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

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Schimmel's 31 lead Cards in loss to Maryland

Photo by Charlie Springer - UofL Card Game

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

A sickening bounce off the back of the rim.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It was 66-56 Maryland.

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

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


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

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

Losing sucks so bad...

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

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

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Tournament awards:

MOP: Alyssa Thomas, Maryland

Shoni Schimmel, Louisville

Antonita Slaughter, Louisville

Meighan Simmons, Tennessee

Lexie Brown, Maryland

paulie
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Monday Cardinal Couple - Louisville 73 - LSU 47

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

TIA'S THREES START CARDS TO 26 POINT WIN

MARYLAND SURPRISES TENNESSEE TO ADVANCE

For the first 7 1/2 minutes of Sunday afternoon's game between LSU and Louisville, it looked like the 'eye of the Tiger' was going to hang close with the Louisville Cardinals in the KFC YUM! Center. Up 12-9 after a Danielle Ballard jumper..her 10th point of the game, LSU was getting a All-American performance out of the sophomore guard.

Then, two things happened. A media timeout and the insertion of Tia Gibbs into the game. Shoni started the Louisville run with two free throws to put the Cards up 13-12. 16 seconds later...Tia buries a three. 35 seconds later... she nails another one.

Make it 19-14 Louisville. Make it ballgame over. A Shoni jumper and Jude three (off a nifty A-Tayy assist) and with eight minutes left...score it Louisville 24-LSU 14.

The Cards would push that advantage to 17 a couple of times in the final eight minutes of the first half and take a 41-23 halftime lead into the locker room.

Holly Rowe tries to explain to Sonja and I why she is
dressed in blue. Excuse denied!  

It was 32-11 over the final 12 minutes of the first half and the crowd of 11097 was going crazy or going to the exits...depending on whether they were wearing red or orange.

- The Cards made seven first half threes...LSU none.

- Louisville was shooting 43% from the floor...LSU 30%

- The Cards had a 12-0 bench advantage in scoring. 

- Louisville held a 9-2 points off turnovers edge.

The LSU fans seated behind us were an obnoxious bunch

Shoni had 14 points and Tia 9. Seven Cards scored in the first twenty minutes. For LSU, it was the Ballard show...she had 14 of the 23 LSU points. Forward Thersea Plaisance had been held to 5 points on 1-5 shooting by Taylor, Hammond and Walton.

LSU would make a last-gap attempt to rally, cutting the Louisville lead to 42-29 with 17:23 to go in the game when Ballard hit a jumper. It just served to get Louisville fired up and the Cards went on a 16-6 spurt which featured two Gibbs threes...the second one making it 58-35 with ten minutes left to play.

At that point, Louisville was 10-26 from trifecta range. LSU was 0-4.

Coach Walz started to rest the starters at that point. He had a lineup of Walton, Henderson, Breedlove, Deines and Smith in the game after Slaughter drained a three to make it 66-40 Cards with 5:35 remaining.

Louie and Mike the Tiger in a dance off. Mike narrowly won.

Shoni led Louisville with 19 points on 6-13 shooting. She also had a team high six assists. Gibbs finished with 15 points...sinking five threes on nine attempts. Nita rounded out the Cardinal double figure scorers with 10. A-Tayy finished with seven points and 10 rebounds. Sara, Jude and "E" tallied five points each. Bria added four and Megan nailed a three for her only score of the game.

Ballard had 24 points for LSU. She also had 24 in the LSU win over WVU.



Tia sinking another three (just out of camera range).

It's Maryland Tuesday night for victorious Louisville. The Terrapins a surprise winner over Tennessee 73-61 in Sunday's opening contest...the Turtles stand in the road of the Cards heading to Nashville for the Final Four. The Terps jumped out to a 6-5 lead four minutes into the first game and built that to a 26-15 advantage halfway through the first twenty minutes. Enjoying a 41-27 halftime advantage...UM had a large group of UT backers in the YUM! left with little to cheer about.

You could sense it was not the Vols afternoon...Thomas seemed to be able to score whenever she wanted against the pourous Tennessee defense and when she was stopped Lexie Brown and Laurin Mincy were there to pick up points. The trio will make Louisville's attempt to gain Final Four status difficult.

The party was over when Maryland was still double-digiting the Vols 67-53 and 4:00 showing on the KFC YUM! Center scoreboard.

The Vols cheerleaders were pretty good...the WBB squad...not so much 

This one was the Alyssa Thomas vs. Meighan Simmons showdown. Thomas had 33 points for Maryland and Simmons ends her college career with 31.

As for Mercedes Russell and Jordan Reynolds...two Vols players that Jeff Walz went after very strongly for the 2013 class...a combined four points in 31 minutes of play. Russell did have a couple of impressive blocked shots. Based on yesterday's performance...which is probably unfair given that Reynolds played huge down the stretch in conference play for UT...Louisville isn't missing a whole lot in not getting the two to sign as Cardinals.

Tennessee is going home. So is LSU. It was a rough day for the SEC Sunday...South Carolina lost also...to North Carolina. Only Texas A&M remains for the SEC.

On a day where fans attending Regional womens' basketball action in Louisville saw three incredible individual performances...it was the team that got solid performances from multiple players that looked the most impressive.

Walz vs. Frese. Former head coach and assistant go to battle to take I-65 South and dance. It should be a great one Tuesday night.

BE there if you can...

Another successful sale on the Unfinished Business trip. The Party-Crashers 2 get a step closer to a return trip to Final Four frenzy.


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The CARDINAL COUPLE Pick 'Em contest standings:


Paulie             45-11
Curtis F           43-13
Joe Hill
Charlyse          42-14
Blue Lou
Kenny S           41-15
Gary W
Willie Cat Fan  40-16
Sonja
David Watson
Vivian
Worldwide       39-17
Card Chimp      35-21
Jennifer B        34-22
Matt M             27-29
The Other One 26-30




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

FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

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

- Hoops commentary


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

According to the UofL official schedule, that is.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Who knew back in 2010?

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

-paulie

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE . GAME FINAL -- CARDS 60-56 over Bulls

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Shoni's jumper, Jude's steal give Cards four-point win over USF.

-Softball swings away at OSU and OU

Never underestimate the power of Schimmels. In a semifinal game that looked like at times neither team wanted to win, Shoni nails a triple-teamed, driving jumper with six seconds remaining and sister Jude gets a key steal, gets fouled and seals the win with two free throws.

Louisville advances to the title game of the AAC Conference Tournament to face UConn Monday night at 7 p.m. with a 60-56 escape against the Bulls of USF.

For awhile, one had to wonder if Louisville would survive Sunday. Credit USF for coming out strong and taking the early lead against the Cards. A slow UofL start and Inga Orekhova's three-point marksmanship had Louisville trailing 20-10 halfway through the first half.

Shoni saw some uncharacteristic bench time...the Cards seemed a step slow and out of sync against the Bulls driving offense and unable to get any kind of inside offense generated. 

Finally, #23 returned to the game and things began to happen.

Led by Shoni and Jude...the Cards rallied with a 16-4 run which included three Shoni threes to take the lead 26-24 on a Jude layup.

The Cards took a nervous 33-29 lead to the locker room, Shoni nailing her fourth trifecta of the half.

USF was not intimidated and started the second half hot again to regain the lead. Courtney Williams picked up the slack for USF and they had the Cards in serious trouble...up 51-46 with a little over eight minutes left in the game.

Shoni and Tia Gibbs responded with back to back threes to put Louisville back on top.

With the score tied at 54-54, two Tia free throws gave Louisville the lead. The Cards got a break when Inga got fouled but missed the front end of a one-and-the-bonus. USF missed a shot inside which could have tied it, but Williams went strong to the paint for the rebound and putback to even it up at 56-56.

It came down to the final ten seconds. Williams went for a three but missed. Schimmel went coast-to-coast for the go-ahead bucket and on the USF inbounds after the score, Jude stole a pass from Williams and was fouled. The junior calmly sank both free throws and USF's final possession resulted in no points.

Shoni's 17 points led Louisville. Williams and Orekhova had 19 each for USF (19-12).

Huskies again. #1 seed possibilities almost flickered out...but re-kindled with Schimmel magic. Pretty? No, not at all...but it's survive and advance this time of year.

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Louisville Softball unloaded the heavy artillery Sunday afternoon in Ulmer Stadium...trouncing Ohio State University 11-4 and setting a new runs scored record in the beating of Ohio University 22-4. Here's the recaps...

Louisville 22-Ohio University 4

18 hits led to 22 runs for Louisville against the Bobcats in the five inning affair. The Cards got three innings from Rachel LeCoq as the starter and an appearance from freshman Tirra Sanabria in relief...who allowed just one run on three hits in two innings.

OU actually led 2-0 when the Cards came up to bat in the botton of the first, but that quickly changed. Kelsi Jones' three-run blast to center, and two-RBI doubles from Hannah Kiyohara and Marissa Becker were key components in the nine-run first inning.

Kiyohara would plate the Cards two runs in the second inning with a single to increase the Cardinal margin to 11-3.

The third inning features 11 Cardinals touching home plate. A three-run blast to right center by Brittany Duncan, four walks an two Bobcat errors all contributed to a 22-3 score after three frames.

Louisville 11-Ohio State 4


Although the Cards could only manage half the runs of the first game, it was still an impressive show of power and pitching for UofL (12-6). Maryssa Becker got the win in relief...Caralisa Connell started and Tiarra Sanabria closed in the circle for the Cards.

UofL made it 4-0 after one inning. A bases-loaded double from Becker scored two and singles from Taner Fowler and Maggie Ruckenbrod got Becker and Duncan home.

The Cards added three more in the second...Kelsi Jones' two-run fence clearer to center the key blow.

The Buckeyes countered with four runs in the top of the third to draw within three...but Louisville added two more runs in the fifth on three singles, a walk and sacrifice fly to build the score to 9-4.

The Ville finished the scoring frenzy in the sixth...Keller's double the key blow against Buckeye pitching.

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Did you miss the latest CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO BROADCAST?  It's archived and available for listening now at Crescent Hill Radio. Jeff and Paulie talk plenty of hoops and toss in a little softball and lacrosse as well:

LINK: RADIO UNLEASHED UPON THE INTERNET!!!

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SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE - WBB, Lacrosse get Saturday wins.

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Balanced scoring, nine threes lead Louisville to win

-Lacrosse knocks off #18 Denver 12-7

The University of Louisville  women's basketball team recorded their 28th. win of the season in Cincinnati Saturdday afternoon..dispensing of the Bearcats 75-51 in Fifth Third Arena.

Tia Gibbs led the UofL scorers with 17 points and four Cards hit for double figures in the game.

The Cards jumped out to an early 6-0 lead over UC thanks to a couple of threes from Shoni Schimmel and Nita Slaughter and built a 14-5 lead after Slaughter drained her third three of the half at the 13:06 mark.

Playing on senior day...UC wasn't ready to let go of the contest just yet. The Bearcats erupted on a 16-5 run over the next five minutes and grabbed a 21-19 advantage when senior forward Jeanise Randolph connected on a jumper with 9:42 to go in the half.

Louisville had seen enough of any upset attempts. The Cards responded with a 13-3 run to grab a 32-24 edge after Tia Gibbs sank a couple of free throws with five minutes remaining in the first half. Louisville's largest lead of the first twenty minutes came when Shoni Schimmel drilled two free throws to put Louisville up 37-26 with 78 seconds to play in the first half.

The Cards took a 37-29 lead into the half...Slaughter's four threes paced the Cards for 12 first half points, Gibbs had 11 points and two threes in the books and Shoni added seven for Louisville. 

The Cards were having trouble stopping Randolph (14 pts.) and Alyesha Lovett (11 points). Chelsea Jamison had UC's other four points of the half. Jamison was also whistled for a technical foul early in the first half for going after Asia Taylor after a battle for a loose ball.


UofL steadily pulled away from UC in the final stanza, getting their first 10 points from Asia and Sara Hammond to go up 47-38 with four minutes gone in action. That lead jumped to 54-40 after a Gibbs three at the 13:15 mark .

Emmonnie Henderson pushed Louisville to a 61-42 margin after scoring inside and hitting a free throw with 9:20 to play. By then, Walz was substituting liberally...getting Denies, Breedlove and "E" extensive playing time. A-Tayy connected on a nice inside feed from Jude to make it 66-44 Cards with 7:18 showing on the clock.

Shoni's second three of the contest gave Louisville a 71-49 advantage with four minutes left in the game.  Bria Smith's jumper and two "E" free throws closed out the Cardinal scoring for the 24-point win.

Louisville was led by Tia's 17 points. Nita finished with 14, Asia scored ten second half points to end up with 12 and Shoni added 10 points to complete the double-figure Cards. Sara Hammond was good for eight, "E" and Bria had five each and Jude rounded out the scoring with four. Deines, Breedlove and Walton also played but did not score.

Randolph led all scorers with 22 points.

It was a good, if not spectacular win for Louisville in front of a fan base that was almost equally divided between UofL and UC fans. A tune-up for the business that lies ahead Monday night in the KFC YUM! Center at 7 p.m. A chance for Louisville to get quite a few different combinations on the floor and test different defenses and offensive sets. A brief, light-hearted comedy before the feature film.

Be there.



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Louisville Lacrosse pulls off the home win over #18 Denver at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium Saturday afternoon 12-7. Junior forward Faye Brust led Kellie Young's squad with four goals while handing the Pioneers their first loss of the season.

Kellie Young was impressed with the Cardinal defense:

"Our defense played awesomely. They were great on ball. We had great doubling, great sliding and great covering of the cutters. Denver had a hard time finding open people."

(Wait a sec...was that Young or Walz describing the action?)

After Denver opened with a score, Kaylin Morissette tossed home two in a row and Brust got her first to put Louisville put 3-1. Scores from Nikki Boltja and Brust kept Louisville in the lead 5-3 and Cortnee Daley scored close-in to give the Cards a 6-3 first half advantage.

Denver opened up the final 30 minutes with a score but Brust countered to keep the Cardinal lead at three. Two Denver scores within a 30 second time-frame had it close at 7-6 with 20 minutes remaining.

The Pioneers would get no closer. Four unanswered UofL scores from Carissa Corbett, Boltja, Morissette and Jamie Redding put it out of reach at 11-6. The Pioneers would score for the final time with eight minutes left. Brust's fourth goal made the final score 12-7 with less than a minute remaining.

Louisville (4-1) heads to Columbus, OH for action against The Ohio State University on Tuesday at 3 p.m.

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Softball's Saturday games in California were cancelled.

Monday Cardinal Couple -- A great day to be a Cardinal fan!

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

It was a big weekend for Louisville Women’s athletics, and my how they responded. 

Softball went 4-1 at home this weekend to get back above .500.  Lacrosse won two on the road putting up big offensive numbers and the women’s basketball team defended home court and swept Rutgers on the season.

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A-Tayy gives us that beautiful smile
(Photo by Charlie Springer - UofLCardGame.com)

A career performance by Asia Taylor led the team to 73-58 win over the Scarlet Knights.  The win ties a school record of 17 home wins in a season and guarantees the Cardinals no less than second place in conference play in their sole season in The American. 

The Cardinal faithful came out to support the women today, topping out at 14,327, to celebrate the annual pink game and get their fix of this team, and seniors, as the season rapidly winds down.   

Robbie Bartlett got things started for the day by singing the National Anthem.  We were just talking about Robbie, and the lack of her Ballgame National Anthem apperances, on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour yesterday.  It was nice to see a local favorite back out on the court getting us all ready for the opening tip.  Robbie sings the opening and closing music for our show each Saturday.

Julie Hermann was back also in town...seated behind the Rutgers' bench to see how her new university would do against her former school. Julie in a skirt...not a bad sight to see at all...

Bria attemps inside (Photo by Charlie Springer)

The Cardinals played a very good game against a young and very tough Rutgers team. This is an exciting and talented team.  Tyler Scaife, the freshman who lit us up in Piscataway, had another dominant performance for the Scarlet Knights, but it was not enough to tip the balance in their favor.  17 points Sunday.

Rutgers is also leaving The American at the season’s end, to join the Big 10.

With a poor shooting performance for several Cardinals, it is heartening to see a double digit win in a tournament like atmosphere.   Sara Hammond went 3-10, Bria Smith went 1-6 and Antonita Slaugher  went 0-5 behind the arc and the Cardinals were still able to win going away. 

 The Cardinals started a little slow offensively, with Rutgers taking an early lead. Hammond missed 3-4 early chippies under the basket before she stepped back and sank a three.   Slaughter, who had an off shooting night, was able to affect them defensively hustling on several key plays keeping the Cardinal ball alive. 

Breast cancer survivors help lead a cheer

While there were many contributions from varying players throughout the game to change and shift momentum, there was no bigger player today than Asia Taylor.  She flat out balled.  Taylor left nothing on the court, and in doing so, had a career performance of 25 points, 15 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals.   Taylor played like the 5^th year senior that she is taking full advantage of her last year in a Cardinal uniform. 

The Cardinals have two games left.  Next Saturday in Cincinnati and the final game of the regular season back at the Yum Center against #1 ranked Connecticut.  Monday, March 3, against Connecticut, is your last time to see this team, and these seniors, in their final regular season game.   With hard work and a little luck, we may just get to see them return to the Yum for the regionals of the NCAA tournament.

Future prospective LadyBirds and Cheerleaders lead the crowd

March 3 will be a celebration of the seniors, Asia Taylor, Tia Gibbs, Antonita Slaughter and the always interesting Shoni Schimmel.  It is also Native American Appreciation day.  The lower bowl of the arena is sold out, but there are still seats to be had.  $5 is a bargain to see this game. Get your seats folks and get there early.  It is going to be an exciting finish to the season. 

Call (502) 852-7254 or e-mail johnathan@gocards.com to get your seats!


EDITOR'S NOTE:

NOT ENOUGH CAN BE SAID ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE OF A-TAYY TODAY. THE 'LOOK' WAS THERE TODAY. SHE GETS THIS LOOK (sometimes) DURING GAMES...LIKE A HAWK GETTING READY TO SWOOP DOWN ON AN UNSUSPECTING PREY...OR A SLEEK, SLIM PANTHER ABOUT TO RUN DOWN AND DISABLE A GAZELLE.

 A LOOK OF INTENSITY. OF CONFIDENCE. A LOOK OF CLARITY AND UNDERSTANDING. WE LOVE IT WHEN A-TAYY COMES OUT WITH 'THE LOOK'. YOU KNOW ALL IS GOING TO BE OK...

A LOOK THAT SAYS...WINNER.

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Softball finished a weekend of play against Northern Kentucky University winning 8-0.  The Softball Cards got out to a quick lead by scoring 4 in the first inning.  While that is all they would need to win for the day, the game officially ended in the bottom of the sixth due to the run rule.  (The run rule is in effect when a team leads by more than 8 runs after the 5^th inning.) 

Freshman Tiarra Sanabria got her first official start on the mound and went two innings giving up one hit and striking out two.  Sanabria was relieved by Caralisa Connell, who fanned 4 in two innings, and Maryssa Becker closed out the game and got the win on the day. 

The softball team heads to the west coast next weekend to participate in the Mayfair Tournament in Fullerton, CA.   They will return home the weekend of March 7-9. 

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Lacrosse finished their Virginia road trip at William & Mary on Sunday and won in a dominant performance, with a final score of 18-5.

Nikki Boltja had a season-best 7 goals to lead the Cardinals.  The Cardinals had a 21 minute stretch in the game where they scored 14 unanswered goals.  This was the 4^th best unanswered stretch in school history. 

Coach Kellie Young had this to say about her teams performance on Sunday:
 

"This was one of the best overall efforts of my college coaching days," head coach Kellie Young said. "End to end, every player gave their best effort and showed incredible attention to detail."

Sounds like a great win and great team play for Lacrosse.  Next up for the team is a return home for a match up on Saturday, March 1 against Denver.  With very few home gams on the schedule for the team this will be a rare opportunity to see a game.  

jenny obryan
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