Tuesday Cardinal Couple - Where are they now?

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TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


-We catch up on six former Cardinal foes.


With the WNBA in full swing now, we were looking at some highlights from games over the past few days and the questions arose about some of the foes that used to play against Louisville over the last few years and if they were in the WNBA.

We started our search with an easy one. Former Connecticut star Tiffany Hayes is playing on Angel's team...the Atlanta Dream. We saw some clips of the Dream's loss to the Fever on Sunday and Hayes appears to have lost none of the swagger and bravado that she had with the Huskies. She and Stefanie Dolson didn't have the best games in the KFC YUM! Center when they visited during the winter...but it was a UConn win. Dolson's going to miss Hayes when the 2012-13 version of the Huskies take the court.

Next on our magical player discovery tour was April Sykes. Besides sharing our last name, we watched her career at Rutgers over her four years with interest and saw her turn into a very good player after some rough earlier years. Still remember her uncalled for "enforcer" tactics in the KFC YUM! as a junior at the end of Rutgers' loss to the Cards. Friends of ours who follow the Rutgers program tell us she gained a lot more maturity and level-headedness as a senior. She's switched coasts...playing for the LA Sparks now. 

We followed the career of Natalie Novosel early on...starting with her days of high school ball at Lexington Catholic. Novosel was a key component at Notre Dame all four years that she toiled for Muffett McGraw. Her final appearance in the KFC YUM! Center was less than spectacular...Notre Dame won but a post game press conference revealed "Double N" was suffering from flu-like symptoms and allergy problems. Natalie is in our nation's capitol now...pounding the hardwood for the Washington Mystics. Skylar Diggins is going to miss the punch that Novosel and Devereaux Peters provided with Irish with last year...

Keisha Hampton had a fantastic collegiate career with Doug Bruno and the DePaul Blue Demons until injury cut her senior year short. She had a way of dominating the Lady Cards inside and was part of the injury train that went off the tracks for Bruno's ballers last season...leaving him with just seven bodies for the BIG EAST schedule. 


She was drafted 23rd in the WNBA draft by Seattle but didn't make the final roster cut. 

We also checked out a couple of players who made things rough for the Lady Cards from a couple of seasons ago. Although Hampton isn't going sleepless in Seattle, Victoria Dunlap is. 


She was the undersized center that over-performed during her years at UK. Hated it when she played the Lady Cards, but we did like watching her go up against SEC opponents for the Cats. She's on a Seattle Storm roster that looks awfully strong this season and teamed up with former Vol Shennika Strickland and powerhouse Lauren Jackson. 

We also wondered where Cardinal-killer Courtney Vandersloot ended up. We'll remember for a long time the whipping she and her Gonzaga teammates put on the Cards early in the regional match-up a couple of years ago...and the furious rally that Louisville mustered to get back in the game. Vandersloot has left the Pacific Northwest and taken her game to the Chicago Sky roster. 

Which Cardinals will we be tracking several years from now in the WNBA? We're confident Angel will still be wrecking havoc on opponents. We'd like to see Monique Reid get the chance to test her inside-scoring proficiency against some of the front-liners on the next level. Can "Sho-time" Schimmel take her magic act to the WNBA and have success with it? Will Becky Burke have success in the European leagues and maybe catch the eye of a WNBA team that needs a long-range specialist? 


Who do you think might be introduced as a ex-Cardinal and current WNBA player down the road?  


Maybe we can get Walz to lobby for a Louisville WNBA franchise, trade for Angel, add C.B. and staff the rest of the team with Lady Cards. It'd liven up the summer months around here...and we have no doubt that filling the lower bowl in the KFC YUM! would be no problem with (what to call our imaginary team?)...


The Louisville Lasers?
The Kentucky Fillies?


Nice mind-wandering on a rainy Tuesday morning...have a great day everybody!
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Softball? It's only a month away...

FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:.

-Softball soon. .

-Cards Big East top performers.

-Collen clouts Cats.

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With the wintry mix swirling around the Louisville area this morning, it's hard to think about the crack of a softball off an aluminum bat or sitting in the bleachers and wearing sunglasses in Ulmer Stadium...but UofL Softball gets underway on Feb.10th., and the first home game will be Feb. 25th. Sandy Pearsall (pictured right) has a powerhouse returning.

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Louisville will play 22 games at home this year and the BIG EAST Softball Tournament returns to Ulmer Stadium in May 2011. Besides conference foes Villanova, Seton Hall, Connecticut, and Providence visiting Louisville...the Cards will also play host to Kentucky, Michigan, WKU, SIUE, Boston University, Wright State and Miami (OH). They'll play in six tournaments or classics to begin the season...travelling to Austin, Tuscaloosa, Cookeville (TN), and San Diego in addition to hosting two tournaments in Ulmer.

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Louisville lists 19 players on the 2011 squad...five of them freshmen. Caralisa Connell is a pitcher/infielder who saw fall action for the Cards and is out of MTSU territory (Murfreesboro, TN.) Taner Fowler hails from Union County, KY. and is an infield player/catcher. Katie Keller, a infielder from Livermore, CA. hails from the west coast...as does utility player Hannah Klyohara...from Auburn, WA. Maggie Ruckenbrod, a catcher/infielder rounds out the freshman class and comes from St.Louis.

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The Cards lose Melissa Roth and Kristen Wadwell to graduation but return a powerful hitting lineup featuring Chelsea Bemis, Kristin Austin, Jennifer Esteban, Chelsea Jordan, Katelyn Mann, Christina Roesel, Jordan Trimble, Colby Wherry and Alicja Wolny. The Cards also bring back two experienced hurlers from 2010 in Tori Collins and Chelsea Leonard.

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CARDINAL COUPLE will endeavor to get a pre-season commentary and preview with head coach Pearsall before the season begins. She was a tough one to catch for commentary last year. Heck, we may even try to get in a little batting and fielding practice as well. I'm guessing Paul could still put one over the left field fence (as long as they're 'slow pitching' him...). The "big guy" was a fence clearer back in his prime...

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No surprise here...Louisville leads BIG EAST schools in home attendance for women's basketball. The LADY CARDS have drawn an average of 11,394 for the first seven home games...those numbers aided by 22,000+ crowds for Tennessee and UK. Connecticut is pulling in 9000+ after eight home appearances and Notre Dame is seeing crowds of 8400+ in the Purcell Pavillion after nine home games. No other BIG EAST squad is over 3000 in home attendance...although all but Georgetown and Providence have access to facilities that will handle 3000+. With the excellent season DePaul is having...would have figured Doug Bruno's Lady Blue Demons would be drawing more. There is a lot to in the 'Windy City', though...

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Shoni Schimmel was second in the Big East in assists thru 13 games and Monique Reid second in shooting percentage at 58.6%. Becky Burke second in three point shooting % at 42.6% and Sherrone Vails third in blocked shots for the season.

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Louisville is fifth in the BIG EAST in scoring...averaging 78.6 points per game. The LADY CARDS are fourth in field goal percentage (46.8%) and second in 3-point field goals made with 99 thru 13 games. They lead the BIG EAST in 3-point field goal percentage (37.4%). The Cards also have the most steals in the BIG EAST this year with 173 thru 13 games. Steal, shoot and score....sounds like a pretty good formula for wins....

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Ex UofL head coach Tom Collen must have watched the UofL vs. UK game video...his Arkansas Razorbacks defeated UK 78-67 last night in Fayetteville. Arkansas jumped out to a 35-27 halftime lead and won going away. Former (Louisville) Fairdale star C'eira Ricketts led the Hog charge with 19 points. # 25 Arkansas is 13-1 this season, defeating Oklahoma and losing only to Florida. The Hogs held UK to 28.4% shooting while going 50% from the field. Like Louisville, though...they had no answer for UK senior Victoria Dunlap. 'V.D.' punished Collen's crew for 26 points and 13 rebounds. Her 11-18 efforts from the charity stripe weren't spectacular...but UK outscored Arky 23-6 on 2nd chance points and had 10 steals. 42 total fouls in this one and whistle happy Dee Kanter was part of the officiating crew... along with Tina Napier. UK guard and (Louisville) Iroquois product A'dia Mathies fouled out after 13 points. Two losses in a row for Mattie Mitchell's Big Blue and a disappearance from the top 25...

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Collen has had a history of building great pre-conference records in his 4 years at Arkansas and then falling by the wayside in SEC play. The SEC West doesn't look all that powerful this year, though...and with LSU falling to South Carolina last night...the Hogs may finally have a plus .500 effort in the SEC. WE wonder if the LADY CARDS will ever schedule a home and away with Arkansas?

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CARDS down CATS 78-52

LADY CARDS "flawless" in win over Cats.

With a capacity crowd of 22,152 on hand, the University of Louisville women's
basketball team jumped out to an early 17-4 lead in the first eight minutes of
the Sunday afternoon contest in the KFC YUM Center and never looked back in the 26 point win over Kentucky.

Shoni Schimmel and Becky Burke drained six three pointers each in the beating of the Wildcats and Sherrone Vails narrowly missed a double/double with 10 points and nine boards in the win. Louisville held UK to 28.2% shooting while shooting 49.1% against the Cats and took UK's heralded three point shooters to a combined 3-18 from trifecta land and the Cards led at the half 43-24. (Photo by UofL Card Game's Charlie Springer, and a beaut at that!)

Quite a bit to like in the taming of the Cats this afternoon:

-Schimmel finished with a game high 26 points on 9-16 shooting and was 6-9 from three point range. She also led the Cards with 6 assists in 35 minutes of playing time. Forget the eight turnovers (part of Louisville's 21)...Schimmel schooled the Wildcats back court and her three straight three pointers that boosted the Louisville lead from 5-4 to 14-4 in the span of one minute early in the first half had Cardinal fans in a frenzy.

-Becky Burke definitely likes the sight lines in the KFC YUM. All 12 of Burke's shots this afternoon were from beyond the arc and she also went 3-4 from the free throw line for 21 points. Burke's second consecutive three with 6:07 remaining in the game put the Cards up 68-48 and got Louisville fans roaring from the rafters.

-Credit again to Shelby Harper for an off the bench first half spark. Harper is adept at getting the Cards into the breakneck, fast paced transition game and this afternoon she skimmed over the hardwood creating and driving. A couple of bone shattering collisions with UK's Victoria Dunlap and designated UK thug Brittany Henderson failed to deter the blonde Harper's resolve and she bested UK A'dia Mathies off the dribble when she was on the court.

-Sheronne Vails and Keisha Hines took the fight to UK's Victoria Dunlap as best as anyone can...and combined for 16 points and 17 rebounds. Dunlap was unworldly in defeat, though...with 17 points, 23 rebounds and 5 steals. If there is a better forward in the SEC, you'll have to prove it to me. Dunlap dominates, seems to be around every loose ball or missed shot and her strength and quickness is unmatched. A late injury had her leg wrapped in ice during the post game press conference and she's scheduled for an MRI Monday. We hope she's OK...she is an ultimate warrior and fierce competitor.

-No Asia Taylor this afternoon for the Cards. When asked about the sophomore's absence, Walz would not go into detail, just saying that she had some things to work out and he had told her that she wouldn't be needed for the Kentucky game. According to Cardinal Sports Reports' Howie Lindsey...Taylor watched the game from the stands, sitting near CSR's head honcho Jack Coffee.

-Monique Reid came off the bench, as Walz stated she would, and gave the Cards 10 points and 4 rebounds in 27 minutes. Mo knocked out 6-8 free the free throw line and penetrated the paints against the Cats as well as any Cardinal all afternoon. Looks like the hustle level is there...Coach Walz.

-We'd be remiss if we didn't offer "Happy Birthday" wishes to Jeff Walz's wife Kim. We'll be polite and not mention her age. Nice birthday gift, Coach.

This was a win that Louisville earned with hustle, drive, determination and following the game plan. They felt that Dunlap would get her usual big performance...but by taking Mathies, Snowden and Conwright out of the picture...the Cards were able to win. The three combined for 10 for 34 shooting and just three hits from long range.

FROM THE POST GAME:

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UK's head coach Matthew Mitchell's opening remarks to the media:

"A disappointing day, obviously. Our style of play is based on hustle and tenacity and really working hard and we picked a bad day not to play hard defensively.... I just thought that UofL looked much more motivated than we did. We'll take responsibility for that and see what we can figure out. An absolutely terrible...tough day for us...and UofL had a lot to do with that. "

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On Victoria Dunlap's injury late in the game:

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"She's being checked out right now. She walked off under her own power...it could be a hyperextension. She said she didn't hear anything pop. Obviously it would be a terrible blow for us if she were lose anytime for us."

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On Shoni Schimmel's performance:

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"What a great day she had and she took advantage of when we made mistakes. Not just open threes...but some when we were trying to claw back and we had someone on her."

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On today's crowd.

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"I thought it was fantastic. What a great job people did turning out today. An exciting atmosphere for UofL...it wasn't that great for us.

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On it "just being another game for UK":

"No. I don't think so. This is a very important game to me. This is not a game we took lightly. The coaches put their heart and soul into the game. The players know. We have a lot of veteran players that performed well in the series last year, so we absolutely did not disrespect UofL.

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CARDINAL PLAYERS BECKY BURKE, SHONI SCHIMMEL, SHERRONE VAILS and SHELBY HARPER:

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Burke on how this feels compared to last year:

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"It feels really good to get a win against a quality team. A win against a top ten team is great and a win against a rival is really great, too. We don't talk about last year (laughter).

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Schimmel on her and Burke's three point success:

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"Before the game, we talked about having a shootout. We tied. She did shoot more than me, though. We both did well."

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Schimmel on her three early three pointers:

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"It felt great, just going out there and starting that way. It kinds got things rolling and everyone else got rolling."

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Harper on whether she thought she'd see as much playing time as she did today:

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"No. I didn't really expect it. I'm always ready, though, when he wants to put me in there. Just try to come in, bring the team some energy and getting up and down the floor and focused on what we need to do."

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Vails on her minutes tonight:

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"It was a physical game and I knew that my two post partners were in foul trouble so I just had to be tough for the team."

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JEFF WALZ:

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"To get 19 assists on 27 made baskets shows that you are really playing team basketball.'

(On being surprised on Schimmel's shot selection)

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"No, I recruited the kid. It's what she does. I mean..some of the behind the back stuff and that...she's learning when and where and how to do it but that's what her game is. That's the flair she brings to the game. I'd have a hard time believing that any first time fans that there were there today weren't impressed with her game. If they weren't impressed, they need to try bowling or something."

UK defeats MSU in Freedom Hall 70-52

Victoria Dunlap dropped 21 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in the 70-52 UK win. Not bad for someone who wasn't feeling very well. She transfered her illness to Michigan State...who heads home.

It was supposed to be the marquee matchup in the middle. 6'1" Dunlap vs. 6'9" Allyssa DeHaan. The defensive player of the year in the Big Ten against the Cats leading scorer for the season. Michigan State using a size advantage to overcome a quick and ball-hawking UK pressure defense.

It never materialized. Even with Dunlap feeling ill this morning when she woke up, she took the fight to the Spartans and held DeHaan to 4 points and 1 rebound in 19 minutes of play for the tall senior. Back up center Lauren Aitch actually did better for the Spartans but in the end it was too much UK defense, too little Spartan shooting accuracy and a going away win for UK.

Give MSU credit for fighting early, leading by 5 at one point in the first half and staying within four points of UK at halftime. The Cats used an 8-0 run late in the first twenty minutes, though....in front of a pro-UK crowd of 3361 to take the lead for good at 30-28 on a Lydia Watkins layup. The Cats took a 35-31 lead to the locker room and gradually pulled away from MSU in the second half, leading by 20 at one point before finally advancing to the Sweet Sixteen by 18.

Dunlap wasn't alone in securing the Cats' victory. Guard Keyla Snowden added 10 points and A'dia Mathies contributed eight points after sitting the final 7:38 of the first half because of foul trouble. UK used their pressure defense and aggressive rebounding to limit MSU to 34.5% shooting for the game. The Cats dominated the taller Spartans inside with a 36-18 scoring advantage in the paint and a 40-37 edge in rebounding. UK created 14 steals against the Spartans and turned the ball over only 11 times.

For Dunlap, a celebratory Sprite and round of soda crackers. For Freedom Hall, a final look at women's basketball for the foreseeable future. And for UK, a trip to Kansas City on Sunday to face #1 seed Nebraska in the regionals. Not much Cardinal red or Spartan green in the venerable old Hall this evening, but a rowdy blue clad crowd rattled the rafters as their undersized but overacheiving Lady Kats live to play another day. Ironic that the last fight song of the season in Freedom Hall was the UK pep band (much better behaved this evening) playing "On, On UK" and that the Wildcats' cheerleaders and players serenaded the crowd with "My Old Kentucky Home" while standing on the Denny Crum signature on the court.

A special thank you to the NCAA and the kind and helpful organizers and Cardinal staff in Freedom Hall who made it possible and quite enjoyable for CARDINAL COUPLE to report on the event.

Written by Paul
3/22/10