not anything bad intended toward her performance.) Hit 'em straight and long, O.C. !!

Other News and Notes

Congratulations to Joe Walker Jr on his retirement.  Walker has been with Louisville track and field since 2012, but has coached at the collegiate level since 1970 and one year of high school before that.

Moving into a new month means all sorts of new holidays including Flip a Coin Day, Donut Day, Leave the Office Early Day (as if we all could), Oscar the Grouch Day, and Say Something Nice Day.

The city of Louisville took some damage yesterday as severe weather rolled through.  Downed trees and power lines have left tens of thousands without power and have left a few hundred homeless due to damages.  Keep them in your thoughts and/or prayers.

Congratulations to all of the high schoolers graduating this weekend.  You will soon take the next step of life as you move onto college, work, or another path in life.

Catch the entire A-team in the studio tomorrow as we talk about golf, baseball, WNBA, and make up stuff to get us through the remainder of the hour! It's rumored that tomorrow will also be the majestic return of the renown and highly heralded WORLDWIDE QUIZ.

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

- Jared -

Women's Golf "sneaks" into Fourth Round of NCAA Tournament Play -- Opening WNBA Weekend --MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS IN 15th PLACE AND MOVE TO MONDAY

It took winning a non-sudden death tiebreaker over Auburn and then waiting five hours until play was completed on Sunday by all 24 teams, but Louisville claims the 15th and final spot in the NCAA Women's Golf Championships "Sweet Fifteen". The top 15 teams with the lowest 54 hole scores move into Monday play, where the field will be further cut to eight teams after 18 more holes on Stillwater. OK's Karsten Creek Golf Club. 

Head UofL women's golf coach Courtney Trimble was "on pins and needles": 

"We're really excited to have to have the opportunity to advance. We were waiting on pins and needles and even went to see a movie during that (waiting) time. We needed a distraction since it was out of our hands, but we couldn't be more excited." 

One has to wonder, what did they go view? CADDYSHACK? . Maybe HAPPY GILMORE? .

The Cards will have some work to do to get to the top eight. The UofL squad is +39 after 54 holes of golf. Alabama leads the way at -2. UCLA follows at +6. In eighth, where the Cards will try to get to today is Kent State with a +27.

Freshman Kristen Engle's score of 73 yesterday helped propel Louisville to "quarter-final action". She finished the day with birdies on two of the final three holes. Lauren Hartlage was not far behind with a 74 and Molly Skapik kept the Cards in contention with a three-over-par 75 that included an "eagle" (her second of the tournament) on a par 5. Qlso participating for UofL were Delaney Shah (80) and Olivia Cason (83)

No, she didn't bring America's proud symbol to the course. For the golfing terminology lacking...an "eagle" is 2 under so she shot a three. Tee time for Louisville today is 12:30 p.m. and the "chip and putt" Cards will have Texas and Washington (13th and 14th place respectively) accompany them on today's 18 holes of "stroke" play. 

Good luck extended from all of us at Cardinal Couple to these student-athletes! It's in the cup! 



WNBA OPENING WEEKEND AND THE LOUISVILLE THREE

The WNBA opened their season over the weekend and three UofL WBB stars were part of the actions. 

-- The Washington Mystics start the season perfect with a 82-75 win over the Indiana Fever. Myisha Hines-Allen saw 11 minutes of court-time in a reserve role and ended up with six points on 3-5 shooting. She also grabbed two rebounds. 

-- Angel McCoughtry's Atlanta Dream didn't fare so well against the Dallas Wings. They were on the short end of a 101-78 final score. Angel started the game and got in 24 minutes. She tallied 13 points on 6-13 shooting that included a three. She also gathered three rebounds in the loss. 

-- In Uncasville, CT...the Las Vegas Aces were blinded by the Connecticut Sun 101-65. Shoni Schimmel came off the bench for 8 minutes and got off two shots, one a "three", but ended up with no points and no assists. 

Everyone have a marvelous Monday and join me in celebrating Victoria Day (in Canada). If you know a "Victoria"...or I guess Vicki or maybe even a Vic would suffice here, wish them a "Happy Day" and then wait for the blank look you get back. The only Vic's I can come up with are former UofL Field Hockey star Vic Stratton, ex-Dallas actress Victoria Principal and the Victoria's Secret shoppes. 

Victoria Day actually celebrates the birth-date of Queen Victoria, who passed away in 1901 and was actually born on the 24th of May. The holiday is traditionally moved to the closest Monday each year. 

And, now you know. 


paulie
xxxxx

Women's Golf Opens Championship Play; WNBA Rosters Finalized -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Women's Golf Tied for 7th After Day 1

Louisville opened their second ever NCAA Championship run with a respectable first round, finishing the day with a team total 13 over par. That mark ties them with Arizona and Florida State for 7th place, and keeps them only 10 shots off of the lead held by USC. Lauren Hartlage led the Cardinals with a final card of 1 over par for the first round, good for a tie at 19th in the individual standings. While the top of the leaderboard is jam packed, the tournament's opening round was a very close one. Working in Louisville's favor was team consistency. A 13 over wasn't the best team mark out there, but in addition to Hartlage's +1, everyone else on the team shot the same +4 for the day. The +4 mark for the team's lowest golfer ties Louisville with both USC and Alabama, the top two teams of the tournament, in that category. If Louisville can maintain a floor of +4 and get some improvement out of a couple of golfers, they can position themselves very nicely to continue their run in this tournament. 

The Cards will look to continue a good start to the weekend when they tee off in the afternoon session today. Louisville takes to the course at 1:21 according to the tournament site, which I can only assume is local time based on available context clues. Louisville is paired up with Virginia and Baylor, both teams that did not have very good days. Hopefully, the Cards can avoid a commiserating style of play in which their performance is pulled down by that of golfers around them. Tune into the NCAA site for live stat tracking information regarding the tournament all weekend.

Three Cardinals Named to WNBA Rosters

After sitting out the 2017 season, Angel McCoughtry returns to the roster for the Atlanta Dream, a move that really comes as a surprise to no one. Everyone here is familiar with what Angel has done since being selected as the number 1 overall pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft. McCoughtry has won two Olympic gold medals, earned the WNBA scoring title twice, and has been named an All-Defensive first team selection five times, a WNBA All Star selection four times, and All WNBA first team twice. McCoughtry has had a storied career in the WNBA thus far, and it was widely expected that there would be no issues about the 31 year old returning to the team this season.

From a WNBA vet to a WNBA rookie, we next go to the Washington Mystics, where Myisha Hines-Allen was named to the final roster. Hines-Allen is one of two rookies to make the team, and seems to have her position cemented. The Mystics cut their roster to twelve players for their announcement, and maintained two players that are currently disabled, due to illness and injury. With only 10 players available, and one of the unavailable players being a forward, Hines-Allen should get ample minutes to prove herself early in the season. After concerns about her ability to transition to the WNBA game due to size issues, Hines-Allen will need to do extra work to compete at her preferred position or work on additional skills to carve out a different role.

One of the more surprising roster makes comes from Shoni Schimmel's spot on the Las Vegas Aces roster. The Aces roster currently sits at 11, with the expectation that they will sign a 12th player before tomorrow. Schimmel is listed on the roster, but has not been assigned a number. The difference between Schimmel and Hines-Allen's current situations, though, is that the Aces named three players to the temporarily suspended list. These three players are not included in the roster of 11 (12) and are expected to return to the team shortly. Two of the three are Kayla McBride, an all-star guard, and Kelsey Plum, the 2017 first overall pick and a guard on the all-rookie team. Once those two return, there will be a log-jam at guard, and it seems clear that Schimmel would need to make herself irreplaceable in the next couple of weeks to avoid being one of the players that gets bumped to make room.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

For the first time in a long time, we'll have "the A Team" back in the studio on Mellwood for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. Jared is off of work this week and I'm getting more mobile by the day. We'll talk season wrap-up for a couple of teams, and likely hear some of the audio from Paulie's excellent interview with Arica Carter. Regardless of the topic, it is sure to be a great show. The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour airs at 11AM on WCHQ FM. It's available on FM radio at 100.9, the WCHQ App in the app store, and online at wchqfm.com and Facebook. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Shoni Returns -- Second Season -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

SHONI HITS A THREE IN RETURN TO LIBERTY

The return of Shoni Schimmel to the New York Liberty WNBA squad debuted last night and she saw a total of 24 minutes (fourth highest on the roster) in a 76-69 loss to the Dallas Wings. Schimmel went 1-5 from the floor (all threes) for three points and picked up three fouls and no assists in her return to the court. 

With 16 players seeing action, the court time for Shoni is maybe surprising but encouraging. She came off the bench for the Liberty. Mercedes Russell, the Tennessee grad who flirted with coming to Louisville as a high school freshman had eight points in 26 minutes.

The star of the night was former UConn and Duke center Azura Stevens, who tallied 19 for the Wings...who pulled away from a two-point lead at the end of three quarters to get the seven-point preseason win. Stevens also grabbed nine boards in her debut rookie effort. 

Schimmel wears #13 for the Liberty...a departure from the #23 we saw her in as a Cardinal and with the Atlanta Dream and the #5 she wore in her previous stint with New York. 


THAT SECOND SEASON

Many coaches refer to playoff time in the conference and in the NCAA Tournaments as "the season season".  The University of Louisville women's spring athletics squads have been through or are starting those second seasons this month and here's a brief update and preview: 

LACROSSE -- Lost in the first round on the ACC Tournament to Boston College. Did not make the 26-team NCAA Tournament. 

SOFTBALL -- Will face Syracuse in the first round of the ACC Tournament in Atlanta, GA (Georgia Tech campus) on Wednesday. The Cards are the #8 seed and would draw #1 FSU next if they advance Wednesday. After that? They are a bubble team, by most accounts, for the NCAA Tournament. A win over Syracuse would help, obviously and a win over FSU would definitely help their NCAA chances. 

W. GOLF -- Finished with the ACC Regional and now in the NCAA Regional in San Francisco, where they are currently in fourth place after one day of competition. Olivia Cason and Lauren Hartlage are tied for 10th. place in the overall picture, both firing 71's.

The team carded a 287, which is seven strokes behind leader UCLA. Two other squads are tied with Louisville at 287 -- Stanford and Oregon. 

ROWING -- Louisville trains for the ACC Championships at Clemson on May 13th. If successful, they'll also look toward the NCAA Championships 5/25-5/27 in Sarasota. Hmmm...maybe we can send David Watson over to cover...he lives in nearby Bradenton. 
Louisville Rowing is ranked 22nd in the nation. The Cards competed well against #7 Michigan in their regular season final. 

W. TENNIS -- Louisville was eliminated in the first round of the ACC Championships by Virginia Tech 4-1. The "Serve and Return" Cards finish the season at 13-13 and are not considered to be a candidate for the NCAA Championships.


W. TRACK AND FIELD -- Louisville is ranked #14 in the nation and gets ready for the ACC Championships. Those start May 10th. in Miami. Makenli Forrest is ranked 11th in the hammer throw, Dorcas Wasike 12th in the 10,000 meter run and Alexis Gibbons 41st in the long jump. Louisville looks to have several hopefully qualify for the NCAA Championships in Eugene, OR on June 6-9.

W. SWIMMING AND DIVING -- Louisville's women "Splash and stroke" squad recorded a program high fifth place in the the NCAA Championships in Columbus, OH. The Cards qualified in five finals events and Mallory Comerford won the 200 Free. 


So...successes galore and good performance by the Spring sports student-athletes so far with a few more events to follow. 


PAULIE'S DERBY PARAGRAPHS

Snoozing or texting. You decide. I don't
remember...

I got this idea a few years back about creating a few short paragraphs that tell a story with all 20 Derby Horses involved. It's harder than you might imagine. I've never posted it here at Cardinal Couple but thought I would this year. 

"Can you Justify the Good Magic involved in a Lone Sailor in Hofburg with My Boy Jack having Promises Fulfilled under a Magnum Moon? 

They had Vino Rosso with Free Drop Billy while listening to Mendelssohn  Recalling their Instilled Regard for a Combatant named Solomini. 

Enticed by a Firenze Fire they watched Flameaway, a Bolt D' Oro struck with Bravazo in Noble Indy..Audible to all." 

Today is National Teacher Appreciation Day, Have a Coke Day and National Coconut Creme Pie Day. So, buy your favorite professor a slice of pie and a Coke! 



Have a great Tuesday! 

paulie
xxxxx

WNBA pre-season started -- UofL transfer news -- Derby recap -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

HINES-ALLEN HAS A SUCCESSFUL DEBUT WITH MYSTICS

The WNBA started their pre-season Sunday and three games took place. With (4) former Cardinals WBB stars in the league (although...do you ever become an ex-Cardinal?) we'll try to keep you up on Angel McCoughtry, Asia Taylor, Shoni Schimmel and Myisha Hines-Allen with periodic updates. 

Two of the four saw the court Sunday, both the Washington Mystics rostered Myisha Hines-Allen and Asia Taylor. Both saw about 16 minutes in the Mystics 90-85 win over the Minnesota Lynx. Hines-Allen had a nice opening debut with 13 points. She went 4-5 from the floor ,5-6 from the charity stripe and grabbed five rebounds. Neither she nor Asia Taylor, the other Louisville alumni on the Mystics started. "A-Tayy" gathered five points in her playing time...all from the free throw line (5-10). A nice start for both as they try to make the Mystics roster.

Atlanta opened their season also but Angel McCoughtry didn't make the court for the Dream in a 78-61 win over the Chicago Sky. Not very surprised by this, after all, she sat out the entire 2017 season, everyone knows what she's capable of and the Dream and Nikki Collen (head coach) have 15 other players to try and whittle down to 10-11 by the start of the season in two weeks. 

Schimmel and the New York Liberty play today at 5 p.m. against the Dallas Wings. 

It's the first time in Louisville's WNBA connection that I can remember four WBB Cards have been in the league. Let's hope all four survive the "cuts" and make the rosters. 


TRANSFER NEWS

Don't worry, Cardinal WBB fans, the transfer news DOES NOT INVOLVE CARDINAL WOMEN'S BASKETBALL...but it does involve a significant Field Hockey departure and a couple of women's soccer exits. 

'"We'll miss Minnie at Cardinal Couple"

Minout "Minnie" Mink will be leaving Field Hockey to return to the Netherlands and attend college there. The Cards leading scorer in 2016 and 2017 expressed a desire to return home and attend school. 

Minnie was a scorer (that's what she did and does) and had 26 goals in two seasons for head coach Justine Sowry and the "stick girls". With ACC and regional honors, she'll be a hard one to replace in the Cards' Field Hockey attack pattern, but Sowry has talent galore on the roster and recruited well, so replacements are readily available. 

Maybe a surprise, here. The future looked bright for her on the 2018 roster, but her non-appearance in spring exhibition action for the Cards was an indicator. We wish "Minnie" the best of luck in her college continuance. Jared Anderson has set up an interview with her today...so, hopefully, we'll get a little more of the story and he'll be able to bring it to us here at the site. 

In UofL women's soccer, T.J Anderson and Morgan Dewey are departing from the squad. 
Anderson, a freshman, played in 10 games for the Cards in 2017 as a mid-fielder and saw the bulk of her action near the end of the season. No immediate word on where she's headed. 

Dewey, also a freshman, played in 11 contests in 2017 and tallied one goal. She was primarily a defender for Karen Ferguson Dayes. No immediate word on her future plans or next school. 


LACROSSE SEASON OFFICIALLY OVER

Any hopes of Louisville Lacrosse's season continuing and making the NCAA Tournament came to an end this morning when the DI Brackets were released and the Cards did not appear on the list. Five ACC Schools did make the tournament in Virginia, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Boston College and Syracuse. The other three schools that play ACC Lacrosse --  Duke, Louisville and Notre Dame -- did not make the field...which is surprising in Notre Dame's case. The Irish had a better record than Syracuse overall and in conference but the committee chose Orange over Green. 

A good season, nevertheless, for Scott Teeter in his first year with a collection of freshmen, transfers and seniors. The Teeter recruiting will have Lacrosse rebuilding each season and, as we have reason to believe, the Teeter system of Lacrosse can be very effective, with a full roster of players. 

We say "Goodbye" to a great collection of seniors. Jared Anderson hopes to catch up with one or two for interviews and we're also looking to get Louisville Lacrosse alumnae and ACC Network Extra analyst Steph McNamara for an interview down the road.  

Practice those draw controls, girls and listen to the coaching staff! 


PAULIE'S DERBY WEEK

A couple of you may have noticed I've been absent from the Cardinal Couple site since last Tuesday.  No, I wasn't sitting out a "yellow card" suspension and didn't foul out...it was Derby Week here in Louisville and I've been quite the busy with my other website HANDICAPPING HEROES. 

Handicapping Heroes a site about thoroughbred horse-racing in Kentucky and it was quite the active week. I got in Churchill Downs attendance time for three straight days early in the week, went to a Derby Party on Derby Day and used yesterday to recover and recoup from the 16-hour days of research, analysis, interviews and having a bit of fun. 

I had a great deal of success predicting the winners all week of the races and made a bit of $$$$$. I met some very fascinating people, got some great interviews and enjoyed it all, despite the yeoman effort and hours. 

Me and the other "boys in the band" put it all out there free of charge and we figured that those who "played along" with our selections and analysis would have returned better than a tripling of their outlays...for the week. You spend $1, you get $3+ back, in other words. 

A reader of the site went into great detail in an e-mail yesterday to me and outlined just how our picks made him a great profit. He invested $1200 for the week in wagers at a simulcasting facility based on the picks of me, Scott and "J-Fred Muggs." He turned that into $4900. He had the Oaks and Derby winner and hit several exactas that paid over $200 on $1 wheels and boxes. That, as they say, ain't too bad...

From here on out until late November, we'll look at Saturday racing in Kentucky. Feel free to give us a look. It's free, you know. 

HANDICAPPING HEROES

Got a Derby Week or Derby Day story to share? We've love to hear it. Leave it in our comments section! 

Have a great Monday and remember....wherever you go, there you are. Make the most of it. 

paulie
xxxxx

SWEEP! Softball Cards take Sunday, series against Boston College -- Shoni back? -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

HENSLEY, HITTING CARRIES CARDS IN 8-0 WIN

On a "Pink Out" Day at Ulmer Stadium Sunday, the Softball Cards scored early and often in the five-inning, run-rule win over Boston College. 

Junior pitcher Megan Hensley picked up her third win in three days over the Eagles and Louisville's offense scored in each inning and collected 11 hits to ensure that Hensley would pick up her 15th. win of the season. 

In the first frame, the Cards did damage with two outs on the board. Hensley doubled and came home on a Jenna Jordan base hit. Nicole Pufahl drove Jordan to the plate with a single to give UofL a 2-0 advantage. That would actually be all the runs Louisville would require, but the offense was far from being finished. 

The "Szyd, Syd ,Sid" syndicate was responsible for adding to the "plate touching" when Alison Szydlowski reached on a single and scampered home on Sidney Melton's sharp single. 3-0 after two for the Cards and Hensley was holding court on the mound. 

After a scoreless third, Louisville doubled the runs showing on the center-field scoreboard in the fourth. Successful bunts by Celine "Play that Funke Music" Funke and Kyra Snyder's sacrifice bunt to move her to second, a walk to Blaire Bass and a single by Melton had the bags full of Cards for Maddy Newman. She drove one back at B.C. pitcher Jessica Dreswick to score Funke and reach safely. That set the stage for a Hensley single that got Bass and Melton home and Louisville found themselves with a 6-0 lead after four frames. 

Hensley was briefly challenged in the top of the fifth when Boston College filled the bases with two out but a pop out to Melton squashed the threat and Hensley's shutout remained secure. 

Sandy Pearsall's sluggers brought the festivities to a close in the bottom of the fifth. "Poof" worked a walk off Dreswick and powered home on a Funke triple that caught the B.C. center-fielder by surprise...expecting the "slap" hit...the hard hit ball soared over the defender's head and rolled to the fence to make it 7-0 Cards. "Mike, Mike, Mike" Szydowski reached on a bunt single and Bass caught a fastball on the knee to load the bases to set the stage for Melton to sit there with the bat on her shoulder and work a walk to score Funke and end the affair. 


It's encouraging to see the Cards peaking as the season draws to a close. Louisville brings in Marshall for a Wednesday single game and then ends the regular season with a three-game series at Pittsburgh. The Cards improve to 31-17 on the season and upped their ACC record to 10-10, which has them in fourth place in the Atlantic Division and just one game back of Boston College for third. 

We previously but incorrectly told you (unfortunately a few times) that only eight teams make the ACC Tournament. The number is 10 schools. Beginning next Wednesday, May 9th in Atlanta on Georgia Tech's diamond, they'll follow the standard 10-team playoff format. What that means is that the #8 and #9 seeds, plus #7 vs. #10 seeds play first day to "make" the eight-team "round of eight". Then, its #1 seed vs the winner of #8 vs #9...#2 seed vs. the winner of #7 vs #10 and so on and so forth through the rest of the participants. 

Current ACC Standings below:

ATLANTIC DIVISION

Florida State   18-3
Notre Dame     13-10
Boston College 11-9
Louisville         10-10
Syracuse           9-12
NC State           5-15


COASTAL DIVISION

Pittsburgh        14-6
North Carolina  15-8
Georgia Tech    12-9
Duke                13-11
Virginia Tech     7-10
Virginia            3-12

Miami, Clemson and Wake Forest do not field softball teams, a bit surprising...since they're three of the "more warmer" locations to hold outdoor events. 

So the Cards still have a bit of work to do to ensure they'll be travelling to the "Peach State" next week. Best guess here is that the Cards are "in"...since the Virginia schools aren't tearing up the softball world this year and will likely be at least one and possibly both of the two that don't see post-season...with N.C. State in that dubious status as well. 

Wins are the answer and also important to gather if Louisville wants a NCAA Tournament invite as well. Here's hoping the bats stay lively and the arms remain sound. 

INTERVIEWS FROM SUNDAY:

SANDY PEARSALL

MEGAN HENSLEY

( Thanks to Jared Anderson for the interview feeds )



THE RETURN OF SHONI? 

After sitting out the 2017 season, Shoni Schimmel is back and at the NY Liberty WNBA training camp. 

" I needed a break, going from high school, to college, to the pros. Last year, we talked about it. I suspended myself.Being able to take that year off,  I want to thank the Liberty. I've come back ready to work" Schimmel said yesterday at practice.

She'll need to work hard. The Liberty have Brittany Boyd, Lindsay Allen and Bria Hartley on the roster and drafted Kia Nurse. 

A concussion to her plus the death of her grandmother were also factors in deciding to sit out last season. 

Schimmel did report to camp "in shape" Sunday, from reports...an issue that came to question during the 2016 season...when she split time with the Liberty and the Atlanta Dream. 

So, with Angel back in the Atlanta camp, two of the most successful players in Cardinal WBB history are back after a year off. Here's hoping Shoni and new Liberty head coach Katie Smith can work something out and Schimmel can make the squad. 

LINK TO ASSOCIATED PRESS ARTICLE: SHONI RETURNS TO LIBERTY

(have a marvelous Monday and remember that life is full of twists and turns...something that everyone learns...when life is pressing you down a bit...rest if you must, but don't you quit.) 


paulie
xxxxx