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MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


Louisville gets a #7 seed in Raleigh Region, will open against #10 Michigan State in College Park, MD on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.


The Lady Cards will be on ESPN2 and are on Maryland's home court...who got a #2 seed and faces #15 Navy in College Park. If advancing, UofL would get the winner of this game.


600 miles from Louisville. 9 1/2 hours driving time. I-64 to I-77, I-79, I-68, I-70, I-270 and I-495. The drive takes you through Morgantown, WV. where you can stop and say a final goodbye (for now) to the WVU Mountaineers.


Eight Big East teams get bids. #1 seeds UConn and Notre Dame. # 3 seed St. John's. #5 seed Georgetown. #6 seed Rutgers. #7 seeds Louisville and DePaul and #8 seed West Virginia. 


Is it a higher seed for Louisville than you expected? We were thinking a #5 or #6 seed. Who would you rather play...any of these #11 seeds (Dayton, Kansas, Michigan or Gonzaga) or Michigan St? Other #10 seeds were BYU, MTSU and Iowa St. #12 seeds are Fresno State, E. Michigan, Florida-Gulf Coast and San Diego. 


In the Raleigh region, Notre Dame is the #1 seed. In the lower half of the bracket with Louisville...#6 seed Arkansas faces #11 seed Dayton and #3 seed Texas A&M takes on #14 Albany. 


We'll have much more on the Spartans as the game draws closer. They were 20-11 overall and 12-5 in conference. They advanced to the second round of the Big 10 Tournament, losing to Purdue after winning against Indiana. 


Common opponents? M.S.U. played Villanova to start the season. They lost to the Wildcats 75-64. In the Caribbean Classic, they took on Pittsburgh. They lost to the Panthers 64-54. Louisville beat 'Nova twice and Pitt once. 


 (In the meantime, we invite you to join or NCAA Women's  Basketball Tourney Challenge! It's free, it's YAHOO! and you could win a $25 PANERA CARD! Our group name is 814 and the password is ladycards. Click below to go register:


CARDINAL COUPLE WBB TOURNAMENT BRACKET CHALLENGE 


-Softball goes to 18-0 with 9-0 win over St. Louis


-Lacrosse wins over Presbyterian 20-3


-Selection Monday tonight


-MBB starts in Portland


-Indiana fires head women's basketball coach.


No , the score isn't from Saturday, when the Cards beat St. Louis 9-0 Same score, different day.

Prior to the start of the St. Louis game

Louisville goes to 18-0 on the season with a five inning win over St. Louis on Sunday. Senior Kristin Austin went 3-3 at the plate for the Lady Cards and Chelsea Leonard allowed just two hits and struck out five in a complete game. 

Louisville tallied four of the runs in the bottom of the first...continuing their ability to jump on opponents early. Jennifer Esteban open the inning with a single and advanced on an Austin bunt. A walk to Katie Keller filled the bases with Cards. A fielder's choice by Taner Fowler score Esteban. Alicja Wolny reached on a walk and Kayla Soles drove in three runs with a two out double. 

Louisville added the final five runs in the fourth inning. Whitney Arion singled and Austin followed with a single. Keller's double scored Arion and a Jordan Trimble single got Austin home. Wolny grounded out to score Keller, Fowler scored on a wild pitch and Soles singled to bring Trimble home to make it 9-0.


Louisville will play the final game of the Red and Black Tournament Monday against Illinois State at noon. 


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Louisville lacrosse defeated Presbyterian 20-3 in Cummings, GA Saturday. The Cards jumped out to and early 4-1 lead and went in at half up 14-3. Louisville shut out Prez in the final half. 

Boltja had a season-high
six goals in the win. 

Nikki Boltja had six goals for the 
Cards and Casey Pepperman added three. Nine Cardinals scored in the contest...which improved Louisville's record to 2-3 on the season. Danielle Pawliw and Ashley Herbst split the goal-tending duties...Pawliw starting and getting the win. 


The Cards play again Wednesday at Nashville against the Vandy Commodores at 4 p.m.


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Selection Monday will be at 7 p.m. tonight on ESPN. It'll be interesting to see if the Lady Cards get a favorable draw and good ranking this year. Last year, Cardinal fans were elated to be playing in Cincinnati...but not too elated to have both Vanderbilt and Xavier in the four team pod. Turned out OK, though...didn't it?    


First and Second Round sites:


Nashville, TN                     Tallahasse, FL.
West Lafayette, IN            Baton Rouge, LA.
Bowling Green, OH            College Station, TX
South Bend, IN                  Norman, OK
Chicago, IL                        Ames, IA
Chapel Hill, NC                  Spokane, WA
Little Rock, AR                  Norfolk, VA
Bridgeport, CT                   College Park, MD


We'll have full information on the UofL WBB draw later tonight.


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Looks like the men are hitting the highway, opening Thursday in Portland against Davidson. Don't quite get the logic in sending two southeast located schools to the West Coast...but who said the NCAA ever made sense? Why not split the difference and play in Nashville? Columbus, St. Louis, Atlanta all were options. 


We wonder if the Oregon love for UofL women's hoops will develop for the guys out there? 


Louisville will play around 1:30 p.m. EDT. That's 10:30 a.m. real time for them. Good ol' NCAA, accommodating as usual. The Cards put it all together in the BIG EAST Tournament and did what they had to to survive and advance each night. If anything, this team has shown the propensity to go "streaky" and their currently on a four game win streak. Can they add a half dozen?  


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IU has fired Felicia Leggett-Jack after this season's six-wins performance. She was the one that got Quaneisha McCurdy, the 6'5" center from Dalton, GA to change her mind and head to IU instead of Louisville.


So, how's that working out for you now, Q?
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