By Glipie Grider
Head Coach Tom Collen followed in Rick Pitino’s footsteps when he opened the University of Louisville’s women’s basketball practice Saturday afternoon. Unlike the men’s 2-hour intensive practice on Oct. 14, however, the women’s team only practiced about 40 minutes before they switched to shooting competitions against fans and autographing items.
“We’ve never really tried this before and didn’t know what kind of support we really have,” Collen said after team introductions at 1:40 p.m. Collen, who recently returned from New York City and the Big East media conference along with junior players Missy Taylor and Jazz Covington, said he wants the level of excitement from that event to carry over to fans.
“There were 60 or 70 media outlets there – things like CSTV and ESPN. The excitement that the teams generated, we’re already feeling it, but now, we want you guys to finally get that.”
Fans react to first look at the team
At 1 p.m., a few hundred fans walked into Cardinal Arena and watched the 15-member team in action. The team switched in and out of offensive drills, running plays to the shot clock buzzer nearly every time out. The team went from five-on-five to three-on-two before switching over to shooting drills.
“It was interesting to see that they were running some of the same plays we run in practice,” said Ginny Schmitt, a freshman forward at North Oldham High School who came out to the event with her family.
Several high school basketball players were on hand for the event, some traveling as a team while others traveled individually from local schools. Schmitt went to the Cardinals’ summer basketball camp and made a personal connection with the players.
Reena Haliburton, 18, a senior power forward at Ballard High School, said she was surprised by how good the Cards looked offensively, but had one caution. “I think their size is going to be the most challenging thing this season,” the aspiring college player said. “U of L is so small and they don’t have many big inside people.”
But Haliburton is confident about the Cards. “I think this is the year. I want to see them win it all,” she said.
Haliburton’s favorite pick is Covington this season. “I want to see how she sizes up to the new competition,” she said.
Taylor is Kristi Schneider’s favorite player. The junior from Perry Central High School in Indiana said the 6-foot-3 forward is a big Cardinal weapon. The fact that Taylor played at Purdue – Schneider’s other favorite college team â?” before transferring to U of L was another consideration.
Adele Williams, 13, and Carolynne Webster, 4, are both ballgirls for the women’s team and watched the open practice. Williams, who attends Jefferson County Traditional Middle School, only started watching the Cards last season, but she felt a close connection to several of the players after getting to hang out with them for a day. “I really like Jazz [Covington] and Jessica Huggins. I really like Angel [McCoughtry], too,” she said. Both Williams and Webster will cover all 14 of the team’s home games this season.
Sue Knabel of Louisville, who got a season pass for the women’s team last year, said she was eager to see how close U of L will be this year against the Big East competition. The Cardinals were recently ranked 18th in the Women’s Basketball News Service preseason poll. Louisville was one of five teams from the Big East ranked in the poll.
“The sky’s the limit this year, and I really like what I’m seeing [in the practice],” she said.
How they looked
Senior guard Jessica Huggins appeared strong at the point, looking for Covington or Taylor inside, but willing to put up the three when it was open. Collen told her to keep communicating with her teammates on the plays. Sophomore Valeryia Musina, a 6-foot guard from Moscow, put up big perimeter shots, missing only a handful during the entire scrimmage.
Covington pulled down severalboards as expected, but missed a few noticeable lay-up shots. Taylor looked strong offensively and defensively, while freshman newcomer Angel McCoughtry looked fast in running drills and moving up and down the court.
Upcoming events
“We have a great tradition on the men’s side, but now we want to do that on the women’s side. I think we’ve laid a great foundation – now it’s time to step it up.” Last year, Collen led the team to a 22-9 overall season record and their first NCAA Tournament appearance in five years.
The women’s team will play its only exhibition game Nov. 14 against the Hoosier Lady Stars at 7:30 p.m. in Cardinal Arena. The Cards take on UC-Santa Barbara on Nov. 20 for the season opener. Season passes are $25 and include home games against Big East foes Connecticut, Notre Dame and Syracuse as well as non-conference regional rivals Indiana and Xavier.
