Thursday Cardinal Couple - Is It Sunday Yet? Edition

THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( Jeff McAdams dashes from Ulmer to the lacrosse fields and from New Orleans to the presentation of the naming of the conference UofL will spend a year in for Thursday's edition of CARDINAL COUPLE. He even made stops to help little old ladies dodge traffic on Cardinal Blvd. and help Mo off the bus at the SAC...that's our guy!)



I hope its not Sunday yet, because that would mean we missed some more good Cardinal Athletics in the meantime.

Softball Swings for State Swagger

While the Louisville Baseball team forced an inning of bonus baseball before falling to our neighbors to the east, Sandy Pearsall's Softball squad had better luck, and continues the great week in Louisville Athletics.

The scoring started in the second, and yes it involved a ball landing on the very crowded outfield berm. Taner Fowler got on base by being hit by a pitch, with Hannah Kiyohara following with a walk.  The setup in place, Kayla "De La" Soles put one over the left field fence to put three on the board.

The Cards put up another couple of runs in the 5th when Jordan Trimble singled to start the inning.  Alicja Wolny followed with a deep shot to right that didn't quite clear the fence, but did drop in and was more the sufficient to get Trimble home.  Wolny made it to 3rd.  Unfortunately, she got caught at home in a fielder's choice by Maggie Ruckenbrod.  The Ruck advanced to second, where she's usually throwing people out from her catcher's position, on a Taner Fowler sacrifice.  Hannah Kiyohara's single got her to 2nd on an overthrow at first and gave Maggie the chance to make it home for the final Card point of the game.

The Kentucky Wildcats picked up their only score in the 6th inning, but otherwise "Good Carl" Caralisa Connell was in control in the circle.

The Softball squad next take a trip to New England for a three game series with St. Johns with a noon and 2pm double-header on Saturday the 6th and a noon followup game on the 7th.  They'll then scoot over to play a noon and 2:30 double-header on Tuesday the 9th with Providence in Rhode Island.  Game times won't conflict with any Final Four basketball games in either bracket, and ESPN3 is apparently streaming the St. Johns games, so this would be a good time to check out the Softball Cards without suffering from a wind chill factor.

All's Quiet on the Western...er...the Lacrosse Front

Kellie Young's Lacrosse squad managed to draw a large media response to the Yum! Center on campus for their practice Wednesday afternoon, though rumor is that there were other goings on in the building...something about a broken leg?

Lacrosse has had a good break between games, giving them a good chance to practice for Notre

Dame's arrival at the UofL Lacrosse Stadium, adjacent to the Yum! Center on campus tomorrow (Friday) at 5pm.  6/7 ranked Notre Dame continues the steady stream of quality opponents that the Louisville Laxers are coming up against.

Marquette comes to join the fun on Sunday for a noon first draw, which leaves plenty of time to check out the Lacrosse game and still get home or wherever you're going, to be glued to a TV at 6:30.

Cardinal Couple Crashes the Crescent City

While much of CardNation is heading to Atlanta, at least a trio of Cardinal Couple writers are travelling to Lou Orleans for the Women's Final Four.  Jenny, Sandy and myself have travel plans in place to be in NOLA Sunday through Tuesday to cover Jeff Walz and the Louisville GiantSlayers as they hope to continue to shock the basketball world. Paulie will man the fort back here in Louisville...feeding the staff chimps and hopefully getting reports from us as time allows.

The fun continues Sunday evening at 6:30pm for the Cardinal Women's Basketball team.  Opinions have certainly turned as I note that all five of the ESPNw analysts have now picked our 5 seed Cardinals to beat the 2 seed Cal Bears.

If you're not making it to Nawlin's, all of the games will be on ESPN.  We're in the first game at 6:30 Eastern Time on Sunday, as mentioned.  The second game, the ever-expected UConn vs Notre Dame matchup should tip around 8:30.  The finals, hopefully an all-Big-East affair, will be Tuesday with an 8:30 Eastern Time tip.

New Conference Name

We've known for a while now that the seven Catholic schools are buying out the Big East name from the current conference.  What wasn't known is what the new name for what remains of the Big East was going to be.  The announcement has occurred, and the result is, "The American Athletic Conference".

The conference administration has already stated that they don't intend to use an acronym, instead referring to it in common usage as "The American".  I'm skeptical that the general public will follow
along and will instead use the acronym AAC, as is common practice with many conferences.

In any case, its only of minimal concern for us in Louisville given our imminent switch to the ACC.  The announcement on the Big East's website makes no mention and doesn't use any of the logos of the departing schools such as Pitt, Syracuse, Notre Dame and Louisville...no surprise, really, and I can't say that I blame them.

( An excellent report...by Jeff today. After an extensive review of the CARDINAL COUPLE Pick 'Em Challenge for the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, it seems our intrepid writer is in second place...as well..with a record of 50-10 as the team roll into New Orleans. Keith B. hangs on to a 52-8 mark to lead the way and Steve O. is in line for the show money at 49-11.

Also a great time for Paulie earlier Wednesday at the SAC Building for the greeting of the victorious WBB team. Lots of good interviews for our Saturday Radio Show and I also made it on a video! Several times. See if you can pick me out...link below)

Paulie

LINK:
CARDS RETURN TO LOUISVILLE


FINALLY.....WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF THIS? CARDINAL COUPLE CO-OWNER SONJA ISN'T IN THE RUNNING TO WIN THE PICK 'EM...HER 43-17 RECORD IS A BIT BEHIND THE LEADERS...BUT HER FINAL FOUR?

UOFL, CAL, NOTRE DAME, UCONN.

SHE LIKES THE CARDS TO WIN IT ALL...

(SHE ALSO HATES THE SINGLE POINT PER WIN SYSTEM WE USE.)

ARE YOU LISTENING, SHONI? SONJA SAYS TITLE 'EM UP!

(PIC OF HER BRACKET)

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Cards face hot Boilermakers in NCAA WBB 2nd round

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


-Boilermakers on a win streak as they face UofL

-Caralisa Connell named BIG EAST Softball pitcher of week.

Quentin Voigt with the preview of tonight's Louisville v Purdue NCAA Women's Tournament 2nd round game. GOOD SEATS IN THE END ZONES ARE AVAILABLE FOR JUST $5 FOR THIS GAME. COME TO THE YUM! and GET YOUR TICKETS AT THE BOX OFFICE. THIS IS THE NCAA, FOLKS!


The Purdue Boilermakers have won five in a row coming into tonight's game and six out of their last seven. They are purported to be a tough-nosed team. Purdue brings a 25-8 record into the contest. They were 10-6 in BIG TEN regular season games but came on strong to win the conference tournament.

Coach Sharon Versyp is in her seventh year as Boilermaker boss and her success has been note-worthy. She has had 17 All-BIG TEN performers, three players on the All-BIG TEN Freshman team, six BIG TEN All-Defensive team selections, 11 BIG TEN All-Tournament players (three of then MOP's) and three WNBA draft picks. Just as importantly, 32 of her players have been named Academic All-BIG TEN members, including Lauren Minton -- a Rhodes Scholar finalist.

The 2012-13 team is loaded with talent, including all five of their starters. Leading scorer is 5'6" guard Courtney Moore at 13.5 ppg. 6'2" paint specialist Drey Mingo averages 12.3 ppg and 5'6" guard K.M Houser adds 11.4 a game. 6'2" Sam Osterrella contributes 9.7 ppg and 6'2" Taylor Manual is good for 8.1 ppg. Osterella grabs 10 boards a game and Mingo adds 6 per contest.

Purdue averages 68 ppg, creates 16.1 assists and gets 8.1 steal a night. Losses of note -- UConn 91-57, Notre Dame 74-47, Iowa 62-46, Penn State 69-61, Michigan State 68-61. They also fell to lowly Indiana 62-61.

The Lady Cards chances are good...but they would certainly be boosted by a YUM! Center full of rowdy fans. Louisville needs to ride the momentum of the final 10 minutes against MTSU and play as a unit with the single-minded goal to win.

-Quentin Voigt

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The Purdue team I saw dismantle Liberty does a lot of things well. They crash the boards hard, block out well and Moore had a spectacular scoring performance against the over-matched Liberty Flames. With three 6'2" starters, it'll be interesting to see if Walz stays with his previous starting lineup of Shoni, Bria, Sara, Sherrone and Nita.

The three keys I see to a Cardinal win are another double-digit performance from the "Sho and Mo" show, Vails giving a solid 20 minutes and the Cards hitting 70% or better from the foul line. The Boilermakers should provide Louisville plenty of free throw chances. The Cards must capitalize.

Versyp will probably try to come up with a game plan to limit Shoni's effectiveness. If she does, it'll be up to Smith, Mo, Sara and Nita to step it up. If Nita can find that three-point efficiency she displayed prior to the BIG EAST Tournament...Purdue will have to drop the "stop Shoni" scenario.

I see the Cards advancing to the Sweet Sixteen with a hard-fought 69-63 win. Not that it matters, but a lot of Cards fans were surprised that Purdue got the #4 seed and Louisville the #5 in the region.

Time to start up the redemption train engine again.

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Congrats to Cardinal softball pitcher Caralisa Connell for being selected the BIG EAST Softball Pitcher of the week. She punished both Iowa and Oklahoma last week and held the batters she face to a meager .171 batting average.

Louisville entertains Syracuse this weekend at Ulmer. A Friday doubleheader that starts at 2 p.m. and single game Saturday at noon.

The Cards are #11 in the nation and 26-5 on the season.

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We'll update the CARDINAL COUPLE Pick 'Em challenge in Wednesday's column...after all the second round games have been completed. Like I care. I'm so far behind the leaders...I think I'm in the lead.

Paulie

Cards WBB advances to Tuesday night with 74-49 win.

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-All's well that ends well in CARDS Four Act Play

-Lacrosse tumbles to Hoyas 14-11

-Pick 'Em Results

You could almost call the UofL women's basketball 25-point win over MTSU Sunday afternoon a play of sorts Just call me Paulie the Playwright and listen to my tale of gladness and woe... we'll call this little tale..

On to 32.

Act I :  The Rise of the Empire

Louisville absolutely roared out of the castle and bounced out to a 20-3 lead in the the first 6:37 of the first half. Beginning with Vails and Hammond pounding the backboard for points inside and ending with Reid, Shoni and Smith hitting a varying array of jumpers and layups, the Cards looked like they were playing Middle School Tennessee instead of MTSU and Reid layup capped a 16-0 run with 13:23 left in the first half.

All cylinders were clicking and the Blue Raiders looked blue and absolutely raided. It was a delight to watch.

Act II : Sailing Along while the Enemy Forces plot Revenge.

The Cards maintained the lead in varying numbers for the rest of the first half...anywhere from seven to sixteen points as the scoring effort remained balanced and Louisville had their way inside when MTSU played defense MTSU did rally to climb within eight with 4:49 on the clock -- a Kortni Jones jumper dong the trick to make it 26-18-- but Louisville looked to be headed into the locker room up by double digits before a Reid shot met rejection from Ebony Rowe and Kortni Jones drilled a three off the rebound to make it 34-27 at the half.

The Cards were still in command..but the countryside was rumbling with a bit of trepidation, worry and wonder. The Empire was showing a few cracks in the armor and the Blue Raiders were narrowing the gap

Act III : The Empires Stumbles 


MTSU came out on fire in the second half and drilled two threes in the first 3:12 to cut the once-safe UofL lead to one at 34-33. Over the next five minutes that narrow UofL advantage would fluctuate from one to five points...a three from reserve Laken Leonard cut the Cardinal lead to 42-40 with 10:23 remaining. It looked like the Cards had been driven into the ropes and pummeled but were refusing to go to the canvas.

MTSU had momentum, a loud and rowdy fan base in the southwest corner of the KFC YUM! Center was roaring and Louisville needed some answers fast.

Act IV : Riding the Redemption Train to Tuesday

The UofL resurgance began quietly enough. Shoni hits a contested jumper at the 10 minute mark and sinks the accompanying free throw as well. A missed MTSU attempt leads to a Smith jumper that tickles the nets and both the Schimmel sisters take the stage after that. Shoni's steal and layup increases the lead to nine and Jude's three-bomb makes it 52-40 in just a 90 second span.

There was fire and determination again in the Lady Cards' eyes and the MTSU fans in sections 101-103 could have avoided additional agony by accessing the exits after Vails' jumper made it 56-42 with 7:01 to go.

The Blue Raiders were vanquished invaders. Reid inside made it 64-44 with 4:30 left and when Rowe finally hit a layup with 3:55 on the clock...the Cards were on a 24-6 run and the only question left was how big would the win margin be.

Rowe added another inside score for the Raiders final tally to cut the Louisville lead to 21 at 70-49 with 2:24 in the game. Free throws from Vails, Shelby Harper and a Jude Schimmel lay-in off a steal with 1:15 left provided the final score of 74-49.

WIth the win, Louisville gets Purdue Tuesday night in the KFC YUM! Center at appox. 7 p.m.

Mo goes for two. Photo by Charlie Springer. See his site
at www.uoflcardgame.com

Shoni had 20 on 9-15 shooting in 36 minutes. Monique Reid added 15 on 7 of 11 attempts. Jude Schimmel (11 points) and Bria Smith (10 points) also finished in double figures.

Hats off to Sherrone Vails also for a strong 21 minutes and nine points. She and Sara Hammond seemed to be favorite whistle stops for Dee Kanter's crew...each seeing bench time with three fouls.

Coach Walz couldn't find too much to complain about in the post game presser. Happy for the win and pleased to be playing Tuesday, he wished free throw shooting and missed layup opportunities would have been better.  For a man on the eve of destruction and tournament elimination, he engineered a remarkable rally and...as he has said before...any win is a good one.

This was a good one. Not great. Frittering away a 13 point lead ito one over a six minute period spanning two halves has to be a bit of cause for concern. This time of year, though...what doesn't kill you means you're alive to fight another day.

Purdue awaits. They shackled Liberty earlier Sunday on Denny Crum's Court. The battle should be a good one.

How's the competition stack up? Sandy Walker (yes, she's still out there, folks) sends this link on Team Performance Index.

UPS Team Performance Index

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While the WBB Cards were heating up the KFC YUM! Center, Louisville lacrosse was in the cold battling BIG EAST opponent Georgetown in Washington, D.C. The results weren't as good for the Cross Gals...losing 14-11 to the # 8 in the nation Hoyas.

Kaylin Morissete had a career high five goals in the loss for Louisville.

Down 3-0 early, UofL battled back to 3-2 with two unassisted scores by Morissette. Georgetown fired back, though, and went up 6-3 before Monica Negron found paydirt to get Louisville to within two with 14:15 remaining in the first half.

Nikki Boltja and Coleen O'Malley followed suit, benefitting from assists from Katie Oliverio over the next two minutes and Louisville tied the match with 12:12 to go.

Georgetown went on a 3-0 run to regain the three goal advantage but the Cards weren't done...Oliverio netted her first score of the game and Morissette went back-to-back with scores...her fourth of the game coming with three seconds on the clock to tie the contest 9-9 for the halftime break.

The Hoyas took their turn at scoring to start the second half. Three GU scores in the first ten minutes had them ahead 12-9. Morissette responded with 15:53 left with a net-finder and Nikki Boltja got her second tally with 12 minutes remaining to draw the Cards within one at 12-11.

Unforutnately, that was the end of the Cardinal scoring and G'Town added two insurance goals to take the 14-11 win.

The long road trip finally ends. Louisville returns home for a pair of BIG EAST matchup. Notre Dame visits after spring break for a Friday, April 5th. match at 5 p.m. The Cards will also host Marquette Sunday April 7th., at noon.

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Whoo, boy! We got us a contest going on over here at the COUPLE in our Bracket Pick 'Em Contest! With 32 games played, we got nine players that are 28-4 OR BETTER!

Here's the honor roll:

30-2 Nell J.

29-3 Jeff McAdams, Jenny O. ( both Cardinal Couple columnists! ) Keith B. and Andy K.

28-4 Curtis F. Matthew M., Steve O. and Kenny S.

Jenny and Jeff in a four-way tie for second

There are also at 27-5 and 26-6...so the game is far from over.

Meanwhile, in 'Loserville' (bracket-wise)...Paul sits at 23-9, Sonja at 24-8 and David Watson is keeping her company there. Worst entry? Once again the Cardinal Staff Chimps have come up with a bracket that is at 4-28. They did get the #1 seeds right in the first round. After that, nada. They've also got three of the #1 seeds going out in the second round. Darn chimps!

Paulie

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Cards WBB prepares for MTSU -- Softball splits with Oklahoma

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

IN GAME UPDATES - LIVE FROM

-Update 4:31 p.m. 74-49 FINAL Shoni with 20, Mo with 15.

-Update 4:24 pm. Shelby Harper in with 2:45 left. 70-47 Cards 

-Update 4:17 p.m. It's 66-44 with 4:17 left. Deines in.  The Blue Raider just got raided.

-Update 4:10 p.m. Cards now lead 58-44 Shoni with eight second-half points. 6:08 remains in the game

-Update 4:01 p.m. Cards take off on a exciting run. 49-40 with 9:05 left. Shoni and Mo with ten combined second half points.

-Update 3:53 p.m. Cards clinging to a 38-35 lead, Shoni with 11 points. Refs are making some very interesting calls...

-Update 3:44 p.m. It's now 34-33 UofL with 15:59 to go The "horse of a different color" is charging down the stretch at Churchill Yum!

-Update Half 34-27 Cards. Nervous time..

-Update 3:10 p.m. Louisville up 32-24. Elie has three threes for MTSU and Louisville shooting 45%. 2:03 left.

-Update 3:03 p.m.. Got a 24-13 Cardinal lead. Offense getting a bit stagnant. TV time out and Walz preaching.

-Update 2:54 p.m. It's 20-8 and Walz is about to have a stroke on the sidelines. Elie has two threes for MTSU, Shoni with five points for us and three others with four each. Jude, Mo and Walton have seen action off the bench so far.

-Update 2:47 p.m. Make that 18-3. Five different players have scored and Louisville on a 14-0 run. Blue section in 102-103 rather quiet.

-Update 2:44 p.m. Cards 9 - MTSU 3 16:55 left Vails has four !


-Update 2:28 p.m. 7:09 until tip. Cards still warming up. MTSU just came back out. They got a good crowd here, the Blue Raiders do. Overall, looks like we may have 8,000 in here. Gaps in the end zones. Upstairs curtained off. Play ball, already!

-Update #2. 65-32 Boilermakers putting out the Liberty Flames. Sonja getting drowsy, must be a blow-out. Coutrney Moses with 21 for PU. Quick, little guard. 

-Update from the YUM! Purdue 33 - Liberty 17 at the half. Looking like the Cards will have Boilermakers on Tuesday if this keeps up.-  

-Cards look to Middle Tennessee, Rowe

-Media Day at KFC YUM!

-Softball splits with #1 Oklahoma

-Pick 'Em Contest -- nobody's perfect


(Quentin Voigt has the preview of the Middle Tennessee Radiers in the Sunday Edition of CARDINAL COUPLE. It isn't too late...get your tickets today and get out there for the
2:40 p.m. tip --- or the noon tip for Liberty/Purdue!)

Congratulations to the Lady Cardinals on achieving a #5 seed in the 2013 NCAA Women's Tournament. They will take on the #12 seed Sun Belt Conference champs -- the Middle Tennessee State University Blue Raiders at approximately 2:40 p.m. Sunday (or 30 minutes following the Liberty/Purdue game). By no means new to the NCAA Tournament, MTSU is making their 5th. consecutive appearance in the "Big Dance".

Coached by Rick Insell, MTSU comes to the tournament with an impressive 25-7 overall record and 17-3 Sun Belt Conference slate. They won the regular season and conference titles. Teams they have played include losses to Tennessee by seven -- in overtime -- and a 22 point defeat by the Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington. Other losses include Iowa by six, South Dakota State by seven, FIU by seven, Troy by four and UARL by eight. In Coach Insell's words:

"Louisville is a good matchup for us - it's good for our fans. It'll be good for our team. It will help keep us in our routine for when we travel on the road and a three-hour drive isn't bad at all."

Let's hope our Lady Cards can do something to move Coach Insell out of his comfort zone when the game commences.

Leading rebounder (11 rpg) and point-maker for the Blue Radiers in Lexington, KY junior 6'1" Ebony Rowe. She's started every game for MTSU and has played an average of 39.2 minutes a contest. Next is 5'9" senior guard Kortni Jones with 16.4 ppg and a team high 4.5 assists per game. Icelyn Elie, a 6'1" senior, contributes 13.9 ppg and 7.3 rebounds. Jones and Elie are the three-point threats.

As a team, the Blue Raiders typically score 67.7 points a game, make 41.3% of their shots (30.3% from three range) 71.0% of their free throws, 15.9 turnovers a game and get 9.1 steals. They average 4213 fans a home contest. Coach Insell's success has probably been a result of the chip he seems to carry about recruiting:

"We are going after the best players in the state of Tennessee every year. If Tennessee or Vanderbilt is after them, then Middle Tennessee is going to be after them, too. We will recruit alongside of them. We are not going to be intimidated, nor will we back down because they are in the Southeastern Conference, We are Division I, they are Division I. We are going to use all of our contacts." 

10 of his 13 players this year are from Tennessee.

If the Lady Cards can defend the Lady from Lexington and force her into a sub-par performance while firing on all cylinders themselves then I think UofL will "survive and move on."


-Quentin Voigt


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I headed to the KFC YUM! Center after our Saturday Morning Confusion Radio show on Crescent Hill Radio to attend Media/Practice Day. Got there just in time to catch the press conference for Liberty University. Carey Green is a likable coach who builds his basketball philosophy around two things. Rebounding and Jesus Christ. The players know if they shout out things like "Block Out", "Rebound" or praise Jesus in the huddle or in practice, they are fulfilling the goals he has for the team. The Flames flew into Louisville and actually did a little sight-seeing --getting a tour of Churchill Downs before heading to the YUM! Center.

Let's hope they didn't run into Tommy Boy or Bread Boy out there. I doubt they placed any exactas or pick 4's either.

They're here to win and are not intimidated by the facility or Purdue. When I went out to the Denny Crum Court to watch them practice after the presser, I did catch several of them looking around at the interior of the KFC YUM! Center with open mouths and looks of wonderment, though.

Welcome to the big time, Flames. Good luck.

I had a little "down" time before the next presser and hit the media buffet. I heartily recommend the loaded potato soup and hope it makes a re-appearance today. It was also good to see Brad Knoop again, back in the YUM! as the moderator for the press conferences. Where you been, boy?  The likable and affable Knoop has always been a Paulie favorite. Other media were present...no major names...the usual Courier-Journal, AP and the always stand-offish, brown-nosing Jody Demling from Cardinal Authority. (If you read this, Jody...just kidding. WE steal some of our best material from your site.) Everyone was anxious for the Walz presser to begin, since a rather important event was taking place in Lexington in a few hours and most of these local guys were headed there.  

Coach Walz, Bria Smith, Shoni Schimmel and Sara Hammond took the podium at 2 p.m. The players answered questions, Walz threw in a few barbs and jokes and talked about the upcoming game. Five things from the presser I feel are print-worthy.

1) Walz says he has no idea who the other two teams are in town. He is solely focused on MTSU. I don't fully believe that...but I like the dedication and focus to the immediate task at hand. As he said, "We're all quite aware that it's one and done time."

2) Walz feels whoever scores the most points will win. He delivered that pearl of wisdom when I was asking Sara Hammond about negating the +4 margin MTSU has on opponents this season. It's refreshing to know that Coach still remembers the basics of the game. Most points...yeah, that's the ticket.

3) Walz isn't concerned about the pace or tempo of the contest. He'll be happy with "an ugly win" as compared to a "great loss". Yep, Jeff was on his "A" game yesterday.

4) Bria Smith says she can play any of the guard spots but feels she can best help the team at point. We're having a "good citizenship" trophy ordered for her. All three players are very team-focused and that's a good thing.

5) Strangest question I've heard at a presser lately. Whoever the lady was with the rapid-fire approach asks Walz a rambling question how who would win if the coaches had to go one-on-one against each other in the tournament. Walz used the opportunity to recall his own playing career at NKU. A career that spanned 2 1/2 seasons and featured absolutely no defense, except for hand-checking. His early retirement from the hardwood was a sad day for all fans who love the "get me the ball, I'll shoot it and defense, no way..." type of ballplayer. Walz, Iverson, Maravich, Barry and Angel. All legends.

After that, it was time to go. Important stuff coming up in Lexington, you know...

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Louisville Softball split with the #1 ranked Oklahoma Sooners yesterday in softball. It is the first time the Softball Cards have ever defeated a #1 ranked team.

Caralisa Connell tossed a four-hitter (Good Carl!) in the opener and Taner Fowler had two RBI's in the 5-1 win. TF's double in the top of the fourth made it 4-0 and she later scored on a Katie "Killer" Keller single.

The second game was a 9-1, five inning affair. The Sooners rocked Rachel LeCoq for seven hits and produced six runs in the fifth inning to blow the doors off the Cardinal bus.

Taner Fowler drilled a pitch over the left field fence for Louisville's only score in the top of the fifth. Her second base-cleaner of the year.

They were to meet again today at 1 p.m.
It's been cancelled due to inclement weather in the midwest. (thanks to Jeff McAdams and asst. SID Lori Korte for the news.)
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Nobody got all sixteen games correct in the first day of the CARDINAL COUPLE WBB Tournament Pick 'Em...but Nell J. got awfully close with 15 out of 16 correct. She's followed by seven contestants that went 14 for 16 in their picks...including CARDINAL COUPLE staff columnist Jeff (Zach) McAdams. Jenny's in a group of six that finished 13-3.

As for Sonja, Paulie, Bill the Goat and David Watson...we'd rather not talk about it. Colorado's loss to Kansas and Syracuse's fold to Creighton seemed to be the games that tripped most of us up.

Good luck in Day 2! We'll be back later today with a game report on the hoops and COME TO THE YUM! for the games today!!!

COME TO THE YUM!

-Paulie

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Saturday Cardinal Couple -- Lacrosse falls at Loyola

SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Lacrosse loses at Loyola

-Rowing ranked #18

-Worrell, Kylliainen with top 10 finishes in NCAA

-Softball heads to Oklahoma

-CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO

Louisville Lacrosse registered a strong first half against Loyola (MD) Friday night but took the loss 11-6 in BIG EAST Lacrosse
action. The Cards fall to 7-2, 0-1 and Loyola improves to 3-5, 1-0.

Louisville started strong...Erica Eipp scoring just 33 seconds into the contest and Eipp added a second score at the 23:43 mark. UofL increased the margin to 3-0 after Katie Oliverio found the back of the net just a minute and 12 seconds later.

Loyola responded with two straight scores, though, and the Cards didn't find the net again until Cardinal leading scorer Nikki Boltja connected to make it 4-2 with 6:11 left in the first half. Boltja would close out the Cards scoring with her second goal 3:41 before halftime. UofL took a 5-3 lead into the locker room after 30 minutes.

The Greyhounds began the second half strong and ran off six straight goals on UofL to lead 8-5 with 17:42 to play. Cortnee Daley got the Cards within two at 8-6 with eight minutes to play...but Loyola registered the final three goals of the contest to down the Cards by five in the BIG EAST opener for both teams.

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The Louisville rowing squad has broken into the top 20 in the nation, getting a #18 ranking by the CRCA/USRowing Coaches Poll. It's the third highest ranking in Cardinal Rowing history.

The Cards competed well in the the Oak Ridge Cardinal Invitational...winning four races overall and challenging #1 Virginia and #14 Notre Dame in Varsity Four and Varsity Eight contests last weekend.

The Row-Cards return to action on the road (or water, I guess)against Tennessee on March 30th.

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Louisville women's swimming with a strong showing in the NCAA Championships in Day Two of action in Indianapolis.

Freshman Kelsi Worrell finished fourth in the 100-fly and Tanja Kylliainen recorded a 10th place time in the 400-IM. She was matched against an NCAA champion and two swimmers from the 2012 Olympics.

The 800-free relay team of Breann McDowell, Lindsay La Porte, Krissie Brandenburg and Abigail Chin narrowed missed setting a school record in the event with a great time of 7:18:33.

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Softball heads to #1 in the nation Oklahoma (27-1) for a three game series this weekend. Against always-tough BIG 12 competition, the Cards will play a doubleheader against the Sooners on Saturday beginning at 3 p.m. and a single game Sunday.

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Saturday CARDINAL COUPLE Radio Hour will take a look at the NCAA Women's Tournament that begins Saturday morning and have recaps on lacrosse, softball and also interviews from the Monday Selection Show at the KFC YUM! Center. It'll be a busy Saturday...Paulie will be headed down to the KFC YUM! Center after the show to try and get a few interviews at the shoot-arounds for all four teams in Louisville for the Sunday and Tuesday games.

Unfortunately, the practice sessions are not open to the fans like they are in the NCAA Men's Tournament. WE think this is a silly and stupid rule. Why not let the fans in to observe? Even with a ticket, if nothing else. We hope the NCAA Women's Committee will change this archaic rule next year.

And, you still have time to get your tickets for the LADY CARDS game against MTSU on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Why not head down to the KFC YUM! Center Ticket Office and secure your seats today? Last report was that about 6000 seats had been sold. Let's fill that lower bowl in red, Cardinal fans!

You also have time to get your entry in for the CARDINAL COUPLE NCAA Women's Basketball Pick 'Em Contest. First game is 11 a.m. EDT. Leave your picks in the comments section or e-mail them to:

cardinalcouple@insightbb.com

WE had a question from a reader who entered but does not have a Chili's nearby. (We ARE giving a $25 Chili's Gift Card to the winner.) They wanted to know what they could have instead. We came up with several options. Here's the top ten alternatives.

1) A signed copy of Jeff McAdams singing "Danny Boy" with the Dixon Brothers Merl and Daryl and Bill The Goat.
2) Two tickets to Paradise, compliments of Eddie Money
3) A couple of plastic ducks that Sonja brought home from a recent wedding reception.
4) $25 worth of script...good at the CARDINAL COUPLE store
5) A $25 gift card to Panera. I'll talk Bread Boy into one.
6) An hour-long rebroadcast of CARDINAL COUPLE Radio (in Latin).
7. Timmy the Intern washes your car.
8. A $25 gift card to BP.
9. MArkie MArk spends an hour with you discussing hair grooming and economic indicators for 2013-14.
10. Unlimited use of one of the "bouncies" at the next UofL fan event.

NO REASON TO DELAY! Get that entry in pronto!

Paulie


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Wednesday Cardinal Couple -- Tournament and Softball

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-NCAA Women's Championship Pick 'Em Guide (or...How I stopped worrying and learned to love the 'Madness')

-Softball Cards defeat Iowa 6-4

A picture of a bracket

One of the most common complaints I hear (besides not remembering to spray wash my own undergarments and that I snore) is from people who would enter a NCAA Women's Basketball Pick 'Em contest...but aren't real familiar with the teams. Not even Coach Walz is familiar with all the teams. Request denied, sir! Fill out a bracket.

So, today...I will offer sage wisdom, prudent decisions, a few upsets and uncalled-for advice on how you, too, can have a satisfying NCAA Women's Tournament Bracket Pick 'Em. Remember, one man's lock is another man's upset...so don't be afraid to go out on a limb from time-to-time.

Paulie's Rule #1 - Your FINAL FOUR SHOULD READ: Baylor, Stanford, Notre Dame and Connecticut. Anything else is just wishful or moronic thinking.

Paulie's Rule #2 - Play CLOSE attention to where teams are playing the early rounds. Besides the four mentioned above, the majority of NCAA Women's Basketball teams don't do very well too far from home. It's a "village" thing.

OKLAHOMA CITY REGION

Put Baylor in as winning and work your way backwards. Who will they face? The logical (and popular) pick seems to be Tennessee. This is a good "Great Eight" start...but you might want to consider Syracuse and UCLA in place of Tennessee.

I am not scared of Prairie View, Princeton, Liberty, Central Michigan, Stetson, or Oral Roberts. ( I am maybe scared of oral surgery...or wearing a stetson in public.) Creighton may be a dark-horse candidate to uphend Syracuse and Middle Tennessee is a good, not great team. So is Louisville, according to Jeff Walz. I went with Baylor, Louisville, UCLA and Syracuse as the four teams to advance out of the first and second rounds. Yes, Tennessee is playing in Knoxville (let the hate e-mails begin) but I was very impressed with Syracuse this season and like their toughness. I also like pretty balloons and the Three Stooges.

SPOKANE REGION

Write in Stanford (in pencil) as the FINAL FOUR participant in this region but take a close look at these four contenders. South Florida, Villanova, LSU and California. Warch Gonzaga, because they are playing in Spokane (their home town) They'll survive the first round against a good, not great Iowa State squad. They could even advance against a middle-of-the-pack Georgia team who is travelling a long way to be in Spokane.

No fear of Green Bay (unless Aaron Rodgers decides to play), Tulsa, Montana, CalPoly or Fresno State. A great match-up in the first round here is Texas Tech, at home in Lubbock, playing South Florida. But, South Florida went on the road and defeated Louisville in front of the 10,000 rowdy UofL fans. I doubt there will be that many in Lubbock...unless they offer free barbecue.

I have Stanford, Gonzaga, LSU (playing their first two in Baton Rouge) and California in the regional in Spokane. I think Stanford will probably survive...but it wouldn't surprise me to see South Florida or California advance to New Orleans. If Cal-Poly gets there, I'll buy every reader a new laptop...(with Jeff's VISA Card). Pending approval.

NORFOLK REGION

You know the routine. Write in Notre Dame as the winner in the bracket and also scribble in Texas A&M as the team they beat to get there. There are other excellent teams in this region, but they won't advance. Colorado will fall to the Irish. Duke will barely lose to A&M. DePaul will give Duke a test..but lose in the second round. Unless they have cloned Anna Martin and both the clone and the original play. 

Dead zombies...UT Martin (no realation to Anna), Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota St., Chattanooga, Wichita State and Hampton. (I do like the Hampton breakfast bar, though.) I'd love to see Doug Bruno's DePaul squad down Coach Joanie P's Blue Devils and almost picked them. Could be a upset special. I ended up with Notre Dame, Colorado (who beat Louisville in the regular season), Texas A&M and Duke as the teams meeting in Norfolk. Irish eyes will be smiling.

BRIDGEPORT REGION

It's a shame Connecticut has to do such extensive travelling to make the final four. Storrs and then Bridgeport. Maybe they'll go by way of Bristol. Most are liking Kentucky to play them in the final of the GENO Bridgeport regional. I'll offer St. John's, Delaware and maybe even Dayton as possibles to see April Fools Day still alive in Bridgeport. Kentucky did not win the SEC Tournament. That honor went to Texas A&M. Kentucky travels to play in Queens, NY to open the first and second rounds. St. John's is from Queens. I agree with CARDINAL COUPLE reader Joe Hill on one thing...my "uber, outrageous, what's he thinking?"  upset special is St. John's over Kentucky. (Quick, bring my meds!)

Teams that won't need long hotel reservations are Idaho ( a shame they had to travel across country to play UConn) St. Joseph's ( who will need baby aspirin after meeting Vandy), Marist, Quinnipiac, Albany and Navy. The first round match up with Dayton and St. John's will be classic. Delaware and North Carolina will be a close one, too. I have Connecticut, Maryland, Delaware and St. John's going to Bridgeport. The Huskies raise a leg on the Terrapins and Red Storm and trot off to New Orleans.  

FINAL FOUR

I'm leaving you on your own here. I can't spoon-feed everything to you, you know. Baylor won it all last year. Notre Dame came in second. Go from there and good luck in your selections.  Both teams have their best player back.

The CARDINAL COUPLE NCAA Women's Tournament Pick 'Em closes on Saturday, March 23rd. when the first game begins at 11 A.M. All picks need to be in by then. Leave your choices in the comments section or e-mail them to:

cardinalcouple@insightbb.com

Good luck, we hope you play and remember for the tie-breaker you need to give us TOTAL NUMBER OF POINTS you think will be scored in the final game. First prize in a $25 Chili's Gift Card. If there isn't a Chili's in the area you live in...move immediately. Or, if you win...just let us know. We'll think of something to substitute. Maybe Bill the Goat's latest CD. Or an afternoon of watching Quentin throw paper wads at a trash can. A guest spot on our radio show.

Also, remember to put your name on your entry. Duh!!



"Whaddya mean Syracuse has no guards? Sir, you are a
moron! And your socks don't match!"

(You can get brackets to fill out at NCAA.com and the Courier-Journal has a nice one in the Tuesday edition. ESPN.com has them, too.) If you want to e-mail your bracket directly us, that's fine...be advised that IF we don't send a confirmation to you that we got it, we may have not received it. We are quite technology challenged.)

Games begin Saturday, March 23rd. at 11 a.m. EDT. The contest is purely for entertainment purposes and Cardinal Couple is a non-profit entity. That ought to keep the CC laywers happy campers.

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Louisville softball bounced back from the Monday loss to Iowa with a Tuesday win at Ulmer Stadium over the visitors 6-4. The Cards found the bats early in this one...touching the Hawkeyes for four first inning runs.

Katie Keller singled and eventually scored when Whitney Arion was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 1-0. Taner Fowler cleared the bags with a deep double and Louisville was up 4-0.

UofL increased the margin to 6-0 in the fifth inning, picking up two runs on just one hit. Jordy Trimble was safe at first on a Hawkeye fielding error and Alicja Wolny was walked. Trimble touched home on a Maggie Ruckenbrod single and Wolny followed when Arion reached on a fielder's choice.

The Hawkeyes fought back late...two runs in the sixth brought in Caralisa Connell to relieve starter Rachel LeCoq. Iowa added two more runs in the seventh but could not fully close the gap. Le Gran Le Coq gets the win and is now 10-2.

Louisville (24-4) takes on Indiana today at 6 p.m.at Ulmer. TV available on this one in case you can't attend...WHAS 11.2 and the accompanying Insight and Comcast numbers...whatever they are. The BIG 10 tour continues.

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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