Softball shuts out UMass...Diving leads BIG EAST Tournament...

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MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Collins fans 13 in 2-0 Softball win over UMass

-Women's diving with lead at BIG EAST Tournament

-Esther Monny Niamke having a good season at Lindsey Wilson. 

-Watson checks in...

-Irish, Rutgers fall on upset Sunday in BIG EAST WBB

Collins allowed just 3 hits and
struck out 13 in the UofL win.

The University of Louisville women's softball team got a strong pitching effort out of senior Tori Collins and timely hitting late in the game to win 2-0 over UMass on the final day of the FIU Combat Classic in Miami, FL. With the win, the Cards improve to 5-0...sweeping all five contests played over the last three days.

This one was a defensive and pitching duel early.

Neither team could put up a run until the sixth inning. Jennifer Esteban led off the Cards portion of the inning with a blooper double with one out. Jordy Trimble singled her home and then Taner Fowler drilled a double to score Trimble for the final run of the contest.

Softball Cards head to East
Carolina next...

The contest ended disappointingly for UMass. With runners on first and second and just one out in the seventh inning, the contest was officially ended because of a two-hour time limit pre-established for the game because of travel considerations.

Softball, unlike football, soccer or hoops....does not normally have a time-restricted period of play in college. I'd be sore if I was the UMass squad. Two out, one out and they stop the game...but rules are rules. Both teams agreed to it.

The softball Cards return back to campus for a few days before heading off to Greenville, NC for the East Carolina Pirate Clash Feb. 17-19. Let's hope they get accommodating weather. Carolina in mid-Feb. can get a bit chilly...

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The Cardinal women's diving squad holds a slender lead in the BIG EAST Diving Championships. They have totaled 74 points in two days...followed closely by Notre Dame (71) and Rutgers (52). 

Gadd took 3rd. in
3-meter diving.

Hannah Gadd with a third place standing in 3-meter competition. She's followed by teammates Lindsey Stephens in fourth and Emily Stalmack in the fifth. Gadd was the BIG EAST Diver of the Year last year. 

The swimming portion of the championships begins Thursday. The Louisville women (and men) took the championship titles last year.

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It's official. Esther Monny Niamke has been playing well at Lindsey Wilson this season as a freshman and should provide some much needed depth for Louisville at the point guard position next year.

It gives Walz the luxury of shifting Shoni Schimmel around a bit more next year to the "2". It'll probably mean less playing time for Jude and Shelby. It gives the Lady Cards incredible depth at the guard slots next year. Megan Deines, a 6'0" guard/wing and Cortnee Walton, a 6'4" post/forward will join her as freshmen for the 2012-13 season.

With the return of Tia Gibbs from injury, the Lady Cards will have incredible depth at the 1,2 and 3 slots...since Becky Burke is the only senior currently playing and leaving. 

"Young Monny's" stats for the last three games...

-In a 73-65 loss to the Cumberlands, 13 points in 29 minutes

-In a 93-85 win over WV Tech, 19 points in 28 minutes.

-In a 94-75 win over Rio Grande (OH), six points in 18 minutes.

Lindsey Wilson is 18-8 on the year and ranked #24 in NAIA. Former Lady Card Ashley Rainey is a senior on the squad.

Welcome to the 'Ville....EMN !

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(David Watson checks in on...well....whatever crosses his mind usually. Today he rambles about Irish and demons.)

The Big East WBB race just got a whole lot more interesting with WEST VIRGINIA's win over NOTRE DAME yesterday in the Joyce Center.

Darn it.

I was hoping for a Notre Dame domination until the final game of the season. I wanted to see the Irish head to the XL Center on Monday, Feb. 27th. and beat UConn to win the conference by two games. That probably won't happen now, unless UConn stumbles against St. John's, Pitt or Marquette.

Not very likely.

The Irish have Providence, Louisville and USF left before the matchup in Hartford against Geno. Can't see any of these three pulling another upset over the Irish. I think Louisville will give them a close game in the KFC YUM! Center but close only counts in -- well, you know the old adage.

The Mountaineers are outta here after this season. With a little help from their new friends in the BIG 12. I wish my friends would loan me $1 million each to hang out with them.

I'd have $3 million dollars to entertain with.

I've never cared too much for any of the WVU sports teams. I've never cared too much about the state of West Virginia. Neither will fans from Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas once they've been there for a football game.

Morgantown isn't exactly Pleasant Valley.


DePaul worries me. Not because of the scary Blue Demon mascot or their residence in Chicago -- a truly scary town in certain places. They worry me because they're playing awfully good right now. They've won 4 out of their last 5 and toyed with Marquette yesterday before burying them on national TV.

Lots of weapons in Martin, Harry, Ortiz, Hrynko and Penny. I'll head down to Louisville to watch that matchup Feb. 25th.

Hoops, hops, Impellizzeri's and a visit with my cranky brother-in law, adorable sister and their kids seems like the perfect Saturday.I should just make a week of it and come in Monday the 20th. for the Notre Dame game. Given the relationship between me and my brother-in-law, though, I might not be able to attend the DePaul game -- unless they play it in the ICU at Jewish Hospital. I wouldn't say we get edgy with each other, but the last time I stayed more than 48 hours with them, he changed the name hanging over the dog house from "Hunter" to "David".

David probably won't
be making trips to
Morgantown to watch
WVU sports.

Pity the poor Cardinals. A "trap" game Tuesday against a 0 for BIG EAST Pitt on the road. Louisville plays on the road as about as well as I play "Stairway to Heaven" on the trumpet. Then, it's inviting Notre Dame and the previously mentioned Blue Demons to the Bucket. A season ending trip to another 0 for BIG EAST opponent in Seton Hall. Anything over a 2-2 finish for Walz's warriors should be celebrated with a parade down 2nd. Street from Main to River Road.

With a pre-parade party at Impellizzeri's first, of course.

( David Watson is a special correspondent for CARDINAL COUPLE. In his fantasy life, he's a taste-tester for Impellizzeri's. I've met his brother-in-law. I didn't know any Neanderthal men still existed...)

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Upset Sunday in BIG EAST WBB yesterday...

- Notre Dame was shocked in the Purcell Pavillion by WVU 65-63. Brooke Hampton hit two free throws with four seconds remaining and a jumper by Natalie Novosel bounced off the rim as time expired to give the Mountaineers the win. Skylar Diggins with 32 for Muffet. Asya Bussie led West Virginia with 22.

Kim's Red Storm have
won four in a row now.

- St. John's ( 9-3 ) travelled to the RAC and defeated Rutgers 61-52. The good news for C. Vivian Stringer's bunch is that Khadijah Rushdan is back and had 17 points in her return. The bad news is that Rutgers has lost four in a row now and is 6-5 in BIG EAST play. The Red Storm had four in double figures, led by Nadirah McKenith's 18. They're alone in third place in the BIG EAST.

- DePaul used a strong second half of the second half to down Marquette 71-59. Doug Bruno's bunch trailed 44-39 with less than 13 minutes left. They responded. Four Blue Demons hit double figures...Anna Martin recording a double-double with 19 and 10. Katherine Plouffe finished with 22 for Terri Mitchell's Golden Eagles. 

UConn plays out of conference tonight against Oklahoma. 9 p.m. on this one...ESPN 2. Another good game features Kentucky and Tennessee WBB at 7 p.m. on the "deuce". Louisville's men are playing at 7 p.m. too -- a BIG EAST, Big Monday haymaker against Syracuse. This one on ESPN. IT's "White Out Night" at the KFC YUM! Center if you go. We wish we were. Great hoops, tonight!

BIG EAST WBB STANDINGS:

Notre Dame        11-1                         Villanova          5-7
Connecticut        11-1                         Providence        5-7
St. John's              9-3                          USF                   5-7
West Virginia       8-3                          Marquette         4-7
Georgetown         8-4                          Syracuse           4-8
Louisville             7-5                          Cincinnati         4-8
DePaul                 7-5                          Pittsburgh         0-11
Rutgers                6-5                          Seton Hall         0-12
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Notre Dame women retain # 2 ranking over UConn

How awesome was it that yesterday women's Basketball had 2 national games on prime time Saturday sports on CBS!?!?

I had predicted that both games should be VERY competitive as at 2 PM CBS featured Big Ten Conference Michigan Spartans (10-5) meeting at the home of and defeating the 19th / 22nd ranked Penn State Lady Lions (11-3) at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, PA by a score of 75-65

At 4 PM CBS featured Big East Teams where the 2nd ranked Connecticut Huskies now (12-2) and (2-1) were playing at the home of 3rd ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish now (15-1) and (3-0) which is the Edmund P Joyce Center in South Bend, IN.

It was Notre Dame's time to shine as it was their game to lose in the comfy confines of their home arena with a more than ready and very vocal crowd.

With the UConn - ND women's game shown opposite the University of Louisville men who were at home also against ND it made for an interesting situation, but one which could be handled. We taped both games and each time one had a time out... we switched and caught up play of the other game although I have to confess that we ultimately stayed on the UConn - ND game through the overtime as it better caught our attention as the games neared their end and went into overtimes. It was interesting to see and compare the styles of both the men and women's Notre Dame teams with both eventually pulling out the win as the women defeated UConn 74-67.

Sandy W.

Cards sweep the Pirates, Lacrosse loses and Final Four recap

MONDAY at CARDINAL COUPLE


Cards improve to 5-1 in BIG EAST



-Louisville wins 9-3 over Seton Hall

-Lacrosse falls to Ohio State

-Women's Tennis drops match to VCU

-Who'da thunk it? Notre Dame and A&M?

-Andrews and Oliver reach the final

-Dialed In catches Shackleford in Fla. Derby

Sandy Pearsall's University of Louisville Softball team got a big effort out of Katie Keller yesterday in a romp of visiting Seton Hall. The freshman went 3 for 4 and drove in five runs in the Cardinal 9-3 win. Caralisa Connell added 10 strikeouts in the victory for the Cards.

Louisville took a lead they never relinquished in the bottom of the third when Keller singled home Jennifer Esteban and then scored on a booming Chelsea Bemis double. The Cards added to the 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth thanks to Keller, who popped a pitch over the left field fence that scored her, Hannah Kiyohara and Esteban. The Cards plated five runs total in the fourth and had a commanding 7-0 lead.

Louisville inserted Katie Petrino on the mound to start the fifth but it didn't go too well for the newest member of the Birds...Petrino walked two and gave up a single to fill the bags. A two run double and RBI single gave the Pirates three runs on board and Connell re-entered the game to pitch the Cards out of the jam. Louisville got two of the runs back in the sixth when Keller singled home Esteban and then scored on a Alicja Wolny double. Louisville led 9-3 and that ended up being the final score.

Connell was credited with seven innings of work...fanning 10 Pirates and allowing only two hits.

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Louisville Lacrosse rallied in the second half but dropped a match at Louisville Lacrosse Stadium to Ohio State 16-11. Trailing 9-4 early in the second half, the Cards rallied to cut the lead to 9-8 but could never gain the lead. #20 Louisville falls to 8-2 on the season.

The Cards got 4 scores from Liz Lovejoy in the match, Katie Oliverio, Emily Dashiell and Bergan Foley added two goals each in the defeat. Jamie Redding added one goal for the Cards. Redding is a perfect five shots for five goals in the season.  After Louisville cut the margin to one...the Buckeyes rallied for five straight goals and led 14-8...a margin Louisville couldn't overcome.

The Cards hit the road next for a Friday tilt again BIG EAST opponent Loyola (MD).

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Women's tennis got ran by VCU yesterday 6-1 with first team doubles partners Julie Fellerhoff and Rebecca Shine picking up the only win of the day. The Cards lost all the singles matches in two sets except for Fellerhoff's three set defeat as the #1 seed. The Cards are 11-8 on the year in dual matches and end the season with competition on the road at Tulsa, Rice and Houston before the BIG EAST Tournament.

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The NCAA Final Four Semifinals didn't go the way most experts predicted (including the 'so-called' experts here at CARDINAL COUPLE) with #1 seed Stanford falling to #2 seed Texas A&M Aggies and #1 seed Connecticut bowing to #2 seed Notre Dame. All season long we heard about how predictable the upcoming FINAL FOUR would be..with Tennessee, Baylor, Stanford and Connecticut the expected participants. Goes to show that upsets can and do happen  in the ladies's game as well and that the mighty Connecticut is beatable.

WE like it here at CARDINAL COUPLE. Both winners last trailed at halftime but never gave up. The Aggies vs. Trees game was especially exciting at the end..a wild finish that saw the Aggies' Tyra White score on a pass from Sydney Colson with 3.3 seconds left to win 63-62. Hats off to senior Stanford star Nnemkadi Ogwumike for 31 points and a go-ahead Stanford score with 9.2 seconds remaining...but A&M would not be denied their first trip in school history to the title. The Aggies center Danielle Adams reminds us so much of former Lady Card Tise Wright and Louisville was one of the final schools that Adams considered coming out of junior college before coming to College Station.

Notre Dame got a huge effort from sophomore Skylar Diggins to defeat the Huskies for the first time in four attempts this year. Maya Moore was spectacular in defeat with 36 of Connecticut's 63 points and leading the charge to cut a sizable Irish lead to three late in the game...but depth prevailed here and the Irish led by 12 with six minutes to go. Forget the rhetoric that all coaches pare down their lineups to 6-7 players at tournament time. A&M played 10 last night. Stanford nine. Notre Dame eight players and Geno would have used more than seven if he'd had the bench and talent available to do it.

Quite often this year, the "Fab Four" of UConn, Tennessee, Baylor and Stanford have held the national headlines concerning women's basketball captive and it's refreshing to see two teams that haven't been in the national title talk advance to the final game. Granted #2 seeds making the National Women's Championship game isn't as big a underdog story as what has transpired on the men's side of college hoops, but how many of you had a Final Four women's bracket that had UND and Texas A&M advancing to the final game? Thought so. We didn't either. We know that Maya Moore is the best college women's hoopster. Brittany Griner is the best post player in the women's college game. But, it goes to show that basketball is a team game and anything can happen on any given night...We like the affable Aggie coach Gary Blair and his positive approach to the game. Muffett McGraw and her wild fashion statements and the famous sideline squat during game action. They paint a contrasting picture to the austere Tara Vanderveer and smirking, quizzical Geno Auriemma. We realize that Geno and Tara are two of the top coaches in all-time history...but sometimes the sun shines on someone else besides the lead dogs. Tuesday night's game should be a doozy.

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Erin Andrews romped Allison Williams and Pam Oliver squeaked out a narrow win over Andrea Kremer in the Sideline Announcers' Final Four here a CARDINAL COUPLE. WE'LL have the final match Tuesday. Place your votes in the comments section here or at cardinalcouple@insightbb.com

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A major prep race leading up to the Kentucky Derby was held yesterday at Gulfstream Park in Hallendale, Florida and DIALED IN made a claim to be a horse that needs to be considered when making those Derby picks. His late running style prevailed yesterday in the mile and eighth race on the dirt...catching longshot SHACKLEFORD at the wire and winning by a head. The efforts of SHACKLEFORD last time out in the Fountain of Youth gave no indication that he'd be a front runner and almost pull the upset...especially against a field that contained other Derby hopefuls Soldat, Stay Thirsty and To Honor and Serve. He finished a dismal fifth in the Fountain of Youth but trainer Dale Romans felt the 3 yr. old had a big race in him based on workouts leading up to the Florida Derby. He got a perfect ride from Jesus Castanon, led down the stretch and narrowly missed at 69-1. Churchill Downs based Romans also got a big win in the Appleton Stakes earlier in the card when 4 yr. old Little Mike went wire to wire and won by a length.

WE were rewarded for our efforts from tossing the Romans/Castanon entry into our wager for the Florida Derby . A simple $1 exacta box with Dialied In, To Honor and Serve, Shackleford, Stay Thirsty and Soldat cost $20 and returned $169.80. That, and a nice exacta score in the previous race with SS Stone and Jackson Bend, easily covered the afternoon's wagering and returned a tidy profit.

Whether Dialed In can turn the tables on Kentucky Derby Future Wager favorite Uncle Mo or upstart Premier Pegasus remains to be seen...but the Churchill Downs stretch is a long one and Dilaed In loves to fly from last or far back. We got down $5 on him...along with Uncle Mo...just in case.

Churchill Downs simulcasting when the horses aren't running at the 'most legendary track' in the world can be hit or miss...Despite the profitable day yesterday, long lines and a lack of tellers at the windows nearly caused us to miss several eventual winning wagers. We finally started using the automatic betting machines...but people who have no idea how to work these things need to refrain from the temptation of trying to use them and watch and observe a few times before attempting. Paul watched one befuddled guy spend three minutes trying to figure out how to place a $10 show bet...and then he forgot his cash voucher  when he finally accomplished the feat. A honest person waiting paitently behind him recalled him to the scene to point out his $40 balance. Stick to betting with live tellers, rookies...
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Softball sweeps Seton Hall, Lacrosse vs. Ohio State today

CARDINAL COUPLE SUNDAY

-Cards improve to 4-1 in BIG EAST with sweep

-Katie Petrino joins softball squad

-Lacrosse against Ohio State today

-The Final Four...some thoughts and picks

-Sidelne Announcers Final Four

Louisville softball relied on the arm of Caralisa Connell yesterday and powerful hitting as the Cards sunk the Pirates 7-2 and 10-2 in BIG EAST softball action at Ulmer Stadium.

It's a Louisville team that is without the services of 2/3rds the pitching staff. Last year's #2 and #3 pitchers Tori Collins and Chelsea Leonard, who figured prominently in Sandy Pearsall's plans for the 2011 season are sidelined...Leonard most likely for the season with a knee injury and Collins with a fractured foot. Collins could possibily return in a couple of weeks. The pitching job has been turned over to true freshman Caralisa Connell and she's responded with six straight wins...since last Saturday...all complete games...and a 12-4 record on the year.

Louisville took the fight early to the Pirates in the first game, a Maggie Ruckenbrod double scored Chelsea Bemis in the 2nd inning to make it 1-0. Louisville added two in the third when Ruckenbrod singled to score Alicja Wolny and Kristin Austin's single brought home Chelsea Bemis. Katie Keller's solo shot in the 4th. increased the Cards lead to 4-0 and they ended the inning ahead 6-0, thanks to a timely triple from Alicja Wolny.

After the Pirates plated two runs in the top of the fifth, the Cards added their final run in the bottom of the inning when Hannah Kiyohara singled home Keller for the 7-2 win. Connell struck out eight in the victory and scattered seven hits.

In game two, the Cards gave up an early run to Seton Hall in the first but tied it in the bottom half on the inning when Keller reached on a fielder's choice and scored on an error. Louisville broke it open in the home half of the second with five runs on five hits and an error. Taner Fowler's double and Keller's single were key in the the outburst.

After Seton Hall got one back in the third, to make it 6-2...Louisville (25-10) went wild in the fifth with four runs for the final 10-2 margin. Singles from Austin, Fowler and Kiyohara produced two runs, Esteban double put runners on second and third and she and Kiyohara scored on a Keller double to end it.

The teams match up for the final game in the series today at 11 a.m.

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The Cards added backup pitching relief to the roster when Katie Petrino walked on the team before action on Saturday. If the name sounds familiar, it is. Her father Bobby Petrino was head football coach at Louisville for five years before accepting the job with the Atlanta Falcons NFL franchise. Katie is a redshirt freshman at Louisville who came here to compete on golf team. She was the starting pitcher on two Fayetteville, Arkansas state championship high school softball teams, though...and won several regional and local awards while on the mound...including two First Team All-Arkansas roster selecions. Ms. Petrino can "wail it a ton off the tee" according to Louisville women's golf coach Kelly Meyers Rothberg. Let's hope she carries the right ball to the mound if she toes the strip for the softball Cards...

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Lacrosse brings in Ohio State for a 1 p.m. match today at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium. The wicket Cards are ranked #20 in the nation and are coming off a 12-6 win over Vanderbilt in their last outing. The 8-1 Cards have scored in double digits in the last 19 games. Liz Lovejoy had four goals in the recent win and Bergan Foley added the final two scores i the win over #13 ranked Vandy.

This is "Friends of Jaclyn" day at the stadium and donations will be accepted for the foundation that strives to improve the quality of life for children who have pediatric brain tumors.

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The Final Four is set in Indy and Connecticut, Notre Dame, Texas A&M and Stanford fight today for the right to play in Tuesday night's title game at the Conseco Fieldhouse. The Irish and Huskies are no strangers to each other, having met twice before this year. Connecticut defeated the Irish 79-76 in South Bend and 73-64 in the finals of the BIG EAST Tournament. The Huskies haven't loss since a 71-59 defeat to Stanford on Dec.30th. in the Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, CA.

WE see UConn surviving a close battle against the Irish in the 9:30 p.m. game tonight. The Huskies will have to win the battle of the boards against Bruiser Bruszewski  and Devereaux Peters. They'll also need to shut down guards Skylar Diggins and Brittany Mallory. WE'RE impressed with the improvement of Huskies' freshman center Stefanie Dolson throughout the season, though...and there's the Maya Moore factor, as well. A key could be the play of freshman Bria Hartley at point for UConn. 

The evening of hoops begins at 7:30 with the Texas A&M Aggies squaring off against the Stanford Cardinal. The Aggies surprised most by punching a ticket to 'Naptown' with a win over Baylor...a team that had beaten them three times in the regular season. Danielle Adams is a powerful center and prolific scorer. Stanford cruised through the PAC 10 schedule and then ousted Cinderella story Gonzaga in Spokane without much trouble. Coached by Tara VanDerveer and featuring the powerful Ogwumike sisters in the paint, Stanford can hurt you several ways...younger sis Chiney was named to the First Team Freshman All-American team and big sis Nnemkadi to the State Farm All Coaches First Team. Hmmm...Ogwumike must translate into "basketball" in Nigeria. They also have two younger sisters and older sis Gabe has played professionally in Europe and the WNBA. WE'RE betting those back yard battles in Texas are something to see...

WE'LL be pretty obvious here and selected the Stanford squad to slip into the Finals over A&M. Seniors Kayla Pederson and Jeanette Pohlen give the Trees a couple of more scoring options and Stanford is the only team to hang a "L" on UConn this year...that's enough to convince us that they're the shining star on the west coast. 

Is college basketball ready, though...for the possibility of BOTH title holders being from Storrs, Connecticut? Do the people in Connecticut need their egos inflated anymore? Are Jim Calhoun and Geno Auriemma actually the same person? How flooded was the Lexington. KY crisis hotline last night after "dem Kats" bowed out to the Huskies? Yeah...looks like a beautiful Sunday on tap today.

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Erin Andrews takes on Allison Williams in one of the semifinals today in the Sideline Annoucers Final Four. Is she the UConn of microphone holders?





The FINAL FOUR in our sideline announcers contest takes place today also. We've got Erin Andrews takng on newcomer Allison Williams and Pam Oliver matched up against Andrea Kremer. You can vote in the comments section here, or at cardinalcouple@insightbb.com



Does the veteran Kremer have what it takes to hold off Pam Oliver?

We'll announce the results in the Monday edition of CARDINAL COUPLE...

Field Hockey releases schedule, Notre Dame and Stanford advance in WBB

TUESDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Field Hockey 2011 schedule

- Big East gets one in Final Four

-Mail Bag

-Don't mind us...we won't be a minute

-Should I stay or should I go?

The University of Louisville Field Hockey team, under the direction of first year head coach Justine Sowry, has announced their slate of game for the 2011 season. The list looks to be impressive and nine of the eighteen contests will be held at the TRAGER Stadium on the UofL campus. After an exhibition game at Iowa, the Cards open the regular season hosting California and Michigan State. The non-conference schedule also features home games with Missouri State, Appalachain State, New Hampshire and Indiana. The Cards will visit non-BIG EAST opponents Davisdon, Wake Forest, American, Ohio State, Drexel and Northwestern. In conference, Louisville brings in Syracuse, Rutgers and Providence. Louisville will travel to BIG EAST foes Georgetown, Connecticut and Villanova. The BIG EAST Tournament this year will be held at Syracuse November 4-6.

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The Cards have 17 players, four of them starters, returning for 2011 action. Louisville went 13-7 last year...5-1 in the BIG EAST...and finished #14 in the final rankings. The NCAA Division 1 Field Hockey Championships will be held at TRAGER stadium Novenber 18-20...the fourth time Louisville has hosted the championships. 

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Sowry replaced former Louisville head coach Pam Bustin, who took the head coaching job at Duke following the Cards 2010 season. She takes over a young team that has only three seniors in Hayley Turner, Caitlin Collins and Heather Stevens. Erin Conrad returns at goalkeeper and the Jurich twins Haley and Lacey along with Amber Thomas will be looked to for leadership.
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Congratulations to BIG EAST member Notre Dame on advancing to the NCAA Women's Basketball Final Four with a convincing 73-59 win over #1 seed Tennessee last night. The Irish did it with team play, as they have all season long...Becca the Bruiser and Skylar Diggins having huge outings against Pat's bunch. Can't help but think that if N.D. forward Dev Peters would drop the dramatics and concentrate on basketball more, she'd be even better than she is. Also, poor sportsmanship at the end by the beaten Vols with the shoves and thumps at the end of the game when the contest had been decided. Seems to us that Pat rarely coaches anymore, delegating those duties to her assistants...while she stands there on the court scowling and yelling at players after miscues. We have no doubt she's still one of the finest to ever have the title of head coach...but she just stood there, almost as if she was in "time out" or sulking or something as her assistants barked out the switches and plays as the Vols went down to defeat.
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Stanford ended the home reign of the Fighting Vandersloots of Gonzaga last night with a 83-60 drubbing of the WCC champs. The Cardinal took control of this one early and despite another fantastic performance from Vandersloot, the Bulldogs were never in it. That didn't slow the Gonzaga fans down much...but Stanford was unfazed by the hysterics and acted like they'd been there before (which they have numerous times). Head Cardinal coach Tara Vanderveer is one of the best in college basketball at getting a team ready to face the competition...and it showed last night.
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UConn looks to dispose of Duke tonight...they beat them by three time zones in an earlier meeting this year and we get a replay of the BIG 12 finals as Baylor laces up to beat Texas A&M for the fourth time this season. Mulkey the monkey vs. Geno ?? It could happen...
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Had to share one from the e-mail bag with you. It was anonymous and arrived at 3:35 a.m. a couple of days ago...
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Cardinal Couple,
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So the mighty UofSmell has been taken down by who? Gonzaga? That is way too funny and maybe they never should have gone in the first place. They were so lucky to beat Xavier and had the refs in their back pocket with all those fouls at the end of the game. The Cardinals are nothing more than a middle of the pack Big Least wannabe and them and their psycho coach Walz were lucky to get as far as they did. Good luck with little Indian squaw Bony Schimmel next year and maybe she will learn how to shoot better than 1-13 in the biggest game of her life. Maybe Walz will kick her next.
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It happens. We occasionally get idiot dribble that spills onto our screen. We share this with you because it only goes to show how highly Louisville has climbed on the national awareness level in women's college basketball since Jeff Walz arrived on campus. Use this blog for example. Our "hit" level for the site went through the roof during the Lady Cards march through the BIG EAST, BIG EAST Tournament and NCAA Tournament. Naturally, with such recognition and attention, some of it is going to be negative. We'd print all the POSTITIVE e-mails comments we've received about Walz, Schimmel and the Lady Cards...but you'd be reading this column for several hours if we did.
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WE pledge to you, our readers...that we'll continue to be the fan voice for ALL UofL women's athletics. WE know that basketball is a favorite of our readership and we try to bring you as much as we can about the team, the program and the venue. WE hope you'll stay along for the ride as we bring you softball, soccer, rowing, golf and the other sports that make up women's athletics at the University of Louisville.
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Hey, it doesn't cost you anything and we're here daily. Thanks for making us a part of your day. Pass the creamer and pop a bagel in the toaster for us. A PANERA bagel, of course....
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WE'RE experimenting with some different colors and backgrounds here at CARDINAL COUPLE so don't mind us if the font color or title header color suddenly changes on you. Just testing...no one is trying to take control of your laptop of P.C.. Just us and the chimps, playing around....
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5:45 p.m.
Well....the saga of DaMarcus Smith, former Louisville Seneca High School quarterback has gotten interesting again. Someone cue up The Clash and let's have a little Should I stay or should I go. Just to
review the previous innings of this donnybrook...Smith was all UofL until shortly before National Signing Day. Then, Louisville added another quarterback recruit to the mix, heraled Miami, FL. thrower Teddy Bridgewater. Smith said that didn't bother him...but eventually visited and signed a letter of intent with Central Florida. He claimed it wasn't because of Bridgewater becoming a Card. Then, rumors started floating that maybe DaMarcus didn't want to head to Orlando. Didn't want to play for George O'Leary (the head coach at UCF)  or UCF. Or go to Disney World or take in any Orlando Magic games...

It came out yesterday (some of us knew earlier) that DaMarcus had asked to be released from his Letter of Intent (LOI) Actually, it was his Mom who made the phone call to George O'Leary. O'Leary declined to release him. Says he never has and never will release a college student from a LOI.

We saw Smith play a lot of football at Seneca. Championed him here and at CARDINAL DOMINANCE as a "can't miss" prospect wherever he ended up. It looks, though, as if Mom is calling the snaps here lately. Funny, we never saw her behind center or tossing bombs down the field while DaMarcus played at SHS.

If O'Leary continues the embargo, Smith has to sit a year before he can play at UofL and would have four years to complete three seasons on the field. Or he could go to UCF, play a year...then transfer and sit out a year and go to Louisville. Or juco it. Maybe he could learn to fly a plane and go to work for UPS. Whatever. Looks like O'Leary isn't budging and DaMarcus isn't goin' south. For now. Stay tuned, This race has had a lot of lead changes and  jockeying...
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UConn wins BIG EAST Tournament, Softball Thursday

RAINY WEDNESDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE

-Huskies collect another trophy.

-Softball scheduled for Thursday

-Mail Bag

-Sideline reporters: Cox vs. Smith

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-Girls sweet sixteen starts today.

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Congratulations to the Connecticut Huskies for their 73-64 win over Notre Dame last night. This is the 17th. BIG EAST Championship win for Geno Auriemma's teams. They got big games out of Maya Moore (22 points) and Stefanie Dolson (24 points) and this was their 20th. win in a row. Credit to Notre Dame for not getting totally blown out of the water. Former Lexington Catholic star Natalie Novosel had 17 for the Irish.

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It leads to the question...should Connecticut be thrown out WBB and be forced to play Division II men's teams? We've all had quite enough of 'UConn won this,,,The Huskies did that...blah, blah, blah.' That's why it's time to boot them over to playing men's programs like Bellarmine, Lindsey Wilson and IU Southeast. Find me one person outside the state of Connecticut that gets thrilled or overjoyed after a Husky win and I'll buy that person a Happy Meal and even let them keep the toy. Slap a ten second clock on 'em and let's see how they deal with opponents alley ooping and slam dunking on them 4-5 times a game.

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Will they win the NCAA Tournament? Probably. They're playing much better now than they did when Stanford beat them early in the season. Baylor can't take them down, especially now that manchild center Stefanie Dolson has figured out how tall she really is and what types of advantages come with said height. A Stanford repeat victory? Not bloody likely...Geno rarely loses to the same team twice in one season. The matchup we really want to see is Tennessee. and Connecticut. Geno vs. Pat. The Vols and Huskies. The Barbecue Kings vs. the Insurance Adjusters. If the other 62 teams that get invited to the BIG DANCE will kindly stay out of the

pathways of UT and UC..we should get a semifinal or final matchup.

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And that'll be "must see" TV. (We, of course, wouldn't mind seeing Louisville or Rutgers ruining this matchup...but, let's face it. That ain't gonna happen.)

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Louisville softball has scheduled a Thursday game versus Morehead State. It's a recent addition to the schedule. Let's hope Mother Nature co-operates. The Cards got only 1 day and 2 games in at the Combat Classic in Cookeville, TN. before the skies opened up. They were wins, though and Louisville is 11-6 on the season. Morehead comes in at 6-10. Game time is set for 4 p.m.

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Alicja Wolny, Maggie Ruckenbrod and Chelsea Bemis have been toting the big lumber lately for Sandy Pearsall's squad. Both Wolny and Bemis are batting over .400 and Ruckenbrod is a freshman catcher who has stepped in and filled the void created behind the plate after Melissa Roth graduated.

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Louisville will also host the Louisville Softball Classic this Saturday and Sunday at Ulmer Stadium. The Cards will play top ten ranked Michigan at noon and the Hilltoppers from WKU at 4 p.m.

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We selected these two from the mail our readers have sent to share with you...

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Hi Cardinal Couple. My name is Taneisha and I am 11 years old. I love the Lady Cards basketball team and I have been going to games with my Mom and older sister for 4 years now. Angel McCoughtry is my favorite player of all time and I like Shoni Schimmel and Monique Reid on this year's team. I found your site on the internet a few days ago and now I read it every day. I have a question and it is this. What is the best thing I can do to become a good basketball player and play for the Cardinals someday?

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Welcome aboard, Taneisha. The best thing you can do to make sure you get to play for Jeff Walz and the Lady Cards is grow to 6'7" and learn how to dunk. (Just kidding). WE asked a former college player your question and she gave us this answer...

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"The best thing any young ballplayer can do to get better is to practice, practice, practice your shot. I recommend 500 a day. As you grow older, you'll find that your shot style will change as you get bigger but getting comfortable with the ball and developing a smooth shot is the best thing you can do. Scoring points wins games and if you can become a scorer, coaches will pay attention."

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From Herb:

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Hey Paul and Sonja! Thanks to you, I have now become a fan of women's basketball. I found a link to your site on another site and started reading daily. By fall, I was determined to attend some games this season. I talked it over with my wife and we decided to get a family plan for us and our two daughters. What a great time had! I wish that I had started going years ago now. My daughters love Shoni Schimmel and Shelby Harper and they got their autographs after a game. Cardinal womens basketball is a great evening out for our family, it isn't very expensive at all and it is very exciting to watch. Keep up the great work here at Cardinal Couple and THANK YOU for turning us on to such a great entertainment product.

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ALL RIGHT HERB! Now, let's see what we can do to get you and the family involved in a little softball, volleyball, field hockey and the other great women's sports at UofL...WE think you'll have a great time at these events, too. Thanks for writing...and GO CARDS!

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In our "Sweet Sixteen" tournament of sideline reports...Erin Andrews won in head to head competition against Jenn Brown...but it was a close one. Erin advances to the round of eight. Today's matchup is Heather Cox (left)versus Shelly Smith (right). You can vote for your choice here in the comments section or e-mail us with your pick. Sonja is going with the 'Shellmeister', Paul is in the Cox camp and David Watson is Heather's biggest fan. We aren't "seeding" our face-offs...because we have no idea about how one would rank these sideline reporters or what criteria to use. I'll offer a point spread...Heather a six point favorite. Good luck in getting that wager up at an off-shore sports book...Cox does a variety of sideline sports...and she was a star volleyball player in college. Smith is probably best known for football sideline reports. You can e-mail your vote to cardinalcouple@insightbb.com ....

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The Kentucky High School Girls Basketball Sweet Sixteen begins today in Bowling Green, We'l follow the action and give you a full report on Wednesday's games tomorrow. Marion County, Butler and Manual play today. Jennifer Smith has a great preview of the teams and matchups over at http://www.kentucky.com/ It's worth a click and look...

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Women's track has two headed to NCAA, Hoops observations

TUESDAY presented by CARDINAL COUPLE:






-Sideline reporters challenge.
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-McCarty and Abdullah headed to NCAA Indoors...
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-Previewing the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament
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THIS IMPORTANT NEWS FLASH...2:55 p.m.
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STEVE SPRINGER HAS BEEN SELECTED THE BIGGEST FAN OF THE BIG EAST!
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A WARM THANK YOU AND JOB WELL DONE TO ALL OF OUR READERS WHO VOTED FOR HIM! ATTA BOY, STEVE. WHO GONNA BEAT THEM CARDINALS? NOOOOBODY!!!!
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Erin Andrews (top left) or Jenn Brown (top right) ? That's the question...both sideline reporters have their charms and idiosyncrasies...let us know which one you prefer in the comments section if you like. Paul is an Erin fan. David Watson goes with Jenn. Sonja prefers Jenn. The CARDINAL COUPLE Chimp staff interns are still battling their official pick out...over banana daiquiri's and papaya margaritas...could take them awhile. Winner advances to the round of eight...check tomorrow for another sideline reporter matchup. You can e-mail your pick to cardinalcouple@insightbb.com and yes..we'll include a few guys in here, too...


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UofL tossers D'Ana McCarty and Khadija Abdullah will compete in the NCAA Indoor Championships on Friday at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium on the Texas A&M campus.

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McCarty is the two time defending champion in the weight throw and will compete in that event and the shot put. She recently won the BIG EAST indoor weight throw title for the third year. This season, she has tossed a qualifying throw of 22.05 meters, which is fourth best nationally. In the shot put, she qualified with a toss of 16.30 meters...good for 19th. in the nation.


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Abdullah has the best throw in the nation for shot-putting. Her heave of 16.96 is also a personal best. This is her first time in the Indoor championship.


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You can follow the girls' efforts live on ESPN3 Friday and Saturday or catch a broadcast tape delay on ESPN2 on March 16th. at 2:30 p.m. Good luck to these strong-armed Cardinals!


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As conference tournament championships wind down over the next couple days in college womens' basketball, it looks like the BIG EAST might get a record number of school invited to the NCAA Tournament. Ten schools are in the mix...UConn, Notre Dame, DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette and Louisville are locks...we believe. Rutgers and WVU most likely...and St.John's and Syracuse probable. Ten schools! We looked at some other conferences and did some reviewing...


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BIG 12. We can see Baylor, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Iowa State. Probably Kansas and possibly Kansas State and Texas with a couple of breaks.


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SEC. Tennessee, UK, Georgia, Vandy for sure. LSU a possible.


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ACC. Duke, North Carolina, Miami, Maryland, Georgia Tech and Fla.State.


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Our top seeds? Pretty easy...UConn, Stanford, Baylor and Tennessee. #2 seeds much tougher to predict...but we'll offer Xavier, Duke, Notre Dame and DePaul, in our BIG EAST biased opinion.


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Where will "the Ville" end up? The NCAA Selection Committee "is dedicated to keeping school within a reasonable distance of their locations" based on seeding...in first and second round games. Really? OK, going with that premise...we'll pen in the Cards as a #7 seed and send them to Cincinnati. Who will they face? They'll get a #10 seed if this happens...we'll guess Michigan, Vandy or Purdue... They'll probably send Louisville to Wichita to play Texas...knowing those wrascilally wabitts on the selection committee. The NCAA Selection Committee is well documented in shafting both the men's and women's team any chance they get. The abomination of picking the Lady Cards to go to Baton Rouge and play in LSU's bracket two years ago was a slap and insult to the hard work from that 2008-09 National Runner Up squad. Give the Cards a break this year...muckity-mucks and big-wigs...


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Selection Monday should be interesting. No word yet on whether UofL is having a selection viewing party. Two years ago it was at Cardinal Arena. Three years ago at the Parrish House. We hope they do have one...a good crowd would most likely attend.


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Notre Dame faces Connecticut tonight for the BIG EAST WBB Tournament title. We will have coverage in Wednesday's edition of CARDINAL COUPLE. In case you missed it last night, the Huskies had no trouble with the Scarlet Knights...75-51 and Notre Dame downed DePaul 71-67 in a classic in the semifinals. We're going with Geno's bunch here...by ten or so. IT IS TIME TO MOVE THE EVENT OUT OF HARTFORD. A neutral site would be best. We'll offer (6) suggestions...Columbus, OH., Detroit, MI., Lexington, KY., New York, NY., Boston, MA. or Indianapolis, IN.


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We'd also like to see a return to only the top twelve teams getting invites. #13-#16 this year did not get past the second round...five nights of the tournament is too long...


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Cards fall in BIG EAST Quarterfinals to Irish 63-53

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WELCOME TO THE COUPLE...MONDAY STYLE.



-Slow start to second half sinks Cards..
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-Breaking the game down.
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-David Watson not disappointed.
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LIVE UPDATES ON THE BIG EAST WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT:
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...Notre Dame rallies late to get revenge against the Blue Demons and win in the second semifinal game tonight 71-67. Brittany Mallory with two insurance free throws with 2.6 left on the clock. Keisha Hampton with 31 for the Blue Demons. Muffett McGraw rockin' the leopard spots skirt tonight...hubba hubba!
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Irish return to the BIG EAST finals for the first time since 2001. Unfortunately for them, UConn is the opponent. Bruiser Bruszewski got slammed with a couple of minutes to go by Felicia Chester...walked her off the court...did return but watched the rest of the game from the bench. Takes a lot to make that big girl cry...but she got a WWE Smackdown type shot by Chester. It hurt just watching it...Paul @ 10:19. (Good night, Allison Williams...wherever you are.)

...In Game Two, the Irish ran out to a 8-0 early lead and then went out and celebrated or something...allowing DePaul back in it. The Blue Demons didn't let the opportunity go to waste and leads by six at the half. Demolishion Peters isn't the force she was last night...maybe the Dilithium crystals need changing. Do either of these teams, both bona fide #2 seed NCAA candidates really want the win and have to go up against Geno and his sled dogs Tuesday?...Paul @ 9:15 p.m.

...No problem for UConn earlier tonight against the Rutgers Scalded..oops...Scarlet Knight...Maya Moore returned from the fifth dimension to score 22 against C.Viv's Jersey Girls. I do think Rutgers is easily in the NCAA Tournament. Or they'll send April Sykes out to beat members of the selection committee up...-Paul @ 8:43 p.m.
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Louisville bows out of the BIG EAST Tournament despite a strong effort vs. #3 seed Notradamus tonight in the BIG EAST Tournament. The Cards led only twice in the game at 2-0 and 13-11. Louisville was hindered by early foul trouble to Monique Reid..who sat out the final 15:28 of the first half. The Cards fought hard in the first half without Reid, though...behind the efforts of Charmaine Tay, Shoni Schimmel and Keisha Hines and trailed 26-24 after a Schimmel three with 2:16 left in the first half. The Irish would go on a 6-0 run to close the half, though behind the efforts of Devereaux Peters and take a 32-24 lead into the locker room at the half.
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Peters stayed hot as the second half began. Two straight baskets by her gave the Irish a 12 point advantage and minutes later a 12-2 Irish run had the Cards trailing 48-29 after another score by Peters with 14 minutes to go. Louisville regrouped, though...and responded with a 9-0 run to cut the lead to ten at 48-38. The Cards found themselves down 52-47 after a Schimmel three with 8:18 left. The pace slowed a bit after that...but a Reid jumper drew the Cards within six at 57-51 and 2:32 remaining. Louisville would get no closer, though... and saw Notre Dame outscore them 6-2 to end the game.
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One of the key factors in the loss was Notre Dame's large margin at the foul line. The Irish made 20-25 free throws and Louisville went 3-8. The Cards also did poorly from 3 point range...going 2-18.
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Schimmel was the only Card in double figures with 12 points. Tay and Hines finished with 9, Burke added 8 and Reid had 6. Sherrone Vails scored 4 points, Asia Taylor 3 and Antonita Slaughter 2. Both Shelby Harper and Tia Gibbs played but had no points.
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A tough loss against the Irish but a hard fought game for the Cards...who came back from far back and had a chance to cut it to three late. Louisville waits now for eight days before selection Monday to find out where they're headed to play first round NCAA action. Most feel the Cards are a lock for the "big dance" and, hopefully draw one of the close to Louisville regional sites. A little better night from the 3 point range and a smaller discrepancy in fouls...and the Cards have a chance at winning this one tonight. The luck of the Irish comes through via the whistles dangling around the necks of Dennis DeMayo's officiating crew and six blocked shots and 19 points from Notre Dame's "Devastation" Peters...
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In response to several e-mails...yeah, Paul will provide coverage on tonight's semifinal action. You're on your own Tuesday night, though. It's dart night and about the only thing that could keep the "big guy" away from that would be Louisville in the finals and playing in his back yard. Hey. the game Tuesday will be on ESPN...tune in and make your own judgements. We can't do everything for you, OK?
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The Cards (20-12) did not have the best of shooting night...although a lot of that can be traced back to the stubborn Irish defense. Louisville finished 24-63 (38.1%) from the field. Schimmel and Tay combined to take 27 of these attempts...sinking 9 for 33.3%. Three point marksmanship cost the Cards dearly also...Schimmel hitting 2-9 and the rest of the team going 0-9. The free throw performance and discrepancy was also huge...Louisville just 3-7 from the charity stripe and the Irish 20-25.
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Monique Reid grabbed 11 rebounds and the Cards actually out rebounded the Irish 37-32. Tay and Schimmel had six each grabs. The Cards did lose the defensive rebounding battle 24-19...Becca Bruszewski (10) and Devereaux Peters (9) leading the way for N.D. Louisville was whistled for 19 fouls....Notre Dame 10. Tay fouled out, Schimmel collected four, Keisha Hines and Asia Taylor were whistled for 3 each. The Cards did have 15 steals (Hines 4) compared to Notre Dame's 10...but Louisville committed 22 turnovers (Schimmel 6) and the Irish 21 (Natalie Novosel 6).
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10 Cardinals saw action...Schimmel logged 34 minutes and Burke 29. Reid played the entire second half after only five first half minutes and ended with 25. Tay had 27, Hines 24, Gibbs 23, Taylor 16, Vails 13, Slaughter 6 and Harper 3. Notre Dame used eight players in the contest...but only 29 minutes from the bench (Achowna, Miller and Turner.) Skylar Diggins and Brittany Mallory had 37 minutes, Peters 35, Bruiser Bruszweski 34 and Novosel 28.
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Louisville's freshmen accounted for 27 of the 53 points and 15 rebounds. They went 12-35 from the floor and had all four blocked shots. Four out of the five played and grabbed 80 minutes of the possible 200 of court time.
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All in all, a tough loss to take...especially when the Cards were within striking distance with three minutes left. WE'RE proud of the way Louisville fought back from 19 down...but solid defense and wise shot selection would have prevented Louisville from getting in such a deep hole. It was good to see Charmaine Tay emerge as a solid contributor for the second night in a row and assume she'll figure big in any post-season Cardinal contests. Tay at point frees up Schimmel to create more and when the Cards go "small" (Tay, Schimmel, Gibbs, Reid and Hines) they're hard to stop in transition. WE'LL wait in anticipation to see if and where the Cards head in the BIG DANCE...WE'RE confident that they'll get a bid and hope that the first couple of rounds are nearby. I can't be disappointed with this loss. Sad, yes, because WE always want Louisville to win. The lessons learned last night will prove to be of benefit down the yellow brick (or Cardinal Red) road.
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DAVID WATSON is a special correspondent for CARDINAL COUPLE and a horrible pick 'em contestant (6-6). He chimes in today on the Louisville loss, the rest of the BIG EAST Tournament and the future...in his own unique way:
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So it comes down to UCONN, DEPAUL, NOTRE DAME and RUTGERS. That wasn't the way I figured it would break down and I had two of these four advancing. RUTGERS will take their whipping after putting up a gallant effort tonight and who knows how the Irish and Blue Demons will end. I like Notre Dame here. If Devilish Peters goes on another swat and destroy mission tonight, someone should tell Homeland Security about her. She could probably root out any terrorists here in the states and block their efforts. Wouldn't surprise me if she could block Sarah Palin's attempts to run for President.
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And, Peters was the difference last night. Look at the stat line and you'll see what I mean. 19 points on 7-12 from the the floor. 5-5 from the foul line. Nine rebounds, six blocks, three steals and only one foul and turnover in 35 minutes. She probably sold BIG EAST programs up in the hallways during her five minutes off the court. She ended the first half with two of the final three Irish scores and started the second half with 10 of the first 14 Irish points. By then, it was 48-29 Notre Dame and the announcers on ESPNU had lost interest and were trying to interview a hoarse DePaul coach Doug Bruno. I also look at Louisville's woeful three point outing and wonder if someone altered the rims before tipoff. Take out Schimmel's two bombs and the Cards were 0 for game behind the arc.
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Would Reid made much of a difference in the first half with more minutes? She might have come in handy during the final two minutes. The 6-0 ending run by Muffet's Maulers was a momentum changer and the Cards could have used Reid inside to muscle one or two up or at least go to the line. I don't question Coach Walz much but I take the chance here and re-insert her. She went 20 minutes in the second half without a foul and I'm guessing she might have managed two minutes at the end of the first without fouling out. Coach knows best, though and he got this team to 20 wins while I sat back and arm chaired the action. Charmaine Tay was a spark that Louisville needed. She still makes freshman mistakes defensively but she played well at the point, isn't afraid to drive to the hoop and gives Walz a different dimension to throw at the foe. This loss is not a disappointment to me. After all, the Irish are a legit top ten team in the nation and deserve a #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Cards battled their guts out against them and were in a postilion to win late. Can't be sad about that.
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So, the Cards wait for their fate next Monday. Bracketologist have ten BIG EAST teams going to the NCAA Tournament and Louisville is one of them.
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Charlie Creme, of ESPN Bracketology fame, has the Cards seeded 7th and going to Durham, NC. to face Marist in the first round. I see the Cards getting a bid, probably getting shipped out west somewhere and making some noise. Dare I predict a Sweet Sixteen appearance? I do. This was a #7 team in the nation last night that Louisville battled tooth and nail. You know Miss Muffet was nervous. Some of the cutaway shots of her during the second half made her look like she was watching a Wes Craven thriller instead of a quarterfinal basketball game. The horror, though, was much less bloody and benign. The plot line last night had The Irish holding on against the gang that couldn't shoot straight.
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(David Watson coaches his Wednesday night bowling team and has been known to go to full court pressure and denying the lane during the last 20 minutes of "happy hour" at Johnnie's Tavern.)
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Breaking down the Cards win and scouting the Irish

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SUNDAY @ C.C.

-Cards guards respond to the challenge..
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-Notre Dame next: What to look for...
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-Women's Track and Field results @ Va.Tech.
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-Rain, rain...go away!
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-Kentucky Girls Sweet Sixteen set.
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LIVE GAME REPORTS FROM THE BIG EAST QUARTERFINALS:
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Cards fall 63-53 to Irish. 15 steals for the Cards but fell behind by 19 in second half. 2 for 19 from three point range isn't going to win many games. 20-25 Irish at the line..Louisville 3-7. Just sayin'. Cards wait for a NCAA bid.-Paul @ 10:16 p.m.
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Cards down by eight at half 32-24. 6-0 Irish run to close the half. Reid played five minutes (foul trouble). Hines with six, Schimmel five points. Way too many unforced turnovers for the Cards. Tay with good quality moments in relief. Cards need to keep up the "d" and hit some threes...one in first half...-Paul @ 9:07 p.m.
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DePaul wins 66-54 in methodical fashion. Every time St. John's would get it under ten...the Blue Demons pushed the lead back out. Katherine Harry of DePaul wouldn't want her mad at me.The main event next! Go Cards!-Paul @ 7:53 p.m.
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Game three halfway done. DePaul rolled out to a 16 point lead against the Red Storm but St.John's fought back to cut it to six before Blue Demons go in at half up 32-23. Balanced attack for the Chicago crew...Paul @ 6:48
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59-43. Huskies adavance over G'town. Hoyas had it down to eight but could get no closer. Stefanie Dolson turning into a beast on boards for UConn. Sugar Rodgers magnificent in defeat. Hoyas are in BIG DANCE, in my humble opinion... Paul @ 5:25 p.m.
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45-34 with 10:00 to go. Hoyas, behind Sugar Rodgers, haven't mailed it in yet. Stay tuned. -Paul@ 3:55 p.m.
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-Georgetown kept it interesting for a few minutes in game 2...but UConn broke a 7-7 tie and outscored the Hoyas 30-10 the rest of the way to lead 37-17 at half. Maya Moore only two points...not injured either...the Huskies in control and have it on cruise control. Hoya "D" needs to get busy...second half rally? -Paul @ 3:14 p.m.
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-Rutgers roars back in the second half to go up by 13 and holds on to win 68-62. Lee, Oliver and Sykes (no relation) good for 49 points for the Scarlet Knights. They survive to face the winner of Hoyas vs. Huskies next. Allison Williams still "girl on the court" for ESPNU. Hoo-hah!...-Paul @ 1:57 p.m.

-At the half with Rutgers vs. Marquette...Scarlet Knights threatened to run away with this one early and led 20-10 halfway thru the first stanza. Marquette turned up the defense and started scoring...going on a 16-4 run over the final ten to take a 26-24 lead at the intermission...-Paul @ 12:51 p.m.
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Shoni Schimmel (pictured above) had eight first half points en route to a 13 point performance against Villanova during the second round of the BIG EAST tournament . Cards win...69-47.
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Louisville got 32 total points from Schimmel, Monique Reid and Tia Gibbs in limited playing time as the Cards coast by the Wildcats...shooting 43.8% in the first half while building up 15 point advantage. Louisville shot 39.3% (24-61) against the Wildcats and went 7-20 (35%) from 3 point range. Louisville won a rare rebounding battle against an opponent last night also...48-24...with Reid's 13 grabs in 19 minutes leading the way. 'Nova rarely crashed the boards after taking a shot and Louisville held Harry Peretta's team to three offensive rebounds. Charmaine Tay went strong to the boards in a reserve role...with seven grabs in 15 minutes. Looks like she may have gotten out of the Walz kennel just in time for tournament play...The Cards went 14-18 from the free throw line for 77.8%...Reid leading the way with 4 makes in 5 attempts.
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The Cards were led by Schimmel's 13 points...Reid added 12, Antonita Slaughter finished with nine, as did Becky Burke. Tia Gibbs netted seven, Asia Taylor six, Keisha Hines five, Shelby Harper canned a three for her points, Tay and Rachel Story finished with two each and Sherrone Vails sank a free throw. 12 Cardinals played, all but Polly Harrington scored and each player saw at least eight minutes of court time.
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Louisville forced the Wildcats into 13 turnovers and had five steals against the slow and methodical Villanova offense. 11 assists (Burke 5) and blocked 4 shots. The Cards turned it over 11 times and had three shots blocked.
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Louisville's freshmen accounted for 25 of the Cards 69 points. All five played and they went 8 for 24 from the field. Schimmel and the frosh took 10 threes...making four. Schimmel led all Cardinal players with 22 minutes on the court. Vails saw 13 minutes, Slaughter 20, Tay 15 and Harrington eight.
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The XL Center announced that 8246 were in attendance. If so, 8100 of them must have been in line for popcorn the entire game...because it was a ghost town in the seats by the time the Cards started the second half. Dee Kanter led the officiating crew and actually refrained from wearing her whistle out for once...only 26 total fouls were called.
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Next for Louisville, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. WE go to David Watson for his take on Muffet McGraw's group and what to expect...
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Notre Dame has more weapons the the arsenal at Fort Knox, KY. Six different players have led the Irish in scoring this year. They love to score, too. They are leading the league in points per game. They narrowly edge the Huskies in this regard. The Irish average 79.4 a contest (as of 2/23/11). They're not particular who does the damage. Skylar Diggins will produce from anywhere on the court. Natalie Novosel gets 15 a game from wherever she feels like, as a rule. Becca Bruszewski and Dev Peters are the board crashers. Brittany Mallory (pictured here) is the major three point threat on a team that was 15th in the league in 3 pointers attempted. Add freshmen Natalie Achonwa, who was selected to the BIG EAST All-Freshman team and sharpshooting guard Kayla McBride and you have a Notre Dame squad that is deep and talented. Diggins, Peters and Novosel were 1st team All-BIG EAST. Peters the defensive player of the year and Novosel most improved of the year. Yeah, they've got everyone but Rudy and the Gipper on the 2010-11 version of UND WBB.

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DePaul beat them, though. The Irish (24-6, 13-3) lost to Kentucky, too. Two teams Louisville defeated this year. These were wins in the KFC YUM Center, though, where Louisville has a Roman gladiator versus peasants type advantage. Other than that, Connecticut nailed Muffet twice. Baylor and UCLA also put early losses on the Irish. They've defeated 15 opponents this year by 30+ points. Killer instinct? Yeah, I guess so.
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So, how does one go about beating the Irish? First, harassing Diggins and being aware of where she is at all times is a start. Keeping Peters and Bruszewski off the boards is another imperative. Getting Novosel into early foul trouble would be a plus and denying Mallory open looks from three point range essential as well.
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The Cards will need Reid magic from inside and excellent 3 point performances from Schimmel and Burke in what appears to set up as a high scoring affair. Gibbs will need a double digit scoring effort and at least a half a dozen steals. Taylor, Vails and Hines must go to the boards on both ends with authority and any sparks Louisville can get off the bench from Harper, Slaughter and Tay will be most welcome. The Cards will need accuracy from the free throw line and second chance points. Difficult, yes. Impossible, no. If Louisville can come up with a game effort like they did against DePaul or West Virginia, they could be in a position late to triumph. Defense is a major key, though and Louisville's main 9-10 players shouldn't be too worn out from Saturday's walk in the XL Center to let fatigue be a factor.
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The winner will most likely get DePaul. I don't see the Blue Demons stumbling against St. John's. It should be a fast paced and exciting one tonight. Hopefully, for both teams.
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(David Watson is a special corespondent for Cardinal Couple. His views, opinions and comments aren't necessarily those of the staff and management of CARDINAL COUPLE...but we like him and he comes up with some pretty good stuff. Even if he is a Hoosier...)
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Louisville track and field had four athletes take top honors in the Virginia Tech Final Qualifier in Blacksburg, VA. on Saturday. Michelle Theophille won the high jump with a leap of 1.74 meters. Teammate Megan Schubert finished second. D'Ana McCarty won the weight toss, destroying the competition by more than a meter and half over the nearest opponent and bettering her season best. Louisville's Amashi Kendall finished fourth. Margret Harris captured the 60 meters and Khadija Abdullah easily won the shot put...with Chinwe Okoro ending up third.
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Louisville will next compete in the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 11th and 12th at College Station, TX in the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium on the campus of Texas A&M University. Louisville expects several athletes to compete and a list of those qualifying will be announced this Monday.
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Rain cancelled the second day of Cardinal softball action in the Combat classic in Cookeville, TN. The Cards could get three games in today if weather permits...
UPDATE FROM COOKEVILLE. Tournament cancelled because of weather and field conditions. CARDS return to Ulmer to play beginning Friday.
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Manual advanced to the Kentucky High School Girls Sweet Sixteen Tournament with a win over Mercy 55-52. Mechael Guess scored 25 for the Lady Crimsons in the Seventh Region final.
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Butler joins them there...holding off Bullitt East 40-39 in the Sixth Region final. Balanced scoring for the Bearetts. They missed a one and one attempt at the end but B.E's final effort failed.
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Rockcastle County joins the group...knocking off Casey County 62-44. Only 5 points and 3 rebounds for Sara Hammond, a victim of early foul trouble.
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Marion County take the 5th Region title...disposing of pesky Elizabethtown 53-53. Makayla Epps with 16 for the winners...Bre Edler had 15 and Kyvin Goodin-Rodgers added 11.
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The Sweet Sixteen:
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Wednesday Games:
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Walton-Verona (25-8) vs. Bowling Green (25-1) 1 p.m.
Manual (30-4) vs. Crittenden County (21-8) 2:30 p.m.
Butler (27-4) vs. Perry County (27-3) 7:30 p.m.
Marion County (25-6) vs. Montgomery County (15-15) 9 p.m.
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Thursday Games
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Sheldon Clark (23-8) vs. Boyd County (21-10) 1 p.m.
Calloway County (30-1) vs. either Newport Catholic or Boone County (final today at 1 p.m.)
Madison Central (23-9) vs. Rockcastle County (31-1) 7:30 p.m.
Clay County (26-6) vs. Owensboro Catholic (27-7) 9 p.m.
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We'll have a full report later tonight on Louisville vs. Notre Dame game. LIVE REPORTS again today from Paul, too...unless he's fallen into the hands of captors or carnival carnies...GO CARDS!
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