Tuesday Cardinal Couple -- Cards test Huskies tonight

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


FINAL: UCONN 72 - LOUISVILLE 58

Shoni with 14 in a losing effort to #2 UConn. Cards fought hard and UConn had to leave the starters in most of the way. Jenny will have the recap in the Wednesday CARDINAL COUPLE.

-Connecticut hosts Lady Cards tonight in Hartford.

(Quentin Voigt provides the pre-game scout of Louisville's opponent tonight...the mighty UConn Huskies. Paulie's comments follow. Tip is at 9 p.m. CBS Sports Network has the feed. Cards Radio 790 locally. )

Jitterbugging With Geno's Gals

Maybe UofL could get Angel
to strangle Geno tonight?

Geno Aureimma, head coach of the UConn Huskies women's basketball team, has assembled a juggernaut-like basketball squad made up of Hoopgurlz #1 and #2 rated players combined with top-50 role players from across the country. Coach Auriemma has sprinkled his magic "go get 'em" dust over them to up their intensity on the nasty scale and turned them loose. Season to date, they are hitting shots at a rate of 50.2% from the court and holding foes to 29.9%.

From 3-point range, UConn's starters connect almost 50% of the time. If fouled, they'll sink 3 out of 4 on average. The Huskies commit a scant 14.7 turnovers a game, create 23.5 assists and grab 41.7 rebound per outing while allowing just 31.5 grabs by the opponent.

The stars of the team are many. Kalena Mosqueda-Lewis averages 16.9 ppg and the 6'0" forward grabs around 4 rebounds a night. 6'4" forward Brianna Stewart scores 14 ppg and nabs over 7 rebound a game. 6'5" post Stefanie Dolson puts in 12.9 ppg and accounts for 6.5 rebounds per contest. 5'11" guard Kelly Faris adds 10.4 ppg. 5'7" guard Bria Hartley comes up with 10.4 an outing as well. Guard Caroline Doty is 17 for 49 from three-point range, third best on the squad. Kiah Stokes a shot-blocking threat who also can burn you from multiple locations on the XL Center floor.

Like a rude partner on the dance floor, these Connecticut girls will attempt to lead at every given opportunity and each break. They are accustomed to winning by large margins and have slipped up only once this year in 14 games, a narrow 73-72 loss to the visiting Irish of Notre Dame. They visited and romped Stanford by 26, who beat Baylor earlier in the season.

So, how do you slay the giant? Keeping them within range on the scoreboard is a must, which means preventing streaks and runs offensively. Going toe-to-toe on the boards must happen. Creating and scoring off turnovers is important. Making a final stab late in the game if close enough to win. In short, having...by far...the best game of your season. Difficult, but not imposible.

Bring home the win, Louisville.

-Quentin Voigt

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When you look at the Cards 14-3 record, you notice two things. First, no one has blown the doors off Louisville this season. A mere 11 points are the difference between a 3-loss and undefeated season. Second, the Cards have not lost a game this year where Sara Hammond has been the leading scorer.

And, that will be the difference maker tonight. I'm not worried about how the Cards guards will match up with Geno's. They'll be fine. Not sweating the fact that UConn leads the BIG EAST in threes made. Louisville will get out and pressure the shots.

Inside. The paint. How will the combination of Hammond, Reid, Slaughter, Vails and Walton mix it up on the boards with the BIG EAST's leading defensive rebounding squad. Will they be able to get Hammond scoring from inside? Will Mo be able to get her patented "catch and bank for two from the block" working? Can Slaughter go up against the taller Huskies and give the Cards some tough rebounding? Can Smith rotate down and grab a few?

I like the combo of Bria Smith and Shoni in the Cards backcourt. We're liable to see it most of the 40 minutes that this one will go tonight, sans foul trouble, of course.
They'll get their points, too.

This one will be decided from five feet in tonight. The Cards are second in the league in rebounding defense to...UConn. The Cards are third in the league in rebounding margin (+10.3). Guess who's second?

Control the paint, win the game. Get caught watching it dry and get an "L" painted on you. Block out, hit the boards and play interior defense 

Do I think Louisville actually has a chance tonight against UConn, in Hartford? Strangely enough, I do. No one is expecting a close game. No pressure on the Cards. Play strong, play positive and throw a few Rutgers-like elbows and forearms to show you aren't scared or intimidated.  

And rebound.

-Paulie

(CARDINAL COUPLE COLUMNIST JENNY O'BRYAN WILL HAVR THE RECAP FOR THE WEDNESDAY EDITON OF CARDINAL COUPLE. GOOD LUCK CARDS!)

Huskies in town to seek 10th. BIG EAST Win

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TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-#3 UConn set to play Lady Cards at YUM! tonight.

-Final pre-game thoughts from Jenny

Dolson leads UConn
in rebounding

Geno Aureimma brings the third ranked Connecticut women's basketball team to the KFC YUM! Center for a 7 p.m. matchup against the #14 UofL Cardinals WBB squad.

The game will be shown on CBS Sports Network.

Hayes is a scoring machine

Tough task ahead for Jeff Walz's Lady Cards. UConn (21-2, 9-1) has won the last ten against Louisville. You have to go back to 1993 to find a Cardinal win over the Huskies. UConn leads the series 10-1.

Geno's crew was impressive in their last outing, demolishing #13 Rutgers 66-34 at Gampel Pavillion. Sophomore Stefanie Dolson led the Husky charge with 16 points and senior guard Tiffany Hayes added 14 for UConn. 

Hartley has had an
excellent sophomore
year

UConn has four in double figures for the season. Besides Hayes and Dolson, sophomore Bria Hartley averages 14.3 a game and freshman Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis contributes 14 a contest. Kelly Faris, a junior guard, has 57 steals on the year.

Louisville has lost two on the road leading up to tonight's game. Louisville is 9-0 in the KFC YUM! Center this season and 22-2 lifetime.

Kallen Mosqueda-Lewis
is a multiple BIG EAST
freshman of the week
award winner

The Cards (17-6, 6-4) will have their hands full with the guard combo of Hayes and Hartley, the defense, rebounding and scoring of Dolson, defensive play of Faris, Caroline Doty and Mosqueda-Lewis. UConn excels at a breakneck, up and down the court pace and thrives on the transition game.

We'll have a full recap for you tonight after the action.

*************************************************************************

(Jenny's take...)

The Huskies are beatable...as has been evidenced twice this season. It will be no small task to topple them. If the Lady Cards are to compete with UConn, here are my keys to the game:

--Louisville MUST start strong, play strong and end strong. They'll get buried with a slow start. No offensive lapses. Minutes gone by with no points and turnovers will spell defeat. Forty strong minutes needed from the five players on the court.

--Taking care of the ball. Each possession valued. The Huskies play very good defense and will work to create Lady Cards turnovers. Mental mistakes not needed tonight. Value each and every possession.

--Home court advantage. We can help them with this, as fans. We are that "6th player" tonight. It is our job to keep the energy high and help feed our team. They feed off our energy. We have to be present, loud and rowdy to entire 40 minutes. Our girls deserve no less.

For UConn...the first seven players to see the court are lethal in their own ways. Each one a weapon that needs to be defended.

Tiffany Hayes and Bria Hartley (senior and sophomore) are the consistent offensive threats. Every Husky can shoot, mind you. These two do it the best and must be contained. If the defense can do this, the Lady Cards have a chance. It's no small task, though...

Stephanie Dolson and Kiah Stokes are the "bigs" in the paint. Stokes, a freshman, spells the sophomore Dolson. Dolson has been prone to some foul trouble lately. If UofL's "bigs" can play strong and clean, get Dolson in early foul trouble...it will help Louisville in this game. Stokes is no walk in the park, though. She had a good effort against Brittany Griner of Baylor. Regardless of the "big" in at the time...defense is job #1 on them and blocking out mandatory.

Kelly Faris and Caroline Doty are both intelligent players. They see the floor. They assist the shot and can take the shot. Doty, despite the chronic knee trouble, is playing quite well recently. Faris can do anything asked of her and leads UConn in steals. Two dangerous players.

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (KML) is usually first off the bench. She has a pretty shot, great moves. Gets compared to Maya Moore a lot. This freshman will be the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year. Another sniper in the bushes, she'll shoot opponents down with her accuracy and speed.

Know this.

The Huskies do not take a game, or any minutes, off. They may start out of synch occasionally...but it doesn't last long. A Lady Cards early lead would be great. A Lady Cards early clunker will be disastrous.

Personally, for me...a successful game against the Huskies does not have to end up in the win column. It would be great, of course, but there are other things that can come out of tonight's game that can be considered a success.

Keeping the game close. Finding ways to shut down their best players. Playing hard for forty minutes. Louisville's got to give it 40 minutes tonight. Their best 40 minutes of the season. Give me that, Lady Cards, and I'll be happy.

Anything less than that spells U-G-L-Y. Play with the enthusiasm you did in the first 14 minutes at West Virginia and extend it another 26 tonight. Good luck !!

(Thanks, Jenny for the insights and observations! A tough task, yeah..you betcha. Difficult? Oh, yeah. Impossible?
No. Exciting? WE hope so. See you after the game with the results.)
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