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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