Cards win over Vandy...await Xavier

MONDAY @ C.C.
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-Louisville 81 - Vandy 62 by the numbers
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-Watson reviews the game
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-Softball romps Buckeyes
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-Sonja spanks the competition
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-A Womens NCAA quiz for you.
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Tia Gibbs (pictured here) practicing to defend the amazon front line of Xavier?
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The Cards ready themselves for a rematch against the #2 seed in the Spokane Region. Louisville will face a team in Xavier that will be playing on their home court, is decidedly taller and already owns a win over the Cards this season. Does it matter? Heck, no. It's tournament time and the upsets do happen. Ask VCU over in the men's tournament if they were intimidated. Game on!
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Louisville used 60% shooting to down the Vanderbilt Commodore yesterday in the Cintas Center and a 35-19 rebounding edge. The shooting performance we fully expected and understand...when the Cards guards are hot and Monique Reid can penetrate and score on defenses, they're capable of high shooting % numbers. The rebounding a pleasant surprise, though. Normally the numbers are in favor of the Lady Cards opponents in the battle of the boards. Louisville had a 26-12 advantage on the defensive boards and limited Vandy to nine second chance points. Keisha Hines had nine grabs for the Cards and Tia Gibbs added eight.
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The shooting numbers were boosted by the Cards' red hot 15-21 in the final twenty minutes (71.4%). Take out Becky Burke's puzzling 0-5 performance and you've got only fifteen missed shots for the entire game. Reid and Schimmel went a combined 18-28 for the Cards and Schimmel and Gibbs 8-14 from beyond the 3 point arc. Vandy went a respectable 43.9% from the field for the game and did sink 7 of their 18 three-point attempts. It just wasn't good enough to top the marksmanship from the Lady Cards...
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Louisville was also excellent from the charity stripe, sinking 13-14 free throws. Keisha Hines sank all six of her attempts and Sherrone Vails was the only Cardinal to miss (1-2) from the line. Vandy did make 5 of 6 from the stripe. Louisville stayed out of foul trouble for once...committing only 11 fouls in 40 minutes. Hines picked up three but had 32 minutes on the court...high numbers for the senior. Vandy was whistled for 15 infractions...backup bruising freshman center Stephanie Holzer collecting four.
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The Cards gained 12 points in fast break opportunities. Several were wide open, unguarded attempts in the second half. Vandy with just 4 fast break points. The Vandy bench did contribute 27 points to the Vandy scoring, including a 19 point second half performance from freshmen guards Christine Foggie and Jasmine Lister. Louisville had only three bench points in the contest..at the foul stripe from Becky Burke's two tosses and Sherrone Vails hitting 1.
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The Cards freshmen tallied 20 of the 81 points...19 for Schimmel and 1 for Vails. All five played and Schimmel saw 37 minutes, Charmaine Tay 19, Vails 7, Antonita Slaughter 4 and Polly Harrington 1. The freshmen grabbed six rebounds and handed out 8 of Louisville 20 assists.
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Louisville blocked 2 shots and Vandy swatted three attemps away. The Cards had 10 steals (Hines and Gibbs three each) and the Commodores pilfered the orb 12 times, Elan Brown getting 5 of them. Vandy committed only 14 turnovers and Louisville was guilty of 20 miscues (Schimmel 5 and Reid 4).
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Vandy never led in the contest. The Cards led by 20 with 6:55 to go in the second half after a Gibbs score at 68-48. Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb was effusive in her praise for Louisville's effort...stating that the Commodores 'actually lost the game in the first half...something I don't say very often'. She also remarked that Reid had 'improved a lot in physicality'. She had no comment on the performance of former Vandy player Tia Gibbs.
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All in all, a very good, workmanship type effort by the Cards to dispatch the Commodores. Louisville met the challenge of a 12-0 second half Vandy run with a 13-0 run of their own and were never seriously challenged in the final nine minutes of the second half.
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DAVID WATSON watched the fray from Section 104 and has this report on the Louisville win:
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I'll give you five reasons why Louisville defeated the Vanderbilt squad Sunday, and I'll provide them in alphabetical order.
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Tia Gibbs. Revenge is a dish best served at tournament time and the silky, smooth sophomore showed Melanie Balcomb, head Vanderbilt coach, that she might of made a mistake in letting her get away. Gibbs first half shooting clinic left me convinced that not only is she a dead on distance shooter but she can do the things needed to get in position to attempt the deadly three. I didn't check on the way out of the Cintas Center, but it wouldn't surprise me if Gibbs was still raining down threes out on the blacktop outdoor court near where we parked. Her back-to-back threes (nearly three in a row) late in the first half keyed a 8-0 closing run that effectively sank the Commodore boat. All hands on deck, attention! We have an long range artillery specialist on board. Her three with 33 seconds left in the game was the final nail in the Commodore coffin...a three that Vandy fans cried about being in poor sportsmanship. You play to the final buzzer, Commodore crybabies. Better luck next year.
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Keisha Hines. This senior must have watched a Sylvester Stalloine or Arnold Schwartzenegger movie before the game, because she came out and became the ultimate warrior. Scoring easily inside, containing the Vandy inside game and grabbing board and board. What used to be a 'close your eyes and pray' Hines at the foul stripe has turned into an automatic point producer. Last chance to dance for the senior and she has her ballet slippers on and has cued up the mirrored ball and Bee Gees. Not Saturday Night Fever, but Sunday Afternoon Smackdown.
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Monique Reid. No disapperance for the flashly junior Sunday. Two solid halves of basketball and the classic Reid inside punishment by use of the backboard and soft jumper. Her war whoop when she nailed an inside jumper at the 8:11 mark of the second half was probably heard back in Fern Creek without the aid of the television volume. Reid layup, Reid inside, Reid layup, Reid plus 1. It may be boring script, but it is effective, successful and useful as any self-help paperback. Paul tells me that when she saw her walking out for the second half, he gave her the 'thumbs up'. She just gave him a self-assured smile that mission would be accomplished and opponent stifled. When she's golden, she shines like the sun.

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Shoni Schimmel. No first time, freshman nerves here. Beginning with a three that gave the Cards a 5-2 lead and ending with a three with five minutes remaining that made it 71-51, the Portland progeny controlled the game with a maestro's touch and was the only other Cardinal besides Gibbs to hit from beyond the arc. I'll give Charmaine Tay a prop here also, off the bench and very steady in the nearly twenty minutes she contributed. As for Schimmel, another 'Sho-Time' performance that gets her one step closer to playing in front of her fanatical followers on the West Coast. They should call her Judge Schimmel because of her court awareness.
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Jeff Walz. Coach coached the perfect game. Substitutions when needed, a persistant and wise dialouge with the officials which kept the Cards from getting too infractioned and letting the team solve their own couple of slumps during the contest. Walz knows quite well that you don't mess with good performances and gave four of the starters plenty of minutes to shine. He also saw that a three guard attack was the best way to calm the Commodores and Asia Taylor will have other days to compile points and boards. If he can figure out the mystery of the Becky Burke recent slump, we'll nominate him for Mayor of Louisville (no offense Greg Fischer). His next test is also how to contain the Xavier amazons Phillips and Harris. Don't bet against him.
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As we drove home after the contest, my daughter made a very valid and wise observation. She commented that Louisville never seemed to be flustered or panicked during the game. Even when Vandy cut the Cardinal advantage to five, the girls re-grouped and pushed the lead back to 18. Consider the situation. The Cards have been battling all season in the best conference in women's college basketball. All nine BIG EAST teams won their first round games. Think that a 10-6 SEC Vandy is going to strike fear and apprehension into the hearts and minds of Walz's bunch? Not bloody likely, sir. Past performances matter. This wasn't Louisville's first rodeo, time at bat or situation under pressure. No problems here. Onto the rematch, now. Tear down the tall timber, Cards.
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DAVID WATSON is a special contributor to CARDINAL COUPLE. He probably wouldn't make a great lumberjack or action figure hero...but we like his references and allegories. Here's hoping his 2 1/2 hour drive back from Cincy Tuesday night is one following a Cardinal win.
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Louisville softball closed out their participation in the San Diego Classic II with a 9-1 win over Ohio State on Sunday. The Cards finished the three day event with a 4-1 record and went to 18-9 overall. They took the tournament title and got the trophy thanks to the strong pitching of tori Collins against the Buckeyes. Collins allowed only two hits and fanned four in the five inning contest. She is 11-5 on the season.
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Louisville struck early against OSU, getting two runs in the bottom of the first. A Jennifer Esteban triple scored Katie Keller and Esteban touched home on a Colby Wherry sacrifice fly.
The Cards added another run in the second when Keller singled home Kristin Austin.

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Louisville took it to 5-0 in the third inning when they got fence clearers from Wherry and Alicja Wolny. After Ohio State scored a run in the top of the fourth, the Cards countered with four in the fourth. Wherry and Taner Fowler smacked back to back singles with two out. Wolny singled to get Wherry home. Austin drew a walk to fill the bags. Maggie Ruckenbrod's single scored Fowler and Wolny touched the plate on a wild pitch to make it 8-1. Walks by Hannah Kiyohara and Keller brought Austin to the plate for the final 9-1 tally.

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Louisville returns to Ulmer for their next game, a matchup against the UK Wildcats on Wednesday. Game time is 6 p.m. and admission is $5.
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Sonja is spanking the competition in the women's NCAA Tournament bracket pick 'em. Her 27-5 first and second round performance leads by 4. Losses in a #8 vs #9 matchup (won by Purdue), and incorrect picks of Iowa State, Iowa, Arizona State and Middle Tennessee were the only blemishes on a brilliant bracket breakdown. Surprisingly, Bill the Goat is in second. As for Paul, once again...he sits in the cellar of the bracket basement. 19-13. Typical. BIG EAST teams went 9-0 in their opening games. The ACC fared 6-0. Give the SEC a 3-1 beginning. The Big 12 stumbled out 2-5 and the PAC 10 went 2-1. The Big 10 advanced 4 out of 5 in the "power conferences" results.
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A short NCAA Womens Tournament quiz for you:
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1) How many states are represented in this year's tournament? Include the District of Columbia.
a) 37
b) 29
c) 33
d) 40
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2) Which state has the most participants (6)?
a) Tennessee
b) Texas
c) Florida
d) Arizona
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3) Which state has NO participants?
a) Kansas
b) South Dakota
c) Mississippi
d) Montana
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4) Name the three North Carolina participants:
a) Duke, Wake Forest, North Carolina
b) North Carolina, East Carolina, Duke
c) Marist, Duke, North Carolina
d) Gardner-Webb. Duke, North Carolina
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5) Joanne P. McCauley coaches:
a) Marist
b) BYU
c) Duke
d) McNeese State.
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(answers below)
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Here in Kentucky, two teams are in the BIG DANCE (Louisville and Kentucky) and both advanced to the second round. Ohio has four universities involved and Ohio State and Xavier
were the only two to move on. The biggest upset in the first two days of action? Give it to #11 seed Gonzaga...who downed #6 seed Iowa. No #12 thru #16 seeds survived their first round games. Missing names from this year's Big Dance? Syracuse had a credible BIG EAST season but wasn't included despite going 22-9. LSU and South Carolina failed to get the call despite having .500 seasons in the SEC and winning records.
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Boo to Xavier for trying to rip off the Western Kentucky University mascot with their "Blue Blob". They're the Musketeers, but we saw no dashing swordsman mascot on the sidelines Sunday. Just a second rate imitation of WKU's Hilltopper. We cry foul!
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The Vanderbilt Commodore mascot looks like the late, great famed actor Leslie Nielsen after a few tough nights....we expected to see him stumble into the court action or create a typical Nielsen blunder or gaffe. I can hear Paul Sanderford's commentary now..."OMG! The Vandy mascot just took out Monique Reid on a fast break layup! And...no whistle? Amazing..."
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ANSWERS:
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1) c. 33 states have entries, including Georgetown, from D.C.
2) b. Texas has six schools in. Baylor, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Texas, Houston and Prairie View
3) c. Mississippi has no one. No Ole Miss, Miss St. Southern Miss or even a near miss.
4) d. Gardner Webb joins Duke and North Carolina from the TarHeel state.
5) c. Duke. Joanne has held the helm at Duke for four seasons.
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5 for 5...You know your womens hoops! Give yourself a Naismeth Award and apply at ESPN.
4 for 5...Not Bad. You've seen a few games this year.
3 for 5...Average. Questions one and four were tricky. You'll do better next time.
2 for 5...40% shooting. You need to watch a few more games than your hometown school's.
1 for 5...Gotta send you to the bench, with a NCAA facts book and water bottle.
0 for 5...We don't encourage UK fans to visit...but they still show up and embarrass themselves.
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Lady Cards down Vandy 81-62

-The fearless foursome of Gibbs, Schimmel, Reid and Hines
lead CARDS to second half romp.
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(Back in Louisville and power back to the laptop!)
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Tia Gibbs drilled five 3 point shots for Louisville and four Cardinals accounted for 76 of Louisville's 81 points in a 19 point win over SEC member Vandy in the Cintas Center Sunday afternoon in NCAA first round action in Cincinnati. Gibbs finished with 19 points and 8 rebounds and was joined in double digits by Monique Reid (22 points, 6 boards), Shoni Schimmel (19 points, three 3 pointers) and Keisha Hines (16 points, nine rebounds).
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Louisville was sparked by a 13-0 run in the second half, after Vandy had cut a 17 point Louisville lead to five at 49-44 with a 12-0 run of their own.
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Coach Jeff Walz said he didn't do or say anything special to get the Cards motivated to roll back out to a 62-44 lead with 8:11 left in the game. Hines hit an inside jumped and four straight free throws to get the Cards re-started and Reid finished the run with a layup and then a jumper plus one to put the Cards back up safely to stay.
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"There was no special motivation, no time out. They all know that it's one loss and it's over this time of year...so I just let them go and they got it straightened out themselves." Walz commented after the game.
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Louisville used a eye-popping 35-19 advantage on the boards to spark 12 fast break points in the second half and stop Vanderbilt's inside game. The Cards also shot a red hot 15-21 in the second half for 71.4% and sank all eight free throw attempts to keep Vanderbilt at bay.
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The three point barrage by Schimmel and Gibbs in the first half accounted for 18 of the Cardinals 41 first half points and two straight by Gibbs at the end of the first half put Louisville up 39-26 near the end of the first half. Reid inside, which Cardinal fans in attendance in Cintas Center saw plenty of, closed out the first half scoring...and Louisville led 41-26.
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The Cardinal fans in attendance far out-numbered the Vandy fans in the stands and proved to be a rowdy and loud support group for the Louisville players. They got the attention of Jeff Walz as well...who commented after the game that he and the players were very excited about the "red" in the seats and how the Cardinal supporters travelled the two hours to watch the Lady Cards in action.
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Louisville will face Xavier at 7 p.m. Tuesday night to attempt and advance to the Sweet Sixteen. The Muskies defeated the South Dakota State Jackrabbits 72-56 in the second game of the day in the Cintas Center. 6'5" twin towers Ta'Shia Phillips and Amber Harris combined for 43 points and 27 rebounds. The Jackrabbits stayed close for most of the first half and went in at halftime down only 39-30, but could not deal with the Xavier strength inside in the final twenty minutes.
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Paul lost his bet with Sonja that Howie Lindsey would not make the Louisville game and both of us would like to thank him for letting CARDINAL COUPLE readers know that WE were basically dead in the water with no laptop access. It's a simple rule, check the laptop case to make sure you've got ALL the essentials and accessories.
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If anyone had the biggest reason to celebrate the Cardinal win over the Commodores, it might well could have been former Vandy player and current Louisville Lady Card Tia Gibbs. After sitting out a season after transferring to Louisville from Vandy, the former Louisville Butler All-State selection has been a valuable contributor and starter for the 2010-11 Cards. Gibbs went a red hot 7-9 from the court Sunday, grabbed eight boards and had three assists and steals in 36 minutes of action. When asked about the win, she stuck to the standard script answer that Walz and Reid kept using as a mantra:

"I'm just excited to be playing"

Based on the way the Cards looked this afternoon, so is the Louisville fan base.
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Sherrone Vails saw only seven minutes of action because of a gimpy leg. When Walz was asked about the injury, he shrugged and said :

"It doesn't matter, she's got another one.".
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Walz then went into a short dissertation about the number of body parts she and the other Lady Cards have before commenting that Vails would be available for action Tuesday. It's good to know that all the Lady Cards have two eyes, arms and ears and only one nose each. When the press conference disintegrates into joking like that, it's time to end it and it did end shortly after the anatomy lesson. WE'RE glad that Jeff is a basketball coach and not a biology teacher at UofL. .
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CARDINAL COUPLE will be on-site for the Tuesday night match-up against Xavier. At least part of CARDINAL COUPLE, anyway. Sonja will be at work, listening to the radio accounts and descriptions of the game and pacing furiously. Paul will make the two hour trek to see it live.

GO CARDS!

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Pitino's Cards fall, Lacrosse wins

FRIDAY at CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Harper harpoons Cards 62-61

-Lacrosse 5-0 after Sacred Heart win

-Gadd, Bergstrom in NCAA Swimming

-Lady Cards prepare for Vandy

-So...how's your bracket doing?

The picture speaks a 1000 words as Louisville bows out of the NCAA Tournament to #13 seed Morehead 62-61. Demonte Harper drills a three at the top of the circle with 4 seconds to go for the win and Kenneth Faried blocks a Mike Marra three as time expires to give the Eagles the win.

Louisville had their chances. Slow and disorganized early, the Cards came back to tie it at the half. They had a 48-41 lead until a spirited 16-4 run late in the second half put the Eagles in front 57-52. Louisville led 61-59 with seconds to go, though...until the Harper dagger.

Rick Pitino has referred to this season as a "bridge year" for Louisville basketball. That bridge is closed now until November. Preston Knowles leaving in the second half with a foot injury certainly didn't help the Cards chances.

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Guard the shooter next time. Morehead did...and Marra's chance to become a hero got swatted away, just like the Cards tournament run.

Heard some grumbling that Pitino needs to be fired after the game. Hogwash. Those of like opinion need to take a few days to cool out and calm down. Louisville lost a great opportunity to win this game when Preston Knowles hopped to the sideline with an injured foot. Rcik didn't cause that and his accomplishments here at Louisville far outweigh an NCAA tournament loss.

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Louisville Lacrosse goes to 5-0 with a 19-8 win over Sacred Heart in Fairfield, CT. yesterday. The Cards got seven goals from Bergan Foley and used a late 12-2 run to raid the win from the Pioneers. Liz Lovejoy got Louisville off to a quick start by scoring Louisville's first 3 goals, her first one less than a minute into the game and Louisville led early 4-0 after Lianne Bobal scored. The Cards saw Sacred Heart roll back and tie the contest 6-6 before Louisville dominated the rest of the way.

Freshman goalie Ashley Herbst had four saves and the Pioneers only got 17 shots off in the Louisville rout. Louisville attempted 49 shots in the contest, a Cardinal record. Katie Oliverio had six assists for the Cards, also a school record.

The Cards head next to Manhattan for a Saturday match.

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Hannah Gadd finished 25th in the 1 meter diving in the NCAA Championships at the University of Texas yesterday. Gadd, the BIG EAST diver of the year is a sophomore and is the first Cardinal to ever compete in the NCAA diving championship. Senior Therese Bergstrom will represent the Cards in the breaststroke today and Saturday.

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The Lady Cards basketball team will face Vanderbilt Sunday in Cincinnati, OH. for their first round game in the NCAA Tournament. For Keisha Hines, it's a final chance to go for the title. Hines was instrumental in the 2009 Cards run...having huge games against Maryland and Oklahoma to help guide Louisville to the final game. She is one of several Cards left from that team...Monique Reid and Becky Burke were also players who contributed to that thrilling Louisville run in the post season.

The remainder of Louisville's roster will be getting their first taste of the Big Dance and nerves and butterflies hopefully won't be a problem for Jeff Walz's crew. Louisville's Shoni Schimmel and Reid will be key elements if the Cards are advance to a Tuesday match up against either Xavier or South Dakota State. Louisville's nightly wars in the tough BIG EAST conference should have them well prepared to face a Vanderbilt team that went 10-6 in the SEC.

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Vandy hasn't seen the quickness and transition based hoops that Louisville has to offer very often this season and if the Cards can get "the survivor" Hines to have a big game on the boards...Louisville should do well in this first round matchup. Hines is the only Cardinal so far who has played four years for Jeff Walz and her leadership, skills and paint prescence will be a "must have" Sunday at noon. WE expect the Cards to win a close one against the Commodores and hope that South Dakota State can come in and pull the upset over Xavier in the Cintas Center.

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So, how does your bracket look after the first day of the NCAA Men's Tournament? I never should have let the CARDINAL COUPLE intern chimps get ahold of mine...going a woeful 9-7 after the first day of action. Sonja, on the other hand, had a very successful first sixteen games and torched the stats with a 14-2 beginning. Like the majority of us, she had Louisville beating Morehead and she also wrote in St. John's...who stumbled against Gonzaga. The rest of her picks were spot on perfect. I fully expected this, she dominates me every time we do one of these things and I'm quite used to residing in the basement of "bracket house" Tomorrow brings another day, though and I'll see if I can do a little better with bold picks like Oakland, Florida State and Marquette.

No need to quit my day job and become a high stakes gambler on college basketball. I'd be broke and standing in line at the soup kitchen faster than Shelby Harper can advance a basketball into the front court.

The Louisville loss was the major upset of the first "real" day of action. I'm not a fan of this 68 team stuff and don't see any advantage to it...except pouring more money into the NCAA coffers. We almost saw a couple of more huge upsets, though...Kentucky needing a final seconds score to squeak by Princeton and Michigan State giving UCLA all they wanted before falling to the Bruins. Games on, Friday! I'll be watching and drawing lines through my many probable losers.

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Soggy Softball Starts today...

FRIDAY as seen through the eyes of CARDINAL COUPLE:


-Red and Black Softball Tournament today


-Catching up on Girls H.S. hoops.


-Seton Hall set to visit LADY CARDS Saturday


Take off those soggy tennis shoes and have a cup of cocoa (bring two!) coz' it's time for the Friday edition of Cardinal Couple! (insert applause...)

Day One of softball's RED and BLACK Classic is scheduled to get underway at 11 a.m. this morning with four games on tap (weather permitting). The events today at Ulmer Stadium:

11 a.m. Boston University vs. SIUE
1 p.m. Louisville vs. SIUE
3 p.m. Louisville vs. Boston University
5 p.m. Miami (OH) vs. Wright State


The Cards roll into the three day event with a 5-5 record. This is Louisville's home opener...having spent the last two weekends on the road. The Cards participated in tournaments in Texas and Alabama...facing stiff competition in both from the host schools, Syracuse and Tulsa...among others. The Cards will play five games over the weekend...giving Sandy Pearsall's young pitching staff another tough test. We think Connell, Leonard and Collins will come through just fine...Chelsea Bemis (pictured above) should have a big weekend swinging the aluminum...


The Cards will open against Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (SIUE). The Cougars are 3-6 on the year and have been playing some very tough competition in UCLA, Tennessee and Long Beach State. They play in the Ohio Valley Conference and this is the first time the Cards and Cougars have ever met. Senior pitcher Erika Taylor is 1-4 on the year and shortshop Kasey Schlafke leads the team in home runs and runs scored.


Next, the Cards face Boston University. The Terriers haven't played yet this season but they have won the America East Conference two years running...so they'll be a good test for Pearsall's players. They're picked to finish first again and boast April Setterlund...who is on the National Collegiate Player of the Year Watch List. The senior outfielder set six school records in 2010 and was the AEC Player of the Year. First ever meeting between the Cards and Terriers.


The rain is supposed to be gone by game time and Ulmer is a great place to watch softball, so grab the coat and hat and head on out for a fun afternoon of pitcher versus batter. Admission is free and they sell coffee and hot chocolate. CARDINAL COUPLE will be there and will provide our readers will all the activities over the three day event.
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We've gotten a little backed up in high school girls basketball coverage but tonight is a big night in district play. Both Manual and Mercy have advanced to the Seventh Region playoffs and Manual's Mechael Guess has been named Seventh Region Player of the Year. Guess, a senior, is headed to Pittsburgh to play college volleyball for the Panthers.
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Manual beat Mercy in 25th district action 74-68 but both move on to the regionals. We're glad to report that Rockcastle County and Sara Hammond won the 47th. district finals and will advance to the regionals, too. Makayla Epps, Kyvin Goodin-Rogers and Bre Elder lead Marion County into the 20th district finals tonight. Other local district action:
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21st - Holy Cross vs PRP tonite for the title
22nd - Doss and Butler tonite in the finals
23rd - Central 59- Presentation 41 (both advance)
24th - Bullitt East 57 - Bullitt Central 43
26th - Fern Creek vs. Assumption (GO CREEK!)
27th - Sacred Heart 53 - Ballard 51
28th - Christian Academy 49 - J'Town 40
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Good luck to all!

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Louisville plays their final home basketball game of the year against Seton Hall Saturday and it will be Senior day for Keisha Hines and Laura Terry. Terry no longer suits up for the Cards (knee injuries) but has been a valuable and hard working assistant student manager for Jeff Walz and the 'Ville'. We'll always remember Terry's saving defense in the final seconds of the Louisville win against Rutgers in the BIG EAST tournament in the 2007-08 season. (Laura and the beautiful smile pictured here.)
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Hines is the other Cardinal that was brought in by former coach Tom Collen. Jeff Walz calls her a "survivor" and is the only Cardinal on roster to have played four years at Louisville. Hines came in as a backup to Chauntise Wright during her freshman year and impressed Cardinal fans right away with 25 points against Florida in only her sixth game as a Card. She moved into the starting position her sophomore year and has patrolled the post for the Cards ever since. Hines has been a blue collar, behind the scenes foundation for Louisville teams since she's been here. Never flashy of flamboyant...she's worked the paint against some of the best post players in college basketball over four years and always battled gamely and physically against them. Her play in the 2009 run to the Final Four was outstanding...despite the fact her grandmother passed away...she had a career game a day later against Oklahoma. Keisha has been like so many of us out here...gets up each day, goes out and does the job without any headlines or superlatives and does it well. (Keisha pictured on the job here.)
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We know that Anne Donovan hasn't has the kind of season to go running down the Jersey Shore yelling and celebrating about..but Seton Hall must be respected Saturday. A win over Louisville would be the high point of their season and they are fighting to stay out of the cellar in the BIG EAST. We hope the Cards have practiced well for this one and that Mo's ankle has held up. WE think the Cards win rather handily in this one and give the Louisville fans in the KFC YUM Center plenty of fond memories of playing and being in the YUM Center to carry over to next season.
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Certainly no pressure here, but if the Cards win, Rutgers falls to WVU, UConn beats Georgetown and Marquette loses to DePaul...Louisville would be alone in 4th place at 10-5 with one game to go. 4th place means a double bye in the BIG EAST TOURNAMENT. Make it so, Cards.
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A year in review...

WEDNESDAY @ C.C.



-2002/2003 season pivotal in Lady Cards history.
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-Current Cards in the record books
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-CARDINAL COUPLE on Knight Rider Radio
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We're several days away from the next Lady Cards basketball game, softball gets under way tomorrow and the other winter sports at UofL are off today as well, so
we're taking a look back at Cardinal womens basketball history today. We take you to the
2002-2003 season first:
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Martin Clapp (pictured above) was the head coach of the Lady Cards and Louisville was playing in Conference USA. The Cards had gone 17-13 the season before and lost in the first round of the WNIT to Ball State in Muncie. Clapp had future WNBA star Lori Nero whom had transferred to Louisville at center for her senior season, Returning for her junior year was point guard Sara Nord. Nina Simotes, Connie Neal, Angel Bradley and Jessica Huggins were on the team...but Louisville had lost Marju Sober to graduation. This was Clapp's sixth season as Cardinal head coach...the first three years he had co-coached with his wife Sara White. He was 93-59 at Louisville in five years but the Cards had not made an NCAA appearance since 2001.
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The Cards got off to a rough start by losing their season opener to Evansville by two on the road. A narrow win at Florida Atlantic was followed by a 20 point loss at Western. The "yo-yo" syndrome continued...Clapp's team won their home opener against IPFW but lost two nights later in Freedom Hall to Chattanooga. Louisville travelled to Baton Rouge to play in the now defunct Women's College Hoops.com Classic...winning the first night against New Orleans but losing the following night to LSU. Louisville was 3-4 as Christmas rolled around...and Cardinal fans were questioning whether the team had anyone capable besides Nero and Nord that could provide a scoring punch. Clapp was drawing fire, also...for losses to weaker foes Chattanooga and Evansville.
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Clapp felt he had to make some changes and adjustments to get Louisville rolling and with some lineup changes the Cards faced Eastern Illinois...the first of six straight home games. The Cards responded with a 91-58 win and also took the next two games...rolling past Ball State and Troy State. #11 Vanderbilt came to Freedom Hall net and Louisville pulled the upset 92-82. Kentucky visited next and the Cards beat them convincingly 86-62. Columbia ended the home stand for Louisville and the Cards put them away by 24 as well. Going into C-USA play...Louisville was now 9-4 and on a roll.
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Louisville began conference play with a tough loss at Cincinnati but responded with home wins over Houston and TCU. Lori Nero grabbed 22 rebounds against the Cougars. A trip to UAB saw Louisville fall short 75-62 but at South Florida the Cards pulled out a nine point win. Returning to Freedom Hall, Louisville took back to back games against Tulane and Southern Miss. Nina Simotes had become the third wheel Clapp needed offensively with her long range bombs and Louisville was now 14-5 and 5-2 in C-USA.
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Then, the train ran off the tracks. Louisville suffered back to back double digit losses on the road to East Carolina and Charlotte. A rematch against Cincinnati saw the Cards lose in double overtime in Freedom Hall. Marquette came to town and downed the Cards by seven. Doug Bruno and DePaul visited next and beat Louisville 73-61. Louisville went on the road for their final two regular season games and lost by four at St. Louis and 15 at Memphis. What had been a bright early start in regular season C-USA play ended with the Cards going 5-9 in conference and 14-13 overall for the season. A seven game losing streak faced Clapp and the Cards as they entered C-USA Tournament play.
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Louisville was matched with St. Louis in the first round at the Pyramid in Memphis, TN. and gained a measure of revenge against the Billikens with a surprising 86-59 win. They advanced to play DePaul...but lost for the second time to the Blue Demons 66-57. The season ended with Louisville going 15-14. Clapp's team was not selected for any post-season tournaments.
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Athletic director Tom Jurich realized that the program needed to go in a different direction and replaced Clapp after the season. Tom Collen was hired as the sixth coach in Cardinal women's basketball history. Clapp went on to coach Birmingham for two years in the now defunct NWBA pro league and is now an assistant at Purdue. He is still married to Sara White and they have a daughter that attends the University of Louisville. Clapp will be remembered for his "offense first" philosophy and recruiting Louisville legends Nord, Jill Morton and Nero. Collen got the Cards rolling again nationally..with one WNIT and three NCAA apperances. He also ushered the team into the BIG EAST and recruited superstars Angel McCoughtry, Candyce Bingham, Jazz Covington, Chauntise Wright, Patrika Barlow and Brandie Radde to the "Ville". By the time Collen left for Arkansas...Louisville was well on the way to being a team often mentioned as a top 25 in the nation.
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A couple of the current Lady Cards are already on the University of Louisville all-time top 10 lists. Monique Reid has the 6th highest scoring season in Cardinal history with 588 points last year. She's also eighth in a season scoring average with 18.4 a game last year. Reid is ninth in field goals made in a season with 200 last year. The junior also ranks second in free throws made in a season (188), third in free throws made in a game (14 against USF), free throws attempted in a season (233) and game (14). Reid also is fifth in rebounds in a season (294), and seventh in rebounding average per game for a season (9.2).
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Becky Burke ranks third in 3-Point Field Goals made in a season (72) and attempted in a season (201). Burke is 10th. in threes made in a game (7 vs. Tennessee) and attempted in a game (13 vs. Syracuse).
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Keisha Hines is second in career games played behind Angel McCoughtry. The Cards would have to win the BIG EAST conference tournament and make the final game of the NCAA Tournament for Keisha to pass Angel's 139, though.
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CARDINAL COUPLE'S Senior Columnist and Co-Owner Paul Sykes made his second apperance on CARDINAL DOMINANCE'S 8-10 p.m. show on Knight Rider Radio. One of these days, we'll get host Shannon to understand that Sonja is the managing editor and Paul isn't. Matters not, we're just glad to have a chance to talk about women's sports where ever we can. Paul was on the show early in the two hour broadcast last night and got the chance to discuss the womens basketball win over Villanova, how the Cards were doing in the BIG EAST and Oregon senior high school sensation Jude Schimmel...as well as a couple of other womens' sports related topics.
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We understand the premise of the show is recruiting..especially toward football and men's basketball. That mirrors the premise of CARDINAL DOMINANCE...where the interest is primarily centered around those two areas. We realize that the popularity of these two sports far outweighs anything going on with women's athletics at UofL. We're just glad to have a couple of minutes weekly to spread the news on the latest goings on at UofL on the distaff side.
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You can catch a replay of last night's broadcast over at http://www.cardinaldominance.net/. Paul is on early...we hope you'll listen to the entire broadcast if you're interested in high school players who hope to do well in college football and men's basketball. Plus, the music is pretty awesome, as well.
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We've received a couple of e-mails from you..the readers...(thank you) about Paul's apperance on the broadcast. Thank you for the kind words about his knowledge of BIG EAST womens' athletics, Connie. Also, hope things are going well for you on the sidelines...win state!
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Doug...we have no control over when Paul is scheduled to go on the air or how much time is he granted. It's the CARDINAL DOMINANCE, not the Cardinal Couple show. We also have no control of the photos you view on Knight Rider radio. If you find them offensive...minimize your screen and just listen to the audio or you can contact the station owner...
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GAME DAY....CINCY

SATURDAY, SATURDAY.

saturday...saturday...saturday...saturday NIGHT'S all right! (apologies to Elton John).

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It's not a Saturday Night game against the Bearcats...tip off is 2 p.m....but the atmosphere in the KFC YUM Center will have all the excitement of a Saturday night dance fest with John Travolta and the Bee Gees. All 11,ooo tickets...gone. (I have two I'm not using...if you want them, go to the outside ticket office in front of the Center and ask for the Cardinal Couple envelope....no charge, Sarge.).

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Louisville (12-7, 3-2) looks to get back on the winning track after a morally depressing road trip last week to South Bend and Hartford. The Cards are lead by Monique Reid (16.2 ppg.) and Shoni Schimmel (16.0) a game. Put Shelby Harper out there also and you've managed to satisfy the entire Cardinal fan base...those are the three most popular Lady Cards, according to you, in a recent poll conducted here at CARDINAL COUPLE. Walz will probably use Keisha Hines for rebounding, Becky Burke (who is Bill the Goat's favorite player) to rattle the rims from beyond the arc and Tia Gibbs (Sonja says Tia looks like the fighter that messed up Hillary Swank in Clint Eastwood's movie MILLION DOLLAR BABY. WE fully expect all 12 LADY CARDS who dress for this one to play. Bring your gym shoes...Walz may ask you to fill in for a few minutes, too.

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UC isn't very good and Louisville beat them by almost 40 up in Cincinnati earlier this season. They have pulled a surprise or two since then...beating South Florida in Tampa raised our eyebrows...and they also beat North Florida this season...so we're thinking Central Florida and Florida Gulf Coast are shaking in their shoes. Shareese Ulis can score, Tiffany Turner will grab a few rebounds and they'll probably score more than the 34 they posted against St. John's. Other than that, it should be a laugh fest for the CARDS.

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We'll be back tonight with all the gory details. Don't forget, the guys play today at 5 p.m. at Providence...so get your shopping done right after you finish reading this, head to the YUM (if you have tickets) or fire up the electric radio and get ready for 5 or so hours of Cardinal hoops. If you're really bold and daring, you might try finding the WAZOO Sports Network and see who is doing the play by play on TV for the ladies game.

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Second half surge sends Huskies past Cards 78-55

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Moore and Hartley's 50 points doom Cards

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UConn used a 17-5 early second half run to bury Louisville and outscored the Cards 47-29 in the final twenty minutes to go to 16-1, 6-0 in the BIG EAST in front of a sold out XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut this afternoon. #2 Connecticut broke open a 39-34 game with 15 minutes remaining the the second half and led the Cards 56-39 with 7:46 left in the game. Maya Moore (pictured right) led all scorers with 26 points.

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The Cards battled hard against UConn early on, leading

several times early in the contest. Their final lead came after a Keisha Hines basket to make it 9-7 six minutes into the contest. Connecticut went on a 7-0 run to gain the lead for good and led 29-18 with 3:42 remaining in the first half before a 8-2 half ending Cardinal rally made it 31-26 at the end of first half action. The Cards were aided by Maya Moore going to the bench with 5:16 remaining in the half. Moore still led the Huskies with 14 first half points. The Cards used balanced scoring to stay within reach against UConn...Tia Gibbs with two 3-pointers and six points and Keisha Hines and Shoni Schimmel with five each.

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Louisville hung with Geno's squad early in the final stanza and after a Shoni Schimmel jumper with 15 minutes left in the game was back within five at 39-34. Moore and Hartley took over after that, though...scoring 15 of the next 19 Huskies points. The Cards would steadily fade the remainder of the contest...trailing 61-44 when Keisha Hines fouled out with 5:51 left in the game. UConn led 73-49 after a Hartley jumper with 2:53 remaining and played out the rest of the game with reserves to notch the win.

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Louisville was led by Shoni Schimmel's 15 points. Gibbs and Hines had nine each for the Cards and Charmaine Tay added seven from off the bench. Becky Burke and Asia Taylor contributed five each. Monique Reid was held to four points on 1-11 shooting...the first time this year she has failed to reach double figures in a game.

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UConn starter Tiffany Hayes left the contest at the 18:30 mark in the first half following a collision on the court and did not return for the Huskies. Maybe a rueful blessing for the Cards, since Hayes has been one of the main Huskies catalysts this season. We hope she's OK.

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Louisville falls to 12-7, 3-2 with the road loss. The Cards once again found out that 40 minutes of solid basketball is needed to win in the tough BIG EAST. Costly turnovers, missed defensive assignments and blown scoring opportunities plagued the Cards during the Huskies 17-5 second half run that spanned nearly eight minutes...and Hines going to the bench a couple of minutes later pretty much sealed the door on any late Louisville rally. UConn outscored the Cards 20-11 after the senior LADY CARDS center left the game.

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A week of preparation for Walz's bunch before their next game...a visit from Cincinnati next Saturday at 2 p.m. in the YUM Center. Despite the lopsided final score, the Cards can gather some positive things from the defeat...especially from the first half...when Louisville's outside shooting and interior play gave UConn fits at times. Next objective: to put the good traits together against a Bearcat team that has improved leaps and bound since the Cards defeated them in Cincinnati back on December 15th.

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Jim Kelch handled the broadcast duites by himself for CARDS RADIO this afternoon, except for a few occasional comments by Lady Cards staffer Liz Sherwood, a former UConn grad. As usual, cool as a cucumber and showing grace under pressure...Kelch delivered another top notch play by play recount on 101.7 WKRD FM...since the men were on 790 AM today. It's one tough channel to get a clear broadcast on unless you happen to live next door to the transmitter...and coupled with watching the men on TV...I'm as worn out as the Cards after this one. Congrats to Pitino's crew...pulling out an amazing come from behind win over Marquette in the YUM this afternoon. NO MORE SAME DAY, OVERLAPPING GAMES FOR THE MEN AND WOMEN, TOM JURICH!!PLEASE....Between a scratchy radio signal and television feed that kept cutting in and out during the first half...plus the 11 a.m. start...I feel like I've put in 12 hours already in the middle of the afternoon....

Previewing Pitt

SATURDAY @ THE COUPLE:.


-PITT PAYS A VISIT TO YUM..

The University of Louisville Lady Cards put a three game winning streak on the line Sunday when the University of Pittsburgh comes to town for BIG EAST women's basketball action in the KFC YUM Center. Game time is noon.

Pitt (8-6, 0-1) returns four starters from a tean that went 16-15 last season and split the matchups against Louisville. The Panthers defeated the Cards 72-69 in the Peterson Event Center during the regular season...but Louisville got revenge in the first round of the BIG EAST Tournament...winning 79-71. Agnes Berenato's squad went to postseason play in the NIT but bowed out in the first round. Berenato begins her ninth season as the Panthers' skipper and is 138-95 as the head honcho of Pitt. She's also one of the most friendly and engaging coaches in the BIG EAST...two years ago when the Panthers lost in Freedom Hall 75-71 to the Cards...she greeted everyone on press row, the scorers table and just about everyone but the popcorn vendors.

This year's version of the Panthers is led by several returning and talented players. Brittaney Thomas is putting up 15.2 points per game for Agnes' bunch. Jania Sims averages 14.5 for Pitt.

Taneshia Harrison chips in with 13.4 a game. Chelsea Cole contributes 9.7 a game and grabs 10.4 boards a contest. Shalya Scott's numbers are 9.1 a game and 7.3 boards. Cole, Harrison, Thomas, Scott and Sims all battled against the Cards last year.

The Panthers have defeated Youngstown State, Radford, Loyola, Mt. St.Mary, Valparaiso, UT-Arlington, Austin Peay and Central Michigan this year. Losses have come at the hands of Minnesota, Duke, St.Francis, DEPAUL, Texas Tech and Duquesne.

The Panthers average 72.2 a game and allow 63.4 points. Cole is second in the BIG EAST in rebounds and also has seven double-doubles on the season. The Panthers are 5-2 at home and 3-4 out of "the Pete".

SONJA SEES IT:

Louisville will find the rebounding against Pitt a challenge. Keisha Hines, Sherrone Vails, Monique Reid and Asia Taylor will need to go to the boards strong and avoid fouls in the paint that an experienced team like the Panthers can draw you into. The Cards would be best served by opening up the tight Pitt defense with long range bombing and then working the frantic full court transition game that has served Louisville well in the last three wins.
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Louisville could win this one rather easily if the Cards can follow the blueprint that DePaul used to beat the Panthers in Pittsburgh 67-51 earlier this year. The Blue Demons allowed the less than stellar Pitt guard outside shooters to go 4 of 27 from 3-point range and used a 21-11 first half run to build an insurmountable lead. DePaul guard Sam Quigley had 15 against the Panthers and there's no reason Shoni Schimmel can't do the same. DePaul went 7-21 from deep against Pitt...Louisville may attempt more trifectas than that...
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The game will be televised on ESPNU and Jim Kelch and Paul Sanderford will have the radio call on Cards Radio WKRD 790 AM / 101.7 FM. Show up and bring a poster in support of the Cards. A poster contest is being held and the winner gets 2 floor seats to a LADY CARDS game.
How about...
(E)nter
(S)chimmel...
(P)itt's
(N)ightmare...??

(Feel free to use this one...they frown on posters down on press row...so WE can't do it.)

Inside the Lady Cards numbers and Soccer falls 1-0

Monday @ The Couple:

-Men's soccer falls 1-0 to Akron

-Louisville's first ten games
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Shelby Harper, pictured here warming up for the Dayton game, is fifth in three point attempts for the 2010-11 Lady Cards.
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Louisville is attempting 19.3 three pointers per game so far this year and cashing in on 37% of them.
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A hard fought game yesterday for the UofL men's soccer team but a 1-0 loss in Santa Barbara in the NCAA Championship game to Akron. After a scoreless first half, Akron managed to push home what proved to be deciding goal with about nine minutes left in the contest. Louisville would get close several times in the waning minutes but could not score on the Zips. A great season for Ken Lolla's guys and much promise for next year.
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After ten games this season the University of Louisville women's basketball team is 7-3 and 5-1 in the KFC YUM Center. Monique Reid has led the Cards in scoring four times this season, Shoni Schimmel three times, Becky Burke once, Sheronne Vails once and Reid and Vails tied for the scoring lead once. The Lady Cards are outpointing their opponents 79.8 to 55, an incredible margin of almost 25 points a game, and have hit the century mark twice this year.
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Louisville holds a narrow margin in out rebounding foes 415 to 373 so far and dominates in the turnovers created statistic...250-181. The Cards hold a 185-97 advantage in assists, have 147 steals against opponent's 85 and 52 blocks...15 better than the opposition's 37.
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Two Cards are averaging double figures for the season...Monique Reid with 15.8 points per game and Shoni Schimmel with 14.7 a contest. Knocking at the door are Sheronne Vails with 9.7 points a game, Becky Burke at 8.7 a game and Keisha Hines with 8.5 points a game. Schimmel's 26 against Kentucky is the highest individual scoring effort in a game for Louisville and she has scored the second most total points for Louisville with 147. Reid's 158 lead in this area.
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Schimmel averages 27.2 minutes per game, Tia Gibbs 23.2, Monique Reid 22.8, Becky Burke 22.7 and Sherrone Vails 21.7. 10 of the 13 Lady Cards are seeing 10 minutes or more a contest. Schimmel, Hines and Gibbs have started every game so far for Louisville and eight of the thirteen Cards have played in every contest. Schimmel has launched the most shots...116 in ten games and Reid has attempted 109. LaToya Johnson has the best shooting % at 80% (4 for 5). For those in the regular rotation, the leader is Hines (34-57)...good for 59.6%.
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At the charity stripe, LaToya Johnson is perfect (1-1). Behind her, Becky Burke a sizzling 12-14 and 85.7%. Of the starters and regulars, Schimmel is next at 11-15 (73.3%). Reid has attempted the most free throws with 48 and made the most...connecting on 33. Reid and Johnson are 1-1 from three point range this year, next in percentage is Burke at 47.7% (21-44). Schimmel leads the team in threes attempted (65) and threes made (26).
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In stats that are dubious to be the leader of, Hines has 36 fouls this year. Hines, Vails and Polly Harrington have each fouled out of a game so far in 2010-11. Schimmel has 38 turnovers...tops for the team and the worst shooting percentage (0%) belongs to Rachel Story (0-5) this year. At the foul line, Charmaine Tay is at the bottom of the list with 6-18 shooting and 33%.
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The Cards have enjoyed a four game winning streak this year...one that they are currently on...and suffered a two game losing streak with back to back drops to Xavier and ODU. Their biggest margin of victory is 66 over Houston Baptist and largest loss was 13 to Tennessee.
Louisville is 1-1 against the SEC and 1-1 against the Atlantic 10 conferences. Louisville played against a record 22,152 fans in the YUM against Kentucky and only 416 showed up in Fort Wayne to see Louisville beat IPFW.
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Louisville has an upcoming road trip of four games...one at Cincinnati on Wednesday and then three in Las Vegas (Marist, Houston and Nebraska). After that, the Cards return home for three in the YUM...(UT-Martin, St. John's and Pitt). The longest remaining road swing after that will be a two game journey to Notre Dame and Connecticut in mid-January and two on the road versus Syracuse and South Florida in mid-February. The longest home stand is the one of three games following the Duel in the Sun event in Vegas. The Cards have those three neutral court games left, a total of eight on the road and 10 in the downtown arena in the regular season.
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Too early for mid-season awards yet, but we'll offer Shoni Schimmel and Monique Reid as our two top contenders so far for "best player at the halfway point" and Schimmel the leader for Uofl freshman of the year. Most improved player would have to go to Becky Burke, because of her dramatic upgraded efforts defensively. The underachiever of the year...one we don't like awarding...would be Asia Taylor...for her on and off the court struggles.
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Louisville's freshmen (Vails, Schimmel, Tay, Harrington and Slaughter) account for 34.5 of the Cardinal points per game this year and returning starters (we used Reid, Burke, Hines, Harper and Taylor...) 39 points per game. The others (Johnson, Story and Gibbs) 10 points per game.
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It's interesting to note that if you add Gibbs scoring to the freshmen's total, the 'newcomers' are averaging 42.0 points per game and the rest of the team 41.5 a game. (These numbers are based on games played by a player divided into points scored, so the totals are slightly higher than the actual Cards points scored per contest.)
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Louisville returns to action Wednesday at Cincinnati. Game time is 7 p.m. and it'll be on 790 AM/101.7 FM Cards Radio WRKD. Jim Kelch and Paul Sandeford will handle the play by play and color commentary duties. (We've always loved the term, 'color commentary'...Oh, look there's the color blue! Over there is some yellow. I don't like blue but green is great! Haven't seen any red yet and what is the deal with purple these days?)
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Remember, the Bowl Pick 'Em contest begins on Saturday, Decemer 18th. With prizes offered by Viscardi Designs, Fanscloset and Panera Bread, it's worth you taking a few minutes and taking a few guesses on the 35 games.
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Good luck and you can enter here at Cardinal Couple if you want in this comments section, e-mail your picks to cardinalcouple@insightbb.com or enter them at the CARDINAL DOMINANCE website http://www.cardinaldominance.net/
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Lady Cards down Dayton 69-55

-Reid's 21 leads Louisville to win over Flyers


We've referenced the slow starting car scenario before in talking about Lady Cards basketball in the past and once again the Cards
sputtered out of the driveway before going on a 20-2 run in the
first half to defeat Dayton. Louisville trailed the Flyers for the first five minutes of this afternoon's game in the KFC YUM Center before Shoni Schimmel nailed a three and Louisville went on a seven minute roll to blow out to a 24-10 lead after another Schimmel three with 9:30 in the first half.

The Cards led at the break 34-22 and Schimmel and Monique Reid had 18 of Louisville's points. The Cards had capitalized on 15 Flyer turnovers for 15 points and held the prolific Flyer outside attack to 2-10 three point shooting. Schimmel had three connects from beyond the arc in the first twenty minutes.

Louisville saw Dayton creep within eight points in the second half at 36-28 with 16:24 to go but then went on a 16-4 run to lead 52-32 after a Reid jumper at the 11:06 mark. Louisville led 66-44 with 4:11 to go...but the Flyers outscored the Cards 11-3 the rest of the way as Jeff Walz emptied the bench late.

Other things to like about the Lady Card win:

-Louisville held Dayton to just 4-16 three point shooting in the game and just six attempts in the second half. The Flyers had been attempting 32 trifectas a game.

-Keisha Hines finished with a 10 point, 10 rebound double/double before fouling out with3:27 to go. Hines was mugged, thugged and banged around by the Flyers front line most of the 22 minutes Hines played.

-Besides Reid's 21 points, other Cardinals prominent in scoring were Schimmel with 17 and Tia Gibbs with 9 in 31 minutes. Sherrone Vails added 7 points and 4 boards in 27 minutes.

-Louisville went a respectable 17-27 from the foul line but Dayton capitalized on 15-22 charity stripe attempts.

-Tia Gibbs had six steals and Shoni Schimmel five against the talented Dayton guards.

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM:

Monique Reid on holding the Flyers to 16 threes:

"One of the game plans was to be there on their catch and contain then. We knew they were all good shooters so it was all about being there on the catch so the shots couldn't get launched.

Keisha Hines on her focus for the game:

" I was struggling in the beginning . I was just try to come out hard and play the best I can. It's my last year so I have to come out and do it big."

Reid on the tournament in Las Vegas beginning the 18th:

"Basically Coach Walz has us just focus on the next game. We have Cincinnati next and we start BIG EAST play and that's big for us and we're real excited about it. Our freshmen won't be freshmen any more when we hit the BIG EAST."

Reid on Dayton's earlier win over Cincinnati:

"Really it doesn't mean anything. We beat 8th ranked Kentucky by 26. Anything can happen on any given night. So we're not overlooking Cincinnati. We're just going to play our game and play hard.

Shoni Schimmel on the Cards 20-2 run:

"It was just everyone going hard and everyone working hard. Everyone kept feeding off each other and we started hitting shots right around there. We got a lot of good transition shots in the run."

Reid on the end of the semester:

"We're off tomorrow but most of us will shoot around and then get ready for finals. Coach Walz takes studies just as serious as basketball and so do we."

JEFF WALZ:

On the defense:

"I thought we did a really good job defensively. We made it a sloppy game. We came out and we knew that offensively they were a very talented team and they have a multitude of players that do a really good job of shooting the three and our goal was to try and make it as ugly as we could when they got into their offensive set. You saw the first two trips down the floor they scored back to back buckets because of their offense and the way they get things moving. And then we were able to score and we got a chance to press them. I thought our press was very effective tonight. I thought it really took a lot of time off the shot clock and forced them into some bad shots."

On Dayton's 31 turnovers:

"Again, that's what we try to do. We tried to get them to play sloppy basketball and we were very successful with it. "

On Tia Gibbs:

" I thought tia played very well tonight, especially in the press. She had very active hands tonight... comes up with six steals."

On the 47-40 rebounding edge for Dayton:

" No, I;m not happy with that. That's something we have to improve on. We gave up 18 offensive rebounds and I'm willing to bet you that they got eight of them at the free throw line. There's no excuse for that and we're going to have to work a lot harder blocking out at the foul line." (Actually it was seven...I should have taken the bet...but Walz's point was well made).

On the Vegas trip:

"Well, if I can hit a progressive slot, I won't be back." (Laughter). That's the whole idea about going out there, right? (More laughter). We've got a game at Cincinnati that we have to be prepared for first. Then, we're going to be flying down on Thursday and give us a chance for a Thursday practice and a Friday practice. We play Saturday, Sunday and Monday. It's a very competitive field."

On Asia Taylor:

"It's like I said on the air...she's suspended indefinitely. It's nothing to do with basketball. She gives us great effort on the basketball court. There are just some expectations that come along with being a part of our program and you've got to make sure that you live up to those expectations...and she's not right now. Sure, we like to win basketball games but we want to win basketball games the right way and that our behavior off the court is something we're just as proud of as our behavior on the court. "

Lady Cards romp IPFW 100-79

TUESDAY @ Cardinal Couple:

-LADY CARDS WITH 21 POINT ROAD WIN.

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-Hammond debuts tonight.

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-David Watson weighs in..

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Shoni Schimmel, pictured here with UofL women's basketball assistant S.I.D. Kinberli Pemberton, had three from the three point arc in the second half in the win.

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If we told you that Shoni Schimmel and Monique Reid combined for 2 points in the first half of action tonight, you'd probably think the Cards were in a dogfight or fouls were a deciding factor in the contest early on.

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Far from it.

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Louisville scored the first 16 points of the game and never looked back in the 21 point win tonight in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Jeff Walz shuffled the starting lineup in the Monday night contest...starting Shoni Schimmel, Becky Burke, Tia Gibbs, Sherrone Vails and Keisha Hines. The results worked well early, IPFW missed nine of their first ten shots and Louisville got three Becky Burke first half three pointers to roll to a 42-25 halftime advantage. Burke led all scorers with 13 first half points and the Cards out rebounded IPFW 24-10 in the first half.

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Sherrone Vails responded with 10 first half points and seven Cardinals scored. Louisville had a 37-15 lead with 4:13 to go in the first half after two Burke free throws.

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The Cards broke out to a 9-2 run to begin the second half and led 51-27 before IPFW responded with a 9-0 run to cut the Cardinal margin to 51-36. The Mastadons would get no closer the rest of the way. Reid and Schimmel responded with 13 second half points each and Louisville led 72-47 after a Vails putback halfway through the final half.

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A bizarre incident with 1:30 to go resulted in the ejection of a IPFW pep band member when Asia Taylor was at the line shooting free throws. We received an unconfirmed report that questionable language was used by a member of the band...but could not confirm that. Maybe the referee doesn't like 'Louie, Louie.'

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Louiville shot 67.8% for the game and this is the first time that Louisville has scored 100+ points twice in one season. Six Cardinals reached double figures, led by Sherrone Vails 22 points. Schimmel finished with 15, Reid 13, Burke 13, Gibbs 12 and Hines 10. Twelve Cards played, 10 scored....Shelby Harper and Rachel Story failing to get on the board.

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Louisville scored 60 points in the paint and the Mastadons had no answer for Vails, Hines or Taylor underneath. Louisville sank seven threes in the contest.

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- LaToya Johnson did not make the trip to IPFW because of illness.

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-The highly heralded Louisville freshmen contributed 47 of the Cardinal points tonight.

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-Jim Kelch handled the radio call by himself tonight and did a good job keeping up with the action. I did switch over and listen to the IPFW radio broadcast for brief periods and was impressed with their play-by-play announcer Mike Maahs. He calls more of a play by play description of the action and doesn't dwell on game trends or observations. No offense to beloved Jim Kelch, but Maahs gives you a great idea of ball movement and guarding matchups during each possession.

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-The teams combined for 112 second half points, compared to just 67 in the first twenty minutes.

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-Louisville had 23 assists and only 15 turnovers Monday night...both areas Walz was complimentary of in post game comments.

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-Walz also commented on the lack of Reid playing time in the first half...mentioning that he was dissatisfied with her hustle and hinted that playing time in future games would depend on how hard she decides she wants to work when on the court. Reid played but two minutes in the first half and was pulled from the game when she "jogged" back down court after a play. Reid did receive a hard elbow to the jaw late in the contest from an IPFW player and was escorted to the locker room.

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Louisville (4-3) returns home to face Mississippi Valley State Thursday at 7 p.m. in the KFC YUM! Center and Kentucky visits on Sunday.

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2011 Louisville women's basketball signee Sara Hammond plays the first game of her senior year at Rockcastle County Tuesday evening when her team travels to take on Wayne County.

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Hammond, considered to be one of the front runners for Kentucky Miss Basketball, leads a Rockcastle County team that has been picked to finish atop their district and region this year.

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Good luck, Sara! Score often, stay healthy and go to the boards....

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CARDINAL COUPLE special correspondent David Watson offers his two cents on last night's game:

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Listen to your coach. It may be the four most important words of advice that any athlete can follow. I listened to the UofL Women's basketball game Monday night on the radio and also to Coach Walz's post game comments. It seems there is a bit of miscommunication between Monique Reid and Walz. There shouldn't be.

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Listen to your coach. Coaches spend a lot of time trying to prepare a team to perform their best when game time rolls around. Jeff Walz wants his Lady Cards to hustle. It's good advice. According to Walz, Reid (who did not start) did not hustle sufficiently during her brief first half appearance in last night's game and found herself back on the bench after two brief minutes of action. She admitted her mistake to Walz at halftime, had no plausible reason for the lack of hustle but did perform better in the second half.

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I go back to a similar performance by me many years ago. My high school basketball team was involved in a blowout one night against a team that didn't have much talent. After scoring a basket, I "showboated" back down the court, let the guy I was defending sprint by me and he scored an uncontested layup. I was promptly pulled from the game. My coach glared at me, as I sat down, and told me that unless I gave it 100% when I was on the court, I would not see the court. I learned from the episode.

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Listen to your coach, Monique. You are fortunate enough to be a scholarship player for a team that plays in the best conference in women's basketball, draws great crowds to each home game and realize this:

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Thousands of girls would give anything to be in your place.

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You are an excellent basketball player. Just think how much better you would be if you gave 100% all the time. It doesn't matter if you are up by 20 or down by 30, give it your all. If your coach wants you to hustle, listen to your coach. Hustle.

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I still think back to that wintry night when I goofed off and got sat down. It never happened again. I had nowhere near the popularity, fan admiration or skills that you have. I did learn from my error in ways and you can, too. The glory days soon fade and you'll be like me someday. You'll recall those fortunate times with a bit of whimsy and longing.

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Listen to your coach. Be a leader by example.

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(Well stated, David. WE will offer an observation here that Cardinal fans will see a hustling Monique Reid Thursday night against Mississippi Valley State...or not see much of her at all. WE hope for observation #1 to come to fruition)