Lady Cards begin Northwest journey in Pendleton

SATURDAY WITH THE NEW YORK TIMES CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Cards visit Pendleton, head to Vancouver next

Led by Umatilla Reservation residents Jude and Shoni Schimmel, the University of Louisville women's basketball team spent Friday "on the rez". The day started early for the Cards...a bus ride from Portland to the Blue Mountain Community College where a two hour practice followed in front of several hundred attendees.

 CARDINAL COUPLE reader Umatilla 23 was there and filed this exclusive CARDINAL COUPLE  practice report:

"Just watched the practice here at Blue Mountain and Jude (Schimmel) really stood out--great passing, shooting and speed. A high school coach sitting next to me was impressed with her also...mostly her speed with the ball. Sara Hammond looked pretty good despite missing six sets of free throws at the end of practice. I got to talk to her briefly about it and she said that it was the first time that had ever happened (LOL).

Overall, the Lady Cards look very deep. They stayed around after practice, my girls were excited to get autographs and I was pumped to meet Coach Walz."

--Umatilla 23  

Jude and Shoni pose with Kaylee Fragua in front
of the Nixyaawii Community School Gym
(photo by Jamie Valdez/Portland Tribune)

Following practice and an autograph/chat session with fans, the Cards were transported to the Nixyaawii Community School Gym. Several hundred children joined the Cards in a series of events at a Health and Wellness Camp. 

The Cards proceeded next to the Nixyaawii Governance Center and met with the members of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation's board of trustees. Following the meeting, team and staff took an extended tour of the Tribal Center and Museum.


Louisville had a two hour practice here Friday



The day's events were capped off with a visit to the Wildhorse Resort and Casino for another autograph session

"I think this (trip) gives our kids a chance to see where they (Shoni and Jude) came from and their heritage." Jeff Walz commented. "Some things you can't understand until you experience it."

Shoni spoke candidly about "the big welcome home party":

"It's awesome that everyone came out because not many people know much about Native Americans. I have been asked before if I lived in a tepee, so it's good for them to get a lesson in Native American history."

A busy Saturday ahead for the Lady Cards...horseback riding scheduled in the morning and then final farewells at the reservation before heading to Vancouver and British Columbia.

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Lady Cards will be "winging it" just fine this season.

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DAVID WATSON LOOKS AT LADY CARD WINGS (hold the dipping sauce)

Hi, again Cardinal Couple!

David Watson here while Paul and Sonja are out tracking the
source of the Mississippi River. They did send me a couple of neat pictures to share with

Sonja (left) prepares to find the Mississippi

you.

We discussed the UofL wealth of back court talent the last time I was on here. Today we will take a look at the "wing" spot or the "3" as it is known. With the way the game goes, you never really know what will consist of a wing player. We looked at last year's majority starting lineup and it seemed that Mo Reid was the "wing" or "3" and Asia Taylor was the "4" or strong forward. So, we'll start with Reid, an upcoming senior who is but one of two Lady Cards on the roster to play in the FINAL FOUR, slotted in as the wing.

And there it is! From Lake Itasca

You've seen Mo play. She isn't particularly known for bombing from the wing but is one of the best in the nation at penetrating the paint and backing down an opponent to score from close inside. Will she be ready to go at full force after the hamstring injury? If not, the job and/or backup time could go to sophomore Antonita Slaughter or even incoming freshman Sara Hammond. We know that Slaughter can drill from outside. We've seen Hammond do the same. Hammond, as well as Slaughter, can play multiple positions and Reid doesn't look shakable from the wing, so unless a hamstring keeps her off the court or Walz experiments with bringing Mo off the bench again (a move we never fully understood) we're putting Reid - who was last year's leading scorer- at the wing.

We'll look at the Lady Cards front line in a couple of days.

CARDS TO PLAY "ON THE REZ"?

AS you've seen in the comments sections here, there might be talks in progress for the Lady Cards to have a scrimmage on the Umatilla Reservation before playing the Canadian teams this August.

Make it so, but make sure those bozos at the NCAA give it a blessing. They've hit the University of Louisville athletic programs with some pretty strange and bizarre stuff over the years. No reason to give them an excuse, better to let them bless the event.