Quarterfiinal BIG EAST WBB reports

BIG EAST SUNDAY WBB ACTION

-DAY 3


GAME FOUR


Connecticut 49 - Rutgers 34


We didn't watch most of this one...had a lengthy post game UofL report to post and TV show we wanted to watch took priority and it's been three days of four ball games a day...so we deserved a break tonight. Figured UConn would win, and they did...but the score sure looks U-G-L-Y. The Huskies get the Red Storm in the semis. Should be a good one. Freshman Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis with five first half threes and 17 points for the Huskies. Scary moment at the end of this one...Rutgers Erica Wheeler on the floor, unable to walk and taken off in a wheelchair. Praying she's OK. Dehydration, probably, but she took a huge collision with a teammate under the basket as time expired. 


Quote of the tournament (from Geno)


"We have no fight in us. We'll punch you, but we're backing up when we do it. Hit us hard and we have no return punch."


(Maybe he should get into training boxers and turn the team over to  Chris Dailey.  YESSSS!!!)


GAME THREE


St John's 68 - Louisville 61 (Overtime)


Overtime
Louisville missed their first 10 shots in overtime and fell behind 68-58. Shoni hit a three late but the Red Storm advance to the semi-finals. Shenneika Smith six of the 12 O.T. points for St. John's and 24 for the game. Shoni 16 for the Cards and 16 for Nita Slaughter. Louisville went 7-17 from the foul stripe. Much more on this one in the Monday Morning post...


2nd half 
Louisville saw St. John's go on a 9-1 to start the half. The Cards never gave up getting within 2 at 42-40 and took a 54-52 lead on a Nita Slaughter 3. Regulation ended at 56-56, neither team scoring in the final 1:05. The officiating was horrible for both teams, including a obvious foul on Shoni with 19.8 to go that was called a turnover. 


1st half


If I told you Louisville went 1-6 from the foul line, had a 5 1/2 minute scoreless stretch and Becky Burke had but one 3-pointer...you probably expect to see Louisville down by plenty. Actually, it's 25-24 St. John's at the half. Shoni with 11 for Louisville and Asia Taylor 7. All ten Cards have played, only four have scored. Shenneika Smith 12 - Bria Smith 0. Cards are getting great looks at the goal, can't get them to drop. 20 to go...anyone's contest. Bonita Spence "the master of the walking call" and Bob Enterline keeping this one full of whistles. 


GAME TWO


Notre Dame 69 - DePaul 54


2nd half
Notre Dame began the half on a 10-0 run and led 48-26 after the first three minutes of play. It was over. DePaul managed to get within 11 at 56-45 with 7:30 to go, thanks to an 11-0 run. They narrowed it to 10 at 64-54 with 1:42 remaining...but the Irish got the final five points of the game. Final 69-54 Notre Dame. They'll get to seek their revenge against WVU tomorrow night. Four in double figures for Muffet's squad...Natalie Novosel and Devereaux Peters with 16 each, Kayla McBride with 14 and Skylar Diggins 12.  Katherine Harry paced DePaul with 14. Anna Martin just seven points...largely due to the defense of ND's Brittany Mallory. Loosely called game...DePaul attempted zero free throws in 40 minutes.  


1st half
Much better pace in this one. DePaul with an early 4-0 lead but a Notre Dame 11-2 run had them leading 18-12 with 13 minutes to go. DePaul stayed close most of the half...but a 13-5 Irish finish over the final 7:30 made it 38-26 went they went to the locker room. Kayla McBride with 11 for UND and Skylar Diggins 10. Katherine Harry with 10 for the Blue Demons and Jasmine Penny eight. This one had more first half points in it than Game 1 with 13:04 left in the half. We now know there is nothing wrong with the rims in the XL Center. Anna Martin needs to get untracked if the Blue Demons hope to win. 


GAME ONE


West Virginia 39 - Georgetown 32 (yes...this is a final score)

2nd half
It did get a little better in the second half. A little. West Virginia got three straight threes from Taylor Palmer midway thru the second half to take a 34-24 lead with 6:51 left. Final was 39-32, which is the lowest combined score for two teams in the history of the BIG EAST Tournament. By 16 points. Ouch! Also, 32 points from Georgetown ties the lowest total by a team for the tournament history. Sugar Rogers, between rescue inhaler breaks, had 14 for G'Town. Waiter, more coffee please! This one was like an old time 45 "single" record being played at 33 RPM album speed. 


Announcers Brooke "Wise Broad" and Beth Mowins were probably exchanging arm punches to stay awake. Sonja suggested first team to 40 wins. It's still be going on if her idea had been put into effect.  


1st half

This, by far, is the worst half of basketball of the tournament. 15-12 West Virginia leads. That's being kind..because neither team is playing leadership basketball. A defensive struggle at times...but mostly just bad shooting. Here's a timeline:

14:46  4-4
8:46   11-8 WVU
4:37   15-10 WVU
1:37   15-12 WVU

Early drama when Sugar Rodgers suffered an asthma attack and sat for a few. A few seconds later, Adria Crawford took  and elbow shot to the mouth from Asya Bussey. No foul, of course. It's a Denise Brooks ref crew, so expect mediocrity. Sugar Rodgers has three made baskets for G'Town. The rest of the team is 1-25 from the floor. Bussey and Dunning for WVU have been replaced by "Busted and Done" or Brooks and Dunn. This one needs to pick up dramatically...it's a certified "yawn-fest".  
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Lady Cards WBB at WVU...Swimming splashes by UK...Knight, Kendall win in track

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SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Louisville looks for a road win in Morgantown

-Louisville swimming beats UK at Ralph Wright Natorium

-Knight, Kendall win in different venues for women's track.

The Lady Cards test West Virginia this afternoon in women's basketball. A tough test, for sure...after a slow start to the season, West Virginia has been playing very good basketball lately and is in a five-way tie for third place in the BIG EAST...along with Louisville.

The Lady Mountaineers are 11-2 at home and only Georgetown has won there for visiting BIG EAST teams.

Game time is 4 p.m. We'll have a full recap of it for you later this afternoon. Due to the men's game today, the radio broadcast will be on 1080 AM. Puggles and Snuggles with the call. 

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Louisville swimming swept UK 183-107 yesterday. We may not be able to get them in hoops, but toss a Cat in water and you know what happens...Winners for the UofL ladies:

--Fanny Lillestrom (100-breast, 200 breast)

--Tanja Killianen ( 200-fly, 200-back)

--Victoria Mitchell (200 back, 500 free)

Raine Thompson had multiple
wins against UK

--Raine Thompson (200 medley relay, 100 fly)

--Abby Chin (1000 free)

--Eszter Povazsay (200 free)

Mary Mittel won
on relays and
solo events.

--Mary Mittel (100 back)

--Hannah Gadd (1 meter diving)

A nice tuneup for the Cards swimming team before they compete in the BIG EAST Championships that begin in Pittsburgh 2/15.

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Holly Knight set a Cardinal record in the 5000 meter at South Bend and Amashi Kendall won the weight throw at the VT Elite Meet in Blacksburg, VA...as the UofL track teams competed at two different venues.

Knight covered the distance in 16:24...beating a Lady Cards record in the event that had stood since 1995. She finished second in the race.

Kendall tossed for 20.83m. to win at Virginia Tech. Teammate Patrice Gates finished third. Kendall's throw ranks in the top five nationally this season.

Charachesicia Lockhart and Margret Harris took second and third in long jump.

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IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO GET $2 TICKETS FOR THE UofL WBB game against UConn Tuesday Night. UofL ticket office, selected Kroger outlets and from that shady guy who's always standing on the corner of Bardstown and Taylorsville Roads (j/k).

The BIG EAST has thrown the Lady Cards a curve ball by scheduling this one and the upcoming Notre Dame game during the week. Let's show them that CARDINAL WBB Fans represent no matter when they make us play.
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WVU lies in wait for Cards Saturday

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FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Rising Mountaineers will test wobbly Lady Cards

Nothing like going into the snake pit right after being whipped in a street fight. That's the task ahead for Jeff Walz's Lady Cards, who head to wild and wonderful West Virginia for a 4 p.m. Saturday showdown in Morgantown with the 16-6 Lady Mountaineers. The Cards travel to "almost heaven" after getting pummelled in the mean streets of Chicago by an inspired DePaul squad 86-61 on Tuesday night. Actually, it wasn't even that close...but an "L" is an "L" whether it's by 4 or 40...some are just uglier than others.

Dunning "done good" against USF
with 15 points and 17 rebounds.

South Florida threw a late charge at WVU in the USF recreation center Wednesday night but came up short in a 55-52 West Virginia win. The 'Eers led this one 53-44 with 3:43 to go...but USF chipped away at the advantage and drew within one at 53-52 after a Andrell Smith three with 1:02 to go.  

WVU hit a couple of charity tosses to preserve the win...Ayana Dunning having a "Katherine Harry" type game for WVU with 15 points and 17 rebounds.

The Mountaineers, like Louisville,  are also 6-3 in BIG EAST play, which puts them in a five team logjam for 3rd. place in the conference with Rutgers, Louisville, St. John's and Georgetown. Their BIG EAST wins have come against Syracuse, Villanova, Seton Hall, Pitt, Marquette and the previously mentioned  USF Bulls. Losses were @ Conn (79-60), Providence (51-48) and hosting Georgetown (64-54). They've also lost to St. Bonaventure, Cal State-Northridge and Duquense...which is utterly baffling. They have an early season win over UCLA.

Starters will probably be...

--Asya Bussie, a 6'4" junior center who averages 11.5 p.p.g. She had 5 points in 12 minutes last year against the Lady Cards.

-- Ayana Dunning, a 6'3" redshirt junior forward good for 7.1 a game but on a tear lately. 11 points in 18 minutes in the YUM last time the two met.

-- Christal Caldwell, a 5'9" redshirt sophomore guard contributing 11.5 p.p.g.

-- Linda Stepney. 4.7 a game for the 5'7" freshman guard.

--Jessica Harlee. Adds 5.8 p.p.g. for the 'Eers. She's a 6' 1" forward and scored two points in seven minutes last year against UofL.

Others who figure into the WVU mix are Taylor Palmer, who leads the Eers in scoring with 12.9 a game. She a 5'9" sophomore guard who is also the main 3-point threat for West Virginia...going 57-178 on the season. Brooke Hampton, a 5' 9" sophomore guard. Averee Fields, is a 6'0" freshman forward from Murray, KY (Calloway County) who also hits the Coliseum court for Mike Carey.

Carey (right) has coached
WVU since 2001-02

Carey is 219-123 at WVU and took over the head coaching job in the 2001-02 season. He's taken the Mountaineers to four NCAA apperances and one WNIT visit over the last five years.

The Mountaineers are 6-3 lifetime against the Lady Cards and Carey is 3-2 in matchups with Walz. Last year, Louisville won 57-47, pulling away late in the second half after leading 23-22 at the break. Tia Gibbs had 19 points to lead the Cardinals to victory and UofL held star Liz Repella to just three points in 24 minutes before she fouled out. Repella has graduated, so have Ali and Miles from that WVU squad...but they're still physical, disciplined and play traditional Carey "slug it out in the half court set" basketball.

By the numbers...

--WVU is 11-2 at home this year.

--They outscore opponents 66.6 to 49.2.

--The Mountaineers out rebound opponents 43.3 to 33.4

--West Virginia averages 18.1 turnovers a game. They force opponents in 19.4

--Average attendance at WVU home game is 1749. They draw better on the weekends, though...and with Louisville in town, you can probably expect 3,000 or so friendly West Virginia fans to extend the Lady Cards a warm and heartfelt welcome. It's being shown on West Virginia PBS television, too. Hmmm...

Bert and Ernie on play-by-play? Maybe Bob Huggins will do a half-time round table discussion of the contest with the crew from American Experience...

Sonja sees it...

Hard to determine how UofL will respond after the mugging in Chi-town. DePaul and WVU both have bruisers in the paint and guards who can pop from three point range. Louisville must do a much better job defending the perimeter, controlling the paint and eliminating turnovers. This is a game where Asia and Cierra should relish the interior battle. The Lady Cards need "the killer bees" and Shoni to show up, though. I'll go "glass half full" and pick the Lady Cards 61-58. Rebound and block out, ladies!

Paul predicts...

Louisville must avoid the sluggish state that doomed them against DePaul. They also need to get Shoni involved early in this one. It'll be another war in the paint with Bussie and Dunning giving the Lady Cards "bigs" all they want and Palmer and Caldwell challenging the Cards guards. Tough stretch right now for Louisville, with UConn after this one. Cards lose the battle 65-55. I hope I'm wrong. A loss here would be rough in terms of this young team's confidence and preparation for the mighty Huskies.
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Post game UofL vs. WVU comments, observations

MONDAY MORNING at CARDINAL COUPLE:



-David Watson weighs in on UofL win.

-From the post game presser

-By the numbers...

-Softball falls to Texas in final

-Baseball Red and Gray Scrimmage

Our special correspondent David Watson, pictured right, weighs in on the Lady Cards win over WVU Sunday Night at the KFC YUM Center as only he can see it...



What causes a team to shoot barely 25% for a game? Defense from the opposing team. And, that is the story of last night's epic contest in the KFC YUM! Center. WVU's effort against Jeff Walz's crew when it came to putting the ball in the basket can be compared to someone
tying the bumper of a car to the Sears Tower in Chicago. You aren't going to move and the building isn't moving either. Trip after trip, time after time..the Mountaineers would get one, two and sometimes three straight and dead on looks at close-in gimmies and fail to bottom out the net. Hand in the face, body on the shooter and no easy path to payout...the Cards probably are nowhere the match for WVU physically but sometimes finesse beats strength.

This is a big win, in many ways, for this young Louisville team. WVU is deep, aggressive, experienced and well coached. They know exactly what they want to do when they take it court, accomplished a lot of it last night (except for putting the ball in the basket) and Louisville beat them at their own game. I'm pretty sure Coach Walz wouldn't want to play that style of hoops the rest of the way out this season. They'll probably have to against Syracuse later this week. Most likely the same is in store when DePaul comes calling on the 23rd. USF likes to bump you around as well. Let's hope Walz's kids are stocking up on the Aleve and Ben-Gay.

How incredible is Shoni Schimmel? I bet that if you gave her a bulldozer and put her on a shot clock that she could complete the I-69 Interstate from Indianapolis to Evansville seconds before the federal funding ran out. If there has ever been a freshman for the Lady Cards besides her perform at this level, please point her out to me. Also, hats off the an aggressive Sheronne Vails yesterday and Shelby Harper. Harper was in an unenviable spot yesterday by having to try and move the ball against and contain Liz Repella. Repella doesn't play nicely. Both fouled out. Wouldn't surprise me if they resumed the battle long after the crowd left under the streetlights on 2nd street beneath the Indiana bridge.

I did see Paul and Sonja several times covering the game from the end zone. Congrats, you're TV stars now! Paul, you've got to stop taking referee's calls so personally. I know they're bozos, you know they're bozos and why was one ref making well over 75% of the calls? Sonja, you looked beautiful, darling. Just keep "the big guy's" blood pressure from spiking.

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FROM THE POST GAME PRESSER:

We've got about 20 minutes of stuff we could put on here...fortunately Kim Pemberton and her S.I.D. staff has all the quotes over at http://www.uoflsports.com/ Here's a couple of our favorites from last night...

Shoni Schimmel on her three buzzer beaters:
"Nope. They definitely weren't called plays. I heard everyone call out the shot clock so I knew I had to get a shot off and that's exactly what I did" (We need to take her to the track with us for some "at the post" wagering.)

Tia Gibbs on when Monique Reid came into the game:
"That was just heart. We teach family. That's what we talk about and working for each other. I know she's in a lot of pain right now but she did it for us basically. She wanted to do whatever it took to help this team and that's what she did. That's what we needed."

Jeff Walz on the absence of Reid at the start:
"She sprained her ankle in shoot around and I wasn't sure if she'd ever walk again. (Pauses and smiles). But she made it thru it. She was with our doctors in the first half. Our trainer did a fantastic job. I told 'em not to bring her out during the game. I said just keep doing treatment. Hopefully she decides she might be able to play in the second half. They taped her up and just confirmed to her and made sure she knew nothing was broken, We did X-Rays, there's no real damage done. It's just a sprained ankle. She came out there. She told me she could go in the second half. I was just going to see how long I could go not playing here if I didn't have to. I thought she did a fantastic job the last eight minutes of the game for us. I was really proud of her."

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The numbers we're most impressed with from last night are as follows:
-Louisville 6-10 from three point range...WVU 1-12.
-Louisville 47.8% shooting in the final half from the field... and holding WVU to 29.2%
-Louisville 17-21 from thr free throw line...WVU 20-27
-Louisville out rebounded WVU 16-15 in the second half.
-27 points from the freshmen last night (Schimmel with 17, Vails eight and Tay two.)
-12 assists for the Cards, only nine for WVU.
-UofL holding starting guards Liz Repella to 1-11 , Sarah Miles to 2-10 and Vanessa House 1-4.

Not so great:
-Louisville out rebounded 39-29 for the game.
-Harper committing five turnovers and five fouls in 14 minutes with no points.
-Louisville's 27.3% shooting in the first twenty minutes.
-Losing the steals battle to WVU 9-7
-Madina Ali (WVU) getting to the line for 8-9 in the second half after no 1st half attempts.

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Louisville softball got bombarded yesterday in the finals of the Texas Invitational by host team Texas 14-4. The Longhorns did all their damage in the first two innings...five in the first and nine in the second. Louisville did manage to keep it close for the first inning..responding with a Taner Fowler three run homer but three responding Texas 4 baggers in the bottom of the second against Louisville pitching put this one out of reach. The Cards did add an additional run in the top of the fourth when Maggie Ruckenbrod came home with the bases loaded when Chelsea Bemis was hit by a pitch...but the Cards could do no further damage.

The Cards take off this weekend to head to 'sweet home Alabama' for the 'Bama classic...beginning Feb. 18th.

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Had a great time earlier yesterday at the Louisville baseball Red vs. Gray inter squad scrimmage at Jim Patterson Stadium. Made it thru 6 1/2 innings before it was time to go to the YUM.

Windy but not too chilly conditions for the guys...the Red team jumped out early with three runs in the bottom of the first when a Kyle Grieshaber triple scored Adam Engel, Greishaber scored on the sacrifice fly and Cade Stallings parked one way over the left center fence on Gray starting pitcher Dace Kime.

Red added two more in the third on a Ryan Wright homer and Stewart Ijames touching home plate after a Zak Wasserman single. Two nice innings of no-hit pitching by Red starter Mike "Nasty" Nastold. Gray got on the board in the top of the sixth when Drew Haynes scored on a Ryan Seis ground out. Red got the run back in the bottom of the sixth when Wright's sacrifice fly brought home Alex Chittenden. Haynes made it 6-2 in the top of the seventh...scoring on a Seis single. Final was 8-2 Red. Very nice crowd, probably over 500, for a preseason scrimmage against each other.

Special thanks to CARDINAL DOMINANCE managing editor Shannon Ruffra for coming out despite not feeling well and showing me the ropes around Patterson. Got to meet baseball, women's track and rowing assistant S.I.D. Garret Wall and spend some time yucking it up with
organist and pep band director Al Greener, too...at the game before sitting in front of him and the band at the ladies game. People may start to talk...
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Lady Cards TKO WVU 57-47

-Schimmel's 17 lead Louisville to win.

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It was the knockdown, drag thru the mud battle most expected. Louisville, though, withstood all the West Virginia punches, elbows and take downs to defeat the Mountaineers by 10 in the KFC YUM Center Sunday night before 12251 fans and an ESPN 2 audience...

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CARDINAL COUPLE'S Sonja, pictured here with vocalist extraordinaire Jerry Newby, remarked after the game that all the fray needed was Michael Buffer in the center of the ring and cut men in the corners. Her photo-op with Newby right before the game may have been one of the last non-violent things that occured on Denny Crum Court the rest of the night...

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Indeed, it was Louisville defeating WVU at their own game of half court, pound it out brutal ball. Defense made the difference in this one...Louisville holding the Mountaineers to 26% shooting for the game, including an ice cold 1-12 from 3 point range. WVU out rebounded the "Ville" 39-29 but some key free throw shooting down the stretch preserved the win for Walz's crew.

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The teams battled back and forth early on...neither grabbing a lead of more than three until a Becky Burke three sent Louisville to a 15-11 advantage with 9:18 left in the first half. It was short lived, though...as the Mountaineers responded with a 9-0 run over the next 4 1/2 minutes to grab a 20-15 lead after two Korinne Campbell free throws. From there, though...Louisville roared back to outscore WVU 8-2 over the final 4:44, taking the halftime lead of 23-22 on two Sherrone Vails free throws with .5 seconds on the clock. Becky Burke led all scorers at the half coming off the bench for eight points. Monique Reid did not play in the first half for Louisville because of a sprained ankle during pre-game warm ups.

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The Cards went on an early second half 7-0 run to gain a 32-25 lead after a Schimmel basket at the 14:48 mark. A couple of minutes later, Schimmel would sink an incredible three with the shot clock running out to put Louisville up by ten. WVU rallied back, though, and outscored the Cards 9-2 to make it 39-36 after two Madina Ali free throws at the 8:04 mark. Seconds before, though...the YUM crowd came to their feet when Monique Reid hopped off the exercise bike and entered the game for the first time. Louisville pushed the lead back out to 41-36 with another buzzer beating jumper by Schimmel and a Reid layup. WVU would get no closer than five over the remaining 6:24 after Tia Gibbs netted a contested three as the shot clock once again drew to a end to put Louisville up 46-39. Louisville preserved the win with 9 for 10 free throw shooting over the final 3:53.

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The game was physical...to say the least. WVU's Liz Repella threw diminutive Shelbly Harper to the floor late in the first half on what should have been an intentional foul at the very least. It was not called (one of several awful officiating decisons)...but tough as nails Harper got up laughing as the rest of the Lady Cards looked ready to go after Repella as a unit. Repella would later foul out after mugging Reid after a rebound. The WVU star ended her night with 3:53 to go with only three points and five boards...going a horrible 1-11 from the floor. Ayana Dunning picked up four fouls for Mike Carey's bunch in just 18 minutes but got 11 points...mostly from right underneath the basket after sending Keisha Hines and Sherrone Vails to the floor numerous times with shoves, bumps, a few tosses and elbows. She's got a future on Bill Stewart's WVU football team's offensive line with her "open the path at all costs" style of play. The style is one the Mountaineers live or die by...their overall 1-12 three point shooting was painful to watch. Actually, anything more than five feet from the basket seemed to have very little chance of going thru the hoop for them. What was even worse was the referee's decisions to send WVU forward Madina Ali to the line every time that a Cardinal crossed her shadow in the second half. After zero free throw attempts in the first half...Ali benefited from hitting eight of nine charity stripe chances in the final twenty minutes...leading the WVU scoring for the game with 12 points.

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The philosophy is that any fight you can walk away from a winner is a good one though...and Louisville survived a heavyweight 15 round brawlfest tonight in the YUM. Beisdes Schimmel's game high 17 points, Tia Gibbs hit double figures with 11 points in 18 minutes and Becky Burke ended with 10.

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It won't get easier next time out for Louisville (16-9, 7-4). A mid week trip awaits to Syracuse...another squad that lives and dies by the punch, shove and elbows. WVU (20-6, 6-6) gets six days off before heading to Pittsburgh for the women's version of the two schools' "Backyard brawl" rivalry. That one should be good for a few loosened teeth and bruises....

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Robbie Bartlett returned to sing the pre-game national anthem tonight. Robbie (along with Jerry Newby) are two definite crowd favorites and we think that UofL should give the fans what they want and give them many more turns at the microphone in future UofL home games...

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Softball blanks Tulsa 5-0, Hoops vs. WVU tonight.

SUNDAY @ C.C.

-Softball advances to championship

-LADY CARDS B.B. vs WVU tonight.

-Track results from Saturday

-Gadd in BIG EAST DIVING splashes.


Bill the Goat can't wait for the 5 p.m. tipoff between Louisville and West Virginia tonight in the KFC YUM Center. We'll break it down for you here and give you post game coverage.

The Louisville softball team, under the direction of Sandy Pearsall, got a 5-0 win over Tulsa in the semi finals yesterday in Austin, TX. A big effort from sophomore pitcher Tori Collins...allowing just one hit.

Louisville jumped out to a two run advantage in the second inning when Jordan Trimble almost went 'fence' and ended up with a double. She scored when Chelsea Bemis reached on a Golden Hurricane fielding error. Kristin Austin's sacrifice bunt moved her to second and Austin scored when Colby Wherry singled.

The Cards pushed it to 4-0 when Katie Keller opened the inning with a base on balls and Alicja Wolny cracked her first home run of the season. The Cards were not done...Trimble singled, Bemis singled and Trimble scored on a grounder by Taner Fowler to make it 5-0.

Collins was superb on the mound, getting four strikeouts and allowing only two Tulsa base runners. She had a no hitter in place until the top of the seventh...when Jill Barrett barely beat out a infield hit.

Louisville plays Texas today for the Championship in a rematch of Thursday's battle. The Longhorns took down NIU 8-4 to reach the 1 p.m. game.

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It's Mountaineer time and the KFC YUM Center will be loud, proud and rowdy today at 5 p.m. as Mike Carey's womens basketball team visits for a BIG EAST matchup that will be televised on ESPN 2. WVU started the season with a bang...but have recently dropped a few BIG EAST games and sit at 6-5 in the BIG EAST and 20-5 overall. Ranked at #17 in the polls, the Mountaineers lost a close out to UConn last time out by only five...holding the Huskies to under sixty points the first time this season. Liz Repella leads the WVU squad...she can beat you from anywhere on the court and is a rebounding threat as well. Madina Ali shoots for over 50% for the season and Brooke Hampton is tops in the league when you look at assist to turnover ratios. Sarah Miles is a ball hawking defender for WVU and they rank just behind Louisville in steals per game.

Mike Carey is in his 24th season as a head coach and is 80-77 after ten years in the BIG EAST. His teams are known for aggressive defense, a three point specialist or two and strong board play. We'll have a full post game report tonight...including post game comments...for you later.

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Hannah Gadd won the 1 meter diving event in the BIG EAST championships at The Ralph Wright Natorium in Louisville Saturday, finished second in the 3 meters Friday and has been named BIG EAST Diver of the Year. Her diving coach, Mike Zehnder was selected Diving Coach of the Year.

"I couldn't have done it without my whole team being here to support me. I am happy to help the women's swimmers." Gadd said.

The swimming events begin Wednesday. Gadd's score of 329.95 yesterday in the 1 meter set a new conference record...beating 3 meter champ Jennifer Chang of Notre Dame by almost 30 points.

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OK, so it's officially known as the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, AR. Louisville's women's athletes participated there last night and Megan Schubert finished 6th in the high jump. Michelle Theopille ended up tenth.

In Akron, the women got a seventh place finish in the pole vault and Andrea Sabbitine ended up 10th. Chinwe Okoro threw for seventh in the shot put, Kim Carderio 11th in the long jump and Maggie Gilbertson grabbed 4th in the high jump.

The BIG EAST Indoor championships will be held in Akron next weekend as well.

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Got a new poll posted on the left side beginning today. What is your favorite women's sport at UofL. Can't decide? It's OK...you can select multiple ones.

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Lady Cards make the WVU swing

While Rick Pitino and his men's hoops team look to create some mountain memories in Morgantown Saturday, they'll have the Lady Cards with them in the West Virginia Coliseum to hopefully pull off sweep. Both Cardinal team are scheduled to play on Saturday. Let's hope the weather cooperates.

WVU not a foe to take lightly. Talented and experienced team with one of the best coaches in the Big East in Mike Carey. The #11th ranked Lady Eers (19-2, 6-1)will try to duplicate what they pulled off last year...coming into Freedom Hall and knocking off the #5 Cards 79-70.

For Walz and company, it has been a struggle this year on the road. Early season close losses to Central Michigan and Hartford. Dismantlings at Kentucky and Tennessee. Narrow losses to conference foes DePaul and Georgetown whie travelling.

It looks like the Cards(11-9, 3-4) are beginning to settle into established starters and rotations this year. Probably due to the fact tht Walz has few options when it comes to such matters. Freshman walk on point guard Shelby Harper getting better, more condifent and experienced with each game. Becky Burke delivering solid, 40 minute performances almost every time out. Monique Reid still suffering from the occasional off shooting night, but the "to go" player in crunch times. Steady Keisha Hines, Gwen Rucker and Ashley Rainey manning the front line with Asia Taylor beginning to pick it up and contribute more quality minutes. Rachel Story with the pick up mionutes to spell Harper.

Let's take two Saturday.

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Former Card Angel McCoughtry is making the most out of her Euro basketall experience. She is second in the league in scoring with 21.7 ppg, just behind Diana Tarausi. The EuroLeague is getting ready to go into playoff mode and scanning the rosters of the teams looks like some of the WNBA rosters, with 3 or 4 USA players per squad.

The Euros pay well, too. McCoughtry is making more money in the short Euro season than she did as WNBA Rookie of the Year. Her Slovakian team is 6-4 going into the playoffs, but they were 0-3 before Angel joined them. That's our girl...making improvements and grabbing the headlines no matter what part of the world she's in.

Written by Sonja 1/29/10