THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 30, 1995 TAG: 9512300513
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JODY DEMLING, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
College basketball teams typically schedule Cupcake U type opponents to fill fields in their own invitational tournament's.
Not the University of Louisville women's team.
The Lady Cardinals invited three prominent teams to the sixth annual Seelbach Cardinal Classic and nearly opened with a monster upset.
Down by five at halftime, the Lady Cards fought hard succumbing to a 73-70 loss against No. 19 Old Dominion and a fierce defense in the sixth annual tournament before 1,000 fans at Cardinal Arena.
``We're going to learn from this and get better,'' Louisville coach Bud Childers said. ``It's better for us to play quality teams than some Cupcake City and cruise into the finals.''
Old Dominion (6-1), which beat Georgia when the Lady Bulldogs were ranked No. 1 earlier this season, was led by Mery Andrade's 22 points and Clarisse Machanguana's 20 points and six rebounds.
``This is a very difficult place to play, and we're happy to get out of here with a win,'' Old Dominion coach Wendy Larry said. ``Defense won this game for us down the stretch.''
The Lady Monarchs hit 26 of 58 from the field and 18 of 27 from the free-throw line. They committed 24 turnovers and forced Louisville into 31.
``Defense wins games for us,'' ODU's Tisha Penicherio said. ``We had to turn it up a bit in the second half. We knew this was going to be a tough place to win.''
Kristin Mattox led the Lady Cards (7-3) with 21 points and seven rebounds, while Marla Inman added 16 points.
The win advanced Old Dominion into the championship game against No. 10 Colorado (11-1), a 71-62 winner over Northwestern State, tonight at 7:30 p.m. The Lady Monarchs are 1-1 against Top 20 teams this season, losing to Stanford. by CNB