Thursday Cardinal Couple -- Sara Hammond and Louisville WBB BIG EAST Schedule

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THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- For Sara Hammond...hard work and transition an everyday situation. 

- BIG EAST releases WBB Conference schedule today. See Louisville's full schedule HERE.

(WE continue our look at the 2012-13 Louisville WBB roster and today we feature sophomore forward Sara Hammond)

For Sara Hammond, it was a whirlwind of events in 2011 that eventually led to Louisville. Winning the state high school championship in Kentucky. Having a spot on the Parade All-American team. Playing in the McDonald's All-American Classic. The credentials that proceeded her arrival to the Belknap Campus were some of the most heralded in Cardinal women's basketball history. Then, reality sat it.

"The transition from high school to college was hard for me because I used to be the tallest and strongest in high school so I could use that to my advantage to score on offense and block shots on defense. When I got to college all the players were just as fast, just as strong and just as tall or better. So, the transition was a hard one."

A season of learning...both on the court and from the bench. Moments of spectacular play and moments of freshmen mistakes. But the hard work efforts never waned. A summer of conditioning, working on shooting, ball handling, passing and her all-around game. Being ready for whatever role her teammates and Coach Walz need from her this season. Wouldn't surprise us if she showed up in the YUM! Center with a lunch box and thermos...because she's a blue collar, hard-working, overtime laborer in Walz's Construction company. TCB. Whatever it takes.

She speaks of this team in glowing terms. 

(Photo by Charlie Springer - Card Game)

"Our strength is our depth and our work ethic. Because we are 3 deep at almost every position. Whenever one person gets a little tired and has to come out, another person can go right in and continue on without slowing us down. Everyone on this team is a hard worker and we're going to out work our opponents every time we step out onto the floor! Big things are to come this year for this team."

Team. Togetherness. It's what builds winners and champions. Hard work added...the ingredients are there for a wonderful season of Cardinal Women's Basketball and you can be assured that Sara will be right in the middle of it...giving her all and cheering her teammates along. We see Sara part of a powerful and experienced Cardinal front line that will give opponents fits on the boards, in the paint and around the rim. These Cards are on a mission, you know...

The mission? The Final Four.

SARA BY THE NUMBERS

2011-12

Games played   Started  Avg. Minutes  Rebs  Pts  Avg.
    
       32                 6             12.8          117   107  3.3 

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The BIG EAST released the women's basketball conference schedule today at noon...here's UofL's part of it:

Date            Opponent             Time              TV

Sat. 1/5       at DePaul              ----               BETV
Tues. 1/8    Rutgers                 7 p.m.           CBS SN
Sat. 1/12    at Providence        2 p.m.            ----
Tues. 1/15  at Connecticut      9 p.m.            CBS SN
Fri. 1/18     Cincinnati             7 p.m.            ----
Tues.1/22   at Marquette         9 p.m.            CBS SN
Sun. 1/27   St. John                1:30 p.m.       ESPNU
Wed. 1/30  at South Florida     ----                ----
Sat. 2/2      Georgetown          2 p.m.            ----
Sat. 2/9      Pittsburgh             2 p.m.            ----
Mon. 2/11   at Notre Dame      9 p.m.            ESPN2
Sun. 2/17   DePaul                  1:30 p.m.       ESPNU
Wed. 2/20  South Florida         7 p.m.            ----
Sun. 2/24   at Villanova           ----                 ----
Wed. 2/27  Seton Hall             7 p.m.             ----
Mon. 3/4    at Syracuse           9 p.m.             CBS SN

Looks like the Cards WBB squad has eight national TV appearances...five on the road and three in the KFC YUM! Center. 16 total games...four on Saturday, three on Tuesday, Sunday, Wednesday, two on Monday and one on Friday. 

The home schedule features four games on either Saturday or Sunday, two on Wednesday and one each on Friday and Tuesday. 

We also have the complete UofL Schedule below:

31 games in all for the University of Louisville women's basketball team. For the third straight year in a row, all the UofL home games will be televised either locally or on the CBS or ESPN networks. 

A schedule that looks like it could give the Lady Cards some challenges early, especially with Texas A&M, Kentucky and three games in three days in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico. 

Your thoughts, your comments? Leave us your take in the comments section or e-mail us at: 

cardinalcouple@insightbb.com

Cardinal Couple  (e-mail link)
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