Saturday Cardinal Couple -- Friars look to cook Cards

SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

GAME FINAL -- CARDS 70 - Providence 62. Cards put four in double figures in road win. More later.



- P.C. hosts Louisville WBB Saturday at 2 p.m.

(Quentin Voigt delivers the Providence College vs. Louisville WBB scout for us this morning. Louisville looks to improve to 2-1 in BIG EAST Conference play in tomorrow's action.)

Coming off a 79-64 home loss to Georgetown, first year Providence Coach Susan Fruchtl (Penn State '92) continues her inaugural round in BIG EAST womens' basketball with a tough test in visiting Louisville. Her 5-9 Friars face a road-tested Cardinal flock that has a 14-3, 1-1 record. The contest will be played in the recently renovated Mullaney Gymnasium/Alumni Hall which has a seating capacity of 1854 raucous fans. The 2 p.m. tip-off today is the first home BIG EAST contest of the year for P.C. and should be well attended.

Providence College, founded in 1917 as a Catholic Liberal Arts school has 3582 students. The campus is located in downtown Providence, Rhode Island and is still administered by clerics of the Dominican O.P.Order ( Order of Preachers). Louisville's men's basketball coach Rick Pitino spent two successful years as head coach of the Friars, taking them to a Final Four in 1987.

Starring for the Friars women's team is 5'7" guard Symone Roberts, the BIG EAST leader in steals with 49. She leads the team in scoring through 14 games (14.5 ppg) and assists (4.5 a game). Supporting cast members include 5'7" guard Tori Rule who contributes 13.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 6'1" Brianna Edwards who averages 9.8 ppg. Chanise Edwards, a 6'2" post scores 5.7 a game and grabs 5.7 misses a contest. Alexis Harris and Evi Iiskola also see significant court time for P.C.

Rule, a sophomore, was recently selected for the Big East weekly honor roll for being named MVP of the Fordham Holiday Classic. She averaged 22.5 points for the Friars. In the title game against Colorado State, Rule went 10-16 from the field (5 of 7 from three range) and hit all seven of her free throws. The Cardinals will have to keep an eye on "Miss Tori".

Depending greatly on which Cardinal squad shows up...hopefully the one that took Rutgers to the wood-shed in overtime and not the timid, mistake prone bunch that squandered opportunities at DePaul...Saturday afternoon's "Polka with Providence" could be contested till the end or be decided a "no contest" from the beginning. I expect the latter, but I am wary of the former.

-Quentin Voigt

A great preview, "Q" ! I'm all for the transformation of Bria Smith to a part-time point guard and expect that it will reap benefits in Rhode Island today. The Cards are 5-2 lifetime against the "fry gang"...beating them handily in the KFC YUM! Center last season 64-48 in a game where Louisville shot 52%

 The Cards are, however, 1-2 against them in Providence and an Angel McCoughtry squad lost there in the 2006-2007 season 106-94 in overtime.

Providence has wins this year against Vermont, Iona, Rhode Island, Colorado State and Lafayette...which doesn't exactly strike fear in my heart or have me reaching for the Rolaids.

Polka at Providence? I see it also as a poking of Providence, knocking them back on their heels early and rolling to an easy win. This is the type of team Sara Hammond will prosper against and I look for the Mo and Sho show to put on an Oscar type performance. Add a bunch of baskets from Bria and a nice performance from Nita...and we'll most likely see Shelby, Jude, Cortnee, Megan and Sherrone finally finishing this one up in front of a frustrated Friar fan base. Sacrament of reconciliation at 4:30 tomorrow?

Radio tomorrow is 1080 AM locally and pay-per-view available at gocards.com or friars.com on the internet.

-Paulie

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