Monday Cardinal Couple: Game Reports -- WBB strong second half downs DePaul....

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MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


********GAME REPORTS*******

-Smith's 21 leads Louisville WBB in 81-55 win.

-Softball shuts out Stony Brook in final day at Jacksonville

The University of Louisville women's basketball squad broke open a close game at halftime by starting the second half on a 10-3 run in the first three minutes and cruised to a 26-point crushing of DePaul Sunday afternoon in the KFC YUM! Center in front of 10,906 fans.

Sara Hammond had 13 of her 17 points in the final 20 minutes and Bria Smith went 13-15 from the free throw line as Louisville improves to 21-5 and 9-3 in the BIG EAST.

Louisville got off to a hot start and led 10-2 after the first six minutes of the game. The Cards had pushed the advantage to 19-7 with 9:44 remaining on a Monique Reid free throw...Reid making her appearance to the court at the 10:30 mark to a roaring approval from the crowd. Smith had ten of Louisville's first 19 points and was making free-throws, to the delight of her coach and the crowd.

Louisville took their biggest first half lead at 23-9 after two more Smith free throws with 7:36 on the clock. DePaul, though, wasn't throwing in the towel and responded with a seven-minute 14-4 run that pulled them within four at 27-23 after two Megan Podkowa free throws. The Cards got a layup from Hammond with two seconds left in the half to take a 29-23 lead to the locker room.

Ref Al Titus always likes making cameos in my pics...

Smith had 14 points, six rebounds and was 8-9 from the charity stripe in her best twenty minutes of the season. Sherrone Vails was a perfect 3-3 from the field for six points and Hammond had four points and six rebounds in 12 minutes. Nita Slaughter and Shoni Schimmel contributed two each and Mo made a free throw. All but Shelby Harper played. The Cards were 0-9 from three-point range, shot 31.3% in the first half but had held DePaul to 6-32 shooting (18.8%) and was 1-14 from beyond the arc.

Walz called a specific play to get Shoni untracked at the start of the second half and she responded with a three only 13 seconds into the final stanza. The Cards pushed the nine-point lead to 46-31 after a Reid layup at the 15:45 mark...and the rout was on.

A Hammond layup made it 57-38 with 9:45 to go. Hammond canned a jumper to stretch the Louisville lead to 68-42 with 6:11 on the scoreboard and the Cards led by 30 after a Vails layup with 2:43 showing to push the score to 77-47. Vails and Cortnee Walton added layups the rest of the way and the Cards won going away 81-55.

Smith's 21 led all scorers. Hammond finished with 17 and 13 boards for a double-double. Vails also reached double digits in scoring with ten points. It was good to see Mo back in action...finishing with eight points. She left the game at the 12:37 mark after hitting a layup and noticeably limping...but she was fine, according to Coach Walz in the post-game presser. Slaughter added nine points, Shoni eight and Walton four. Harper and Jude had two each. Megan Deines played six minutes but did not score.

Louisville finished 29-67 (43.3%) but was 1-17 from trifecta-land. They out-rebounded the Blue Demons 50-45 and won the points-in-the-paint battle convincingly 50-10. They forced 13 DePaul turnovers and had seven steals.

DePaul was led by freshman guard Chanise Jenkins' 16 and Megan Podkowa, another freshman added 14. Senior standout Katherine Harry had eight points, all in the first half and 13 boards. Doug Bruno was without the services of leading scorer Anna Martin (knee).

WHAT WE LIKED

1) Free throws! Cards were 22-28 for 78.6%. Bria's 13-15 was impressive (we like this Bria Smith). Only Reid had less than stellar line appearance with 3-5.

2) Points in the paint. 50-10. We thought it was a mis-print at first...but the Cards were getting Smith and Hammond plenty of great looks inside and Mo was connecting, also, before she left.

3) Assists to turnovers. The Cards dished out 18 assists (Shoni seven) and made only 9 turnovers. Coach Walz is happy when the assists out-number the turnovers. We like Coach Walz happy...

4) Doug Bruno. Despite losing by 26, Coach came to the post game presser and gave excellent answers to numerous questions for over 17 minutes.

(Cliff notes here....He misses Anna Martin daily and isn't sure when she'll be back. It's day-to-day with the knee. He thinks Bria Smith and Mo are great, he's thankful to have been a part of the BIG EAST for eight years and trusts in the university leaders and administration to chart a successful course for DePaul Athletics in the future. He loves the YUM! Center. He thinks the BIG EAST is the best conference in women's basketball and he wondered if anyone saw THE WHO Saturday Night in the KFC YUM! Center.)

Great guy, that Doug is...funny at times but also very passionate about his team, his profession and women's basketball. One of the good guys in WBB.

WHAT NEEDS IMPROVING

1) Threes. Shoni was 1-7. Four other players combined for 0-10. Neither team was impressive from deep...DePaul was 4-29. It wasn't all attributable to defense, either. Maybe THE WHO'S appearance in the YUM! Saturday night messed up the atmosphere or air patterns in the arena...

2) Second chance points. Louisville lost this category 16 to 11. Louisville could use a Katherine Harry inside. The Cards do go up strong with follow-up shots, but they aren't very accurate most of the time. Trailing DePaul guards were getting easy put-backs.

3) First-half lag. Louisville led by 14 in the first half with 7:36 to go. They were lucky to lead by six at the half. Not a factor in the whole scheme of things today...Louisville won big...but something to work on.

SUMMATION


The Cards took care of business at home and in a large way. A big difference from this one and the six-point loss in Chi-Town in January. Getting Mo back seemed to boost the crowd and the team's spirit. Seeing Bria have a big game against a quality opponent is refreshing.

I was surprised they handled DePaul the way they did in the second half. Bruno misses the fire in Anna Martin immensely. As a fan mentioned to me before the game...it's good to see ten players out there again for UofL. Especially Mo. She's been through it lately and she was back to having a good time today.

Cards hosts USF Wednesday night. 7 p.m tip.

Coach Walz post-game comments below. You can find Bria Smith, Sara Hammond and Doug Bruno's abbreviated post-game remarks at courier-journal.com 


POST GAME WALZ



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The University of Louisville softball team shut out Stony Brook 5-0 to improve to 8-2 Sunday in the Jacksonville University Softball Tournament. A big day for senior Jordy Trimble, going 2 for 3 with three runs. Rachel LeCoq drew the starting assignment and picks up her second shutout of the season.

The Cards plated their first run in the second inning when Trimble, who attended Louisville Manual High School, got to first safely on a Stony Brook error and scored when Hannah Kiyohara (Sonja's favorite player) singled her home.

Louisville tacked on two runs in the fourth. Trimble and Kayla Soles started the inning with singles and Kiyohara drew a base on balls to load the bags with Cardinals. A walk to Jennifer Esteban plated Trimble and, with two outs, Kiyohara scored on a Stony Brook wild pitch.

UofL made it 5-0 in the fifth...Trimble smashing a double to left-center and Soles delivering her first home run of the season. Soles had a big game as well for Sandy Pearsall...2 for 3 with RBI's and a run scored.

Le Coq allowed only five SeaWolf hits and did not walk anyone.

The Cards return home and face Kent State at 2:30 p.m. Friday.



-Paulie

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Sunday Cardinal Couple -- DePaul DeFeats Cards 86-80

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Mo scores 25 in Louisville loss to Blue Demons

Welcome to the 2013 BIG EAST, Louisville.

On a day where Notre Dame beat UConn 73-72 at UConn, the University of Louisville women's basketball team travelled to Chicago and got thumped by DePaul 86-80 in front of 3600 appreciative Blue Demon fans

Monique Reid put up the biggest point total of any Cardinal this season with 25 points in 33 minutes and sharpshooting Shoni Schimmel tried her best to carry the Cards to a victory with 19...including two threes late which cut a 10-point Blue Demon lead to four.

The game was close early, Brittany Hrynko put the Blue Demons ahead with a three at the 15:25 mark 12-10. Doug Bruno's squad would maintain that advantage until Jude Schimmel's two free throws tied it at 24-24 with 8:16 left in the half. It was a brief respite for the Cards, DePaul took off on a 14-7 run to go up 38-31 after Hrynko bounced in a layup with 3:58 on the clock. It looked like the Cards might be on the verge of getting blown out, but they got six points from Reid, including a jumper with 25 seconds left, to go on a 11-3 run and muster a 42-41 lead at the half.

The Blue Demons came out hot to start the second half and quicky regained the lead, outscoring Louisville 11-2 in the first three minutes. Anna Martin's jumper made it 52-44 DePaul as the clock showed 17:05. A technical foul was tossed at the Louisville bench by our favorite referee here at Cardinal Couple...the bumbling Bonita Spence...with 13:38 to go and the Cards trailing 56-48. The Cards would get within five or six over the next eight minutes, but a Martin three gave the Blue Demons a 70-56 advantage with 9:37 to go. Jasmine Penny's layup put DePaul ahead 80-70 with about five minutes left and, once again, it looked like the Cards were going to get romped.

Shoni decided differently. Two threes from her and a Reid layup whittled the ten-point DePaul lead to two with 1:07 remaining. Martin responded, though by blowing by Shoni for a wide-open layup to put the score at 82-78...and four Hrynko free throws made the final 86-80.

Besides Reid and Shoni's magnificent performance, two other Cardinals reached double figures. Nita Slaughter added 14 points and Bria Smith totalled 11 and grabbed nine rebound before fouling out late in the game.

Anna Martin led the Blue Demons to their sixth win in a row this season with 22 points. Hrynko added 21 and Katherine Harry grabbed 13 rebounds for DePaul.

The Cards out-rebounded their opponent 45-32 and shot 46% from the field (31-67). DePaul did slightly better, with 49.3% (33-67) shooting.

DePaul now leads the lifetime series 16-14 and the Cards fall again at their place...Louisville has only won there twice in the last 12 years and has lost 10 of their 15 visits to Chicago. They're 2-6 in McGrath Arena. We suggest UofL never play there again. If Louisville plays 2013-14 ACC Hoops, they won't have to. Walz goes to 4-3 lifetime in matchups against DePaul and Bruno.  

Tough loss and tough way to begin the BIG EAST, but the Cards did stage a huge rally late and almost pulled it off.
In the second half, though...the DePaul guards schooled Louisville's. And that was the difference.

Shoni and Mo get another huge test on Tuesday when Rutgers rolls into the KFC YUM! Center for a 7 p.m. game. The Scarlet Knights and St. John's battle today in both teams' conference opener.


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Saturday Cardinal Couple -- DePaul vs. Louisville

SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- DePaul hosts Louisville Saturday

(We bring you two reports on the upcoming DePaul vs. Louisville game...one from Quentin Voigt and one from Paulie. Game time is 6 p.m. and the contest will be shown on WHAS TV locally.)

Dance with DePaul 1/5/13
by Quentin Voigt

USA Olympic Asst. Coach and DePaul head coach Doug Bruno is readying his charges for a visit from the #10 (A.P.)/11(Coaches) ranked Louisville Cardinals. The Blue Demons are toting a record of 11-3. Their losses have come against Dayton (92-80), South Carolina (50-46) and Kentucky (at Rupp Arena -- 96-64).

In the UK game, the Wildcats jumped on DePaul early and often, buoyed by a record attendance for UK women's basketball (18,468) and it was over before the first half ended.

None of DePaul's wins are over top ranked opponents and since the Cardinals are a top 10 team, Coach Bruno is likely warning his players of the Cardinal's ability.

DePaul starters are likely 6'3" Katherine Harry ( 13.9 ppg, 5.14 assists and a Big East leading 11.3 rebounds a game.), 6'1" Jasmine Penny (15.1 ppg, 4.9 rebounds), Anna Martin ( a Nicholasville, KY resident who is a pre-season All-BIG East selection who scores 16.2 ppg and dishes out 4.6 assists), Brittany Hrynko ( 13.9 ppg and 5.14 assists) and 5'5" speedball Chanise Jenkins (8.9 ppg and 5.5 rebounds).

As a team, DePaul averages 77.8 ppg, 41.7 rebounds and 19.6 assists. They'll face the Cards in cozy McGrath-Phillips Arena with a seating capacity of 3000.

Post player Harry seems to love playing Louisville and has had some of her best games against the Cards. The injury bug has hit the Blue Demons again this season and left their roster a bit weak as of this writing.

I believe Coach Bruno will have the Blue Demons ready to tumble with the Cardinals on Saturday night. If Louisville plays with the same cohesion and spirit they've been demonstrating lately, they should move out to a 10-15 point lead by the end of this one and get the win.

Paulie:

OK. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to get into a run-out,  fast break contest with UK, Coach Dougie...Walz figured that out and slowed it down in a game many thought Louisville should have won. The only real question here is whether you'll allow the Cards to play fast-break, transition hoops against you.

My guess is you won't. I know it's your preferred style, but you don't want to try and fly with these high-wire Birds.

We've learned several things over the last few years when UofL plays DePaul. Katherine Harry rebounds well. She grabbed 35 in two games against UofL last year. Maybe she bought the Dennis Rodman instructional video. We've also learned that the home team usually wins this game. The last time the visiting team took a "W" was in 2008...when Louisville won up in Chi-town 79-56. The Cards had a gal named Angel McCoughtry on that team. She's not walking back through that door. Unless it's as a spectator.

Keys to a Louisville win? Rebound, shoot well and play defense. I know, brilliant observation...Paul, but taking care of the basics are essential tonight. Despite Ms. Harry, the Cards actually had a three rebound advantage in the two games last year. Shoni, this one could fall on you. The three-ball fell pretty easily for you against WSU, Wagner and TSU. Wanna take that act on the road? We hope so.

The "Hammer" could play a key role in today's game also. She's about the only Card who can match up physically with Harry except for Asia and Shawnta.  A-Tayy has just been cleared to practice again...so we doubt we'll see 30 plus minutes out of her like we did in the final game between these two last year. A game Louisville won 75-62, with Taylor scoring eight points, grabbing seven boards and frustrating the Blue Demons defensively all day.

Shawnta, of course, won't see any minutes. She had 20 points and 13 rebounds in two games last year against DePaul. It'd be nice to have the trio banging on Harry and Penny all night...but you go with what you have.

 If Bria can find her way into the paint for a few jumpers, Megan and Nita find the range from outside and Mo can duplicate her 'in the paint' scoring ability on the road, I like UofL's chances. Would love to see Jude have a smart and efficient 20 minutes also. I ask for a lot, don't I?

Penny, Harry, Martin and Hrynko all had 32 minutes plus against the Cards in the second game last year. They had 28 minutes plus in the 86-61 pasting they put on the Cards in Lincoln Park the first time they played last year. So, they're pretty familiar with the UofL squad.  That game was Cierra Warren's final appearance for the Lady Cards. She picked up 14 points in garbage minutes at the end of the game after the outcome was pretty much decided.  

A win?  I see UofL getting one. Not by 10 or 15, though. I'll take a 2-4 point win in a hostile environment from a young team that just may have to settle for 60 points instead of 106.

Hey...a win's a win. L1C4, ladies...Rebound, Mo. Play smart, Shoni.  Block out, Sara.

It's BIG EAST time. Keep the icepacks, bandages and Teena Murray nearby. This isn't Wagner, TSU or Austin Peay.
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Lady Cards fall on road to DePaul 86-61

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WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

GAME REPORT

-Cards start slow, DePaul bombs away in 25 point win.

Sometimes you produce a clunker. Remember the Lady Cards against Georgetown last year? 

 That's exactly what happened to the University of Louisville women's basketball team on the road tonight...falling 86-61 to DePaul. Except, in this one...there was no 11 point halftime lead.

For Louisville it was a case of being "the gang that couldn't shoot straight" while DePaul buried three 3-pointers in an early 11-0 run that had that Cards down 17-2 with 13:34 left in the first half.

After that, it was pretty much over...

Starters: Shoni, Vails, Smith, Burke and Taylor 

Anna Martin had 19 in the DePaul win.

The Cards missed their first seven shots and trailed 6-0 with 16:32 left in the first half. When Shoni Schimmel finally buried a jumper, it just seemed to infuriate the Blue Demons all that more.

A Jasmine Penny layup and then consecutive threes from Anna Martin, Megan Rogowski and Martin again had it 17-2 DePaul and the Cards looked lost, confused and demoralized. The McGrath Arena crowd was going crazy and they had every right to...the 2300 in attendance sounded more like 23,000.

A Cierra Warren tip-in and Bria Smith jumper got Louisville within 11...but Anna Martin scored on a layup with 10:12 remaining to make it 21-6. Louisville would battle back to within 10 after an Asia Taylor jumper made it 25-15 with 5:56 left, but DePaul took off on a 13-7 run over the next four and a half minutes, capped by another Rogowski three to lead 38-22 with 1:12 to go.

It remained that way until the first half buzzer.

Rogowski hit again...sinking a buzzer beating three to put DePaul in the locker room up by 18. The sequence leading up to her bomb saw Shelby Harper commit 3 fouls in eight seconds trying to force out-of bounds possesions and no more shots for DePaul. Katherine Harry's pass to an open Rogowski solved that, though.



"They scored again? Goof grief!"

 Harry was a rebounding machine in the first half...collecting 13 to go with six points. Anna Martin was the DePaul scoring leader with 10. Only five Blue Demons scored in the first twenty. They shot 6-13 from beyond the arc and 16-34 for a sizzling 47.1% in the first half.

Louisville was led by Cierra Warren's six points. Walz played all 11 available to him...but they could only produce 9-34 shooting for a dismal 26.5% and committed 11 turnovers. Asia Taylor had seven rebounds, Bria Smith went 1-8 from the floor. The Lady Cards were 1-5 from three point range.

Needless to say, Louisville had their work cut out for them in the final twenty minutes. Martin and Smith exchanged baskets to begin play...but DePaul took off on a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to lead 53-24 before a Becky Burke three stopped the bleeding with 16:23 left. The team traded baskets for the next couple of minutes before a brief Cardinal run cut the margin to 59-38 after a Shawnta Dyer putback at the 12:19 mark. DePaul took off again, though...enjoying leads of 65-38 and 69-40.

The Blue Demons led by 30 twice, the final time when Harry knocked down two free throws at the 4:58 mark to put it at 79-49 DePaul. Louisville managed to outscore DePaul 12-7 the rest of the way...Cierra Warren picking up eight late points on layups and free throws. Final 86-61.

DePaul placed 5 in double figures. Martin led all scorers with 19 points. Hrynko added 18, Jasmine Penny finished with 14, Harry had 14 with 20 rebounds and Rogowski totaled 11. DePaul played seven players for total of 198 minutes of a possible 200. The injury bug didn't affect them tonight. Not sure if we liked Ortiz and Hrynko launching four three point attempts when DePaul was up by 26 with three minutes left...but you play till the final buzzer. At least they missed three of them. Stay classy, DePaul.

For Louisville, Warren's late outburst co-led the Cards with 14 points. Shoni had nine second half points to finish with 14 as well. Taylor recorded a double-double with 12 points and ten boards. In the rest of the scoring...Dyer had eight, Burke five, Smith four and Vails and Slaughter two each. Jude, Hammond and Harper all played but did not score in the contest.  

The Cards shot 35.2% (25-71) for the 40 minutes...DePaul actually got better in the second half and finished at 50% (32-64). Louisville went 3-17 from 3-point land, DePaul 10-25. The Cards finished with 14 turnovers, DePaul had 26 assists to Louisville's 11 and each team had 41 rebounds. 

Asia's play one of the few bright spots
in the DePaul debacle.

Disappointing? Yes, in many ways. The runs by DePaul to start each half show that Louisville didn't come prepared to play, either at the start of the game or coming out of the locker room to begin the second half. Louisville got only 23 points out of their starting guards tonight, and 26 from Taylor and Warren combined. A case of a bad shooting night for the Cards and a incredible shooting performance from the Blue Demons. 

Not that it really means anything...but Louisville has scored 70 or less points now in nine straight games.

It's hard to get fired up when you're down by 29 with 3/4ths. of the second half to go, I guess. Tough to respond when your opponent keeps drilling threes and getting away for fast break layups. Chalk it up as a learning experience. Hot team in front of a fired-up home crowd. No one said that second half of the season would be easy...the road remains tough with a Saturday visit to WVU.

On a night where Rutgers got demolished by Notre Dame...the Cards followed suit and got out-played by an inspired DePaul squad. Welcome to the BIG EAST...

At least this one wasn't drug out over the final few minutes with free throw attempts. Gotta look on the bright side.

THINGS WE LIKED

(Not much about this one to recall fondly, but...)

-Asia Taylor with another strong performance. Until you look at Katherine Harry's 20 grabs (17 on the defensive boards...)and 14 points. Still, three good efforts in a row for the Columbus, OH junior. A solid 12 and 10. She needed a little help tonight...though.

-Cierra Warren going to the boards and scoring. We expected she'd have a good night against the DePaul front line and she responded.

THINGS TO IMPROVE ON

(We could spend the next two hours on this, so we'll keep it short and sweet)

-3-point defense. DePaul was averaging eight makes in 24 attempts coming into tonight's game. Louisville allowed 10-25. Tough when multiple players are sinking them...but no reason for giving them wide open looks time after time.

-Slow starts. Coming out to begin halves and getting outscored 29-4 isn't going to win you any intensity points. If DePaul can do that, imagine what UConn or Notre Dame can....aw, forget it. Never mind.

Coach Walz's postgame remarks pretty much summed it up. Louisville didn't play a lick. It was an old-fashioned butt whuppin'. (We'd describe it more as Nazi Germany invading Poland in 1939.) Coach Bruno, on the other hand, spent the last minute of his post-game presser speaking of "s'mores".

Whatever it takes, Doug.

A rough night against a good opponent. It happens. Tear off the rear-view mirror and look ahead. Add any non-sequiter you wish as well. 17-5 isn't a bad year, so far. We're pretty confident the Lady Cards can reach the 20 game win plateau before BIG EAST play. Anything after that...could be challenging. The Cards head to wild and wonderful West Virginia Saturday for another tough one. Let's hope they remember to put the defense in their luggage. It got left in the Louisville International airport terminal yesterday.
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Lady Cards face a tough test at DePaul

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TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Cards travel to face DePaul

-Congrats to Bria Smith

The University of Louisville women's basketball team travels to Chicago to face the DePaul Blue Demons women's basketball team Tuesday night at 9:00 p.m. The game will be shown on the CBS College Sports Network. Let's look at the Doug Bruno led Blue Demons...

Anna Martin leads DePaul in
scoring. She's from Lexington.

DePaul (16-6, 4-4) comes into the contest after defeating Seton Hall 71-59 on Saturday. They received a crippling blow when they lost All-Big East performer Keisha Hampton to a knee injury before BIG EAST play got underway. In her absence, 5'9" junior guard Anna Martin (from Lexington Christian) has stepped up as the scoring threat and averages 18.6 ppg for the team. She's one of three active DePaul players that average in double figure scoring.

Brittany Hrynko, a 5'8" freshman point guard chips in 11.0 ppg. and is in charge of getting the DePaul offense in motion. She and Martin are the main three point threats for Bruno's squad. DePaul attempts 24 3-pointers per contest and connects on 8.5 a game.

Jasmine Penny contributes 10.2 points per outing and is a 6'1" soph. forward. She's the second leading rebounder on the Blue Demons team and has picked up her game in the absence of Hampton. Aggressive and always around the hoop, Penny is a solid defender, too.

Katherine Harry is the leading
rebounder for Doug Bruno.

Katherine Harry leads DePaul in rebounding with 8.9 a game and averages 8.0 ppg. She's another one who has picked up her game with Hampton gone. At 6'3", the junior post will give the Lady Cards headaches with her prowess in the paint and full-out style of play on both ends of the court.

Deanna Ortiz is the other usual starter for the Blue Demons. A 5'10" senior guard, her experience and occasional prowess from beyond the trifecta line cannot be ignored. Ortiz rings up 4.0 ppg for DePaul.

Reserves likely to log court minutes are Megan Rogowski and Kelsey Reynolds. Bruno normally doesn't go real deep in his rotation and the top seven mentioned here all see 25+ minutes per game as a rule.

Bruno is in his 28th. year of coaching the Blue Demons. One of the "good guys" in the BIG EAST, he has a dynamic court-side style and is always good for a post-game quote or quip.

DePaul has had some pretty impressive wins this season. They've knocked off Arizona State, St.John's and Georgetown. Their major losses have come at the hands of Tennessee, Providence, USF, UConn and Rutgers. They average 74.0 ppg and allow opponents 65.2. They also have a +3.1 margin of turnovers against opponents...so expect UofL to cough up the pumpkin a few times against the DePaul defensive pressure.

DePaul averages 2861 for their home games...they'll probably have a few more than that in attendance tonight because of the quality of the opponent and rivalry between the two teams. DePaul leads the lifetime series 14-13 over Louisville. Louisville won the last meeting between the two schools 68-55 in the KFC YUM! Center on Feb.23rd. Monique Reid had 28 points in the win and she'll be missed tonight.

Who will step up and provide the inside scoring punch for the Cards? We'll look for Asia Taylor to continue the hot streak she's been on as of late and Cierra Warren could have a big night against the smaller Blue Demons. Shoni Schimmel's wizardry could be very effective tonight and we'll hope for a good shooting night from the "killer bees"...Bria Smith and Becky Burke. This is also a game where Sara Hammond's strength inside might play a pivotal role and we'll watch with interest on how many minutes she logs against the Blue Demons. 

We'll be back later tonight with a full recap. 

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Bria Smith earned BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors for the second time this season. The Monday announcement broke the two week streak for the award that UConn's Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis was riding. Smith has been impressive in Louisville wins over Providence, Georgetown and Villanova in her last three outings and is the third leading scorer at 11.0 a game for the Lady Cards. 

She and Mosqueda-Lewis are the only two BIG EAST freshmen who have won the award multiple times this season. Mosqueda-Lewis has been awarded the honor six times this season.

(We hate to "run up" on consecutive articles here at CARDINAL COUPLE..so if you missed Jenny's report on the Manual vs. Marion County game and her analysis of future Lady Cards Makayla Epps and Kyvin Goodin-Rogers, be sure to give it a read...)
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