This Week's Laundry is Mixed Load

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( Back from her trip to Bayou Country, Sandy Walker returns today to share her laundry list all things UofL sports relevant. The University of Louisville womens' basketball team plays Rutgers tonight in the KFC YUM! Center at 7 p.m. in BIG EAST action. Both teams are coming off of conference-opening losses, Louisville to DePaul and Rutgers to St. John's. Should be a good one...Rutgers center Monique Oliver coming off a sprained ankle. See you at the YUM! Jenny will have the recap Tuesday night/Wednesday morning)

VOLLEYBALL

Volleyball signee, Maya McClendon, was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA seventh annual Under Armour Girls High School All-America Teams.  Check out details at http://www.gocards.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/121412aaa.html .

 

SOFTBALL

 

This year’s Bullpen Dinner will feature Olympian Danielle Lawrie as the keynote speaker. The annual dinner will be held in the Regency Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Saturday January 26 at 7:30 p.m.   You can find out now to be a part of the celebration by checking out http://www.gocards.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/121012aab.html .

 

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LACROSSE

 

By a vote of the players the lacrosse team has again named the trio of Katie Oliverio, Monica Negron and Janaye Dzikewich as this year’s captains.

 

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WOMEN’S HOOPS ON TV


 

THIS WEEK PER NCAA.COM

Tuesday	Rutgers at Louisville	CBS SN	7 p.m.
	Detroit at Green Bay	horizonleague.com	8 p.m.
	Utah vs. Colorado	Pac-12 Network	8 p.m.
	Stanford vs. California	Pac-12 Network	10 p.m.
Wednesday	Texas at West Virginia	WVUSports.com	7 p.m.
	Oklahoma at TCU	FSSW Plus	8 p.m.
	Cleveland State at Illinois-Chicago	horizonleague.com	5:30 p.m.
	Kansas State at Texas Tech	FSSW	8 p.m.
Thursday	Virginia at Georgia Tech	ESPN3	7 p.m.
	Wake Forest at Florida State	ESPN3	7 p.m.
	North Carolina at North Carolina State	ACCDN/YT	7 p.m.
	Eastern Washington at Northern Arizona	NAU-TV	8:35 p.m.
	Iowa at Wisconsin	BTN	8:30 p.m.
	Illinois at Northwestern	BTN.com	8 p.m.
	Nebraska at Indiana	BTN	6:30 p.m.
	Wright State at Milwaukee	horizonleague.com	8 p.m.
	Central Michigan at Toledo	STO	7 p.m.
	Texas A&M at Kentucky	FSN	6 p.m.
	Missouri at Tennessee	SPSO	8 p.m.
	Florida at Mississippi State	SUN	8 p.m.
	Georgia at Alabama	CSS	9 p.m.
	A&M-Corpus Christi at McNeese State	ESPN3	6:30 p.m.
	Louisiana-Monroe at Troy	Sun Belt Network	1 p.m.
	Seattle at New Mexico State	AggieVision	8:30 p.m.
Friday	Washington State vs. Southern California	Pac-12 Network	11 p.m.
Saturday	Villanova at Pittsburgh	BETV	6 p.m.
	Portland State at Northern Arizona	NAU-TV	8:35 p.m.
	West Virginia at Kansas State	FSN	4 p.m.
	TCU at Iowa State	Cyclones TV	7 p.m.
	Texas Tech at Oklahoma	SSTV web stream	8 p.m.
	Detroit at Cleveland State	horizonleague.com	2 p.m.
	Youngstown State at Valparaiso	horizonleague.com	2:35 p.m.
	Wright State at Green Bay	horizonleague.com	3 p.m.
	Illinois-Chicago at Loyola Chicago	horizonleague.com	3 p.m.
	FIU at UALR	Sun Belt Network	2 p.m.
	Pepperdine at BYU	BYUtv	4 p.m.
	Idaho at New Mexico State	AggieVision	8:30 p.m.
Sunday	Boston College at Clemson	RSN	1 p.m.
	Georgia Tech at North Carolina	ESPN3	2 p.m.
	Miami (Fla.) at Florida State	RSN	3 p.m.
	Fordham at Charlotte	CBS SN	2 p.m.
	Rutgers at Notre Dame	ESPNU	3:30 p.m.
	Wisconsin at Michigan	BTN	2 p.m.
	Michigan State at Illinois	BTN	4 p.m.
	Nebraska at Penn State	ESPN2	2 p.m.
	Oklahoma State at Texas	FSN	12:30 p.m.
	Baylor at Kansas	FSN	2:30 p.m.
	Southern Miss at Memphis	FSN	4:30 p.m.
	Toledo at Bowling Green	STO	2 p.m.
	San Diego State at Colorado State	CBS SN	5 p.m.
	Ohio State vs. Arizona State	Pac-12 Network	3 p.m.
	Colorado vs. Utah	Pac-12 Network	5 p.m.
	Lafayette at Navy	CBS SN	12 p.m.
	Tennessee at Florida	ESPNU	11:30 a.m.
	South Carolina at Georgia	CSS	1 p.m.
	Kentucky at Missouri	ESPNU	1:30 p.m.
	Alabama at Ole Miss	SPSO	2:30 p.m.

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BASKETBALL

RUTGERS AHEAD

 

The women will host Rutgers at home tonight at 7:00

Tonight one of my favorite coaches comes to town bringing with her a Rutgers University squad which represents one of 3 distinct schools which she has brought to NCAA final 4 contests.    At times I think Vivian Stringer is one of the lesser known still active women's basketball  "foundation" and coaches.    Any lack of notoriety is due not to a lack of accomplishments or caring but instead to her more quiet and stoic outward appearance under which radiates the fire of a competitor and champion.  To it we are truly privileged to have such a remaining active icon of the sport coming to our arena.

Through life she has faced and overcome multiple personal challenges and tragedies in the same way she teaches her players to handle and overcome issues.     Her addressing of challenges began as far back as 1955 when she legally fought and defeated her high school which had refused her as a cheerleader because she was black.     Adversity has continued to arise through severe medical issues of a child, the unexpected death of a husband and a media firestorm as late as 2007 when Don Imus, on his radio show, made derogatory racial remarks about her successful Rutgers team.   

She is currently the 3rd most winning coaches in women's basketball history and is leading all active NCAA women's basketball coaches.   While achieving this level of success her quiet but powerful on and off the court demeanor causes her to also be known and thought of by her players as their 2nd, and for a few their first, mom for their lifetimes.

With this history no one should under estimate any team she brings to town.  While this year’s team may not appear to be one of her strongest threats it would be foolish to take them lightly.  They come to tonight's nationally broadcast game, on the CBS sports network, with a Sunday 4 point loss to St John's in a contest similar to Louisville's Saturday loss to DePaul where they fought back from a major point deficit only to come up a bit short in the end.   This makes both teams hungry and eager for a contest which would restore their credibility.   The ending story in the Rutgers loss is a particularly sore point as after battling back to a 2 point game with less than a minute left, a referee mistakingly indicated the St John's player had a 2 shot foul where a 1& 1 was correct.  After a missed first shot, the error was discovered and the player was given a chance, and was successful, in hitting the 1 & 1 in a do-over which sealed the win for St John's.   I think this unfortunate situation, which ended their 9 game home winning streak, might create a greater than normal desire for a comeback win.  

The Scarlet Knights high scoring threats in Big East play have been Sophomore Betnijah Laney  and Senior Erica Wheeler while 6'2" F/C Monique Oliver's 11.1 ppg. average leads the team in scoring for the season. This could provide an exciting match-up with Louisville's Sara Hammond.      See you at the pre-game warm ups.   

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BIG EAST BASKETBALL NEWS
 

There is hope for all as on Saturday Notre Dame showed a national television audience that currently top-ranked Connecticut could be defeated as a 73-72 score took the Huskies down at their home arena in Storrs.

Sandy W.



 

Tuesday Cardinal Couple -- Running, Running, Running!

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

(Staff columnist Sandy Walker brings us her weekly jaunt through Cardinal womens' athletics and more! Adjust your seatbelt, put your tray in the upright position and prepare for take off!)

This week Sandy will spend her time exchanging dirty laundry for clean clothes during brief stops home between attending matches and games.

Fans will need to put their running shoes on as

Wednesday

is basketball with Eastern KY,

Thursday and Friday are the opening rounds of the NCAA Volleyball Championship

and Sunday is the UK basketball game.

BASKETBALL – TENNESSEE MARTIN GAME

The now 7-0 Louisville women again did not trail during the course of their game and for 25 minutes looked to be unbeatable by anyone but then they also again managed to spend some time with a lost focus, while becoming sloppy and allowing too many unforced turnovers which opened the door for Tennessee Martin to reduce a Louisville 26 point lead to 11 with only 4:56 left.  They managed to keep it together for a 79-61 win but went for a period of time where the broadcaster said they appeared at times to be brain dead.                                          

In his post game interview Coach Walz said that they just were not mentally tough and it seemed Coach Walz was extremely upset at everyone including UofL play-by-play announcer Matt Andrews but did praise the team for a good job of guarding. 

(Editor's Note): The thing about Coach is that he can parody and feign anger, indifference and rage with the skill of a Shakesperian actor. It made for the best 10 minutes of radio of the evening...including Walz staying on to read the post-game UofL stats over the air and delivering a flawless recap of them...including a brief synopsis of each player's acheivements. The bottom line is that Coach was probably as upset over the Cards losing a 26 point lead with 15:16 to go as we were at home...listening to the game. And, he has a lot more vested in the outcome than we the fans do.

               

Fortunately the women were able to come away with the win with Bria Smith (16), Sara Hammond (14), Megan Deines (15) , Shoni Schimmel (16) and Monique Reid (10) all shooting double figures.  Deines appears to improve with each outing.  Her 3 pointer will soon not only match but exceed Becky’s Big Shot threat.  Tonight was a break out game of sorts for Bria Smith who added a game high 7 rebounds to her status.  It appears that over the summer Bria has added an outside shot to her lay-up arsenal and it is paying off.  Also note that this was Sara’s 4^th game of the season with double shooting figures while last year she only had 4 games which showed double figures.   Shows what an intensive and dedicated summer can do.  In addition, Louisville out rebounded UTM 40-22.

Looking forward to a solid 40 minutes of play this Wednesday against Eastern Kentucky as a primer for UK on Sunday.

Again I want to give a shout-out to the OVC network which allowed Louisville fans to watch the game while listening to Matt and A.J.’s radio broadcast.

Louisville outrebounded the SkyHawks 40-22 and shot a sizzling 55.4% for the game (31-56). They also sank 6-20 from 3-point range. Shoni had four of them and Megan Deines two. 19 turnovers for the Lady Cards, compared to 17 for UTM. Hats off for the free throw shooting! 11-13, which is the best outing of the year at the charity stripe.

We mentioned Monday that Newsome and Butler would be ones to watch and they were, indeed. They made 14 of the 25 baskets UTM scored and had 33 of the 61 points.

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VOLLEYBALL

The Louisville YUM! CENTER and our 10^th ranked Volleycards have been awarded the first and second rounds of the 64 team Division I national championship tournament.   

This is the 15^th consecutive year for the Volleycards to gain an NCAA bid and is a testament to the strength of the program.  Louisville’s match on Thursday is with OVC winner Belmont.  Wins on both nights will send them to Berkley for regionals before a return to the championships.  The marketing department has been promoting that the road to the championship begins and ends in Louisville.

Tickets for both the first and second opening rounds and the Championship can be obtained by contacting the Louisville Ticket Office during normal business hours (Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.) by phone (502-852-5863) or e-mail (ticketoffice@louisville.edu).  Opening rounds are scheduled for this Thursday and Friday and both nights can be seen for a total of $20 by adults and $10  for students and children.   The Championships are set for December 13th and 15^th   with ticket prices subject to age and arena location.

VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT BRACKETS

 

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BASKETBALL SCHEDULE CHANGES

Wednesday’s game against Eastern KY has been changed to 7:30 from 7:00.

Sunday’s game against UK has been changed to 6:00.

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“NELL ON WHEELS” WITH NELL FORTNER COMING TO LOUISVILLE

Nell Fortner will be in Louisville for the UK game with her road show.  Information about the new show can be found at  http://www.fullcourt.com/ncaa/22157/nell-fortner-takes-road-game-day-show but more importantly everyone on Sunday needs to be at the YUM! CENTER a full one hour early before the start of the UK game.  Nell’s RV road show will move indoors to the lobby where her show will be taped for later distribution.  UK fans are arriving by bus and plan to arrive in time for her show which will feature open discussion with fans of both teams and perhaps featured guests which she will later select.  Those present should feel free to be a part of the video – otherwise the UK folks will appear to out-number us at our own arena.   Remember: SUNDAY -- BE AT THE ARENA LOBBY ONE HOUR BEFORE TIP OFF AND JOIN IN THE PRODUCTION.

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LOUISVILLE CARDS MOBILE APP

Today I learned that the Louisville Cards Mobile App also has available a live game day audio and video premium option.  My excitement is that I now have the ability to listen to the live game broadcast while at the game.  Readers who know of other options to do the same please share it with our readers through the comment section.

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WOMEN’S GAMES ON TV THIS WEEK

There are a large number of games being publically broadcast this week.

Note: The schedule above lists the Louisville/KEntucky game at 2 p.m. Just a reminder...it is at 6 p.m.

 

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BASKETBALL WOMEN WINS HARDWOOD TOURNMENT

The women beat Oregon on Thursday to win the Hardwood Tournament which was played at Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  High scorers were Shoni Schimmel with 15 and Sara Hammond with 17.  The team ended the tournament at 6-0 for the season.

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TOP 100 PROGRAMS

SBN has the full list of Top 100 programs in women's NCAA Division I basketball.  It can be found at http://www.swishappeal.com/2012/11/3/3596590/top-100-programs-womens-ncaa-division-i-basketball-full-list with Louisville coming in at # 10.

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ATTENDANCE

 SBN also has compiled a great article which came from the study of NCAA Division I attendance figures for men’s and women’s basketball.   One of the revelations for me is that due to our above average attendance at Louisville for both the men and women’s teams that we are unaware of most of the rest of the team situations. The average men's college basketball attendance for home games in NCAA Division I is 4,994. The average women's basketball attendance for home games is 1,583.   Not 14,000 vs  1500 but 4,994 vs 1,583.  This averages to 3 fans attending men’s team games per 1 fan attending a women’s game.  My second revelation is that there are actually schools where the women’s teams outdraw those attending the men’s game.   Baylor and Notre Dame are among those schools with higher attendance at the women’s basketball games than those who attend the men’s game.   Surprised/shocked -- yea  -- me too!  My remaining question is how much longer is it going to be before Louisville is added to this list as their team play is organized and exciting to watch?

Just for the record

                                     MEN              WOMEN                   RATIO

           

Louisville	21,503	10,670	2.02
Kentucky	23,721	6,282	3.78

The complete article can be found at http://www.swishappeal.com/2012/11/21/3659730/ncaa-womens-basketball-attendance-mens .

Sandy W.