Friday Cardinal Couple --Slaughter, Schimmel, Softball, Golf and more today!

FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Shoni, Nita gain BIG EAST awards

-Softball hosts Red and Black Classic

-Wiley BIG EAST golfer of the week

-BIG EAST WBB Tournament starts today!

-Walz ready for BIG EAST Tournament


Boy, oh boy have we got a lotta stuff for you today in the Friday edition of Cardinal Couple! Grab a seat, hold on and fasten your seat belts....off we go!

Shoni 1st team BIG EAST, Nita second team

Louisville WBB's Shoni Schimmel and Nita Slaughter have been honored for their excellent play this season...Shoni named to the First Team All-BIG EAST squad and Nita Slaughter to the Second Team. Shoni was first team also last year and Nita is on the second squad for the first time.

Shoni leads the Cards in scoring (13.7 ppg) and in assists (3.7). She's also second in free throw percentage (80%). The shifty Schimmel was BIG EAST Player of the Week for her performance against South Florida earlier this season, scoring a career-high 38 points. She was on the pre-season All-BIG EAST first team and also is on the Wade Watch mid-season list.

Nita is third in scoring for the Lady Cards (10.2 ppg) and second in rebounding (5.1 rpg). She's also the leading three-point percentage shooter for Louisville (36.2%). Nita was named BIG EAST Player of the Week on Jan. 28th. and has scored in double figures 16 out of her 18 games.

The BIG EAST Tournament begins today at 4 p.m. and Louisville has their first game at noon Sunday.

(Thanks to Louisville women's basketball assistant S.I.D. Kim Pemberton for the information)

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Softball swings into action today with the Red and Black Classic at Ulmer Stadium. Sandy Pearsall's squad gets four games in three days...Michigan today at 4 p.m., Miami of Ohio Saturday at 2:30 p.m.,Austin Peay Saturday at 5 p.m. and Illinois State Sunday at 3 p.m.

The #13 Cards are offering a few promos, too...to game attendees. Free softball shirts for the first 150 fans Friday, Trading Card #1 giveaway for the first 150 fans Saturday and team autographs after Sunday's contest.

Full schedule of the Red and Black Classic below:

FRIDAY MARCH 8

11 a.m.      Miami (OH) vs Austin Peay
1:30 p.m.   Miami (OH) vs Michigan
4 p.m.        LOUISVILLE vs Michigan

SATURDAY MARCH 9

9:30 a.m.   Illinois State vs Michigan
12 p.m.      Illinois State vs, Austin Peay
2:30 p.m.   LOUISVILLE vs. Miami (OH)
5 p.m.        LOUISVILLE vs. Austin Peay

SUNDAY  MARCH 10

10 a.m.      Miami (OH) vs Austin Peay
12:30 p.m. Miami (OH) vs Illinois State
3 p.m.        LOUISVILLE vs. Illinois State.


Nice of the Classic planners to schedule the Sunday game after the UofL WBB game. Plenty of time to hop in the ol' jalopy and catch softball after the Cards win in the quarterfinals in the BIG EAST Tournament.

Louisville (16-3) also plays WKU on Tuesday, March 12th. at Ulmer.

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CandIce Wiley, a senior starter for UofL women's golf has been named BIG EAST Golfer of the Week! She finished tied for 12th in the Sir Pizza Terrapin Challenge last week. It was her first Top 20 finish of the season.

UofL ended up sixth in the tournament, Wiley leading the way for the Cards with a 223 score. A season low 71 for her in Round 1 with back-to-back 76's in rounds 2 and 3.

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Finally, the BIG EAST Tournament gets underway today at 4 p.m. First game is #13 seed Cincinnati against #12 seed Seton Hall. Pitt and Marquette follow at 6 p.m. and Providence and Georgetown play in the nightcap at 8 p.m.

All are available at no cost on BIGEAST.tv online.

Coach Walz spoke to members of the media Thursday at Cardinal Arena and has a healthy respect for any of the three opponents the Cards might face on Sunday. Walz is happy that the Cards are hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament and urges you to buy your NCAA Tickets to see Louisville play in the KFC YUM! Center.

He also says that Louisville will have to play perfect to defeat Notre Dame if the two match up in the semi-finals. Monique Reid will be available for action and the Cards are leaving out early this morning to fly to Hartford, stopping off in Baltimore to pick up a few fans...(his sly way of telling us that they're on Southwest and not a charter flight.)

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You have until noon to get your picks in for the CARDINAL COUPLE Pick 'Em Contest. As promised, another staff member's picks. Our basketball guru Jenny O'Bryan sees it this way:

Friday:
Seton Hall, Marquette and Georgetown win
Saturday:
St John's, USF, DePaul and Villanova advance
Sunday:
Louisville, Notre Dame, UCONN and Syracuse triumph
Monday:
Notre Dame and UCONN continue
Tuesday:
UCONN takes the Tournament Title.

You can enter at cardinalcouple@insightbb.com or by leaving your picks in the comments section. Make sure and leave your name and a way to reach you if you win. I got one anonymous pick already....fortunately, it has Syracuse winning it all and that, folks...just isn't going to happen.

$25 Chili's Gift Card to the winner!

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