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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