Friday Cardinal Couple -- Stats and more on BIG EAST WBB.

FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Statistical leaders in the BIG EAST WBB

-Softball swings into action

It's been awhile since we've run the numbers here at CARDINAL COUPLE on BIG EAST WBB, so here goes:

CONFERENCE STANDINGS

Notre Dame 9-0                       USF       4-4
Connecticut 8-1                       Rutgers 4-4
Louisville    7-2                        Seton Hall 3-6
Syracuse     7-2                        Marquette 3-6
DePaul        6-3                        Providence 3-6
Villanova     5-4                        Pittsburgh  0-9
St. John's    4-4                        Cincinnati   0-9
Georgetown 4-5

Who's hot?  Notre Dame. On a 16-game win streak and heads to Seton Hall next. Skylar Diggins is now over 2000 points in her career. The Fighting Irish are 6-1 against ranked opponents this season. Some rebuilding year...

Who's not? Pitt and Cincy. Losers in their last nine.

Surprise? Seton Hall. Didn't figure they'd get three wins in the conference for the entire season. They've matched that already.


OVERALL CONFERENCE TEAM STATS (As of 1/30/13)

Scoring Offense:  Connecticut 82.5  (Louisville 73.6 - 5th)
Scoring Defense:  Connecticut 46.5  (Louisville 52.8 - 4th)
Scoring Margin:    Connecticut +36.0 (Louisville +20.8 - 3rd)
Free Throw Pct:  Notre Dame .810 (Louisville .685 - 10th)
Field Goal Pct:    Connecticut .494 (Louisville .456 - 3rd)
FG Pct Defense:  Connecticut .302 (Louisville .373 - 8th)
3-Point FG Pct:   Connecticut .370 (Louisville .332 - 3rd)
3-Point FG Def:   Syracuse .272      (Louisville .277 - 2nd)
Rebounds:          USF 912               (Louisville 863 - 4th)
Rebounds allowed: Connecticut 626 (Louisville 722 - 9th)
Rebounding margin: Connecticut +11.7 (Louisville +6.4 5th)
Blocked shots:  St. John's 117         (Louisville 74 - 9th.)
Assists:               Connecticut 427   (Louisville 330 - 4th)
Steals:                Louisville 286
Turnover margin  Connecticut +6.5  (Louisville 6.2 - 2nd)


Cardinals that rank in the top 20 of individual stats:

Scoring: Shoni Schimmel 13.7 ppg (19th)
Rebounds: Sara Hammond 6.7 rpg (13th)
Field Goal %: Monique Reid .552 (4th), Hammond .511(12th)
Assists: S.Schimmel 3.3 apg (14th)
Free Throw %: Hammond .750 (14th)
3-point%: S.Schimmel .363 (8th), Nita Slaughter .357 (9th)
3-pointer made: S.Schimmel 57 (4th)
Steals: Bria Smith 2.3 a game (9th)

The Cards are second in the BIG EAST in attendance with 9424 a game at home. UConn barely ahead here with 9585 a game at home. Average attendance for both home and away game has Louisville third...with 5757. Notre Dame leads with 6652 and UConn is at 6606.

Shoni's 38 points against USF ties Sugar Rodgers as a season high in the BIG EAST. Since Sugar got hers against Yale and Louisville held her to six...we give Shoni the nod here. The Louisville vs. Kentucky game is the second highest attended with a BIG EAST team (15486). DePaul vs. UK drew 18488.

The Cards return to action Saturday @ 2 pm with (9-13, 0-9) Pitt coming to the KFC YUM! Center. We'll have a preview of it in Saturday CARDINAL COUPLE and a report of the action later that night.


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Softball swings into action today with two games in the SportCo Classic in Las Vegas. Here's the three-day, five-game slate:

FRIDAY

Cards vs. Texas Tech  2:15 p.m. (All times EST)
Cards vs. UNLV  6:45 p.m.

SATURDAY

Cards vs. DePaul  noon
Cards vs. UCF  4:30

SUNDAY

Cards vs. Minnesota  1:15 p.m.

Sandy Pearsall's charges are #18 in the nation and have more power in their lineup than the law should allow.  They return four players that hit for over .300 last year and had a team batting average of .309.

As Sandy Pearsall mentioned in our exclusive interview with her...pitching is the question mark a lot of opponents have when it comes to looking at this squad. Caralisa "Carl" Connell is the lone returnee from a staff that won 55 games last season. She also won the "Most Popular Louisville women's athlete poll" here at Cardinal Couple.

We have seen yeoman efforts on the mound for Louisville in years past. Aja Sherman, Kat Bishop, Kristen Wadwell, Tori Collins. We feel confident that "Carl" will join these illustrious names in Cardinal Softball Pitching history.

Good luck in the desert, Softball sluggers!

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Finally, former Cardinal WBB great Angel McCoughtry has re-signed with the Atlanta Dream. Terms of the multi-year deal were not disclosed.
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Saturday Cardinal Couple -- DePaul vs. Louisville

SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- DePaul hosts Louisville Saturday

(We bring you two reports on the upcoming DePaul vs. Louisville game...one from Quentin Voigt and one from Paulie. Game time is 6 p.m. and the contest will be shown on WHAS TV locally.)

Dance with DePaul 1/5/13
by Quentin Voigt

USA Olympic Asst. Coach and DePaul head coach Doug Bruno is readying his charges for a visit from the #10 (A.P.)/11(Coaches) ranked Louisville Cardinals. The Blue Demons are toting a record of 11-3. Their losses have come against Dayton (92-80), South Carolina (50-46) and Kentucky (at Rupp Arena -- 96-64).

In the UK game, the Wildcats jumped on DePaul early and often, buoyed by a record attendance for UK women's basketball (18,468) and it was over before the first half ended.

None of DePaul's wins are over top ranked opponents and since the Cardinals are a top 10 team, Coach Bruno is likely warning his players of the Cardinal's ability.

DePaul starters are likely 6'3" Katherine Harry ( 13.9 ppg, 5.14 assists and a Big East leading 11.3 rebounds a game.), 6'1" Jasmine Penny (15.1 ppg, 4.9 rebounds), Anna Martin ( a Nicholasville, KY resident who is a pre-season All-BIG East selection who scores 16.2 ppg and dishes out 4.6 assists), Brittany Hrynko ( 13.9 ppg and 5.14 assists) and 5'5" speedball Chanise Jenkins (8.9 ppg and 5.5 rebounds).

As a team, DePaul averages 77.8 ppg, 41.7 rebounds and 19.6 assists. They'll face the Cards in cozy McGrath-Phillips Arena with a seating capacity of 3000.

Post player Harry seems to love playing Louisville and has had some of her best games against the Cards. The injury bug has hit the Blue Demons again this season and left their roster a bit weak as of this writing.

I believe Coach Bruno will have the Blue Demons ready to tumble with the Cardinals on Saturday night. If Louisville plays with the same cohesion and spirit they've been demonstrating lately, they should move out to a 10-15 point lead by the end of this one and get the win.

Paulie:

OK. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to get into a run-out,  fast break contest with UK, Coach Dougie...Walz figured that out and slowed it down in a game many thought Louisville should have won. The only real question here is whether you'll allow the Cards to play fast-break, transition hoops against you.

My guess is you won't. I know it's your preferred style, but you don't want to try and fly with these high-wire Birds.

We've learned several things over the last few years when UofL plays DePaul. Katherine Harry rebounds well. She grabbed 35 in two games against UofL last year. Maybe she bought the Dennis Rodman instructional video. We've also learned that the home team usually wins this game. The last time the visiting team took a "W" was in 2008...when Louisville won up in Chi-town 79-56. The Cards had a gal named Angel McCoughtry on that team. She's not walking back through that door. Unless it's as a spectator.

Keys to a Louisville win? Rebound, shoot well and play defense. I know, brilliant observation...Paul, but taking care of the basics are essential tonight. Despite Ms. Harry, the Cards actually had a three rebound advantage in the two games last year. Shoni, this one could fall on you. The three-ball fell pretty easily for you against WSU, Wagner and TSU. Wanna take that act on the road? We hope so.

The "Hammer" could play a key role in today's game also. She's about the only Card who can match up physically with Harry except for Asia and Shawnta.  A-Tayy has just been cleared to practice again...so we doubt we'll see 30 plus minutes out of her like we did in the final game between these two last year. A game Louisville won 75-62, with Taylor scoring eight points, grabbing seven boards and frustrating the Blue Demons defensively all day.

Shawnta, of course, won't see any minutes. She had 20 points and 13 rebounds in two games last year against DePaul. It'd be nice to have the trio banging on Harry and Penny all night...but you go with what you have.

 If Bria can find her way into the paint for a few jumpers, Megan and Nita find the range from outside and Mo can duplicate her 'in the paint' scoring ability on the road, I like UofL's chances. Would love to see Jude have a smart and efficient 20 minutes also. I ask for a lot, don't I?

Penny, Harry, Martin and Hrynko all had 32 minutes plus against the Cards in the second game last year. They had 28 minutes plus in the 86-61 pasting they put on the Cards in Lincoln Park the first time they played last year. So, they're pretty familiar with the UofL squad.  That game was Cierra Warren's final appearance for the Lady Cards. She picked up 14 points in garbage minutes at the end of the game after the outcome was pretty much decided.  

A win?  I see UofL getting one. Not by 10 or 15, though. I'll take a 2-4 point win in a hostile environment from a young team that just may have to settle for 60 points instead of 106.

Hey...a win's a win. L1C4, ladies...Rebound, Mo. Play smart, Shoni.  Block out, Sara.

It's BIG EAST time. Keep the icepacks, bandages and Teena Murray nearby. This isn't Wagner, TSU or Austin Peay.
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Lady Cards Nikki Burton to transfer, The 2011 All-USA girls basketball team

FRIDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE

Burton is the third transfer
this year at Louisville

-Burton transferring

-Smith a second team All-USA selection

-Calvin Borel named to ride Twice The Appeal
.

Nikki Burton, a sophomore guard from Charlotte, NC is leaving the University of Louisville. She is transferring due to a hip injury that prevents her

from being able to practice with the Lady Cards on a regular basis. She was injured midway thru her freshman year and sat out last year as a redshirt. Jeff Walz commented on the move:

"Nikki is a very talented student-athlete but unfortunately her hip injury

precludes her from the daily rigors of preparation required for BIG EAST play. In order for her to continue her career, she will transfer to a university that can accommodate her physical limitations for practice and playing. "
(Courtesy of UofL Sports Information)

Burton last saw playing time on Jan 19th. 2010 at Freedom Hall against Notre Dame...getting three points in 14 minutes. She played in 18 games as a freshman, staring in 11. She averaged 5.9 points a game and her high was 13 points...with five steals...in a 87-48 win over Providence.

Hate to see her go...she had tons of potential and was considered maybe the best of that class that included Asia Taylor and Rachel Story. We're not real sure which schools out there need players who can't practice on a regular basis...our best guess is that she might drop down to a DII or NAIA school...but that is purely speculation on our part.

No word on where she's headed. One might logically assume that the freed up scholarship might enhance the chances for Walz to sign another to the 2011 incoming class. We hope it is Bria Smith. We wish Nikki the best of luck wherever she goes...and that she's able to return to full strength and skills before her college basketball career is over.

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Sara Hammond and Rockcastle County
teammates won the state title in 2011.

USA TODAY has named their 2011 All-USA girls basketball team and their selections are interesting. They named Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (signed with Connecticut) as the player of the year. WE disagree...siding with Elizabeth Williams (signed with Duke). Williams made the first team...along with Cierra Burdick (Tennessee), Malina Howard...a junior from Twinsburg, Oh. who hasn't announced a college yet and Ariel Massengale (Tennessee).

Bria Smith headlines the second team. Joining her are:

Antoinette Banniser, Junior (undecided)

Diamond DeShields, Junior  (undecided)

Krystal Forthan, Senior (LSU)

Amber Henson, Senior (Duke)

Third team selections:

Jordan Adams, Junior (undecided)

Briyona Canty, Senior (Rutgers)

Morgan Tuck, Junior (undecided)

Cassie Peoples, Senior (Texas)

SARA HAMMOND, Senior, (LOUISVILLE)

Can't say we're fully in agreement with these selections. We feel Smith is better than Burdick and should have got first team honors. Briyona Canty, in our opinion, should have landed on the second team. Sara Hammond, too. Too many juniors on this 3 team squad selection list. Then, again....it's USA TODAY. What do they know?

Two Lady Vol signees on the first team. Hmmmm. No excuses this year, Pat Summit. And, Ms. Smith...it  looks like the Tennessee cupboard is well stocked. Come to Louisville. We love 2nd team selections that should have been first team picks....

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Pssst. Hey, c'mere! Want a longshot for the Kentucky Derby?  The legendary Calvin Borel has been named the jockey on Sunland Derby winner TWICE THE APPEAL. This is huge. Borel knows Churchill Downs better that John Calipari knows how to escape implications in recruiting violations. So, how has Mr. Borel done in recent Derby races? Glad you asked...

Calvin Borel is sometimes called
Calvin "Bo-rail" because of his
fondness of guiding horses to
the rail during races. It seems to work...

2010   on SUPER SAVER.  Won the race

2009   on MINE THE BIRD. Won the race

2008   on DENIS OF CORK.  Finished third

2007   on STREET SENSE.  Won the race

Mine That Bird finished 4th in the Sunland Derby in 2009 and won in Kentucky at huge odds. Love this quote from 2010 trainer of Super Saver Todd Pletcher...

"I said it last year before the Derby and I said it after the Derby. Calvin Borel is a great rider everywhere and he's that much better here at Churchill." 

Getting interesting, gang. Nine days to go...
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Is Hammond's future "In the Cards?"

So, are you a big fan of bread? CARDINAL COUPLE is giving away free gift cards to the best bread bakers around..those friendly folks over at PANERA BREAD. Want some? Just shoot us an e-mail telling us what you like about Panera. Or, leave us a comment here at the blog. We'll judge the entries and pick the best ones. We've got the cards...all you need to do is let us know you'd like them...


E-mail to cardinalcouple@insightbb.com



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Sarah Hammond is the front runner for Miss Kentucky Basketball for the 2010-11 season. The Rockcastle County senior is multi-talented...she'll probably play the wing in college but is an inside force for Rockcastle County. She can shoot the three, go to the boards with a vengeance and create for her teammates. She's also got a big laundry list of suitors for her college services.

Connecticut has offered. Louisville, too. Other schools wanting her services include Cincinnati, Kentucky, UCLA, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, Miami of Ohio and WKU.

Hammond is playing this summer on the Kentucky Premier Select team with high school standouts Kyvin Goodin-Rogers, Makayla Epps and Bre Elder...all from Marion County.


(Sara Beth Barnette, pictured
here, has signed with UK.
Rumors that UofL still
may be in the picture aren't
the case. She won Miss Basketball
last year..a choice that surprised many.
Personally, we believe she was only the
second best Sara in the state.)

Rogers, Epps, Elder and Hammond work very well together on the court. Hammond would be a sophomore at Louisville if Elder arrives and a junior if Rogers and Epps decide on the 'Ville. They represent some of the best talent in Kentucky girls' high school basketball...talent that isn't getting proper respect or acknowledgment from the recruiting gurus out there.

An interesting item is UK coach Matthew Mitchell's recent love and interest for Hammond. Afraid that you are way too late for this party, Matthew. Although most experts feel Louisville only has a slight lead in wooing Hammond's services, we here at CARDINAL COUPLE are supremely confident that she'll be wearing Cardinal Red and Black in the fall of 2011.

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Got a nice e-mail from Keil Moore of Peach State Hoops about Louisville verbal commit for 2011 Quaneisha McCurty:

"McCurty is a very long 6'5" post player with her best basketball ahead of her. In the past couple of years, she has picked it up and started to show signs of aggresion and physicality on both ends of the court.

She is a good athlete who likes to shoot the mid-range jumper. She will run the floor for lay-ups and can post with her back to the basket...but might not develop into a dominant post player. Her biggest impact, in my opinion, will be felt on the defensive end of the floor where her length should create problems by way of shot blocking.

The big thing with McCurty for the Louisville staff will be making sure she buys into the roles the staff gives to her. When she is motivated she can be a very good basketball player. I think someone like Jeff Walz is the perfect fit for her because of his previous track record with players like Angel McCoughtry."

We appreciate the great write up and review from Keil and look forward to more reports about McCurty and the talent down south.

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Speaking of Angel, the hits just keep on coming for McCoughtry and the Atlanta Dream. A 82-72 loss last night to the Washington Mystics on the road drops the Dream to 3rd place in the Eastern Division of the WNBA, 1/2 game behind Washington. Another case of the Dream digging themselves a deep hole early in the game and falling short with a late rally. Atlanta trailed 41-29 at the half and fell behind by 19 points in the third quarter before an Angel McCoughtry led rally got the Dream to within 7 points at 62-55 with 9 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter.

McCoughtry led Atlanta with 23 points. The Dream have now lost 4 straight...all on the road.

Sad to say, but it's been more of a nightmare instead of a dream for Atlanta since the All-Star game break. Plenty of season left for Atlanta to find their previous winning ways and get back into first place...but they're going to need more out of guard Iziane Castro Marquez and find a way to get rid of their horrible starts. They missed 10 out of their first 11 shots last night. No real three point threat on the Dream either...

Kentucky Premier wins two to advance to championship game

Kentucky Premier 17U won both their games today in the FILA Summer Derby Classic at UofL to advance to the championship game Thursday afternoon. They'll play the Lady Rams out of Jacksonville, Florida at 4:10 p.m. in Cardinal Arena.

In the first game, Premier overcame an early 6-0 deficit to Cincinnati Heat to take a 19-18 halftime lead with a buzzer beating three by Sarah Hammond. Premier built the lead to 8 early in the second half, but allowed Cincy to rally and regain the lead 35-31 with 6:40 to go. Makayla Epps and Bre Elder picked up the scoring slack and both had clutch threes to lead Premier to a hard fought 48-44 win. Hammonds and Epps led the way with 13 points each and Danay Fothergill knocked down two second half threes for Kentucky. Epps sank a free throw with 10 seconds remaining to secure the final margin.

In the nightcap, Premier rallied to beat Memphis 52-51 to advance to the finals. CARDINAL COUPLE had to miss this game but it looked to be an exciting one...Kentucky Premier trailed by one with 16 seconds remaining and came back to win. We've got a message out to Kentucky coach David Tapley for details and will add it to this post if and when he responds.

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CARDINAL COUPLE got to speak with Hammond directly after the Cincinnati game.

(On Cincinnati holding her to four second half points)

"Yeah, they just came out really strong on me defensively because they knew I was going to keep contributing offensively and keep heading to the rim if they didn't. I just tried to pick up my game in other areas, like defense and rebounding."

(On the victory)

" I think our rebounding at the end was what won this for us this afternoon and Coach (David Tapley) always tells us to work hard and try to play the perfect game...so we're always trying to get a little better each time. We've played some really good teams."

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36 games on tap today in the final round of action. Where has our "One Great Newspaper" here in Louisville been during the tournament? Covering matters such as where LeBron James is going to play in the NBA and that there is another Zeller playing basketball in Indiana. Jody Demling in Indy watching a boys AAU Tournament.

Not surprising, really. If the tournament had been held in Lexington, though...I expect it would have received wall to wall coverage. Way to represent the local events, guys.

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It was good to see James "Boo" Brewer yesterday taking in the action and coaching. The former Louisville standout coaches the Kentucky Premier 15U team. "Boo" still looks like he could lead the fastbreak and break someone's ankles with a crossover...

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Coaches and media get the same wrist band to gain entrance to the events. This led to a couple of interesting conversations for Paul yesterday with some of the college womens' coaching staff....including an invite to apply for a coaching job from a unnamed school. He was also asked which university he represented and told the questioner without batting an eye:

" The Lemmings of Southeastern Kentucky Polytech and Agriculture. Just call us SEKPA for short..."

Allegedly, a certain SEC coach inquired if "Paul's team" might be interested in filling a pre-conference game slot. I guess I'm going to have to teach the Yorkies the 2-3 zone and dig out my Converse again....and we're going to have to pass on a home and away since Paul took down the basketball goal on the side of the garage.