Angel's 26 lead Atlanta to WNBA finals...Christine Exeter named to BIG EAST Honor Roll...Watson gets a little grief...

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WEDNESDAY FROM THE COUPLE

-McCoughtry's 26 guide Atlanta to WNBA finals

-Soccer's Exeter named to BIG EAST Honor Roll

-Correspondent David Watson takes the heat.

-On the recruiting trail

-"Off the Rez" to be part of Louisville InternationaL Film Festival

The Atlanta Dream defeated the Indiana Fever 83-67 last night in Indianapolis to advance to the WNBA finals. Cardinal Couple's Sandy Walker with the report:

The Lynx went 2-0 against
Atlanta in the regular season

History really does repeat itself. Once again, Angel and her Atlanta Dream teammates are headed North for their repeat pursuit of a WNBA Championship...but must go over, around and through Angel's college rival Maya Moore and her Minnesota Lynx teammates to get there. Minnesota's higher seed gives them home court advantage for the first two games of the five game playoff. The Dream will play Sunday, October 2nd and Wednesday October 5th in Minnesota.

For a second time in the series, the Dream went with a smaller but quicker lineup which eventually overwhelmed the Indiana Fever by 83-67. The Fever made the mistake of trying to run with the Dream in what was also a very intense and physical contest.

Did you know a Lynx is a
medium sized wildcat found in
most of North America?

The turning point in the game occurred late in the second quarter when Angel became upset when Atlanta head coach Marynell Meadows decided to send in a substitute for McCoughtry after her second foul. A silent standoff between Angel - due to her desperate desire to continue playing - and Meadows' decision to protect her from potential foul trouble caused commentary and speculation to run through and beyond the halftime break. What could have led to an emotional meltdown was instead channeled into a blazing third quarter from the Dream. Tenacious defense, aggressive rebounding and hot shooting contributed to 26 points for McCoughtry. Her intense passion found her leading the withering transitional running and full court attack that the Fever had no answer for. Angel's emotional visibility creates just the diversion needed for Iziane Castro Marquez to toss in 23 points of her own.

Should Angel have received
the WNBA MVP award?

Atlanta took advantage of 18 Indiana turnovers and converted a four point halftime lead into a 14 point end of third quarter advantage. The league's Player of the Year, Tamika Catchings, played an ineffective 24 minutes despite receiving foot injections for a torn foot ligament received in the closing minutes of Sunday's game.

For Atlanta to be effective against the Lynx, they will need to find a way to overcome last night's absolutely horrid 21-33 free throw shooting - a pattern which has plagued the Dream all season long. 

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University of Louisville sophomore soccer star Christine Exeter has been named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll for her outstanding performances last week for the Cards. Her goal against the UConn Huskies tied the contest and she had the only score in a weekend win over Providence. 

Exeter leads the Cards with four scores this season and was the leading scorer for UofL last year with seven goals. 

Louisville hosts Marquette this Friday at 7 p.m. and USF takes on the Cards Sunday 1 p.m. in Cardinal Park.

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CARDINAL COUPLE Special Correspondent David Watson has received a little flak over his description of Louisville being "the next rat to jump off the sinking BIG EAST garbage scow and tread water to another conference". Several CARDINAL COUPLE readers have sent us e-mails expressing disapproval over his wording of the potential situation. We forwarded the comments to David and offered him the chance to reply. David writes:




Are we there yet? (Photo courtesy of UofL Card Game)

  " I will admit that I've never seen rats leaving a sinking ship. My lifetime encounters with rats and ships have been few and far between...thanks to the diligent prowling of our premises by our tabby Rufus and my aversion to boating. If the words I used to describe the current BIG EAST situation offended any readers, I'd like to apologize for the imagery and assure you that it was only an attempt by me to spruce up a column that was difficult for me to write. I don't like the current BIG EAST situation very much and have a strong distaste for the current conference-jumping that is going on in the BIG EAST and the other conferences. If Louisville decides to leave the BIG EAST, they're leaving behind a tradition-rich and highly competitive conference where they've created some very intense new rivalries and continued a few that have existed for many years. If the BIG 12 is a viable option for UofL, I hope they can continue to offer and field teams in the sports that aren't on the BIG 12 docket. Especially soccer. Once again, my bad. I'll do better next time and Paul has threatened to have me clean garbage cans outside Papa John's Cardinal Stadium in a rat costume and BIG EAST logo on my back if I don't. -David

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 CARDINAL COUPLE staff columnist and recruiting specialist Jenny O'Bryan checks in with a few tid-bits from the hardwood:

Mitchell is one of the best guards in the 2014 class.

Kelsey Mitchell is a name you need to keep on your radar. She's a hot prospect in 2014 that is a guard out of Cincy. She exploded on the summer circuit. She was Hoopgurlz early ranking #2 for the 2014 class. I expect to hear her name in our future recruiting efforts. Speculation on my part, of course, but the close proximity to Louisville doesn't hurt.

The Cardinal coaches are back out on the recruiting trail. Is Mychal Johnson, top 25 in the 2014 Hoopgurlz class one of the targets? The Huntington, WV guard is one I expect will rise tremendously in the rankings over the next few years.

The hard part about following recruiting is that the coaches cannot talk about the kids until they sign their LOI's. So, all you can do is follow the crumbs and hope the kids or their parents give info to the media.

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In case you missed it the first time around...the documentary about Shoni and her quest "Off the Rez" will be shown as part of the Louisville International Film Festival. The featured 90 minute film showing will be Friday, Oct. 7th at 10 a.m. at the Muhammad Ali Center.

Tickets available at http://www.louisvillefilm.net/

No mention on if it'll ever be shown again on TLC or any other TV venue yet.


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