Cards fly early, fold late to UK...77-68

Two 12-0 UK second half runs prove costly in UofL loss


This one was just a plain shame to watch disintegrate.

Emmonnie enforces. Photo by Charlie
Springer - www.uoflcardgame.com

The University of Louisville women's basketball team let a 13 point half time lead fall by the wayside to take their first loss of the season to #13 Kentucky 77-68 in front of almost 15,000 fans in the KFC YUM! Center Sunday afternoon. 

Louisville could do no wrong in the first two minutes of this one...rolling out to a 7-1 lead when Bria Smith took a feed from Mariya Moore. It necessitated a UK timeout and the Cats did seem to be on equal terms for the next eight minutes...getting within five when Makayla Epps scored to make it 21-16 Louisville with slightly over ten minutes left in the half. 

The next four minutes were all Louisville, though...the Cards going on a 11-0 run to grab a 32-16 lead after two Sara Hammond free throws with 6:44 showing on the clock.
Louisville's quickness in the transition and UK's poor shooting were making this one look way too easy.

A Emmonnie Henderson putback at the buzzer gave UofL a 42-29 lead after 20 minutes. Louisville shot 51.7% in the first half and were led by Bria Smith's 10 points and Myisha Hines-Allen's nine. 

Jude trapped. Photo by Charlie Springer -
www.uoflcardgame.com

The Cards were dominating on the boards...but you had to worry about UK's guard contingent bringing them back into the battle like they did earlier this season against Duke. 

UK whittled away at the Cardinal lead to start the second half...getting within nine after a Janae Thompson free throw that made it 49-40 four minutes into the action. The Cards didn't appear to be panicked, though...Moore connected on a pass from Jude to hold a 53-40 edge with 13:23 left in the game. 

Then, the Cards crumbled. 

Over the next four minutes, the Cats unleashed a 12-0 run that had them within one at 53-52 after Linnae Harper's three with 9:40 showing on the scoreboard. 

UK was looking superiorly faster and penetrating the Cards paint with the guard play of Harper, Epps, Goss, Thompson and O'Neill. Louisville couldn't buy a bucket and the UK defensive pressure was wearing the Cards down.

Louisville would scrap and hang on to the lead until a Thompson free throw put the Cats ahead for the first time at 59-58 with 6:16 remaining. Louisville regained the advantage when Moore hit a layup and took a three point lead at 66-63 after two Smith free throws and 3:26 to play.

Sadly, the Cards couldn't find the bucket after that...allowing UK to go on another 12-0 spurt that didn't end until Hammond hit a meaningless jumper with 18 seconds left to make it 75-68 UK.  The Cards would commit three turnovers, commit four fouls and miss four shots in the stretch.

Selfie in second half when things started going south.

Still....the Cards were only down 68-66 when Myisha HInes-Allen missed a jumper with 1:24 remaining. Harper and O'Neill both drove the lane and connected on layups in the next 30 seconds, though and UK hit 6 of 7 free throws the rest of the way to secure the victory.

Troubling, indeed, the way the Cards seemed to wilt at times under UK ful-court, trapping pressure. Disheartening, also...to watch UK's guards blow by Schimmel, Carter and Smith for layups or trips to the foul line in the final three minutes. Agonizing to watch UofL go 7-29 from the floor in the second half...10 of those misses from close-in.

CC favorite Syd Brackemyer watches team warm up

The Cards committed a season high 28 turnovers in the game and UK capitalized by holding a 27-13 edge in points off turnovers. Louisville went 24-33 from the foul line...above the Walz mandated 70%...but could only gather two points off the nine misses. The Cards outrebounded the Cats 46-34 and had 16 second chance points to UK's 4.

Tough to lose to the in-state rival on your court and suffer a loss the fourth consecutive time in a row. Plenty of season to be played yet, though.

Hines-Allen led Louisville with 17 points, Smith added 15,

Louie takes a load off in the VIP seats

Moore finished with 14 and Hammond totaled 11 for the Cards that were in double figures. Arica Carter and Emmonnie Henderson were good for four each and Shawnta' Dyer had three points. Deines and Schimmel played but did not score and Vails and Freeman did not see any action. 

A case Sunday afternoon where quickness and speed eventually prevailed over strength and rebounding. 

Louisville returns to action Monday Dec 15th. when ODU comes to the KFC YUM! Center for a 7 p.m. tilt. 

paulie

Tuesday Cardinal Couple -- What makes a rivalry?

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Jeff MCAdams takes a look at rivalries

Sunday afternoon I had the opportunity to watch the UK vs Duke Women's Basketball game in Rupp Arena as a special correspondent for www.dwhoops.com.  Published by Orin Day, dwhoops.com is a site all about Duke Women's Basketball.  I was asked to go to the game and write an article about the game from the perspective of a Louisville fan.  Of course, with Louisville joining The ACC next year, Duke vs Kentucky takes on added significance.

You can see what I wrote below:

 A LOUISVILLE FAN GOES TO LEXINGTON

Leading to the game, Orin sent me some ideas of topics that would likely be well received on his site about the game.  One of the ideas was to write about whether there would be a Duke-Louisville rivalry develop in Women's Basketball in The ACC.

While dwhoops.com is focused on Women's Basketball, WE here at Cardinal Couple cover all women's sports, so I'd like to take this space to explore the idea of a potential Duke-Louisville rivalry from the broader perspective of really all sports, but with a particular focus on women's athletics.

What makes for a good rivalry?

Physical proximity can be one factor.  Think of all of the cross-town rivalries:  Duke v UNC, Cincinnati v Xavier, Cal v Stanford, USC v UCLA, Houston v Rice, and many more.  Then intra-state: Louisville v Kentucky, Michigan v Michigan State, UNC v NC State, Alabama v Auburn and again many more.

Familiarity through regular competition can be another factor.  Here you find some of the historical rivalries like Ohio State v Michigan, Army v Navy, Pitt v WVU, Louisville v Memphis, Louisville v Cincinnati, and...well...let's just put this link, here, to give an idea.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NCAA_college_football_rivalry_games



Competitiveness comes into play as a factor as well.  If one school regularly beats the other by wide margins, it is very difficult to build any real excitement about meeting the school in competition.  For example, not too many people consider Louisville and UConn to be in a signficant rivalry, despite a lot of familiarity between the schools and meeting in competition quite regularly, many of those competitions just aren't all that competitive.  We regularly beat UConn in many sports such as Volleyball, Softball, and Men's Basketball; while UConn usually hands us a defeat in Women's Basketball and Field Hockey.

So how do these factors come into play with Louisville and Duke?

Louisville and Duke aren't in any real proximity to each other.  Its a solid 8 hour drive from Louisville to Durham, NC, so that factor doesn't help.

How often will Louisville and Duke meet up against each other in competition after we join The ACC?  With the size of The ACC, we wouldn't be expected to regularly meet up with Duke more than once in any sport in any season.  It will be even less in Football as we will be in the Atlantic division replacing Maryland, and Duke is in the Coastal division.  Post season tournaments will give another opportunity for the schools to meet one another.

If the schools play lots of sports in common, it can help bolster a nascent rivalry as well, so let's figure out what sports Louisville and Duke play in common.  Baseball, Basketball (M&W), Cross Country, Field Hockey, Football, Golf (M&W), Lacrosse (W), Rowing, Soccer (M&W), Swimming & Diving, Tennis (M&W), Track & Field, and Volleyball (W).  The only sport that Louisville participates in that Duke doesn't is Softball, and Duke has announced that they are adding Softball, with anticipated first varsity competition in 2018.  Duke competes in three sports that Louisville doesn't: Fencing, Lacrosse (M), and Wrestling.  That's a really remarkably compatible list of sports...these are schools that are going to be seeing each other a lot across sports.  I think this factor is a mild positive for the idea of a budding rivalry.

So what about competitiveness in each sport?

Baseball - no, we have quite a good team, Duke is not so great
Basketball (M&W) - yes, all four teams are relatively competing at high levels
Field Hockey - yes, both Duke and Louisville are good, but not yet great teams
Football - yes, both teams seem to be on an upward trajectory
Lacrosse (W) - no, Duke is very good in both Men's and Women's Lacrosse.  While our Women's team is progressing, we're not at Duke's level of play, yet.
Soccer (M) - probably not, Duke is mediocre, we're pretty good
Soccer (W) - yes, like Field Hockey, both teams are good but not yet great
Volleyball (W) - quite possibly, Duke won the ACC and only had 5 losses on the year as a whole

I don't really feel like I have enough expertise to judge for Cross Country, Rowing, Swimming & Diving, Tennis, and Track & Field.  If any readers want to weigh in on those sports in comments, I'd love to hear your take.

So there are a lot of sports where I expect us to be competitive with Duke, so that factor works in
favor of a budding rivalry.

All in all, I think there is real potential for Duke-Louisville to build into a significant rivalry over the years.  As I said in my article for dwhoops.com, though, only time will tell.  Are there other ACC teams that might develop into a rivalry more than Duke?  I'd love to hear your thoughts on this in the comments.

-Jeff McAdams

EDITOR NOTE:

Pam Bustin left the Cards Field Hockey program to assume the head coaching role at Duke.  Nolan Smith was a highly recruited men's basketball player who chose Duke over Louisville. His dad, Derek Smith, was a member of the 1980 UofL National Championship team. Louisville defeated Duke for the 1986 NCAA National Championship in men's basketball. Jay Bilas, a member of that 1986 Duke squad and current ESPN basketball commentator isn't very popular among UofL fans. Duke went to court to cancel a UofL vs. Duke planned football series several years ago.

The Cards defeated Duke last year in the NCAA Tournament...the game where Kevin Ware had his scary leg injury. There are plenty of seeds present to grow a fun rivalry against the Blue Devils. Whether it will grow and develop or not remains to be seen. 

As a side note...my father, uncles and aunt were born 12 miles down Hwy 70 from the Duke campus. I still have dozens of relatives in the Burlington and Haw River area...but their loyalties are pretty much equally divided between Duke and UNC. I grew up visiting the area each summer and have visited the Duke Gardens, walked the trails in the Duke Forest, played pick-up basketball in Cameron Indoor Stadium and attended services in Duke Chapel.

My father's ashes were laid to rest in the Sykes Cemetery in Haw River.

My wife Sonja has an autographed picture of Coach K...signed "Go Cards!" from a chance meeting on an airplane flight years ago.  Yes, the Blue Devils and the Sykes family have a history.

Personally, I'm OK with Duke Athletics. I tend to make fun of Coach Joanne P. and her quizzical coaching style and mannerisms...but I expect when it comes down to Duke and UK, I'll choose the "Dookies" as the lesser of two evils. Against us? It'll be "GO CARDS" every time.

-Paulie

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Monday Cardinal Couple -- Cats 69 - Cards 64

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-  Stalled

-  Volleyball starts against Marquette


DeNesha Stallworth's 15 second half points, CARDS cold shooting lead to loss in Lexington.

After trailing by nine points at halftime, UK used a 24-9 run over the first 10 minutes of the second half to open up a six point lead over the University of Louisville's women's basketball team and held on to defeat UofL 69-64 Sunday afternoon in Memorial Coliseum.

The Cards looked in control after 20 minutes...leading 36-27 and outrebounding UK 23-13 in the first half. Asia Taylor had 10 points for Jeff Walz's squad and the Cards were shooting 50% against a tight UK defensive effort.

Enter Stallworth and Jennifer O'Neill for the Wildcats. A combined 1 point between the two in the first half ended up with the duo totaling 27 in the final stanza and UK took advantage of 14 whistles against Louisville to take the lead for good when Bernisha Pinkett nailed a three with 10:45 remaining to grab the advantage at 46-45. Pinkett would sink another trey and UK had turned the tables...up 51-45 with 9:32 left in the contest.

Cold shooting plagued UofL in the final twenty....going 10-36 (27.8%) while UK took control of the boards and forced the Cards into 24 turnovers...the second straight game Louisville has committed "give-up's" of two dozen or more.

Yet, the Cards fought back and after Nita Slaughter and Sara Hammond scored to narrow the Cats advantage to 64-62 with 2:08 left...it looked to be a fight to the finish.

A questionable foul on Sara Hammond sent her to the bench with five infractions just 13 seconds later. From that point on, the Cats went on a 5-0 run to seal the win. Shoni got a putback with five seconds left to make the final 69-64.

Shoni had 17 to lead Louisville in scoring...15 in the second half. Sara Hammond ended with 12 in 23 minutes and Asia Taylor completed the Cards in double figures with 10...all in the first half. 24 fouls and 24 turnovers. 22 made field goals.

A disappointing loss. Fuel for the fire for those who claim the Cards have no legit "big" inside. Louisville had no answer for Stallworth inside in the second half.

It's not the end of the world. Louisville takes to the Denny Crum Court Tuesday to face Missouri State for a 7 p.m. tip.

Hopefully without referees Michael Price, Mark Zentz and Maj Forsberg in attendance.

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THE FINAL WORD

Jeff Walz described it best in the post-game presser when he said the Cards gave this one away. Actually, he used a different term, but he asked the media to use discretion...so I am.

UofL was up 14 in the first half. Up nine at half. UK wanted it more today and they got it. It's one game, one loss but losing to your in-state rival always stings.

Hopefully it was a loss that will lead to a finish like the Cards had last year. I'll take wins over Baylor and the Vols over a loss to UK anyday.

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The NCAA had their Volleyball tournament selection show Sunday evening an Louisville will travel to Champaign, IL and face Marquette in opening action. Jeff McAdams will have more on this, in comment and article form, later this week. Below is the UofL SID release:

The NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Committee announced today the 64-team field for the 2013 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship and the University of Louisville will face Marquette in the first round of the tournament Friday at 5:30 ET in Champaign, Ill. The winner will advance to play the winner of the No. 13 seed Illinois versus Morehead State match.

“This puts us in a familiar spot,” said U of L head coach Anne Kordes. “We played Marquette three times last year and we have a lot of respect for the team and their coaching staff. It is a tough first round matchup but it helps that we have played in Champaign so it is a familiar area. The whole point of playing a tough schedule and winning the conference is to get a good matchup in the tournament. We are fired up and ready to go.”

Thirty-two conferences were awarded automatic qualification, and the remaining 32 slots were filled with at-large selections to complete the bracket. Louisville earned the automatic qualifier after sweeping The American Athletic Conference.

The match with Marquette will be a rematch of the 2012 BIG EAST Conference Tournament Championship with the Cards prevailing 25-19, 25-23, 26-24. U of L also beat the Golden Eagles 3-0 at home and 3-1 in Milwaukee during the regular season. This year, Marquette is currently ranked No. 24. U of L has a 24-8 series edge on the Golden Eagles.

The top 16 teams were seeded nationally and placed within four regions. The teams tabbed as the top four seeds were No. 1 University of Texas at Austin; No. 2 Pennsylvania State University; No. 3 University of Washington; and No. 4 University of Missouri, Columbia.

Per the established bracketing principles the top 16 seeds were provided the opportunity to host. In addition, first- and second-round conference matchups were avoided and team pairings were determined by geographical proximity.

The Pacific-12 Conference led all conferences with nine teams. The Big Ten Conference and Southeastern Conference were next with eight teams in the tournament. Two teams, Penn State and Stanford have earned bids to all 32 championships. Four teams are making their initial appearances in the tournament: Alabama State University, Duquesne University, Hampton University and Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis.

In the 32-year history of the championship, 10 schools have been crowned champion, seven of which are in this year’s bracket, including defending champion, Texas.

 

Past winners making the field are Stanford (1992, 94, 96, 97, 2001, 04), University of Hawaii, Manoa (1982, 83, 87), University of Nebraska, Lincoln (1995, 2000, and 06), University of Southern California (1981, 2002, 03), Penn State (1999, 2007, 08, 09 and 10), Texas (1988, 2012) and Washington (2005).

First- and second-round matches will be played at 16 campus sites. Teams winning both matches will move on to regional play December 13 and 14. The pre-determined regional sites are Lexington, Kentucky; Los Angeles, California; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Champaign, Illinois. All regional semifinal games will be shown on ESPN3. Regional final games will air on ESPNU.

The regional winners will advance to the semifinals and final hosted by Washington and at KeyArena in Seattle, Washington, on December 19 and 21. Both national semifinal games as well as the championship game will be broadcast by ESPN2.

-paulie

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Battle in the Bluegrass

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- #3 and #7 Do battle in Lexington


(OUR STAFF BASKETBALL ACE JENNY O'BRYAN GIVES US HER TAKE ON TODAY'S GAME IN LEXINGTON. WE'RE FULLY REPRESENTED IN MEMORIAL TOMORROW WITH JEFF, JENNY, SONJA AND PAULIE ALL ATTENDING. WE HOPE FOR A PLEASANT RIDE HOME.)

The Battle of the Bluegrass heats up today in Lexington at 1:00 p.m.  This intrastate rivalry is a fan favorite.   Ask any Louisville Cardinal fan and one thing they always want for Christmas is a Kentucky loss.  A Kentucky loss to any team, in any sport, will make a Cardinal fans day.   It is a rivalry as strong as any in the nation and since it's basketball...it ramps up to a higher level.

So what is at stake today for our Cardinals? 

From the fan perspective, it is all about bragging rights.  Who gets to claim ownership of the state as the best team?   It’s about proving Louisville is little brother to no one.   Finally, just because Kentucky fans can’t seem to find their way down I-64 west, does not mean that Louisville does not exist.  (I am sure it means a whole lot more to fans, but I am keeping this relatively clean of smack talk.  I prefer to let my team do the talking with their actions on the court.)

Both the Wildcats and the Cardinals enter today without a blemish.   With both teams heading into this match-up with 7-0 records, someone gets their first mark in the loss column.   A loss this early in the season rarely hurts a team, when you think about the end goal, of post-season play.   Just look at the books for this game last year.  Louisville lost a heartbreaker at home.  I’d venture to say that the loss actually helped the team, rather then hurt it, in the big picture.   Coach Walz says it almost in every post game interview.  Yes they want the win, but more importantly, they want to get better as a team after each game.  So, regardless of the outcome of this game, as long as the team can grow and learn from the game, an early season loss does not hurt your end goal of post-season play. 

Probably the biggest thing that can be affected by this game is NCAA seeding implications.   The loss, to whom ever gets it, will not in and of itself prohibit post season play.  It can, however, come in to play in the selection committee’s seeding of teams.    I think this is particularly important this year with Regionals being hosted by home teams for the first (and likely last time) in many years.  Kentucky is hosting the first and second rounds of the tournament, and Louisville is hosting the Regional Round of play (sweet 16 and elite 8).  The higher your seed, the less likely you are to play in the tournament on someone else’s home court, in the early rounds.  So, your path to the Final Four (at least in theory) is easier, with the higher seed.    I do not pretend to understand the myriad of things the selection committee accounts for in seeding.  I do venture to say that a win against a top 10 team, on their home court, will be highly favored.  So, taking care of business today can go a long way in making March a little less stressful. 

What can we look for in today’s game?

 Both teams like to play in transition and put up a lot of points.   One of this biggest critique’s of the Kentucky squad from last season was that they could not play in the half court.  If you remember, Coach Walz really slowed the game down last year.  A lot of people (including myself) felt like it got slowed down too soon.  However, that is how you win games.  You take teams out of their comfort zone and make them beat you with their weakness.   I expect a slower pace again this year.  I do not see this as a high scoring affair. 

DeNesha Stallworth and Samarie Walker are both a very strong presence in the paint.  They will score and pull down rebounds.  Both are averaging double digits in scoring.  Samantha Drake and Azia Bishop will offer relief in the post for the Cats.   Louisville also has a strong post presence of Asia Taylor, Sara Hammond, Shawnta Dyer, Cortnee Walton and Emmonie Henderson.  Dyer and Henderson are both improving their conditioning, but can both provide very valuable time to the Cardinals, especially if we get in to foul trouble. 

Both the Cardinals and the Cats are loaded with talented guards and wings.  We have the Schimmels, Bria Smith, ‘Nita Slaughter, Tia Gibbs, Megan Deines and Monny Niamke.   All are very talented in their own right.  Niamke is the newest addition to this crew but she showed her defensive prowess and speed against FSU most recently.  The Cats have an equally impressive group of guards.  Jennifer O’Neill, Janee Thompson (the freshman guard from last season, who showed incredible poise in a high pressure situation in her very early collegiate career, to seal the win against Louisville), Kastine Evans, Bria Goss (who looks to be the high scorer for the Cats) and freshman Linnae Harper (a high school teammate of Thompson, and a top 5 kid in the class of 2013) and Makayla Epps. 

Looking at the above personnel I see a lot of talent on both sides, one side not more outstanding than the other.  So what decides this game? 

The obvious glaring issues the Cardinals have had are turnovers, fouls and free throws.   The Cardinals will have to take care of business in all of these categories.  

- Kentucky is a high-pressure defense.  They can and will create turnovers.   The Cardinals will have to keep the turnovers limited, and honest.  No giving the ball away to Kentucky.  

-With that high pressure defense will come fouling.   Louisville will have to take advantage of calls they get and play high-pressure defense with their feet, not their hands.  We do not want to see any of our players on the bench early in foul trouble, much like we saw against Oklahoma. 

-Louisville will have to do better at the line.  We have been saying all along that free throw shooting can and will lose you games against high ranked teams.   Let’s be on the right side of that stat tomorrow. 

There is one piece of the puzzle that I think will weigh heavily in our favor tomorrow, and that is competition level.   Louisville has been challenged this season. 

The Cardinals have played two top 15 teams and a 3^rd team (FSU) that is getting a lot of votes and will likely crack the top 25 soon.   Kentucky has had no such challenge this season.   Not only has Louisville played some top competition, the Cardinals have also come from behind twice to force overtime and win the game going away.  This Cardinal team has learned to not panic and to trust themselves and their teammates.  This, I believe, will work to the Cardinals advantage. 

My prediction for this game is a close, low scoring affair.  I firmly believe that the Cardinals have the talent to win this game.  The question mark in my mind is if they can stay away from a slow start and the game time lapses that allow opponents to come back, or build a lead.  IF the Cardinals can stay present throughout the game, play a full 40 minutes, I give the win to the Cards.  

Let us know how you think it'll go in our comments section.  

Regardless of what happens today, it will not make or break the season.  A win on the road would be fantastic and likely help with postseason seeding.  A loss will mean the groan of Wildcat bragging rights and a little less control (and perhaps a little more stress for the coaching staff) over their postseason fate.  Neither will prove to be obstacles insurmountable.  So, have fun Cardinal fans as you cheer on your favorite team and as always, stay classy.  

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( OUR LATEST BROADCAST IS NOW UP ON THE SOUNCLOUD AND AVAILABLE FOR LISTENING. WE SPEND OVER HALF THE SHOW TALKING ABOUT TODAY'S GAME. WE ALSO WONDERED ALOUD WHY PAULIE DIDN'T SEE LAURA TERRY AT THE GAME. THANKS TO READER KENNY S., WE HAVE LEARNED SHE WAS ABSENT BECAUSE A DEATH IN THE FAMILY. OUR SYMPATHY IS EXTENDED TO THE TERRY FAMILY...PAULIE)

LINK:

RADIO AS IT HAS NEVER BEEN PRESENTED. A TOTAL QUAGMIRE...AS ONLY WE CAN DO IT!



-jennyobryan

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Volleyball eliminated from NCAA Tournament...WBB: Cards vs. Cats today

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SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:


LIVE FROM MEMORIAL

3:05 p.m. It is done. Cats 74 - Louisville 54. Much more later tonight...included quotes and perspectives. An old-fashioned, take you back to the barn whipping. Whew... 

3:01 p.m. Schimmel makes it 70-50 with a twisting, driving layup. 2:27 left.

2:53 p.m. Reid down after bumping her head on the floor. Up own her own. It's 64-46. Mercifully, only 4:01 to go.

2:42 p.m.  Media timeout. 7:58 left. Maybe premature...but...stick a fork in the Cards...they're done.  

2:40 p.m. Back to back Cat threes harmful here... it's 62-42 UK. 

2:33 p.m. 56-40 UK. Cards had it down to thirteen before another A'dia Mathies three. 11:20 to go..and if Louiville is going to get hot, now is the time. Sonja says...."Hustle, Cards!".


2:22 p.m. 50-32 UK. Cards briefly rallied to cut it to 14 but UK rallied right
back. First Schimmel/Schimmel court apperance at the 16:00 mark.


HALFTIME. 40-23 UK.

Louisville with 15 first half turnovers...Cards scored first and led 6-2 but it went south (or east, I guess...) after that. UK is...well..just whipping Louisville with quickness, accuracy and outside shooting.

Becky Burke with seven to lead Louisville. After her three that made it 10-9 UK, the Cats went on a 15-1 run to lead 25-10 with 7:25 left in the first half. Cards need to focus, rebound. Louisville getting out-rebounded 17-15.

Cards shooting 33.3% from the field and UK 51.7%. Cats six of nine from three-point range...Louisville 2-10. Adia Mathies 10 points for UK.

Ugh. Let's hope for better in the final twenty. The last 15 minutes of the first half were rough to watch.

1:48 p.m. It's now 35-23 after a Becky Burke 3. Cards still getting outrun and hustled by UK. A'dia Mathies on fire for UK.

1:37 p.m. Cats on a 12-1 run and lead 22-10. Cards shooting poorly and in a hurry. Walz not handing out any roses or cookies during the media timeout.


1:25 p.m. 17-9 Cats 11:36 to go. UK running and gunning better than Louisville.

1:14 p.m. 6-5 Cards. Amber Smith at the line after a particularly hard Hammond foul. Cards controlling the boards. Media timeout, Mo in the game for the first time with 15:56 left.

12:54 p.m. Pep band for UK blaring, no Cardinal pep band, LadyBirds or cheerleaders. Cats in locker room, Cards still on court...as is Walz's custom. Six minutes to go. We're guessing 700 UofL fans here...



12:42 p.m. At courtside under the basket near UofL bench. Place is about 3/4th full already....18 minutes to tip. Cats warming up in front of us. Cards bench right next to us.

Good contingent up in the rafters from UofL and loud when the Cards entered the court. UK pep band to our right. Howie Lindsey sitting next to me...Sonja to my right. As we predicted, Gary Gupton doing TV play-by-play. Bring it!



12:07 p.m.  We're in the media room at Memorial Coliseum. Pretty "blue" in here. Did talk briefly with Matt Andrews, UofL play-by-announcer. Sonja is at the food table, Howie Lindsey just walked in and it's 52 minues until tip-off. Like I said, a lot of Blue up in here.





-Volleyball falls 3-1 to Boilermakers

-Cards vs. Cats today in Lexington

-Men's soccer loses in double-overtime to UCLA

For awhile, it looked like the University of Louisville Volleyball team was going to give Purdue a run for their money in the second round of the NCAA Volleyball Championships.
After getting handled convincingly 25-14 in the first set, the Cards rallied and behind Brooke Mattingly and Tanya Lukyanenko and were up 23-20 in the second game. They had the Boliermakers at set point several times, then saw Purdue at set point before finally getting
two kills from Lola Arslanbekova and one from Lukyanenko to tie the match at 1-1...winning 28-26.

Then, the air went out of the ball for Anne Kordes' team.

The Boilermakers had Lola
bottled up Saturday

Purdue looked strong in smashing the Cards after the break...pulling away 12-3 in the third game and winning 25-11. More of the same in the fourth game...the Boilermakers scooting out to a 12-4 advantage and taking the set 25-16.

Shutting down Arslanbekova was the key and Purdue did it well, limiting her to 10 kills for the match. When they weren't stopping her, Lola was her own worst enemy...with numerous attempted kills that were too strong and too long.

Credit Caitlin Welch and Taylor Brauneis for some spectacular saves and digs...but you eventually reach a level of competition that is better than you...unless you win the title...and the Cards ran into that yesterday.

A capacity crowd, mostly Purdue students, made a racket of noise throughout the entire match. We're not big fans of game attendees being able to practically stand on the court and yell directly into the server's ear...but that is the configuration in Purdue's gymnasium. Not that it was the game-changer. The Cards missed enough kills and had enough unforced errors to do themselves in quite easily.

Anne Kordes (right) will do great things, we predict,
in the future as UofL Volleyball coach. Even if
she won't grant us an interview. CARDINAL COUPLE
mojo was there for her...maybe down the road.

Still,  a very good season for Anne Kordes' shorthanded roster. The Volley Cards lose just two seniors from the roster...Maci Wacthel and Gosa Lech...and neither played very much. We're unsure on Gwen Rucker's status for next season...she missed most of the year with a hamstring injury and it's not clear to us whether she'll get an additional season or not.
Anne Kordes has been recruiting well and is bring in at least three top players in the nation as freshmen next season.

So, at 24-9...the volleyball season ends at UofL. A lot to look forward to next year, though and a very good rookie season for Coach Kordes, who battled at times because of a short roster, and did great things. WE could harp upon the fact that she never did return e-mails about doing an interview with CARDINAL COUPLE, even after Paul gave her a card and contact information...but WE'RE sure she had a lot more important things to do than to talk to the fan voice for UofL women's sports. We'll give you a mulligan, Anne. Never underestimate the powerful mojo that you receive when you talk to CARDINAL COUPLE...though.  OK, let's move on...

Props to Al Greener, members of the UofL Pep Band and Cardinal Cheerleaders for making the trip to West Lafayette. You got air time on the BIG TEN Network. Greener plays a mean trombone.  

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As we write this, it is six hours away from the UofL vs. UK women's basketball game.  It's a sold out contest, around 9000 will pack into cozy Memorial Coliseum...and thousands more watching on Fox Sports South...or listening via http://www.uoflsports.com/  or 790 WKRD.  At stake - bragging rights in the state for a year.

We wonder if Matt still hates
everything about Louisville...

Louisville is 7-1. Kentucky is 7-0. The Cards are ranked 10th. and UK is at 12th. Both teams come into the game after lopsided wins from last week.

Will Jeff Walz be walking
on air after today's game?

For Louisville, Monique Reid leads the scoring efforts with 17 points and game. She's joined in double figures by Shoni Schimmel (13.2 ppg), Becky Burke (12.5) and Bria Smith (11.0). Cierra Warren is the leading rebounder at 6.3 grabs a game.

The Cards have faced two top 25 opponents this year, defeating Florida State in Tallahassee and losing to Texas A&M in College Station. 

UK is led by A'dia Mathies' 15.4 points a contest. Other double figure scorers for the Cats are Bria Goss (10.9), Keyla Snowden (10.7) and Kastine Evans (10.7). Sam Drake is the top missed shot grabber with 8.6 an event.

COACHES COMPARISON

Better dancer...Mitchell does a mean "Dougie". We've never seen Walz dance. UK

Better vertical....See Walz picture above. Mitchell looks like he could shed a few lbs. UofL

Head coaching experience...Mitchell seven years...Walz five. UK

Better haircut...Walz keeps his "high and tight". We're not sure what's going on with Mitchell's hair style. UofL

NCAA Tournament Success...Walz has a title game history and two other appearances. Mitchell with two visits to the BIG DANCE.  UofL 

Perspiration...Mitchell is usually soaked after a game. Walz doesn't appear to sweat. UofL

Coaching tree...Mitchell worked for Pat Summitt and Mickie DeMoss. Walz for Paul Sanderford and Brenda Frese. UK

Guy we'd rather hear sing...Mitchell doesn't stutter, Walz does...but he can joke about it. Maybe he'd do a good version of 'My Sharona' .UK

Offspring...Both coaches have two kids. Walz's are cuter.  UofL

Coach most likely to get a technical...Walz can go ballistic at times. Mitchell mostly whines. UofL

CARDINAL COUPLE will try to provide pre-game and live reports from Memorial Coliseum today. Not sure how the UK wireless network is...and we've had trouble before trying to update in the past at Eastern and Xavier...but we'll give it a shot. WE will provide a full report and summation tonight. Check in for updates and WE'LL try to be there for you...

May the best team win.

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Tough loss last night in Cardinal Park, with the UofL men's soccer team going down in double-overtime to UCLA 1-0 in front of a large and rowdy crowd of almost 5,000. WE were able to watch a lot of it on CARDS TV...bouncing back and forth from Volleyball on the BIG TEN network to the soccer match. Cards gave it their best shot...and we like listening to Sean Moth call the game. More like a documentary than a play by play description...which we like. We're guessing we saw 20 Fed Ex semis roll down I-65 because of the camera angle.

Charlie Springer, over at UofL Card Game http://www.uoflcardgame.com/ has a couple of nice action pics of the fans and players and a recap.

Person who might enjoy a few days off: Louisville assistant S.I.D Kim Pemberton. After last night's soccer match, which is one of the sports she handles...she's got basketball today in Lexington. Wouldn't blame her at all for sleeping in on Monday. She gets a break...Lady Cards don't play again after today until Saturday.

Can't say enough about the job she does, especially at UofL women's basketball games...where we see her the most. Any question we have, she'll get the answer. Any request we bring, she does her best to fufill it. Salute!


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More on the upcoming UK vs. Lady Cards WBB game...

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FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

_Louisville advances in Round 1 of NCAA Volleyball

-Jenny tells us her "take" on the UL v. UK WBB basketball game.

-Sandra on the ticket status for the game

-David Watson discusses the game

The University of Louisville Volleyball team has defeated Ball State in first round NCAA Volleyball action...sweeping Ball State 25-22, 25-15, 25-20. We'll have a full recap and details in Saturday's Cardinal Couple. Way to go, Anne Kordes and the Lady Cards spikers! 

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GOOD NEWS!
We're back up and running. Thanks to our superb I.T. guy Chris...and thanks for the e-mails expressing concern. Sometimes, you wonder (after the fact)..."Why did I click on that?"

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(Jenny O'Bryan is a writer for CARDINAL COUPLE. Here is her "take" on Sunday's game.)

I believe we can win against the Lady Cats. If both teams show up to play, and play to their capabilities, I believe this is going to go down as one of the best games in the history (or at least the recent history) of this rivalry. I give the edge to Louisville, though. I do believe it is going to be a close game. Of course, I want our Lady Cards to come out on top. But even more so, I want a good game from both teams. 

So...what needs to happen to bring home the win? Here are my thoughts on the matter: 

First, UofL needs to get off to a strong start. Let's hope they start the game like they did against Murray State and hit shots in the first minutes. UK is too good a team to  start slowly against...like the Cards have several times this year. GET OFF TO A STRONG START. 

Take care of the ball is next. The Lady Cards need to take care of every possession. They need to do this better than they have in games past. UK is a strong defensive team and they are going to force turnovers! We need not helping them beat us by committing unforced errors. The Lady Cares will need to value each possession, make good, solid passes on in-bounds plays and in transition. We must control this stat. TAKE CARE OF THE BALL.

The Lady Cards are also strong defenders. They will need to keep up the good work in this area. They can improve in this area by cleaning up the defense. The high octane, furious defensive effort loses its maximum effect when whistles are blown and play is stopped. When players get a chance to rest their legs and catch their breath you lose the advantages you have been stock-piling. PLAY SOLID, CLEAN DEFENSE AND...IN THE PROCESS...STAY OUT OF FOUL TROUBLE.

Dominate in the paint and on the boards. I believe this is the area where Louisville has the greatest advantage. Our "true bigs" include Cierra Warren and Sherrone Vails....with a supporting cast of Monique Reid, Asia Taylor, Sara Hammond, and Shawnta Dyer. Six players who can provide strong and valuable minutes inside. Louisville will need to find a way to exploit this vulnerability  of the Cats. The opportunity is there to rotate, stay  rested and dominate. UK has one true center in Samantha Drake and a forward/center in Azia Bishop. A strong effort from our "bigs" is the difference in this game. UofL must get solid minutes in the paint, stay out of foul trouble and rebound.

A'dia Mathies is still a huge impact player, even when her offense is off. She brings so much more to the game than just points scored. Containing her will be a huge task for the Cardinal guards...especially with Tia Gibbs done for the year.

The Lady Card assists seem to have increased with Shoni and Mo back in the lineup. This needs to continue to be a upward trend.

Finally, the Lady Cards need to just play like they know how to play. Hopefully, Shoni and Becky will be on fire from outside. Bria Smith will have her dribble drive going on and will be counted on to cash in on free throws. Mo will need to be the point producing paint specialist and look for her to see increased minutes. The Lady Cards will need to control the boards.

Lady Cards, go out on the hardwood at Memorial and play your game. Play hard, play strong and leave it all on the court. Bring home the win! 

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(CARDINAL COUPLE correspondent Sandra Walker comments on the ticket situation.) 

Tickets for Sunday's UK vs. UofL women's basketball game are officially gone. Kentuckysports.com announced no more tickets are are left for the Memorial Coliseum game...but they are still heavily promoting tickets to the UK vs. Duke WBB matchup in Rupp Arena. Official routes for tickets have not been available for awhile. Research at TicketMaster and contact with the normally resourceful ticket finder "Rob" at StubHub, Inc. also produced no results. Yesterday he responded "Just got your message and checked the listing for the game. Unfortunately, we have no more tickets left." 

One route may still be available as we have heard that a few tickets might be twisted out of UK's hands - to compliment those already held by over 250 fans who have committed to ride one of the fan buses to the game (which also includes a game ticket). You can confirm additional availability by contacting William Hancock at wth6445@insightbb.com or the Fastbreak Club at UofL. 

I personally grew frustrated with the UK ticket office non-answers when trying to acquire a ticket as far back as October when it was announced that Rupp Arena was being reserved for the upcoming WBB contest between UK and Duke but not for the more heavily fan-followed Louisville game. It looks like that either UK was too tight to spring for the additional Rupp Arena usage funds or that Louisville's almost triple home attendance so concerned the UK faithful that it was determined that using Memorial would guarantee a large home town crowd majority with which to help break the Louisville over Kentucky win streak--as UK will need every advantage they can acquire. This, of course, is my opinion.

One other possibly successful tactic to acquire game tickets is what I did. I presented myself as having so much newly acquired interest in the UK women that I was interested in purchasing season tickets. For the $40 investment, I not only have admission to the UofL vs. UK game...but also tickets to Tennessee, Duke and all the other teams on UK's home schedule. Not a bad investment...as the incoming team will make it worth it.

Notice to potential UK recruits...At least Memorial is an improvement from the early years of UK women's practice facilities where unless shots were perfect swishes, the backboard moved.

Enjoy the game. See you there.
EDITOR NOTE: A couple of hours after this article, regualr reader Elvis Redbird sent us an e-mail and has (2) tickets for face value ($7 each)...his e-mail address is qvoigt@hotmail.com CARDINAL FANS ONLY

His e-mail:

Dear Cardinal Couple,

I have two extra tickets for Sunday's game available to Cardinal fans only who wish to attend. The seat are behind the visitors bench up high. I'm willing to part with them for face value of $7 each. If you know of someone wishing to see what's shaping up as a heck a contest. #10 vs. #12. Personally I'm looking forward to chanting 'O-V-E-R-R-A-T-E-D' as I believe the Cardinals are a much better team & will win by + 15 POINTS. Please give them my contact information.

(Thanks Elvis!)*****************************************************************

(DAVID WATSON is a Special Correspondent for CARDINAL COUPLE. He talks about the game below.)

I'll be watching the upcoming UofL vs. UK women's basketball game with a great deal of interest. I've heard it might be on ESPN3-which would be good for those who don't receive FOX SPORTS SOUTH. 

My neighbor Hank is UK crazy.  Blue flag flies 365 days a year. We were talking the other day out in his driveway. He was boasting about the successes of the UK men's team. I countered that the UofL women's basketball team was playing the Lady Kats and that it would be a good game. His answer: 

"I don't follow those women's sports too much but the Cats will win that one. UK is just plain better than Louisville in everything but football." 

We agreed to a friendly wager. Two sidewalk shovellings of the other's property after the first two sizable snows. No points exchanged, just a neighborly wager. Then, he went back into his cave, club over shoulder - and drug his wife out to the mini-van by her hair. Hank is definitely a male chauvinist pig, self admitted- and if there isn't a helmet, home run or slam dunk involved, he usually doesn't watch or care for it. Everytime I hear the Beatles sing "Here comes old flat-top." on the song "Come Together" - I get a mental picture of him.

Louisville will travel to Memorial Coliseum and beat the Kentucky women. How do I know this? I go by a basic and old and proven adage in basketball. The team that can rebound better usually wins. The Lady Cards have a wealth of tall, long-armed, muscular girls who can rebound. UK has one or two.

Rebounds equal possessions or second chance putbacks. When the ball is in your hands, it's better than having it in the opponents' hands. More possessions equal more chances to score.

And, I dig Monique Reid.

Cards win on Sunday. I'll say 69-59. And, let it snow, let in snow, let it snow.

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It's started. Rumors about Louisville football coach Charlie Strong being pursued by other programs. Penn State and Texas A&M are currently on top of the speculation. (Putting hands over ears...going "La,La,La,La,La,La...")

Strong could be taking the Cardinals to Miami for the Orange bowl if Connecticut can beat Cincinnati Saturday. At least, the Cards are headed to Charlotte, Memphis or maybe St. Pete for post-season action.

Ask John L.Smith or Howard Schnellenberger, Charlie. Leaving would be a bad idea. Stay and make the mark on UofL football you've talked about doing.

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(Thanks to our three writers today for their contributions. Tomorrow, Sonja and I will discuss our opinions and we welcome yours. E-mail us or leave a message in the comments section and let us know. Adios.)
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