SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS ROLL EARLY, HANG ON LATE AGAINST PROVIDENCE

- Shoni, Bria score 17 each in Louisville's 70-62 win

The University of Louisville put together a 19-0 run in the first half to take a commanding lead against Providence and then held on late in the game to win by eight against the pesky Frairs Saturday afternoon in Provience, Rhode Island.

Ten first half points by Shoni Schimmel and nine by Monique Reid in the first twenty minutes and 12 by Bria Smith in the final twenty minutes allowed #13 Louisville to improve to 14-3 overall and 2-1 in BIG EAST play.

The Cards started Smith, Shoni, Sara Hammond, Sherrone Vails and Nita Slaughter against the Friars and found the going rough early...knotted at 9-9 after PC's Tori Rule hit a three with 14:30 left in the first half. Five straight points from Shoni pushed the Cards to a 14-9 advantage two minutes later, though, and after scores by Cortnee Walton and two back-to-back buckets by Reid, the Cards held a 21-9 lead at the 10:25 mark. 

Slaughter added the next five points and Reid scored again with 8:20 on the clock to complete the 19-0 run and put Louisville in charge 28-9. The Cards switch to a 2-3 zone had the Friars baffled and on their heels. Louisville largest lead of the game came a few minutes later when Shoni connected on the three to put UofL ahead 34-14. A four minute 10-4 run by Providence to end the first half cut into the Cards advantage, but Jeff Walz's squad hit the locker room still comfortably ahead 38-24 at halftime.

Shoni had 10 first half points, hitting two trifectas to lead the Cards in the first half, Reid added nine, Slaughter seven, Smith and Hammond produced five each and Walton four for Louisville, who shot a sizzling 16-25 (64%) in the first frame. Jude, Megan Deines, and Vails played but did not score.

Tori Rule led all scorers with 11 first half points. The Cards held leading scorer on the season for the Friars Symone Roberts to just two first half points.

Providence came out in the second half with more energy and effort than the Cards and cut the lead to 40-33 on a 9-2 run after Rule scored with 17 minutes to go. The Cards responded with a 10-0 run over the next five minutes...a basket plus one by Smith put Louisville up 50-33 with 11:34 remaining in the game. Things still looked to be going the Cards way when Monique Reid got her only two points of the second half on a layup to set the score at 58-43 with six minutes to play.

Providence wasn't ready to toss in the towel, though. A 5-0 run capped by a Brianna Edwards basket plus one made it 58-48 with 4:56 left. Symone Roberts scored thirty seconds later to cut the Cardinal advantage to eight. Shoni's three gave the Cards some breathing room at the 3:22 mark to make it 63-52...but a 6-0 Providence rally, keyed by a Roberts steal and score had the score at 63-58 with 1:20 on the clock. Slaughter's double dribble gave the ball back to PC with 1:04 remaining but the Friars couldn't capitalize and two Shoni free throws gave Louisville a 65-58 edge and 30 second remaining.

Providence scored quickly on the following possesion to return it to a five point Cardinal margin but five straight points from Smith set the tally at 70-60 with nine seconds on the clock. A meaningless Friar hoop made it 70-62 as time ran out.

Smith and Shoni led Louisville with 17 each. Slaughter added 12 and Reid finished with 11. Hammond narrowly missed being in double figures with nine and Walton ended with four to complete the Cardinal scoring. All but two of the Cards' 32 second half points came from Smith, Schimmel, Slaughter and Hammond.

Rule finished with 20 for the Friars and Roberts added 11 second half points to end up with 13 for Providence.

The Cards shot 52% for the game (27-52), went 5-10 from the three point arc and 11-18 from the charity stripe. The Cards committed a season high 26 turnovers in the game. They held Providence to 34% from the field.

A game that Louisville seemingly had in hand all the way to the six-minute mark in the second half...but the Cards were outscored 19-12 down the stretch.

THINGS WE LIKED

1) She shoots, she scores! The 64% first half shooting and 52% for the game is one of the best efforts of the year for Walz's warriors. They'll need this type of showing, at the least, to hang with UConn Tuesday night.

2) Suffocating stretches. The 19-0 run in the first half was a thing of beauty. The Cards took a close contest and made it a temporary runaway. Five Cards scored during it, showing the balance on this team. Same for the 10-0 run in the second half. If they could only find a way to keep the opposite from happening.

3) Jude's distribution. Although the sophomore did not score, she dished out eight assists. Every nail in the coffin needs a hammer to put it there and that's what Jude did today.

THINGS TO WORK ON

1) Fresh out of the oven...turnovers! 26 by the Cards is simply too many. 26 against a good but not spectacular Providence back court means what...40 against UConn? Take care of the ball, ladies.

2) 27 Providence offensive rebounds. They took about 20 more shots than Louisville but allowing 27 potential extra chances to score will kill the Cards Tuesday if UConn gets a similar number. Blocking out. Is it a lost art?
 
3) Failing to seal the deal. Letting a 15 point lead dwindle to 5 in a span of 3 1/2 minutes late in the game didn't lose this one tonight for Louisville...but it probably will down the road if the Cards allow it to happen again against a better opponent. Providence was picked to finish in the cellar of the BIG EAST. Louisville made them look NCAA Tournament worthy during stretches.  

Louisville will remain in the East Coast area the next couple of days in preparation for a Tuesday throwdown against the UConn Huskies Tuesday night in the Hartford, Connecticut XL Center. Obviously not an easy task for the Cards....UConn is 13-1 and romped Marquette Saturday by 34 points...85-51.

The game against Geno and the Huskies Tuesday will tip at 9 p.m. and can be seen on the CBS Sports Network.
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Saturday Cardinal Couple -- Friars look to cook Cards

SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

GAME FINAL -- CARDS 70 - Providence 62. Cards put four in double figures in road win. More later.



- P.C. hosts Louisville WBB Saturday at 2 p.m.

(Quentin Voigt delivers the Providence College vs. Louisville WBB scout for us this morning. Louisville looks to improve to 2-1 in BIG EAST Conference play in tomorrow's action.)

Coming off a 79-64 home loss to Georgetown, first year Providence Coach Susan Fruchtl (Penn State '92) continues her inaugural round in BIG EAST womens' basketball with a tough test in visiting Louisville. Her 5-9 Friars face a road-tested Cardinal flock that has a 14-3, 1-1 record. The contest will be played in the recently renovated Mullaney Gymnasium/Alumni Hall which has a seating capacity of 1854 raucous fans. The 2 p.m. tip-off today is the first home BIG EAST contest of the year for P.C. and should be well attended.

Providence College, founded in 1917 as a Catholic Liberal Arts school has 3582 students. The campus is located in downtown Providence, Rhode Island and is still administered by clerics of the Dominican O.P.Order ( Order of Preachers). Louisville's men's basketball coach Rick Pitino spent two successful years as head coach of the Friars, taking them to a Final Four in 1987.

Starring for the Friars women's team is 5'7" guard Symone Roberts, the BIG EAST leader in steals with 49. She leads the team in scoring through 14 games (14.5 ppg) and assists (4.5 a game). Supporting cast members include 5'7" guard Tori Rule who contributes 13.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 6'1" Brianna Edwards who averages 9.8 ppg. Chanise Edwards, a 6'2" post scores 5.7 a game and grabs 5.7 misses a contest. Alexis Harris and Evi Iiskola also see significant court time for P.C.

Rule, a sophomore, was recently selected for the Big East weekly honor roll for being named MVP of the Fordham Holiday Classic. She averaged 22.5 points for the Friars. In the title game against Colorado State, Rule went 10-16 from the field (5 of 7 from three range) and hit all seven of her free throws. The Cardinals will have to keep an eye on "Miss Tori".

Depending greatly on which Cardinal squad shows up...hopefully the one that took Rutgers to the wood-shed in overtime and not the timid, mistake prone bunch that squandered opportunities at DePaul...Saturday afternoon's "Polka with Providence" could be contested till the end or be decided a "no contest" from the beginning. I expect the latter, but I am wary of the former.

-Quentin Voigt

A great preview, "Q" ! I'm all for the transformation of Bria Smith to a part-time point guard and expect that it will reap benefits in Rhode Island today. The Cards are 5-2 lifetime against the "fry gang"...beating them handily in the KFC YUM! Center last season 64-48 in a game where Louisville shot 52%

 The Cards are, however, 1-2 against them in Providence and an Angel McCoughtry squad lost there in the 2006-2007 season 106-94 in overtime.

Providence has wins this year against Vermont, Iona, Rhode Island, Colorado State and Lafayette...which doesn't exactly strike fear in my heart or have me reaching for the Rolaids.

Polka at Providence? I see it also as a poking of Providence, knocking them back on their heels early and rolling to an easy win. This is the type of team Sara Hammond will prosper against and I look for the Mo and Sho show to put on an Oscar type performance. Add a bunch of baskets from Bria and a nice performance from Nita...and we'll most likely see Shelby, Jude, Cortnee, Megan and Sherrone finally finishing this one up in front of a frustrated Friar fan base. Sacrament of reconciliation at 4:30 tomorrow?

Radio tomorrow is 1080 AM locally and pay-per-view available at gocards.com or friars.com on the internet.

-Paulie

jeffwalzis4and1againstprovidencelifetimeandfacesaprovidencesquadthatlostallfivestartersfromlastseasonprovidenceschoolcolorsareblackandwhitewithsilver

Monday Cardinal Couple -- Cards face Tennessee State

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Louisville in final pre-conference game New Year's Eve.

- Brackemyre injures knee.

Jeff Walz's Louisville Cardinal basketball team engages Tennessee State Monday night at 6 p.m. in their final tuneup before BIG EAST conference play begin. The foe is 4-7 on the season, with wins over Cumberland, Samford, Idaho and Lipscomb and losses to South Alabama, Kansas State, UAB, Montana, Montana State, Cleveland State and E. Illinois.

For Louisville, the challenge is to resume the intensity that they showed against Washington State and Wagner. Ten days off for a team is never really something that a coach desires...but through individual workouts and a few team practices...the Cards should be ready to go against a team which has lost four out of their last five.

It's a chance to improve the Cardinal record to 12-2 before heading to Chicago to face dangerous DePaul, always tough Rutgers in the KFC YUM! and pesky Providence on the road all in one week's span, starting January 5th. 

The overall series against the Lady Tigers is 2-2, with Louisville losing to the Nashville school last time out on
Feb. 14th, 1987...78-65. TSU is the fourth Ohio Valley Conference school Louisville has played this season...the Cards winning against Eastern Kentucky, UT-Martin and Austin Peay earlier this season.

The nation's "fiscal cliff" aside, the Cardinals face a cliff of thier own, beginning in early January. Hopefully, they'll have their ropes in place and climbing gear in order to navigate the climb back into the nation's top 10.

We'll have the recap in the Tuesday edition of CARDINAL COUPLE.

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Future Cardinal target Sydney Brackemyre suffered a knee injury Saturday night and will undergo an MRI Monday to determine the extent of the damage. Our thoughts and hopes for a good diagnosis and speedy recovery go out to the top-rated 2014 prospect.

The Clinton-Massie junior has impressed college coaches greatly over the last year and Louisville, Dayton and Michigan are the final three schools in the hunt for her services, according to most reports. Clinton-Massie was playing Wilmington when the injury occured and ended up losing 46-35.

She had 32 points on 11-22 shooting and 13 boards in the semifinals of the Clinton County tournament Thursday night against East Clinton.

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Monday Cardinal Couple - A Big East update

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- BIG EAST ROLLING ALONG IN NON-CONFERENCE SLATE

With the start of BIG EAST conference play less than two weeks away, we thought we'd take a look at how the 15 teams are doing so far. Here's the latest standings:

UConn     10-0                          Georgetown  7-4
Syracuse  11-1                          Pittsburgh    7-4
N.D          9-1                           Marquette     6-5
Villanova  9-1                           St. John        5-5
Louisville 11-2                          Seton Hall     5-5
USF          9-2                           Providence    3-8
DePaul     10-3
Rutgers    8-3
Cincy       7-3



No real surprises at the top of the leaderboards...although Villanova at 9-1 is mildly surprising. They've also held opponents to 50 or less points in seven of their ten games.

Superstar Skylar Diggins returns for Notre Dame

The BIG EAST is 117-50 in games so far and Muffet McGraw recently got her 800th. career win. Agnes Berenato (Pitt) also recorded her 159th. win, tops in Pittsburgh women's basketball history.

After Tennessee State on 12/31/12, the Cards will go into conference play on the road at DePaul on Jan. 5th. Rutgers visits the YUM! Center on Jan 8th., Louisville hits Providence on Jan. 12th. and UConn on the 15th. A tough start to the conference for Louisville...but none of the games in the BIG EAST appear to be easy this season.

Katherine Harry controls the boards for DePaul

Louisville was a combined 1-4 against these four BIG EAST schools in the regular season last year...the lone win coming against DePaul 75-62 in the YUM! Center. DePaul has Brittany Hrynko, Katherine Harry and Anna Martin back from last year's 23-11 squad that made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Cards are on a few days of Christmas break currently. Although there aren't any scheduled practices until a few days after Christmas, Coach Walz and the staff have asked the girls to run and get some shots up while at home. We like the idea that they do get to spend some time with their loved ones this time of year and wish all the Louisville Cardinals...along with our readers...a very Merry Christmas!
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Cards first half run enough to beat Providence 64-48

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THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Bria Smith's 12 points lead Cards past Friars

The Lady Cards used a 16-2 first half run to pull away from the Providence Friars and survived a rough spot to take the win in front of 7987 fans in the KFC YUM! Center Wednesday night.

Starters:  Vails, Warren, Shoni, Smith and Burke

Louisville was in a battle with Providence the first five minutes of this one...leading 7-6 after Lola Wells laid in a layup with 15:22 to go in the first half. At the 8:18 mark, the Cards enjoyed a 23-8 lead. Smith got the run started with a jumper in the paint. Sherrone Vails connected on a layup next and added a free throw to increase the margin to six. Shawnta Dyer scored in the paint to make it 14-6 with 13:19 left. After a Providence score, the Lady Cards took off again. Two Becky Burke free throws, two straight layups from Asia Taylor and a three from Burke had Louisville up 23-8 with eight minutes left in the first half.

Then...came the drought.

Providence responded with a 11-0 run over the next seven and a half minutes, aided by seven UofL turnovers, to close to 23-19 when Alicia Cropper hit a jumper with 1:34 remaining. Louisville needed to stem the tide and got the answer from Nita Slaughter...who canned a three with 37 second left in the half. The Cards took the 26-19 lead into the locker room at half.

Louisville shot a surprising 43.5% in the first twenty, despite the drought. Burke led Louisville with eight points...the Cards played everyone but Sara Hammond in the first half and held Providence leading scorer Teya Wright to zero points, on 0-2 shooting in 15 minutes.

Louisville saw their lead drop to five at 15:53 in the second stanza when Wright hit a free throw...completing the last of her three points for the contest. UofL responded with a 11-3 run, though...and led 41-28 after Dyer connected inside at the 13:19 mark.

Providence would hang in stubbornly for the next six minutes...trailing 52-43 with 7:01 to go...but the Cards sealed the deal with a game ending 12-5 run the rest of the way...leading 64-46 after a Taylor layup with 33 seconds left.

Besides Smith's 12, Burke hit double figures with 11 and Nita Slaughter showed up with 10 points in 18 minutes. Asia Taylor turned in a big effort for the Lady Cards with eight points on 4-6 shooting and 10 rebounds in 14 minutes.  

The Cards go to 15-4 with the win...and 4-2 in conference. Louisville ended up shooting 52.1% for the game and 6-15 from trifecta land.

Georgetown next on Sunday in DC.

WHAT WE LIKED:

-Hot shots....Louisville shot 52.1% for the game, despite taking 12 less shots than the Hoyas. All those who scored were 40% or better from the field except Shoni (2-8)

-Overcoming the 'stop Shoni syndrome'. The Friars employed a chaser and had Shoni bottled up most of the night. The Lady Cards responded well, though...finding the open player and getting balanced scoring. Shoni got five assists out of the deal, as well.

-Asia's influence. This may have been her best effort of the year. Two points away from a double-double with eight points, ten boards, two blocks and no fouls or turnovers in 14 minutes. Atta-girl #31! Keep those kind of efforts coming!

THINGS TO WORK ON:

-Consistency. Ask Jeff Walz and he'll tell you the same. The 7 1/2 minute stretch with no points was tedious and, at times, downright embarrasing. Walz did seven substitutions in the abyss...finally Slaughter mailed a three in and the crisis was over.

-Charity tosses. Louisville is usually a 70% + FREE THROW shooting squad. Last night they were 8-13 (61.5%) No player atempted more than three. The "bigs" tried six, the rest seven. The rest win...making six of the seven.

Minutes played. Shoni 39, Burke 29, Smith 28, Vails 23, Slaughter 18, Dyer 18, Warren 17, Taylor 14, Jude 5, Hammond 5, Harper 4.

Cards won the points in paint battle 32-22. PC had 20 points off of 19 Louisville turnovers...Louisville 19 points off of 11 turnovers. The Lady Cards got nine second chance points, PC seven. PC had eight fast break points, Louisville six. Louisville got 25 bench points ( Slaughter 10, Taylor 8 and Dyer 7).
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Cards hope to keep up with the pack tonight

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Wednesday Cardinal Couple

-Cards need win to keep place with front runners

-BIG EAST results from Tuesday night

When the Providence Friars come to town tonight to face off against the University of Louisville women's basketball tonight at 7 p.m. in the KFC YUM! Center, the Lady Cards be trying to keep pace with league leaders Notre Dame, UConn, Rutgers and Georgetown. This Friar team will be no pushover and Louisville will need to play 40 minutes and avoid lapses that plagued them against Rutgers on Saturday.

The improvement of the Lady Cards front line needs to continue to climb the ladder of success...Providence is one of those typical BIG EAST teams that'll battle an opponent on the boards and try to keep the game in the 60 point range. Louisville hasn't lost in the Downtown Arena this season and shouldn't tonight...but it won't be a feel-good 20+ romp we'd all like to see. 

Game on WKRD 790 with the superb team of Matt Andrews and Adrienne Johnson. BE there, the Lady Cards love you in the seats.

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Some surprises in Tuesday night BIG EAST action.

-- WE told you a few days ago that the USF Bulls would pull some surprises and upsets this season. They did just that last night with a 66-63 win over visiting DePaul in overtime. The Russian rocket Inga Orekhova could have won it in regulation for USF but missed a free throw. Steady Jasmine Wynne had 16 for the Bulls...who are rapidly becoming our third favorite team in the BIG EAST behind Louisville and Rutgers.

--Notre Dame continued the incredible scoring onslaught they've been putting on opponents with a 120-44 shellacking of Pitt in the Joyce Center. Eight ND players finished in double figures. Impressive.

--We were surprised to see that St. John's knocked off Rutgers 62-57...but not shocked. WE saw what they can do in their place...beating Louisville...and they got 17 from Eugenia NcPherson and 15 from Nadirah McKenith to do the same to the Scarlet Knights. 942 showed up to see this one... 

--WVU won the battle of D1 schools in the wild and wonderful state...knocking off Marshall 69-57 in Huntington. Taylor Palmer had 17 fro the Eers...who played in front of 3264 fans...not bad. 

--Villanova got 22 from Laura Sweeney in a 52-30 win over Penn. They take the Philadelphia Big 5 title. Cheers...

--Georgetown demolished another one Tuesday, leaving Marquette in their wake with a 67-39 win. Suger Rodgers with 18 for the Hoyas. 
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Big East final standings... Tournament bracket

TUESDAY AT C.C.:




-Final standings regular season women's hoops

-Tournament bracket.

-Dissecting the UofL-Providence stats.

-Watson wails about the "L".

-Girls high school regionals underway
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In a wild and wacky end to the regular season, BIG EAST women's basketball now prepares for tournament play. Our staff chimps couldn't have drawn up last night's bizarre and shocking results any better:

-Cincy knocks off Marquette, giving Louisville a shot at 4th seed.

-Louisville stumbles at Providence, giving Rutgers a shot at 4th seed.

-Rutgers beats Seton Hall, accepting the gifts and getting 4th seed.

-Georgetown falls to South Florida and drops to 7th seed.

-Villanova upsets Pitt and grabs #14 seed


-DePaul upends Notre Dame and receives #2 seed.







HERE's the final standings:



(1) UConn 16-0. (2) DePaul 13-3. (3) Notre Dame 13-3. (4) Rutgers 11-5. (5) Marquette 10-6. (6) Louisville 10-6. (7) Georgetown (8) St. John's. (9) Syracuse (10) WVU. (11) Providence. (12) Pittsburgh. (13) USF. (14) Villanova. (15) Cincinnati. (16) Seton Hall.

Louisville actually turns out smelling like a rose despite the loss last night to Providence. They get the winner of Providence vs. Villanova. They should be able to beat Providence on a neutral court (the motivation certainly should be there) and if Villanova pulls the upset...the Cards handled them easily earlier this season. This #11 vs. #14 matchup appears to be the best possible scenario for the Cards to face the winner of. Lousiville certainly didn't want to run into #9 Syracuse again or tangle with WVU on a neutral court. Also, with the #6 seed...they are out of the Connecticut half of the bracket. They would have to face #3 Notre Dame in the quarterfinals if they advance...and a chance to face #4 Rutgers might have been better for the Cards...but #2 DePaul would certainly be seeking revenge if they were facing the Cards in the quarters and no one wants to see Connecticut on Sunday.



The Cards have a new season, new life and the chance to improve on their NCAA Tournament seeding and the games will be at 8 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday...an advantage for those who want to watch but have plans during the afternoon hours.





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Louisville played perhaps one of their worst games of the season in the loss last night. They allowed 51.9% shooting by a Providence team that was averaging 35.7%. They got out-rebounded 30-21. Defense and hitting the boards. Walz stresses it constantly. Louisville gets failing marks in each for Monday night's performance.
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The Cards went 5-16 from three point land for 31.3% (Schimmel 2-5) and 21-44 from the field
for 47.7% (Reid 6-9). OK...but not great numbers, The number of wide open, uncontested layups and putbacks that Louisville missed is distressing...I counted at least six during the broadcast. Any one of these would have won it for the Cards.
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Reid led Louisville in scoring with 15 points. Tia Gibbs 14, Schimmel 13. Keisha Hines had 6, Antonita Slaughter 5, Becky Burke 3 (on 1-5 three point shooting), Shelby Harper and Sherrone Vails 2 each and 1 for Asia Taylor. All nine Cards that played did score.

Reid played 35 minutes, Gibbs had 32 minutes, Schimmel 30, Hines 24 and Vails 19. Slaughter logged 18, Burke (on a sprained ankle) 16, Harper 15 and Taylor 11. 13 fouls for the game...Hines and Schimmel 4 each.
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Louisville did get 11 steals...Gibbs with 7 of them. The Cards turned it over 20 times (Gibbs 5). Louisville's freshmen account for 20 of the 61 points (Schimmel 13, Slaughter 5 and Vails 2). The Cards played in front of a whopping 207 people in Alumni Gym last night....
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(David Watson is a special correspondent for CARDINAL COUPLE. He shares his views...but never his Butterfinger...with us on last night's loss:
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Had it and lost it. Close but no cigar. Right in your hands but couldn't hold on to it. Pick the worn out cliche you want for last night's loss to Providence. I'm going with choke job. It was a choke job. Louisville had several opportunities to go for the jugular last night and dropped the knife. Seven point leads need to become 10-12 point leads and the start of routs. Instead, Louisville graciously bowed, scraped and allowed Providence to climb back in it. Choke job. Not wanting it bad enough. This wasn't a DePaul, Irish or Husky squad. It was Providence. They aren't 6-10 in the BIG EAST because of some conspiracy. Heck, Rutgers beat them in that gym by 21. St.John's by 16. Two teams Louisville man-handled.
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The end game sequence puzzles me also. Why go for an air ball Burke 3 when all you need in two to tie? Was Louisville afraid of overtime in front of a few dozen fans? 10 seconds is a lifetime to get the ball down court and score a layup or pass for an easy paint shot. Schimmel, Reid, Gibbs...even Harper could have carried Jeff Walz the length of the court over a shoulder while dribbling and got off a close-in attempt.
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I digress, though. If Burke hits the three, she's a hero. Hines did rebound the miss but had a foot on the baseline. Thinking. Positioning.Two areas where Louisville came up short last night.

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I did read Walz's comments before I sent this missive to CARDINAL COUPLE. It's like he was channeling my thoughts and saying them out loud. I was sick after the loss, too. I turned off the computer, looked at my wife and told her that this team has no heart. I don't feel as bad this early morning as I did last night. I do think, though, that the Cards let a golden opportunity get away. We'll see if they can re-muster and perhaps beat these Friars in a probable re-match Saturday night.

(David Watson writes for our blog site when he isn't out looking at fender benders and smash-ups. He's an accomplished whistler and plays Scrabble with aggression.)
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Jeffersontown, Manual, Ballard and Mercy advanced in the first round of the 7th. Region Girls' Basketball playoffs.
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Mercy downed Sacred Heart 67-49...getting 16 points from Courtney Roush and Juliann Miller. They outscored Sacred Heart 35-20 in the second half to pull away and take command. They'll face Jeffersontown Thursday.
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Jeffersontown's Aisjah Roan netted 23 in the Chargers' 66-53 win over Fern Creek. J'Town built a 48-36 lead after three quarters and held on for the win. Fern Creek's Teonia McCune had 15 for the Tigers. The Chargers get Mercy Thursday in Atherton's gym.
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Manual had no trouble with Assumption in a 85-59 romp. Seventh Region Player of the Year Mechael Guess led the Crimson with 23 points. April Wilson added 12 for Manual..who led 72-40 starting the 4th quarter. They get Ballard on Thursday next...
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Ballard surprised Christian Academy 63-56 with a 43-28 second half scoring advantage after being down 10 at half time. Freshman Javonna Layfield had 24 for the Bruins and China dow finished with 20 for CAL. Ballard plays Manual next...on Thursday.
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Marion County advanced in the 5th Region by beating North Hardin 58-36 Makaya Epps had 30 for the Lebanon, KY. high school and Kyvin Goodin-Rogers added 15. Both sophomores are on the the Lady Cards "want list". Marion County advances to play Nelson County Friday.
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Rockcastle County plays Tuesday night in the 12th Region against Wayne County.
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In the 6th region, the following game tip Tuesday at Atherton:
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Butler vs. Presentation
Holy Cross vs. Bullitt Central
Louisville Central vs. Pleasure Ridge Park
Bullitt East vs. Doss.
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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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Softball splits, Hoops tonight Part Deux

(We thank you readers for patiently awaiting the daily CARDINAL COUPLE dribble and drool for Monday, Feb 28th. Gremlins are gone...)

-Sandy Pearsall's UofL women's softball team went 1-1 in the final day of the Red & Black classic at Ulmer Stadium on Sunday. A tough outing against the Miami of Ohio RedHawks in the first contest...leading 3-0 early, seeing Miami grab a one run lead and then the Cards battling back to tie it up at 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh. Couldn't prevent the RedHawks from putting two on the scoreboard in the top of the eighth due to a UofL fielding error and had a chance to win it in the bottom half of the inning with a run in and Taner Fowler at first...but Miami's Jessica Simpson retired three in a row to shut down the Cardinal rally. Carlisa Connell (2-2) with the loss and two hits each from Fowler, Maggie Ruckenbrod and Katie Keller (way to represent freshmen!) in a 6-5 losing effort.

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The Cards jumped all over second game opponent Wright State early and led 2-0 after one when Alicja Wolny's double scored Chelsea Bemis and Keller. It went to 3-0 when Bemis single and scored on a Wolny double. The bombs continued when Louisville plated seven runs in the bottom of the sixth...keyed by a three run Fowler fence clearer and a three RBI double for Bemis. Tori Collins pitched the 10-0 shutout for Louisville, allowing just two hits and striking out eight. Collins (6-3) has four shutouts so far this season.

The Cards head to Cookeville, TN this weekend for action in the Tennessee Tech Combat classic.

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The charter has landed and Jeff Walz's Lady Cards are in Providence, RI for tonight's 7 p.m. game against the Friars in the Dunkin Donuts Arena.

(Homer Simpson would approve...donuts....yuuummm.) This is far from a pastry puff for the intrepid Cards, though....despite Providence's 5-10 BIG EAST record and worst shooting percentage in the league. Providence can rebound with anyone in the nation and Teya Wright is first in BIG EAST in offensive rebounds and Mi-Khida Hankins second in defensive grabs. They also prevent the three really well. Scoring isn't one of their strong suits...they average 57 points a game, compared to Louisville's 72 a contest. They do hold their opponents to 59 a game, though and Louisville gives up 59.8 on an average..so let that tell you whatever you need it to. They probably won't overflow the court if they win and decide to storm it...the Friars average a woeful 404 fans per game...worst in the league.

We see it and a case of Louisville needing to do several things well tonight to avoid the upset. They must go to the boards well against the Friars and block out on both ends of the court. The three point specialists on Louisville's roster need to find a smooth shooting game outside the friendly confines of the KFC YUM Center and the Cards absolutely, positively need Reid to show interest in this one and create in 'inside the paint' wizardry. Will the road (where Louisville rarely plays well) and the board prowess of Providence paint a portrayal of punishment for the power-challenged Cards? We can see a win here...not by much...but we can also see the Cards throwing in a clunker as well...CARDINAL COUPLE will review the action upon the completion of the game tonight. Tip-off is 7 p.m. and Matt Andrews and Liz Sherwood (yikes... two freshmen!!!) will have the call on 790 AM/101.7 FM WKRD...Cards Radio.

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The jumble for fourth place in the league standing comes down to the final night of regular season league play and the picture is a bit clearer. If Marquette wins and Louisville loses, the Golden Eagles get fourth because of the head on win by Marquette. A Louisville win and Marquette loss give it to the Cards. Rutgers could sneak up and grab fourth if they beat Seton Hall tonight and Louisville loses. They own the regular season win over Marquette. If Louisville, Marquette and Rutgers all win...call in the chimps and let them slug it out..because:

Louisville beat Rutgers and lost to Marquette

Marquette beat Louisville and lost to Rutgers

Rutgers beat Marquette and lost to Louisville

Joanie loves Chachi and I Love Lucy.

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(Who's on first?)

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What about the end of the Cards vs. Pitt men's game yesterday? It's overtime...Cards up by three late, grab a missed Pitt shot and Peyton Siva finds Kyle Kuric for a pass and dunk. Five point lead with 0.03 on the clock. But, the now infamous male cheerleader runs onto the court, tosses the ball up in the air with a sissified two-handed, underhand toss and.....BOOM!...technical foul on Cards for delaying play. They reset the clock to 0.05 (still don't understand that...) give Gibbs and Pitt two free throws...which he sinks....and the ball out of bounds. Fortunately, the desperation three falls short and Cards win by three. If it had been good (to tie it) and Louisville had gone on to lose in the second overtime...there'd be one less male cheerleader on the UofL squad most likely. If Pitino didn't get him...a fan would have.

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