Bulls avenge January loss, Cards fall

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THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

(Jenny O'Bryan with the post-game report on Louisville WBB loss to USF Wednesday Night in the KFC YUM! Center.)

Cards give a home win away in a tough defensive battle.
 

To hear Coach Walz talk in the post game interview with Matt Andrews, the Cards did not follow the scouting report tonight.  While that may have been true, even following the scouting report on a night with such poor shooting, it was going to be hard to win this battle. 

The Cards started the game sloppy.  The first 5 drives down the court there were missed shots or turnovers.  It looked like it was going to be a long night, and it was.  The first 6-8 minutes of the half was tough basketball to watch.  The Cards looked slow and uninspired.   

With 7:41 seconds left to play in the first half, the score was 22-12, USF.  The remainder of the half, the Cards held the Bulls to just 2 points with a strong defensive effort sparked by a Bria Smith steal and a coast to coast easy lay in.  Hammond took a charge next defensive set down court, and the Cards mounted what would turn out to be the best 8 minutes of basketball for the night.  The Cards took a 2 point deficit into halftime, down 24-22.  Hard to believe with the offensive woes and the slow start, the Cards were down just two at the half. 

The second half started much as the first, with the Cards just seemingly not present.  USF started the half on a 6-0 run and the Cards were never really in it the remainder of the way.  Sure, there were stretches of the game that the Cards looked good defensively, but it was not consistent. 

It was a brutal, physical game.  Had to be a tough game to play, physically.  The Cards had little offensive firepower tonight, shooting a season low 30% on the night.  They did shoot well from the free throw line, going 82% from the line.  It kept this from being a blowout.  It was still a big loss, in conference play, at home.  Those are especially hard losses. 

Andrea Smith, for the Bulls, could not be contained this evening.  Matching her career high of 35 points.  Unfortunately, it was not in the Cards tonight, in more ways than one. 

The Cards are playing for seeding in the NCAA Tournament.  These last games of the season matter.   It could be the difference between a 3 seed and a 6-7 seed. 

As a parent of a high school athlete, who also plays club volleyball, I find myself continuously amazed at the lack of consistency from the team (and individual players), from game to game.  I found myself thinking that tonight, except with these college kids.  How does a team play such great ball this past Sunday, and then not today?  It takes a greater mind than mine to figure that out.   Good luck with that, coaching staff...

I commend this team for all of the success it has had this year, despite all the injuries.  Losses like these are hard, because they could have been won.  21-6 is not a bad record, especially when you look at the personnel issues.  It is just hard to see such a tough loss on one’s home court. 

(Editor's Note: A flat effort from a team with so much to gain with a win tonight. Discretion being the better part of valor, I'm not going to editorialize on this very disappointing loss. Expected much more out of this Louisville squad this evening.)

Post game Walz below

COACH DISCUSSES LOSS TO USF
  

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One of the most intriguing things on the night was the newest player on the bench tonight!  Not sure how many of the Cardinal faithful caught this, but freshman volleyball middle blocker 6-3 Davionna Holmes was suited up and sat the bench tonight.   Her bio on the University of Louisville website indicates she was a dual sport athlete in high school and an “excellent basketball player”.  LINK BELOW:
 

Davionna Holmes

Not sure what we will see of Holmes on the hardwood the rest of the season.  Coach Walz had another middle blocker volleyball player on his team before, and we all know how well that worked out.  Gwen Rucker, while she opted to just focus on volleyball after her sophomore year, is stated to be one of the highest IQ basketball players Coach Walz has ever coached. 

I look forward to seeing what Holmes brings to the hardwood.  We all know that another body banging in the paint or shooting the long ball (which she is said to have led her high school conference in) can only be a good thing.    Welcome to Walz’s world, Ms. Holmes.  We hope you like it, and get the chance to contribute.
 

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It was asked earlier in the week what recruits were at the game this past weekend vs. DePaul.  Please keep in mind, just because a recruit was there is no indication of how hard they are, or are not, being recruited by the Coaching staff.  Any recruit can call the Athletic office and indicate they would like to attend the game.   With that caveat, the recruits that were known to be at the game were:

Janelle Cannon- 2013 signee

Sydney Brackemyre- Verbally committed in the class of 2014

Ashanti Thomas, 2015 out of Lexington, has been to several games this season and I believe was at Walz’s summer camp last year.

Dominique McBryde, 2015, out of Bedford, Indiana.

Celina King, 2016 out of Cincinnati, OH.  This kid was intriguing to me because she has her own youtube channel(or whatever you call it) and her own website!!  She has 22 videos posted.    

Tyuana Robinson, 2016

There is plenty of information on these kids if you google their names “and basketball”.  Until, or if, we know how hard the kids are being recruited, I will not bore you with lots of websites.  Google those you want to know more about, and we will keep you abreast of accomplishments of specific players as we know the extent they are being recruited. 
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Signing Day is here!

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WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

(CARDINAL COUPLE Volleyball Guru Jeff McAdams steps up to the serving line today to fill in for Jenny, who is on I.R. and unable to provide an article in between trips to the CARDINAL COUPLE Executive Washroom because of a stomach bug. Get your setter in place and guard the net...Jeff's coming at ya! We also have observations from regular reader PDX Phil, who travelled from Portland, OR. to watch the Lady Cards vs. Texas A&M game...)

 

Signing Day, and Celebrity Volleyball Players

Jenny's regular Wednesday column has fallen victim to a stomach bug, so I'll be your substitute for the day.  Please no spitwads or switching seats and claiming that you're someone else.

***Fall Signing Period
***Kerri Walsh visits

Fall Signing Period

Of all the days for Jenny to be under the weather, our recruiting wiz falls ill the day the Fall Signing Period opens.

Today through November 21st is the early signing period where seniors in high school can first sign a National Letter of Intent.  This signing period includes both basketball...the cause of so much of Jenny's joy...and volleyball...the cause of so much of my joy.

We've discussed basketball recruits quite a bit over the past week or two, but this is where the rubber meets the road.  All of the commitments up to this point have been "verbal" commitments, which have no implications to rescind.  Once a NLI is signed, however, the student-athlete will generally have some consequences to changing their mind.  Essentially, once a letter is assigned, a change to another school is treated roughly the same as a transfer, with a potential loss of a year of eligibility of play.

On the flip side of the equation, until an NLI is signed and received by the school, the school is not allowed to comment about potential recruits.  The other part of the bargain, and why the NLI was instituted initially, is that a signed NLI puts the student athletes out-of-bounds for further recruitment efforts.  The NLI was originally created in order to allow prospective student athletes to end the hassle of a phalanx of coaches communicating with the student athlete to try to convince them to come to their school.

Volleyball signees

We've had plenty of discussions about who will be signing for Walz, and I don't have the sources that Jenny does, so we may have to let that discussion coast on what we already know.  I do have some info about volleyball players, however.

Volleyball is graduating 4 players this year, Gwen Rucker, Lola Arslanbeckova, Tanya Lukyanenko, and Kaitlynn James, from a full roster.  I'm aware of 4 players that have verballed to UofL.  I believe they all are expected to sign tomorrow.

Maya McClendon

Shopping local, Maya McClendon is an outside hitter at duPont Manual High School here in Louisville.  Younger sister of Deja McClendon at Penn State, Maya is slightly shorter than her older sister at 6'0", but from what I hear, makes up for it with her jumping ability.  Maya played club ball at Kiva, which of course is the land of Ron Kordes, father of UofL head coach Anne Kordes.

Sydney Cooper

From Woodward Academy in Atlanta, GA, Sydney Cooper is another roughly 6-footer...I've seen her listed at 5'11" and at 6'0"...usually listed as a middle blocker.

 

 

 

 

Javoni Faucette

Anne Kordes' previous head coaching position was at St. Louis University, so we have a number of players from the St. Louis area on the team...Haley Pouliezos, Davionna Holmes, and Jaden McBride; as well as Hannah Kvitle who transferred with SLU...Javoni Faucette is expected to be joining them.  She's a 6'1" outside hitter from Francis Howell High School in the St. Louis area.

 

 

 

 

Brooke Betts

The last has only just recently come to my attention.  Out of Bishop Hartley High School in Columbus, OH, Brooke Betts is another 5'11" outside hitter.

This recruiting class is a good match to the graduating class with three outside hitters and a middle.  I'll be looking forward to seeing them integrate into the team in the Fall of 2013.

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Kerri Walsh Visits

If you've paid attention at just about any UofL sporting event this fall...or anything that I've posted...ever...you've seen that UofL is hosting the 2012 NCAA Volleyball Championship at the KFC Yum! Center.  The championship will be played the 13th and 15th of December which means that yesterday marked 30 days from the event.

To celebrate and advertise for the event, the NCAA brought Kerri Walsh and her most recent gold medal to town for a PR blitz Tuesday and yesterday.  Kerri has won gold in beach volleyball in each of the last three Summer Olympic Games.  Prior to that, she, with playing partner Misty May-Treanor, pretty well dominated the AVP Beach Volleyball circuit.  She was a standout at perennial power Stanford University from 1996 to 1999.

Starting with an open house Tuesday evening, Kerri signed autographs and had innumerable pictures taken of her at the Brown and Williamson Club at Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium.  The UofL volleyball team was also in attendance and it was a great opportunity to mix and mingle and get to know the people behind the uniforms.  Various activities were also set up, including a bouncy castle and an Xbox 360 Beach Volleyball Kinect game.  I will gloat that I beat Courtney Robison in virtual Beach Volleyball.  I have to gloat about that, because there's no way that I'd ever have a chance of beating her on a real volleyball court.

Kerri was whisked all over town today, with appearances at several morning TV shows, and at least one morning radio show.

The record for attendance of an NCAA Volleyball Championship is 17,430.  The NCAA talking point has been that they want to see 18,000+ at the KFC Yum! Center mid-December to set a new record.  Tickets are on sale through the UofL Ticket Office.

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( Phil Van Der Weele, known as PDX Phil here at CARDINAL COUPLE, came in from Portland, OR. to watch the Louisville vs. Texas A&M game. Here are his thoughts and observations.)

HI, Paul!

Great to meet you as well. You are welcome to use whatever you want from the following comments.

1. I had a great time, thanks to a combination of the great weather, great hospitality from CARDINAL COUPLE columnist Sandy Walker and her friend Jamie, the great atmosphere in the YUM! Center and a thrilling Cardinal victory. I also got introduced to Shoni after the game by her friend (and most enthusiastic fan)...a player on the Lady Cards softball team.

2. The atmosphere in the YUM! is a unique mixture of professional and college - professional by virtue of the arena, the player intros, the dancers and college by virtue of the band and fight songs. Maybe I missed it, but what seemed to be lacking from a college basketball standpoint was a well-defined student section.

3. Specific comments about the game. (Sorry, some of these are negative and may sound like I'm beating a dead horse, which is why I decided not to put them in the comments section.)

 a. Like everyone else, I was blown away by Sara Hammond. To do what she did against that front line and the confidence with which she did it with was amazing. And, I really wish I had her arms!

 b. (Here's the negative part, which you probably don't want to print, which is fine with me)  EDITOR'S NOTE -- WE PRINTED IT ANYWAY. DISCUSSION IS  ALWAYS WELCOME HERE AT CARDINAL COUPLE. DEBATE OF COMMENTS IS A HEALTHY AND LEARNING ASPECT...AS LONG AS THEY DON'T GET HURTFUL AND MEAN-SPIRITED.

I continue to be baffled by Walz's substitution decisions. To be clear, I'm talking about ONLY competitive games, and I'm leaving Monique Reid out of the discussion...because I don't second guess playing time for a player coming off an injury.

    (i) Smith picks up her second foul and Walz brings in Harper? Same mistake he made against Maryland last Spring. Maybe cost the Cards the game. He also put Harper in at the end of the game, which was baffling to me. A&M guards made the entry pass right over her to Kelsey Bone. Nothing personal against Harper. But, there's no way she should be playing in competitive games...in my opinion.

    (ii) I would have Jude in the game only when Shoni is resting. It doesn't make sense to me to have Shoni in the game at the (2) on offense. The offense becomes stagnant, and Shoni wears herself out trying to run off ball screens. On defense, Shoni is too slow to guard on top...but she can guard a (2) or (3)...or play a wing in a zone defense...but the solution is not to move her to the (2) on offense. Smith, Slaughter and Deines can play defense on a (2), and I would play any of them in front of Jude when Shoni is in the game, while keeping Shoni at the point for her ball-handling and passing.

    (iii) A small line up won't get this team to the Elite 8 or Final Four. It hasn't the past two years, and it won't this year. Why not play three of the following four together: Vails, Hammond, Reid and Dyer? And, if only two of the four are in the game, then I would also have Deines or Slaughter in as well.

   (iiii) I'm still looking for that breakout game from Vails, who made the ALL-BIG EAST Freshman Team.

4. Final comment. Can't wait to come back in March for the first two rounds of the NCAA Championship!

WE APPRECIATE PHIL TAKING THE TIME TO SHARE HIS THOUGHTS WITH US. THEY DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWPOINTS OF THE CARDINAL COUPLE STAFF, COLUMNISTS AND OWNERS...BUT THEY ARE ONE MAN'S VIEW OF CARDINAL WOMEN'S BASKETBALL AND A SPRINGBOARD FOR COMMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS FROM THE READERS OF CARDINAL COUPLE. DIALOGUE LEADS TO CONNECTIONS AND CONNECTIONS LEAD TO FAMILIARITY...AND WE LIKE TO THINK OF CARDINAL COUPLE AS ONE BIG ( AND SLIGHTLY DYSFUNCTIONAL AT TIMES) FAMILY.

FINALLY, WE HOPE JENNY RECOVERS SOON AND IS FEELING BETTER WHEN SHE READS THIS TODAY. THOSE 72 HOUR STOMACH BUGS CAN REALLY KNOCK THE WIND OUT OF YOUR SAILS...AND TIMMY THE INTERN DOESN'T HAVE ANYONE TO PULL PRANKS ON...SO GET WELL AND FEEL BETTER SOON, JENNY! 

THE PLACE JUST AIN'T THE SAME WITHOUT YA.

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It is Tuesday, Sooooooooo It must be Laundry Day

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TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

(Gather around the laptop and join us for another edition of the Sandy Walker 40-yard dash through Cardinal women's athletics. A guaranteed good time for all...except for UK fans.)  

Sandy’s Laundry is again backing up with so many ongoing and upcoming events.  The Calendar of events for everyone can be downloaded from

 http://www.gocards.com/scoreboard/

2013 BASKETBALL RECRUITS

The Cardnation Women’s basketball team is celebrating the notice by Teacup, NJ point guard Starr Breedlove of NJCAA champion Trinity Valley Community College of her intent to sign tomorrow to be a Louisville Cardinal as a part of the 2013 class.  

Her school choice is very fitting and she won’t even need to change school clothing as her 2011-2012 college team is known as the Cardinals.  Starr attributed her decision in part to “the fan support during U of L’s season-opening wins over Texas A&M and Portland was a key factor in her decision”.  She is spending this year at home while conducting individual workouts so the play-making guard will have 3 years of eligibility remaining beginning next year. 

Check back tomorrow in Jenny’s column for more Starr Breedlove details.   She joins high school senior forward Emmonnie Henderson and junior college guard Janelle Cannon.

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VOLLEYBALL

Our BIG EAST Champion Volleycards have now moved into the number 5 slot in the RPI rankings as they begin Big East Tournament Play on Friday.   Their tournament play begins in the West Lafayette, IN. region at 1:30 EDT this Friday against St. John’s.  The match will be played at the Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee and a win would guarantee them a place in the NCAA 64 team tournament rather than an at large position.   It is reported that the match will be shown on ESPNU.  Check out http://www.ncaa.com/championships/volleyball-women/d1#!tickets for tournament locations and details.  With 2 of the 3 Louisville losses to # 2 Penn State and # 3 Texas, we are hopeful for an upcoming tournament championship.  The Championship match will be broadcast live on ESPNU on Nov. 18 at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT. U of L’s BIG EAST Tournament webpage and player facts can be found at http://www.gocards.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/111212aaa.html .

Championship Schedule:

Quarterfinals, Friday, Nov. 16

Match 1: No. 4 Connecticut vs. No. 5 Cincinnati, 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. CT

Match 2: No. 1 Louisville vs. No. 8 St. John's, 1:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. CT

Match 3: No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 6 USF, 4:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. CT

Match 4: No. 2 Marquette vs. No. 7 Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT

Semifinals, Saturday, Nov. 17

Match 5: Match 1 Winner vs. Match 2 Winner, 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT

Match 6: Match 3 Winner vs. Match 4 Winner, 4:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. CT

Championship, Sunday, Nov. 18

Match 7: Match 5 Winner vs. Match 6 Winner, 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT (LIVE - ESPNU)

Paul projects that Louisville will be awarded not only the December 13 and 15 2012 NCAA Championship Semi-final and Finals but also opening rounds of the NCAA tournament with our home team included in the regional games.   Tickets are now on sale for the NCAA tournament championship and we will give you notice for tournament ticket details once the location of the 1^st rounds of the tournament are announced.  The 64 team NCAA tournament team selections are to be announced on the ESPNU selection show which is being held Sunday November 25 at 4:00.  Television Broadcast schedules can be found on http://www.avca.org/divisions/television-schedule/ .  The webpage address for an aggregate to find all conference matches schedules is available at http://www.avca.org/divisions/webcast-matches/ .

3 time Olympic Volleyball Gold Medal winner Kerri Walsh Jennings was in Louisville hosting an event at Papa John’s last night as a part of the promotion and celebration of Louisville as the NCAA Volleyball Championship location.

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BASKETBALL

AUSTIN PEAY GAME THIS THURSDAY AVAILABLE ON THE WEB

!!! With the wins against

Texas A & M and Portland,

the

AP Poll now ranks our Louisville Women as # 8.  !!!

If you can’t make the drive to Clarksville, TN for this Thursday’s basketball game against Austin Peay you can still watch the game as the OVC will be streaming the game at no charge.   “Andrew”...in response to my question to the help page of the OVC site has indicated that once you open a free account with the OVC site that you can watch this game for no charge.  A more direct method may be available but until someone sends in the information this is what I have for now. 

First you must open a free account with the OVC site by going to the OVC digital network at   http://www.ovcdigitalnetwork.com/showcase/#back

This site has an area on the top right which allows you to click “connect your accounts”.

 It will connect you to a sign in or register page.     Register for your free account.

 Then go back to  http://www.ovcdigitalnetwork.com/showcase/#back and scroll for the UL game.  

Hopefully this works and we can watch the game streamed for free.

The game starts at 7:00 p.m.C.S.T., which is 8:00 here in the 'Ville.  

(EDITOR NOTE...I tried it last night and had no trouble signing up for it. Watched the second half of the WBB game between Murray St. and Indiana. That annoying seven second delay between picture and sound is present, but the screen picture clarity
is great. WE'll give it a try again Thursday...and try to listen to Matt Andrews' call
on the radio at the same time. No one calls 'em like Matty...)

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FIELD HOCKEY

Natasha Leickly was named Student Athlete of the week.

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SWIMMING AND DIVING

The Swimming and Diving teams will be participating in the Purdue Invite at West Lafayette, IN. this Friday through Sunday beginning at 8:00 A.M. EDT on Friday and Saturday with the start time on Sunday to be announced.

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BASKETBALL RANKINGS AND RECORDS

Weekly rankings of the Associated Press and Coaches Polls can be found at http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/rankings

Sandy
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MERCEDES RUSSELL SAYS...

TENNESSEE

The #1 recruit in the 2013 class has spoken...and she said Tennessee.

You win some, you lose some. Louisville got great news yesterday and earlier today about Emmonnie Henderson and Alexis Montgomery committing.  

We kept our hopes high and wish Mercedes the very best in her academic and collegiate basketball career. Not gonna kid you, this one hurts...but the Cardinal Spirit is strong, united and loyal. We'll cheer our hearts out for who is on the court.

A heartfelt thanks to the Louisville players, staff, coaches and fans who did their best to try and make Mercedes a Cardinal.

We go on. Cardinal WBB in the KFC YUM! Center tomorrow night to see a very good UofL WBB team that will be fun to watch and so very talented.

L1C4.

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Sunday with Sonja

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SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

**********From the scoreboard*********

- LOUISVILLE Volleyball defeats Cincy in straight sets 25-21, 25-13, 25-21.

- LOUISVILLE and USF tied 0-0 in women's soccer at end of regulation and two overtimes. USF wins 3rd overtime in a shootout 4-3. (More on these Monday...)

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-Field Hockey defeats Providence 2-1 to make BIG EAST Tournament

-Jenny's observations on WBB Scrimmage

-Russell to announce decision Tuesday

-Cards #9 in ESPN Preseason Poll

-Volleyball on ESPNU today


Cards come through in final regular-season game with win.

Knowing that the surest way to qualify for the upcoming BIG EAST Tournament was beating Providence, the University of Louisville Field Hockey team delivered...knocking off the Friars 2-1 yesterday at Providence.

The Cards (12-7, 3-3) clinched the #3 seed and will face #2 UConn Friday night in Trager Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Syracuse and Providence will match up in the first game Friday.

"We are just so proud of our team with the way we have applied ourselves in recent weeks. We knew what was on the line and we continued to stay focused on the process. We are absolutely thrilled that we have made it back to the BIG EAST Tournament and we are playing at home. To have this opportunity is fabulous and much deserved for this team." -- Justine Sowry, Louisville head coach.

The Cards opened the scoring with just 17 seconds left in the first half. Alyssa Voelmle got an unassisted score to give UofL the advantage after a half of solid defense by both teams.

Conrad comes through!

After the break, Providence tied the match seven minutes into the action. Louisville took the lead seven minutes later when the Cards capitalized on a Providence passing error near their net and Becca Maddock found Erin Scheidtmiller with a pass that Scheidtmiller converted into the final score of the game.

Erin Conrad stepped up in a huge way for the Cards with six saves. Providence outshot Louisville 11-9 in the contest.

Tickets for the BIG EAST Tournament are available through the UofL Athletic Office at 502-852-5151. Cost is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors/youth and college students get in free with a valid student ID.

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CARDINAL COUPLE staff columnist JENNY O'BRYAN attended the Saturday UofL men's scrimmage that featured the WBB squad opening the event with a mini-scrimmage. Here are her observations:

The women's team spent 10 minutes before the men's game scrimmaging/playing/practicing against their men's practice players. The women "won" 21-12.

All players played for a few minutes except Tia Gibbs, Asia Taylor and Cortnee Walton. Of the three, Tia hobbled on to the court and looked like she was in pain. Asia and Cortnee "presented" fine...although Asia looked like she was dog tired.

Coach talked for most of the time with P.A. announcer Sean Moth while the team was playing.

Megan Deines came down the court and nailed a three-pointer for the first shot of the scrimmage. She took a second shot a few minutes from beyond the arc and drained it also. She looked quick and agile. Coach Walz joked that those were the first two shots that she had made in a month.

The next three-point Cardinal specialist?

Sara Hammond looked lean and more toned than last year. She had a confidence about her that I did not always see last year. She looked solid and I expect her to have a break out season. Walz stated that she has been putting in a lot of work in the off-season and is looking great.

Shawnta Dyer looked good and showed a lot of strength in the paint.

Mo Reid was only in for a few minutes but was very impressive. Nice score in the paint and great rebounding. I have so missed watching Mo play. Walz stated that Mo is still recovering from her knee surgery and will play the minutes she can play. He expects her to be at full speed by conference play.

- Jenny O'Bryan

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Thanks for the great recap of the Cards 10 minutes, Jenny! In other WBB news, highly sought-after and #1 ranked in the 2013 Class recruit Mercedes Russell was in attendance and her high school coach announced that she will announce her decision Tuesday afternoon at a press conference at her high school. 2:30 p.m. Pacific time.
The date and time were apparently set before her visit to Louisville this weekend.  

Louisville also has a media day planned at the KFC YUM! Center that day. Coach Walz is scheduled to talk to the media at noon and players will be made available at 12:30. This raises some speculation. Will Walz fly to Oregon for Mercedes' announcement and should we read anything into whether he is at the scheduled media address at the YUM! or not? Has the 6'5" center already decided? Will it be a last-minute decision? 
Are we over-thinking things here?

Big things developing for Tuesday. And, the Cards open the season Wednesday with an exhibition game against Eckerd College. Free admission for all at the KFC YUM! Center.

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ESPN has released their 2013 Women's College Basketball Rankings and Polls for Week 1 and the Cards are positioned at #9. They received 657 points. Baylor heads the poll and got 1000 points.

Other BIG EAST schools in the top 25 are Connecticut at #2, Notre Dame at #5, St. John's at #14 and DePaul at #25.

Kentucky is #6 and Tennessee #20. Link below.

ESPN WBB Rankings - Week 1

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See Lola jump, see Lola swing, see Lola kill...

Just a reminder that you can catch Louisville Volleyball today on ESPNU against Cincinnati. First serve is at 1 p.m.

Have a great Sunday everybody and GO CARDS in the BIG EAST SOCCER Tournament against USF today!
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Friday Cardinal Couple -- Revisited

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FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


-Oops!


-What we are...


-Happy Birthday Mercedes!


( Written while looking for my shuttlecock & racquet.)


Somehow, the gremlins ate the earlier post we had up here for Friday. Not sure what happened, hope you got a glimpse at it earlier today and we'll try to re-create some of it. 

(Runs into backyard, shaking his fist and screaming at the heavens..."Why? Why? Why? The best stuff I've written since 1989 and you take it from me?" AARRGGHHHH!)


We thought this was a phenomena that only happened to our writer Sandy Walker. Guess we were wrong. 


Maybe the dingo ate it? Link below:


The Dingo ate...


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IF I recall correctly, we were looking at UofL athletes that were competing in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Lotta swimmers in that group and our #35 Angel McCoughtry on the hardwood. Carlos Almedia and Pedro Oliveria are swimming for Portugal. Joao De Lucca for Spain and Eszter Povansky for Hungary.

Francisco Garcia and Edgar Sosa were trying to get there for the Dominican Republic men's basketball team but the D.R. failed to qualify. The only silver lining in this cloud is that we don't have to watch their coach (John Calipari) on the sidelines. 


Over 5500 hours of the Olympics on NBC and their affiliates. That's the equal of watching 184 episodes of
Seinfeld. 


Do you have a favorite Olympic event? We've got a poll on the left side of the side you can vote on. 

I like the badminton events. Reminds me of when I won the inter-murals singles tournament in college.
I was pretty ferocious with the shuttlecock and racquet. 


(Insert your joke or wise guy comment here)    


Of course, I also like the basketball, track, swimming...well, I like all of it. Except maybe for rifle events. Not a big gun enthusiast. 


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We had previously discussed the state, art and philosophy of recruiting here at CARDINAL COUPLE. Jenny did a bang up job on this Wednesday and we've had some great e-mails about it. Make sure and read her article if you missed it. 

We also had some comments that I went in and deleted later. 


Just for the record: 

CARDINAL COUPLE is a website primarily dedicated to the joy and excitement of women's college sports at the University of Louisville from a fan's perspective. (Most of the time). We understand that some of our readers and fans are passionate about recruiting. We like to know who's a prospect to come to Louisville also.


What we won't tolerate is bashing, bad-mouthing and cynical, snarky comments about the program or possible additions to the program here. Feel free to e-mail those to us...but please keep them out of the comments section. 

We appreciate you reading CARDINAL COUPLE. We're excited about the upcoming fall sports at UofL. Let's do what we can to promote the joy and excitement of womens'  sports at UofL and stay away from the "Debbie Downer, Curtis Critical and Sammy Slammer" type of stuff. 


Remember that coaches, players, recruits and parents read CARDINAL COUPLE. Let's express to them the great things about UofL, the coaches, staff, players and campus. 


L1C4, baby! 


Thanks. 


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Finally, a very happy birthday to high school girls basketball superstar Mercedes Russell! We hope it's a GREAT one for you!


GO CARDS!


(I had Paul McCartney write and sing this song especially for her. OK...I really didn't...but it's a fun, little birthday ditty to get up and boogie to for a couple of minutes. Consider it a mini cardio-vascular workout.)


Stay seated, Asia...we want that hip to heal.


If it's your birthday today...first of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY and show your receipt to our CARDINAL COUPLE cashier when leaving to receive a free toothpick!  


The video below was filmed in the KFC YUM! Center last night when word got out it was Mercedes' birthday. 


(OK...that's not true, either..but wouldn't it be fun to have Paul McCartney come to the YUM?) Maybe for a WBB game.


LINK: BIRTHDAY SONG 


Have a wunnerful Friday everyone and a "tip of the hat and wink" to CARDINAL COUPLE reader and my "bestest, little buddy" J.P....glad the surgery went well and you'll be tossing touchdown passes again in no time. 


Be strong, Live strong, Stay Strong.


--your senile, senior columnist and co-owner
Paulie
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MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


-IU vs UofL in WBB: Why not? 


-Cards south of the border


(David Watson has the Monday Cardinal Couple for you. As usual, he's got questions. Enjoy) 

The campuses of Indiana University and the University of Louisville are only about 90 minutes apart but they've only met in women's basketball nine time in 37 years. Only three of these meetings have been on the Cards home court, all wins. The series record is, coincidentally, 3-6 in favor of IU. The two haven't met since the 2005-06 season, under Tom Collen, when Louisville won 72-67 in Freedom Hall. Helen Johnson had 20 points that night for the Cards and Katie Olson and Missy Taylor added 12 points each. 


Isn't it time for these two to get together again? 

There have been a few changes in Bloomington. Following a 6-24 season in 2011-12, the Hoosiers decided to change coaches and brought Curt Miller on board. A good move. Curt is the 16th winningest coach by percentage in NCAA D1 history. 258-92 (.737) 


Wins are good, IU. Have some.


Curt goes westward from Bowling Green, where he also accomplished a 100% graduation rate in 11 years and a team G.P.A. that never dropped below 3.0 


Knowledge is good also, Curt, Good job. 

UofL assistant coach
Cam Newbauer has
a little sister who plays
at IU. 

The Hoosier are probably tired of being the laughingstock of Big 10 women's basketball. 1-15 last year probably didn't have them lining up early to get into Assembly Hall. Since Tom Crean is busy with turning the men's program around, the brain-trust at IU probably figured that if one change is good, two just might be better. Enter Curt, Exit Felicia. 


It may not be easy at first for Curt. He's losing three out of his top four scorers via graduation. Two players of note that I'm guessing will be back are Andrea Newbauer and Quaneishia McCurdy. 


Newbauer is UofL assistant coach Cameron Newbauer little sister. She got around 28 minutes a game last year and will be a senior in the upcoming season. She was a terrific guard in IU high school hoops. 

Quaneishia McCurdy was an early verbal to UofL back in her high school days at Dalton, GA. She suddenly changed her mind and announced that she was signing with IU. At 6'5" she has the height to be effective in the post. She may have glanced at the UofL roster, though and realized she'd be an after-thought in the playing rotation. In her freshman season at IU last year, she played about 15 minutes a game and averaged around five points a contest. 


It's time to span the bridge and get these two schools playing again. An IU game would probably draw a few more into the YUM! than Gardner-Webb or Austin Peay.


Jeff, meet Curt. Curt, meet Cam. Cam, call your sister. Shake hands and add each other to your non-conference schedules. 


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UofL WBB is headed to Mexico for hoops before Thanksgiving. CARDINAL COUPLE writer Sandy Walker will have more on that tomorrow. I backed off the article because every time I think of my horrible week in Cancun I get nauseous and run to the bathroom. 


When they tell you that you shouldn't drink the water, that also includes ice in drinks. 


Bleck. 


Stay with the bottled stuff, Shoni and Bria. 


(David Watson is a special correspondent for CARDINAL COUPLE. He also claims he invented the sticky stuff on the back of Post-It notes but we're pretty sure he didn't.) 
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