Wednesday Cardinal Couple -- Final Four Bound!!!

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Cards headed to the Final Four!

(Jenny O'Bryan with the byline on the thrilling Lady Cards victory that puts them in the Final Four Sunday night against California.)

Wow, where do you start?  This team is absolutely peaking at the right time.  Good coaching?  Believing?  Hard work finally paying off?  All of the above?  Whatever it is, it looks good on these Cardinals!

Louisville Women’s Basketball pulled off yet another shocker in the world of women’s basketball.  Defeating Baylor on Sunday night was a shock like none other in this game.  Everyone questioned how Louisville and Coach Walz would rebound from that emotional outing.  Question answered!  Louisville takes down Tennessee to make only their 2^nd ever Final Four appearance.  This could not have happened to a better group of young women. 

Louisville started the game with a bang.  Hot out of the gates the Cards were passing nicely, hitting some shots and causing all kinds of turnovers for Tennessee.   Tennessee looked dazed and confused.  Louisville was crashing the boards, especially the offensive boards, better than I have ever seen during the first half.   Louisville takes a 41-26 lead into halftime. 

The Cardinals came out of halftime and opened with a pass to Mo Reid down low under the bucket for an easy 2.  After a turnover, the Cards hit back-to-back 3’s to grow the lead to 20 points.  It seemed too easy.  Well, easy it was not.  Tennessee was not going away quietly.  Senior Taber Spani got hot in the second half and slowly helped to chip away the lead Louisville had built.  From about the 12 minute mark until the 3:00 minute mark, it looked like Tennessee just might catch the Cards.    It was not to be.  The Cards sparked a scoring spree, led by a lay in by Shoni Schimmell that saw the  

lead balloon back up to 12 with just under a minute to go.

The Cardinals held on and won, 86-78. 

Shoni Schimmel was named the Regions Most Outstanding Player, and with good reason.  She has found her groove this postseason and led the team in scoring in both the Baylor game (22) and the Tennessee game (24). 

While S. Schimmel has really stepped up her game and is deserving of the award, overall, all of the Cardinals are playing incredible ball this post season.  Coach Walz has said it all season long, we have said it here, if this team could all play well on the same night, they can compete with anyone in the country.  That is exactly what they are doing this postseason. Every one of these players has upped their game!

From crisp passing, crashing the boards, stellar defense and an onslaught of offensive options the Louisville Women’s Basketball team is putting it all together at the right time.  They are playing hard and having fun and winning.  What more can you ask for? 

The Cardinals will head to the Final Four for just the second time in the history of the program.  Both appearances in the Final Four have been led by Coach Jeff Walz.  Louisville is just the second 5 seed to ever make it to the Final Four. 

This is also only the 10^th time that the same University has both its men’s and women’s team both in the Final Four.

This has been no walk in the park for Louisville Basketball.  Louisville has played and beaten a #4 seed (Purdue), a #1 seed (Baylor) -- the overall #1 team in the country and prohibitive favorite to repeat as National Champions -- and a #2 seed (Tennessee). So much for your seeding theories, NCAA.

Louisville will face the #2 seed California Golden Bears in the semifinal game on Sunday evening in New Orleans.  Should the team win that game they will face another #1 seed in either UConn or Notre Dame.   It should be noted that Cal is making it to the Final Four for the first time in their programs history. 

Coach Walz said it best in his interview after the game.  “We are the ugly ducklings of the tournament.  No one wanted or expected us here.  But our journey continues”. 

So it does.  My room is secure in New Orleans.  I anticipate securing my tickets to the games early   Will you be headed to New Orleans to ride this wave with our beloved Cardinals? 

 

Congratulations Coach Walz, and the entire coaching staff.  You have given this team every opportunity to grow as players, and they have risen to the occasion.  You have given this team the belief and confidence that they can win, and they have.  You have given this team every reason to believe that there are still 2 wins left to be had.   Excellent, excellent coaching!  Congratulations. 

 The media is calling this team Cinderella, I simply call it Louisville Basketball!

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Just a quick thought.   I have said it, the media has said it, Coach Walz has said it, Cardinal Couple has said it…just think what this team could do if it were healthy.   With 3 would be starters on the bench, just how good could this team be if they were healthy? 

We will never know the answer to that questions, but….

This is the second season that Louisville Basketball has battled significant injuries.  Due to those injuries, Bria Smith and Sara Hammond got thrown out of the frying pan into the fire their freshman year.  Due to injuries this year, Jude is getting more time, and Antonita Slaughter has had a break out year.  Injuries are a part of the game.  Every program deals with them.  Perhaps Louisville Basketball is as strong as it is because of these injuries.   The growth of the aforementioned players has been critical in getting the team to where they are today.  Maybe, just maybe, the injuries have helpedthis program.

I have my opinions.  What are yours?  Let us know in the comment section.  

-Jenny O'Bryan

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In a season where the Lady Cards have through the benching of Shoni for a half, a thumping by Syracuse to end the season and by Notre Dame to end the conference

tournament...plus the death of two of the players' grandmothers...the adversity, injuries and conflicts are all now water under the bridge.

Jeff Walz is headed to Lou Orleans. 64 entered, four remain.

Celebrate with other Cardinal fans tonight at Ulmer Stadium as Louisville plays UK in softball at 6 p.m. We have confirmation on the report that the team will be arriving back today at 12:45 p.m. at the Student Activities Center. 

-Paulie

Notre Dame Post Mortem Report

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TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( CARDINAL COUPLE Columnist Sandy Walker provides today's report on the homicide in South Bend last night. )


The washing machine broke so while CoCo and her repair team spends time trying to determine what parts to order...the Cardinal Couple Corporate Office gave Sandy the substitute assignment of reporting on the Notre Dame game post mortem instead of the week off.   After last night’s game I think a trip to the coin laundry to sanitize last night’s game uniforms is in order as it appears that the accumulation of team injuries have finally caught up with Walz's women.

As Cardinal broadcaster Adrienne Johnson said, the freshly minted # 10 nationally ranked Louisville got a “good butt-whipping” from #2 ranked Notre Dame.  The Monday night ESPN2 featured contest initially showed a slight promise of a true competition but it was not to be as this being the 13^th meeting between these teams was truly a bad sign.

To be successful, Louisville as a team, needed to take play with confidence, care of the ball, show aggression on defense without fouling and to control the glass.  The Cards did have what could be considered season best play from a few individuals for short-lived periods of time.  Otherwise, as a whole, 1 out of 4 of these goals would have been an improvement over what occurred.  Pick a statistic, any statistic.   No real additional explanations are needed.


 

                      Notre Dame          Louisville

Turnovers          19                            19                                                     

Rebounds          44                             23

Free Throws    19/26  for 73%             3/7 for 43%

Steals             11                               9

Field Goals     34/60  for 57%            27/62 for 44%

Team Fouls            8                        18

Assists                  25                        17

Basketball IQ       100 %                     Audit

                                                                        

Points               93                    64

Yes, there were brief periods of good play by a few where the pace was definitely increased upon Jude’s entry into the game. Her poised 33 minutes of play was shown by her total of 2 turnovers and 8 points.   Bria Smith, who had 18 points (10 in the first half) 4 rebounds and 5 steals was everywhere and played with a solid aggression which caught the attention of everyone.  The addition of Antonita Slaughter’s 16 points along with Shoni’s 13 just were not enough.  There was a brief 8-2 run by the cards at 9:20 in the first half which brought UofL to within 5 with the ball and a score of 17-22.  Louisville moved into the half time break still with a breath of life remaining as the 45-35 score gave us hope of a strong first 5 minutes of play which might turn things around.    

Their 2^nd half brief run at 17:44 which brought them within 7 at 47-40 could not be sustained as in only 2 additional minutes of play the spread had increased to 17 as the Cards' 40 was met by Notre Dame’s 57. All American and top 4 national player Skylar Diggins, who finished with 21 points, 7 assists and 4 steals pretty much schooled Louisville in what complete game play looked like.

In his post game interview Jeff pretty much summed the game up by saying the Cards just did not play tough enough either physically or mentally.  To win against a team like Notre Dame, play must more closely resemble football than chess.

Fortunately, the Cards have a few BIG EAST games left from which to position themselves for the upcoming end of season tournament.  The first opportunity for the women to regroup is this Sunday’s 1:30 game at the KFC YUM! Center when they have the opportunity to reverse their earlier misfortunes against DePaul.  Yes, the game is being shown on ESPNU but the women need your presence at the game, not on your recliner.

Last night’s ND crowd at the sold-out South Bend game absolutely contributed to the chaos which rained down upon our team.  It is time to return the favor as well as to show the nation what a Louisville women’s basketball crowd looks like.   UofL's recent slippage to number 3 in the nation for attendance is just not acceptable and ...now more than ever, this team needs us.

Sandy

 

Editor's Comments...So, let's go to South Bend, fail to block out, rebound or defend and see how that does. And, that pretty well sums up the final 17 minutes of last night's trouncing of the Louisville WBB squad by Skylar, Natalie and the other Muffet marauders. Sonja couldn't understand why Shoni was sitting when the Irish were pulling away. I explained to her that "matador defense" went out of style a few years ago. For a team that had only been allowing 53.1 points per game, the Cards looked like a squad that didn't realize it's OK to guard someone when they drive the lane with the basketball. It's become a dangerous sequence this season...go on the road, play a quality opponent, get your lunch taken from you.

Fortunately, the Cards finish the regular season with three in the KFC YUM! Center and only two in hostile territory...two dangerous ones, though, in Syracuse and Villanova. Walz mentioned in the post-game eulogy last night that he hoped all the television sets in Louisville were out of order last night. Something is broken, coach...but it isn't the cable service. The Wizard of Oz's Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion could have done a better job containing UND's front line last night. Put Toto and Jude out there, and you may keep the Wicked Witches of the West under 80...

The Cards probably looked the best when it was four guards and Nita on the court. Anyone know of any 6'0" and under leagues that these five could sign up for?

Issuing this amber alert. The post position at UofL has gone missing. If seen, return to the basketball offices on the 2nd floor of the S.A.C. on campus, please.

20-5 is a great record. This team has overcome injuries and played with heart and courage many times this year. Last night was a clunker. It happens. These next five are all winnable. They are also, potentially...all losable as well, except for Seton Hall. A 25-5 regular-season record would be outstanding. 21-9 would be OK, but may not be 4th seed NCAA Tournament or BIG EAST Tournament worthy.

Whatcha got left, Lady Cards?  

-Paulie

Track and Field and more on women's basketball

FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( Staff Columnist extraordinaire Jenny O'Bryan brings us the Friday Edition of CARDINAL COUPLE. Track and Field, Nita Slaughter and a shameless pitch to get you to the St. John's game Sunday up next. Grab a seat and call a friend...CARDINAL COUPLE comin' at ya!)  


There are no results to report today for Louisville Women’s Athletics, and only one team competes today and that is Track and Field.

The Track and Field team heads out for a weekend of competition.  The squad splits up and hits the road with most of the squad headed to Lexington, KY for the Rod McCravy Memorial.  The distance runners headed to Bloomington, IN for the Indiana Relays, which also starts today. 

You can get a schedule of events and live results through out the day by going to this Louisville Athletic website: 

 http://www.gocards.com/sports/w-track/spec-rel/012413aaa.html.

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As many of the Women’s basketball followers know, injuries have continued to plague the team this year.   In my mind, one player that has stepped up and started to make the most of her additional time on the court is Antonita Slaughter. 

Slaughter, a junior, has been playing some great, reliable basketball.  There was a nice article by The Courier Journal this week in regards to Slaughter, and you can find it here: 

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20130124/SPORTS02/301240039/Hard-work-gets-Louisville-s-Slaughter-starting-spot

It is great to see Slaughter playing hard and consistently.  Keep it up ‘Nita, your team is benefiting from your play, hard work and consistency!

( Editor note: Jeff Walz confirmed Slaughter being the most consistent Cardinal on the season in his post-game remarks after the UC game. Against Marquette, she totalled 14 points and had (4) first half threes.)

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Another interesting link I found on the internet this week was 2012-13 team statistics across the nation.  The top 50 teams were ranked in categories such as offense, defense, steals, turnover, assists, etc.    

Of particular interest to me was where Louisville was ranked in terms of steals.  I have been very impressed this season with the high-pressure defense.  Any given game so far this season you can find Bria Smith and Jude Schimmel (specifically) and the Cardinals (as a whole) getting in passing lanes, disrupting passes and deflecting balls   The quick hands of this team defensively have kept them in many a games when the offense has been stagnant.  According to the link provided, Louisville ranks 6^th in the country in steals per game. 

In general, I am not a big statistics fan.  I despised the courses I had to take in college many years ago, and generally believe stats can be manipulated to further whatever agenda the statistician is looking for.  That being the case, I just found it interesting. 

On some level these stats are likely a bit deceptive as there are things that are not taken in to account, such as strength of schedule.  The better the team you are playing, the harder they are to guard defensively.  That is not accounted for in these stats.  It is purely numbers.   Take a look and see how our Cards stack up against teams across the nation.
 

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/statistics/team

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As Jeff mentioned yesterday here at The Couple, Women’s Basketball plays St. John’s Red Storm on Sunday at the KFC YUM! Center at 1:30.  Coach Walz is asking the Cardinal Faithful to sell out the lower “bowl” and help open the curtains to the upper deck.  The goal for this game is 13,000+ fans. 

The Cards lost twice to the Red Storm last season, once during regular season conference play in Queens, New York and the second time in the Big East tournament, in overtime.

While the Red Storm is always dangerous and starters are returning, I am looking forward to seeing what the new coaching staff is doing at St. John’s.   I mentioned it last summer when the news broke that Kim Barnes-Arico was leaving St. John’s for Michigan that I was a huge fan of hers.  I am excited to see how her former team looks without her at the helm. 

If seeing the Cards redeem themselves from the two losses last year is not enough to get you to the YUM! Center, perhaps a BIG Birthday Celebration for Louie (The Cardinal Bird) is.   Grab the kids and come help celebrate Louie’s birthday with some of his best friends as well as propel our team to a win at home.  

( We're hearing that there will also be cake and ice cream served somewhere at the KFC YUM! Center pre-game to celebrate Louie's birthday. The media hasn't been informed of the exact location. The KFC folks have seen what we do to a media buffet and also cookies at halftime. No chance they let us in on this...we may send Timmy the Intern in early disguised as a caterer to brief us...)
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Thursday Cardinal Couple - Jasmine, Angel and Asia

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THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


-Asia and Co. at it again


-Smithson-Willett ready to re-stock Cards pitching staff. 


-WNBA, Angel off and running


-Paulie encounters the "man".


The avant-garde film crew of Asia Taylor, Shoni Schimmel, Antonita Slaughter and Sherrone Vails have released another foray into the world of video journalism. Their latest effort takes them grocery shopping. 


Sonja would agree..lots of fiber. 


Click the link below to observe the trip:


Let's Go Krogering !

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Louisville softball is losing Tori Collins to graduation and the teaching profession. One of the incoming freshman stands ready make her claim for that spot in the pitching rotation for Sandy Pearsall. 


Meet Jasmine Smithson-Willett. 


The righty from Lake Elsinore, CA played for the Lakeside Lancers in high school and it took only one visit to Louisville to convince her that it was the place for her. 

"My first and only visit was to Louisville. They say when you know, you know. I knew. It was everything I could hope for in a college. The dorms, the facilities and the dream field. After my tours and getting to know the school, I knew I had found my new home. All the coaches and players made me feel welcome and that's when I decided I would not want to be anywhere else." 


Smithson complied a 15-10 record her senior year at Lakeside...with a 1.21 ERA, in 151.2 innings. She struck out 146 batters. Pitching isn't her only strong suit, though. She also batted .520 for the Lancers and led the team in hits (41), runs (31) RBI's (31) and home runs (9). 

The Lancers lost in the CIF playoffs in the first round 7-1...a off-day for Smithson on the mound...but it looks like Louisville is getting a good one in her. 


Sandy Pearsall had a lot of success with three pitchers available to her this season and it looks like that trend will continue for 2013. We've even heard that junior Jordan Trimble has a heck of an arm from inside the circle...so the Cards appear to be in good shape with Caralisa Connell and Chelsea Leonard returning. Leonard's knees have to be of some concern, obviously, but with a few months off and some healing and rehab...we're hoping she'll be effective again next spring. 


A great link on Jasmine below:


From Alaska to Lakeside


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The WNBA is off and running and Louisville's Angel McCoughtry had 26 points in the Atlanta Dream's 92-84 loss to the Indiana Fever in Indianapolis Saturday night. 


The Dream return five players from last year's roster besides Angel. Erika de Souza, Lindsey Harding, Sancho Lyttle, Courtney Paris and Armintie Price are back. Atlanta picked up Tiffany Hayes and Aneika Henry in the WNBA draft and added Laurie Koehn, Cathrine Kraayeveld, Yelena Leuchanka and Ketia Swanier in the off-season. 


Atlanta hosts the New York Liberty next, on Friday night and had six of their next eight games at home. 


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"Get out of the car, sir and put your hands on the hood"

Not a great way to spend a Wednesday afternoon. 


But, I complied. Never knew that playing Tommy by The Who could get you in trouble. But, there I was, being search and going through a subsequent vehicle search as a suspect in an attempted food mart robbery.  

When the lights came on behind me, I pulled over. Knew I wasn't speeding (Roger Daltry could attest to that) and hadn't been crossing the yellow line. 


A few nervous minutes later, all was revealed to me. Suspect leaving a botched hold-up attempt was seen departing in a silver sedan. 


Yep, not many of them out there...that's for sure. I probably drive the only one.  


The officer and I chatted by the side of the road. We discussed where I'd been, who I work for and why I was a white male with facial hair. We didn't get around to the Lady Cards, global warming or why the Bulls faltered in the NBA playoffs. These things I had a definite opinion on. 


Case of mistaken identity. Released with a apology and handshake. Would have rather had a burger and milkshake. Drove off a little shaken and relieved.


I doubt they would have allowed me to take my lap-top to county lockup. And, two straight days of Watson on Cardinal Couple would consist of severe punishment for our dear readers. 


Just another tricky day. Right, Roger?


Just Another Tricky Day


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Cold end to first half dooms Lady Cards at WVU

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GAME REPORT

-15-0 WVU run does Cards in

Louisville at least made a game of it for the first 13:37 of the Saturday afternoon contest. An Asia Taylor jumper put the Lady Cards up 22-21 with 6:26 left in the first half.

Then, things got ugly.

WVU went on a 15-0 run after that for about five and one half minutes and led 36-22 until Shelby Harper connected with a jumper with 1:05 left. And...that run pretty much took care of the Cards this afternoon. The Lady Cards committed nine turnovers in the scoreless stretch.

STARTERS: Vails, Taylor, Smith, Burke and Shoni

Hammond saw first half action today.

Louisville's Taylor missed a wide open layup to begin the contest and the game remained scoreless until Taylor connected at the 18:00 mark. WVU responded with the next six points, though and led 6-2 until a Shoni three pulled the Lady Cards within one. Another Shoni three gave UofL a 12-10 lead with 12:02 left.

The elder Schimmel connected again from trifecta range to put Louisville up 15-13 with 9:52 left, but the Mountaineers responded with six straight points from Laura Stepney and held a 19-15 advantage before Bria Smith scored her only two points of the contest and Taylor capitalized on a +1 to make it 20-19 Louisville. Taylor connected again, giving Louisville a 22-21 lead. 6:23 to go.

Then, the offense went cold.

An Asya Bussie basket and free throw, followed by another Stepney three had it 27-22. Taylor Palmer rattled home a three and then hit two free throws and it was 32-22 WVU. A Hartley steal and layup and Bussie inside again and the Cards saw themselves in the hole 36-22 with two minutes left. The teams traded baskets the rest of the way and Louisville went into the locker room behind 38-24. Six minutes of turnover-filled, missed opportunity play for the Cardinals to end the first twenty. Hard to listen to on the radio. Probably more painful to see in person.

WVU shot 47% in the first half, led 20-16 on the boards and had 12 points from Bussie. Stepney had nine.

Louisville went 33% from the floor in the first twenty (9-27), had 13 turnovers and six missed layups in the first half. Shoni's nine points (on three threes) led the way, Taylor added seven, Slaughter three, Harper two and Sara Hammond had a free throw. 

Louisville needed to come out strong early in the second half and cut into the WVU lead. Instead, the exact opposite happened. 

A Stepney three and two Christal Caldwell scores provided WVU with a 7-0 run to start the final twenty minutes. It was 45-24, which proved to be the biggest WVU lead of the day.

Sherrone Vails finally broke the ice for the Cards with a jumper at the 17:30 mark, but Asia Taylor picked up her fourth foul seconds later and went to the bench. The Lady Cards would climb within 15 after a Shoni 3 to cut it to 50-35 and two Slaughter threes over the next minute and a half had Louisville with a glimmer of hope...down 54-41 with 4:51 left. Louisville managed to get within 12 after a Slaughter free throw with 2:17 left at 56-44 and Taylor finally returned to the court and scored to make it 58-46 with 94 seconds to go...but the Mountaineers outscored the Cards 8-4 the rest of the way...sinking four free throws in the final 1:10. Final 66-50 WVU. 

Louisville was led by Shoni's 16. Slaughter finished with 14. Taylor totalled nine, Harper finished with four, as did Vails. Smith had two and Hammond finished with one. Burke, Jude and Shawnta Dyer played but did not score. Cierra Warren did not play. No reason was provided. 

The Cards finished at 40% (20-50) from the floor and were 7-20 from three point line. They sank 3-4 from the charity stripe and finished with 24 turnovers.

The Eers win their third in a row and got 18 points and 11 boards from Bussie. Three others hit double figures for WVU...Stepney finished with 14, Caldwell 12 and Dunning 11. WVU won the rebounding battle 39-27. They had 12 steals and shot 42% for the game. Stepney a surprise...she came into the game averaging less than five points a game.

No points for BB
against WVU.

For the Lady Cards, Jeff Walz summed it up pretty well when he attributed the loss to turnovers, rebounding and effort. Way too many missed layups for the Cards and way too many second chance scores for WVU. They beat the Cards in the points in the paint battle 34-24.

Louisville faces #3 UConn Tuesday. It's the first time this season the Lady Cards have lost two games in a row. Hate to say it...but three in a row is 72 hours away if the Cards produce this kind of effort against the Huskies...

A young team, still growing and some puzzlement now.

Burke scoreless and 0-2 from the field shows us that the BIG EAST (or at least WVU) has figured out she's a spot-up shooter and not much else. Hammond hustled hard in the first half and got rewarded with zero minutes in the final twenty. Warren never left the bench. Bria Smith was 0 for second half. Question marks remain for the 17-5, 6-4 Lady
Cards and the answers they get Tuesday against #3 UConn may not be the ones they want to receive....
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Lady Cards beat Hoyas 64-61 behind Shoni's 19

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GAME REPORT

-Cards survive G'town run, scorekeeper to win by 3

In a wacky and wild finish, Louisville fails to score a basket in the final 6:38, Georgetown gets credit for a phantom free throw and Georgetown attempts 30 more shots than the Lady Cards in a 64-61 Louisville win. Shoni led UofL with 19 points, Sugar Rodgers ended up with 24 for the Hoyas.

STARTERS: Vails, Warren, Smith, Burke and Shoni

Louisville jumped out to a 5-0 lead to begin the contest after Cierra Warren scored inside and Becky Burke bombed a three in the first minute of play. The Hoyas responded with nine straight, though...capped by Sydney Wilson hitting a jumper with 16:37 to go in the first half. The Cards needed a timeout to solve the Hoya full court pressure, responsible for four straight Cardinal turnovers. Shoni was on the bench, after just two minutes of play.

Shoni overcame
a slow start to
get 20 points.

Whatever Walz said worked. Louisville regained the lead 13-11 after a Burke three and Nita Slaughter added two free throws to give the Lady Cards a 15-11 advantage with 12:19 to go. Shoni returned to the game and bombed a three to make it 18-11. Her jumper increased it to 20-13 with 9:10 left.

The Hoyas rallied to cut the advantage to 23-22 after a Rodgers jumper with 4:20 left. Warren hit from inside, though to push it to 25-22. After a Hoya three tied it at 25...the Lady Cards got the final four of the half when Warren scored on a putback and Shoni created a steal and nailed a jumper with 40 seconds in the half to lead 29-25 at the break.

Becky Burke led the Cards in the first half with nine points, all threes and Shoni had seven. Slaughter finished with five, Warren had four and Shawnta Dyer and Sherrone Vails added two each. Walz played all but Hammond and Harper in the first twenty minutes. Sugar Rodgers totaled 10 for G'Town. The Cards shot 52% in the first half, compared to the Hoyas 25.6% efforts...18 more shots by Georgetown (39-21) but one less basket.

Louisville came out with Taylor in for Warren in the final twenty minutes and got an opening three from Burke. Taylor got a nifty pass from Shoni and Louisville had a nine point lead with 90 seconds gone. A Shoni three had it 37-29 Cards with 17:44 left.

Georgetown responded with a 10-0 run over the next two minutes and grabbed a 39-37 lead after threes from Rodgers and Tia Magee. Shoni quelled the tide, though with her second trey of the half to make it 40-39. After G'Town responded with a Rubylee Wright three to regain the lead 42-40...the teams battled back and forth until another Shoni three and a "plus 1" for Bria Smith gave Louisville a 49-44 advantage with 11:35 left. Shoni added a free throw to push the Cardinal lead to 50-44. Louisville made their last field goal of the game when Slaughter knocked down a three with 6:38 remaining to give UofL a 55-46 lead.

From then on it was a matter of the Lady Cards hitting from the charity stripe. A Smith free throw put the Cards up by ten. Four straight points from Magee cut it to 56-50 with 4:20 left. Shoni and Smith responded with four straight free throws to give Louisville a 60-50 lead.

Then, with 2:16 remaining, Sugar Rodgers missed two free throw attempts. Except in the official scorekeeper's eyes, who credited her for hitting one. After Vails made 1 of 2 from the line, Rodgers canned a trifecta to cut the UofL lead to 61-55 (or 56) with 1:38 left. Another G'town score after a Cardinal turnover made 61-57 (or 58) and 1:19 left. Bria Smith hit two free throw to give the Cards 63 points but the scoreboard showed the Hoyas with 58 points instead of 57. Rodgers cashed in two charity tosses and it was 63 to 59 (or 60..)

The ESPN girls were confused, so were we at home and it got better.

We had it 63-59 and I was wondering what I missed. Turned out...not a thing.

Protests from the Louisville bench and a Walz timeout with 18 seconds left sent officials Dennis DeMayo and John Enterline to the scorer's table to ask for the ESPN2 feed to be rewound to the 2:16 mark. Once it was confirmed that no Rodgers free throws hit the mark at that point in the game, the score was changed to 63-59. Keeping score while watching, Sonja and I were correct. Maybe we should apply for the job in D.C.

Becky Burke got 1 of 2 from the stripe to make it 64-59 with 16 seconds left. A Wright putback cut it to 64-61 with 1.3 seconds remaining. Louisville inbounded safety to Slaughter at halfcourt, though....and it was a final. 64-61 Cards on the road.

Shoni led the Lady Cards with 19 points. She was joined in double figures by Burke with 13 and Slaughter adding 11. Smith contributed 10 points...all in the second half. Warren finished with four, Vails three and Taylor and Dyer two each. Jude played but did not score. Harper & Hammond never hit the court.

(We were originally informed Shoni had 20 and Bria nine points but a check of the official box score says differently. Wonder if it was the same person that kept trying to slide Sugar an extra free throw?)

Rodgers led the Hoyas with 24 points (on 26 shots). Rubylee Wright and Magee added 11 each for the Hoyas.

Louisville shot 47.5 % for the game on 19-40 shooting. They attempted 23 threes and hit 11 for 44%. The Cards were 15-21 from the freethrow line and committed 25 turnovers.

Georgetown went 33% for the game...with 70 attempts and 23 baskets. They were 8-27 from beyond the arc (33%) and 7-12 from the free throw line. They outrebounded UofL 38-35 and committed 15 miscues.

A huge road win for Louisville, maybe their biggest this season so far on the road. After the close misses at St. John's and Rutgers, it's good to see them get one away from home against a top 20 opponent.

It didn't come easy, though. Blowing a 10 point lead with 2:16 left isn't what we like to see. 25 turnovers, mostly unforced...against the Georgetown pressure is disappointing.

But, it's a win and the Lady Cards now get a little time off from action until Villanova visits Saturday. Time that can well be used to hone and refine the Cardinal ball-handling.

What we liked...

Sho-time again. After a rough couple of outings, Shoni found the range again and her 13 seconds half points were key to the win. Maybe it's when the nationwide cameras are on is the key to getting her on fire. Can we televise all the finals games?

Let 'three-dom' ring! Threes from three different players today. Good to see Nita hit a few clutch ones and she also had 31 minutes on the court today. Let's hope it's the start of a consistent rest of the season for her.

Hitting the free ones when it counts. Louisville made free throws when they needed to. The final 6:38 of the game. Four different players involved in the mix, too. They needed to. They weren't getting shots to go...

-Things to improve on...

Ball control. It was a nervous final two minutes with the Lady Cards shaky ball-handling, which allowed G'Town back into the game. It's only going to get tougher with pesky Villanova, Notre Dame, UConn and DePaul (twice) ahead. Keep growing up fast, Bria and Jude.

Rebounding. The Cards had one first half offensive rebound. They lost the rebounding battle against a guard-oriented Hoya squad 38-35. Gotta get better positioning and more grabs, ladies!

On an afternoon where the Lady Cards finally got a quality win over a top 20 opponent on the road, Louisville grew up a lot today. Sure, there's still some things to improve on and get better at...but a national audience saw a Louisville team that didn't fold on the road today.

And that's a step in the right direction.
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Lady Cards travel to Cincy to open BIG EAST schedule

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TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-WE break down Lady Cards first BIG EAST foe...Cincinnati

The University of Louisville's Women's Basketball team will take a drive up I-71 to face the Cincinnati Bearcats Wednesday evening for a 7 p.m. game in the Fifth-Third Center. Here's a look at UC so far...

The Bearcats are 6-2 on the season, currently on a two game losing streak. Last out, they travelled to Marshall and fell 55-47 to the Thundering Herd. UC led by as many as 11 in the contest, but ran into a hot-shooting Marshall squad that connected on six second half threes to do the UC squad in. Before that, they lost to cross-town rival Xavier 69-60 (no fights in this one...as far as we know).

UC started the season with a six game winning streak...filling up on cupcakes IPFW, Dayton, Evansville, South Dakota State, UTC and Morgan State.

Elliott is in her third
year as UC head coach.

The Bearcats are coached by Jamelle Elliott, in her third season as Bearcats skipper. She was a former assistant to UConn's Geno Auriemma, so the linage is there to eventually drag the Bearcats out of the BIG EAST WBB basement. She also played for Geno in the mid-nineties.

UC uses a four guard, one forward starting lineup as a rule and they have been led so far this season by Daveesha Hollins, a red-shirt sophomore guard who transferred to the Bearcats from Michigan, Hollins played her high school ball in Cincinnati (Winton Woods H.S.) and the 5'6" guard is averaging 13.9 points a game for UC.

Turner is UC's
leading rebounder

Bjonee Reeves is next in players to key on, the guard averaging 14.3 a game. Tiffany Turner, a  6'1"sophomore forward adds 7.1 p.p.g. and leads the Bearcats on the boards. Other starters are sophomore Kayla Cook, who was selected to the BIG EAST All-Rookie team last year and Chanel Chisholm. The Bearcats bring 6'4" center Lesha Dunn off the bench.

UC is outscoring their opponents 61.2 - 49.5 on the season and holds a 37.5 - 33-4 rebounding edge per game. The Bearcats average 15 turnovers a game and attempt an average of 17 three pointers a game, connecting on six per contest.

Louisville, despite the decided height advantage, may have trouble winning the war of the boards against Cincinnati. Turner is a battler on both ends of the court and Hollins, despite her size, can be effective in the paint.

We expect the Cards to show improvement in rebounding and to use their speed and guard superiority to create turnovers and establish transition basketball to gain an early advantage in this one and take the win pretty easily. We'll also be watching to see if Nita Slaughter can continue her torrid shooting skills in a road venue and if Monique Reid is able to keep up her amazing points per minutes playing numbers.

OTHER TIDBITS...

--Best wishes and prayers for Lady Cards guard Tia Gibbs...who goes in for shoulder surgery this morning. Heal well, Butler Bear.

--Still no word on the eligiblity status of Charmaine Tay. We'll see if she dresses for UC or accompanies the Lady Cards on their western swing to Portland and Washington State. 

--TV worth watching...#6 Tennessee heads to Piscataway, NJ to face the #11 Rutgers Scarlet Knights in WBB tonight. ESPN has the feed. It's a 7 p.m. tip.  C. Viv vs. Pat. Should be a good one.

Here's how the BIG EAST looks going into this week's action:

SCHOOL                          BIG EAST RECORD          OVERALL RECORD           RANKED ?

UConn                                       1-0                                      9-0                                  #2
Notre Dame                               1-0                                      9-1                                  #3
Georgetown                               1-0                                      9-2                                  #17
DePaul                                       1-0                                      8-2                                  #23
Villanova                                    1-0                                      8-2                                  ---
West Virginia                             1-0                                      7-2                                  ---
Rutgers                                       0-0                                     9-1                                  #11
LOUISVILLE                            0-0                                     8-2                                  #14
Cincinnati                                   0-0                                      6-2                                  ---
USF                                          0-0                                      6-4                                  ---
Syracuse                                    0-1                                     7-3                                   ---
Marquette                                 0-1                                     6-5                                  ---
Seton Hall                               0-1                                     6-5                                  ---
Pitt                                          0-1                                     5-5                                  ---
Providence                             0-1                                     5-5                                  ---
St. John                                  0-1                                     5-5                                   ---

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