Softball hangs on against Michigan 5-4

SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- LeCoq bails Cards out in win over #14 Michigan.

- Lacrosse travels to play Presbyterian


- BIG EAST: 1st round WBB Tournament Action

- Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Sat. 11 a.m.

Paulie delievers a stirring rendition of "Innagadadavida" at
MArkie MArk's Celebration Day festivities...

A couple of truisms about Cardinal Softball pitcher Caralisa Connell. When she's good, she's very good. When she's off, she's very off. Limiting Michigan to one run in six innings yesterday, she needed bailout relief from Obama Rachel LeCoq in the seventh inning to preserve the one run lead and win for #13 ranked UofL.

The squads battled through four scoreless innings yesterday at Ulmer Stadium in the Red and Black Classic before the Wolverines punched in a run during the top of the fifth inning. Connell allowed four hits in the inning and got out of a potentially disastrous situation by getting Michigan to ground-out with the bases loaded and two outs.

The scare must have put some life into the UofL bats...they countered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Jordan Trimble and Katie Keller both reached safely on singles to start the inning and after an intentional walk to Alicja Wolny to fill the bases with Cards with one out, Maggie Ruckenbrod smacked a two out, two RBI double to deep left that made it 2-1 Louisville.

The Cards got going again in the sixth. Whitney Arion singled, Jennifer Esteban drew a walk and Katie Keller singled home Arion to make it 3-1 Cards. Alicja Wolny got a chance to actually swing the bat for once and made UM pay with a two run RBI single. 5-1 Cards after six innings.

Caralisa was the
most popular
Cardinal Women's
Athlete of 2012
according to CARDINAL
COUPLE readers.

Connell gave up a Wolverine single in the top of the seventh and Ashley Lane's home run blast made it 5-3. A Michigan single and double produced another run with the tying run on second.

Exit Connell, enter LeCoq.

The Colgate transfer got a strikeout for the first out of the inning, a fielder's choice moved the runner to third for the second out and a groundout ended the game. 5-4 UofL.

Connell (10-2) got credited for the win, LeCoq the save...her first of the year.

Louisville returns to the field today with 2:30 game vs. Miami (OH) and 5 p.m. tilt against Austin Peay. If you plan on making a day of it...first game starts at 9:30 a.m. when Michigan plays Illinois State in their pajamas.

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Nikki Boltja is UofL's leading scorer

Louisville Lacrosse (4-1) heads to Georgia to take on Presbyterian College in Cummings, GA. The Cards are coming off a close victory over Vandy Wednesday and face a 1-5 Blue Hose (no...it's not a mis-spell) squad who earned their first win of the season against Stetson 17-7 on Tuesday.

Louisville defeated the "Prez's" last year 20-3. This UofL squad is light-years better...maybe they make it 40-6 this year.

Nikki Boltja, Louisville's leading scorer on the season, had six goals last year against the...Blue Hose. If only she'd worn her little, black cocktail dress.

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Anne Donovan, Seton Hall's coach,
is asking the ref if she can
play 10 players against UConn

The Big East WBB Tournament is off and running and in first round action...Seton Hall had a tougher time than I expected against UC, winning 60-55. Marquette lives to fight another day...thumping pitiful Pitt 66-43 and Georgetown handled Providence 81-61 in the night cap....despite 35 points by the Friars' Tori Rule.  

Seton Hall gets St. John's today at noon, Rutgers and USF go to war at 2 p.m., Marquette plays DePaul and Villanova and Georgetown close Day 2 action.

A lot of CARDINAL COUPLE Pick 'Em contestants went 3-0 on the day...good luck today with your selections. 42 brave souls are battling for the $25 Chili's Gift Card.

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CARDINAL COUPLE HOUR returns for our second broadcast today at 11 a.m. on Crescent Hill Radio.

www.crescenthillradio.com

We'll discuss Louisville women's basketball, softball, lacrosse, BIG EAST WBB Tournament and try to squeeze in a few more sports as well. I've also (hopefully) got a few sound-bytes from the Thursday Media session with the Lady Cards and Coach Walz. I think I've got Nita Slaughter and Sara Hammond interviews. Me and mechanical devices...never a good mix.

-Paulie

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Wednesday Cardinal Couple -- Louisville escapes at Marquette

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- "Cardiac Cards" survive at Marquette 64-63

The term "Cardiac Cards" now applies to the University of Louisville women's basketball team as well. Monique Reid's layup with 7.3 seconds left in the game gave the Cards a 64-63 win over Marquette Tuesday night in Milwaukee. Bria Smith preserved the win by blocking Katie Young's three attempt at the buzzer to improve Louisville to 16-4 and 4-2 in the BIG EAST.

The Cards (more specifically Nita Slaughter) started out on fire to begin the contest. Two Slaughter threes and a Sara Hammond follow-up gave Louisville a 8-0 lead just 90 seconds into the game. Slaughter knocked down two more threes in the next 60 seconds and Louisville held a 14-5 advantage with 17:30 on the clock.

Marquette rallied to make it 16-11 but a Shoni three gave Louisville an eight-point edge. But...with Sara Hammond on the bench after picking up her second foul with 15:51 left in the half, the Golden Eagles capitalized inside with Katherine Plouffe and drew within one at 19-18 with 11:36 to go. They would take the lead with 10 minutes left in the half at 22-21 and their 16-2 run gave them a 27-21 lead with 7:56 on the clock. The Cards had been outscored 22 to 7 in a ten-minute stretch.

Louisville battled back over the next two minutes with a 6-0 run and Hammond's score inside to give the Cards a 28-27 advantage with 5:31 showing on the scoreboard. With the game tied at 30-30, Katie Young responded with a three to put Marquette up 33-30 and the Golden Eagles took a 35-32 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Slaughter's 14 points led the Cards in the first half. Plouffe led MU with 13. The Cards were allowing Marquette easy buckets inside and getting burned on fast-breaks. The defense needed to tighten up and the Cards were sluggish. 

Louisville came out strong to begin the second half. Two Bria Smith steals led to three made free throws in the first 45 seconds. Monique Reid's score plus free throw gave Louisville the lead back at 38-35. A Shoni three put Louisville ahead 41-35 with 17:44 left in the game. Two straight buckets by Hammond inside had Louisville leading 49-41 at the halfway point of the final stanza. It looked like the Cards might be out of the woods. The Cards were on a 17-6 run and playing solid defense.

Reid's bucket inside and a Shoni three gave Louisville a 54-44 advantage with 8:25 remaining. The defensive pressing and trapping was getting the job done. Plouffe had four fouls. Things were looking good for the Cards.

Then, the offense for Louisville went on siesta. Young canned another three for the Golden Eagles and Plouffe returned to the game and scored inside to cut the Cardinal lead to five. Shoni's two free throws at the 4:16 mark made it 56-49 Cards. Bria Smith's layup gave the Cards some breathing room at 58-51...but Marquette responded with 4-1 run to set the score at 59-55 and 2:57 on the clock.

The Golden Eagles made it interesting to the wire. Shoni drilled a three to give Louisville a 62-55 edge with 2:32 left...but another Young three and a Brooklyn Pumroy score cut the UofL lead to 62-60 with 1:43 remaining. After a missed Shoni three...Marquette was positioned to tie or take the lead...but threw the ball away with 1:03 left in the game. Louisville still couldn't score...Hammond missing a three on the ensuing possession and Young capped a 8-0 Marquette run with a deep three.

With 13 seconds to go...Marquette led 63-62. 

Instead of calling a timeout, Louisville inbounded quickly and great recognition by Shoni found Marquette napping. She got a quick, length-of-the-court pass to Reid underneath. The redshirt senior rolled one around the rim and finally through the net to return the lead to the Cards with 7.3 seconds left.

This time, Walz used a timeout to set the defense. The Cards had Pumroy bottled up but she managed to get a pass to the left wing to the deadly Young for a three. Bria Smith came flying over to get the block, though, and time expired. Close, but no apparent foul and the Cards hold on 64-63. Visions of the Kentucky loss came to mind...but this time the potential three was contested and deflected. The Cards celebrated by the free throw circle while Marquette head coach Terri Mitchell argued for a foul on the shot.

Shoni led all scorers with 19 points. Slaughter finished with 14, Hammond recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards. Monique Reid's nine points moved her to fifth in all-time scoring leaders at Louisville. Smith finished with eight, Deines had two and Walton one to recap the scoring. Vails, Jude and Shelby all played but failed to score.

Plouffe and Young each had 17 and Pumroy added 16 for Marquette...who held a 25-2 advantage in fast-break points over Louisville. They out-rebounded the Cards 40-32. Louisville went 37% from the floor, hit 9 threes and went 9-18 from the free throw line.

THINGS WE LIKED

1) Shooting Shoni and Slaughter. Nine threes between the two and some clutch ones by Shoni when the Cards needed a big play in the second half.  

2) Clutch. The Cards made two huge plays to save the game when Shoni found Reid to make the deciding basket and when Smith blocked the buzzer-beating three attempt at the buzzer. Big plays that were the difference in the game.

3) Turnovers. Louisville forced Marquette into 25 of them. And almost lost the game. Still, 25 is an impressive number.

THINGS TO WORK ON

1) Free throws. 50% isn't acceptable at any level of basketball. It hardly works for the #12 team in the country.

2) Layups. Louisville missed some wide-open ones tonight. Easiest shot in the game and you gotta capitalize.

3) Breakdowns. The Cards gave away large leads in both halves. Coach Walz calls it a lack of concentration and effort. They were lucky tonight that it didn't lead to a loss.

All in all, a win on the road in BIG EAST play and you steal those when you can. Plenty of things to work on before dangerous St John comes to town Sunday...but focus appears to be one of the main problems that is keeping this team from taking 10 point leads into 20+ blowouts.

Louisville had the Golden Eagles staggering and on the ropes tonight. They couldn't deliver the knockout punch, though...and almost ended up face-down on the canvas themselves. Call for the crash-cart and power up the paddles, a new bunch of Cardiac Cards are sending Cardinal fans to the ER.

The road is tough, brutal, unforgiving place this year for visiting BIG EAST teams. Louisville got lucky tonight.

Louisville faces the aforementioned Red Storm at 1:30 Sunday. It's Louie the Cardinal Bird's birthday. Coach Walz made it a point in his post-game show of asking Cardinal fans to make the KFC YUM! Center open the 300 level seating by packing 13-15,000 in the house for the game.

And why not? It's going to be a good one. St. John's returns four of the five starters that have beat Louisville twice in a row. Time for fan support and payback. 10000 a game is  remarkable. There were maybe 500 in attendance at the game tonight in Milwaukee to watch a classic hardwood slugfest. 13-15,000 would be phenomenal. Bring a buddy and call a friend!

(And, take your blood pressure medicine...)
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Tuesday Cardinal Couple -- Doin' the Marquette minuet !!

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

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GAME FINAL -- CARDS SURVIVE AT MARQUETTE 64-63

Monique Reid's layup with 7.2 second give the Cards the win in Milwaukee. Bria Smith blocked a three-point attempt by MU's Katie Young at the buzzer to preserve the win. A nail-biter, for sure. We'll have a full recap later...

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-Louisville WBB meets Marquette in BIG EAST action.


(Quentin Voigt brings us the scout on Marquette Tuesday night.)

Tuesday evening 1/22/13 at 9 p.m. the University of Louisville women's basketball team travels to 4000 seat Al McGuire Arena in Milwaukee, WI. for a showdown against the 10-7,2-2 Marquette Golden Eagles. Louisville enters the game 15-4,3-2. Marquette has had conference losses at home to Syracuse (13 pts.) and UConn (34 pts.) and wins on the road over Seton Hall (3 pts.) and Pitt (9 pts.)

This is the 17th. season for Terri Mitchell and she has a tall squad that is attempting to develop into one of the more defensively conscious teams in the BIG EAST. The school, slightly over 11,000 students, is run by the clerics of the Order of Jesuits and one of the non-football playing Catholic colleges ready to jump ship from the BIG EAST.

Coach Mitchell is highly regarded for the discipline exhibited by the Golden Eagles and for the defensive principles they display. On Coach Mitchell's staff is Tyler Summitt, son of iconic past UT head coach Pat Summitt.

Starting lineup that is expected for Marquette is 5'10" guard Artesia Moore(11.9 ppg), 5'9" guard Brooklyn Pumroy (8.3 ppg), 5'11" guard Katie Young (6.8 ppg) and front liner Sarina Simmons (9.6 ppg). They're lead by Canadian forward Katherine Plouffe (13.1 ppg). Also playing significant minutes are 6'3" post Apiew Ojuju and 6'4" post Lauren Tibbs.

Comparing the Cardinals and Golden Eagles team stats...the Golden Eagles score 67.1 ppg, average 40.7 rebs., commit 21.3 turnovers, swipe 8.3 steals, create 14.8 assists and swat 3.7 blocks. The Cards score 74.8 a game, collect 40.2 rebounds, commit 17.9 turnovers, nab 3.4 steals, dish 14.9 assists and get 3.3 blocks.

The speed with which the Lady Cards get into their defense and attack the basket on offense has measurably improved this year. If they continue this improvement Tuesday night, good things will result. I see Louisville winning by at least eight points. GO CARDS!

-- Quentin Voigt

The Cards rolled by MU in the KFC YUM! Center 70-53 last year aided by 17 points by Shoni and 16 by Bria. Louisville led by seven at the half and held Plouffe to two points in 25 minutes. It was also the game where Jeff Walz, not expecting Mitchell to make post-game remarks, went first in the post-game presser..which drew the slight wrath of the winningest coach in Marquette women's basketball history.

No real impressive wins in the pre-conference schedule for Marquette. Losses at Georgia Tech, Texas A&M, Wisconsin and home losses to Green Bay and Toledo raise an eyebrow. Wins over Marshall, Butler, South Dakota State, Fordham, Navy, Dartmouth, Loyola-Chicago and Central Michigan not ones that scare much...their biggest win is by 21 over a Marshall squad on the road at the Texas A&M Classic. Marshall currently is 6-11, 0-4 in C-USA and on a six-game losing streak.

MU has done the exact opposite of what most BIG EAST teams have so far this season...win on the road and lose at home.

I see this trend continuing. Louisville should get a great performance out of the guard contingent of Schimmel, Schimmel and Smith and the consistency of Slaughter should come into play again tonight. They may have some trouble on the boards against the Golden Eagles height, but not enough to lose. The Cards by around 11, maybe close early but...one of those road wins Coach Walz likes to steal. If the three-barrage that Louisville displays in the YUM! Center can find its way into one of the player's suitcases...maybe they win by 20.

The old adage about beating height is that you either shoot over the top of it or just run past it. The Cards have the ability to do both.

CBS Sports Network has the TV for this one. Another night of Debbie Antonelli?

Let's hope the radio feed is somewhat synchronized tonight with the video. No offense to the heiress of the hardwood....but Matt and AJ call a great game.  

-Paulie

Cards look to improve before St. John game...

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THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-They said it...

-A look at the numbers...

(Post game comments from Shoni Schimmel, Bria Smith, Terri Mitchell and Jeff Walz following the 70-53 Louisville win Tuesday night.)

Shoni on returning to BIG EAST play:

"Coming into the game, it was the most we've ever done on a scout of an opponent. It was a big game for us. It was at home, our second BIG EAST game...it was one we had to get under our belts for BIG EAST competition. We were excited because it was the BIG EAST and we were ready to compete."

Shoni on rebounding improvements:

"I would say we have improved. We boxed out better tonight and that got us boards. They (Marquette) only had 11 offensive boards so that was good for us."

Shoni on guards carrying the scoring early:

"We just play and whoever is open should score. That's just the way it works. We worked the inside/out game because we knew they were going to come in on us defensively...so we kicked it out and it worked."

Bria on her strong second half:

"I felt like our defense picked up and with defense comes offense."

Shoni on shutting down Marquette's Katherine Plouffe:

"She was the main key to their team. She's been a great player all year, last year too. We followed the scouting report, learned how to play her. Our posts did a great job on her. We executed on defense and that helped our offense."

Shoni on the UofL slow start to the game.

"It was just a matter of getting into the groove. We haven't played a game in a while. Since last year...( Laughter on the podium and in the press...). "

Shoni on the layoff between games:

"We did two-a-days in practice and I think that was good for us. It was a lot of work and it helped us today."

HEAD MARQUETTE COACH TERRI MITCHELL'S OPENING POST GAME STATEMENT:

"I thought our team had a lot of fight. I thought we played hard. Their (UofL's) press was slowing us up. On possessions, we weren't aggressive enough. I thought that in the game...I don't know how many times or if anybody took count...how many times we got them down to the last couple of seconds on the clock and they scored. Five? Really? I thought it was more like ten. Maybe I'm exaggerating. And, that's what a good team does. We could play smart defense and we didn't finish it. It broke our spirit near the end. Then, we're playing catch-up and taking some ill-advised shots.

Louisville played well. We have to rebound from this one quickly and get ready for Seton Hall."

Mitchell on Louisville shutting down Katherine Plouffe...

"Fouls. She was out of the game because she fouled. What they did was press us and we hung out in the back court way too long. And then...we were able to get sets. We are a set team...into our sets and offense. I think  we're really good when we set screens and get the ball inside. The credit goes to Louisville for what they did and making it a game where we couldn't get set up on our offense. On the other end, we played good defense for 25 seconds and they took it to us the final 5 seconds. You can't win that way. They were patient and waiting for the right situation and right person. We've got young people out there - they're trying to grow up."

Mitchell on the KFC YUM! CENTER...

It's a great environment. Great place to play.  A good basketball arena. It's loud. At the Al McGuire Center we don't sell alcohol. (Chuckling) So, we're seeing a lot of alcohol signs. You could feel the great support, the crowd was really into it. A classy place. I'm glad it's in the BIG EAST and a place we get to come and play. I've told our girls...it's the BIG EAST. You're going to play in full and tough arenas on the road. You have to come ready to play. One thing about this team. They don't take losing lightly. They'll be fired up for Seton Hall and play better and erase this loss from their memory.

Mitchell on takeaways from this game...

"We need better penetration. We need to finish on defense. We have to rebound better. Take care of the ball better. Our turnovers were careless. We had people hiding out there tonight and they need to be more aggressive and get the ball..."

UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE HEAD COACH JEFF WALZ...

Walz on the layoff and practicing...

"We put in the work pretty hard. We have things to improve on. Our passing, our ball-handling. Tonight we turned the ball over only 14 times. I think that if you go back over the last five years..there's probably less than 10 times we've turned the ball over less than 14 times. I was pleased with that. When you play the style and pace we try to play, you're going to have turnovers."

Walz on game strategy...

"Our strategy tonight was to focus on the post players for Marquette. I was really impressed on film with Plouffe, Simmons and Ojulu. I really thought their post players were a big part of their game. We sent Ojulu to the foul line eight times. For a freshman, she does a great job getting to the line. On the season she's averaging about eight free throws a game, more than anyone on our team. Simmons is a terrific player, one of the best in our league. She does a great job playing within their system but she also takes advantage of opportunities to create one-on-one's. She's a handful...hard to guard.

Walz on Bria Smith...

Bria played well in the second half. She wasn't quite herself in the first half. I was really pleased with the way she picked it up. She was 6 for 15 from the field and missed three layups...one uncontested one in the second half after a steal...but that's just growing pains. The things I talked with her about...I was really pleased she turned the ball over only one time tonight. In a perfect world, Tia Gibbs is still playing and Bria has a chance to watch someone and be groomed by a very talented player. Tia's not going to score twenty a night but she understands the game so well. What I planned on was Bria going out there and playing at the same time as Tia. Now, there's a lot more responsibility thrown on Bria. I think she's responded well for a freshman and I'm just really excited to see her game continue to grow."

Walz on the final minutes when Louisville pulled away...

"You know..they're (Marquette) playing hard. They're down to eight players right now and I think fatigue gradually kind of set it. And, they got into some foul trouble, so they weren't really able to get into a flow. (Guard Gabi) Minix does a great job for them at the point, they had to sit her down for three or four minutes. It's hard right now for them and I completely understand..we're going through some of those pains ourselves. For us right now, what I'm trying to find is players that will step up on a consistent basis. When we go up to St. John's it wouldn't surprise me if Sara Hammond, Antonita Slaughter and Shawnta Dyer play 18 plus minutes. Right now, I'm judging a lot of who I put out in there in a the game by what they get done in practice. I'd just like to see some consistency... It's a growing experience and we've got a lot of young players. It's a game by game thing. You've got to make sure your kids are prepared to play. "

Walz on the rebounding effort...

"I was pleased. Tonight I thought we did a nice job of boxing out and held them to 11 offensive boards....which is a good number with their size. We're trying to preach to our kids right now about second chance points. We've got to get between 14 and 20 every night if we are going to be good. You've got to be able to score off the stick backs. Unfortunately for us, we're just not finishing them. So we've got to get out focus..when you've got a clean look at the basket, finish it. If there is someone in front of you, kick the ball back out and don't try to force it up."

Walz on attendance...

"You know tonight something I thought was great was what was going on tonight. For us to get over 8000...our men are on TV at the same time we're playing, and UK's men draw 14,700 at Freedom Hall. I think it shows a lot about women's basketball in this city that the #2 team in the nation draws only 6,000 more than we do. It says a lot about our program and a lot about our fans and I'm very appreciative of the great fans we have here."

(Just as a side note, we waited over five minutes for Terri Mitchell to make remarks. After she didn't show, it was decided to let the UofL players answer questions first. They did, and then Walz began to comment after the players, as is his custom. Mitchell finally showed up during Jeff's first minutes at the podium, so he gallantly stepped down and let her speak. She came in muttering about "whatever happened to allowing visiting coaches to speak first? We've got to get to the airport. We've got a plane to catch..." Walz later apologized for "cutting in line" to speak...but the real fault here lies in Mitchell's tardiness to the podium and Marquette's WBB S.I.D's inability to communicate that delay to the UofL folks... PAUL was all ready to take the podium and sing some Skynyrd and Allman Brothers...fortunately it didn't drop to such lowly depths...)
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Louisville played ten of the eleven available players on the bench against Marquette. Becky Burke had 38 minutes, Shoni 34, Bria 31, Asia 20, Sherrone 19, Jude 17, Cierra 16, Shawnta 12, Sara 7 and Nita 6. The Cardinal freshmen saw 56 minutes and the reserves played a total of 58 minutes.

Louisville got a perfect free throw performance from Asia Taylor who went 4-4. Bria Smith went 4-5, as did Cierra Warren. Shawnta Dyer was 1-2 and Becky Burke and Shoni Schimmel missed their only free throw attempts.

Marquette went a painful 4-18 for 22.2% effort from three point range, Gabi Minix hitting 3 for 5. Arlesia Morse, leading three point threat on the Golden Eagles, was 0-5 and Sarina Simmons 1-6. They didn't fare much better on two point attempts either...going 11-29.

Becky Burke led Louisville in steals with four. Bria Smith had three, Shoni lifted two and Shawnta and Cierra pilfered one each.

With the win, Louisville is now 14-9 against Marquette all time. Walz improves to 4-1 against Terri Mitchell and the Cards have won the last two in a row. The Cards are 2-0 in BIG EAST play, one of eight undefeated teams so far in the BIG EAST. Louisville's six game win streak is tied for third best in the BIG EAST, behind Georgetown's 11 in a row, Notre Dame's 10 straight and tied with DePaul's 5.

The Cards are one of six teams ranked in the top 25 at 13th.or 14th. depending on the pollster. UConn (2/2), Notre Dame (3/3) and Rutgers (10/11)are ahead of them and Georgetown (15/16) and DePaul (20/19) right behind them.

Overall, 15 of the 16 BIG EAST teams had .500 or better records going into Tuesday night competition, with Seton Hall (7-8) the lone sub par unit.
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(Join us tomorrow with David Watson's comments - who knows what about...he never warns us - and we'd like to know if our two contributing writers are still alive, e-mail us if you know the whereabouts of Jenny or Sandra.)
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Plouffe goes "poof"..Card guards provide proof...Louisville by 17

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WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Shoni, Bria, Becky bomb the Golden Eagles

The University of Louisville women's basketball team survived a shaky start and won in the KFC YUM! Center last night in front of 8203 fans. Four Lady Cards hit double figures in Louisville's 70-53 win, led by Shoni Schimmel with 17 and Bria Smith with 16.

STARTERS: Shoni Schimmel, Asia Taylor, Sherrone Vails, Bria Smith, Becky Burke.

This one didn't get off to a pretty start. Between Marquette's turnovers and Louisville's inability to score off them, the score was 7-7 with 11:40 remaining in the first half. Jeff Walz was looking for some scoring and consistency and he found it in his star sophomore guard Shoni Schimmel. Shoni created a steal from Marquette's Katherine Plouffe, scored and then hit again on a jumper a few seconds later to give the Cards a 11-7 advantage. A pair of Asia Taylor free throws bumped the advantage to 13-7. After Marquette cashed in on two Cristina Butler charity tosses, Jude took over...burying a three and then Shoni scored on a layup to give the Cards a 18-9 advantage with 7:29 left. 

Marquette, you just got Schimmeled....

Unfortunately, it didn't last. Marquette used a 12-2 run over the next five minutes to regain a 21-20 margin with 4:29 to go when Sarina Simmons connected with a jumper. Louisville turned to Becky Burke next and the senior responded with two trifectas and a layup to send the Lady Cards on a half-closing 9-2 romp to take a 30-23 lead into the locker room at the half.

For the Cards, it was guard play showing the way. Shoni, Becky, Bria and Jude had 25 of the Lady Cards points...Shoni with 10 and Becky with eight. Louisville was shooting a tepid 37.5% from the floor but had forced M.U. into 13 turnovers and Plouffe into three first half fouls and just two points.

The Cards started the second half slow...almost a tradition lately for them...and watched the seven point halftime lead evaporate to 32-30 when Marquette guard Gabi Minix nailed the first of her three-three pointers in the half with 18:04 remaining. Plouffe had a chance to tie it at the line after a Bria Smith foul but bricked both free throw attempts and the Lady Cards got a rare post player score when Cierra Warren banked in a layup. It started the Cards on a 7-0 run to make it 39-30 when Burke drained a three and Shawnta Dyer hit a contested layup with 16:27 left.  

Bria battled hard in the
second half

Marquette would get no closer than seven the rest of the way. A Bria Smith tip in gave Louisville a 44-33 lead with 15:25 left. The Cards got ten points from Smith in a four minute stretch and led 49-39 with 11:26 to go.

The Cardinal guards had 40 of the Cards points at this point and Marquette was struggling for answers. 

Louisville held a 61-51 lead with 3:41 left after a Simmons free throw and responded with a Smith jumper, two Asia Taylor free throws and Shoni scoring in the paint to give the Cards an insurmountable 67-51 advantage with 1:53 to go. A Shoni three closed out the Cardinal scoring with 27 seconds on the clock. Final 70 Louisville - 53 Marquette. CARDS WIN, CARDS WIN! 

It was a needed win against a respectable BIG EAST foe that saw Louisville actually out-rebound an opponent by four. Surprising, given Marquette's height and physicality...but blocking out worked for the Cards last night and coughing up the ball only 14 times didn't hurt either.

Joining Shoni and Bria in double figures were Becky with 13 points (3-6 from three range) and Cierra Warren with 10 (nine in the final 17 minutes). Asia Taylor added six points and six grabs, Jude Schimmel five and Shawnta Dyer three points and a team high seven rebounds. Vails did not score. Sara Hammond and Antonita Slaughter played a combined 13 minutes for no points. Shelby Harper was available for action but did not play. 

Louisville doubled the points in the paint production of Marquette, winning the battle 36-18. The Cards took the 2nd chance stat also 15-5. Points off turnovers went to Louisville also 19-10

Louisville shot 43.3% for the game on 26-60 shooting. Warren was the only player to foul out for either team...leaving the contest with 57 seconds to go. 

The Cards (13-2) go to New York next to face St. John's on Sunday. Marquette (9-6) welcomes Seton Hall Saturday.

WHAT WE LIKED:

-Schimmel squared...when the two were in the game during the first half together they combined for seven straight points in a four minute stretch. Jude may have had her best game of the year last night, Shoni had an impressive first half and finished well for the Lady Cards.

-Blocking out and rebounding...Louisville did outrebound the taller more aggressive Golden Eagles despite a big effort from freshman Apiew Ojulu. Remember the name, readers...she's going to be a great one before she graduates. Ten of Marquette's 35 grabs.

-Shutting down Plouffe...It was the game plan and the superb Canadian sophomore had a weak stat line of 1-4 shooting for 2 points, 0-2 from the line, 4 rebounds, 4 fouls, 5 turnovers in just 25 minutes. 

THINGS TO GET BETTER AT:

(Not a lot to point out here, but here's a couple...)

-Starts...slow starts to each half saw Louisville trail early by three and lose a seven point halftime lead. Call it rust if you want, but it's symptomatic of how the Cards have played as of late. Would love to see Louisville blow out to a 10-0 early game lead just once...or score the first 12 to begin a second half. It's all about developing a "killer" mentality.

-Threes...although Burke and Shoni hit some key ones, they were the only two going for them. Jude hit one out of one, although she had about a half dozen chances to try long range bombs and Nita Slaughter missed her only attempt.

(We'll have more stat breakdown and player and coach comments for you tomorrow here at Cardinal Couple...be sure to drink your Ovaltine and check back!)
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Lady Cards host Marquette in BIG EAST play tonight

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TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Thanks for your patience

-Marquette breakdown and analysis

-Tay to Clemson

We appreciate your patience while we work out some technical difficulties at CARDINAL COUPLE. We'll still attempt a daily posting for you while we work these out...it may not be the fastest around but we'll give you what we can until we get things back to normal.

Photos and such will be something we won't be able to enter onto the site for awhile, looks like...please bear with us while we exorcise the demons from our computer. (Any holy water would be appreciated...)

-Cardinal Couple

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The Marquette Golden Eagles come to the KFC YUM! Center for a Tuesday night BIG EAST clash with the University of Louisville Lady Cardinals. The Golden Eagles arrive with a 9-5 record, 0-1 in conference and currently on a four game win streak. Notre Dame handed them their conference defeat, a rather lopsided 95-42 drubbing by the Irish.

Out of conference wins aren't all that impressive...they did knock off in-state rival Wisconsin...but have pretty much feasted on cupcakes besides that.

Marquette is led by 6'3" soph. forward Katherine Plouffe. She averages a team high 14.5 p.p.g and is co-leader on the boards with 7.9 grabs a game. She'll challenge the Cardinals inside and is a a strong, go to the hoop, type of player.

Arlesia Morse scores 11.2 a game for the Golden Eagles and is the leading three point threat...24-71 on the year. She's a 5'10" freshman guard and is adept at the three or taking a defender inside
the paint to score. Sarina Simmons, a 6'1" junior forward gives Marquette additional strength inside. She totals 10.9 p.p.g and is tied with Plouffe with 7.9 boards. The final double figure scorer for Terri Mitchell's squad is Apiew Ojulu. The 6'3" freshman center is scoring at a 10.6 a game. Scott County (KY) freshman Lauren Tibbs is another player off note...the 6'4" freshman center comes off the bench for Marquette.

Marquette is outscoring opponents 66.0 - 58.6 a game and outrebounds the foe by a 38.1 to 32.1 margin. They're
59-190 from three point range for .311.

The Cards, who have struggled most of the season with rebounding, will get a tough test tonight in the paint. Whether Walz chooses to remain with a three guard attack against the tall Golden Eagles remains to be seen - the Cards may have a little more quickness that M.U. but will need to have shots fall and be aggressive on defense after made shots to keep the Golden Eagles from using their inside attack. WE expect Terri Mitchell to subscribe to the 'stop Shoni" theory opponents have been using lately...so it'll be key for Becky to be "on" from beyond the arc and Bria to avoid foul trouble and penetrate and create.

The Golden Eagles are coached by Terri Mitchell. She's in her 16th. season and has a career record of 305-176. Last year, under her direction, the Golden Eagles went 24-9 and 10-6 in BIG EAST play. They defeated Texas in the first round of NCAA Tournament play  and fell to Tennessee in the second round.

Louisville will need some big time step up from Warren, Taylor, Dyer and the other "bigs" tonight if they hope to send Marquette back to Milwaukee 0-2 in conference play.

Game time is 7 p.m. We'll have a full report for you Wednesday on the outcome.


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By now, most of you have probably heard that Charmaine Tay is headed to Clemson. We wish her the best, hope she can "make the grade" down there and has a great rest of college experience.
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Cards lose heartbreaker at Providence 63-61

CARDS MISS OUT ON OPPORTUNITY TO GET DOUBLE BYE IN BIG EAST...
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-Hankins hits with 10 seconds for the Friar win...
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-Post game Walz comments...
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Mi-Khadi Hankins hit a baseline jumper with 10 seconds left and Providence pulls the upset over the Cards 63-61 in Alumni Gym tonight in Providence. With Marquette losing minutes before to Cincinnati 65-62, the Cards miss out on a gift-wrapped chance to draw the 4 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament beginning Friday in Hartford, CT.

That honor will go to Rutgers ( 11-5) who needed both Louisville (10-6) and Marquette (10-6) to lose tonight and win over Seton Hall...which they did handily. The Cards will go into the tournament as the sixth seed and play the winner of #10 seed West Virginia and #15 seed Cincinnati on Friday.

Louisville couldn't rebound or hold a lead tonight. Providence wins the board battle 30-21. A sluggish start for the Cards had them down from the opening tip and Louisville trailed 16-9 after eight minutes of action. Louisville finally found a spark late in the first half and used a 6-0 run to take a 27-24 lead after two Shelby Harper free throws and 1:48 on the clock. Providence would counter, though with a 5-0 run to close out the half and lead 29-27.

Tia Gibbs led the Cards with 11 points in the first twenty minutes and the Cards went 11-12 from the free throw line. Both teams had 15 turnovers in a very sloppy half of hoops...Gibbs also had five first half steals.

Louisville started the second half positivity with a 6-0 run to grab a 33-29 lead after a Monique Reid jumper...and stretched that out to a 38-31 advantage when Shoni Schimmel drilled a three with 15:13 to go... but Providence came back again and knotted it at 41-41 with a Cropper three at the 12:46 mark. From there on, it was back and forth...with both teams holding leads and making alternate good and bad plays. Keisha Hines tied the contest at 61-61 with a jumper and 1:45 on the clock. After Hankins' jumper to give Providence the final margin of victory, the Cards inbounded and Becky Burke attempted but missed a three pointer. Keisha Hines was there for the rebound but her foot was on the baseline and Providence got the ball back with 1.6 left in the game. Louisville fouled Hankins during the inbounds pass and she missed her front end of the one and one free throw attempt. Louisville called timeout and got a pass to Shoni Schimmel on the final inbounds play...but her half court desperation attempt went wide right and off the backboard as the buzzer sounded.

A disappointing loss for the Cards against a very beatable team. Louisville was led by Reid's 15 points...11 in the second half. Gibbs finished with 14 and Schimmel hit double figures with 13.

It was quite the night for upsets in the BIG EAST. In addition to the Bearcats knocking off Marquette...Villanova beat Pitt, WVU uphended St.John's and USF downed Georgetown.
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Jeff Walz in the post-game:

"We just didn't get it done. It's an embarrassing outing for us. I'm really just sick. Physically sick. I just don't know...I don't understand. I mean...our kids knew what was at stake. I even told them with four minutes to go...'hey...you just got a gift from Cincinnati. They beat Marquette. You gotta put it on the line...let's go'... and then on the next possession out of the time out..we let number one ( Tate) shoot a wide open three. She's their only three point shooter. She goes 3-5. No I take that back...#14 (Cropper) goes 3-4. You gotta know where they are. The problem is...we did not defend on the perimeter at all. That's guards and wings. We let them beat us off the dribble to the middle of the floor..time after time after time. It made us help in, help up and that let to wide open shots. It's an embarrassing outcome for us. One that I hope we can get over quick, as a team. It's one that is going to affect me for a while, though.."
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Walz on rebounding:
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"We did get beat on the boards. We had a seven point lead in the second half and gave up offensive rebound after offensive rebound. We just did not commit to playing hard.
As well as Tia Gibbs played, I think this is the first game..that I know of...where she plays 32 minutes and did not get one rebound the entire night. I thought she played hard but you've gotta find a way to come up with boards. We had 21 rebounds the entire night. That's embarrassing. 21 rebounds and 20 turnovers.
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On the start of the second half:
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We came out and played hard. We boxed out, we rebounded and then we just decided that that was enough and we're not going to play any harder.
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On getting ready for the BIG EAST Tournament:
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"I'm not real concerned about that. If these kids can't get prepared to go up to the BIG EAST Tournament and play..then I've probably got the wrong group of kids. We can't control what we just did tonight...it's over...we're going to watch it (the game film) and learn from it but there's nothing you can do about it and if you're going to feel sorry for ourselves and go up there on Thursday and let tonight's game affect us...then I've got the wrong group of players and I'm not doing a very good job of coaching...because that's the great thing about the sport of basketball...you've got opportunities to continue to play and right now we've got a great opportunity in front of us in going up to Hartford to play in the BIG EAST Tournament and we've got to come out and play and perform. Like I said...man, I'm just sick and it's been a long time since I felt this bad..but this was just a performance I'm embarrassed about and I'll go back tomorrow and apologize to the entire athletic staff..because it is just an embarrassment."
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Lady Cards fall to Marquette 76-65

THURSDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE

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-Cards lose on road

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-Men win against WVU

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-Softball picked to finish 3rd in BIG EAST.

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It's a tale that has been told several times this year and the Lady Cards added another chapter to it last night in Milwaukee...staggering out of the gate and dropping another BIG EAST road game. Doing their best Cincinnati Bearcat impression, Louisville spotted the Golden Eagles a dozen before Shoni Schimmel (pictured right) dropped a 3 pointer a little over three minutes into the contest. By then, even the popcorn vendors had lost interest and switched over to watch ESPN in the hallways...but the teams kept playing anyway. The 1200 in attendance must have been wondering what all the hoopla was about the upstart Louisville team...or whether Coach Walz got the right 12 girls on the airplane.

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Call it lack of Kryptonite, separation anxiety..call it whatever you want...but the fact of the matter is that this team of talented Cardinals can't play on the road. Take them across town to Bellarmine...they'd lose by eight. Since buying out games is not permitted in women's college basketball, Cardinal fans will probably celebrate five more times this season (home games remaining) and gnash their teeth four occasions (road games remaining). They use blindfolds to lead horses into the starting gate sometimes...maybe Louisville's head coach Jeff Walz should employ the same tactic when the team gets on the bus to hit the Interstate and goes to the airport.

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The game was a teaser. Louisville would rally to get near the lead and then Marquette would put a streak together to push the lead back out to close to double digits. The Cards had it narrowed to two with 12 minutes remaining in the first half but the Golden Eagles got interested again and sprinted out on a 12-2 run to lead 30-17. Halftime found the Lady Cards on the short end of a 38-26 game. Marquette shot 66.7% in the first half...taking advantage of the obvious Louisville pre-game strategy to make defense optional.

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After the intermission, whatever Walz discussed with the girls seemed to sink in briefly. Maybe he told them they were back in the YUM Center and Owsley Frazier was at half court. Louisville began the half with a 9-3 run to make it a 41-35 game. Marquette, slightly ruffled by the intrusion, promptly pushed the lead back out to eleven. Tortoise...meet hare.

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And so it went the rest of the way. Carrot and stick, greyhound and rabbit...fox and hounds. Louisville chipped away at the lead and Marquette regained focus and extended it. Shoni Schimmel showed why she is the best freshman in the nation by producing 25 points. Monique Reid notched a double-double with 19 points and 11 boards. The end result, though...was a "L" next to the schedule hanging on the wall.

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Rutgers comes to town Saturday. Stinging from their first conference defeat last night from the hands of UConn...they'll be a surly bunch looking for a road win and probably won't be intimidated by the 15,000 or so that will pour into the Bucket for the 6 p.m. game. Let's hope Walz had some pixie dust left to sprinkle on Denny Crum Court to turn his team back into an elite BIG EAST squad for a few hours.

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UofL is designating this one as a 'white out' game. Too early to get out the black mourning clothes, I guess. And, for the majority that will attend and wear white...it's all about the excitement and watching Shoni work her magic, Becky drill a few threes, Monique post another double-double and maybe Shelby will get in! They have no idea that Louisville lost last night, could probably care less...because Lady Cards basketball in the KFC YUM Center is an exciting event and there are no Jeff Walz or Shoni Schimmel bashers out there. Wouldn't Pitino and Siva love that? They'll get what they came for Saturday night...Louisville will defeat Rutgers in an exciting game in the Bucket and all will be right with the world again.

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Wow...congratulations to the guys last night. An exciting win over Huggie Bear and the couch burners in the YUM. A Peyton Siva layup with 4 ticks on the clock clinches it. Out of control, driving wildly down the lane...another Siva layup that normally gets swatted into the sideline seats finds its way past two defenders and drops through the net. He was due some luck...

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REMINDER, WE DRAW FOR A PANERA GIFT CARD TOMORROW. GOT YOUR E-MAIL IN YET? IT'S FREE TO ENTER AND YOU COULD WIN !!!!!!!!!.

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The BIG EAST softball coaches have spoke and Louisville has been picked to finish third in the upcoming softball season. Believe it or not, the season begins in two weeks. Louisville was ranked behind perennial softball power DePaul, who garnered 10 of the first place votes and Notre Dame, who got the other three first place nods. Here's how the skippers see it:

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1) DePaul

2) Notre Dame

3) Louisville

4) Syracuse

5) Pittsburgh

6) USF

7) Villanova

8) Providence

9) Connecticut

10) Rutgers

11) St. John's

12) Seton Hall

13) Georgetown

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West Virginia, Cincinnati and Marquette do not field softball teams. The Cards have hitting and pitching back galore from last year's team...including 2010 BIG EAST Player of the Year Chelsea Bemis. Other All-Conference players returning for Sandy Pearsall are Kristin Austin, Tori Collins, Colby Wherry and Alicja Wolny. Louisville went 41-19 last season and begins play on Feb.11th. in the Texas Invitational in Austin, TX.

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Softball is a fun and fast paced sport on the college level and Louisville has a state of the art facility to play it in with Ulmer Stadium. The BIG EAST Tournament returns to Louisville for the fourth year in a row beginning May 12th. I guess the 'Ville is the softball version of the XL/Hartford, CT. of BIG EAST women's hoops. Without Geno.

Lady Cards at Marquette tonight

WEDNESDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Our apologies...

-Walz & Crew tangle with Golden Eagles.

-Girls LIT 1st round results.

First off, our apologies for being "down" for the last 36 hours. Computers, can't live with them, can't live without them.

CARDINAL COUPLE got slammed by a vicious virus...but is all better now and back on the keyboards. We thank Shannon Ruffra, top banana over at CARDINAL DOMINANCE, for filling in for us. Mean ol' Internet...

Rest assured, we're not turning into a football recruiting site....we thought the change of pace while we were out of commission could be interesting to you, the reader. Only a couple of phone calls disagreed.

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Louisville takes a 13-7, 4-2 record to Milwaukee tonight to face a dangerous Terri Mitchell coached squad that sits at 15-4, 3-3 for the season. The Golden Eagles recently dropped one to visiting Syracuse 69-63,

Marquette is led by center Angel Robinson and forward Sarina Simmons. The do have a win over West Virginia recently and get quality minutes from Paige Fiedorowicz, Tatiyana McMorris and Jasmine Collins. Marquette averages 68 ppg. and holds opponents to 56.2.

For Louisville, it's a matter of overcoming the road jinx. The Cards dropped two last week while travelling and will need big games out of Reid, Schimmel and Burke in order to contend with Marquette.

Game time is 8 p.m. and WKRD 790/101.7 will have the broadcast. Jim Kelch and (take your pick) will provide the call.

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Girls LIT action began last night at Bellarmine and Asuumption, J-Town, Christian Academy and Bulitt East were winners in first round action. They continue tonight.