USA U 19 ROMPS HUNGARY TO SWEEP GROUP C -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

95-50 ROMP OVER HUNGARY HAS USA 3-0 IN GROUP C

After a night off in FIBA U 19 action, Jeff Walz's USA U 19 squad came back in fine fashion and form, romping Hungary 95-50 early this morning. 

Rhyne Howard (Kentucky) scored a game-high 18 points on 4-of-7 shooting from 3 and 6-of-6 from the free throw line; Paige Bueckers hit 5-of-7 from the field in scoring 13 points and dished out six of the team’s 20 assists; Francesca Belibi tallied 11 points and 13 rebounds; and Aliyah Boston registered 10 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field. Naz Hillmon-Baker came within a point of a double-double after registering nine points and 10 caroms.

Coach Walz was pleased. He cited better passing and finding the open player as the keys to the win.

Using a 24-4 run in the first quarter, USA lead 33-16 at the end of the first 10 minutes and extended that to 57-20 at the half. 

With the win, USA sweeps Group C competition with a 3-0 record and waits to see "who's next"? That opponent will come from Group D and whoever the four seed ends up being. Lativa is 3-0 in Group A play, 

USA won the rebounding battle 60-33, and had a great shooting night with a 55.6% on 20-36 makes and attempts.  

Apologize for the short article today...my Internet coverage is spotty at best where I am today.


Terrific Tuesday to you! 

Paulie

Cards in WNBA -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

HOW ARE ASIA, ASIA AND MYISHA DOING SO FAR?


Former UofL WBB stars Asia Taylor, Asia Durr and Myisha Hines-Allen are the three active Cardinals participating in the WNBA currently. Angel McCoughtry is probably out for the season with Atlanta, so we hope ice cream sales are good for her and we'll hope she comes back to the league next year with that McCoughtry magic we've come to know and love.

There were rumors back in June that the Dream were looking to trade her but head coach Nikki Collen shot those down. For what it's worth, this is the second time McCoughtry and Collen have crossed paths...she was at Louisville as an assistant on her husband Tom's staff, then a radio analyst when Angel was a freshman and sophomore for the Cards. McCoughtry blossomed into the star she is after the Collen's departed for Arkansas.

McCoughtry has been a crowd favorite and about the only hope Atlanta has had since she's been there. Numerous coaches, sweeping roster changes over the years -- Angel even played on the same team as Shoni at one point in time -- and Angel has remained the drawing card. And they want to trade her? The Atlanta management needs to wake up. 

The Washington Mystics have Myisha on their roster and they are currently in second place in the Eastern Division with a 11-6 record...one game back of the Connecticut Sun. She has seen action in 14 games as a reserve and get about 8.4 minute per game. She averages 1.9 points a night and 2.5 rebounds. Her season scoring high came against Connecticut back on May 25th., when she totaled eight points.

The New York Liberty are the home team for Asia Durr. New York is 8-10 on the season and four games out of first place in the Eastern division. "Nite-Nite" has had some groin issues lately and  has been sitting out recently, but she has started in 13 of her 14 contests and plays about 30 minutes a game. She averages 11.1 points per game, is shooting 46.7% from the floor and has 10 steals. Her single game scoring high is 20 against Minnesota on June 12th.



Asia Taylor started the season with the Indiana Fever but was released by them. The Minnesota Lynx picked her up around the 4th of July and she's played in seven games for them with no starts. Averaging 2.4 points a contest, her season high came against Chicago on July 18th. when she scored 13 points. She started her WNBA career with Minnesota back in 2014 and played with three other WNBA squads before returning to the Lynx. 

Taylor's major successes have come in Australia since graduation. She's consistently ranked as one of the top five players in "the land down under" .

Here at Cardinal Couple we keep a running log of how these players are doing and you can find it over on the right side of the site. We go back about a month. 


Have a marvelous Monday!

Paulie

Basketball in Bangkok - Sunday Cardinal Couple

Basketball in Bangkok

We have been covering the U19 Women's Basketball World Cup being held in Bangkok Thailand, both to follow the accomplishments of Coach Jeff Walz with the USA team, as well as giving a little bit of attention to UofL signee Norika Konno.

The Japanese lost to Spain in their last outing, 79-65, with Norika starting and contributing 7 points with a pair of field goals and 3 free throws, shooting 40% from the field, and 75% from the stripe.

The US beat South Korea 89-67, with the top scorers being Fran Belibi with 18, Rhyne Howard with 17, and Queen Egbo with 14.  Rhyne Howard, who the Cards with face in the Governor's Cup game with Kentucky a just ridiculous 5 of 7 from three point range while Belibi and Egbo took care of the close-in game, each with 8 shots, Belibi dropping all 8 of hers, and Egbo draining 6.  The US shot, overall, 57.9% from the charity stripe, which definitely won't be getting them an F in the Fred Report, Norika will be taking that one home for the day.  They will get the R in the report, though, by out-rebounding the Koreans 55-23.

The US currently sits atop Group C with 2 wins, with South Korea still looking for their first win, leaving Hungary and Australia both at 1-1.  The US still has to face Hungary, who downed South Korea 92-68, and lost to Australia 81-71, on Tuesday.

Vlogs

Last night I discovered that Aiko Jones, who will be a red-shirt freshman with the volleyball team in the fall, has been semi-regularly updating a YouTube channel with Vlogs of her experiences here in the US.  Aiko hails from Kingston, Jamaica, so she has an unusual perspective on American mid-west culture.  I've had the opportunity to chat with Aiko a few times and have found her to be an intelligent and insightful young woman.  She's got a great head on her shoulders and has a great attitude on life.

Jones started the Vlog entries late in her senior year of high school in Kingston and has periodically updated it throughout the year, with the most recent being from a trip she took over the 4th of July holiday to Sun Prairie, WI with Claire Chaussee to her home for a visit.  You can see her skill, both at being in front of the camera, and filming herself, as well as with editing and putting together a story, develop as the Vlog progresses.  Some of Aiko's skills as a presenter come naturally, with her mother hosting a morning drive-time radio show in Kingston. (maybe "Mom" could assist the woeful Cardinal Couple Radio knuckleheads).

As someone born and raised here in Louisville, I find some fascination in the perspectives and experiences of someone from another country, climate, and culture, to come to Louisville and the midwest and experience life as we do.

Cardinal Couple plans extensive Volleyball coverage, as we do every year...so we'll be following all of Dani Busboom Kelly's wide-netters all season.

You can check out her Vlogs on her YouTube channel at:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ5eMHe41l1pLy6T9NLBcSQ/videos

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

They still haven't changed the door and alarm codes at WCHQ, so the knuckleheads were back on the
air again, yesterday.

We covered the US U19 FIBA play, you can her me say, "Leggo my Egbo", so check out what that's all about.  Case brought us up to date on some UofL golfer outings, a brief bit about Case's extended family, sports equipment, and had a mascot edition of the Cardinal Couple Quiz.

Good fun was had as always, check it out on Facebook Live at:

https://www.facebook.com/WCHQfm/videos/635276230293953/

-- 

JMcA

USA U 19 over Australia -- Golf on the Mind -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

USA U 19 wins opener against Aussies 79-56

The Jeff Walz coached USA U 19 team used a 16-2 third quarter run to pull away from Australia in Bangkok early this morning and went on to win thei opener in Group C play 79-56.

Walz started Rhyne Howard, Naz Hillmon-Baker, Aliyah Boston, Hailey Van Lith and Paige Bueckers and USA jumped out to an early 5-0 lead. That early lead held through the first 10 minutes and the first quarter ended with USA up 19-14. 

Australia came out strong in the second quarter and cut the lead to 21-20 with 7:40 left in the first half. They tied it at 21-21 and remained close the remainder of the second quarter, although they never took the lead. Reserve Queen Egbo scored four straight points to give USA a 34-32 lead with 1:49 left in the half and a Bueckers three made it 37-32 with a minute left. The Aussies ended the half on a 3-0 run, though, and the USA went to the half with a 39-35 lead.

Walz brought the same starting five out to start the second half, and increased defensive pressure paid dividends. A 6-0 run got USA off to a good start and they got two straight threes from Howard to push the lead to 55-37. It was a 16-2 run for the Americans and they ended the third quarter with a 60-39 lead, outscoring Australia 21-4 over the ten minutes. 

The Aussie would never get closer than 16 points in the final ten minutes, as Walz tried a variety of combinations on the court. 

Five in double figures for USA -- Bueckers led them with 11 points -- and Van Lith, Egbo, Hillmon-Baker and Howard totaled 10 each. USA shot 33% from the floor and held the foe to 27.7% shooting. USA won the rebounding battle 62-52 and forced 22 Australian turnovers. 

USA U 19 continues Group play tonight at 1 a.m. against South Korea.

You Tube has replays available in case you don't want to staay up that late. No commentary or play-by-play -- just straight out basketball...which is different but interesting.

. 

Thibodeau Could Join Hartlage

Last week I wrote about Lauren Hartlage qualifying, yet again, for the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship. Earlier this week, teammates Lauren Thibodeau and Delaney Shah were set to compete in Massachusetts to join her. The event in Brockton took place on Monday and four women qualified to advance to the championship. Neither Cardinal was one of the four. As far as I can tell, Shah never competed in the event, as her name does not appear on the results page, even as having withdrawn. However, Thibodeau does still have a chance to make it to the Championship. Lauren shot a 1-over on the course, tied with two others for fifth place. For reasons unknown, she is listed as the first alternate should one of the four qualifiers drop out. We wish her the best as she waits it out and Lauren Hartlage the best of luck at the Championship event in early August.

The Open Championship

One of golf's biggest weekends is underway, as the major across the pond has been ongoing since early Thursday morning. A couple of connections drew me to this topic this morning. First, Louisville golfer Matthias Schmid qualified for the event. Schmid finished last season at UofL with the best stroke average in school history. He qualified for The Open by winning the European Amateur Championship last month. I'm not sure how competing in professional event in golf jibes with all of the NCAA rules, but the NCAA rules around player compensation are so goofy I don't even feel like exploring it this morning. Schmid played decently Thursday and Friday, shooting +4 and +1, respectively, but failed to make the cut to continue the weekend. It was a tough course, but the cut fell in at +2, putting Schmid out in the cold with the likes of Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods. At least he didn't shoot +27 like David Duval. 

The second connection to The Open is Kentuckian (and my cousin) J.B. Holmes leading the dang thing. After a Thursday in which he was one of three people to reach -5 on the day and the only one to stay there, J.B. had a solo lead. He continued to shoot well enough on Friday, notching a -3 on the day to sit tied after two days for the lead with Shane Lowry. Holmes has five tour wins since joining in 2006. He has finished in the top five at a major twice, both in 2016 with his best finish being 3rd at The Open that year. He and Lowry will tee off in the final pairing later this morning.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

As Jared mentioned yesterday, we are back today for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour on WCHQ FM. All four primary fools will take their seats in the studio and we'll see if we are closer to or farther from some sort of UofL athletics topic this week than last. Apparently there will be a quiz and there is a good chance it is about mascots. As all of us performed fairly well on the last mascot quiz, I imagine this one will take a turn to the more difficult side. Catch WCHQ at 100.9 FM, the WCHQ App, wchqfm.com, or on Facebook Live. The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour is live at 11AM and available linked in Sunday's article (typically) as a replay.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Louisville Women's Golf -- Chapter 8 in Jared's History of UofL women's sports -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

A HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S GOLF

Happy Friday and welcome to another session of A History of Louisville Women’s Sports. We hit the two-thirds mark as we hit Chapter 8. Today, we look at Women’s Golf. For the rest of the article we will refer to them simply as “Golf”.

When Tom Jurich was first hired as athletic director at UofL in October of 1997,, he soon added three teams. Golf was one of those. Kelley Meyers (later Rothberg) was tabbed the head coach. Their inaugural season was in 2000, where they finished second in Conference USA. Katherine Mowat also won an individual conference championship while Meyers was named Conference USA Coach of the Year. She would lead them to an NCAA Regional the very next year.

In the fall of 2002, Louisville hosted its first Cardinal Cup, a popular tournament still hosted today. They competed at a golf course in Simpsonville, KY, then owned by University Clubs of America.

It wasn’t until 2006 when golf won its first conference championship, claiming the Big East title down in Florida. Adrienne White also won the Cards’ first individual Big East title that year.

Courtney Trimble took over as head coach over the summer of 2012. She held that position through this
most recent, before stepping down to enjoy life. The Cards have several seasons where they were ranked in the Top 25 under Trimble and advanced to the NCAA Championships in the spring of 2018.

Whitney WadeYoung will take over as head coach for the start of next season. She has been an assistant with Louisville since 2017.

The University of Louisville Golf Club has been around longer than many think. It was originally constructed in 2001 by University Clubs of America and Palmer Golf Management operates the facilities.  It was bought by Champions Way LLC in 2003 and they owned the place for about a decade. UofL bought the property in early 2014 and re-branded the facility as the UofL Golf Club. Both the women’s and men’s teams have used the facility since it first opened but have been able to officially call it home since then. The course is open to members and other events when UofL is not using it.

Many excellent golfers have stepped foot on campus over the years. Meghan Little was one of the biggest names early on. Little won several titles early on and competed in the 2005 NCAA Tournament. Adrienne White was teammates with a little for a while and won a conference championship.

Cindy LaCrosse came in a couple years later and won a school record four tournaments in her career. She ended up with many other UofL records during her time. Sara-Maude Juneau and Laura Anderson are both in this decade and made headlines when they played internationally and combined to win four consecutive tournaments in 2009. Emily Haas came in just a few years ago and earned several Big East honors and owns the Cardinal Cup record at 209.

The 2019-20 squad features several golfers quite capable of shooting low scores. Returnees include Margot Bechadergue, Lauren Hartlage, Mairead Martin, Delaney Shah and Lauren Thibodeau. Their season takes place basically all year round and will start on Sept 9th in the Minnesota Invitational.

Hartlage recently qualified for her third straight appearance in the US Women's Amateur. The event takes place August 9-11 at the Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Mississippi. Thibodeau is listed as an alternate for the field of 156. 

We rarely get out to the UofL Golf Club to do live in-person coverage events like we do many other sports but the location is a beautiful one to visit. Make sure to head out to Simpsonville to see the Cards in action. Make a pit stop at the outlet mall to go shopping while out there. The adidas store usually has some affordable UofL gear in stock.

RADIO DAYS

Jared's Fan Club watching the show from across the street

You can catch the A-team on air for the second straight week tomorrow on The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. .

The show starts at 11 a.m. Saturday and can be accessed many different ways.

www.wchqfm.com is the stations website and the show can be accessed there. It is also on Facebook Live. In the Louisville area, we're on FM at 100.9 and you can download the WCHQ app at the site and listen that way.


A bit of warning about our summer feature which you are welcome to participate in. A little bird is whispering in my ear that the Worldwide Cardinal Couple quiz MIGHT BE ABOUT MASCOTS.

Happy Friday and Go Cards

Jar-head

Bionca Dunham Interview -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

"B" IS PLANNING A SURPRISE FOR CARDINAL FANS

Wednesday morning found me on the UofL Belknap Campus, arriving safely after the pigs made a break for it on I-65 earlier in the day. The destination was the SAC Building and the new, spacious office of Louisville women's basketball S.I.D. Nick Evans -- located on the second floor of the multi-purpose building. 

The objective was an interview with student-athlete and rising senior Bionca Dunham. What ensued was a pleasant and informative 10 minute chat about her, her life, her beliefs and the revealing of a surprise about her and basketball. 

What is the surprise? Well, you'll have to listen to our chat at the link below: 

BIONCA DUNHAM INTERVIEW

Dunham's role on the 2019-20 version of the Cards is multi-faceted. Her rebounding will be essential. Her role as a leader will be needed and expected. 

The Philly native started 31 of 36 games last year for the Cards, averaging about 22 minutes a night -- fifth highest on the team. Her 7.6 points per game was tied for fifth-best on the squad (with Jazmine Jones)...and she grabbed 169 rebounds, which was third highest on the team.

We went with her nickname "B" during the interview and the Cardinal coaches and squad will "be" expecting "B" to "be" aggressive, a leader and a force in the paint. Her effort is certainly no "B" grade, though...straight "A's" for her in hard work, perseverance and dedication during her past three years is the determination of the facts, as I see it.   

Majoring in criminal justice, "B" aspires to "be" a crime scene investigator after giving professional basketball a whirl. Who knows, maybe she and Jaz will open a private-eye firm together---combing solving criminal cases along with a pretty effective inside-outside game. 

One thing is fairly certain, "B"'s effectiveness this final year for her could "be" a huge factor in Louisville getting to the Final Four. And, if her secret weapon comes full circle...a lot of opposing players and coaches could "be" looking at each other and asking themselves..."who done it"? 


(A special "Thank You" to Nick Evans for making the arrangements for the interview and the photos in today's article).  


Paulie
xxxxx

News on Norika....Around Campus -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Norika Konno at FIBA U19 World Cup

To start with, I just want to give everyone a heads up that “Norika” keeps wanting to autocorrect to “not okay”. Seeing that we will hopefully be talking about one of our newest women’s basketball players for the next four years go ahead and make note of that on your (not so) smart devices.

However, Konno is in the news for something good. FIBA released a list of 19 players to watch at the U19 World Cup at the end of July and the lone Louisville Cardinal represented was one of them. FIBA had the following to say about Konno:

“Intensity, speed, scoring, a three-point danger and always crashing the boards well for her positions, she can be a basketball dynamite on any given day.”

You can see Konno with Team Japan while Jeff Walz corrals Team USA. The event will be held July 20-28 in Bangkok, Thailand.( Let’s hope the Wolfpack from the  movie Hangover doesn’t decide to make a guest appearance)!

Welcome Back to Campus

I decided to check out what all the brouhaha was about surrounding these new electric scooters popping up on campus and in the city. You download an app, sync your bank card information and can ride around for so much money per minute. It’s pretty neat and gave me a great opportunity to explore campus earlier in the week.

During my travels it seemed summertime campus was not as quiet as it may seem. Several of our UofL teams are hard at work preparing for upcoming seasons. Field hockey had a full-on practice going on. Lacrosse was in the midst of a camp with Coach Teeter and his hat standing at midfield. I ran into Emina Ekic near campus, who told me they’ve been working on conditioning with lots of running. I didn’t stay to talk to her for more than a minute or so -- as my scooter was on the clock.

It’s nice to see players back on campus and teams preparing for the upcoming seasons. It means fall sports start soon and for us at Cardinal Couple, it can’t come soon enough!

Be sure to check back here tomorrow for Paulie's interview with Bionca Dunham.

Happy Wednesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Dani Busboom Kelly headed to Ft. Lauderdale -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Volleyball Skipper To Coach at USA Volleyball High Performance Championships

Another UofL head coach, another USA gig. 

This time it's Dani Busboom Kelly but she won't have to travel nearly as far as Jeff Walz has to perform duties with student-athletes.

Busboom-Kelly will coach with the USA High Performance National Team athletes in Fort Lauderdale, FL from July 18-22. The competition is designed for Volleyball student-athletes that are looking to play against equally talented, top flight competition. The ultimate goal is the Olympics or the USA National team for the participants, as well as giving the coaches a chance to get more familiar with USA Volleyball. 

Dani coached the US Collegiate National team to a gold medal in July 2018 at the European Global Challenge in Croatia. 


Interesting to note that there will be three different types of volleyball at the performance championships...indoor, beach and sitting. 

We wish Coach Dani a safe and productive time in Florida. 


IN THE 'HUNT' FOR TRIO OF TENNESSEE HIGH SCHOOLERS

We don't "do" a lot of recruiting news here at CARDINAL COUPLE, but it seems that the Cards are interested a trio of girls who play for the same AAU team and are 2020 prospects. 

The three with 2021 recruit Raven Johnson after taking gold
in the 3X3 U 18 Championships. 

Madison Hayes, Treasure Hunt and Olivia Cochran all play for FBC Hunt on the AAU circuit. They were former teammates of new Cardinal Elizabeth Balogun. Cochran is currently ranked #21 in the ESPN HoopGurlz 2020 rankings. Hayes, who was also Tennessee's Class 3A Miss Basketball last year checks in with a #25 ranking and Hunt is listed at #36. 

Louisville has just one 2020 commit so far...6'1" Canadian standout Merissah Russell. 

The Cards currently have five players in their final year of eligibility on the 2019-20 roster in Jazmine Jones, Bionca Dunham, Yacine Diop, Kylee Shook and Jess Laemmle. Word on two of the three recent transfers into the program and their 2019-20 eligibility (Liz Dixon, Elizabeth Balogun) is expected in latter July. 


Have a teriffic Tuesday

Paulie
xxxxx 

Compiling a "Best of" list no easy task -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

SHE WAS THE BEST AT...

When one looks at the 12 sports that UofL competes in for NCAA DI athletes, there are an incredible amount of athletes to consider over the years. In women's basketball alone, since 1975, there are almost 225 letter-winners.

So, to pick a "she was the best at" list isn't an easy thing to do. I'll offer some candidates, though, for each sport and give my pick. Feel free to chime in on your agreements and disagreements in the comments section. Since rowing and track & field are so heavily dependent on multiple and many student athletes to compile a result, I'll skip trying to pick a "best of" in those two areas. 

CROSS COUNTRY

I'll present the names Michelle Molodyna and Dorcas Wasike as a couple of candidates here but I think Wasike is the "best ever" in Louisville women's cross country. ACC Runner of the Year in 2018, All-American and lowest time in the 5K, she has a season left to compete. 

FIELD HOCKEY

There is one name that comes to mind immediately: Ayeshia McFerrran.  "The best goalkeeper in the world" gets my vote...but the offensive stats of Jessica Javelet (2003-06) and her record of 176 goals is worth noting. Nicole Woods made the All-ACC team three years in a row and that is an incredible accomplishment. I go with McFerran, though.

GOLF

Three viable choices here with current rising senior Lauren Hartlage, Cindy LaCrosse (2005-09) and Sara Maude-Juneau (2007-11). LaCrosse has the most "wins' by far with 3092, and the highest win percentage...so I will go with her but a strong senior season out of Hartlage could replace her. 

LACROSSE

I had to cut my list to five players here and they are all very good at what they did. Bergan Folly, Tessa Chad, Nikki Boltja, Kay Morissette and Hannah Koloski were leaders and stars. Maybe my pick here is a bit biased, but no one could take a game over like Kay Morissette (2013-16) and that's my choice, although one could make an argument for any of the five listed. 


SOCCER

Charlyn Corral (2012-13), Gabrielle Vincent (2015-18) and Christine Exeter (2010-13)  are three players that set the course of Louisville women's soccer excellence. Erin Yenney and Emina Ekic deserve recognition, too, for their UofL careers....but Corral accomplished so much in just two years -- it's hard to take anyone above her. 

SOFTBALL

Once again, a wealth of talent to choose from in two decades. Alicja Wolny (2010-13) and Melissa Roth (2007-10) led the team in batting for three years and Kristin Wadwell has the career pitching records in games started, innings pitched, shutouts and wins. Aja Sherman, Nicole Pufahl, Chelsea Bemis, Marysa Becker, Katie Keller and Tori Collins also had incredible careers at Louisville. I'll go with Wadwell, since pitching is maybe the biggest key in winning softball games. A tough call. 

SWIMMING AND DIVING

Not much competition here, as Kelsi (Worrell) Dahlia career at UofL speaks for itself. Mallery Comerford, Andrea Cottrell and Tanja Kyllianen all deserve a shout out of recognition for their accomplishments as student-athletes, as well.


TENNIS

Rebecca Shine, Julia Fellerhoff, Julie Guess, Meg Peavy and Mariana Humberg made my final five. Fellerhoff (2011-14) was All-Conference all four years at UofL (Big East and AAC) and also Freshman of the Year. She edges out Peavy, who had an incredible 100-20 record in three years. 

VOLLLEYBALL

Lola (Arslanbekova) Robison, Tess Clark, Katie George, Molly Sauer and Melanie McHenry accomplished many things and have received many honors at UofL. 2145 kills is a stat that will be hard to beat, though, and it was Lola who accomplished that from 2009-12.. She gets my nod as "best ever" in Volleyball . McHenry has been a strong force for three years, though, and a big senior season just might have her taking over as my "Best of". 

BASKETBALL

Angel McCoughtry, Asia Durr and Shoni Schimmel made my top three list here. 2779 points scored in a career will probably never be topped, though...so I go with #35 Angel McCoughtry. 

The skill, determination and hard work from McCoughtry these many years is something any basketball player can learn from and adapt as a guide to success. 





Got a different take on any of these? Let me know. After all, as we say on our radio show..."You are Cardinal Couple and we never forget that." 


Paulie
xxxxx

Wishing Well to the WUGs -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

WUGs Wrapups

We've been covering the World University Games, which are formally called the 30th Summer Universiade.  "The WUGs" is so much more fun to say, though.

Alas, the games are wrapping up, with the last competition and closing ceremonies happening today.

Case covered the results for Molly Fears in Diving yesterday, graciously leaving me the volleyball competition to recap.

Of course, if you have read or tuned in to Cardinal Couple regularly, you know the Tori Dilfer was one of the setters on the women's volleyball team at the WUGs this summer as part of the US Collegiate National Team program.

The results, to my mind, were a little disappointing.  The US team faced 5 different opponents in 6 matches, and finished the competition in 9th place.

The format of the competition is a little unusual, but laudably designed to give every team a chance toplay the same number of matches.  16 teams are divided into 4 pools of 4 teams each.  After pool play a tournament bracket is seeded with all 16 teams.  At each match of the tournament bracket, the bracket is split in half with winners advancing to matches competing for higher finishes, and losers dropping to compete for lower overall finishes.  Coming out of a tough Pool D with Japan, Italy, and Switzerland, the US had a record of 1-2, meaning they were seeding in the bottom half of the bracket, competing for positions 9-16.  In the bracket, the US won out, beating the Ukraine to move up to competing for positions 9-12, Argentina to be able to compete for positions 9 and 10, and finally a rematch with Switzerland to win the 9th place finish.

Individual stats are not available for the matches, so we have very little feel for how Tori did with the team, but are confident she represented the Cards well.  We look forward to see her on the floor at "L&N Federal Credit Union Arena" nee Cardinal Arena in 34 days for the Red and Black scrimmage and in 41 days for her first official match as a Cardinal against Miami (OH).

Cardinal Couple Circus

I would say the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour went off the rails yesterday, but, really, I don't think it was ever on the rails to begin with.  Paulie, Case, Jared, and myself were in studio.

We had a lots of fun, oh so much fun, and ragged on Paulie quite a bit, but thankfully there are not a lot of sporting events to talk about.  We did catch up on some basketball news, mostly Cards in the Pros, with updates on Sam Fuerhing heading to Germany, and then veering wildly (though with connections every step of the way) to Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Megan Rapinoe and the US Women's National Team in Soccer.

Strap in and check it out, and match up with us in the Cardinal Couple Quiz.

Case blew the bonus question and I won the quiz in the bottom of the ninth.



Link Below: 

https://www.facebook.com/WCHQfm/videos/467484750699733/

-- 

JMcA