Louisville women's basketball -- Cards seeded #4 in Oklahoma City Regional -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS START AGAINST CHATTANOOGA SATURDAY @ 1:30 p.m.

Selection Monday has come and gone and a nice crowd packed into the Sports and Social Club to watch the Bracket Selection show with the team Monday evening. Two regions came and went before Louisville was announced as the #4 seed and opening against the Mocs. One figured Louisville would be the #4 when it was announced that Tennessee was the #5 and would be facing Dayton in Louisville. The only question was who would Louisville face and when it showed the Cards playing Chattanooga...the place erupted in excitement. 

The Cards faced Chattanooga earlier in the season...a 63-47 win in the seventh game of the season at the KFC YUM! Center during the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Challenge. In that game, the Cards jumped out to a 25-14 first quarter lead and were never seriously challenged. Louisville had no double figure scorers in the contest...but Walz played the bench extensively and UofL had a 28-4 bench scoring edge. 

Chattanooga (21-10) won the Southern Conference Tournament by defeating Mercer 61-59 to earn the automatic berth in the Women's NCAA Tournament. They rallied from a 13-point deficit to get the win. 

The 1:30 Saturday game time is fortunate, since it doesn't conflict with men's basketball...but fans better hurry to get tickets...since Tennessee travels very well and both Dayton and Chattanooga are within easy traveling distance and will show up in big numbers. 

The UofL WBB game Saturday will be followed by #5 seed Tennessee facing #12 Dayton around 4 p.m. Games are listed as being on ESPN2. 

Tennessee (19-11), selected as an at-large, got the #5 seed in part by who they beat in the regular season (South Carolina, Kansas State, Notre Dame and Mississippi St.) They'll face a Flyer team (22-9) that won the automatic bid by defeating Duquesne in the finals of the Atlantic 10 conference tournament. Dayton has nine players 6'0"  or taller. 

Speculation on how high the Cards would be seeded seemed to be centered around #4. Coach Walz confirmed that's what he was thinking earlier in the evening when I chatted with him. The talent that landed in The Oklahoma City region is impressive...Baylor the #1 seed, Mississippi State the #2 seed and Washington the #3 seed. #6 Oklahoma, #7 DePaul, #8 LSU and #9 California are all dangerous foes.  

The crowd at the S&SC was an early arriving one and excitement buzzed through the room as the show drew closer and closer. Louie the Cardinal Bird made his way through the tables greeting fans and Coach Walz spent time going to tables to thank people for coming out. The players signed autographs and Cortnee, Myisha and Asia...along with Coach Walz took turns addressing the media after it was announced that the Cards were in.  

Briahanna Jackson is doing fine, according to Coach Walz, and will be available for the NCAA Tournament. 

Surprises? I wonder about Duke getting a #2 seed and Maryland as the #3 in the Bridgeport region. I though that might be reversed. Virginia did not get a bid and that is a big surprise. Marquette a #5 seed and DePaul a #7 seem a little high and low, respectively. Michigan not getting invited is inexcusable. 

We got a few interviews while we were down there. The Walz interview and Durr interviews were just too noisy in the background and the camera guys got in front of me...but we still have sounds below. The final two listed below come from the Cardinal Authority site...they were closer and the audio quality is better. I was in the back. Avert your eyes and listen, if necessary...

CROWD REACTS TO ANNOUNCEMENT THAT CARDS ARE #4 SEED

MYISHA AND ARICA DISCUSS BRACKET DRAW

CORTNEE AND HOWIE LINDSEY DISCUSS TOURNAMENT

MYISHA DISCUSS MATCHUP WITH MEDIA

WALZ DISCUSSES NCAA DRAW

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CARDINAL COUPLE PICK 'EM

The Cardinal Couple NCAA WBB Pick 'Em is back again and we invite you to send us your picks for the tournament. We'll award a $25 gift card for first and second place this year to Cracker Barrel or Panera. 

You can leave your picks in the comments section over the next several days or e-mail them to us at cardinalcouple@twc.com 

Enjoy the fun! 


paulie
xxxxx

Louisville women's basketball...All-ACC accolades and Bracket Watch Party! -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

DURR, HINES-ALLEN and MOORE RECEIVE ACC COACHES AWARDS

This from the ACC league offices yesterday...Asia Durr, Myisha Hines-Allen and Mariya Moore have been selected for the Atlantic Coast Conference coaches' honors. 

Durr making the first team. She also got that mysterious Blue Ribbon Panel's first team accolades last week. Hines-Allen and Moore selected to the second team by the league's 15 head coaches.

Durr's achievements this season have been nothing short of spectacular: 

- 18.8 ppg
- 209 total field goals
- 621 points
- 108 3-pointers
- 60 assists


As for Myisha, a very solid season that any team would gladly point to: 


- 13.8 ppg

- A league-leading 15 double-doubles
- 50% shooting percentage
- 302 rebounds
- 32 steals

The third member of the "big three"...Moore's numbers are noteworthy: 

- 12.1 ppg
- 5 rpg
- 160 assists
- 4.8 assist per game
- 20 double figure scoring performances. 

Joining Durr on the Coaches first team are Lindsay Allen and Brianna Turner (Notre Dame), Alexis Peterson and Brittney Sykes (Syracuse), Becca Greenwell and Lexie Brown (Duke), Miah Spencer and Dominique Wilson (NC State) and Shaq Thomas (FSU), ACC Coach of the Year is Wes Moore (NC State) and the Freshman of the Year went to Francesca Pan (Georgia Tech). 

#13 Louisville (27-7) awaits their assignment for the NCAA Tournament. The Cards are hosting a Tournament Selection Watch party at the Sports and Social Club for the second year in a row. More on that below: 


LOUISVILLE WBB NCAA SELECTION WATCH SHOW TO BE DOWNTOWN AGAIN. 

The Cards invite you to join them at The Sports and Social Club again this March to watch the Selection Show with the team. The show is on Monday, March 13th. and begins at 7 p.m.  The club is located in the 4th Street Live complex in downtown Louisville. 

Those wishing to attend are requested to make reservations with the venue (you can e-mail Tobi Hammond at:  tobi@4thstedc.com ) Admission to the venue is free and the doors open at 6 p.m. Food and drink will be available for purchase. You can also park free at the 4th Street Live!! garage (access from 5th street). 

Last year's party was a fine affair. I found out that both Sam Purcell and Howie Lindsey were expectant fathers any day and that two double Makers on the rocks were pretty darn expensive downtown. 

Louie the Cardinal Bird and the cheerleaders made visits last year and the coaches said a few words to the crowd before the event was televised. 

We expect the Cards to receive a top four seed and to open at home. Who will be there to face Louisville and which region the Cards will be in are the big questions. 

Cardinal Couple will also be on hand to report on the activities, get audio for the site and engage in a raucous round of bare-knuckled, shirts-off fisticuffs with members of Howie Lindsey's Louisville First morning radio show on Cards Radio 790 WKRD. (Pending boxing commission authorization...)   

paulie
xxxxx 

Louiville women's basketball gets 3rd seed...will face Central Arkansas in Dallas Region at KFC YUM! Center -- Tuesday CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS FACE 28-3 #14 SEED CENTRAL ARKANSAS FRIDAY 2:30 P.M. IN FIRST ROUND

An overflowing crowd, minus Jeff Walz...at home nursing a 101 temperature and flu...packed The Sports and Social Club at 4th Street Live Monday to watch the Selection Monday NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament Special.

For Louisville, a bit of good and bad...getting a #3 seed and opening in the KFC YUM! Center Friday at 2:30 p.m. but drawing the red-hot Southland Conference regular and tournament champion Central Arkansas Sugar Bears...who went 28-3 on the season and are owners of a nine-game win streak. 

Only Tennessee, Abilene Christian and Northwestern State hung losses on Sandra Rushing's squad...who were a preseason seventh place pick in the Southland but found a way to get it done all season long. 

The Cards will not get the chance to play in Lexington if they can get past the Sugar Bears and either #6 DePaul or #11 James Madison...UofL was placed in the Dallas Region where Baylor got the #1 seed and #2 went to Oregon State. 

Asia Durr was impressed with the evening and the activities:

"It's exciting and I'm hyped up already. I'm just ready for the game on Friday. I'm just taking it all in. It's my first time ever but I'm just ready to play...but we just have to take it one game at a time. Going to Lexington would have been great because we would have had a lot of our fans there but I'm just excited to be here." 

The Cards did avoid a couple of arrows by landing in the Dallas Region...Notre Dame ended up as the #1 seed in Lexington and #2 Maryland got the #2 slot. Oregon State is the #2 seed in Dallas and could await the Cards if they can win the first and second round contests.

Kentucky got handed a gift when they were presented with the chance...as a #4 seed ...to play four games in a row in Lexington. 

Surprisingly, only five ACC teams received bids...Notre Dame, Louisville, Florida State (#6), Miami (#5) and Syracuse (#4). Both NC State and Duke were not selected for the NCAA Tournament...meanwhile, the SEC got nine teams into the dance. 

UConn was the overall #1 seed and will play in Bridgeport, CT. South Carolina got the #1 seed in the Sioux Falls Region. 

We'll have more on the breakdown of Central Arkansas and some key match-ups as we get closer to Friday action. We have a download available for you on the women's bracket below:

NCAA Women's Bracket Link: http://i.turner.ncaa.com/sites/default/files/external/gametool/brackets/women_2016_final_w_records.pdf

** Be sure to enter the CARDINAL COUPLE PICK EM by submitting your entries in the comments section (see Sonja's today) or by sending them to cardinalcouple@twc.com  A $25 gift card to Panera or Cracker Barrel to da winnah! **

paulie
xxxxx