Tuesday Cardinal Couple -- Doin' the Marquette minuet !!

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

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GAME FINAL -- CARDS SURVIVE AT MARQUETTE 64-63

Monique Reid's layup with 7.2 second give the Cards the win in Milwaukee. Bria Smith blocked a three-point attempt by MU's Katie Young at the buzzer to preserve the win. A nail-biter, for sure. We'll have a full recap later...

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-Louisville WBB meets Marquette in BIG EAST action.


(Quentin Voigt brings us the scout on Marquette Tuesday night.)

Tuesday evening 1/22/13 at 9 p.m. the University of Louisville women's basketball team travels to 4000 seat Al McGuire Arena in Milwaukee, WI. for a showdown against the 10-7,2-2 Marquette Golden Eagles. Louisville enters the game 15-4,3-2. Marquette has had conference losses at home to Syracuse (13 pts.) and UConn (34 pts.) and wins on the road over Seton Hall (3 pts.) and Pitt (9 pts.)

This is the 17th. season for Terri Mitchell and she has a tall squad that is attempting to develop into one of the more defensively conscious teams in the BIG EAST. The school, slightly over 11,000 students, is run by the clerics of the Order of Jesuits and one of the non-football playing Catholic colleges ready to jump ship from the BIG EAST.

Coach Mitchell is highly regarded for the discipline exhibited by the Golden Eagles and for the defensive principles they display. On Coach Mitchell's staff is Tyler Summitt, son of iconic past UT head coach Pat Summitt.

Starting lineup that is expected for Marquette is 5'10" guard Artesia Moore(11.9 ppg), 5'9" guard Brooklyn Pumroy (8.3 ppg), 5'11" guard Katie Young (6.8 ppg) and front liner Sarina Simmons (9.6 ppg). They're lead by Canadian forward Katherine Plouffe (13.1 ppg). Also playing significant minutes are 6'3" post Apiew Ojuju and 6'4" post Lauren Tibbs.

Comparing the Cardinals and Golden Eagles team stats...the Golden Eagles score 67.1 ppg, average 40.7 rebs., commit 21.3 turnovers, swipe 8.3 steals, create 14.8 assists and swat 3.7 blocks. The Cards score 74.8 a game, collect 40.2 rebounds, commit 17.9 turnovers, nab 3.4 steals, dish 14.9 assists and get 3.3 blocks.

The speed with which the Lady Cards get into their defense and attack the basket on offense has measurably improved this year. If they continue this improvement Tuesday night, good things will result. I see Louisville winning by at least eight points. GO CARDS!

-- Quentin Voigt

The Cards rolled by MU in the KFC YUM! Center 70-53 last year aided by 17 points by Shoni and 16 by Bria. Louisville led by seven at the half and held Plouffe to two points in 25 minutes. It was also the game where Jeff Walz, not expecting Mitchell to make post-game remarks, went first in the post-game presser..which drew the slight wrath of the winningest coach in Marquette women's basketball history.

No real impressive wins in the pre-conference schedule for Marquette. Losses at Georgia Tech, Texas A&M, Wisconsin and home losses to Green Bay and Toledo raise an eyebrow. Wins over Marshall, Butler, South Dakota State, Fordham, Navy, Dartmouth, Loyola-Chicago and Central Michigan not ones that scare much...their biggest win is by 21 over a Marshall squad on the road at the Texas A&M Classic. Marshall currently is 6-11, 0-4 in C-USA and on a six-game losing streak.

MU has done the exact opposite of what most BIG EAST teams have so far this season...win on the road and lose at home.

I see this trend continuing. Louisville should get a great performance out of the guard contingent of Schimmel, Schimmel and Smith and the consistency of Slaughter should come into play again tonight. They may have some trouble on the boards against the Golden Eagles height, but not enough to lose. The Cards by around 11, maybe close early but...one of those road wins Coach Walz likes to steal. If the three-barrage that Louisville displays in the YUM! Center can find its way into one of the player's suitcases...maybe they win by 20.

The old adage about beating height is that you either shoot over the top of it or just run past it. The Cards have the ability to do both.

CBS Sports Network has the TV for this one. Another night of Debbie Antonelli?

Let's hope the radio feed is somewhat synchronized tonight with the video. No offense to the heiress of the hardwood....but Matt and AJ call a great game.  

-Paulie