U Can't stuff this

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

We hope your Thanksgiving holiday is great and WE'LL see you Friday. WE appreciate all our great readers and are very thankful for you checking out CARDINAL COUPLE. As a fan voice for Cardinal Women's Athletics, we try to never forget that it's YOU who make CARDINAL COUPLE. We promise to provide you the best coverage we can on Cardinal Women's sports. WE'RE excited about this weekend and hope the LADY CARDS do well in Florida, that the Volleyball team gets a great seed in the NCAA Tournament and wish all the hard-working atheletes that don the Cardinal uniforms the best of successes and healthy bodies to compete and grow.

From Paul, Sonja, David, Jenny, Sandra, Donnie, Bill the Goat, Tommy Boy, Felton John, Poobah, Cletus, Co-Co and La-La...HAPPY THANKSGIVING and GO CARDS!

We offer this story for you today from a reader who tells us about a very special Thanksgiving memory and the aspects of giving.

It was a couple of days before Thanksgiving many years back, and most of the students/frat brothers were making plans to go home for the holidays. Since I was local, it was no big deal for me. Just hop in the car, make the 20 minute drive and I was there.

I saw the building's custodian early that morning and we chatted for awhile. I asked him about his Thanksgiving plans and he told me was going to the downtown Walgreens to have his dinner. Back then, some of them still had luncheonette counters. I asked why he didn't spend time with his family and he point-blank told me

"I don't have any family."

He went on to explain that his parents had been dead for some time, he had been an only child and he hadn't kept up with his dad's brother or mother's brother in years.

I thought about that as I got ready to go sit down with my family for Thanksgiving. How lucky I was to be able to share it with my family. That I wasn't alone in the world.

I made a slight detour before heading out to my parents' house. Went to the Walgreens. Asked the counter waitress if she knew the custodian. She did. I gave her some cash, enough to pay for his dinner, a piece of pie and a tip for her. I asked her not to tell him who did this. She was touched. She promised she wouldn't .

I graduated that next spring, went out of town for a few years on my first job, but made it back down to the frat house for a football homecoming party and asked about the custodian. I was told he had died of a heart attack two years earlier, while on the job. I remembered his lack of family situation and wondered aloud who buried him.

The young man I was talking to said..."We did. He'd do this big deal for us each year...hang Christmas stockings on our doors for us and we'd find them after we returned from Christmas break. Candy, snacks, and gift certificates to Walgreens. So, when we found out he didn't have anybody, we realized that he had US and we took up a collection, talked to a local funeral home who gave us a pretty good rate and we took care of it. Funny, we were the only ones at the viewing except for this lady who showed up late. She was a waitress. She said she knew him from Walgreens. We were just going to have him cremated but she tells us she has these couple of graveyard plots and she'd give one up for him to be buried there. Tells us that she'd been in love with him for years but she was too shy and unconfident to tell him. Tells us that she'd like him to rest next to her when she eventually died. She had enjoyed him coming in most afternoons for lunch and that he had asked her a week before he died if maybe she'd consider going to a movie with him. They never got to do that, but it meant to her that maybe her love wasn't unrequieted."

As you enjoy your Thanksgiving season, remember those less fortunate than you and do what you can. Sometimes, it can set off a wonderful chain of responses.

(Author's name withheld by request)
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Cards prepare for post-Thanksgiving road trip

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WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Lady Cards head to Florida for two

-Watson's column: Favorite foods for Lady Cards

After the turkey, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie has been cleared from the table Thursday...the Lady Cards head south for two games...Florida State on Friday and Florida A&M on Saturday. One stop covers both, since both schools are located in Tallahassee.

The Lady Seminoles are 4-2 on the season...starting with wins over Florida Southern College, South Florida and Minnesota, but losing to Arkansas and Florida. They got back on the winning track with their first home game of the year on Monday night...downing Georgia State 94-74. 

Bravard was pre-season
first team ACC and first
team Sporting News All-
American.

Junior forward Chelsea Davis came off the bench for F.S.U. and scored 25 points to lead the 'Noles to the win. Two more juniors...wings Alexa Deluzio (20 pts.) and Chasity Clayton (18 pts.) were also instrumental in the win. Strong post player Cierra Bravard added 11 for #21 Florida State.

"We're pretty deep into the season for it to be our first home game. We've learned a lot on the road. We've started a little slower than we hoped. We're patient. I thought Deluzio did a great job of running the show against Georgia State and Chelsea having a career night was huge for us as well." -Florida State head coach Sue Semrau.

On Saturday, the Lady Cards will travel a few miles and face the FAMU Lady Rattleretts. They're 1-2 on the season, having lost to FIU 79-64 last time out and will face Nebraska before taking on the Cards.  

Obviously, the Lady Cards will have their hands full in stopping Bravard, a 6'4" post that plays the power game in the paint. Louisville can't concentrate on just stopping her, though. The Noles have shown they have several scoring options. Look for Louisville to try and get FSU out of their half court offense with full court pressure and kick the transition game into high gear. Arkansas survived against the 'Noles by hitting a buzzer beater three to win 55-52 and FSU likes the pace and tempo in the 50-60 point range...where two of their four wins have ended up. 

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(David Watson is a special contributor to Cardinal Couple. This time of year, his thoughts turn to food. We've seen him in action, the man can clear a plate of delectables faster than Bria Smith can cut to the baseline and bank one in.)

I like turkey. Oven roasted, smothered in giblet gravy and ample portions of white and dark meat. Not so big on ham for Thanksgiving, but I won't scrape it off my plate if it's served. I also like mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, rolls and pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving. This means I better get busy in the kitchen, since my wife and kids have no desire to slave over a hot stove and prepare these things. We don't spend Thanksgiving with relatives because my wife usually works the weekend at the hospital. I enjoy cooking on Thanksgiving. I've prepared turkey several ways over the years. Deep fried it outdoors, oven-baked it, put it on a rotisserie and oven baked is still the best.

I got my UofL women's basketball media guide recently and started looking at what the Lady Cards favorite foods are. Here's what I discovered - with my usual smart aleck comments :

Becky Burke - Steak and Potatoes (Can't go wrong there. Porterhouse and twice-baked potato will definitely get my attention.)

Set me a bottle of A-1 down and back off !

Monique Reid - Sapporo (I'm assuming not the beer, but the Japanese grill and sushi restaurant in Louisville.)

Tia Gibbs - Zaxby's. (Never been to the chicken fast food place but they have sweet potato fries, a plus.)

Shelby Harper - Steak and potatoes. (She's such a little girl, I bet she gets the petite filet mignon.)

Asia Taylor - Mama's home cooking. ( That's never a bad choice. I still drool when I think of my dearly departed mother's pot roast.)

Shoni Schimmel -  Sapparo's (I wonder if she and Mo go there and plot strategy for UofL games? Looking at Sho-time's shooting % this year, maybe she's referring to the beer.)

Antonita Slaughter - Sushi. (That table at Sapparo's is getting crowded!)

"The Reid party,  your table is now available."

Charmaine Tay - Chipotle burrito (They probably don't serve that at Sapparo's but maybe Mo, Shoni and Antonita drop her off at Los Azteca's on the way to Sapparo's.)

Sherrone Vails - Sizzlin' Bacon. (OK, this is the most interesting one I've read so far. Hopefully, she waits until it's out of the skillet.)

Cierra Warren - My godmother's pasta. ( Being a huge noodle fan myself, I gotta know. White or red sauce? I'm a red guy.)

Shawnta Dyer - Cheesecake. (She's got some good choices in Louisville. Homemade Pie Kitchen and Adam Matthews.)

Dig in, Sara...it's three layers

Sara Hammond - Giant chocolate wedding cake. (OK, we've got a new leader for most interesting response. I wonder if she dresses in a bridal gown when she consumes this?) 

Jude Schimmel - Kwongs. ( I had to Google it. It's a Chinese restaurant in Pendleton, Oregon. I might recommend August Moon in Louisville, a lot shorter drive for you and excellent Chinese-Mongolian fare.)

Bria Smith- Lobster. (Typical New York girl. Fancy tastes and I'm guessing she likes it pre-cracked and served with warm, drawn butter and a shrimp cocktail appetizer.)

I've probably made you hungry after reading this and, if so, mission accomplished. As far as my favorite thing to eat goes, I fell in love with prime rib years ago and like it medium-rare, with a baked potato and tossed salad.

So...good dining to you and yours this Thanksgiving holiday and I hope you have the best of weekends. If you get bored, stop by and help me with potato peeling and bird basting. If Paul and Sonja offer me the vacant food editor postition at CARDINAL COUPLE, I just might accept. After dinner, of course.

(David Watson actually was a short order cook in college for a couple of years, a part time job that he still has the grease burns from. Waffle House has his picture posted in their break rooms with the caption: DO NOT RE-HIRE).
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Return of Reid helps Cards defeat the Governors

CARDINAL COUPLE GAME REPORT:

-Monique Reid has 18 in win over Austin Peay

A Tuesday noon crowd of 12,736...buoyed by thousands of local elementary school children...was loud and rambunctious today as the Lady Cards put away a pesky Austin Peay squad 78-60 in the KFC YUM! Center this afternoon. Louisville used a 21-6 run over five minutes in the second half to bust open a 
36-36 tie and take a 57-42 lead with 11:25 remaining in the game. 

First graders from St. Margaret Mary prepare to sing
the national anthem.

The Cards had four in double figures...Reid's 18 led all scorers...and the Cards got 15 from Becky Burke, 13 from Bria Smith and 10 from Shoni Schimmel to improve to 4-1 on the season.

The top tier of the KFC YUM! Center was alive with the shrieking sounds of youth this afternoon, as Louisville invited over 6000 school kids for a noon matinee/field trip to see the game. The Cards employed that energy after a shaky start...falling behind 6-0 in the first ninety seconds after three balls from Meghan Bussabarger and Kristen Stanback. The Cards roared back, though and went on a 7-0 run to take the lead when Becky Burke sank two free throws with 16:46 left. Austin Peay would briefly regain the lead...but a 11-2 Louisville run, capped by a Shawnta Dyer basket from a Shoni Schimmel assist put Louisville in the captain's chair 18-11 with 12:15 remaining.

Monique Reid made her first appearance at the 11:29 mark and scored a bucket two minutes later to make it 20-16 Lady Cards. Louisville built on that and held a 32-23 edge when Burke took a nifty Shoni pass and banked in a layup with 2:42 remaining. Austin Peay trimmed that back to a three point advantage with 37 seconds to go...but Sara Hammond nailed a jumper with 13 second left in the first half to make it 34-29 after the first 20 minutes.

The Cards were shooting well in the first half, with 12-26 from the field and an excellent 10-12 from the stripe. Becky Burke led UofL with nine first half points, a perfect 3-3 from three point land and Cierra Warren had six points and five rebounds. Austin Peay was hanging around though...thanks to 4 for 10 long range bombing and 10 costly Cardinal turnovers.

A grade school dance team performs for the crowd

Louisville needed to exploit their height advantage inside and came out with the same starting lineup in the second half that began the game with Shoni Schimmel, Bria Smith, Becky Burke, Cierra Warren and Sara Hammond. The intentions were good to start, Warren scoring easily inside to give the Cards a seven point lead 18 seconds into the half. Austin Peay was not dismayed, however...and proceed to go on a 7-0 run to tie it at 36-36 on a Kristen Stainback three with 16:45 remaining. The Lady Cards retaliated when Burke nailed a three and Mo got a score and free throw and then scored again underneath to make it 44-36. It was part of a 21-6 run for the Cards...Reid responsible for 10 of the points...and threes from Burke and Shoni helped Louisville take a commanding 15 point advantage with 11:25 to go.

Austin Peay would get no closer than 11 the rest of the way. Shoni, Mo and Bria continued to score for the Cards...it was 62-48 with 9:50 left and 70-51 when Smith drove the lane for two at the 4:44 mark. Louisville enjoyed its biggest lead at 78-58 when Asia Taylor connected inside with 1:35 left.

Reid led the Cards with 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting and 4 for 4 from the charity stripe. 16 of her points came in the final sixteen minutes of the game.

The Cardinal scoring and minutes played:

Reid - 18 points in 16 minutes.
Burke - 15 points in 33 minutes.
Smith - 13 points in 27 minutes.
Shoni- 10 points in 32 minutes. (with 9 assists)
Warren- 8 points in 24 minutes (with 11 rebounds)
Taylor- 4 points in 11 minutes
Slaughter - 3 points in 15 minutes.
Dyer - 2 points in 7 minutes.
Hammond 2 points in 12 minutes.
Jude - 1 point in 6 minutes.
Vails - 2 points in 13 minutes
Harper - 0 points in 4 minutes

Louisville out rebounded the Governors 52-34 and had 40 points in the paint, compared to A.P.U.'s eight. The Cards got 18 points off turnovers, 16 second chance points and six fast break points. They committed 23 turnovers (Shoni 6) compared to Austin Peay's 18.

UofL had seven blocked shots (Warren 3) 11 steals (Shoni 3) and 16 assists (Shoni 9). The Cards shot 29-59 for the game (49.2%) and were 4-14 from the deep (28.6%).

Austin Peay was led by Scott County freshman Kristen Stainback's 15 points and Whitney Hanley from Bullitt East added 12. The Governors were 20-64 from the field (31.3%) and 8-27 from trifecta land (Stainback with 4-8) for 29.6%. 

Louisville returns to action Friday Nov. 25th. with a 7 p.m. game at Florida State.

THINGS WE LIKED TODAY:

- The return of Monique Reid. The senior has a knack for scoring inside and her stat line for just 16 minutes of play was impressive. She looked a bit sore in the post-game presser and here's hoping she recoups and is ready to go Friday against a tough Florida State Seminoles team. 

- Second half rebounding. Louisville held a slim 18-16 advantage on the boards at halftime, but ended up pounding the smaller Governors in the final twenty. Besides Warren's 11, Slaughter, Hammond and Smith had six each and Vails went strong to the defensive boards with four. Get the ball and you can score...

- Better bench play. The Cards reserves weren't exactly awesome against Xavier but Louisville held their own in the final three minutes today. Bench scoring accounted for 30 points today...even if you back Reid's 18 out of the numbers...Taylor, Slaughter, Vails, Dyer, Shelby Harper and Jude weren't outplayed at the end. 

THINGS TO IMPROVE ON:

-Turnovers. 23 is still too high a number to have against an OVC opponent. Granted...Smith and the Schimmels are high energy, creating guards...but 23 will get you beat in BIG EAST play.

- Fast breaks. Louisville managed only six fast break points against the smaller, guard-oriented Austin Peay squad. The transition game is Walz's bread and butter and Louisville needs to do a better job on hitting layups at the end of fast breaks.

-Starting strong. The Lady Cards came out kinda shaky to start each half today...falling behind by six to begin the game and letting A.P.S.U. go on a 7-2 run beginning the second half. They rallied well...but spotting Florida State a 13-2 advantage when play begins on Friday may not be the best way to secure a win. 

THEY SAID IT: 

(Monique Reid...on her return)

"It feels good to be back. I hated sitting out."

(Becky Burke...on the game plan)

"The game plan was trying to get better... for us. We feel like if we come out and play hard every single game...we're going to win I can't say it was to make them beat us from the outside..we're working on trying to guard and stop dribble-drives..that's one of our things we work on. Today it was about us...getting ready and getting better." 

(Shoni Schimmel...on Austin Peay)

"They kinda of surprised us. We didn't know they could shoot threes like that. Watching film on them, they didn't seem to shoot the ball well, so it was surprising."

(Bria Smith...on her game)

"I think I've been playing well. We get out there and kinda push each other to do our best. Getting to know each other, in practice and games, really helps."

(Jeff Walz...on getting Mo back)

"My goal was to get her out there and play her 10-18 minutes, depending on how she felt. I was very pleased how she played, I thought she finished well around the basket. She was 7 for 10 and missed a layup in the first half. She didn't look tentative at all. Got fouled hard and got back up and knocked down two free throws." 

(Walz on his 100th win...)

"it's one more than 99 and one less than 101. I don't keep track on the number of wins I've got. They're important, though...because if you don't get enough, you lose your job.

But, I haven't made a shot in the five years I've been here. I've been fortunate enough to coach some really good players and have some really good teams. We try to play hard. We try to get the kids in here and not just teach them about basketball, but teach them about life. Things are not always fair and that's what we try to get them to understand. You have to be prepared to face adversity.

Steph Norman and Michelle Clark-Heard have been here all five years with me and I'm very fortunate to have them and to have a great staff as well."

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Governors looking for respect Tuesday vs. Louisville

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TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Noon tipoff for Tuesday WBB game

-Whatever happen to?

-Rapid Redux wins 24th. race in a row

Even though the November political races have been over for several weeks, a
particular group of Governors will visit the KFC YUM! Center campaigning for a signature victory. We're not talking about Steve Beshear, John Kasich or Mitch Daniels - these governors are the Austin Peay women's basketball team and they're 2-0 on the young season.

Handley gets it done
handily...

Led by Whtney Hanley, a 5'8" senior guard from Mt. Washington, KY. (Bullitt East H.S.), Austin Peay handled Southern Illinois in their season home opener 76-70 and then went on the road and overcame a 20+ point first half deficit to down Lipscomb on the road 61-58.

Handley is averaging 24.5 points per game, 39.5 minutes a contest and shooting .457 from the hardwood. She's deadly from the foul stripe (13-15) and goes to the boards also...14 rebounds in two games...with 12 of those on the defensive end of the court. Nicole Olszewski, a 5'7" sophomore guard, is also in double figure with 11.5 p.p.g. and has a team high eight steals.

(From the Lady Cards Facebook page...)

Smallish in nature (only two players 6'0" or taller) Austin Peay has been getting it done with accurate shooting (41% on the season), aggressive defense (26 steals) and has forced their opponents into an average of 22 turnovers per game. Their tallest player, 6'3" freshman Kaitlyn Hall, has only logged one minute of playing time so far this year.

Louisville will probably get the services of Monique Reid Tuesday...according to Walz...for 10-15 minutes and Louisville will most likely try to take advantage of the superior height advantage against the OVC opponent.

If you go...be prepared for around 6000 or so grade school kids from around the Louisville area...a basketball field trip for them on their final day of classes before the Thanksgiving break. Let's see how loud they get compared to the regular Lady Cards home crowd...

WHAT WE'D LIKE TO SEE TUESDAY:

-The Cards get off to a fast start, like they did against Xavier on Sunday. The starting line up of Shoni Schimmel, Cierra Warren, Sara Hammond, Bria Smith and Becky Burke against Xavier gave Louisville height, defensive aggressiveness, quickness and inside punch.

Mo rejoining Becky today on court?

-Good bench play. If Walz elects to bring "Mo" in off the bench, we'd like to see her get the ball inside and often. Jude Schimmel will be counted on to apply solid defense, create shots for her teammates and Shawnta Dyer and Sherrone Vails rebounds and blocks. 

-Cierra Warren dominance. She's looked awfully good so far prowling the post for the Lady Cards this season and with a decided height advantage, odds are she'll be filling up the stat lines against the Governors. 

Other stuff...

-Louisville is 6-0 lifetime against A.P.U. and last met the Governors on Nov. 17th., 2008...a 72-42 win for the Cards. A heralded freshman by the name of Monique Reid led Louisville in scoring in the contest with 17 points and Angel McCoughtry added 15. Notable quote from "Mo"  after that game:

"It doesn't matter how many points I get, with Coach Walz...defense gets you playing time."

-Carrie Daniels, head Lady Governor coach, is in her 6th. year at A.P.U. and has a record of 63-95. Her team finished 15-18 last year...12-6 in OVC play...and Austin Peay is her first head coaching job.

-The Governors played previous UofL opponent EKU twice last year, defeating them by 10 in Clarksville and losing by 6 in Richmond.

-The official web site for Austin Peay sports is http://www.letsgopeay.com/ and a favorite chant of the A.P.U. fans is "Let's Go Peay!" (Sounds like...never mind...you know where I'm going with this.)

-No current Lady Cards players hail from Tennessee, where Austin Peay is located. Can you guess which current Lady Cards hometown is closest to Clarksville, TN. - where the Austin Peay campus is? (Answer below).

-In four games this year, the Lady Cards have had four players foul out - one per game. They are Cierra Warren, Sara Hammond, Asia Taylor and Antonita Slaughter. 

-Legendary rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix was stationed in Fort Campbell, KY. (near Clarksville) and met future band member Billy Cox at the base's recreation center. They formed a group named The Casuals that played gigs on and off base - including frat parties at APU. Both moved to Clarksville after Hendrix was discharged from the Army in 1962 and it was there that Hendrix claimed he learned to play the guitar with his teeth.

-Austin Peay is one of two schools the Lady Cards will play from Tennessee this season. The other is Tennessee-Martin. Strangely enough, both games are at noon.

(answer to question...it is Shelby Harper, from Scottsville, KY. which is about a 90 minute drive from Clarksville.)

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Nikki Burton played for the Lady Cards from 2009-11 but a hip and other injuries kept her off the court for extended periods of time and made it necessary for her to take some time off, heal and re-evaluate her game. Glad to report that she's back on the court and doing some good things at DII Wingate University, in Rock Hill, S.C.

She was named the South Atlantic Conference women's basketball Player of the Week. Burton scored 25 points and made nine-of-11 field goals, including three threes, in a 84-59 win over Winston-Salem State Friday night in the Queen City Classic. She followed up the performance with a 23 point effort the next night against Johnson C. Smith University in a close 73-72 loss.

The Bulldogs open their home schedule against UNC Pembroke tonight and travel to Lincoln Memorial University Wednesday. Although she's not battling the Notre Dame's and UConn's of women's college basketball anymore...WE'RE glad to see #22 back out there, shaking them off with the cross-over and tickling the nets.

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RAPID REDUX set a North American horse racing record last night with his 24th consecutive win...beating three opponents by 4 1/2 lengths in the eighth race at Mountaineer Park. With the win, the condition book darling passed Zenyatta's record.

24 in a row is impressive, no doubt, but the horses he's beaten hardly measure up to the competition and quality that Zenyatta put away during her time on the track.

We say...put Rapid Redux to the test by entering him against some quality horses. They could have brought him to Churchill or Keeneland this fall to really put the streak to a challenge...but the owners prefer to take him to obscure and out of the way places like Mountaineer.

For a comparison, picture the Lady Cards playing 24 straight games against the likes of Lindsey Wilson, Bellarmine, Campbellsville and Fordham. Easy to win when the foe is less talented....
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canyounametheotherplayersthatwereapartofnikkiburtonsfreshmanclassandifyoucanjustsendusanemailwiththeirnamesfirstrespondantgetsapaneracardmailedtoyou

Defense the key in Louisville win over Xavier

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CARDINAL COUPLE MONDAY EDITION:

-Burke, Warren provide the punches in Louisville win

-Women's soccer falls 2-0 to Fla. State

-It's not too late!

Before a packed house in the KFC YUM! Center Sunday afternoon, Louisville
delivered an early knockout blow to the visiting Xavier Muskies and defeated
the Atlantic 10 conference member 62-44.

Lt. Gov.Jerry Abramson greets
a constituent at the game

Xavier did jump out to a quick 4-0 lead on Louisville in the first 90 seconds of today's game, but the Lady Cards responded with a 11-0 run to lead 11-4 after a Bria Smith steal and layup with 13:10 remaining in the first half. It just got worse for Xavier after that...Louisville shutting the Lady Musketeers down offensively and doubling the score at 20-10 on two Cierra Warren free throws at the 5:06 mark. The Cards outscored Xavier the rest of the way 11-2...Shoni Schimmel scoring six of the Cards final first half points for an 31-12 halftime lead.

Cierra Warren and Becky Burke led the way in the first half with eight points each and Louisville held Xavier to just eight points in the final 13 minutes of the first half. Walz started Sara Hammond, Becky Burke, Bria Smith, Shoni Schimmel and Cierra Warren this afternoon and that lineup came out to begin second half play.

LadyBirds fire the crowd up during the game. 

And, play they did. Getting excellent inside play from Warren and Shawnta Dyer...the Cards increased the margin steadily as the half rolled on...up by 23 at the 14:34 mark and leading by 27 at 50-23 after a Sara Hammond layup with 9:42 to go. A rare Hammond three a minute later made it 55-23. Louisville led 59-24 before Walz emptied the bench and Shelby Harper, Jude Schimmel, Sherrone Vails, Asia Taylor and Antonita Slaughter carried the load the rest of the way...with limited substitutions...

Give the Muskies credit, they outscored the Louisville bench 20-3 over the final eight minutes...but with the game well in hand, Walz decided to keep the starters on the bench and see how the backups handled the Xavier first squad.

Becky Burke led all scorers with 13 points and Cierra Warren was the other double figure scorer with ten. The rest of the Cardinal scoring:

Cheerleaders perform a challenging routine

Shoni Schimmel 9
Sherrone Vails 8
Shawnta Dyer 7
Bria Smith 7
Sara Hammond 6
Shelby Harper 2

Asia Taylor, Jude Schimmel and Antonita Slaughter played but did not score for the Cards.

Reserve guard Ashley Wanninger led Xavier with ten points and Amber Gray added nine.

THEY SAID IT:

(Head Xavier coach Amy Baugh)

"It was a tough game for us, they (Louisville) came out from the tip and made it tough on us defensively. They mixed it up, they pressed us a little bit, they went to a zone and we couldn't make a shot. I honestly believe we took some great shots but we just couldn't make them.

(On Louisville)

"I think they've got a great basketball team and they're going to be very successful. They're a little banged up right now...but they have some young kids that are playing a lot of minutes early for them who will develop as the season goes on..they'll be great here at Louisville over the next four years.

(On her team)

Today was a great experience for us. WE play a lot of young kids, who haven't played before. We're going to be battle-tested..playing at this place and we've got Stanford next. It's a learning experience for us and a process that is going to take all season long...but we'll continue to work and improve as the season goes on."

(On the late second half run)

"It's definitely something to build on. My kids showed that we can fight, we're not going to quit and that's a positive we can take away from today."

(Louisville head coach Jeff Walz)

"I thought we did a good job on mixing it up today. A good job of being there on the catch. Tried to not give them open looks. We've got to do a better job rebounding, which was a concern of mine. For the most part, I thought we played pretty well for about 12 minutes in the first half and about 12 minutes in the second half. We've got to figure out a way to get those other 16 (minutes) squared away."

(On the defense and stopping the three:)

"It was a key. Moss is a great three point shooter for them. WE wanted to close out tight on her and make her drive on us. Bria Smith has done a great job defensively for us and I'm really excited about that.

(On Monique Reid)

"She went through part of our shoot around this morning. She'll practice again some more tomorrow and I'm hoping to play her around 10-18 minutes on Tuesday. It's just a slow process to get her back and going again."

(On getting other players time on the court)

"It's good to get them playing time they might not get. Their roles are going to step up, there's more that's going to be expected of them and now it's just a matter of who is going to step up and accept that and run with those minutes."

THINGS WE LIKED TODAY:

-Louisville shut down Xavier for just 12 points in the first half today. That ties a Louisville record for least point in a half by an opponent.

-Walz didn't punish the Muskies late in the game after going up by 35 points. We like to see Shelby get whatever minutes she can and the reserve Lady Cards played hard against the Xavier starters.

-Cierra Warren inside. Just keeps getting better and better.

THINGS TO IMPROVE ON

-Rebounding. Give Xavier credit for battling the taller Cards tooth and nail, but Louisville needs to go to the boards with more aggression. Louisville only gained a 2 rebound edge on Xavier for the game (48-46). Shawnta Dyer has 10 of those.

-Putbacks. A lot of missed opportunities inside tonight for scores. Hammond seemingly can get a rebound and try for a putback any time she wants, but she needs to develop a softer, higher shot in the paint and use the backboard.

-Mop up time. Louisville was outscored big time when the reserves were in late. This squad needs to at least be able to stay even with the opponent. They're talented...they just need to work more together.

Louisville returns to action Tuesday with a noon game against Austin Peay.

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Louisville women's soccer took a 2-0 loss to #9 Florida State in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA women's soccer tournament in Memphis yesterday. The Seminoles split the scoring up...recording a goal in each half against the Cards.

Florida State first found the net 24 minutes into the game when Kassey Kallman took a throw-in pass and headed the ball into the net past Cardinal goalkeeper Chloe Kiefer. Louisville and the 'Noles battled defensively the rest of the half, but neither team could add to the scoreboard.

Jones had four good years
at UofL

FSU added to the lead late...Tiffany McCarty receiving a pass from Janice Cayman and driving to the goal to put one in the far right post for the 2-0 advantage.

The Cards were out-shot by FSU 12-11 and also on shots-on-goal 6-2.

"It's a bittersweet way to go out, but it's been the most success we've had over four years, so it's definitely been a lot of fun and a good ride. Bringing home the first BIG EAST National Division Championship for our school has been great and it's been a great experience with everyone." -senior midfielder Jennifer Jones

We'd be remiss here if we didn't congratulate the men's soccer team on their 3-2 double overtime victory over Bradley to advance in the NCAA tournament. Stayin' alive, stayin' alive...





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Want to go to see the Lady Cards play UK this year in basketball in Lexington? The game is on Sunday, Dec 4th at 1 p.m. in cozy Memorial Coliseum. Don't feel like driving? Let the FASTBREAK CLUB do the work for you!

Cards fall to Irish in Volleyball...Women's hoops today in KFC YUM Center...Football wins!...Pitino's guys defeat Xavier...

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE COMIN' AT YA!!!

-Irish pull off the upset in Volleyball

-Xavier facing Lady Cards today in WBB

-Freaky play ends football game

-Pitino's guys win in Indy.

Louisville Volleyball ended their run in the BIG EAST Tournament yesterday by falling to Notre Dame 25-22, 22-25, 25-21, 25-19 yesterday in Milwaukee.

The Cards got a great performance from Lola Arslanbekova, who had 24 kills in the four game match...but she couldn't carry the weight by herself and Notre Dame moves on to the championship to face Cincinnati...who downed Marquette in five games.

The teams were evenly matched in game one until the Irish went on a 4-0 run to lead 14-10.  Louisville tied it at 15-15 and 17-17 and was down by two at 24-22 when a flip by the Irish found unguarded wood and they won by three.



The Cards failed to
win the BIG EAST
volleyball championship
yesterday  

Louisville took control early in game two, up 7-2...but saw Notre Dame rally to take the lead by expand it to five at 22-17. After a timeout, though...the Cards ran off eight unanswered points to win the second game by three.

The Cards came out strong in game three, led 8-3, but could not keep up the defense and the Irish tied it at nine all. The teams were tied at 18 and 20 before ND ran off five of the final six points to win game three and take a 2-1 match lead.

Louisville never led in the fourth game, falling behind early 4-1. The Irish ran that up to 12-7 before the Cards rallied to draw close at 16-14. At 18-17, Louisville looked to still have a chance of forcing a fifth game...but a 7-2 closing run by ND ended game and match.

Despite the loss, the Cards should still make the NCAA Tournament, since they won the regular season BIG EAST title. They have one more regular season game...a match-up against OVC Champ Morehead State on Saturday. The NCAA pairings will be announced next Sunday.

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KFC YUM! Center is the place for the 2 p.m. tip off today...featuring the Lady Cards women's basketball team against Xavier. This is not the same Muskie team that Louisville defeated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Gone are starters Special Jennings, Amber Harris, Ta'Shia Phillips and head coach Kevin McGuff.

Amy Waugh (left) leads the Musketeers now and the Tyeasha Moss is the scoring threat.

Xavier is 1-1 on the year...handling EKU 66-61 but falling on the road to Mississippi State 71-65. Moss, a senior, is averaging 18 a game and is joining in double figures by junior Jessica Pachko (12 ppg) and sophomore Lynette Holmes (11.5 ppg).

For Louisville, Cierra Warren has a 15 point per game average after three games and Bria Smith is knocking in 13 point a game. Shoni Schimmel (12.0) and Becky Burke (11.3) are also in double figures.

Louisville will need Asia and the "bigs"
to crash the boards today. Do it, #31!

Xavier will try to keep this one from becoming a track meet this afternoon...so the Cards will need to be able to work effectively out of the half court set and go to the boards strong. Louisville's love for the helter-skelter fast break transition offense can only happen if Warren, Asia Taylor, Sara Hammond and the rest of the bigs go to the boards well when the Muskies miss shots. Louisville's ability to block out and score inside could spell the difference today. The Cards must also try to get off to a faster start today than they have over the first three games of the year.

Xavier has gone extensively with a three guard set this year, so the Cards will need to make sure that they are on guard with good play from the Schimmels, Smith, Burke and Harper.

No word on Monique Reid and her availability for today's game yet...as coach Walz is fond of saying...'need to worry about the ones who can play and coach them up'. Mo will come back when she's ready and will be spectacular when she does.

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Congratulations to both football and men's hoops for wins yesterday. The Pitino guys went to historic Hinkle Fieldhouse on the Butler University campus and downed the Bulldogs 69-53...Kyle Kuric with 17 for Louisville....

Charlie Strong's football guys got their 6th win of the season at Connecticut...downing the Huskies 34-20. Craziness on the final play of the game. After Connecticut scored to make it 28-20 and then recovered an on-side kick to get the ball back, they come out on offense and run a play where they try to advance the ball with a series of backwards passes and laterals...going in the wrong direction until Louisville intercepts one of the attempts and returns it for a touchdown.

Reminded us of the Three Stooges on the field...

Louisville is now bowl eligible with the win and actually has a shot of winning the BIG EAST Conference and getting the BCS bid...but a lot of things would have to happen for that to occur...the main one being that the Cards would have to win in Tampa next Saturday against South Florida...a place where Louisville has never won. Of course, the Cards have never been there with Charlie Strong as head coach and he has shown over the last two years that you can "never

Not sure if Charlie went surfing
yesterday after defeating UConn

say never" with Strong coached teams..or how they'll handle success.  

All this adds up to a very interesting scenario now in the BIG EAST where just about the entire league has two losses and they may have to bring in the Supreme Court justices to decide who gets the "big money" bowl.

Charlie even managed to stir up some fan controversy yesterday when he pulled starting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater out of the game in the fourth quarter and inserted former starter Will Stein in the game. The Cards couldn't move the ball with Stein taking the snaps and Bridgewater didn't appear to be injured.

Charlie-Ball. Never boring (or predictable).
.
..
nochoiceisachoice

Women Soccer and Volleyball win...Football with tough test today...Lady Cards hoops Sunday...

.
SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Sharo and McIntosh lead Louisville to win over Tigers

-Volleyball advances in BIG EAST Tournament with win over Pitt

-Football against UConn today a crossroads for Cards

-Xavier visits the KFC YUM Center for WBB Sunday

(We apologize for the late edition of Cardinal Couple today. Friday night racing at Churchill Downs will do that to you, sometimes...)

The University of Louisville women's soccer team continued their magic in the NCAA Tournament by downing Memphis 2-0 last night to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. It's the furthest any UofL women's soccer team has ever gone in post-season play and a win over the #5 ranked team in the nation in Memphis...their first loss of the year.

Defense dominated the first half of the game...both teams with scoring opportunities but both goalies were playing big in the net. It wasn't until the 69th minute of the game until the Cards got a point on the board. Two freshmen were responsible for the score...Erin Yenney sent a cross-field pass to Kim Sharo...who headed the ball past goalkeeper Elis Kuhar-Pitters to give the Cards the lead.

Louisville added another point just seven minutes later and, once again, two freshmen were responsible for the goal. Casey Whitfield drove a kick toward
the goal that Zakiya McIntosh caught up with and headed into the net.

Chloe Kiefer had another outstanding night between the pipes with four saves and her ninth shutout of an opponent. Memphis had a 14-12 edge in shots...but Louisville led in the statistic that matters the most...goals.

Erin Yenney...one of the four
"diaper dandies" that led
Louisville to the win

"Our back line is a group that flies under the radar. It's not that there's one specific player that stands individually but the strength of the back line is the back line. They're really good one-on-one defenders." -Louisville head women's soccer coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes

With the win, Louisville advances to play Florida State, a 3-1 winner over Portland. Game time is 3 p.m. Sunday and it'll be free of charge again at http://www.ncaa.com/ and http://www.uoflsports.com/

The Cards are the only BIG EAST school left in the big dance. Marquette bowed out yesterday to Penn State and WVU and Notre Dame were first round casualties. The Cards have now lost only twice in their last 17 games and the 14 wins on the season are a new Louisville women's soccer record.

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Volleyball disposes of a stubborn Pitt team Friday afternoon 25-13, 25-20, 24-26, 25-20. With the win, they advance in the BIG EAST Tournament to play Norte Dame today at 2 p.m. in the Al McGuire Center on the Marquette campus.

BIG EAST Player of the Year Lola Arslanbekova led the Cards with 16 kills, Brooke Mattingly added 15 and Emily Juhl finished with 14.

The Cards romped out to a 10-5 lead in game one, pushed it to 22-13 and then got two straight kills from Mattingly and a game ending kill from Kaitlynn James to take the victory. Louisville saw an early 7-3 lead in game two evaporate when Pitt went on a 10-5 run to take their first lead of the contest. The teams stayed close and it was 22-20 before the Cards put Pitt away with a kill from Juhl, a slam from Lola and another game winner from James.

After the halftime break, one figured the Cards might sweep this one in three games...but Pitt wasn't ready to go home and led the Cards 22-14 before Louisville ran off eight straight to tie it up. With both teams at 24-24, Pitt's Mechael Guess (Louisville Manual H.S.) gave the Panthers a one point lead and a hitting error from James put the third game in the Panthers win column. The Cards battled back and forth with Pitt in a close one in the fourth game until Louisville started pulling away from a 12-12 tie to lead 18-12. The Cards saw Pitt rally to cut the Louisville lead to 22-19. Behind Juhl, though...Louisville managed three out of the final four points in the game to win by five.

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Cardinal football tries to get bowl-worthy today with a noon kickoff at Connecticut. With just two games remaining in the season, Louisville needs a win today against the Huskies or next week down in Tampa against USF.

Better get it today, gridiron gorillas...Louisville has never won a game against South Florida in Tampa and probably never will. Unexplainable, we haven't a clue, but something about seeing Cardinal jerseys on their field turns the South Florida football team into the Green Bay Packers.



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Jeff Walz's Lady Cards return to the KFC YUM! Center Sunday for a 2 p.m. tilt against the Xavier Muskies. It's a "red out" game and also an NCAA "Pack the House" promotion. Show your Kroger Plus Card at the ticket window and score $2 tickets for this one.

A promotion you may want to consider if you like watching the men's team also is the Cardinal Combo package UofL is offering. You can see both teams play on the same day for only $30 a ticket. Dates for this special are:

-Nov. 22nd. (WBB vs. Austin Peay and MBB vs. Ark.St.)
-Dec. 10th.  (WBB vs. Gardner-Webb and MBB vs. Farleigh Dickinson)
-Dec. 28th.  (WBB vs. UT Martin and MBB vs. Georgetown)

 No, this is not Cardinal
QB "Teddy" Bridgewater...

People fretting about the noon tipoff Tuesday against Austin Peay may not know that the Cards are bringing in over 6,000 grade school kids from around the area for  the contest. Great thing...get to leave school early, go to a hoops game and then back on the bus and home. Where was this stuff when I was growing up? We just went on field trips to a farm and got to pet cows and horses...

The Lady Cards are also hosting this year's Pink Game on January 18th. against Providence. Breast cancer survivors receive two free tickets and will be invited to participate in a special halftime show.

Louisville doesn't have to worry about those twin towers Amber Harris and Ta'Shia Phillips anymore...but Tyeasha Moss is still there and had 22 points and 12 grabs against EKU.