Wednesday Cardinal Couple -- Softball tops 'Toppers 7-2

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Ruckenbrod, Keller, Kiyohara key Cardinal 7-2 win

-Lacrosse heads to the Motor City for Detroit match

- Notre Dame 61 - UConn 59 BIG EAST FINAL.

-Whatever happened to ????


Louisville Softball improved their season record to 21-3 Tuesday with a 7-2 win over Western Kentucky Tuesday at Ulmer Stadium. Stepping up with key performances for the Cards were Maggie Ruckenbrod (three hits and one of them a home run), Hannah Kiyohara (three hits and two RBI's) and Katie Keller (homer and triple).

Louisville got on the board in the bottom of the first with Keller's blast over the left field fence, her seventh of the year. Alicja Wolny singled and scored on a Kiyohara single to lead 2-0.

The Cards increased the advantage to 4-0 in the third. Ruckenbrod drew a walk and scored on a Kiyohara double. Jennifer Esteban singled with two outs to score Kiyohara.

Make it 5-0 Cards after the fourth. Keller's triple off the right field fence started the inning and Jordan Trimble hit a fly to center to score KK.

After a two-run top of the fifth for the Toppers, Louisville finished the scoring when Wolny reached on a fielder's choice and Ruckenbrod pounded her second base-clearer of the year over the left field fence. 7-2. Cards win! Cards win!

Caralisa Connell went seven innings for her 13th win of the year...striking out five and allowing just three hits.

The Cards return to action Friday in the Louisville Softball Classic. Two games Friday, one on Sunday and one on Monday.

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Lacrosse searches for their sixth win of the season today when they engage Detroit at 2 p.m. Louisville is coming off a 23-1 victory over Presbyterian Saturday. The Titans (1-5) lost to Niagara in overtime last Thursday.

Louisville has the leading goals-per-game performer in the BIG EAST with Nikki Boltja (4.0). The cross and net Cards are fifth in the nation in scoring, scoring margin and seventh in draw controls. 

Looks like an easy afternoon for Kellie Young and the crew against the Atlantic Sun opponent. Detroit head coach Laura Maness was selected National Lacrosse Conference Coach of the Year in 2011.

It's 2013. Cards win by as many as they want with Young getting the backups some valuable game experience in the second half...

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MArkie MArk, a huge UConn fan, is sad that the Huskies
fell in the tournament. Cheer up, bro! U still headed to
the Dance!

A very exciting finish in the BIG EAST Championship game Tuesday night! Skylar Diggins stole an errant Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis pass, drove the length of the court and found Natalie Achonwa under the basket and for a score with a second to go...giving ND the 61-59 win over Geno's Huskies.

Beating a quality opponent three times in one season no small feat. Hats off to the Irish and let the pre-St. Patrick's Day Party commence.

Hats off, also, to CURTIS FRANKLIN, who was one of three Cardinal Couple Pick 'Em contestants to get all 14 games correct. His entry preceded CARDINAL COUPLE'S Sonja's picks by eight hours and 24 hours before also-undefeated Nick B....so he wins the $25 Chili's gift card.

Billy Ray dances to the new that Curtis has
won the CARDINAL COUPLE Pick 'Em!

Curtis, a regular reader and commenter here at the COUPLE, lives in Southern Indiana and works for a grocery store...in case you're looking for a free meal. He's a huge Cardinal sports fan in general and also roots for Floyd Central High School and the Atlanta Dream. Angel is his favorite all-time Lady Cards WBB player and his current favorite Card is Bria Smith...

Congrats, Curtis! I'll have the loaded potato soup and a burger!

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The Horizon League has announced their All-Horizon League honors and junior RACHEL STORY, of the UIC Flames, has made the All-Newcomer team.

Asia, Shoni and LaToya Johnson were all teammates
of Rachel's at UofL.

Remember Rachel? She was a Card for two years from 2009-11 before transferring to University of Illinois-Chicago and sitting out a season.

She averaged 15.6 ppg and was sixth overall in the league. She had eleven 20 point performances...getting six of them in the Flames last nine games. Her 451 points so far this year and 168 made field goals rank 11th on UIC's single season leaderboard.

Glad to see the ex-Card doing so well. The guard who came out of Milwaukee is playing a little closer to home now and doing well.  

(Thanks to reader Kenny S. for the find on Rachel Story.)


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Also, the Kentucky High School Girls Sweet Sixteen Tournament starts today in Bowling Green. Good luck to all the contestants. Marion County goes in undefeated and the odds on favorite to win the events.

GET YOUR TICKETS!

Paulie

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Monday Cardinal Couple -- Cards defeat St. John

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

(Game report...Louisville lost to Notre Dame 83-59 in the BIG EAST women's tournament semi-finals tonight. Shoni Schimmel had 20 in a losing effort for the Cards. Louisville trailed by six at the half, but Notre Dame blew out to a 31-point lead in the second half. Louisville did draw within 18 late against the Irish reserves. Jenny will have much more in the TUESDAY edition of CARDINAL COUPLE.)


-HAMMONDS 22 points, 11 boards lead Cards to semis

-Softball crushes Illinois State on final day of Classic

-DAY 3 Big East Tournament recap.

If you listened to the Saturday broadcast of CARDINAL COUPLE radio, we laid it out for you. Paulie predicted  that Sara Hammond would step up big for Louisville against St. John's.

www.crescenthillradio.com


Sara, if you were listening...thanks for making me look like a "stinkin' genius". The 6'2" sophomore from Mt. Vernon, KY had her highest point total of her career and recorded a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds in Louisville seven-point win 62-55.

A win that should have been a double-digit win...why Bria Smith fouls on a three-point attempt with Louisville up by ten is subject to federal investigation...and a game that early on looked like Louisville was playing St. Matthews' Community Center, not St. John's.

The Cards, behind the efforts of "The Hammer" hit five of their first six shots and led early 15-2. Then, just as inexplicably portrayed against Syracuse last week, the ball went out of the air for Louisville and Shenneika Smith and the Red Storm went from a cold front to a tornado warning...outscoring Louisville 22-6 to lead at halftime 24-21.

Louisville missed a glaring 24 of 27 shots after the streaking start and a head-scratching 0-11 from beyond three point range.

The Cards kept it loose and light in the locker room at halftime, though...according to post-game comments by associate coach Stephanie Norman. Louisville regained the lead in the final twenty minutes when Shoni Schimmel (scoreless in the first half) drained a three to make it 32-30 Cards. Right after that Hammond converted on a hoop and free throw and Louisville was on its way to the win.

Bonita was not the ref for the game. Dennis DeMayo
did just as inadequate job, though.

St. John's didn't go away, staying within anywhere from 2-5 points and it was 54-50 after a pair of Nadirah McKenith free throws and 3:11 to go. Louisville got the next four points, though...and the Red Storm never threatened the rest of the way.

McKenith basically took herself out of the game with 54 seconds to go...slamming her head into Sara Hammond during a defensive double-team by the Cards. She remained on the court, in obvious pain and also probably caught up in the emotions of the loss to Louisville and had to be helped to the locker room. She had injured a leg the night before against Seton Hall and was noticeably hobbling at times in the Louisville game. Tough way for the sparkling St. John's senior to go out.

Whether St. John's (18-12) has done enough to earn an NCAA bid remains to be seen. They did win seven out of eight down the stretch and they are hosting NCAA First and Second round action like Louisville.

Big efforts by senior Monique Reid inside and Bria Smith defensively down the stretch as the Cards go to 24-7 and will face Notre Dame tonight.

We wish the Cards the best of luck in this very tough matchup. Hopefully, the Bulls gored the Irish enough to soften them up for Louisville.

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Cardinal Softball continues to hit everything in sight, romping Illinois State 9-3 Sunday to go 20-3 on the season.

Alicja Wolny opened the scoring for Louisville with her sixth round-tripper of the season...off that poor, battered scoreboard in left that's become a favorite punching bag for Louisville batters...and the Cards led 1-0 after an inning.

After a ISU score, Louisville made it 3-1 in the third when Katire Keller tripled and scored on a throwing error. Wolny drew a walk and reached home on a Maggie Ruckenbrod double.

ISU got a run in the fifth to make it 3-2 but Louisville countered in the bottom half of the inning when Wolny was walked again, Chrisanna Roberts came in to run for her and scored on another Ruckenbrod double. Ruck came to the place also when Hannah Kiyohara singled and it was 5-2 Cards.

UofL produced four more runs in the sixth. Keller led off with a walk, Jordan Trimble doubled and Wolny got another base on balls to load the bases. That set the stage for another Ruckenbrod double to clear the bags and make it 8-2. Kiyohara singled home Ruckenbrod and it was 9-2 Louisville.

Caralisa Connell got the win to go to 12-2 on the year...pitching four innings. Rachel LeCoq got her second save of the year with three innings of relief.

Louisville hosts WKU on Tuesday with a 5:30 start time.

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DAY 3 of the BIG EAST Tournament saw the top seeds advance to the semifinals.

-Notre Dame prevailed in a 75-66 win over USF. The Irish put four players in double figures in a closer than expected win of the never-say-die Bulls.

-Connecticut demolished DePaul 94-61 to advance to tonight's action. Breanna Stewart's 21 was one of five Huskies in double figures.

-Syracuse held off Villanova 61-56 to earn the right to face UConn. Kayla Alexander went off for 34 points for "Q" and company. Nova leading scorer Laura Sweeney did not play...concussion suffered against Georgetown kept her out.

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CARDINAL COUPLE Pick 'Em Contest still has...eight entries that are "perfect" or 11-0. CARDINAL COUPLE staffers consists of three of the eight in Jenny, Quentin Voigt and Sonja! Those left with a fighting chance below:

11-0  Quentin Voigt, Jenny O, Sonja, PDX Phil, Curtis F, Allen H, Nick B and Andrea S.

10-1 Perry S, K. Starks, Carol W, Sally K, Micha L, Andy L and Matthew Mitchell for Governor.

Other Cardinal Couple staffers...not so good. Jeff McAdams and Paulie are 9-2, Sandy Walker, Timmy the Intern & Bill The Goat 8-3, David Watson 7-4, CoCo 2-9 and the Staff Chimps 1-10.

Three games left. Good luck!

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Speaking of tournaments, have you purchased your NCAA Round 1 and 2 tickets forLouisville's apperance at the KFC YUM! Center? If not, what are you waiting for? Go to www.gocards.com and get in on the action!

Louisville is also a game watch party for the Selection Show March 18th. Admission is free that Monday night at the KFC YUM! Center to join the Lady Cards as they find out who their opponents will be. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the show begins at 7 p.m.

BE there!

Paulie

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SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE -- WBB faces St. John's in BIG EAST Tournament

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( GAME UPDATE -- Louisville wins over St. John's 62-55. Sara Hammond with 22 career-high points in the win. Louisville led big early, trailed at the half but came on strong at the end for the victory.

Bria Smith and Monique Reid finishing well and Louisville awaits the winner of Notre Dame vs. USF. WE'LL have much more on this in the Monday Cardinal Couple edition. Readers, weigh in with your immpresions on the win in the comments section or by e-mail...)

- Louisville starts BIG EAST against the Red Storm

- Softball downs Miami (OH) and Austin Peay

- Lacrosse romps Presbyterian on road

-BIG EAST Tournament Second Round results


Louisville now knows who their opponent will be in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament. St. John's held off a pesky Seton Hall squad yesterday in second round action 51-45 to advance to the chance to play Louisville at noon today in Hartford's XL Center.

The Cards (23-7, 11-6) would likely face top-seeded and #2 in the nation Notre Dame on Monday if they win today.

Jeff Walz isn't worried about playing basketball but he is uncertain about what this team can do...and certain that the Cards have to play perfect basketball for three straight days if they have any chance to take the 2013 title.

One-on-one defense and creating turnovers and transition opportunities are keys to the Cards successes from now until Tuesday night.

One could speculate that the Cards, who defeated St John's 57-54 earlier in the regular season in the KFC YUM Center might have an eye-ahead on who they'll face in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, that will be played in the KFC YUM! Center next week. Tickets still are on sale for two possible chances to see Louisville play.

A win over a good St John's squad, though would likely help Louisville's seed in the big dance. Louisville scored eight straight unanswered points to beat the Red Storm at the end of the game to win when the two faced up earlier this year.

Win today. Worry about tomorrow then, Cards.

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Louisville softball can hit. Oh, yeah...they got bats. UofL pounded Miami (OH) 9-1 and then took out Austin Peay 12-0 to sweep both games in the Red and Black Classic yesterday at Ulmer Stadium.

CARDS 9 - MIAMI 1

Louisville wasted no time getting on the board in their first game. Alicja Wolny's two run blast woke up the right field berm dwellers and Kayla Soles sent one onto Cardinal Blvd. behind the left field fence to give the Cards a 3-0 lead after one inning.

It was 5-0 after three innings. Maggie Ruckenbrod hit the Cards third "touch 'em all" off the scoreboard in left after Jordan Trimble doubled.

Make it 8-1 after five innings. Katie Keller doubled and after Wolny got walked...both scored when Soles singled. Soles got to the plate when Hannah Kiyohara singled.

Louisville aded a run in the sixth when Taner Fowler scored on a Brittany Sims single.

Rachel Le Coq (8-1) in the circle for Louisville allowing just four hits for the RedHawks and a run.

CARDS 12 - AP 0

Keller was the bomb in game two, going 4-4 with 5 rbi's and a homer.

The Cards struck early in this one, too. Keller crashing a homer off the scoreboard in the first and Trimble doubling and scoring on a Soles single to make it 2-0 UofL after one inning.

Keller's double scored Katelyn Mann and Jennifer Esteban in the second to make it 4-0 Cards. She drove in Mann in the third inning with a double to increase the UofL lead to 5-0.

Louisville capped the scoring in the fourth with seven runs. Eight hits...keyed by a two-run triple by Mann, doubles from Ruckenbrod, Keller and Wolny and singles from Soles and Esteban.

Caralisa Connell (11-2) and LeCoq combined in the circle
...allowing just one Govs hit in five innings.

Louisville's start time today against Illinois State has been moved up to 2 p.m. because of forecasted rain in the Derby City.

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Louisville Lacrosse travelled to Georgia and blasted Presbyterian 23-1 yesterday. The stick-and-net Cards had a 5-0 lead after three minutes...freshman Erica Eipp getting three assists and two goals in the rapid-fire start.

Louisville was up 10-0 with eighteen minutes left in the first half...Nikki Boltja getting three straight scores...and led at the half 14-0...Emily Kolsevich and Jamie Redding getting on the board with scores.

The Cards continued the onslaught to begin the final half. Boltja, Cortnee Daly and Faye Brust with two scores each.

The Blue Hose didn't score until there was 1:11 remaining in the game the Cards had the backups on the field.

"It was excellent. Again, we had all of our subs in for the last 21 minutes of the contest. To have them do it, who haven't been on the field in these big games we've been playing, shows that they are paying attention in practice, they are working hard and they have put their time in. They represented us today. It's really a proud moment for me as a coach."  --Kellie Young, Louisville head lacrosse coach.

Louisville heads to Detroit next for a 2 p.m. contest on Wednesday.

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No major surprises in Day Two of the BIG EAST WBB Tournament yesterday. St John's, as mentioned above, advances to face Louisville. USF, the #8 seed, defeated Rutgers 42-39 in a defensive struggle that was painful to watch. DePaul got a big effort from Anna Martin in taking Marquette out of the dance with a 77-69 win, Villanova bombed Sugar Rodgers and Georgetown 89-58.

So, Day 3 features the top eight seeds.

The Cards and Red Storm start it off at noon. USF and Notre Dame follow at 2 p.m. DePaul tries Connecticut at 6 and Villanova and Syracuse finish the game at 8.

Multiple entries in the Cardinal Couple Pick 'Em Contest are 7-0. Standings after seven games:

7-0  Quentin V, Jenny O'Bryan, Perry S, K. Starks, PDX Phil, Mike D, Sonja Sykes, Curtis F, Allen H, Nick B, Carol W, Andrea S, Sally K, Micha L, Ben S, Andy L.

6-1  Kenny S, Paulie, Andy L, Matthew Mitchell for Governor, Jimmy S, Carlos A, Gene S, Timmy the Intern

5-2  Jeff McA, Joe T, Doug A, Matt D, Bill the Goat, Blue Lou, Connie E, The Source, Janet M.

4-3  Sandy W, Mike F, David W, Joe H, Mark M, Mark T, Aaron F.

3-4  Milton K, Green and Gold

2-5  Ellen G.

1-6  Coco

0-7  Staff Chimps


Tie-breaker is to the earliest entry we received.

Good luck, we're halfway through...



Paulie

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Softball hangs on against Michigan 5-4

SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- LeCoq bails Cards out in win over #14 Michigan.

- Lacrosse travels to play Presbyterian


- BIG EAST: 1st round WBB Tournament Action

- Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Sat. 11 a.m.

Paulie delievers a stirring rendition of "Innagadadavida" at
MArkie MArk's Celebration Day festivities...

A couple of truisms about Cardinal Softball pitcher Caralisa Connell. When she's good, she's very good. When she's off, she's very off. Limiting Michigan to one run in six innings yesterday, she needed bailout relief from Obama Rachel LeCoq in the seventh inning to preserve the one run lead and win for #13 ranked UofL.

The squads battled through four scoreless innings yesterday at Ulmer Stadium in the Red and Black Classic before the Wolverines punched in a run during the top of the fifth inning. Connell allowed four hits in the inning and got out of a potentially disastrous situation by getting Michigan to ground-out with the bases loaded and two outs.

The scare must have put some life into the UofL bats...they countered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Jordan Trimble and Katie Keller both reached safely on singles to start the inning and after an intentional walk to Alicja Wolny to fill the bases with Cards with one out, Maggie Ruckenbrod smacked a two out, two RBI double to deep left that made it 2-1 Louisville.

The Cards got going again in the sixth. Whitney Arion singled, Jennifer Esteban drew a walk and Katie Keller singled home Arion to make it 3-1 Cards. Alicja Wolny got a chance to actually swing the bat for once and made UM pay with a two run RBI single. 5-1 Cards after six innings.

Caralisa was the
most popular
Cardinal Women's
Athlete of 2012
according to CARDINAL
COUPLE readers.

Connell gave up a Wolverine single in the top of the seventh and Ashley Lane's home run blast made it 5-3. A Michigan single and double produced another run with the tying run on second.

Exit Connell, enter LeCoq.

The Colgate transfer got a strikeout for the first out of the inning, a fielder's choice moved the runner to third for the second out and a groundout ended the game. 5-4 UofL.

Connell (10-2) got credited for the win, LeCoq the save...her first of the year.

Louisville returns to the field today with 2:30 game vs. Miami (OH) and 5 p.m. tilt against Austin Peay. If you plan on making a day of it...first game starts at 9:30 a.m. when Michigan plays Illinois State in their pajamas.

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Nikki Boltja is UofL's leading scorer

Louisville Lacrosse (4-1) heads to Georgia to take on Presbyterian College in Cummings, GA. The Cards are coming off a close victory over Vandy Wednesday and face a 1-5 Blue Hose (no...it's not a mis-spell) squad who earned their first win of the season against Stetson 17-7 on Tuesday.

Louisville defeated the "Prez's" last year 20-3. This UofL squad is light-years better...maybe they make it 40-6 this year.

Nikki Boltja, Louisville's leading scorer on the season, had six goals last year against the...Blue Hose. If only she'd worn her little, black cocktail dress.

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Anne Donovan, Seton Hall's coach,
is asking the ref if she can
play 10 players against UConn

The Big East WBB Tournament is off and running and in first round action...Seton Hall had a tougher time than I expected against UC, winning 60-55. Marquette lives to fight another day...thumping pitiful Pitt 66-43 and Georgetown handled Providence 81-61 in the night cap....despite 35 points by the Friars' Tori Rule.  

Seton Hall gets St. John's today at noon, Rutgers and USF go to war at 2 p.m., Marquette plays DePaul and Villanova and Georgetown close Day 2 action.

A lot of CARDINAL COUPLE Pick 'Em contestants went 3-0 on the day...good luck today with your selections. 42 brave souls are battling for the $25 Chili's Gift Card.

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CARDINAL COUPLE HOUR returns for our second broadcast today at 11 a.m. on Crescent Hill Radio.

www.crescenthillradio.com

We'll discuss Louisville women's basketball, softball, lacrosse, BIG EAST WBB Tournament and try to squeeze in a few more sports as well. I've also (hopefully) got a few sound-bytes from the Thursday Media session with the Lady Cards and Coach Walz. I think I've got Nita Slaughter and Sara Hammond interviews. Me and mechanical devices...never a good mix.

-Paulie

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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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Thursday Cardinal Couple

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Thursday Cardinal Couple - The "Spring Sports? Its Snowing!" Edition

Another Lacrosse Win

Coming off their first loss of the season in Denver, Kellie Young's young Lacrosse team came out Wednesday afternoon ready to make a statement.  While not ideal weather for a field sport, the cold, with a bit of snow on the ground, didn't chill the first half attack of the Cardinals.

Louisville Lacrosse team got out to a strong lead in the first half of the game against Vanderbilt with scoring by committee.  Seven different sources of scoring for Louisville led to the 9-4 halftime lead. Nikki Boltja found the back of the net twice, as did Katie Oliverio.  Also scoring for Louisville in the first half were Colleen O'Malley, Erika Eipp, Kaylin Morissette, Jamie Redding, and...uhm...Vanderbilt.

Vanderbilt made a statement in the second half, but it wasn't enough to completely close the gap.  Carly Linthicum scored 4 of her 5 goals in the second half, including 3 in under 8 minutes, helping to narrow the 5 point halftime margin to 3, but Cardinals Nikki Boltja and Kaylin Morissette both scored twice to hold on to the win for a final score of 13-10.

Another win, over another quality opponent.  If you didn't get a chance to get out to the Lacrosse Stadium, you're going to have to wait a while.  The Cardinals don't return to play a game on Floyd St. until early April, though hopefully that means the weather will be nicer.  In the meantime, they have road games against Presbyterian (in Georgia), Detroit, and Drexel.  The road trip continues with the beginning of conference play against Loyola Maryland...yes, that is a Big East team in Lacrosse...and Georgetown, before finally returning home for a April 5th game against Notre Dame with a 5pm first draw.

National Honors

Several National honors were bestowed on Cardinal Womens Athletes this week, both athletic and academic.

Softball

Katie Keller (2B) picked up the Louisville Slugger/NFCA (National Fast-pitch Coaches Association) Player of the Week spot.  The Cards have had two players pick up this award previously Tori Collins (4/17/2012) and Chelsea Bemis (4/27/2010).

Katie breaks new ground by being named the USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Week, an honor never before bestowed on a Cardinal.

The softball team will be back in action on Floyd street in beautiful Ulmer Stadium this weekend.  First pitch for UofL will be against a frequent opponent, Michigan, on Friday at 4pm.  Miami (Ohio) and Austin Peay will be the Saturday matchups with 2:30pm and 5pm starts, with a 3pm Sunday start against Illinois State.  The weather looks to be fantastic, particularly as the weekend progresses, for a trip out to Ulmer to cheer on the 13th ranked Softball team.

Congratulations to Katie, and good luck to the whole team this weekend.

Field Hockey

UofL Field Hockey was named to the 2012 Gladiator by SGI/National Field Hockey Coaches Association Nation Academic Team Award list...boy that's a mouthful.  This list is for teams that achieve a team GPA of 3.0 or above.

Contributing to that, were the seven players named to the NFHCA National Academic squad.  This squad is players that have earned a 3.30 or higher GPA through the first semester of the 2012-13 school year.  The seven are: Elisa Garcia, Natasha Leickly, Becca Maddock, Mallory Mason, Paige Monsen, Kelsey Rosenmeier, and Kendall Weedling.

Congratulations to the Field Hockey team for representing the University and community so well, even in the off season.

The Signing News Continues

This is a marathon, not a sprint; but I'm going to throw you a bit of a curve-ball by starting with...

Volleyball

Alex Wilharm has joined the Volleyball coaching staff as an assistant coach to Anne Kordes.  If you've been to a volleyball match in the past couple of years, you've seen Alex; he's the (very) red-headed guy who looks like he's about 17, but in reality is in his mid-20's.  Alex has been serving as the volunteer assistant coach for the past two years, but now joins the coaching staff officially.  He joins Lee Maes and replaces Melissa Stark Bean.  Melissa has been up front about only filling the assistant coaches position temporarily (due to the late departure of Dani Busboom to become an assistant coach at her alma mater Nebraska) until Kordes could find a longer term replacement.

Kordes has, in the past, spoken about wanting to hire an older more established coach to help bring a bit of a different perspective to the staff, but apparently decided that it was worth hiring Alex, and lowering the age of an already youthful staff, in order to retain his immense talent and drive.

I've had the opportunity to speak with Alex several times and he is a genuinely nice guy and very enjoyable to talk to.  He knows the game of volleyball very well...far better than his youth would suggest...and is clearly an immensely hard worker.  This is another great hire for the UofL Athletic Department and UofL Volleyball.

Field Hockey

Justine Sowry has clearly been spending a lot of time in the Camden, NJ area in the past couple of years.  Field Hockey has announced their 5th (of 6) signing of the year in Elina Pereira from Shawnee High School in Medford, NJ.  Previous announcements included 2 from Eastern Regional High School in Vorhees, NJ about 10 miles down the road.

Elina is a goalkeeper and is expected to compete for the starting position this fall.  Welcome, Elina.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Jeff pleads his point on the CARDINAL
COUPLE Radio Hour

I had a lot of fun with Paulie and Jenny on Crescent Hill Radio on Saturday, and am really looking forward to doing it again this week.  No doubt we'll give some time to the Big East Women's Basketball tournament...we'll have the results of the first round in to talk about and analyze.  We'll also have the Michigan Softball game to talk about.  Be sure to tune in to http://www.crescenthillradio.com Saturday at 11am ET.  Paulie's flights of fancy are worth the price of admission alone.

Paulie insists Rutgers is in
New Jersey on the show...

Editor's Note: And it was a great show...Jeff and Jenny providing the perfect Moe and Larry compliment to my Curly/Three Stooges ramblings. Despite a nagging back pain that has me less than my usual chipper self, I'm hoping to creep down to the Belknap Campus early this afternoon to also get some audio for the show from Coach Jeff Walz and a few players about the upcoming BIG EAST Tournament, random thoughts on the season, the aspect of nuclear war with North Korea and dental hygiene in the 21st. century.

I'd also like to remind you of the CARDINAL COUPLE BIG EAST WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT PICK 'EM going on currently. It's free to enter, a $25 Chili's Gift Card to the winner and great fun and fellowship as you try to pick the 14 games that await us beginning Friday. You can leave your picks in the comments section of this column, e-mail them to cardinalcouple@insightbb.com or call our customer service number and one of our talented chimps will write them down and post them on the "big board" for study, pie-throwing and ridicule.

Sonja smiles, knowing she will win the 'Pick Em'

WE promised staff picks to be presented and although the majority of the staff HAS NOT submitted their picks yet (notorious slackers and underachievers that they are...) Sonja has charged out of the defensive secondary, stole a wicket and charged toward the net with hers.

WE have had a very good response so far for the contest, with 32 entries as of 7:00 a.m. Thursday morning. Even the staff chimps at CARDINAL COUPLE have gotten together an entry and Timmy the Intern is trying to get his smuggled out of a Mexican jail to us. Bill the Goat also came up with an entry, but promptly ate it. Join us, won't you?

--Paulie "Where's the Aleve?" Sykes

SONJA'S SELECTIONS?
HERE THEY ARE!

ROUND 1 : Seton Hall, Marquette, Georgetown
ROUND 2 : St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Villanova
ROUND 3 : Louisville, Notre Dame, Connecticut, Syracuse
ROUND 4 : Notre Dame, Connecticut
ROUND 5:  Notre Dame

 

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Tuesday Cardinal Couple -- Cards WBB falls at Syracuse 68-57

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Cards "siesta" proves deadly in 11 point loss

-BIG EAST Tournament Pairings

-CARDINAL COUPLE BIG EAST Tournament Pick 'Em

Louisville women's basketball team didn't play too badly for 32 minutes against Syracuse Monday night. It was the eight-minute nap that they took offensively that was the downfall in the 68-57 loss to the Orange in Syracuse, NY.

441 fans in attendance for a matchup between two top-25 teams. Disgraceful. They should send Syracuse to the Horizon Conference instead of the ACC in women's hoops...

A Jude Schimmel steal and layup had the Cards ahead 38-37 with 14:56 to go in the game. Louisville didn't score again until a Bria Smith steal made it 53-40 Syracuse with 6:33 to go.

A 16-0 Syracuse run..where the Orange got points from five different players...and set a lead that the Cards couldn't overcome.

Louisville did try to fight back. The Cards responded with a 18-7 run over a 5:30 stretch to climb back with four at 60-56 after a off-balance, falling down Shoni Schimmel three at the 1:07 mark. Syracuse made the best out of their free throws the rest of the way to end the game on a 8-1 run.

The Cards came out hot to start the game, going on a 8-0 run after Brittany Sykes gave the Cuse the early 3-0 lead. Nita Slaughter's second three of the game put UofL ahead 8-3 at the 15:48 mark. Louisville still lead 14-11 after a Sherrone Vails jumper at the 8:51 mark. Syracuse briefly grabbed a 24-23 lead with 2:39 left in the first half...but the Cards got two Shoni threes in the final 1:25 of the first half...the final one with three seconds remaining...to give Louisville a 29-27 lead at the half.

Shoni and Sara Hammond had eight points in the first twenty, Slaughter added six, Jude with five and Sherrone Vails two for the Cards in the first half. Syracuse out-rebounded Louisville 19-17 but had 12 turnovers.

Syracuse started the second half on a 7-2 run and led 34-31 on a Sykes layup...but Jude drilled a three to tie it with 17:25 left. Jude steal and layup gave Louisville their final lead at 38-37.

Then, the rim closed for the Cards.

Shoni led all scorers with 19 points, Jude added 12 and Slaughter and Hammond ended with eight each. Smith and Denies finished with four each and Vails two points. Shelby Harper and Cortnee Walton played but did not score. Monique Reid was available but Coach Walz chose not to use her...feeling the extra rest before the BIG EAST Tournament would do her good.

Louisville lost the rebounding battle 47-34 and Syracuse enjoyed a 18-8 advantage with points-in-the-paint. Freshman Brittany Sykes and senior Kayla Alexander had 16 points each for Quentin Hillsman's Orange.

Bonita Spence...Paulie's favorite referee in the whole wide world...actually didn't do a horrible job...she only missed about a dozen calls instead of her normal 20-25. Harper and Hammond getting creamed by 'thug-girl' Kayla Alexander in the final minute...and the resulting "no calls" were moronic by Spencer. Especially the swinging of the elbows by Alexander at Hammond's face. Control your dogs, Quentin. I hope Alexander dislocates those elbows the next time she tries to get "street" in a game already decided.

Uncalled for and very poor sportsmanship.

With the win, Syracuse gets the #3 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament. Louisville gets #4 and will play next at noon on Sunday against either Cincinnati, Seton Hall or St. John's in the quarterfinals.

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Norte Dame is the #1 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament defeating UConn in three overtimes last night 97-88.

First round match ups on Friday:

Cincy plays Seton Hall
Pitt plays Marquette
Providence plays Georgetown

Second round on Saturday

#5 seed St. John gets the Cincy/Seton Hall winner
Rutgers and DePaul play each other on Saturday
Villanova gets the winner of the Pitt/Marquette game
South Florida gets the Providence/Georgetown winner.

Sunday action

Louisville against Cincy, Seton Hall or St. John's
Notre Dame against Rutgers or DePaul
UConn faces Pitt, Marquette or Villanova
Syracuse draws Georgetown, Providence or South Florida.

The semi finals will be played Monday night and finals Tuesday night at the XL Center in Hartford.

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CARDINAL COUPLE once again proudly presents the BIG EAST Tournament Pick 'Em Contest. At stake, a $25 CHILI'S gift card to the winner! 14 games in all, pick the winner for each and take the prize.

Here's Bill the Goat's bracket as an example.

SETON HALL over Cincy. PITT over Marquette. GEORGETOWN over Providence in first day action.

SETON HALL over St. John's. RUTGERS over DePaul.
VILLANOVA over Pitt . SOUTH FLORIDA over Georgetown in the second day of games.

LOUISVILLE over Seton Hall. NORTE DAME over Rutgers.
CONNECTICUT over Villanova. SOUTH FLORIDA over Syracuse in the quarterfinals.

LOUISVILLE over Notre Dame. CONNECTICUT over South Florida in the semifinals.

LOUISVILLE defeats Connecticut in the finals.

Another way is:

Seton Hall, Pitt, Georgetown
Seton Hall, Rutgers, Villanova, South Florida
Louisville, Notre Dame, Connecticut, South Florida
Louisville, Connecticut
Louisville


14 games played, 14 winners picked. (No one said Bill knows anything about basketball...BTW.)

Send your picks to cardinalcouple@insightbb.com or you can leave them in the comments section of any of the articles this week.

-- Entries close at noon Friday. Be sure to give us a name and e-mail or phone # to contact you by...if you win.

We'll try to find a decent bracket set up and post it Tuesday or Wednesday. Good luck and may the best prognosticator win!

Download the BIG EAST Women's Tournament Bracket at:

www.bigeast.org/wbb

-Paulie





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