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TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


-Commish Mark on the current state of women's basketball.


-Wolny, Collins get BIG EAST softball honors


-Cierra Warren resurfaces at San Diego State.




(WE are pleased and honored to feature our newest addition to the CARDINAL COUPLE writing staff Mark Schneider "The Commish" today. We know you'll enjoy
today's offering and look forward to his contributions!)




More than once on message boards  I have seen negative comments posted  about Women's basketball such as: "Women's basketball sucks", "Don't want to be a male chauvinist pig but Women's basketball is hard to watch".  Or how about these excerpts from two 2010 articles that I saw:
From Dan Bernstein's CBS Chicago's article 12/22/2010: "Bernstein: Women’s Basketball Sucks"

"The commish" may be the only writer out there that has
a dog as his literary agent and counsel. 

"Their sport is painful to watch......and that "telling the truth is considered mean, and it deviates from the gender-equity guilt narrative."
He claims he supports their "right to play" and his "right not to watch".  He feels it is "obvious" women's basketball is "awful" and that "Everybody knows it but can't bring themselves to say it." He does not consider Women's basketball "real basketball"


The reason the fundamentals look more prevalent is because "It’s easier to see passes and half-court sets in a women’s game because it’s happening slower".  He feels "We get all that from real basketball, just at much higher speed, with much more successful, explosive conclusions". (Assume he means a dunk compared to a lay up)

Then there is a September 2010 article titled: "The Hate Corner I hate Women's Basketball" from Pete D (no last name)--a blogger for a Chicago blog called Sports fix Chicago (What is it about Chicago writers hating on Women's basketball?)

"The game is WAY too boring.  It is too slow.  It is too sloppy."

His solution?---"take the average height of the players in the men’s leagues and then take the average height of the players in the women’s leagues.  Whatever the difference is, lower the hoop that much for the women."  Does this mean each level--Grade School, College, and Pro would have rims with different heights based on his formula? And since average heights may change from time to time, would the height of the rim have to change once in a while as well?  He feels that the result would be  "chicks dunking on each other, and possibly even talking serious "smack" (original word replaced with "smack" by me--this site is rated G so use your imagination) to each other". And to speed the game up "shorten the court".

Would lowering the basket lead to more dunks?  Using NBA/WNBA average heights: NBA players average height is 6'6"  minus a WNBA average of 6'0" then the goal would be lowered by 6 inches to 9'4".  Since we don't use goals 9'4" in height, let us use Brittney Griner as our example:  She is 6'8". Basket is "low enough" for her right now. She has no trouble dunking a basketball. In effect it is "lowered" for her now. So, how many dunks does Griner have for her career after 3 years?  Is she a dunking machine?  Does she have at least 75? 150? How about 200?  The answer is..........7. Yes------7 dunks.  She is tied with former Tennessee star Candace Parker--who by the way is only 6'4"!  She is 4 inches shorter than Griner. Candace did this on of all things a 10 foot goal as well.  Candace only played 3 years of college.  Brittney should break the record since she will return for her Senior year.

A Dunk is not always the most exciting play in basketball.  (Whether a play is judged exciting may depend on the point of the game in which it occurs).  However, there is something to be said about seeing a player threading the needle via a 45ft no look pass to a player under the basket for a lay-up.(Shoni Schimmel). Or seeing a player help her team  mount a comeback by pulling up for a shot and hitting it from around the hash-mark helping her team  gain momentum and take the lead in an NCAA tourney game. (Shoni Schimmel vs Xavier) Or  actually seeing  gifted athletes receive degrees and  develop their game for 4 years and not bolt for the pros after 1 year (Shoni Schimmel,Brittney Griner, Skylar Diggins).

In regards to Pete D (no last name) saying the  game was slow, boring, and sloppy and thinking shortening the court to "speed the game up" is a solution to his perceived faults of the Women's game: Apparently he never really watched a WNBA game.  I tend to follow the WNBA because of Angel McCoughtry.  She peaked my interest in Women's basketball.  First time seeing her play in person was when her Atlanta Dream played in Indy a couple years ago. Here is what I noticed about the game:

a) The players were bigger, stronger,and faster.

b) The speed of game was dramatically faster than college-(Played on a regulation sized court too! No need for a shortened one)

c) Their passes were crisp and the players were fundamentally sound. 

d) It was a wide open run up and down the floor style of play.

e) The physicality of the game was evident. Would venture to say several players were probably sore the next day and needed to get in the whirlpool.

f) They played defense the whole game.

For those who have yet to attend a Women's game because of a lack of interest or preconceived ideas: Try it.  You just may like it: Obviously someone does--and it seems the sport is growing and becoming more popular.  Check the latest stats from the 2012 Women's NCAA Tournament;

All three games were sellouts, with 19,028 in attendance for the national semifinal games on April 1 and the national championship game on April 3.

Baylor vs Notre Dame had a 3.2 rating---3,137,00 households and 4,244,000 viewers.(It was the highest rated and most viewed since 2004 Championship UCONN vs Tennessee).

There were 570 members of the media credentialed for NCAA Women’s Final Four.

Radio broadcast reached 250 stations

UCONN vs Notre Dame semi final game
1.8 overnight rating (up 6% from last years first game)

Stanford vs. Baylor second semi final game
2.2 overnight rating (same as last years second game)

Some do not wish to give Women's Basketball a chance.  They snub their noses or write disparaging articles downgrading the sport. Some don't feel it is legitimate and even boring. Have these people ever been to a Women's basketball game? 

For the most part, not all of the women are playing to "make it to the pros." (The closest thing to a one and done was Candace Parker.  She left Tennessee after her Junior year for a successful career in the  WNBA).   Most are playing because they love the game.  Players playing with passion and heart. And it shows.  How refreshing to see players giving it their all every game. Not just when playoffs roll around.
 

You can e-mail Cardinal Couple and also guess how
many of the people in this picture ever read the site.

As far as  Women's basketball is concerned--some may love it and some may hate it but, one person had this to say about the subject: "The top women athletes play a more pure game than the men", "They play below the rim and fundamentally better," and "Women's basketball is a beautiful game".  Who said that? James Naismith? Geno Auriemma? No.....those words were spoken by none other than the late John Wooden.  As a matter of fact starting in 2004, the John R Wooden Award was extended to Women's Basketball.  John Wooden had no problem with Women's basketball. He enjoyed the game.  Now maybe others can leave their prejudices aside and start enjoying it too.

Thoughts on the subject?  Email Cardinal Couple with your thoughts about the subject and you just might see your words in print on this very blog!  What do you like about Women's basketball? What don't you like? What changes can be made to make the game better? Do you hate Women's basketball?  Why?  Just a few questions to kick around.

Commish Mark




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Congratulations to Cardinal Softball players Alicja Wolny and Tori Collins for receiving BIG EAST weekly honors! 

Wolny led the Cards in hitting last week, batting .692 with nine hits, eight RBI's and four runs scored. The junior is batting .395 on the season, second best on the Cardinal squad. She tied for the team lead in home runs also with five on the year. This edition of Louisville softball has a great combination of hitters who combine speed, power, hitting and pitching.

Collins was untouchable in 21 innings pitched last week. She threw two no-hitters, three complete games and earned a save. Tori is 18-1 on the year with a microscopic 1.11 ERA. Opponents bat a meager .160 against her. 


Louisville battles league-leading South Florida Wednesday at Ulmer Stadium in a double-header that begins at 4 p.m. 

WE strongly suggest you take off work early, grab the neighbors and relatives and head out for this epic BIG EAST Softball battle.


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Finally...ex-Louisville and North Carolina post player Cierra Warren has taken a westward swing and will play for San Diego State beginning in the 2013-14 season. 


Originally out of Rancho Cucamonga, California and Los Osos High School, Warren transferred to Louisville after a season at UNC. After a year of sitting out...she appeared in 22 games as a Cardinal, starting in 10 during the 2011-12 season.


WE wish her the best out there. Never really understood why she couldn't dedicate herself and develop into more of an impact player here at Louisville...maybe she'll find that drive on the left coast.
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St. John's Post Mortem

On Thursday Paul called out through his and Sonja's website and wondered of my whereabouts. Actually I had sort of mentally hibernated because I just really did not know what to make of last Tuesday's Marquette game. Yes, we had won but the mechanics and game basics I needed to see just were not there. I saw lots of dribbling, particularly in the 1st 1/2 of the game. Actually I saw lots and lots of dribbling all around the top and passes to others who were also standing around the top who then dribbled a lot more while apparently hoping that someone on defense would fall down so we could pass to their non-defended position.

Years ago there was a commercial where the senior citizen actress became famous for asking, Where's the Beef? Well after dozing on and off through parts of today's game against St. Johns I am asking, Where's the Heart? because I did not see heart or hustle where the players on the floor looked or acted like they really wanted the ball. As a result, today we no longer were able to slip by with a win.

What Louisville does not have are front court players who are a threat to score either off the pass or rebound. Mo is gone, for at least this year. Today's those starters contributed a total of 0 points and 2 rebounds. Without a front court threat, future opponents will continue to overload on Shoni and the fans will continue to watch lots of guards dribble the ball with no picks, screens or give and goes because there is no place for them to go except to continue to dribble and pass to each other around the perimeter. The season could become extremely long unless somoene steps up to the task of if not dominating, at least holding their own in the front court. My vote, which holds no value, is to start Sarah and Cierra. Let them play until they foul out for enough games that they finally gain enough game time experience to be able to mature into the powerful and dominating players they will eventually become.

FAMU vs. UofL WBB...Lady Cards win 86-66

CARDINAL COUPLE GAME REPORT:

-Burke and Reid carry the load against FAMU

In-Game Report and recap...

Today's starters: Sara Hammond, Becky Burke, Cierra Warren, Bria Smith and Shoni Schimmel.

At the half...UofL 41-FAMU 29. The Lady Cards being led by Monique Reid's 19 points. Cards were sluggish to start, fell behind 5-0, but went on a 16-2 run to lead 16-7 after a Shoni three at 13:45 mark.

FAMU cut it to 28-24 with 5 minutes to go. The Cards went on a 13-4 run, led by Reid getting 10 of them, to end the half. Louisville, despite a height advantage, having trouble on the offensive boards and Cierra Warren and Sara Hammond with just 2 points each. Shoni has (2) three's for six points. 22-22 in the rebounding stats and Louisville has 13 turnovers already.

Reid played 12 minutes, didn't start...Shoni with 17 minutes.

Second half...Louisville began the second half with a 7-0 run and pushed that lead to 55-34 when Burke connected inside with 16:28 remaining. A Burke three and Dyer inside putback gave the Lady cards at 65-40 advantage with 11:05 to go. The Cards largest lead came after another Burke three made it 70-44 with nine minutes left. 

Burke left the game with 5:40 to go with 16 second half points and 21 for the game. With her and the other starters on the bench...the Cards lead fell to 16 at 82-66 with 1:30 to go, but Louisville got final four points...two by Dyer and two by Taylor to win by 20...86-66.

Louisville avoided the possibility of a letdown with solid, but not spectacular play today against a determined but less talented Lady Rattler squad. Seniors ruled the action for Louisville, besides Burke's 21, was Reid's 22. They accounted for half the Lady Cards points today. Smith had 11. Shoni finished with eight points.

Cardinal scoring:

Reid                 22 (in 18 minutes)
Burke              21
Smith              11
S. Schimmel    9
Taylor              6
Dyer                 6
Hammond       4
J. Schimmel    3
Warren           2
Vails                2

(Harper & Slaughter played...no points.)

THINGS WE LIKED ABOUT TODAY:

-Becky Burke from deep. Five baskets from three point range today. She is at 999 career points and should join the 1000-point club Tuesday night in the KFC YUM Center against Murray State. She'd be the 22nd. Lady Card to get there.

-Shooting defense. Louisville held FAMU to 31% shooting.

-38-10 points-in-the-paint advantage. Thanks to Reid, Dyer and Taylor...the Cards were getting put backs and inside scores.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT:

-Turnovers. Maybe fatigue had something to do with it, but 27 turnovers is way too many against a MEAC Conference opponent. Sloppy guard ball-handling and dropped feeds in the paint.

-Freshman slump. After playing a big role in the early season, the freshman contribution today fell off to just 18 points. With Reid back, we expected a bit off a drop-off...but not this much.

-Oh where, oh where did our Cierra Warren go? A virtual ghost today with just 2 points. Maybe Walz figured he didn't need her, or she was worn out from Friday's two point second half effort. Puzzling. Her fouls seem forced at times.

HE SAID IT:

Coach Walz was far from pleased with the effort today, calling it "sloppy" and "uninspired" at times. Other things he touched on after the game:

-The freshmen need to become more active in the overall effort.

-Jude's play was not good today. Needs to figure out why.

-Turnover numbers were embarrassing today.

-Liked the way the Cards came out to start the second half and the way they battled back early in the first half after falling behind. Wishes they wouldn't get in those come-from-behind early situations, though.

-Pleased with Reid's 18 minutes and stressed that she would continue to get about 18-25 a game. Won't be a 40 minute-a-game-player..she tires too easily. 30 minutes about the most she can go, if necessary...right now.

- Burke continues to communicate well and show senior leadership abilities.

-The Lady Cards guards must play better when guarding the opponent with the ball and rebound better from the guard position.

Louisville returns to action Tuesday night, in the KFC YUM! Center with a 7 p.m. contest against Murray State. After that, the annual matchup against UK - this year in Lexington. (Memorial Coliseum, Sun. Dec. 4th., 1 p.m.) The Lady Kats are 6-0 and play tomorrow.

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Governors looking for respect Tuesday vs. Louisville

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TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Noon tipoff for Tuesday WBB game

-Whatever happen to?

-Rapid Redux wins 24th. race in a row

Even though the November political races have been over for several weeks, a
particular group of Governors will visit the KFC YUM! Center campaigning for a signature victory. We're not talking about Steve Beshear, John Kasich or Mitch Daniels - these governors are the Austin Peay women's basketball team and they're 2-0 on the young season.

Handley gets it done
handily...

Led by Whtney Hanley, a 5'8" senior guard from Mt. Washington, KY. (Bullitt East H.S.), Austin Peay handled Southern Illinois in their season home opener 76-70 and then went on the road and overcame a 20+ point first half deficit to down Lipscomb on the road 61-58.

Handley is averaging 24.5 points per game, 39.5 minutes a contest and shooting .457 from the hardwood. She's deadly from the foul stripe (13-15) and goes to the boards also...14 rebounds in two games...with 12 of those on the defensive end of the court. Nicole Olszewski, a 5'7" sophomore guard, is also in double figure with 11.5 p.p.g. and has a team high eight steals.

(From the Lady Cards Facebook page...)

Smallish in nature (only two players 6'0" or taller) Austin Peay has been getting it done with accurate shooting (41% on the season), aggressive defense (26 steals) and has forced their opponents into an average of 22 turnovers per game. Their tallest player, 6'3" freshman Kaitlyn Hall, has only logged one minute of playing time so far this year.

Louisville will probably get the services of Monique Reid Tuesday...according to Walz...for 10-15 minutes and Louisville will most likely try to take advantage of the superior height advantage against the OVC opponent.

If you go...be prepared for around 6000 or so grade school kids from around the Louisville area...a basketball field trip for them on their final day of classes before the Thanksgiving break. Let's see how loud they get compared to the regular Lady Cards home crowd...

WHAT WE'D LIKE TO SEE TUESDAY:

-The Cards get off to a fast start, like they did against Xavier on Sunday. The starting line up of Shoni Schimmel, Cierra Warren, Sara Hammond, Bria Smith and Becky Burke against Xavier gave Louisville height, defensive aggressiveness, quickness and inside punch.

Mo rejoining Becky today on court?

-Good bench play. If Walz elects to bring "Mo" in off the bench, we'd like to see her get the ball inside and often. Jude Schimmel will be counted on to apply solid defense, create shots for her teammates and Shawnta Dyer and Sherrone Vails rebounds and blocks. 

-Cierra Warren dominance. She's looked awfully good so far prowling the post for the Lady Cards this season and with a decided height advantage, odds are she'll be filling up the stat lines against the Governors. 

Other stuff...

-Louisville is 6-0 lifetime against A.P.U. and last met the Governors on Nov. 17th., 2008...a 72-42 win for the Cards. A heralded freshman by the name of Monique Reid led Louisville in scoring in the contest with 17 points and Angel McCoughtry added 15. Notable quote from "Mo"  after that game:

"It doesn't matter how many points I get, with Coach Walz...defense gets you playing time."

-Carrie Daniels, head Lady Governor coach, is in her 6th. year at A.P.U. and has a record of 63-95. Her team finished 15-18 last year...12-6 in OVC play...and Austin Peay is her first head coaching job.

-The Governors played previous UofL opponent EKU twice last year, defeating them by 10 in Clarksville and losing by 6 in Richmond.

-The official web site for Austin Peay sports is http://www.letsgopeay.com/ and a favorite chant of the A.P.U. fans is "Let's Go Peay!" (Sounds like...never mind...you know where I'm going with this.)

-No current Lady Cards players hail from Tennessee, where Austin Peay is located. Can you guess which current Lady Cards hometown is closest to Clarksville, TN. - where the Austin Peay campus is? (Answer below).

-In four games this year, the Lady Cards have had four players foul out - one per game. They are Cierra Warren, Sara Hammond, Asia Taylor and Antonita Slaughter. 

-Legendary rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix was stationed in Fort Campbell, KY. (near Clarksville) and met future band member Billy Cox at the base's recreation center. They formed a group named The Casuals that played gigs on and off base - including frat parties at APU. Both moved to Clarksville after Hendrix was discharged from the Army in 1962 and it was there that Hendrix claimed he learned to play the guitar with his teeth.

-Austin Peay is one of two schools the Lady Cards will play from Tennessee this season. The other is Tennessee-Martin. Strangely enough, both games are at noon.

(answer to question...it is Shelby Harper, from Scottsville, KY. which is about a 90 minute drive from Clarksville.)

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Nikki Burton played for the Lady Cards from 2009-11 but a hip and other injuries kept her off the court for extended periods of time and made it necessary for her to take some time off, heal and re-evaluate her game. Glad to report that she's back on the court and doing some good things at DII Wingate University, in Rock Hill, S.C.

She was named the South Atlantic Conference women's basketball Player of the Week. Burton scored 25 points and made nine-of-11 field goals, including three threes, in a 84-59 win over Winston-Salem State Friday night in the Queen City Classic. She followed up the performance with a 23 point effort the next night against Johnson C. Smith University in a close 73-72 loss.

The Bulldogs open their home schedule against UNC Pembroke tonight and travel to Lincoln Memorial University Wednesday. Although she's not battling the Notre Dame's and UConn's of women's college basketball anymore...WE'RE glad to see #22 back out there, shaking them off with the cross-over and tickling the nets.

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RAPID REDUX set a North American horse racing record last night with his 24th consecutive win...beating three opponents by 4 1/2 lengths in the eighth race at Mountaineer Park. With the win, the condition book darling passed Zenyatta's record.

24 in a row is impressive, no doubt, but the horses he's beaten hardly measure up to the competition and quality that Zenyatta put away during her time on the track.

We say...put Rapid Redux to the test by entering him against some quality horses. They could have brought him to Churchill or Keeneland this fall to really put the streak to a challenge...but the owners prefer to take him to obscure and out of the way places like Mountaineer.

For a comparison, picture the Lady Cards playing 24 straight games against the likes of Lindsey Wilson, Bellarmine, Campbellsville and Fordham. Easy to win when the foe is less talented....
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canyounametheotherplayersthatwereapartofnikkiburtonsfreshmanclassandifyoucanjustsendusanemailwiththeirnamesfirstrespondantgetsapaneracardmailedtoyou

Cards fall to Irish in Volleyball...Women's hoops today in KFC YUM Center...Football wins!...Pitino's guys defeat Xavier...

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE COMIN' AT YA!!!

-Irish pull off the upset in Volleyball

-Xavier facing Lady Cards today in WBB

-Freaky play ends football game

-Pitino's guys win in Indy.

Louisville Volleyball ended their run in the BIG EAST Tournament yesterday by falling to Notre Dame 25-22, 22-25, 25-21, 25-19 yesterday in Milwaukee.

The Cards got a great performance from Lola Arslanbekova, who had 24 kills in the four game match...but she couldn't carry the weight by herself and Notre Dame moves on to the championship to face Cincinnati...who downed Marquette in five games.

The teams were evenly matched in game one until the Irish went on a 4-0 run to lead 14-10.  Louisville tied it at 15-15 and 17-17 and was down by two at 24-22 when a flip by the Irish found unguarded wood and they won by three.



The Cards failed to
win the BIG EAST
volleyball championship
yesterday  

Louisville took control early in game two, up 7-2...but saw Notre Dame rally to take the lead by expand it to five at 22-17. After a timeout, though...the Cards ran off eight unanswered points to win the second game by three.

The Cards came out strong in game three, led 8-3, but could not keep up the defense and the Irish tied it at nine all. The teams were tied at 18 and 20 before ND ran off five of the final six points to win game three and take a 2-1 match lead.

Louisville never led in the fourth game, falling behind early 4-1. The Irish ran that up to 12-7 before the Cards rallied to draw close at 16-14. At 18-17, Louisville looked to still have a chance of forcing a fifth game...but a 7-2 closing run by ND ended game and match.

Despite the loss, the Cards should still make the NCAA Tournament, since they won the regular season BIG EAST title. They have one more regular season game...a match-up against OVC Champ Morehead State on Saturday. The NCAA pairings will be announced next Sunday.

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KFC YUM! Center is the place for the 2 p.m. tip off today...featuring the Lady Cards women's basketball team against Xavier. This is not the same Muskie team that Louisville defeated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Gone are starters Special Jennings, Amber Harris, Ta'Shia Phillips and head coach Kevin McGuff.

Amy Waugh (left) leads the Musketeers now and the Tyeasha Moss is the scoring threat.

Xavier is 1-1 on the year...handling EKU 66-61 but falling on the road to Mississippi State 71-65. Moss, a senior, is averaging 18 a game and is joining in double figures by junior Jessica Pachko (12 ppg) and sophomore Lynette Holmes (11.5 ppg).

For Louisville, Cierra Warren has a 15 point per game average after three games and Bria Smith is knocking in 13 point a game. Shoni Schimmel (12.0) and Becky Burke (11.3) are also in double figures.

Louisville will need Asia and the "bigs"
to crash the boards today. Do it, #31!

Xavier will try to keep this one from becoming a track meet this afternoon...so the Cards will need to be able to work effectively out of the half court set and go to the boards strong. Louisville's love for the helter-skelter fast break transition offense can only happen if Warren, Asia Taylor, Sara Hammond and the rest of the bigs go to the boards well when the Muskies miss shots. Louisville's ability to block out and score inside could spell the difference today. The Cards must also try to get off to a faster start today than they have over the first three games of the year.

Xavier has gone extensively with a three guard set this year, so the Cards will need to make sure that they are on guard with good play from the Schimmels, Smith, Burke and Harper.

No word on Monique Reid and her availability for today's game yet...as coach Walz is fond of saying...'need to worry about the ones who can play and coach them up'. Mo will come back when she's ready and will be spectacular when she does.

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Congratulations to both football and men's hoops for wins yesterday. The Pitino guys went to historic Hinkle Fieldhouse on the Butler University campus and downed the Bulldogs 69-53...Kyle Kuric with 17 for Louisville....

Charlie Strong's football guys got their 6th win of the season at Connecticut...downing the Huskies 34-20. Craziness on the final play of the game. After Connecticut scored to make it 28-20 and then recovered an on-side kick to get the ball back, they come out on offense and run a play where they try to advance the ball with a series of backwards passes and laterals...going in the wrong direction until Louisville intercepts one of the attempts and returns it for a touchdown.

Reminded us of the Three Stooges on the field...

Louisville is now bowl eligible with the win and actually has a shot of winning the BIG EAST Conference and getting the BCS bid...but a lot of things would have to happen for that to occur...the main one being that the Cards would have to win in Tampa next Saturday against South Florida...a place where Louisville has never won. Of course, the Cards have never been there with Charlie Strong as head coach and he has shown over the last two years that you can "never

Not sure if Charlie went surfing
yesterday after defeating UConn

say never" with Strong coached teams..or how they'll handle success.  

All this adds up to a very interesting scenario now in the BIG EAST where just about the entire league has two losses and they may have to bring in the Supreme Court justices to decide who gets the "big money" bowl.

Charlie even managed to stir up some fan controversy yesterday when he pulled starting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater out of the game in the fourth quarter and inserted former starter Will Stein in the game. The Cards couldn't move the ball with Stein taking the snaps and Bridgewater didn't appear to be injured.

Charlie-Ball. Never boring (or predictable).
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nochoiceisachoice

Cards struggle in 1st half against EKU

.FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

LADY CARDS WIN WITH SECOND HALF SPURT

-Three in double figures for Louisville

-Gibbs out for the season.

-Women's soccer to battle Memphis tonight in 2nd round NCAA action

-Volleyball opens BIG EAST Tournament play tonight vs. Pitt

In front of 2800 fans, second highest in EKU women's basketball history...

The University of Louisville women's basketball team struggled in the first half with an opportunistic and hot-shooting EKU team.

The Cards fell behind 4-0 early before Becky Burke got the Cards on the board with two free throws at the 18:06 mark of the game.

Cards warm up for the EKU game

Louisville would grab a 7-4 lead when Shoni Schimmel nailed a three with 17:22 left in the first half...and was still on top at 11-10 when Asia Taylor connected inside...but a 6-0 EKU run over the next minute put them on top to stay for the rest of the first half. EKU led by seven with ten minutes remaining in the first half when Raechele Gray nailed a three to make it 24-17.

The Cards trailed 28-22 after Marie Carpenter nailed two free throws with 5:28
left in the half, but rallied to score eight of the final 11 points of the half to tie it at 30-30 on two Taylor free throws and go in down by only one at the half 31-30.

Shoni Schimmel led the Cards with seven points on 3-11 shooting and Becky Burke added six for the Cards...who shot only 32.3% in the first twenty minutes. Walz played nine players and all scored but Bria Smith, saddled with two early fouls and on the bench for 14 minutes in the first. 

Did you know...EKU enters the court thru an
inflatable tunnel?

For the Colonels, 4-10 three point shooting (compared to Louisville's 1-9) helped them retain the lead. Carla Booth and Marie Carpenter had eight first half points each for the Colonels...

The Cards woke up in the second half and a 24-5 run that spanned over ten minutes put it out of reach for the Cards at 64-46 with 5:34 to go. Five straight points by Sherrone Vails and a three by Antonia Slaughter closed out the Cards scoring, as Louisville held the Colonels to just 10 points over the final 13 minutes.



Fans spell out SARA at the game
(Photo courtesy of Jenny O'Bryan)



Louisville takes the win 77-53 but at the 15:18 mark of the final half, EKU was still very much in the game, regaining the lead at 41-40 after two Alex Jones free throws. The Lady Cards took off on a 11-2 run, though, after that...getting a lane driving basket by Shoni Schimmel, put back by Bria Smith, a Shawnta Dyer score from the paint, Becky Burke three and layup by Smith off a nifty Shoni pass to make it 51-43 with 11:30 remaining. The Cards led 60-46 with 8:51 to go after an Asia Taylor tip-in and EKU had no answers left to stop the Cards...

Cierra Warren led all scorers with 15 points - 10 in the second half - and Becky Burke and Shoni added 12 each...Shoni's on 5-20 shooting and Burke's 4-11 efforts. Louisville ended up at 38%((27-71) for the game from the floor but did record a sparkling 78.3% (18-23) from the charity stripe.

Walz played all eleven players dressed for tonight's game...all scored but Shelby Harper. Starters were Shawnta Dyer (5 pts.), Sherrone Vails (5 pts.), Bria Smith (9 pts.), Becky Burke and Shoni.  
Things we liked about tonight:

-Louisville took EKU's best punch in the first half (and for five minutes in the second half) and did not fall to the canvas. The Colonels nailed four 3-pointers in the first twenty minutes and seven for the game but Louisville out-rebounded EKU 50-30.

-Louisville had 18 assists tonight and forced 23 turnovers....while committing only 17 turnovers...and just 5 in the second half. They also had 16 steals and Shoni had 4 of them.

Cards radio crew Adrienne Johnson and
Matt Andrews prepare for the game. (We're not
exactly sure what the guy in blue is doing
to their left...)

-Asia Taylor had a very solid game for the Lady Cards tonight in 20 minutes...with eight points on 3-3 shooting and 2-2 from the line. She grabbed 4 rebounds, had two assists and only 1 foul.

-Sara Hammond thrilled the 100's in attendance from Rockcastle County with six points, seven boards and just two turnovers.

-Cards had 40 points in the paint, 25 off turnovers and 25 second chance points. The bench totaled 34 of the Cardinal points tonight.

Things that need improvement:

-Another slow start for the Lady Cards tonight. Becky Burke nailed it right on the head when she commented post-game that if Louisville comes out like tonight against Xavier on Sunday...they'll lose.

-Cards only had one blocked shot tonight...even though they had a clear height advantage. EKU swatted six Cardinal shots...four by center Jade Barber and two by Jones.

-Shoni, Sara and Becky went a combined 12 - 42 from the field. Those numbers need to get better...

-Worst part of the evening:

Hearing that Tia Gibbs is done for the year after her MRI revealed significant damage to her shoulder. Torn labrum and bone fragment revealed. She'll undergo surgery after first semester exams and Walz will try to get her a sixth year of eligibility. Heartbreaking...going to miss you out there Butler Bear.. 

Louisville returns to action Sunday at 2 p.m. in the KFC YUM! Center against Xavier.

*****************************************************************

Here's hoping the women's soccer team can
kick some kiddie kats around tonight!

Karen Ferguson-Dayes will lead the University of Louisville women's soccer team into battle tonight against the Memphis Tigers in Memphis. The 8:30 p.m. start is the second game of the evening at the Mike Rose Soccer complex...#1 seeded Florida will face Portland at 6 p.m.

Memphis is 22-0-1 on the season and will be a tough test for the Cards. They got to the second round with a 7-0 win over Tennessee-Martin. Louisville downed Dayton 2-0 to advance.

Live video of the games can be viewed at http://www.ncaa.com/, http://www.gotigersgo.com/ or http://www.uoflsports.com/ free of charge.

*****************************************************************

The University of Louisville Volleyball team goes in quest of defending their 2010 BIG EAST Tournament title with an opening round match vs. Pittsburgh today. The #1 seed Cards were upset earlier during the regular season by #8 seed Piit in the KFC YUM! Center.

No time to hesitate now, girls. Go get what is yours.

Key for the Cards, of course, is getting the ball to Lola Arslanbekova. Double and triple teams on her could also create some opportunities for Emily Juhl and Kaitlynn James to get some kills.
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louivilletook20moreshotsthanthecolonelsdidtonightandscored40pointsinthepaint

Lady Cards fall short against Aggies by 18

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CARDINAL COUPLE "HUMPDAY" REPORT

-27 turnovers plague Cards in College Station.

-Watson weighs in on the loss.

Without Shoni Schimmel, Monique Reid and Tia Gibbs, the Lady Cards battled hard for 30 minutes against #6 Texas A&M but fell short in Tuesday night NCAA Women's basketball...losing 76-58.

Burke gets hammered by
an Aggie defender. No foul.

The Cards started poorly against the Aggies and fell behind 8-0 in the first four minutes of play before Bria Smith connected on two free throws. That started a 7-0 Cardinal run that made it 8-7 at the 14:43 mark, when Cierra Warren followed up a missed shot for a basket. In a first half full of runs, the Aggies then went on a 10-2 streak and led 18-9 with 11:09 remaining in the first half.

Louisville battled back and Warren sank two free throws with 9:01 left to cut the A&M lead to 18-14. The Aggies regrouped and ran off nine straight points on Louisville to hold a 27-14 lead with less than five minutes remaining. Becky Burke scored the Cards next five points to cut it to ten and Louisville outscored the Aggies 9-4 over the final 3:42 of the first half to keep it close at halftime...Louisville down 33-25.

Cardinal freshmen had a OK outing
against A&M

Louisiville was getting production from Warren inside with eight first half points and from Smith at guard with six points but had 13 first half turnovers and was shooting only 7/24 from the field.

Texas A&M got immediate production from center Kelsey Bone to start the second half and Bria Smith took over for the Cards offensively. Louisville stayed close for the first seven minutes of second half action....down by only nine with 13:09 to go at 47-38.

The Aggies took control from that point, though...blasting the Cards for 11 straight points and holding a 58-38 advantage with less than ten minutes remaining. Louisville would cut that to 15 with 8:09 left after a Burke basket, but A&M found their offense again and Cardinal turnovers helped the Aggies push out to a 73-49 advantage with under four minutes remaining. The Cards did outscore Aggie reserves 9-3 to finish ...but it was not enough to get the Cards any closer than 18.

Bria Smith led Louisville with 20 points and seven rebounds, one of three Cardinals that finished in double figures. Becky Burke tallied 13 and Cierra Warren ended with 12. Only six Cardinals scored in the contest...Shawnta Dyer adding five points, same as Jude Schimmel and Antonita Slaughter connected on a three late for her only points.

The Aggies got a strong second half from center Kelsey Bone and she led A&M with 15 points and nine grabs. Sydney Carter finished with 14 and Tyra White added 13. 

Louisville greatly missed the point guard expertise of Shoni Schimmel and steady inside scoring of Monique Reid. Tia Gibbs lockdown defensive would have been great to have against the A&M guards. The Lady Cards were schooled on the offensive boards by the taller Aggies and suffered from beyond the stripe with 4 of 15 three point shooting.

Quick turnaround for Walz's kids...Thursday night in Richmond, KY against EKU. Shoni back at the point, hopefully...Mo back inside. Tia Gibbs goes in for an MRI on her shoulder tomorrow...doubtful for the Colonels game because of pain and limited movement.

Learning experience aside, the Cards got a great effort from Smith and some good point play from Jude Schimmel...but Bone ruled Warren in the second half inside and Sara Hammond had a case of freshman nerves today. It's early in the season and once all the pieces of the puzzle are back on the table, the Cards will improve greatly off today's effort...a heroic, but over matched effort against a deep and talented A&M team.

Things we liked about the game:

-Bria Smith's aggressiveness and ability to create, drive and score.

-Flashes of brilliance from Jude Schimmel at the point.

-Cierra's strong first half inside.

-Becky Burke drilling a few threes.

Things that need improvement:

-Cut down on turnovers. 27 is unacceptable, no matter who you are playing or who is missing out of your lineup.

-Scoring droughts. Two runs by A&M accounted for a 20-0 scoring drought. Louisville lost by 18. You do the math.

-Keeping the opponent off their offensive boards. Way too many easy put backs and second chances for scores by A&M against the Cards yesterday.

Most upsetting point of the evening:

-When ESPN U lost coverage for most of the first half because of "technical difficulties". Sent us scrambling for the radio. Was yelling four-letter words at the four-letter network.

******************************************************************

(With regular writers Jenny O'Bryan and Sandra Walker unavailable to provide post-game analysis...we turn to CARDINAL COUPLE Special Correspondent David Watson for his take on the loss. You have been warned...)

(Notes while trying to figure out where ESPNU is)

I'm not going to blast or belittle the effort that Jeff Walz's Lady Cards put out yesterday against the Texas A&M Aggies. I'm just going to sue ESPN U for not giving me my money's worth.

David Watson had to
listen to part of the
A&M game on AM radio.

Yes, I finally broke down and added the network to my cable lineup. The phone guy was friendly enough. Told me he could add it IMMEDIATELY if I took about 10 or so other channels. Said he'd charge me only $2.50 (pro-rated) for this month and $10 dollars per month hereafter. And, sure enough, it was there at 3:55 p.m. when I sat down with my popcorn, beer and youngest daughter in the family den. 

I got hosed.

Missed most of the first half because of technical difficulties. Had to resort to on-line radio streaming from Cards TV. I do like the way Matt Andrews and Adrienne Johnson call a game, but I'd rather be watching it and making my own determinations.

When they finally got the gremlins out of the stratosphere and the picture returned, here's what I saw.

-Kelsey Bone (Texas A&M) is going to be a force in the BIG 12, SEC, WNBA and where-ever else she decides to play. After sitting most of the first half with foul trouble, she used her 6'4" frame to punish the Cards inside. I'm glad she transferred to A&M instead of somewhere like Providence, Marquette or Seton Hall because I care to see her no more. Dawn Staley (South Carolina head coach) lost a good one in Bone.

-Bria Smith is having a love/hate relationship with college basketball. She carried the Lady Cards in the second half, but too many turnovers and way too few assists. With coaching and the return of Shoni and Mo, she'll get much better. She's already excellent - superior is the next stop on the scale for her.

-I keep waiting for Asia Taylor to have that "breakout game". I thought I might see it yesterday. At least she didn't foul out. I'm still waiting, Asia. Like a kid waiting for Christmas. Hopefully, you'll arrive sooner.

-Sara Hammond is going to have a few of those good game/bad game swings this year. All freshmen do, unless they're named Maya Moore or Skylar Diggins. Look for her to revert back to good game status against Eastern Kentucky Thursday night.

-Sherrone Vails is another one who probably wishes yesterday was just a dream and the actual game is today. Have a nip or two before you check out her stat line from yesterday.

-Jude Schimmel is a enterprising, dauntless young lady. I'm hoping to see a lot of "Schimmel squared" on the court this year. I honestly believe she would try to take the basketball off the dribble through Times Square to the countdown ball on New Year's Eve. She just needs to keep dribbling. Holding the ball 35 feet out isn't helping anybody but the defense.

So, a loss. An expected loss. Gary Blair is a fine coach, has a great team and will do wonderful things in conference play this year. Might just get in range to try for the title again. But, I'd like to see the Lady Cards face the Aggies at full strength and in the KFC YUM! Center.

To use a golf term, I'd like a 'mulligan' for the Lady Cards on yesterday's performance.
With the regular five some out there.

(David Watson is a Special Correspondent for CARDINAL COUPLE. His views do not necessarily match those of the staff or ownership of CARDINAL COUPLE at times...but he's never a boring read...)
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louisvilletravelstorichmondkentuckyfortheirnextgameagainsteasternkentuckyuniversitywearebettingthatawholelotofrockcastlecountyfanswillbeinattendance

Lady Cards 73-64

CARDINAL COUPLE MONDAY REPORT:

-Lady Cards win 73-64 against Missouri State.

-Volleyball sweeps Georgetown in final BIG EAST regular season action

Cierra Warren with 16 second half points as the Cards overcome a shaky first half and defeat the Bears by nine. Warren was a perfect 8-8 from the floor for UofL and Becky Burke had three threes in the win.

MSU had a one point lead at the half. 41% shooting in the second half for Louisville and 25 forced turnovers for the game by the Bears. Sara Hammond with a double-double 13 points and 13 rebounds.





Hammond with a double-double tonight
in her first collegiate game.

The Cards started Shelby Harper, Shawnta Dyer, Bria Smith, Tia Gibbs and Sherrone Vails...but Louisville hardly looked like the #9 team in the nation in the first half..falling behind early to the inspired Bears 8-1 to start the game. The Lady Cards obviously missed the presence of Shoni Schimmel at point, who sat out the first of her two game suspension for playing in an NCAA un-sanctioned tournament this summer. Down by seven after three minutes, the Cards did rally to tie the contest at 8-8, getting two scores from Monique Reid. Louisville never led in the first half and actually trailed 25-16 with seven minutes to go before going on a late 16-8 first half run to climb with one at halftime at 33-32. Two Becky Burke threes helped cut the margin and the Cards held Missouri State two just two points in the final four minutes of the half. Sara Hammond led the Cards with seven points in the first half and Burke had six. The Cards needed to pick up the defensive pressure and capitalize on the height advantage they held over the Bears in the second half.

Louisville grabbed their first lead of the game to start the second half on a Bria Smith steal and layup but couldn't maintain it and found themselves down 49-42 with 11:47 remaining in the game. That's when Cierra Warren took over the contest for Louisville and scored eight points in a 12-2 run that had the Lady Cards on top 54-51 with 8:53 remaining. They never trailed after that and Warren would add eight more points the rest of the way to increase the lead and win by nine.

Bria Smith had six steals
against the Bears.

Louisville displayed a lot more energy over the final twelve minutes than the Bears did and Bria Smith and Jude Schimmel were effective in getting the ball into the paint for Warren to create and score.

Sara Hammond joined Warren in double figures, recording a double-double with 13 points and 13 boards. Bria Smith added 10, Becky Burke 9 and Asia Taylor 7. All 12 Cards available for the contest played and only Shelby Harper failed to score.  

Tia Gibbs sustained a right shoulder injury early in the first half and did not return to action. She is listed as doubtful for Texas A&M on Tuesday night. Monique Reid was slowed by an arch injury she suffered in the closed scrimmage last week against Illinois and did not practice all week. She finished with four points, all in the first five minutes of the game.

*****************************************************************

Jeff Walz had the following observations about the contest in post-game comments:

-He felt Missouri State did a very good job defensively against the Cards and shut down any long-range shooting...Burke being the only Cardinal to score from behind the arc.

-He wasn't pleased with the Cardinal assist total tonight. Eight total, five of them from Jude Schimmel.

-Although Cierra Warren played well to end the game, she was a defensive liability in the first half and he had to sit her down and get her refocused.

-Very unhappy with the Cards 15 for 27 free throw shooting, especially Bria Smith's 2 for 8 charity stripe performance...but was pleased with her six steals. 

-Indicated he put Shoni back at point when she returns after the Texas A&M game.

All in all, a good - if late in coming - Cardinal win against a fired up opponent and loud and rowdy crowd in Springfield, MO. Louisville will need more scoring out of the guard position to fare well against Texas A&M Tuesday...but got outstanding play inside from Warren, Vails, Dyer, Taylor and Hammond...who accounted for 44 of the Cards 73 points.

******************************************************************

The Volleyball Cards downed Georgetown 25-19, 25-14, 25-23 on the final day of BIG EAST regular season volleyball action yesterday in Washington, D.C. Louisville will be the #1 seed in the BIG EAST tournament, starting Friday at Villanova and will face #8 seed Pittsburgh at 12:30 p.m.

Louisville (21-7, 13-1) started out Sunday unable to shake the Hoyas and the match was close until three straight serving aces by Caitlin Welch pushed Louisville to a 17-12 advantage. The Cards withstood a late Georgetown rally to win by six. 

Game two was all Louisville early, the Cards jumping out to a 9-4 advantage and going on a 9-1 run to lead 22-13. Emily Juhl  had five of her nine kills in the second contest and also served four of the five final points for the Cards in the win.

Georgetown put up a battle in the final game, roaring out to a 8-2 lead, but Louisville rallied back to tie it at 18. It remained tied at 23 until Lola Arslanbekova scored the final two points of the match on a kill and then a serving ace to give the Cards a hard fought win. Lola led the Cards with 11 kills in the match.

Other first round matchups in the BIG EAST Tournament:


#4 Syracuse vs. #5 Notre Dame 10 a.m.
#2 Cincinnati vs. #7 Villanova 3:30 p.m.
#3 Marquette vs. #6 Seton Hall 6 p.m.

All games will be shown on BIG EAST TV. The Cards must be wary of Pitt, who came into the KFC YUM! Center and defeated Louisville 3-1 during regular season play.

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didyouknowthatlouisvillehaswonthebigeastregularseasonortournamentforthelastthreeyears?thecardswerethebigeastregularseasonchampsin2005and2007
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