4 12 2011 JR G Becky Burke Supporting Louisville Baseball...Softball splits

CD/CC Photo 4 12 2011 JR G Becky Burke

THURSDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE

-Cards split against Softball Huskies

-Tennis Travels to Texas

-Packed weekend in Louisville

-Bria Smith update


LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Stellar Lady Cards guard Becky Burke was out in full-force to support Louisville baseball at the UofL - UK Baseball Rivalry Game Tuesday night at Jim Patterson Stadium.

She had her hands full of grub and I asked for a photo. Burke replied, "With my hot dog and all?" jokingly, so I assured Becky that I would just take a face shot.........:-)

Every time I have seen Becky in person out supporting Louisville athletic programs other than women's basketball, she is always smiling and joking with a GREAT disposition.

Give it up for the great Becky Burke!

(Thanks to Shannon Ruffra, the CARDINAL DOMINANCE managing editor/owner and CARDINAL COUPLE contributing writer for the photo and write-up. You can follow this excellent website daily at http://www.cardinaldominance.net/ ) or just click on it over on the left side of our site.)

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The University of Louisville softball team split yesterday's doubleheader at Ulmer Stadium with the Connecticut Huskies 2-1, 1-5. For Louisville, it was a case of strong pitching but not enough batting.
Freshman sensation Caralisa Connell struck out 20 Huskies on the day while pitching all 14 innings for the Cards. Her 14 K's in the first game were a career high for her.

Louisville 2 - Connecticut 1. The Cards moved early in the first game, tacking a run on the scoreboard in the first inning when Chelsea Bemis doubled home Jennifer Esteban to give the Cards a 1-0 advantage. UConn came back to tie it in the second with a solo home run shot by Kim Silva. The contest evolved into a pitcher's duel after that....Louisville pushing the game winning run across the plate in the bottom of the seventh when Taner Fowler advanced to second on a UConn error, was replaced on the base paths by Chelsea Jordan...who moved to third on a Hannah Kiyohara single. Esteban singled to score Jordan for the winning run. Connell allowed but five hits in the win and struck out 14.

Connecticut 5 - Louisville 1. UConn was held by Louisville to three scoreless innings to start the second game. The Cards started the contest with a run in the bottom of the first when Katie Keller singled, stole second and scored on a UConn fielding error In the top of the fourth, the Huskies struck for four runs on four hits to grab a 4-1 lead. The Cards could not solve Kiki Saveriano's pitching the rest of the way and the Huskies added an insurance run in the top of the seventh for the final 5-1 victory. Connell allowed four runs on five hits and fanned six Huskies batters in the loss...breaking her and the Cards 12 game win streak.

Sandy Pearsall was to the point after the double header:

"Connecticut came to play today and did a great job of keeping us off balance. We didn't do a lot of things well today...didn't create much offense and we made mistakes defensively. The only bright side was Caralisa..who shows up every day and pitches a great game."

Louisville (31-11) returns to action this weekend with a three game series in South Bend against the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.

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Women's Tennis (11-9) spends the weekend in Texas to close the regular season with matches against Houston and Rice. The Cards enter the BIG EAST Tournament beginning April 28th. Both the men's and women's teams will compete for the BIG EAST title in South Bend, IN.

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The weekend ahead is going to be a busy one here in Louisville. The football Cards play their Spring Game in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium on Friday night at 7 p.m. Louisville lacrosse has a 5 p.m. match at Louisville Lacrosse Stadium that afternoon. The lacrosse stadium is right down Floyd Street from PJCS. The weather is the joker in this deck...with a 60% chance of rain forecast for Friday. Then on Saturday, Louisville kicks off the Derby Festival celebrations with Thunder over Louisville down on the banks of the Ohio River. The river is close to flood stage because of recent rains and there is a 40% chance of more rain on Saturday.
Let's hope "mother nature" gives us a break...we've haven't had good weather for a Spring football game in several years now...and Thunder in the rain is never fun.

It's also a big weekend of racing up at Lexington's Keeneland Race Course. The Grade I Blue Grass stakes is Saturday and we could see a couple of Kentucky Derby contenders stamp their tickets for the First Saturday in May with impressive runs in the mile and one eighth contest of the polytrack. Santiva, Wilkinson and King Congie are three that might earn that trip to Churchill Downs with big performances. CARDINAL COUPLE has tenative plans to take in a day at Keeneland and then head back to the Ville for Thunder on Saturday. Let's hope the weather co-operates...

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Bria Smith, undeclared 5'9" guard from Christ the King, will visit both Louisville and Tennessee next week. There are also rumors out there that she'll be checking out Rutgers also on an official visit. Smith has tweeted that she'll probably make a decision after the USA Basketball tryouts. Don't expect to see any ACC schools beside Virginia loom as potential visits...she'd have to sit out a year, since she received a release from Virginia. Sorry, Duke and UNC.

Smith has been fairly non-committal on who is leading the race for her services. One can surmise that the reason for that is that she may not know yet herself. Smith is interested in majoring in communication and wants to pursue a career in television after graduating from college. Maybe someone could create a reality show about her...
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Women's track takes BIG EAST Indoor Championships

MONDAY through the eyes of CARDINAL COUPLE:

-UofL takes title in BIG EAST indoor track and field.

-Cardinal softball wins final in Alabama

-Lacrosse wins opening game.

The University of Louisville women's track team captured their first indoor conference championship...with some strong performances by several individuals. Head Coach Ron Mann and his staff were also named BIG EAST Indoor Women's Coaching Staff of the Year. Louisville had to rally to get the title after leading on Day 1. It came down to the final event of the day, the 4x400 relay. Louisville got a inspired performance from Chelsea Brown, Margret Harris, Charachesicia Lockhart and Ahlivia Spencer to take third place in the final. scoring enough points to pass UConn and finish tops overall with 110 points. The Huskies ended up with 108.5.

Other Cardinal participants in the final day:

SHOT PUT

1st. Khadija Abdullah

2nd. Chinwe Okoro

3rd. D'Ana McCarty

4th. Amashi Kendall

60 METERS

2. Sarvina Richardson

5. Margert Harris

500 METERS

4. Ahlivia Spencer

3000 METERS

13. Kim Grieshaber
17. Monica Herdandez

18. Emily Borsase

HIGH JUMP

3. Michelle Theophille

7. Megan Schubert

POLE VAULT

6. Andrea Sabbatine

11.Chelsea Lucas

TRIPLE JUMP

4. Lockhart

17. Maggie Gilbertson

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Softball ended their stay in Alabama with an extra inning win Sunday over UTSA 7-3. Trailing 3-2 going in to the top of the seventh inning, Katie Keller drove home pinch runner Tesha Payton to tie the contest. The teams remained scoreless until the Cards got four runs in the top of the tenth inning...a Chelsea Bemis double scored Jordan Trimble. After Colby Wherry reached on an error, Maggie Ruckenbrod hit a two RBI single. Wherry scored the final run when Hannah Kiyohara singled.

Jennifer Esteban and Bemis were named to the All-Tournament team.

Louisville returns to action Friday in the Red and Black Tournament over at Ulmer Stadium. SIU-Edwardsville and Boston University visit.

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Louisville lacrosse got off to a strong start of the season by winning the home opener 18-4 over Binghamton. UofL's Katie Oliverio scored just eight seconds into the game. After two Binghamton scores, Emily Dashiell tacked on two points within 19 seconds of each other. Louisville led 11-4 at the half and shut out the Bearcats 7-0 in the second half.

The Cards were led Bergan Foley with 6 goals. Foley led the nation in goals last year. Sammy Allen and Dashiell finished with three each for the Cards. Freshman Ashley Herbst started at goalkeeper and had 12 saves while limiting Binghamton to just four points.

The lacrosse team returns to action Saturday at home against Old Dominion. Action begins at 1.

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Louisville's baseball team went 3-0 over the weekend in the BIG EAST vs. BIG TEN Challenge in St. Petersburg, FL. Dan McDonnell has a strong pitching staff on this year's Cardinal team and a bunch of sluggers to score for him. No word yet from whether the Parrish House bunch that winters in Naples, Florida made the trip up.

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Softball splits, Swimming and Diving wins BIG EAST

SUNDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE:



-CARDS split in softball

-CARDS sweep BIG EAST SWIMMING Championships

-CARDS lead after 1st round of BIG EAST track CHAMPIONSHIPS

-Commentary and comments on LADY CARDS WBB win over USF.

Louisville softball split Saturday in Tuscaloosa, AL. in the 'Bama Bash...beating UT-San Antonio 2-1 and falling to Alabama 9-8.


In the first game, the Cards fell behind early to the Roadrunners when Tori Collins gave up a solo shot to Molly Fischer in the top of the second. Louisville countered with a run in the third when Jennifer Esteban reached on an error and scored on a Alicja Wolny single. The Cards scored the go ahead and final run in the fourth...getting a double from All-American Chelsea Bemis and pinch runner Tesha Payton greeting the umpire on a Maggie Ruckenbroad single.



Tori Collins turned in a solid performance on the mound for Louisville...fanning 12 and allowing only three hits in seven innings. Bemis had two hits to lead Louisville in batting.



Against Texas, Caralisa Connell got the start and Louisville gave her a 1-0 advantage in the bottom of the first when Esteban singled, moved to third on a fielding error and wild pitch and touched home on a Kristin Austin fielder's choice. The Cards pushed it out to 3-0 in the second. Jordan Trimble singled, Ruckenbrod sent her to third on a single and a Katie Keller ground out scored her. Pinch runner Katelyn Mann found the plate on a passed ball.



The Crimson Tide made it 3-1 in the top of the third but the Cards fired back with two runs in the bottom half of the inning...Chelsea Bemis drilling a right field fench clearer that scored her and Colby Wherry. Bama crawled back with a run in the top of the fourth to make it 5-2. The Tide added a run in the fifth when Jackie Traina smashed one over the center field fence off of Connell.



Louisville built a seemingly unreachable 8-3 lead in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, Bemis walked and Trimble, Fowler and Ruckenbroad all singled to make it 7-3. Two straight bases on ball scored Fowler for a 8-3 Cardinal advantage.



Alabama came back, though, with four runs in the top of the sixth, getting a solo blast from Keima Davis and a three run shot from Cassie Reilly-Boccia to change the scoreboard 8-7 Cards. The Tide took the lead in the top of the seventh on a two run fence clearer by Davis and Louisville couldn't score in the bottom of the inning.



The Cards fall to 4-5. Collins got the loss in relief of Connell...allowing five runs and five hits in 2 pitched innings. Louisville plays UT-San Antonio Sunday @ noon for their final game in the Bash.



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Cardinal swim teams swept the BIG EAST Championships in the Ralph Wright Natatorium yesterday and head coach Arthur Alberio was named BIG EAST Coach of the Year. The ladies snapped a 14 year Notre Dame hold on the title, outpointing the Irish 820.5-655.



Therese Bergstrom finished first in the 200-breaststroke for the Cards. Aileen Cole finished a very close second in the 100-freestyle and Eszter Povazsay claimed second in the 200-backstroke. Raine Thompson swam to second in the 200-fly and the relay team of Cole, Breann McDowell, Krissie Brandenburg and Grite Apanaviciute narrowly missed in the 400-relay against the Irish by .34th of a second.



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Women's track and field has the lead after Day One in the BIG EAST Championship competition in Akron, Ohio. D'Ana McCarty won the weight throw..an event that the Cards swept the top three spots in and Charachesicia Lockhart leaped to a first place finish in the long jump.

Gabrielle Jackson is currently fourth in the pentathlon and Sarvia Richardson (2nd) and Margert Harris (4th) qualified for the 60 meter dash finals. Richardson also qualified for the 200 meter finals...finishing fifth in the qualifier. Ahlivia Spencer's 5th place put her in the 500 meter finals.
In addition to McCarty's win in the weight throw...Al-Amashi Kendall claimed second and Patrice Gates tossed for third. The UofL squad leads with 42 points...WVU follows in second with 30 and Syracuse is third at 22 points. Action continues Sunday.

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JEFF WALZ'S POST GAME COMMENTS after the win over USF:

" Well, I told the girls that we definitely wanted to send you out Jim (Kelch) with a win on your last road trip. It was the pre-game speech..it was all about Jim Kelch...We wouldn't be where we are without you and we appreciate all you've done for the last four years..."

On the win:
"Without a doubt, I was really proud of the kids. It was a win we had to have, a road game that we had to come down here and get. We played well at times today...and at times we didn't. We really were taking care of the ball until the last four minutes and then we had some crazy turnovers that we have to address...but overall I was really, really pleased about the way we played today.

On the 18 turnovers and early low percentage passing by Louisville:
"I thought we took pretty good care of the ball...I know at one point in the game Shoni had nine assists and nine turnovers...but I thought she played a really good game for us.... she had some really nice passes into the post. She goes 6-16 from the field...not a great shooting percentage...but again, she's not taking bad shots. She gets a steal and misses a layup..there could have been some contact. I thought Mo(nique Reid) played as well tonight as she's played in awhile. It's tough...I guess..for people who don't get the chance to see us play on the road..but Mo actually wanted the ball tonight, compared to Wednesday night at Syracuse...where Mo actually kind of hid. It's hard for us to get her the ball when she doesn't want it. Tonight she wanted it and did some great things with it."

On scoring depth:
"We're still trying to find one more great scorer. Tia Gibbs hits a big three there for us in the second half when they started to make a little run at us. I've got to get Becky Burke to do a little bit more than just being a spot up three point shooter for us. I need her to be able to read screens. She came off a screen, a double stacker that we set for her...she was wide open to drive it through on the curl to the basket...but she's always looking to shoot the three. I know she has the game...I've seen her do it at times...but we need to get one more player besides Monique and Shoni to be a creator."

On Keisha Hines' performance:
"She did play well. I get on Keisha sometimes because we actually throw it to her and she passes up a lot of shots. She only took five tonight. I want her to score. We need her to be a scoring threat for us... every night she could get 10 to 12 points for us and if she could do that...Mo is going to get her 16-18, Shoni's going to get 16-18 and we got to get one more to get that 8-10 each night and then we'll have four out there that everyone has to worry about.

On Walz's pregame promise to the team that a win over USF would get them Sunday off:
" I told them that it (Sunday) is an off day. I did encourage the one that did not get to play much that...I personally would get in the gym and get some shots up. That's just me. Not mandatory...it is completely an off day if you want. Like I try to tell them all, though...are you somebody that wants to play basketball, or are you a basketball player?

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We love the "basketball player" comment above by Coach Walz! Looking at the basketball played yesterday by the Lady Cards...several things stick out to us. Monique Reid's 11-15 shooting shows that she can be deadly when the Cards run the offense and work to get her open inside. Secondly, five offensive rebounds for the entire game is pitiful. Even though the Cards shot 50%...USF had 22 defensive boards. Only three Cardinals managed to grab a rebound after a Louisville missed shot. 23 chances, five second chances. Gotta improve that.

The Louisville freshmen accounted for 16 points of the 66 Louisville total...all from Schimmel. Walz did not play Charmaine Tay and there was no mention of why she didn't hit the court. Sherrone Vails saw only nine minutes on the court and Antonita Slaughter just two. Sophomore Shelby Harper had her second straight extended amount of time on the court yesterday with 10 minutes after being barely visible for most of the season. WE think Walz had her out there to harass USF leading scorer Andrea Smith. Harper did hit two free throws and get a rebound, assist and turnover while on the court. Smith ended with 16 points, slightly below her season average.

A brief appearance yesterday for starter Asia Taylor. Only 12 minutes of court time after starting each half. One shot, no points, two rebounds and fouls for the sophomore. Different approaches for different opponents we're guessing...but could have more Taylor led to more Cardinal rebounds? Four cards accounted for all but two of the Cards 27 grabs...Hines getting seven, Gibbs six, Schimmel five and Reid four. We'd never question Coach Walz's decision making...mind you. Just an observation.

An announced crowd of 683 watched the event. Not surprising, given the Bulls record and a beautiful Saturday outside in Tampa. The Bulls students are known for their catcalls directed at opposing players and harassment of officials and we could hear plenty of that going on yesterday over the radio. We'll never forget a trip to the Sun Dome several years back when we were vacationing in Florida and happened to go to a UofL men's game down there. Wouldn't have wanted to be on the Cardinal bench that afternoon...the students sit directly behind the benches..in a small balcony type setting and the language and taunts coming out of the section directly behind the Cardinal bench would have made the late George Carlin blush.

A big time match up awaits the Cards Wednesday night when DePaul rolls into town. The Blue Demons grabbed sole control of second place when Notre Dame got spanked by UConn yesterday. With just one conference loss, Doug Bruno's team does face a tough test today against dangerous Georgetown...who comes in for a visit. The Cards play well in the YUM (usually) with a big fan base present and a huge turnout is needed Wednesday night for the DePaul game. Bring a buddy, tell a friend..load up the kids and that neighbor who tells you they'd like to catch a ladies game and get down there!!! Tip is at 7. Wazoo Sports is televising it locally if you can't attend...
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Softball to Bama, Swimming winning

FRIDAY at CARDINAL COUPLE.

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-Softball Cards travel to 'Bama Bash.

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-Swimming leads BIG EAST Championships.

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-Track signs four.

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-Uh Oh...here comes the road.

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-PANERA Contest.

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The University of Louisville womens' softball team spends the next three days in historic Tuscaloosa, Alabama participating in their second tournament of the season. They'll kick off the activities against a BIG EAST foe...Syracuse....today at 1 p.m. The 'Cuse knocked off Louisville in the finals of the BIG EAST tournament last May in Louisville's Ulmer Stadium 2-1. Ace pitcher Jenna Caina returns for them. The Orange (4-0) have gotten off to an excellent start to the season, winning the Georgia State Tournament last weekend. The bats are working well for the Orange...they outscored opponents Tenn. Tech, Morehead State and Georgia State 33-3 in the four games.

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Louisville will face Alabama in the second game Friday. The Crimson Tide (5-0) is off to a great start also...winning the Easton All-Alabama Classic last weekend...running up 47 runs against Samford, Alabama A&M, Jacksonville State, South Alabama and Troy. The two teams will meet again Saturday at 4 p.m. and Louisville will have Saturday and Sunday games against Texas-San Antonio while there.

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Sandy Pearsall prefers to think that this matchup against Syracuse isn't a revenge or payback game for Louisville...she looks at the season ending series with the Orange as payback time...but we're guessing the returning Cards from last season wouldn't mind having a good outing against the tricky hurler Jenna Caina...

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The Cards (3-2) will most likely use the pitching trio of Tori Collins, Carlisa Connell and Chelsea Leonard again this weekend. Collins had a one-hitter last weekend against Tulsa. Louisville has gotten productive offense power from Alicja Wolny, Jordan Trimble, Jennifer Esteban and Colby Wherry this season and the dangerous Chelsea Bemis, 2010 BIG EAST Player of the Year, is always a threat.

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Day two of the BIG EAST Swimming Championships concluded yesterday with both the Louisville men's and women's squads in first place. Both squads are trailed by Notre Dame in second. For the ladies, a win in the 200 free relay capped off the evening. Aileen Cole, Nicole Landisch, Lacey Bobo and Grite Apanaviciute edged out the Irish in a time of 1:31.44.

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Cole took second in the 50 free. She was followed by Landisch in third, Apanaviciute in fifth and Bobo and Krissie Brandenburg tying for sixth.

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Lindsey LaPorte finished sixth in the 500 free for the Cards and Breann McDowell eighth.

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The Cards got another win when Sarah Andrews took the 200 IM. Stephanie Juncker finished fifth.

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Action continues today at the Ralph Wright Natatorium.

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Ron Mann, Louisville track and field coach, announced the signing of three athletes to the women's track and field team for 2011. Rachel Serafin is a shot put and discus champion from Pennsylvania and will add to the already strong group of 'throwing girls' on campus. Megan Klein comes in from Lexington and is an accomplished distance runner at Paul Dunbar High School. The Cards also picked up Hannah Cox, who holds the school records at her high school (Christian Academy, Knoxville, TN.) in the long jump, triple jump, pentathlon and 4X200 relays. She also pole vaults. Mann promises many more good recruits are on the way and will be adding Cardinals all the way up thru mid summer.

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Jeff Walz's Lady Cards return to action Saturday...on the road in Tampa to face the South Florida Bulls. Despite just one win in BIG EAST play, the Bulls are a dangerous opponent. OK...enough of the obligatory, complimentary nonsense. The Bulls are horrible. Besides sisters Andrell and Andrea Smith and the occasional sighting of Porsche Grant...they're not a great or talented team. St. John's blasted them by 20 in the latest game down in the Sun Dome. Georgetown, Syracuse, Notre Dame and WVW have 25+ point wins over them. They did manage to beat visiting Seton Hall by four in front of 521 people back in late January and early in the season scored victories over Wake Forest and Auburn...but they're a bottom feeder in the BIG EAST and will most likely view their game Feb. 26th. at Villanova as the only chance left to stay out of the BIG EAST cellar.

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A four point loss to Pittsburgh on the road and falling by six to Marquette shows that they'll give opponents a tussle at times...but Cincinnati beat them and so did Providence. USF is last in the BIG EAST in scoring defense, field goal defense percentage and 13th in scoring margin, They trail the rest of the conference in three point field goal percentage and are 15th in rebounding defense. If Shoni Schimmel, Monique Reid and Becky Burke have shed the demons that invaded their bodies in Syracuse that caused them to be incapable of hitting a cow in a pickup truck...the Cards should be OK in sunny South Florida.

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It is the road, however...and the mere mention of walking into an opposing gym for basketball strikes fear into the hearts of most of the Cardinal faithful. When it's away jersey time, the Cards are 2-4 on the year...with wins at Villanova and Cincinnati...which isn't saying much. This one is a "gotta have it" scenario for Walz's bunch if they are going to reach the magical 9 wins in the BIG EAST...

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WE'RE going to take the high road, though...and predict that Louisville will regain the shooting touch, play inspired defense, learn how to block out and go for loose balls and pull out the win Saturday. May not be by 25+...but any "W" is a good "W" when you play in the best conference in college basketball. Maybe another one on the Monique Reid 'payback' list...USF came into Freedom Hall and gored the Cards 63-60 last year.

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WE draw for another PANERA Card tomorrow. Entries have been good this week, but since it is a random draw, why not get your entry in and see if you get lucky. A recent chat with Panera managing partner Archie Karel revealed that PANERA is about to invade the Highlands with a new location. WE approve and wait patiently for the day that they expand to friendly Fern Creek or Jeffersontown.

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Softball blanks Tulsa 5-0, Hoops vs. WVU tonight.

SUNDAY @ C.C.

-Softball advances to championship

-LADY CARDS B.B. vs WVU tonight.

-Track results from Saturday

-Gadd in BIG EAST DIVING splashes.


Bill the Goat can't wait for the 5 p.m. tipoff between Louisville and West Virginia tonight in the KFC YUM Center. We'll break it down for you here and give you post game coverage.

The Louisville softball team, under the direction of Sandy Pearsall, got a 5-0 win over Tulsa in the semi finals yesterday in Austin, TX. A big effort from sophomore pitcher Tori Collins...allowing just one hit.

Louisville jumped out to a two run advantage in the second inning when Jordan Trimble almost went 'fence' and ended up with a double. She scored when Chelsea Bemis reached on a Golden Hurricane fielding error. Kristin Austin's sacrifice bunt moved her to second and Austin scored when Colby Wherry singled.

The Cards pushed it to 4-0 when Katie Keller opened the inning with a base on balls and Alicja Wolny cracked her first home run of the season. The Cards were not done...Trimble singled, Bemis singled and Trimble scored on a grounder by Taner Fowler to make it 5-0.

Collins was superb on the mound, getting four strikeouts and allowing only two Tulsa base runners. She had a no hitter in place until the top of the seventh...when Jill Barrett barely beat out a infield hit.

Louisville plays Texas today for the Championship in a rematch of Thursday's battle. The Longhorns took down NIU 8-4 to reach the 1 p.m. game.

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It's Mountaineer time and the KFC YUM Center will be loud, proud and rowdy today at 5 p.m. as Mike Carey's womens basketball team visits for a BIG EAST matchup that will be televised on ESPN 2. WVU started the season with a bang...but have recently dropped a few BIG EAST games and sit at 6-5 in the BIG EAST and 20-5 overall. Ranked at #17 in the polls, the Mountaineers lost a close out to UConn last time out by only five...holding the Huskies to under sixty points the first time this season. Liz Repella leads the WVU squad...she can beat you from anywhere on the court and is a rebounding threat as well. Madina Ali shoots for over 50% for the season and Brooke Hampton is tops in the league when you look at assist to turnover ratios. Sarah Miles is a ball hawking defender for WVU and they rank just behind Louisville in steals per game.

Mike Carey is in his 24th season as a head coach and is 80-77 after ten years in the BIG EAST. His teams are known for aggressive defense, a three point specialist or two and strong board play. We'll have a full post game report tonight...including post game comments...for you later.

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Hannah Gadd won the 1 meter diving event in the BIG EAST championships at The Ralph Wright Natorium in Louisville Saturday, finished second in the 3 meters Friday and has been named BIG EAST Diver of the Year. Her diving coach, Mike Zehnder was selected Diving Coach of the Year.

"I couldn't have done it without my whole team being here to support me. I am happy to help the women's swimmers." Gadd said.

The swimming events begin Wednesday. Gadd's score of 329.95 yesterday in the 1 meter set a new conference record...beating 3 meter champ Jennifer Chang of Notre Dame by almost 30 points.

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OK, so it's officially known as the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, AR. Louisville's women's athletes participated there last night and Megan Schubert finished 6th in the high jump. Michelle Theopille ended up tenth.

In Akron, the women got a seventh place finish in the pole vault and Andrea Sabbitine ended up 10th. Chinwe Okoro threw for seventh in the shot put, Kim Carderio 11th in the long jump and Maggie Gilbertson grabbed 4th in the high jump.

The BIG EAST Indoor championships will be held in Akron next weekend as well.

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Got a new poll posted on the left side beginning today. What is your favorite women's sport at UofL. Can't decide? It's OK...you can select multiple ones.

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Saturday with THE Couple...

(Paul and Terry Jackson demonstrate that even short guys and tall ones can be buddies)

-CARDS TAKE TWO IN TEXAS

-TRACK RESULTS

-SARA HAMMOND SELECTED FOR MCDONALDS GAME

-PITINO'S GUYS HANG ON AGAINST SYRACUSE

-YOUR WEEKLY PANERA WINNER.

Friday was a good one for Sandy Pearsall's Softball team in Austin...beating both N. Illinois and Tulsa. Freshman pitcher Caralisa Connell went four innings...getting the win while going four strong innings, allowing no runs, only three hits and striking out four in the 6-1 victory over the NIU Huskies.

Jennifer Esteban collected three hits in the victory. The Cards got started early when Esteban singled in the bottom of the first and then was advanced to home by three illegal pitches by NIU starter Whitney Owens. Taner Fowler and Colby Wherry kept the scoreboard flashing in the second...each getting singles and advancing on a Kristin Austin ground out. Katie Keller's sacrifice fly scored Fowler and a Esteban single drove home Wherry.

Louisville made it 6-0 in the bottom of the fourth. Austin reached first on a NIU fielding error and then stole second. Esteban got a single for her third hit of the day and Maggie Ruckenbrod drove Austin home with a sharp single. Another illegal NIU pitch got Esteban to home plate. Alicja Wolny's single scored Ruckenbrod to complete the Cardinal scoring.

Northern Illinois scored their only run in the bottom of the fourth on a couple of singles.

The win evened Louisville out a 1-1 on the season. NIU drops to 0-2.

In the second game for Louisville against Tulsa, sophomore pitcher Chelsea fanned 10 Golden Hurricane batters in five innings en route to a 4-1 win for the Cards. Louisville managed only one hit in the opening three innings..but that was one more than Tulsa could muster. In the top of the fourth, the Cards broke through for three runs...Esteban starting the parade with a single and advancing to third on a Ruckenbrod ground out. Alicja Wolny got hit by a pitch next and stole second on the next play. A wild pitch got Esteban to the plate and Jordan Trimble's single got Wolny safely home for a 2-0 UofL lead. Chelsea Bemis pounded a double next...scoring Trimble.

Louisville struck again in the fifth when Esteban singled, advanced to second on a Ruckenbrod single and scored on a Wolny single for the Cards final score of the game

Tulsa managed a lone run in the bottom of the sixth off reliever Caralisa Connell. With the win, the Cards are facing Tulsa again Saturday in the semifinals. We'll have the results of that one in Sunday's column.

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Results from women's track...in the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, AR. (we assume the Tyson Chicken folks, not the boxer...) Saravia Richardson ran 16th in the semifinal and 6th in the consolation heat. Margret Harris placed 20th in the long jump and Charachesicia Lockhart 12th in the long jump. In Akron, Gabrielle Jackson ran 11th in the pentathlon.

We'll have more results from today's action in the Sunday CARDINAL COUPLE.

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Sara Hammond has been selected to play in the McDonald's All-American game March 30th in the United Center (Chicago, IL.) The Rockcastle County senior is the only girl selected from Kentucky this year and the first Louisville signee to be awarded the honor. Hammond is rated 12th nationally and is scoring 15.5 points a game and pulling down 13 boards. She's the front runner for Kentucky's Miss Basketball. Out of the 24 girls selected, BIG EAST foe UConn has three signees playing, Stanford, Duke and Tennessee two.

We feel this is just one of many honors that Sara will be picking up this season and during her career at UofL. We love to see her play in the Derby Classic but they don't sponsor a women's game. We don't like that and if you agree contact the Kentucky Derby Festival and let them know how you feel. They have waiters and waitresses compete with trays of wine, for goodness sakes, can we get a girls game featuring the best high school seniors in girls hoops?

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Exciting afternoon for the University of Louisville men's basketball team with a four point win over the Syracuse Orangmen. The YUM was definitely rocking and the had a great end to the first half...down by seven, they roared back to go up by 10 at 40-30 by halftime. An 11-2 run to start the second half had Kyle Kuric and company up by nineteen..they led by 20 shortly later and withstood a furious Syracuse three point barrage that cut the lead to three several times. Some clutch free throw shooting late and a spectacular steal by Peyton Siva allowed Louisville to hang on for the win.

We love how loud the YUM gets during men's games...being a part of the crowd is a ton of fun. Not that sitting on press row for the women's games isn't a blast (it is!) but sometimes it's fun to get loud and crazy without having to worry about 10,000 people watching you boogie, yell and question referee's calls.

A great halftime presentation today with the coaches and players from the 1986 National Championship Team on the court. A shame that Pervis Ellison and Milt Wagner couldn't attend...but it was fun to see how the guys that were there looked 25 years later. Billy Thompson did a great job on the microphone and quite a few of these guys still look like they

could lace 'em up and throw a few through the hoop. Remember where you were 25 years ago when the Cards took down Duke for the title? Paul was watching the game with a few friends at a local establishment which is no longer in business. Sonja viewed it from the house. David Watson claims he was there...we didn't see him on TV and he's long since (reportedly) lost his Final Four ticket stubs. Said he got lucky in the student lottery on campus and ended up with a ticket. If everyone who has told us over the past 25 years that they were there for that game was...I think they would have had to play it in the SuperDome...not Reunion Arena.

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Jane Feger is the lucky winner of a PANERA Gift Card for this week. She writes:

"It's hard to say which Panera I like the best. I visit all the east end locations on a regular basis. I was recently in Houston and had breakfast at the Panera on San Felipe. My favorite thing is breakfast. I always get a cup of their great coffee and a spinach and artichoke souffle. Delicious!

We're big fans of the java brews at PANERA too, Jane. Hope you enjoy an upcoming trip...because it's on us! You can get in on the fun as well... just e-mail us at cardinalcouple@insightbb.com and tell us about you & PANERA. (Or take us out for a lunch!)

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Softball falls to Texas 6-2

CARDINAL COUPLE: FRIDAY EDITION

-Cards lose to Texas in Austin.
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-BIG EAST Swimming and Diving.
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-Track and Field this weekend.
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-WHO WANTS PANERA?
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The University of Louisville women's softball team dropped their opening game in the Texas Invitational Thursday night to #15 Texas 6-2. Freshman catcher Maggie Ruckenbrod (pictured here) had a two run homer for the Cards only scoring.

"We faced a great team tonight," said UofL head coach Sandy Pearsall. "Texas has a powerful offense and an All-American pitcher, it was a tough opener. We made some great defensive plays but we needed to swing the bat better. Needed our pitching to be a little more aggressive.
The teams started off 0-0 after two innings before the Longhorns went to work. Back to back home runs in the bottom of the third off of starting pitcher Tori Collins gave Texas the early lead. They increased the margin in the bottom of the fifth when Chelsea Leonard was tapped for a line skimming double to left field, a single, a wild pitch and another single. After five, Louisville trailed 4-0.

The Cards hit the board in the top of the sixth when Katie Keller reached base on a single and Ruckenbrod smashed a deep shot over the left center fence for a four bagger. Jordan Trimble and Alicja Wolny drew back to back walks to put the go ahead run at the plate with two outs but Texas pitching ace Blair Luna fanned Colby Wherry for her 12th. strike out to end the threat.

Texas added two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs, Texas drew a walk, got two singles and a wild pitch made it 5-2. A bases loaded walk scored another run but freshman Carlisa Connell got the third out.

The Cards had four hits in the game...Keller, Kuckenbrod, Trimble and Wherry with one each. Louisville used three pitchers...Tori Collins starting and going 2 innings, allowing two runs on four hits. Chelsea Leonard followed...tossing 3.1 innings and giving up four runs on six hits. Caralisa Connell got the final two outs in the sixth.

Louisville went with an opening day starting lineup (in batting order) of:

Kristin Austin-right field
Katie Keller-second base
Maggie Ruckenbrod-catcher
Chelsea Bemis-third base
Jordan Trimble-center field
Alicja Wolny-first base
Taner Fowler-designated hitter
Colby Wherry-shortstop
Jennifer Esteban-left field
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Louisville plays again today against Northern Illinois at 5 p.m.
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The BIG EAST holds the swimming and diving championships beginning today in the Ralph Wright Natatorium on campus. Diving starts the activities off and will take place thru Sunday. Tickets remain for the diving events. The swimming events start Wednesday and no tickets remain. Selling out a swimming meet...another example of Cardinal fervor for Cardinal teams.
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Paul ran into a couple of the University of Cincinnati divers yesterday and had a nice chat with them. Lindsay Bakan (Miamisburg, OH) and Maggie Edwards (Florence, KY/Notre Dame Academy) are seniors and have participated in meets several times at the "Ralph". Both agree that Louisville has the best facilities for swimming and diving in the BIG EAST. Both participated in the dual meet against Louisville on Jan. 15th. in the Ralph Wright Natatorium...Bakan finishing third in both the 1 meter and 3 meter events. Bakan also mentioned that she has never
won a diving match in Louisville and would love to get her first win ihere in the BIG EAST Tournament.
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Louisville is the prohibitive favorite in the swimming part of the championship. The Cards have the fastest times this season in 14 of the 21 events that will be contested. Cincinnati's Brittany Ten Eyck has the highest score in both the 1 and 3 meter diving events.
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Louisville's womens track and field squad will participate in two events this weekend. Part of the team is headed to the Akron Invitational in Akron, OH. and others will travel to the highly rated Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, ARK. Listed below are the Louisville participants by location and event.
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AKRON
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Pentathlon - Gabrielle Jackson
High Jump - Maggie Gilbertson
Pole Vault- Andrea Sabbatine, Chelsea Lucas
Long Jump- Kim Cardeiro
Shot Put- Chinwe Okoro
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TYSON
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400 meters - Ahlivia Spencer, Chelsea Brown
Long Jump - Charachesicia Lockhart, Margret Harris
60 meters - Saravia Richardson, (Harris)
Triple Jump - (Lockhart)
High Jump - Michelle Theophille, Megan Schubert
200 meters - (Richardson, Harris, Brown)
4x400 relays - (Lockhart, Spencer, Brown, Harris, Richardson)
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It's hard to believe but we have less than double figures in entries for PANERA Gift Card this week. Since we're doing a random drawing tomorrow, now's a great chance to get in! Just e-mail us your favorite Panera location, food or employee. cardinalcouple@insightbb.com
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Basketball heads up busy womens sports weekend

FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

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-LADY CARDS face UConn

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-Swimming & Diving host Cincy

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Cards in Kentucky Invitational track meet.

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Barack Obama, pictured right, decides to forego the rest of his presidency and play basketball for Geno at UConn. Although there are plenty of U.S. American citizens that would wholeheartedly approve the move, the picture is actually from when the Hustlin' Huskies visited the White House after winning the 2010 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship. Unconfirmed rumors that Obama put on the Air Jordans, shot around with Geno's gals on his private court and got schooled by former Husky great Tina Charles could not be verified. Maya Moore did go off for 33 against Hillary Clinton, though.

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The "from the fire to the frying pan" road trip continues for Jeff Walz's University of Louisville Lady Cards Saturday with a noon tip off against #2 UConn. Maybe the coach can summons the late, great John Belushi's pep talk from Animal House to motivate his 12-6 tribe. The Huskies are 15-1, 5-0 so far this season...losing to Stanford at Stanford and are coming off a 84-52 dismantling of St. John's in their last court appearance.

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UConn is led by All-American Maya Moore and although she could probably play with two waitresses, Bill the Goat and my aunt Sarah and still be 15-1, the Huskies have several other players that can light opponents up. It's Geno, after all...what else would you expect?

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The Huskies have starters Kelly Faris, Stephanie Dolson, Tiffany Hayes and Loren Dixon to call on if Moore decides to take a night off. Faris, Hayes and Dixon were all key contributors during last year's title grab and freshman Dolson is an impressive rebounder that is learning quickly as she goes for Geno. The second five that sees action for UConn could probably start for most of the other schools in Division I...Samarie Walker, Lauren Engeln, Bria Hartley, Heather Buck and Michala Johnson were all top class recruits coming out off high school and the Huskies' production doesn't suffer too badly when they enter the game. Carolyn Doty is also listed...but not playing due to injury.

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How do the Cards compete against such a worthy opponent? Rhetoric and theory are great things and we could lay out a ton of situational scenario for you to digest, but for Louisville to win...they must play their best game of the year...and then some. A Kentucky type effort might keep Louisville within 12-15 points. In short, no defensive lapses, tentative rebounding, mediocre 3-point shooting or points off turnover squandering. Is it in you, Louisville? We'll know early Saturday afternoon..

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The University of Louisville swimming and diving teams hosts Cincinnati for a dual meet on Saturday in the Ralph Wright Natatorium. Both the men's and women's squads are 2-0 on the year in the BIG EAST after downing WVU and Pitt. Splash away, aquatic heroes!

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Track and Field heads to Lexington this afternoon for a 2 day meet in the Kentucky Invitational in UK's Nutter Field House. On the women's side...14 squads will compete. D'Ana McCarty tries to top her NCAA #2 throw in the Weight Throw and Khadija Abdullah goes for a NCAA best in the shot put. The Cards will also compete in the Pole Vault, Triple Jump, High Jump and Long Jump in the field and seven track events over the 2 day meet. You can follow the results on http://www.ukathletics.com/ or just check back here for the outcomes.

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Schimmel selected BIG EAST freshman of the week

TUESDAY @ C.C.



-Shoni Schimmel BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors.


-Lady Cards Track and Field update.

-Marion County girls basketball debuts tonight.

Shoni Schimmel, pictured here sharing a laugh with teammates during the UK game has been named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week. Schimmel had six threes in the UK and Mississippi Valley State games and 26 points against the Cats. (Photo from bigeast.org)
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Other honorees for the week in the BIG EAST:
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-Sophomore Syracuse center Kayla Alexander was named Player of the Week. She averaged 20 points a game in the Orange's 3 wins.
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-Keisha Hampton (DePaul), Sugar Rodgers (Georgetown), Skylar Diggins (Notre Dame), Kandice Green (Seton Hall) and Madina Ali (WVU) were named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll for their performances.
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-No Becky Burke for her efforts? I guess the BIG EAST names only one player per team to these things. That's OK, the CARDINAL COUPLE Honor Roll will name Burke, Keisha Hines, Schimmel, Shelby Harper and Sherrone Vails as our top performers. I guess we should add Victoria Dunlap from UK to that list as well. Great effort from the Wildcat against the Cards. Fortunately, her knee injury in the Louisville game Sunday was not serious and she is expected to play Tuesday night against Tenn. Tech.
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LADY CARDS track and Field fared very well in the Southern Illinois Fast Start Invitational in Carbondale. Illinois over the weekend. Khadija Abdullah won the shot put toss and D'Ana McCarty took the weight throw.
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On the running side, Ahliva Spencer finished first in the 600 meter run. The Cards also got three second place finishes in running events.

The indoor track season picks up again in mid-January for UofL with participation in the Kentucky Invitational in Lexington.
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Marion County, one of the preseason favorites in Kentucky Girls High School basketball, begins their season tonight with a trip to Adair County. The Lebanon, KY. school is led by junior Bre Elder and sophomores Makayla Epps and Kyvin-Goodin Rogers. These three teamed up with Rockcastle County senior Sara Hammond this summer on the KENTUCKY PREMIER AAU team and were unbeatable. Sure would be nice to see all four in Cardinal uniforms down the road...are ya listening Coach Walz?
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We had a report that Epps was seen at the recent UofL vs. UK women's basketball game in a Cardinal shirt. No argument here...
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WE'LL keep track of Marion County's progress this season. WE know that they'll be in Louisville at least three times this year for regular season games against Ballard, Manual and Mercy. You just might want to get out and see one or more of these...they put on a show.

Summers gets third in Hammer throw

Senior Jere' Summers finished third in the hammer throw Thursday at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, OR. She was one of three Cardinals to participate in the event. Junior D'Ana McCarty finished 10th and senior Lindsay Cook ended up 11th.
Both Summers and McCarty received All-American honors for their efforts, since they finished in the top ten.

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It's on. With Colorado leaving the Big 12 and joining the Pac 10, get ready for sizeable earthquakes in the conference alignments. Nebraska, Missouri, Texas, Notre Dame are all candidates to fill out forwarding address cards in this rebuild of the college conference landscape.

The Colorado move makes sense from a geographical standpoint. No big stretch to go to Los Angeles or Phoenix for games than it was to hit Columbia, MO or Austin, TX.
The dollars were there, the invitation on the porch step and they took it.

The next moves could be quite interesting. The ripple effect of four or five teams going from their previous alignments to new pastures will affect all the BCS conferences.

I guess Ralphie the Buffalo will need to sport some shades for his L.A. visits and get ready for rainy Seattle down the road. I wonder if he and Bevo text each other?

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Friday Night Racing at Churchill Downs. Post time at 6 p.m. and it's disco theme night. If you go, expect big crowds and a lot of polyester. They're tossing in a happy hour as well from 4-6 p.m. with reduced prices on Budweiser products, frozen drinks and hot dogs.

I'm going to pass on the bell bottoms, flowered shirt and heels with the goldfish in them. It's gonna be 90 degrees out there and shorts, t-shirt and sandals will do just fine.

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Kentucky High School Girls' Softball Tournament begins today in Owensboro, KY. Sixteen teams will go thru the double elimination format over the next two days to determine the state champ. Local schools PRP and Mercy are involved, so best of luck to the Panthers and Jaguars! We'll have a full recap of the first day of action here at CARDINAL COUPLE tomorrow.

Two more from UofL Women's Track in Championships

(A brief tribute to the brilliant actor Dennis Hopper, who passed away from prostate cancer. His roles in "Easy Rider", "Blue Velvet" and "Speed" will always be remembered as some of the best character portrayls in cinema. We had the distinct pleasure of seeing him at the Kentucky Derby several years ago and spent the rest of the afternoon making up subplot stories on how some of his best character roles would have behaved at the Run for the Roses.)

Rest ye well, Dennis.

Two more Cardinals have qualified for the NCAA Championships. D'Ana McCarty finished ninth in the discus during Day Two of the East Regionals and Characheicia Lockhard finished in the top twelve in the long jump to move to the next level.

Jere' Summers fouled on all of her discus attempts and will not advance.

Louisville will have four participants in the upcoming Championships.

-D'ana McCarty (Hammer, discus)
-Jere' Summers (Hammer)
-Lindsey Cook (Hammer)
-Characheicia Lockhart (Long Jump)

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The amamzing Angel McCoughtry unleashed 32 points on the L.A. Sparks Sunday to lead the Atlanta Dream to a 101-82 win. Our friend Sue has a great recap of the Dream's win on her site "They're Playing Basketball." You can access it over on the left hand side of our site under SITES WE RECOMMEND."

Atlanta is now 6-0 and according to McCoughtry:

"When we're playing off of our defense, we can't be beat."

A few points from McCoughtry don't hurt either.

What impact has McCoughtry had on the Dream since she arrived in the WNBA last year? Before Angel, Atlanta was the worst team in the WNBA. When she arrived...and she became a starter....they reached the playoffs. She made Chamique Holdsclaw expendable and eventually released.

Angel, obviously, hasn't done it all by herself. But...like her teammates at UofL realized when she showed up on the UofL campus as a freshman...her court actions make everyone else a little better and the team excellent.

As a former Lady Card who spent one season with her said:

"We've come to expect the unexpected out of her... anything she does isn't surprising. I'm lucky. I get a front row seat on the bench to watch her work."

Women's throwers "put the hammer down" in Regionals

Senior discus and hammer athelete Jere' Summers was one of three UofL women's track and field members to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

Summers, D'Ana McCarty and Lindsey Cook all are headed to the Championships in the hammer event after first day action in the NCAA East Regional at North Carolina A&T in Greensboro.

Summers was 3rd out of 48 entries in the hammer toss with just one qualifying throw in the event. Senior Lindsey Cook finished 5th and junior D'Ana McCarty secured 10th place for the Cards. The top 12 finishers made it to the championships.

Both Summers and McCarty will also participate in the discus on Day Two of the regionals. Given their domination of the recent Big East Championships, both should easily score well enough to participate in the championships in this event also.

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How about Angel McCoughtry! The Atlanta Dream are 5-0 in the WNBA Eastern Division and McCoughtry leads the league in scoring average with 21 points a game. They had to work late to take the latest one when they faced the Phoenix Mercury. Atlanta stormed out to a 65-46 halftime lead but then had to withstand a late 16-0 run by Phoenix. With the score 96-93 Atlanta, guard Diana Taursi missed a game tying 3 pointer at the buzzer for the Mercury and the Dream escaped with the win.

McCoughtry had 28 points to lead the Dream. They face the always tough Los Angeles Sparks on Sunday.

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A bit off our usual subject matter here, but CARDINAL COUPLE spent Saturday afternoon with several fans and former players from the Arkansas State football team over at Churchill Downs.

They are eagerly anticipating Charlie Strong bringing the Cards to Jonesboro, Arkansas in early October. With the group were a couple of former cheerleaders for ASU and a current assistant trainer for the athletic program.

They share a common thread with Cardinal fans. They absolutely love the city of Louisvile and they're not exactly enamored with Lexington nor UK. A lot of positive comments about the Downtown Arena construction and the Papa John Cardinal Stadium expansion.

A nice afternoon discussing college sports, watching the horses and enjoying the beautiful weather. Have a safe trip home, folks...but remember...Cardinal Football will arrive in Jonesboro in October and leave with a win.

Cards, Collins corral Bulls 5-0

(One last look at the 136th Kentucky Derby...a great shot from above the starting gate.)

Tori Collins pitched her second shoutout in as many days Sunday...blanking the USF Bulls in Tampa. Collins tossed a no-hitter for the first six innings of the game and finished allowing only two hits and striking out six. The win for Louisville (34-16, 13-6) cements a 3rd place standing in the Big East as they travel to UConn later this week to end the regular season.

For the Cards, another scenario of pouncing the opponent early. They started the top of the second with 4 straight singles by Colby Wherry, Jennifer Esteban, Alicja Wolny and Katelyn Mann to take a 1-0 lead, got another run on a dropped ball and used a Melissa Roth single to make it 3-0. The final run of the inning came when Vanessa James scored on a wild pitch.

The Cards tacked on an insurance run in the fifth when an Esteban single got home Mann who had earlier singled.

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Louisville lacrosse got a win on the road at Villanova on Sunday. Bergan Foley netted 7 goals and Katie Oliverio contributed 5 assists in the Cards 19-6 win over the Wildcats to end the season.

Louisville scored the first 4 goals of the game and never trailed the Wildcats. The Cards end the year with a 11-6 record and 4-4 in the Big East. The Cards lose only four seniors and have a strong nucleus returning next season with Oliverio, Foley, Liz Lovejoy, Emily Dashiell and Danielle Pawliw all returning for Kellie Young's squad.

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The UofL women's track and field team won their third straight Big East Championship in Cincinnati on Sunday. Jere Summers won the discus and hammer throws and was selected field MOP of the championship. The Cards finished 1-2-3 in the discus...D'Ana McCarty earning second spot and Lindsey Cook third. Theresa Lewis got third in the 100 meter hurdles and Chelsea Brown fourth in the 400 meter hurdles.

Written by Sonja
5/3/10

Busy weekend for UofL women's sports

The softball Cards head to Tampa seeking to sink the Bulls in weekend softball. Louisville is 3rd in the Big East and recently had Chelsea Bemis selected as National Player of the Week.

Louisville sits behind Notre Dame and DePaul in the conference standings and will host the Big East softball tournament next week at Ulmer Stadium. Led by Bemis, Melissa Roth, Jordan Trimble and several other sluggers, the Cards look to finish strong against rival USF.

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THe Big East track and field championships take place this weekend in Cincinnati, Ohio. THe women's squad has won the championships the last two years in a row and the men's team will be competing in Cincy as well.

Louisville is loaded in the hammer, discus and shot put events. Jere Summers and D'Ana McCarty lead a group of tossers that have the best three distances in the hammer and shot and the top two in the discus this year.

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Lacrosse travels to Rutgers for a match against the Scarlet Knights. The Big East championships for lacrosse are being held there this year and even though Louisville is mathmatically eliminated for a chance to participate, a strong finish by returning stars Liz Lovejoy, Bergin Folly and Katie Oliverio could help build the foundation for what will be a veteran and strong team for next year. Plus, beating Rutgers in anything is always a plus.

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Finally, it is Kentucky Oaks Day. Best of luck to you if you are headed to the spectacle and bring your sunblock. 85 and breezy. That won't be the case Saturday Derby Day, when rain is threatening to drench the onlookers and possible severe weather could affect the Louisville area.

Written by Paul
4/30/10

McCarty repeats as NCAA Champ

Louisville junior D'Ana McCarty won the NCAA Women's Indoor Weight Throw for the second consecutive year at the NCAA Championship Track and Field events held at the University of Arkansas. McCarty beat her previous record throw by eight inches and dominated the competition in Fayetteville...winning the event by almost 4 feet over the runner up.

McCarty has not been defeated in over two years and has won eighteen consecutive matches in the weight throw. Teammate Jere Summers also competed in the event but fouled on her throws and did not get an official toss in.

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Softball goes to the plate at noon today in the first day of the Red and Black Classic at Ulmer Stadium. The Cards will play two games today and two tomorrow, facing Michigan and Hofstra each day.

The Cards go on the road after this weekend's Classic to participate in the Judy Garmen Classic in Fullerton, CA. Arizona, Texas, Purdue, New Mexico, Cal State Northridge and Cal State Fullerton are the other teams in the 4 day event. Louisville will play each team once...beginning with Arizona at noon on Thursday, March 18th.

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Louisville's Mercy Academy has advanced to the Kentucky Girls High School State Tournament Final Four with a win over Henderson County 71-57. Therese Montano led for Jaguars in double figures with 16 points and nine boards.

The Jags (25-8) get Rowan County (22-8) today at 11 a.m. and would face the winner of the Scott County vs. Rockcastle County game if they can win. Rockcastle County had been dominating in the Houchens Industries/KHSAA girls' Sweet 16...beating Murray 69-36 and Clark County 56-45. Scott County advanced to the Final Four with a exciting 67-66 win over Boone County in overtime. Kristen Stainback drilled a three pointer with 4 seconds remaining to give the Lady Cardinals the boost to Saturday action.

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The top two fillies in horse racing take to the track today in preparation for their square off in April. Zenyatta will will face eight competitors in the Santa Margarita Handicap at Santa Anita and Rachel Alexandria will get tested by four fillies in the New Orleans Ladies' Stakes at Fairgrounds. They'll face each other for the first time ever on April 9th. in the $5 million Apple Blossom Invitational at Oaklawn. Go get 'em Rachel...we all know that you'll dust today's competition and then top Zenyatta next.

Written by Paul
3/13/10