Injury Expected To Sideline Dez Byrd

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Lady Cards One More Time

By Paul Sykes

About a thousand fans showed up on Fourth Street Live to celebrate one more time the University of Louisville’s women’s basketball team’s incredible march through the NCAA Tournament. Despite the overcast, gloomy skies, the atmosphere was a bright and cheerful one….with the national champion Lady Birds doing dance routines and the Cardinal Pep Band playing for the crowd.

Coach Jeff Walz and the players talked of the march to the Arch being just the beginning of success in Lady Cards hoops for the future. It was also a time for “thank you’s” being exchanged between the players and fans.  The players were still busily signing autographs when I left, and it was good to see the tons of young people there, the the future of women’s basketball at the Ville.

“It’s been the best two years of my life,” exclaimed senior forward Candyce Bingham. Her valuable contributions to the Cards will be missed. Replacing the offense generated by her and All-American forward Angel McCoughtry will be one of the many things that coach Jeff Walz and his staff will have to contend with during the 2009-2010 season.

Dez Byrd took a positive and optimistic approach to the upcoming season. “We are family on this team and the new recruits will find that out. Look at what this year’s group of freshmen did, and we’ve got some great ones coming in.” Byrd wouldn’t comment on next year’s speculated change to shooting guard, saying only that “he (Coach Walz) will make the best decision for the team. If he needs me to put it up, I’ve got no problem with that”

Longtime fan Tommy Wilson recalled the magical journey. “I thought at the start of the year that we’d be OK…maybe make it into the tournament and win a couple…but as I saw this team grow and continue to win, I thought…hey, we could play with anyone in the country. Except UConn. Still, second place is pretty special. I think it’s the beginning of great teams for the Lady Cards every year.”

Good times, great memories and the promise of a bright future.

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Playing For A National Championship

Cards Nip Oklahoma 61-59, Face UConn Once Again

By Sonja Sykes

One had to wonder durng the first half if Oklahoma had kidnapped Angel McCoughtry and put someone else in her place, the senior All American missing badly only her first eight shots. Her promise to get Louisville to the championship game was in serious jeopardy.

The Lady Cards were not playing the defense necessary to stop Oklahoma while managing only 22 points, a season low in the first half against a team that wasn’t really doing to stop them.  Lousy 22% shooting will get you a halftime lecture, and Jeff Walz delivers some fire and brimstone versions.

• The Cards trudged into the locker room down by 12. Need any more reasons besides Angel’s meltdown?
• Not getting back on the fast break. Oklahoma’s first eight points were on fast breaks.
• Letting Whitney Hand get shots off from trifecta land. Three of them for the freshman in the first half. She also went after McCoughtry defensively, sometimes way too aggressively, but it was working.
• Poor shooting Cardinals. Missing their first 13 shots from the field to start the contest.

So, what does Jeff Walz do at halftime? Tells the Cards to follow the game plan. Asks them to play for pride and challenges Angel to get involved. Tells them to believe, pick up the defense and create the turnovers. Or go home.

And, they did. The Cards erupting to wipe out the lead, take command and turn the tables with a 15-1 run to start the second half. Key factors in the win:

• Two clutch threes by Becky Burke to put the Cards up by five, with 4:54 to go then by six with 3:22 left.
• Angel showing her determination. Coming back for a double-double.
• Monique Reid’s job on Courtney Paris inside and the hustle after Bingham’s missed free throw with 7.2 second, managing to stymy any desperation miracle shots by the Sooners.
• UofL turning up the defensive pressureca, using 16 turnovers and shutting down Oklahoma, inside and outside.

Game over. On to the championship game.

A nail-biting come from behind game and Louisville advances to where Angel McCoughtry said the Lady Cards would be, making good.

This Magical Mystery Tour is alive and well.

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Show Time: NCAA Women’s Final Four

By Sonja Sykes

Show time in St. Louis, the semi-finals, the Final Four, the University of Louisville vs.the Oklahoma Sooners. Let’s get it on.

Providing a significant chuck of the offense for Oklahoma are Courtney and Ashley Paris, variously described as the work horses, the Clydesdales, the tanks, the anti-aircraft carriers. They are enormous and talented.

Courtney is a four time All-American and is a master at working the paint for baskets, putbacks and rebounds. Former coach Tom Collen used to point to Courtney when Tise Wright was under his tutelage and tell Tise that she could “be a Courtney” with hard work and diligence.

The Paris sisters aren’t the only threats to the Lady Cards, though.  Guard Danielle Robinson poured in 23 for Oklahoma against Purdue and is a deadly spot up shooter. Whitney Hand is a clever and crafty playmaker who can also make you pay with the jumper.

They’ve even got an Olajuwon (daughter of Hakeem) and Roethlisberger (sister of Big Ben) that see significant playing time. Wouldn’t surprise me if they have a Michael Jordan daughter and Lebron James sister waiting in the wings.

So how do the Lady Cards deal with this bevy of superstars and impresarios? Same way they’ve dealt with the powerhouses of the Big East and the NCAA Tournament. Execution. Pressure defense. Transition when you can et it. Penetrate the paint and make them try to stop Angel.

Rutgers is a scarier opponent than Oklahoma and the Cards handled them twice. Pittsburgh a more difficult team to keep off the boards and the Cards put them away twice. We’ve seen tougher and beat tougher.

Of course, the dreaded Huskies wait down the road if they can get by the well-disciplined Stanford Cardinal and the she-god Jane Appel.

One game at a time. One win at a time. Been Walz’s philosophy all season long and it’s worked pretty well.

Bubba Paris…get ready to dip into that saving account and pay Courtney’s tuition. The road stops here for the Sooner express.

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Lady Cards Maintain Focus, Tip Pitt 69-63

You can always count on Agnus Berenato to steal the show. She doesn’t disappoint, showing up for the semifinal game with Louisville in a polka dot suit coat and a double string of pearls.  One wondered whether she doesn’t secretly crave to be a team mascot.

No, that’s not somebody’s grandmother prowling the sideline. That’s the Pittsburgh women’s basketball coach.

Sorry but she looks out of place on the bench, always good for a laugh, even during the most frenetic of games. But somehow she manages to recruit good players and inspire her basketball teams.

The Lady Cards ignore the distraction, taking her team seriously, keeping their game faces on, prevailing 69-63 over a team that refuses to roll over.  Angel McCoughtry was there every time the Lady Cards needed her, contributing 31 points and 14 rebounds.

Trailing 63-62 with 1:40 , McCoughtry’s three-point play gave Louisville a two-point edge with 1:12 left. After a turnover by Xenia Stewart, McCoughtry hit a pull-up jumper from the wing with 23.5 seconds remaining to make it 67-63. Deseree Byrd hit two free throws for the final margin.

UConn straight ahead in the championship game of the Big East Women’s Tournament. The Huskies are no laughing matter.

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Lady Cards Survive Phantom Foul,
Defeat South Florida 76-60

By Sonja Sykes

With 5:04 to go and the University of Louisville women’s basketball team protecting a 61-52 lead over the South Florida Bulls, the supernatural came into play:

Angel McCoughtry fakes a drive to the basket, causing USF guard Shanita Grace to slip and fall.  No contact. However, the referee the greatest distance from the play whistles McCoughtry for her fifth foul. Maybe it was the heat, or the bright Florida sun in her eyes?

The play happened right in front of radio crew Jim Kelch and Adrienne Johnson, who were as surprised as Jeff Walz standing in front of them. How would the Cards react with their leader on the bench? Simply by going on a 15-8 run to close out the action and win on the road to go 4-0 in the Big East.

The Cards jumped out to an early 6-0 lead after a Candyce Bingham jumper, and she increased that lead to 9-5 with a free throw at the 16:00 mark. The Bulls went on a run to grab the lead halfway through the 1st half 14-13 and led 23-21 with 4:20 left.

Brandie Radde time. Hello, Cardinal run.

The Niles, Michigan junior guard drilled three trifectas and the Cards went on a 17-1 run to close out the first half, up 38-24. Bingham led the Cards scorers with 13 points and Radde added 11. There were six lead changes in the first half before UofL’s big half closing run. Louisville’s trapping defense and keeping the Bulls out of their rapid-fire three-point attack was the key. McCoughtry had eight first half points but was frustrated with three first half fouls.

Louisville increased the lead to 48-30 after another Radde three with 15 minutes to go. It was the largest lead the Cards would enjoy. A Bulls run over the next three minutes would cut the margin to 50-42. The teams exchanged baskets over the next four minutes until the phantom McCoughtry foul.

Radde led the Cards with a career high 19 points, making five three-pointers. Candyce Bingham doubled with 16 points and 10 boards. Angel left the game with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Despite a sloppy, turnover filled start, Dez Byrd scored six of her eight points in the final 3:47.

A good Big East road win for the Cards despite spotty play at times. Tiera Stephen provided good relief for the struggling Byrd in the first half, but the Cards’ centers Hines and Gwen Rucker could only manage five points and nine fouls between them.

Louisville faces Georgetown Saturday at 4 p.m. in the nation’s capitol.

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15,323 See Lady Cards Nip Rutgers, 64-59

Editor’s Note: You know the game is going to be special when the Freedom Hall lobby is brimming with people an hour and a half before the Louisville-Rutgers women’s basketball game. No. 10 Cards vs. No. 17 Scarlet Knights.  A total of 15,323 spectators, the third largest crowd in local women’s basketball history.  Here’s Sonja’s take on a memorable game:

By Sonja Sykes

This could be the way the rest of the Big East season goes for Angel McCoughtry and the Lady Cards: Surviving at the foul line and battling on the boards. It worked, with Louisville taking Rutgers’ best shots and bruising counter punches en route to a signature win.

McCoughtry, never better thank you, with a total of 31 points.

McCoughtry scored the Cards’ first 12 points, and it looked like the rout was on, with the Cards up 12-2 with eight minutes left in the first half.  Rutgers wasn’t ready to pack the bags, however.

When you can’t defend them, foul them. That’s exactly the philosophy Rutgers employed the remainder of the first half, holding the score to 26-14 at intermission.  Angel finished the first 20 minutes with 14 points. No other Card had more than four. Jeff Walz, livid at times with the Cards execution and the officiating, played nine players and ordered multiple sets.  But Rutgers’ sticky defense and solid rebounding gave UofL few open looks or second chance opportunities.

You figured the Scarlet Knights would make a run on the Cards eventually, and they did in the second half, with a 13-3 blitz over the first 5:50 minutes to close the gap to 29-27. The Cards struggled against a trapping Rutgers press, but stretched their lead to 36-28 with eight minutes left.

Lady Cards huddle with Jeff Walz before thwarting Rutgers' late charge. (Photo by John Wieland)

Rutgers roared back, cutting the lead to two before an Angel drive gave the Cards a 44-40 advantage with 6:40 left.  Rutgers would get no closer the rest of the way, despite the efforts of Epiphanny Prince and Kia Vaughn who finished with 29 and 15 points, respectively.  The Cards protected their lead from the foul stripe the rest of the way, leading by nine at 55-46 with 1:45 to go after a Keisha Hines free throw, her only point of the game.

Give Rutgers credit for the aggressive defense and the spectacular guard play from Prince. The trapping full court press stymied and slowed the Cards over the last 12 minutes of the game. Fouling McCoughtry and making her score from the line was fairly successful as well, the senior going 13-20 from the line. Louisville was 32 of 42 from the stripe, Rutgers 9 of 17.

Give Louisville credit for going toe to toe with the bigger, more physical Knights and not backing down but getting knocked down more than against any opponent this year. Louisville actually won the rebounding battle by one, and committed only 19 fouls compared to Rutgers 30.

The Cards will need to work on overcoming the full court press after made baskets, allowing the Scarlet Knights to score numerous times with their turnovers and sloppy passes. They also had no answer for 6-foot-4 Vaughn who was her own worst enemy with several missed shots from close range.

Now 3-0 in Big East play and 16-1 overall, the Cards return to action Wednesday on the road at South Florida.

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