WEDNESDAY @ C.C.
-Caldwell to Virginia?
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-Foley, Cards vs. Vanderbilt
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-Getting to Know: Bergan Foley
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-NCAA Women's Final Four set..-Lockhart gathers BIG EAST honors. .
-Hammond, Smith and Goss in McDonald's Girls All-American game tonight.Interesting sidebar in the decommitment of Bria Smith from Virginia with the announcement that UCLA coach Nikki Caldwell is talking with the Cavaliers about the job opening. Caldwell took the Bruins to the second round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament this year before losing to Gonzaga. It's been said that her Bruins practice harder than any team out there in College WBB.
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First, why the move from the West Coast to Virginia? Remember that Caldwell was born in Oak Ridge, TN. and played for Pat Summitt at Tennessee. Virginia is a lot closer to home than Los Angeles is and the ACC is probably the second or third toughest conference in WBB. Can't be much fun having to bump heads with PAC-10 giant Stanford twice a year...and although the Bruins have improved each of the five years Caldwell has been there...having to recruit against Vanderveer each year for California and West Coast talent can't be much fun.
That leads us to Bria Smith, who recently decommitted from Virginia after head coach Debbie Ryan stepped down. Louisville and Georgia were in Smith's final list of potential colleges...and the Cardinal camp is confident that they can woo her to the Ville. If the dynamic Caldwell decides to head to Virginia, though...you can be assured one of her first priorities will be trying to gather Smith back into the Cavalier fold.
It'll be interesting to see how this one unfolds. Will Caldwell unceremoniously dump a program she resurrected from the depths of the PAC 10? Will Smith reconsider her interest in the Ryan-less Cavs? Will the magic of Jeff Walz and the large Louisville fan base be enough to draw Smith to the 'Ville? And, does ancient Andy Landers down at Georgia have any shot at all in putting a collar on Smith and making her a Bulldog?
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#18 Louisville lacrosse faces Vanderbilt today in lacrosse action. The Cards are 7-1 on the season, losing only to Stanford. The Commodores will be a tough test for Bergan Foley and her teammates, though. The #15 ranked 'Dores recently defeated Stanford 15-10. The teams square off at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium at 3 p.m.
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Senior Bergan Foley spearheads the Louisville attack offense and has been an essential and integral part of the Cards since arriving here as a freshman. She led the nation in 2008 in goals per game (4.07) scoring 61 in 15 games. As a sophomore, she was selected to second team BIG EAST honors and duplicated her feat from her first year...with 61 goals in 16 games. She set a career and school record with eight goals against UC Davis and was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll three times. As a junior, she was picked for the first team BIG EAST squad and second team all-West honors. She led the nation with 78 goals in 17 games. She scored seven goals on four different occasions and led the nation for the second time in three years in goals per game (4.59).
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This year, she leads the Cards again with 34 goals in eight games. She is the focus of opposing teams' defenses and leads a potent Cardinal offense along with Liz Lovejoy, Katie Oliverio and Lianne Bobal.
She hails from Huntingdon Valley, PA. and played her high school lacrosse at Gwynedd Mercy Academy. She is majoring in business management at UofL. Athletics runs in the Foley family...her father played semi-pro football, her grandfather ran track at St.Joseph's and her uncle played hoops at Notre Dame.
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Foley and her teammates will be in action today at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium against #15 Vanderbilt. Game time is 3 p.m.
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We know now the Final Four contestants headed to Indy and there are a couple of minor surprises in the group.
Connecticut we expected to advance and after a close first half last night, the Huskies dispatched of Duke quite handily. Talk all you want about Courtney Vandersloot...Maya Moore is the best player in the nation, hands down. With the rapid in-season improvement of freshman center Stefanie Dolson, the Huskies look very invincible as they head to Indy. T
exas A&M pulled the upset off against Baylor last night...going to war against Brittany Griner and holding her and her teammates at bay after jumping out to a early 22-11 lead. The Aggies had lost the previous three games to the Bears this season. Greeting last night's winners are
Notre Dame and Stanford. We figured the Trees would get past the Fighting Vandersloot's of Gonzaga but the Irish sending Pat back to Tennessee was a bit of a surprise...not because they won...but by the margin and seemingly easy nature of the victory.
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Sonya sees the Huskies taking the title again this year. Paul is taking the senior laden Irish to pull off the upset. We asked regular CARDINAL COUPLE reader Tom Cahill his pick and he recommended the 7 horse in the 5th at Gulfstream. That's our boy... Should be fun and two BIG EAST schools in the Final Four. Not bad...
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Congratulations to Louisville long jumper Charachesicia Lockhart for her recent BIG EAST Women's Field Athlete of the Week award. Lockhart recently won the long jump in the Alabama Relays and her jump of 6.29m is best in the BIG EAST this year, a personal record for her and 2nd. in the nation. she also finished fifth in the triple jump there.
She'll compete in the Mile Poehlein Invitational at Purdue this weekend. Louisville's throwing squad is headed to Gainesville to take part in the Pepsi Florida Relays. WE doubt they attempt any relays...but they should score well in the weight, shot put, hammer and discus events.
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Rockcastle County's Sara Hammond will be participating in the McDonald's Girls All-American game tonight...televised on ESPN U at 6:30 p.m. For Hammond, it's all about representing Rockcastle County, the commonwealth of Kentucky and her future team...the University of Louisville. Hammonnd, the Miss Kentucky Basketball award winner, will be on the court with Bria Smith, who recently de-commited from Virginia and is being re-recruited by Louisville. The flashy New York guard and Hammond will also be joined by Indiana All-Star Bria Goss, who recently committed to UK.
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Hammond, a CARDINAL COUPLE reader, led Rockcastle County to the Kentucky Girls Basketball State Championship in March and will enroll at Louisville this summer to take classes and meet her future teammates. Her ability to play several different positions and all-court versitality will fit in well with the Jeff Walz style of hoops and WE expect she'll be a valuable contributor to the 2011-12 Lady Cards...
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