All Entries Tagged With: "Jeff Walz"
Louisville Women May Play Again At Freedom Hall
Lady Cards Accept Invitation To Women’s Basketball Invitational
By Sonja Sykes
The University of Louisville women’s basketball team has accepted an invitation to compete in the new 16-team Women’s Basketball Invitational. The full field and tournament pairings will be announced Monday. 
Teams not making the NCAA Tournament or WNIT are eligible. First-round match ups will be on Wednesday and Thursday next week. The tournament features an east coast, west coast bracket format, with higher seeded teams hosting home games, and retaining most of the revenue.
Coach Jeff Walz is hopeful Louisville (14-17) can secure a first round game at Freedom Hall. He noted that junior guard LaToya Johnson and freshman guard Nikki Burton could be available for the game. Both have recovered sufficiently from injuries to possibly play if cleared by the U of L medical staff.
Planet Earth Calling Louisville Basketball
Moments like these don’t come along often enough.
My, but it feels so good, the incredible high University of Louisville fans are luxuriating in right now. The players, too. Especially the players.
A huge win in the final game at Freedom Hall, Kyle Kuric being born a star against No. 1-ranked Syracuse. That’s what U of L basketball is all about, winning the big ones over the decades.
Win a big game against a good team, get all giddy, overconfident, and look downright impotent losing against a mediocre one in the next game. That's how this season has gone ...
But if competition in the Big East teaches us anything, it is that your last win has no bearing on the next game. The biggest challenge facing Rick Pitino is getting his basketball team back to Planet Earth. As soon as possible.
Win a big game against a good team, get all giddy, overconfident, and look downright impotent losing against a mediocre one in the next game. That’s how this season has gone for U of L, lacking true leadership, struggling for consistency, working like a dog to assure itself of a place in the NCAA tournament.
Wednesday, at 9 p.m., Louisville will face the winner of the Rutgers-Cincinnati game, two teams that don’t exactly get the heart pumping. At Madison Square Garden, where U of L has had more than its share of highs and lows.
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Speaking of struggles, the U of L women’s basketball team finally reached bottom in a season-ending 37-point loss to Notre Dame in the Big East women’s tournament. The Lady Cards finished with a 14-17 record one season after playing in the national championship game.
A nightmarish season included many injuries to key players, making each game a significant challenge. If Jeff Walz had not found walk-on Shelby Harper and enticed Gwen Rucker and Brandie Radde to return, he would have had only five players at the end of the season.
With a top five recruiting class coming in, the outlook is improved for next season. But those incoming freshmen will need some seasoning and the veterans have some things to work on themselves. Sonja Sykes discusses the outlook for next season.
Jeff Walz Makes Promise After Louisville Loses
Last game at Freedom Hall
Jeff Walz came close to apologizing to University of Louisville women’s basketball fans after his team was defeated by South Florida 63-60 in the closing seconds to nail the lid on a losing regular season record.
“I promise you this will not happen again,” he told the crowd of approximately 5,000 people attending the final regular season game ever at historic Freedom Hall. “I’m very proud of this team. They have fought so hard despite so much adversity and injuries. We will be back.”
USF’s Alysson Speed hit her eighth three-point shot with four seconds remaining to give her team the win. The Lady Cards’ record is 13-15, and the last regular season game is at Rutgers on Monday. Here’s the shot:
The best player on the floor was U of L’s Monique Reid, finishing with 33 points and eight rebounds during her 39 minutes.
Seniors Chauntise Wright and Brandie Radde were honored in pre-game ceremonies.
Walz Visits With Top 10 Recruit
By Paul Sykes
The travel itinerary between games is intense for Jeff Walz as he skips across the country to Portland when he hopes to persuade Oregon point guard Shoni Schimmel to join the Louisville women’s basketball team’s 2010 class.
Shoni Schimmel
Schimmel, a 5-foot-9 top 10 point guard, has narrowed her selections down to Oregon, Stanford, Louisville, Rutgers and Duke. She’s an innovative, game-changing point guard garnering Pete Maravich comparisons as a three-point specialist.
She was recently in town to see the Cards play UConn and returned home impressed with the large turnout and the fervor of the Louisville fan base.
Schimmel’s younger sister, Jude, is a 2011 prospect. Their Portland Franklin High School team is coached by their mother, Ceci Moses.
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Other U of L recruits at the UConn game included Sarah Hammond, of Rockcastle County, and Kyvin Goodin-Roger and Makayla Epps, both from Marion County.
Kyvin is the daughter of Tick Rogers, former U of L guard, and Makayla is daughter of Anthony Epps, ex-Kentucky guard.
Lady Cards End Five Game Skid
Becky Burke hits her third three-point shot out of four attempts on her way to 19 points in the University of Louisville women’s basketball team’s 77-61 victory over Marquette Tuesday.
Asia Taylor Emerges In Win Over Marquette
Monique Reid and Becky Burke were at their best as the Lady Cards surprised a good Marquette team. Their continued improvement, along with the emergence of Asia Taylor has coach Jeff Walz looking forward to the future again, despite his team’s 12-14 won-lost record.
Reid had 26 points and 16 rebounds, Burke finished with 19 and two boards, both playing 40 minutes for the injury-riddled Lady Cards. Impressive performances, yeoman like efforts as usual. Shelby Harper coming through with six points during her 40. Even Gwen Rucker had six points.
Asia Taylor, a freshman, displayed a new level of confidence, scoring 14 points and collecting eight rebounds while making life difficult for Marquette on the other end. “That’s the Asia Taylor we’ve been expecting,” said Walz. “She’s going to just keep on getting better and better.”
Sonja’s take on the game is here.
