Cardinals fall to the Irish

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( Jenny O'Bryan with the autopsy on the UofL vs. Notre Dame game in the semifinals of the BIG EAST WBB Tournament last night. As mama used to say, the Cards got taken out to the woodshed by gramps and received a good whuppin')

Louisville Women’s Basketball played in the semifinal game in the Big East Tournament Monday night.  Notre Dame is a tough team that had only lost one game on the season, to Baylor.  I have been of the mindset that the Cardinals needed to have a flawless game to have any chance at knocking off the Irish.  Flawless it was not and the Cards fell to the Irish with a final score of 83-59.

The game started slow and sluggish for the Cardinals, seemingly playing tentative and unsure of themselves.  The Irish led 12-0 before the Cards were able to get a bucket and get on the board.  The first 5 possessions by the Cards ended in 3 turnovers and 0-2 shooting.  Sara Hammond finally put one in the hole around the 16-minute mark to get the Cards started.

The Cardinals spent the rest of the half battling out of the early hole they dug themselves with some tough defense and spurts of offense.  For a moment the Cards tied the score 16 all, before the Irish found their shooting ways again. The Cardinals went in to halftime only down 6 points with a score of 32-26. 

Sara Hammond had a strong first half for the Cards scoring 10 of her 12 points in the first half. 

If you were hopeful coming out of halftime, it did not last long.  The Irish went on a  34-9 second half run  to put the game out of reach for the Cardinals.  The Irish lead expanded as high as 31 points when the Cardinals started to chip away at it.  With roughly 6 minutes left in the game, Coach Muffett McGraw emptied her bench presumably to give her starters a rest for the Championship game on Tuesday. 

The Irish starters would spend the remaining time watching from the sideline as the Cardinals chipped the lead down to 18, only to have it expand back up to a 24 point win. 

Not an unexpected outcome at all for the Cardinals.  I think if fans are being honest, they expected this one to fall in the loss column with the hope of it being a more competitive game than the last outing.  Much like the late season matchup, this game was never in question and while the Cards played a respectable first half, the Irish were too much for this squad and owned the Cardinals in the second half of play.  

Sara Hammond had a great tournament for the Cards with a career setting performance in the first game and a very respectable showing against the Irish. 

Next up for fans of this squad is the NCAA Selection Show on Monday, March 18, when the NCAA bracket is outlined and the Cardinals will find out who they are playing at home in The YUM Center to open the NCAA Tournament.    If you haven’t gotten your tickets yet, what are you waiting for?   

Louisville Women’s Basketball invites you to The YUM Center next Monday, March 18^th for a Watch Party as the brackets are unveiled.  It is a family friendly affair with bouncies and face painting for the kids, an opportunity to meet the team and get autographs.  The doors open at 6:00 and the show starts at 7:00.  Be there, Cardinal faithful, as our favorite women’s basketball team learns their opponent in the opening round of the tournament. 

The last note on the Big East Tournament, as expected, the Irish will be playing the Connecticut Huskies for the tournament championship on Tuesday evening.  It should be a great game.  The two have met twice this season already and both games have been thrilling.  Be sure to tune in to see who wins the tournament title. 

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Congratulations to senior first baseman Alicja Wolny as she was named Big East player of the week in softball!   The Softball Cards went 4-0 on the weekend with Wolny drawing 8 walks and going 5-7.  You can catch a free game of softball on Tuesday at 5:30 at Ulmer Stadium as the Cardinals host the Western Kentucky.  



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Seven CARDINAL COUPLE PICK 'Em contestants remain undefeated at 13-0 as we go into the final game. Here are the "Magnificent Seven" ...listed by the first entries received to the last...

Curtis F  (has Notre Dame as champ)
PDX Phil (has UConn)
Jenny O  (has UConn)
Sonja (has Notre Dame)
Nick B (has UConn)
Quentin V (has UConn)
Andrea S ( has UConn)

So, if Notre Dame wins Tuesday night, Curtis Franklin is your winner of the Chili's Gift Card. If UConn takes the title, PDX Phil is your champion. We also had six of you go 12-1 so far, so nice work all of you!

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