Cards play first of three on the road against UC tonight

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CARDINAL COUPLE WEDNESDAY EDITION

-UC, Louisville open BIG EAST play tonight

-Tennessee outlasts Rutgers

#13 Lady Cards open the 2011-12 BIG EAST Conference campaign with a trip to Cincinnati tonight. The Cards are coming off a 92-27 romp over Gardner - Webb...UC a loss on the road to Marshall.

Cierra Warren, the
Cards leading
rebounder

Louisville (8-2) is led in scoring by senior Monique Reid, who is averaging 14.6 points a game. The Lady Cards have three others in double figures...Shoni Schimmel (13.5), Becky Burke (11.7) and freshman Bria Smith (10.9). Schimmel leads the Cards in assists (5.1 a game) and Cierra Warren is the leader in rebounding through 10 games.

Shoni needs to perform her wizardry
tonight in Cincinnati

With the probability of the Bearcats starting four guards most of the season, will Jeff Walz tinker with the starting lineup from the Gardner Webb game? Walz started Shoni, Smith, Warren, Burke and Asia Taylor last time out. Although we doubt Walz will bring senior forward Reid into the starting five mix, he could possibly call on one of his reserve guard tonight to begin the contest to replace Taylor and give the Cards quickness to match that of the Bearcats. Maybe a Schimmel/Schimmel beginning?

Louisville has produced both of their losses on the road this season...at Texas A&M and Kentucky. In both contests, the opponents used huge first half runs to put the Cards at a deficit that they could not overcome. A fast start would be beneficial to the Louisville squad tonight...UC likes a little slower pace and works the half court set when they can.



This is a real bearcat



Rebounding and blocking out have been the prime objectives of the coaching staff and players since the Kentucky loss. Although improvements were noticeable in the win of Gardner Webb, where the Cards enjoyed a 15 rebound advantage over the smaller Bulldogs, the substandard quality of the opponent was a benefit for Louisville. A huge game from center Cierra Warren tonight would be a good step in the objective to get UofL more active in the paint.

This is the mascot version

Although we think Louisville will win tonight's contest, it may not be by the numbers that the Lady Cards handled the Gardner Webb crew. Even though the Bearcats have been a cellar dweller the last few years in BIG EAST conference play, the addition of transfer Daveesha Hollins and guard play from Bjonee Reaves and Kayla Cook have bolstered the UC backcourt and UC probably should have won at Marshall...leading by as many as eleven in the second half before falling to a hot-shooting three point effort by the Thundering Herd...when they sank (6) treys en route to a 55-47 win.

UC holds opponents to 49.5 points per game. We think the Cards will surpass this number...but we're not looking for an 80 or 90 point Cardinal effort. If the Cards can get significant production out of the fearsome foursome of Shoni, Mo, Bria and Becky and Nita Slaughter can continue her re-born outside shooting touch...we can see Louisville winning tonight's contest by 20+...We'll call it 76-56 Lady Cards.

WE'LL HAVE A FULL RECAP FOR THE ACTION LATER TONIGHT HERE AT C.C. and a report from Cincy by contributing writer Sandra Walker...who will be in attendance. Be sure to check out CARDINAL COUPLE shortly after the game for our report, thoughts and analysis.  
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April Sykes has evolved from a dirty tactics punk
to a leader of C Viv's squad this year

Exciting action last night in Piscataway, NJ as the Tennessee Vols and Rutgers Scarlet Knights engaged in a back and forth battle in the RAC. UT looked like they were going to blow Rutgers out of the water early...leading by 13 a couple of times in the first half...before a furious Rutgers comeback led by senior April Sykes cut it to five at intermission.

Rutgers gained the lead in the second half, looked like they were poised to spring the upset...but the air went out of the ball for C.Viv Springer's ballers during a eight minute stretch late...no points...Tennessee racing to a 10 point lead and then surviving one last try by the Scarlet Knights to win 67-61.

Rutgers deserves their #10 ranking. Their ferocious "55" defense creates havoc when an opponent tries to advance the ball up the court. They have legit scoring threats in Sykes, Rushdan and Oliver...and a very talented group of freshmen....led by Laney. Still, we wonder why Tennessee kept trying to pound the ball in the middle time and time again when it was closed. Turnover after turnover and deflections. UT has very good outside shooting when Simmons and Spani are "on"...but the Vols seemed content to keep going to the "bigs" with less than desirable results.

Louisville will have their hands full with the Scarlet Knights down the road. They swarm to the boards and rebound well. Sykes can beat you inside and deep. She resorted to cheap shot tactics last year against the Lady Cards in the Rutgers loss in the KFC YUM! Center. This year, her shooting and hustle are doing the talking. Looks like a bit of maturity and senior leadership have been acquired.

And...that should worry Lady Cards fans.
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Tonight's game will be on 790 WKRD, or http://www.uoflsports.com/ Also, CatsVision will show it live, over at the UC website. http://www.gobearcats.com/ You can purchase a monthly subscription for $9.99 to view it.

We're sticking with the radio. Once you purchase one of those subscriptions for another school, they're darn hard to get rid of. We did it once last year to
watch Louisville play Villanova. Three months later, we were finally able to get it cancelled (they automatically renew it and charge your credit card) and eventually saw a refund.

We'll just spend the $9.99 on pizza and listen to the excellent call from the Cards Matt Andrews on play-by-play and A.J. with her impeccable analysis and commentary. Listening to Matt call a game on the radio is almost as good as having front row seats for the contest and he and A.J. are worlds better than some of the radio crews we've heard at other college campuses.

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Lady Cards travel to Cincy to open BIG EAST schedule

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TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-WE break down Lady Cards first BIG EAST foe...Cincinnati

The University of Louisville's Women's Basketball team will take a drive up I-71 to face the Cincinnati Bearcats Wednesday evening for a 7 p.m. game in the Fifth-Third Center. Here's a look at UC so far...

The Bearcats are 6-2 on the season, currently on a two game losing streak. Last out, they travelled to Marshall and fell 55-47 to the Thundering Herd. UC led by as many as 11 in the contest, but ran into a hot-shooting Marshall squad that connected on six second half threes to do the UC squad in. Before that, they lost to cross-town rival Xavier 69-60 (no fights in this one...as far as we know).

UC started the season with a six game winning streak...filling up on cupcakes IPFW, Dayton, Evansville, South Dakota State, UTC and Morgan State.

Elliott is in her third
year as UC head coach.

The Bearcats are coached by Jamelle Elliott, in her third season as Bearcats skipper. She was a former assistant to UConn's Geno Auriemma, so the linage is there to eventually drag the Bearcats out of the BIG EAST WBB basement. She also played for Geno in the mid-nineties.

UC uses a four guard, one forward starting lineup as a rule and they have been led so far this season by Daveesha Hollins, a red-shirt sophomore guard who transferred to the Bearcats from Michigan, Hollins played her high school ball in Cincinnati (Winton Woods H.S.) and the 5'6" guard is averaging 13.9 points a game for UC.

Turner is UC's
leading rebounder

Bjonee Reeves is next in players to key on, the guard averaging 14.3 a game. Tiffany Turner, a  6'1"sophomore forward adds 7.1 p.p.g. and leads the Bearcats on the boards. Other starters are sophomore Kayla Cook, who was selected to the BIG EAST All-Rookie team last year and Chanel Chisholm. The Bearcats bring 6'4" center Lesha Dunn off the bench.

UC is outscoring their opponents 61.2 - 49.5 on the season and holds a 37.5 - 33-4 rebounding edge per game. The Bearcats average 15 turnovers a game and attempt an average of 17 three pointers a game, connecting on six per contest.

Louisville, despite the decided height advantage, may have trouble winning the war of the boards against Cincinnati. Turner is a battler on both ends of the court and Hollins, despite her size, can be effective in the paint.

We expect the Cards to show improvement in rebounding and to use their speed and guard superiority to create turnovers and establish transition basketball to gain an early advantage in this one and take the win pretty easily. We'll also be watching to see if Nita Slaughter can continue her torrid shooting skills in a road venue and if Monique Reid is able to keep up her amazing points per minutes playing numbers.

OTHER TIDBITS...

--Best wishes and prayers for Lady Cards guard Tia Gibbs...who goes in for shoulder surgery this morning. Heal well, Butler Bear.

--Still no word on the eligiblity status of Charmaine Tay. We'll see if she dresses for UC or accompanies the Lady Cards on their western swing to Portland and Washington State. 

--TV worth watching...#6 Tennessee heads to Piscataway, NJ to face the #11 Rutgers Scarlet Knights in WBB tonight. ESPN has the feed. It's a 7 p.m. tip.  C. Viv vs. Pat. Should be a good one.

Here's how the BIG EAST looks going into this week's action:

SCHOOL                          BIG EAST RECORD          OVERALL RECORD           RANKED ?

UConn                                       1-0                                      9-0                                  #2
Notre Dame                               1-0                                      9-1                                  #3
Georgetown                               1-0                                      9-2                                  #17
DePaul                                       1-0                                      8-2                                  #23
Villanova                                    1-0                                      8-2                                  ---
West Virginia                             1-0                                      7-2                                  ---
Rutgers                                       0-0                                     9-1                                  #11
LOUISVILLE                            0-0                                     8-2                                  #14
Cincinnati                                   0-0                                      6-2                                  ---
USF                                          0-0                                      6-4                                  ---
Syracuse                                    0-1                                     7-3                                   ---
Marquette                                 0-1                                     6-5                                  ---
Seton Hall                               0-1                                     6-5                                  ---
Pitt                                          0-1                                     5-5                                  ---
Providence                             0-1                                     5-5                                  ---
St. John                                  0-1                                     5-5                                   ---

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BIG EAST goes 0-2 in the Maggie Dixon Classic

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MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-St. John's and DePaul take losses in the Maggie Dixon Classic

-BIG EAST WBB results from Saturday.

New York, New York and Madison Square Garden were the hosts for the Maggie Dixon Women's Basketball Classic Sunday. The BIG EAST went 0 for 2 in the double-header...DePaul falling to the #7 Tennessee Vols and St John's on the short end of the score vs. #1 Baylor. 

Baylor got off to a slow start against the Johnnies in the first game...actually trailing at halftime for the first time this season...to Kim Barnes Arico's St. John's squad. The second half proved to be a little better for Kim Mulkey and the top-ranked Baylor Bears..after surviving an early second half 4-0 run from the Red Storm...they went on a 18-3 spurt to take control of the contest and pulled away for a 73-59 victory.

All-American Brittany Griner helped lead the surge, with 17 points and 13 rebounds for the top ranked Bears and Brooklyn Pope impressed with 19 points and eight grabs. Griner was held to just three shots in the first twenty minutes but found her game and the Bears overcame 1-12 three point shooting to secure the victory. 

St. John's suffered a potentially serious setback when starting guard Nadirah McKenith went to the floor with a leg injury with six minutes remaining. 

"I thought the kids seemed a little too excited at the half. I wanted them to be excited but I knew we had twenty more minutes and I knew they (BAYLOR) were going to make a run. They just wore us down." -- St. John head coach Kim Barnes Arico. 

Eugenei McPherson had 23 points for the Red Storm in a losing effort.


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Game two of the classic featured Pat Summit's Lady Vols against Doug Bruno's DePaul Blue Demons. Tennessee withstood a second half DePaul run that cut it to four at 43-39 with a 13-4 run of their own to lead 56-43 with 11 minutes to go. The Vols rolled to a 84-61 victory...Shekinna Stricklen gathering 12 points and Alicia Manning with 12 points and 12 boards to guide Tennessee. Jasmine Perry's 16 points and Keisha Hampton's 14 paced the Blue Demons. 

The Vols travel to #11 Rutgers Tuesday night and then take off to the West Coast to tangle with UCLA and #4 Stanford. 

Tennessee's Pat Summitt was honored with the Maggie Dixon Courage award. 


"I think when you see the impact Pat's had and when you go out and see fans wearing 'We Back Pat' shirts..it was exciting to see Pat get this award. We all know what Maggie Dixon stood for. Pat has a tremendous following and always will. She's preached to our kids being a woman first an self-sufficient." --Lady Vols associate coach Holly Warrick.

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BIG EAST action from Saturday saw the conference go 7-1 in non-conference action.

--Notre Dame used their withering defense to subdue Purdue for their sixth straight win 66-38. Natalie Novosel poured in 17 for the Irish.

--Louisville ran past Gardner Webb 92-27. Nita Slaughter showing the way with 23 points and Louisville forced 36 Bulldog turnovers.

--Villanova (8-2) had a 52-46 win over the St. Joseph Red Hawks. Laura Sweeney with the hot hand...totaling 18 points in the win.

--Marquette (6-5) took care of Iona 93-44. Katherine Plouffe leading the Golden Eagles squad with 20 points.

--Pittsburgh (5-5) took care of Valpariso 65-56 and takes on the Indiana Hoosiers next. 

(Another chance to use one of our
favorite pics...of Syracuse head
coach Quentin Hillsman.)

--Syracuse (7-3) held off Coppin State 56-50 for Quentin Hillsman. Closer than expected

--West Virginia rolled over the North Florida Ospreys 86-30. Ho-hum. Pass the cupcakes.

--Cincinnati (6-2) took to the road and suffered the only Saturday BIG EAST loss...falling short at Marshall 55-47. The Bearcats host Louisville on Wednesday.

(In the only other BIG EAST women's basketball game Sunday, the Georgetown Hoyas overcame a shaky first half against George Washington University to win 59-50. The Hoyas were up by only two 22-20 after the first twenty minutes.)
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Cards by the numbers...Coach and player comments from Saturday

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SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-WE look at the numbers from the GWU game

-Player and Coach Walz comments post game

-Watson weighs in on the UC vs. Xavier brawl
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BY THE NUMBERS

-The number that stands out first to us in 27 points scored by the Bulldogs. It's second lowest points by an opponent in Lady Cards history. This ties the total Hanover College has against UofL on Feb 12, 1976. The Lady Cards held Centre College to 26, at Centre, back on Nov. 29th., 1977.

-We also like that the shooting percentage was 28.2% and total point were 27. That doesn't happen a lot - when the shooting % is higher than the point total. For example, Louisville shot 49.3% yesterday and scored 92 points.

LadyBirds entertain during a timeout

-A look at the 40-40-40 stat (did the team grab 40 rebounds, shoot over 40% and hold the opponent under 40%?) shows Louisville accomplished 3 for 3 in these categories...40 rebounds, 49.3% and GWU 28.2%. You'll usually win when you can hit these numbers.

-Six Cards attempted three pointers in the game. Becky Burke an un-normal 0-5, Bria Smith 0-1, Shoni Schimmel 2-8, Sara Hammond 0-1 and Nita Slaughter 7-9. WE like that GWU was 0-7 from beyond the arc.

-No one fouled out yesterday. Sara Hammond had four (in fifteen minutes) but no one else had more than two. 13 total fouls and GWU had 14. The refs let them play yesterday.

-Louisville scored 42 points off turnovers, GWU 3. The Cards got 12 second chance points, the Bulldogs 8. Louisville had 12 fast break points, GWU 0.
The Cards won the assists stat, too with 17 (Jude Schimmel 6). GWU managed only 3 in 40 minutes. Only 3...

Cards take off down the court

-Finally, the starters (Burke, Taylor, Warren, Smith and Shoni) played 89 of the possible 200 minutes available and had 42 of the 92 points. The Lady Cards freshmen logged 49 minutes and contributed eight points. Although Shelby Harper and Jude Schimmel did not score, they only took one shot between them in 29 minutes of combined playing time and did dish out 8 assists. 

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THEY SAID IT: (Unfortunately...some parts of the comments from the players and Coach Walz were lost on Paul's recorder. Change the battery next time, dummy! From what was left, off the top of his head and from memory...here are some of the topics covered:)

-Shoni, Bria and Nita were the players in the post game interview. Nita was asked about her game performance and was pleased with the effort. So were Bria and Shoni. It was mentioned that "it wasn't all about individual effort" but about the team.

-Practice was tough and demanding after the UK game. Rebounding, blocking out and defense were stressed. They did 90 minutes stretches were no offense was run, just the basics of blocking out and going to the boards were stressed.

-FROM WALZ

-He was proud of Nita's performance, noting that she played hard, came into the game with a purpose. She did exactly what he has been asking her to do for the entire season. It wasn't so much about her hitting a lot of threes..but she went to the boards and competed in other parts of the game. "She was everywhere." Walz remarked.

Walz expressed the hope that this would carry over, noting that the team has a big game Wednesday at Cincinnati.

-Walz reinforced the players' comments that the team did a lot of rebounding and defensive drills in practice during the week. He mentioned the placement of "bubbles" over the baskets...so no one could make a shot. He added that they'd continue to do that...emphasizing that they had to get better.

GWU is now 0-8

-Coach also mentioned that the team needed to get better at defending the dribble drive. Team needs to do a better job of stopping the ball from going to the middle of the floor. Team gets beat on the weak side of the board a lot. Just guarding the ball isn't going to get it done, he accepts the responsibility for getting the team to improve on defense. 

-Monique is fine, health wise. Coach thought she played well today and he was excited to get Asia Taylor some more time today at the "4" spot. Was please that Mo had eight points, eight boards, an assist and no turnovers in eight minutes.



GWU coach Rick
Reeves sorta looks
like a bulldog...

-BIG EAST is going to be a battle. Game on Wednesday night will be a battle. Cincinnati is 7-1 right now. Guards for Cincy playing extremely well right now. Hollis (a transfer from Michigan) and Revis.



-No question in his opinion that the BIG EAST is just as tough this year as it was last year. Hopefully, as the team continues to grow and mature, they'll come to play every night...because there are no BIG EAST opponent you can "just show up for and expect to win." 

-Walz started Taylor looking for some more rebounding, more aggressiveness at the defensive end and thought she did those things for the team yesterday. "She's a hard working player. She'll get out there and defend for me. That's what I need her to do. I'm trying to find a combination where it's not just everybody who can score...gotta find somebody who can guard the ball, somebody who can defend and rebound."

-Coach talked about competitiveness...that it wasn't just a one game thing and he would find out when the team travels to Cincy if the team would compete again.

-Walz talked about the large amount of away games the team had played this year...mentioning that they were at Cincy, then jumping on a plane and going to the west coast to play Portland and Washington State. He remarked that the Cards were 8-2 and had played only four home games. He challenged us to find anyone else who is ranked in the top 20 that has had only four homes and has their next three on the road.

( I took the challenge and did some research...here's what I found.)

Four teams in the top 20 meet the criteria of 2 losses...Texas, Georgetown, Penn State and Tennessee. Out of the four, Georgetown is the only one that meets the challenge. 

Georgetown (8-2). Has had four home games, six on the road and plays three out of their next four on the road. This pretty much meets the challenge, except that they play two on the road, come home for one and then go back out on the road for one.  

Penn State (7-2). Has had five on the road, four at home and but their next three are at home...

Tennessee (6-2) Seven at home, one on the road and their next four are on the road. 

Texas (6-2) 4 each at home and on the road. Next five at home. 

Walz concluded his post game remarks discussing how he felt about the team "some days good, some days bad..." and how he was looking for a player who would step up and be the leader, the vocal one...mentioning that Tia Gibbs had those qualities. Looking for a player that would "demand"...demand that the players go hard every day in practice, demand that they play hard in every game.

He briefly touched on scheduling, playing home and home schedules with in-state teams, and learning on the road. The team took two days off after the UK game. Will take Sunday off and then prepare for UC. He was asked about Slaughter again and discussed her briefly, how she made more shots in one game than she did in the entire season. She's becoming more than just a shooter. Walz is looking forward to the game where he can have Becky, Shoni, Antonita and Bria all show up with good shooting on the same night. He commented that it hasn't happened yet.

LOUISVILLE returns to action Wednesday against Cincinnati. No mention has been made on when and if Charmaine Tay will be eligible.

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(David Watson is a special correspondent for Cardinal Couple. He comments today about the brawl at the end of the Cincinnati vs. Xavier's men's game yesterday.)

First off, I almost missed it. Was about to turn the channel and surf for more hoops. Then, a shove, a swing, a bench clearing and I was mesmerized. 

There is no place for this in college basketball. Or in any sport except MMA or boxing. Yancey Gates should be tossed off the team. So should anyone who threw a punch, stomped somebody or shoved. No place for it in a sport. A game. This isn't Call of Duty. It isn't US Troops in the Middle East. It's basketball. I don't care who said what, who responded or who started it. It's unacceptable. 

Mick Cronin said the right things in the post game interview. There is no room for "gangster" in college basketball. Let them go up against Tony Soprano and his crew if that's what they think they are. They are supposed to be college student-athletes. They are receiving a free education because they are good at playing a game. They are the fortunate ones. How many kids out there are holding full time jobs trying to get an education. No place for this "thug-boyz" agenda.  

Sadly, it won't be the last time this happens in college sports. Until strict penalties are enacted and enforced for fist-swinging, taunting and un-sportsmanlike conduct...it'll continue. 

And, that hurts the spirit and intent of athletics. Grow up, guys and gals. 

(David Watson, you're right on the mark...)

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Louisville "Slaughters" Gardner Webb 92-27

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CARDINAL COUPLE SPECIAL SATURDAY REPORT

-Nita Slaughter sinks seven three-pointers in WBB romp

The University of Louisville got 7 for 9 three-point shooting and 23 points from sophomore Nita Slaughter and easily handled Gardner Webb Saturday afternoon in the KFC YUM! Center 92-27 in front of 8453 fans.

Career highs for the Christian Academy wing...who also added six rebounds in 25 minutes of playing time. Her seven threes is second all-time in most threes made by Lady Card in a game.

Louisville took control of this one early...racing out to a 10-0 lead in the first four and a half minutes. Five different Lady Cards scored in the onslaught and the defense was just as impressive...forcing the Bulldogs into seven turnovers in the stretch and allowing no GWU shots on goal in the first 3:23 of action.

Louisville led 22-4 after a Slaughter three with 12:03 left and bumped that to 35-7 when Becky Burke scored on a fast break layup with 7:38 remaining. The Cards took a 44-14 lead into the locker room...holding the Bulldogs to just 17 first half shots and forcing them into 19 first half turnovers. Slaughter's four first half threes led Louisville in scoring with 12 points...Monique Reid added eight points in just eight first half minutes of action...her points coming all in a row over a four minute stretch in the half. All twelve of Walz's charges played and nine of them scored in the first twenty minutes.

Slaughter had just 16 points in nine
games coming into the contest today
and was 2 for 11 from beyond the
arc. The slump is...OVER!

The teams were pretty evenly matched for the first few minutes of the second half until a Sherrone Vails layup started the Lady Cards on a 27-6 run over the next ten minutes...giving Louisville a 78-23 lead when Shawnta Dyer nailed a free throw with 6:21 left. From there, it was just a question of whether Louisville could get to the century mark.. the Cards managed only 14 points the rest of the way...but held the Bulldogs to just four. 

Defense, rebounding, hustle and shooting all looked better than it did last Sunday...given the nature of the opponent...that was certainly expected .

Louisville shot 49.3% for the game and held GWU to 28.2%. The Cards got 46 points in the paint...and allowed just 16...ten of those to the Bulldogs center Catrina Green. GWU was 0-7 from trifecta land...Louisville 9-25. The Cards out rebounded the Bulldogs 40-25 (Reid 8) and forced them into 36 turnovers while just making 14 of their own.

Starters were Burke, Cierra Warren, Shoni, Bria Smith and Asia Taylor. They had 42 of the UofL points and 10 of the Cards 21 steals.

All 12 Cardinals played...Slaughter's 25 minutes the most and Jude Schimmel's 10 minutes the least. Jude did have six assists, though and two steals.
Scoring:

Slaughter           23
Shoni Schimmel  12           
Smith                10
Vails                  9
Taylor                8
Dyer                  8
Reid                  8
Burke                6
Warren              6
Hammond          2
Harper               0
Jude Schimmel    0

The Cards get a feel good, expected blowout today and head to Cincy next to open BIG EAST play on Wednesday.

WHAT WE LIKED TODAY

-Slaughter's big-time performance. The shot mechanics and release have been there and today it finally paid off. She was much more than just a shooter today, though...hustling on defense, going to the boards with authority and with only one turnover in 25 minutes. We "needa" more 'Nita like that !

Cierra Warren six points in
11 minutes today.

-On line at the line again. Louisville went 15-18 from the charity stripe for a very good 83.3%. Five Cards attempted free throws and three (Warren, Smith and Reid) were perfect. 

-Bench points. Led by Slaughter's heroics...the bench out-scored the starters 50-42. Calling Reid a "bench" player really doesn't seem right...maybe we should just re-classify this as starters vs. non-starters. 

-Asia's influence. Ms. Taylor got the start today, in Walz's quest to find the ideal starting lineup, and turned in a very solid performance in 11 minutes. Four steals, four for five shooting, NO TURNOVERS, and just one foul. Keep it up, #31...

THINGS TO WORK ON.

Relax and let the game come
to you...Sara.

-Paint defense. GWU's center Catrina Green had eight boards and 11 points in 35 minutes. She was the Bulldog's only offense for the the first 13 1/2 minutes of the second half with nine points and the Cards are going to see a lot better than her once BIG EAST play starts.

-Hammond. The talented freshman needs to just learn to relax out on the court. 1 for 6 shooting and four fouls in 15 minutes. She did grab six boards, though. All part of the freshman learning experience. She did battle with gumption and determination in the final stages of the game when GWU brought in bruiser Breynna Winkler to the post and Sara shut her down on rebounds. Look out for those elbows, though. Winkler can swing them...

WE'LL HAVE...players' and Coach Walz's comments in the Sunday edition of CARDINAL COUPLE. Due to commitments and deadlines, we're "booked up" for the rest of the day today...but wanted to get this information to our readers before going out on the holiday circuit tonight.   
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Gardner Webb comes to Louisville looking for a win

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SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Gardner Webb faces Lady Cards today

-BIG EAST WBB from Friday and Saturday's games

The University of Louisville women's basketball team returns to the hardwood in the KFC YUM! Center six days after taking a 20 point defeat in Lexington to the Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team. The #15 Cards will be looking to start a new win streak against today's opponent - Gardner Webb.

They shouldn't have much trouble in doing so.

GWU hasn't entered conference play yet this
season. Based on last year's results and their
current schedule...they're probably really looking
forewatd to it...

The Bulldogs are 0-7 on the season and only one of the losses have been remotely close...losing last time out to Wofford College 58-50. GWU has battled against an ambitious schedule...losing at North Carolina (109-44), at Davidson (67-46), against Duke (97-31) and hosting Southern Cal (82-41).

This is the first meting ever between the two schools in women's basketball.

No Bulldogs average in double figures...Catrina Green and Jasmine Dale lead Gardner Webb in scoring with 7.6 and 7.3 p.p.g. respectively. Green grabs 7.4 boards per contest and Brianna Dillard is the assist leader with 13 total in seven games.

The Bulldogs have been outscored by an average of 78.6 to 43.0 and are shooting 31% on the young season. They are 14-66 from beyond the arc (21%) and average 26 turnovers a game.

Monique Reid is the Cards
leading scorer this season.

Louisville comes into the contest with four players averaging in double figures. Monique Reid leads the way with 15.7 p.p.g., Shoni Schimmel at 13.7, Becky Burke next at 12.3 and freshman Bria Smith averages 11.0 a game.

Who will Walz start and will
it have any significance?

The main question here is whether UofL can shake off the disappointing loss against UK and come out and take care of business today.

WE fully expect that they will and this looks to be one of those "feel-good" games against a cupcake.

Another thing we'll look for is if the attendance numbers are down after losing to the Cats. WE don't expect a significant drop off...most Lady Cards fans are not of the "fair weather" variety...if anything...the men play at 4 p.m. so there could be a bump in attendance from the bonus of two games in one day.

We'll also be watching to see if Coach Walz has effected any starting lineup changes. Minutes on court should be plentiful for all 12 Lady Cards today and we'll watch for hustle, desire and smart play from the Lady Cards. The Bulldogs' opponents only average 16 turnovers a game...we'll watch and see if the Cards can end up with fewer than that. Another thing will monitor is how the Cards do on the offensive boards and if they're capitalizing on second chance points. Despite the winless record, Gardner Webb is only being out rebounded by seven boards a game.

The Cards tumbled to #15 in the NCAA rankings after the Kentucky loss...a big win today probably won't send them soaring back up the polls ladder...but could do wonders for a team that was left without answers after the annual showdown against the Lady Wildcats.

CARDINAL COUPLE will have a full post game report and quotes today after the game.


Full day of hoops today at the KFC YUM!...with the men's team taking on Farleigh Dickinson at 4:00 p.m. Ex-Card George Goode returns as a starter for FDU.  

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In BIG EAST conference action last night, UConn handled Seton Hall 70-37. Out of conference, Providence downed UMass 66-45 and DePaul bested SIUE 75-65.

On tap today:

One conference matchup...St John's and Villanova square off.

Out of conference, five schools besides Louisville take to the hardwood:

-WVU vs. UNF
-Syracuse vs. Coppin State
-Pitt vs Valparaiso
-Marquette vs Iona
-Cincinnati vs Marshall
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Women's soccer receives awards...We heard it thru the grapevine...UK for real this year?

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FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Exeter 1st team, Hunter 2nd team NSCAA All-Region

-Two Lady Cards recruits coming for a visit

-Lady Kats defeat DUKE in Rupp

Exeter led Louisville in
scoring for 2010 and 2011.

Two players on the University of Louisville women's soccer team have received prestigious awards...being selected to the NSCAA All-Region teams for 2011. Scorer Christine Exeter was named to the 1st team and defender Chelsea Hunter has been selected for the second team.

Exeter, who will be a junior next season, was the Cards leading scorer and All-BIG EAST Conference selection. She may well be on her way to re-writing all the records for scoring at the University of Louisville and helped power the girls to a #24 season ending ranking this year and trip to NCAA Women's Soccer's Sweet Sixteen.

Hunter's defense helped
Louisville reach the
NCAA Sweet Sixteen.

Hunter made the second squad and is a remarkable "comeback story". After seeing limited action her first two years at Louisville, she had to sit out 2010 with an injury. The time off gave her the chance to re-focus and strengthen her defending capabilities and she returned this year as part of a strong Cardinal defensive line. 

Soccer is alive and well at UofL...for both the men's and women's squads...and plans to build a new, 5000 seat soccer stadium on campus are well under way with two sites being surveyed and reviewed for possible location.

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Rumors and tweets out there in cyberspace are indicating that two of the most sought after girls' high school players in the class of 2013 are headed to Louisville for a visit over the President's Day weekend. Mercedes Russell and Stephanie Mavunga will be in town for a visit to watch the Lady Cards play Notre Dame and check out the Louisville campus.

Russell is a dominant post player.

Russell, from Springfield, Oregon is considered by many the top recruit in the 2013 class. She is a paint monster and is drawing interest from Connecticut, Tennessee and all the women's college basketball "bigs". Russell teamed with Mavunga to lead the USA U 16 team to the gold this year in Mexico and has made a prior visit to the UofL campus to see what Walz and the Cards have to offer.

Mavunga is a high profile scorer

Mavunga hails from Brownsburg, IN...a suburb of Indianapolis, and is widely recognized as the best player in Indiana girls high school hoops. She's another dominater in the paint and packs gymnasiums wherever she goes with fans wishing to see her play. 

Although 2235 miles separate the two talented players, they've become fast friends and could probably show up on some campus as a package deal to play their four years of college hoops.

Always good to recruit and gather skilled post players with the ability to score. Here's hoping the girls have a great time on their visit in February and enjoy the state-of-the-art KFC-YUM! Center...

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After Kentucky defeated Louisville by 20 points on Sunday, there was some discussion that Louisville's women pretty much destroyed themselves with lack of effort and weak rebounding. Was Kentucky really that good a team? Would the Lady Wildcats suffer a drop off in their next game...against #6 Duke in Rupp Arena?

Last night, in front of 14,508 fans in Rupp, UK defeated the Blue Devils 72-65. The Cats trailed by eight late in the first half but made a serious run at Duke, had a 31-30 lead with a minute left in the first half but went into the locker room down 34-31. UK grabbed the lead early in the final half and got back-to-back threes from Bria Goss and Adia Mathies with five minutes remaining to go up by ten and hold off the visitors to win by seven.

Mathies followed the strong
effort vs. Louisville with 23
against Duke last night.

Mathies led UK with 23 points, Goss added 19 and freshman Azia Bishop...who had only 11 points coming into the contest, erupted for 12 points and 10 rebounds in the UK win.

UK may just be the real thing. We'll watch how they do in South Bend against the Notre Dame Lady Irish this month...but, last night, UK showed that the Louisville win was no fluke and that Matthew Mitchell just might have a bona-fide contender for the Final Four in Denver.

Meanwhile, Louisville looks to shake off the dismal performance against UK on Saturday when (0-7) Gardner Webb comes to visit. Louisville dropped to #15 in the NCAA rankings after the loss in Lexington.

The Cards shouldn't have much trouble against Gardner Webb tomorrow...we'll have a breakdown of the visitors tomorrow and a full recap of action after the game for you here at CARDINAL COUPLE.

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Soccer #24 in final poll...BIG EAST WBB kicks into action...BIG EAST Welcomes five...

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CARDINAL COUPLE THURSDAY REPORT

-Women's Soccer one of three BIG EAST in final top 25

-Five games kick off BIG EAST WBB Conference Play

-Boise State, Houston, SMU, San Diego State and UCF join BIG EAST

Christine Exeter led the
women's soccer team
in scoring.

The University of Louisville women's soccer team was ranked 24th. in the final poll for NCAA Women's College Soccer. They were the only BIG EAST women's soccer team to advance to the Sweet Sixteen this season and finished runner-up in the BIG EAST Tournament to West Virginia. The Mountaineers were ranked 18th. and Marquette finished 15th. in the final rankings.

The #24 ranking is the highest finish ever for Louisville women's soccer.

Louisville defeated Dayton and Memphis by identical 2-0 scores in NCAA Tournament play before falling to #9 Florida State 2-0 in the Sweet Sixteen.

Leading scorer Christine Exeter returns for her junior season next year for head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes, along with several other key components for the squad.

Hats off to the Women's Soccer Cards for their huge accomplishments this year and Coach Ferguson-Dayes' efforts!

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The BIG EAST Conference's women's basketball regular season play kicked off last night with five games. No real surprises here...the recaps below.

-- DePaul defended the home court with a 69-52 win over visiting St. John. Keisha Hampton led the way for the Blue Demons with 21 points...Lexington, KY. native Anna Martin added 13 and Jasmine Penny contributed 12. For St. John, Eugenia McPherson tallied 18, Nadirah McKenith tossed in 13 and Amber Thompson hit double figures with 10. St. John's Shennika Smith was held to just four points...

Sugar was sweet for the Hoyas
last night

-- Georgetown romped Pittsburgh 82-54. The visitors got 28 from guard Sugar Rodgers, Tia MaGee and Taylor Brown added 12 each for the Hoyas...who shot 47.5%. Pitt managed only 26.7% from the floor. They were led by Asia Logan's 15. Bria Kesel (11) and Leeza Burdgess (10) hit double figures for the Panthers as well.

-- Notre Dame had no trouble with Marquette...winning 95-42 in the Joyce Center. Four in double figures for the Irish...Kayla McBride 19, Skylar Diggins 17. Lexington's Natalie Novosel hit for 11, as did Brittany Mallory. The visiting Golden Eagles were paced by Sarina Simmons 14...Katherine Plouffe added 9.

Laura Sweeney cooked the Friars
with 25 points last night

-- Villanova bested home standing Providence 69-42. For the Wildcats, Laura Sweeny had a game high 25 and the Friars got 17 from Teya Wright. Villanova hit 9-23 three point attempts in the win.

--West Virginia travelled to Syracuse and escaped with a 76-72 win. The Mountaineers had four players reach double figures...led by Ayana Dunning and Asya Bussie with 19 each. The 'Cuse also had four double figure scorers...Carmen Tyson-Thomas was good for 17.

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It's official...five teams have been added to the BIG EAST. Hardly an eastern influence here, though with San Diego State and Boise State joining for football only and Houston, SMU and UCF coming aboard for all sports. Two of the schools, Houston and SMU have lost their head football coaches recently and San Diego State is over 3000 miles from BIG EAST corporate offices in Providence. No running over to the offices to drop off documents for the Aztecs...

Whether or not this will save the BIG EAST's automatic qualifier for BCS football remains to be seen. The Aztecs did go 8-4 this year and are bowl bound...against La.-Lafayette on Dec. 17th. Houston was unblemished until Southern Miss romped them in the C-USA Championship game. Boise State went 11-1 this year. One would hope they'll continue the impressive play over the next few years. One thing is for sure...none of the five are legitimate women's basketball powers...more cupcakes for Jeff's Walz's buffet...
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Two Volleyball Cards selected for AVCA honors...BIG EAST to expand?

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WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Arslanbekova, Brauneis named to All-Northeast Regional 1st team

-BIG EAST GETTING READY TO ADD FIVE?

Lola Arslanbekova and Taylor Brauneis have been selected for America Volleyball Coaches Association honors by being named to the Northeast Region's All-Star 1st team. Emily Juhl received honorable mention status.

Taylor Brauneis is one of the best
setters in the BIG EAST.

Lola is a junior and both Taylor and Emily are sophomores, so the future bodes well for Anne Kordes' squad. The Cards lose just two from this year's squad to graduation and Anne Kordes had been recruiting well...so the power and strength for Louisville return virtually intact for next year.

Emily Juhl a
definite scoring
threat.

Lola may just be the best volleyball player to ever don the red and black. Consistently the leading kill shot artist on the Cardinal squad, opponents scheme to stop her and few are rarely successful. Juhl compliments the Cards offensive attack from the outside hitter post and is a threat to post double-digit kills anytime she walks onto the court. Brauneis has been the set and assist "go-to" for the Cards and a valuable part of the modes of the defense and attack sets of the Cards. Along with Caitlin Welch's excellent ability to dig and Kaitlynn James on the front line...the Louisville volleyball team returns a strong nucleus for the 2012-13 season. If the Cards go for and get an extra year for middle hitter/blocker Gwen Rucker...all the better.

Congratulations to all three girls for their outstanding efforts and award this season. And, to Anne Kordes, good job in your first year as Cardinal skipper. The future looks very bright for the wide net sport at Louisville and the dominance that the Cards have had in BIG EAST Volleyball over the past several years shows no signs of slowing down...

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Marinetto has lost more teams to rival
conferences than any other BIG EAST
commissioner.

BIG EAST commish John Marinetto could announce, as early as today, the addition of five new schools to the BIG EAST. It's been speculated that Houston, Central Florida and SMU are coming on board for all sports and Boise State and San Diego State will join for football only.

What does it mean for women's sports in the BIG EAST down the road? None of the three all-sports additions play field hockey or lacrosse. None of the three are shaking up the NCAA in women's basketball or women's soccer. The three schools are a combined 7-16 in ladies hoops this season...Houston with a woeful 0-8 record...so the BIG EAST isn't gaining any Notre Dame or UConn type powerhouses here...Softball might benefit slightly with the addition of these three...Syracuse was a strong member of the diamond powers in the BIG EAST, Pitt an also-ran and WVU didn't field a softball team.  


Hugo the Hippo is no relation to the
Big East commissioner.


Let's face it. This is all about football. Are the five schools equal to...or better that the eventual departees (West Virginia, Syracuse and Pittsburgh?) in the gridiron game? We'd have to say "No" at this point and time. But, the markets are large (Dallas, Houston and Orlando) and it gives the BIG EAST some notoriety in the high school rich football tradition of Texas.

One thing that Cardinal football fans will probably grumble about is, when completed and set in place, the re-alignment will probably see Louisville in the western division of the BIG EAST with SMU, Houston, Boise St. and S.D. State.

The eastern division will probably have Rutgers, Cincinnati, South Florida, Central Florida and Connecticut. That's a whole lot of travel and new playmates for the Cards.

As far as women's basketball goes, who knows? A divisional split would be a tough one to figure out and the Cards would most likely end up not playing UConn, Rutgers and the east coast schools as often.

Interesting times ahead. With BYU thumbing their nose at the BIG EAST because of unwillingness to share or give up their television contract, the service academies not ready to sign on...and the woeful, regrettable decision not to bring in Memphis and East Carolina into the mix...one has to wonder if Marinetto and the BIG EAST decision-making conglomerate is seeing with 20/20 vision.

And, get ready for Saturday afternoon tailgating in....San Diego and Boise? Yikes...
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