Josh Heird Extended Through 2030 -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

ULAA Votes to Extend Heird Through 2030

Photo by GoCards

Fans flocked to social media Sunday evening and Monday morning following the announcement of a special ULAA meeting scheduled for 3:00pm Monday. There was no expected bad news that anyone seemed to know about in advance, but the topic of personnel matters certainly raised concerns across CardNation. It's crazy to think Louisville and the fans have been through that much craziness and trauma that everyone's minds went straight to bad news.

In fact, we were blessed with good news as the University of Louisville Athletic Association (ULAA) Board voted to extend the contract of Josh Heird through 2030. Heird, whose title is University of Louisville Vice President and Director of Athletics, had been 2.5 years through a five-year contract.

The move is not official yet. The ULAA Board does not get final say. It now passes onto the Louisville Board of Trustees, who are scheduled to meet this coming Thursday at 1:00pm. There is every indication that the UofL BOT will approve the contract extension.

Photo by Sports Illustrated 

"This is a vote of confidence that I want to be able to provide," said UofL president Kim Schatzel. "I am happy to take this to the board. I believe that we have one of the finest athletic directors in the country serving the University of Louisville, and the building of the team and confidence and performance he has brought to the athletic department are things we want to continue. He's the right person for the role."

Heird has already played a critical role in the two most profitable programs at UofL- football and men's basketball. He oversaw the departure of Scott Satterfield and the hiring of current football coach Jeff Brohm. Brohm is 18-8 with an ACC Championship game appearance under is belt in two years.

Heird also helped with the negotiation of Chris Mack's exit during the 2021-2022 men's basketball season. Following the recommendation and support of major donors, Heird hired Kenny Payne. However, after two unsuccessful years, Heird negotiated the departure of Payne and the hiring of current basketball coach Pat Kelsey. 

Note: Heird was interim AD at the time of Mack's departure and the hiring of Payne.

Josh Heird and Amy Calabrese at UofL Volleyball

With Heird as AD, Louisville has been selected as a host location for the NCAA Championships for volleyball (2024) and field hockey (2026). Louisville as also been selected to host the first and second rounds of the 2027 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. 

Following the 2023-2024 season, nine Louisville teams advance to the postseason. Louisville All-Girl Cheer won its 10th consecutive NCA National Championship. On the academics side, Louisville had a 93% graduation rate and set another record for number of student-athletes on the AD Honor Roll.

From a financial standpoint, UofL has been able to work and structure new deals since Heird arrived. Louisville finalized a $41 million deal for the naming rights to change Cardinal Stadium to L&N Stadium. Louisville also finalized an agreement with Angel's Envy to rename the Brown and Williamson Club to the Angel's Envy Club at the football stadium. UofL also recently formed a partnership with local bourbon brand Mr and Mrs Bourbon. 502 Circle, Louisville's first NIL collective, was founded and partnered with UofL in 2022.

Heird is the third full-time athletic director Louisville has had in nearly 30 years. Tom Jurich served i as AD from 1997-2017. Vince Tyra served in the same role from 2018-2021. 

There are plenty of folks who still look back on the Jurich days or Tyra days, but Heird has been finding ways to help balance the ever-growing Athletics budget, especially with increased travel costs due to the addition of Stanford, California, and Southern Methodist to the ACC. Heird has also been a regular to several Louisville Athletics events.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

At 5-4, is this a rebuilding year for Louisville WBB?-- Monday Cardinal Couple

 

LOSS INDICATES PLENTY OF WORK NEEDED FOR CARDS WBB AFTER 85-52 LOSS TO UCONN. 

Maybe the good thing about the loss to UConn Saturday night in Brooklyn is that it was a late game and a lot of Cardinas fans had already gone to bed or were coming home from a huge  epic battle and win for in the KFC YUM! Center with UNI for the VolleyCards in NCAA Tournament action. .

The UConn vs. Louisville game shaped up to be a game where the real question was how long could this fairly young and inexperienced Cardinals squad could compete with the #2 Huskies and Bueckers, Fudd, Strong and the rest of the talented Huskies. And, the answer was...not too long. When I got to the TV , after completing media duties for volleyball, it was already 8-2 UConn. 

The ball just wasn't going in the hoop for the Cards early and UConn was making swiss cheese of the Louisville defense, soaring out to a 28-10 first quarter lead and holding Lousville to  23.5% shooting in the first ten and the Cards had a poor 0-6 three point effort  The Cards defense was non-existant and it was painful to watch on TV. 

And, Louisville did a half decent job on Bueckers. Imagine how bad this one could have been if she had been sinking shots per her usual efforts. . 

Youth was not served Saturday night. Instead, it was placed into the corner and told there was no room for them tonight...if it was in Cardinal white. Several fans I know finally turned it off. Maybe Shark was the right name for this tournament,  the Cards certainly  were shark bait for the killer UConn squad that ruled Brooklyn Saturday night. 

Only one of the returning Cards from last year were in double figures for UofL WBB.  Jayda Curry is tied with freshman Taj Roberts as Cards WBB's leading scorer at 12.0 a game. Curry, a senior, in her second season with the Cards after transferring from California, 

So, these next three games for Lousville could mean a lot. Grambling State and NC State come to Louisville...then a trip to Memphis to play the Tigers. The Cards should be able to handle Grambling State, will probably get thumped by NC State and who knows about the trip to Memphis?  The Tigers are 2-6 on the season so far and on a five game losing streak . 

If it is to be a rebuilding season, and all early indications show that is it is...I'd like to see the Cards getting more playing time for the ones that will suit up in the 2025-26 season. Isla Jufferman looks like she could be a force in the middle, but needs a little more quickness. time on the court and less fear in crashing the boards. Elif Istanbulloglu  needs to be on the court more. too. That European experience and the strong style she demostrated in just 16 minutes a game is encouraging. Freshmen Taj Roberts and Mackenly Randolph at starting guards is about what one would expect from freshmen, but it is good that they are seeing a lot of action agains a killer schedule. Nyla Harris returns next year , too, and could be a key force if she can bond and be a leader for these young players.   

In this age of NIL searching and players jumping from school to school like frogs by a pond, one might hope that these Cards that will be back next year as Cards. 

I haven't totally given up on this season, I do think Louisville WBB could be good enough to be an NCAA Tournament team, but the ACC is looking to be a real beast this season, and the Cards will have to have these freshmen grow up really fast. It can be done, and Walz and his staff can give them all the tools they need for success. 

The question is...will the players learn them and use them?.

paulie

. 

A Draining Saturday for Basketball and Volleyball - Sunday Cardinal Couple

Basketball Mauled by UConn

I doubt too many people will find this surprising, but Louisville went up to New York City to play UConn in the Shark Beauty Women's Champions Classic, and...

well, let's just say it didn't go well for the Cards.  Most of the tale is told just with the final score, 85-52.

Only one Cardinal made it into double digit points, Imari Berry, and with overall shooting of just over 25%, you're not going to win too many games.

Let's not dwell too much on this one, and just jump into the FRED Report:

THE FRED REPORT

(I rushed home from Volleyball to watch this?)

F - 70% free throw shooting percentage overall, is, of course, just on the cusp of our acceptable percentage.  As I explained last week, I use a lower case "f" for 70-75%, while I believe the rest of the Cardinal Couple crew consider this an all or nothing for "F".

R - UConn out-rebounded Louisville 52-28, almost double.  That's not even in the same state of getting that letter.

E - I didn't put eyes on the telecast, but it's pretty clear that the Cards fell far short in effort and execution.  No letter here.

D - A bit of a bright spot here?  No, let's call it a dim glimmer, but it is at least something.  Louisville had seven steals to UConn's five, and a similarly slim margin in turnovers, only committing 11 compared to the Huskies' 13.  The blocks margin went to the New Englanders by a similar margin.  That's not much of an overall margin in either of those categories, and is woefully insufficient on it's own to win a game, but I do believe the lowercase "d" is warranted, here.

Overall, a f-_-_-d.  Again, that's not going to win games.

Head coach Jeff Walz was his usual "to the point" self about the loss in post game and some of his terse comments may not be suitable for the kiddos. You have beem warned.

UofL will return to the friendly confines of the KFC Yum! Center for a Thursday game against Grambling State with a 7pm start time.  That will make scheduling pretty tight if you want to do the double-header with Volleyball, but it might be doable.  More on Volleyball scheduling below.

POST GAME JEFF WALZ

Volleyball Wins an Instant Classic

Finally able to celebrate after a 22-20 fifth set

The Cards won what may have been the most exciting volleyball across the NCAA in years.  Let's just let the set scores build the framework of the action.  26-28, 25-22, 23-25, 25-13, 22-20.

 

First off, let's give credit to the University of Northern Iowa team and their coach Bobbi Petersen.  That is a very well coached team, that played quite well, and pushed the Cards to the very breaking point before succumbing.  After the match was over and friends, families, and some die-hard fans were waiting for players to emerge from the locker rooms, the UNI team came first and had to walk the length of the court to where the UNI crowd was waiting.  The folks in red and black all gave them a very deserved round of applause for a game well played and as a demonstration of the great respect they held for the UNI team.

Elena Scott flying through the air

Now, with that said, and to take away nothing from UNI, Louisville did not play their best.  Digging and passing was not as sharp as it typically is.  "Serve and pass" (or some rewording of that concept) is an evergreen entry to every "Keys to the game" segment for every team and match out there, and the Cards were a bit sloppy there.  Some of that is, again, credit to UNI for good passing and hitting, but not all of it.

Louisville also lives and dies by their blocking, and it showed last night.  That 25-13 4th set score?  The Cards outblocked UNI significantly in that set, while the rest of the sets were closer.  Again, however, some credit to UNI for influencing that stat.  Many blocks that Louisville put up at the net didn't get counted in the stats because UNI's blocking coverage was so incredible that they were able to keep the ball alive and transition (a block is only counted in the stats if it goes down and results in a point).  Nonetheless, Louisville had a whopping 25 blocks total in the match, at a rate of 5 blocks/set.

A big time block by Cara Cresse and Reese Robins

The NCAA statistics site has Louisville listed in 2nd place in blocks per set, just behind Wisconsin, at a rate of 3.02 blocks/set (Wisc has 3.1/set).  When this match gets added into those stats, I suspect Louisville will pop up to the top of the list again.  UNI's 17 blocks in the match would, if sustained, put them right at the top of that list as well, so again, respect for the Panthers.

For individual stats, Anna DeBeer and Charitie Luper led the Cards in kills with 19 each, though DeBeer was a bit more efficient hitting .280 to Luper's .175 (remember, both teams were blocking monsters...all hitting percentages will be lower as a result).  Cara Cresse and Sofia Maldonado Diaz both had seven.

6'6 Cara Cresse stretches as high as she can

Cresse was a monster at the net with three solo blocks and 11 shares.  Maldonado also had a solo and six shares for an impressive night at the net.

Elena Scott dug 26 shots, Luper 14, and DeBeer 11.  UNI chose to serve at Scott for much of the evening, which is a dubious decision, while, as mentioned, our passing wasn't as sharp as it should be, Scott is still going to put the ball on target the vast majority of the time.

Oh look, Cresse with another block

The other deciding factor of the match was service errors.  Louisville held theirs mostly in check at seven for the match, while UNI committed 15, including four almost consecutively starting with UNI's first match point at 14-13.

But with all that, and with every bit of energy completely wrung out from every single person in the KFC Yum! Center, the Cards advance to the Sweet 16.

Flying, levitating, floating... Elena Scott does it all

They will, of course, continue to host, but due to scheduling conflicts (basketball and commencement), the Regionals will instead be at Freedom Hall rather than the KFC Yum! Center.  Matches will start at Freedom Hall at 7pm Thursday the 12th, with two seed Stanford matching up with six seed Florida (advanced in an upset over three seed Kansas).  The Cards' match will follow at 9:30pm, or after a 30 minutes warm-up period if the first match goes long and they will play a familiar foe in four seed Purdue.  The Regional finals will be Saturday evening, times TBD.

 

Celebratory hug

Looking quickly around the rest of the tournament, there are several minor upsets that have made it through to the Sweet 16 in addition to Florida.  Seven seed Missouri will be facing three seed Kentucky, Pitt and Oregon is chalk, five seed Marquette gets a minor upset over four seed Utah to face Penn State.  Texas and Creighton is chalk, six seed Texas A&M got past three seed Arizona State, and finally five seed Dayton will see top seed Nebraska after getting past four seed Baylor.

(WE  HAVE NOT FOUND ANY VIDEO YET OF THE POST GAME PRESSER, BUT WILL CONTINUE TO SEARCH AND WILL UPDATE HERE WHEN IT IS DISCOVERED)

(Volleyball photos by Jared Anderson )

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!?!?!

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Jared, Paulie, and I gathered for the CCRHP yesterday.  We did some fairly quick coverage of the basketball loss to Oklahoma and preview of the UConn game, before shifting to more extensive coverage of volleyball.

Check out the show from Spotify at:

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/cardinal-couple/episodes/Big-Week-for-Volleyball-and-WBB-Road-Swing-e2rmtir

(Jared checking in this afternoon to add a few more volleyball photos. You can take a lot of pictures in a match that goes 2 hours 45 minutes)

Anna DeBeer

Charitie Luper

Elle Glock (right) sets Cara Cresse (left)

Elle Glock saves the ball after an Anna DeBeer dig

Victory celebration

-- 

JMcA

Volleyball Sweeps Chicago State in NCAA Opener -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Maldonado Diaz Leads in Louisville Romp

Louisville opened the NCAA Tournament last night in the KFC Yum! Center and welcomed Chicago State into what was likely the largest crowd the Cougars faced all season. It was Chicago State's first ever NCAA tournament appearance, and Louisville didn't welcome them to the party very gently. The Cards didn't necessarily play their cleanest match, but when all was said and done, Louisville outhit CSU .290 to .009 and won the match 25-10, 25-18, 25-13. 

Dani Busboom-Kelly got plenty of players tournament experience yesterday, with 13 Cardinals seeing the floor. Those players included Payton Peterson, who got the opportunity to play with her mom Bobbi scouting in the stands. Bobbi is the head coach of the Northern Iowa squad that Louisville will face today. Peterson played in one set and got two kills on four attempts while also picking up a dig. The 8th-seeded Panthers of UNI defeated Illinois 3-1. 

Louisville set the tone very early, winning the first seven points of the match. From there, it was pretty straightforward. Although the second set score is a lot closer, Louisville and CSU tied at 3-3 and the deficit was never smaller than one after that. CSU won three points in a row to bring the score to 12-11 at one point in the set, but Louisville won the next five to put the set fairly well in hand. Like the first, the Cards were all over the Cougars in the third, with Louisville jumping out to 10-1 lead. There is not a lot to dig into with the play-by-play, as there wasn't very much drama. 

Louisville was led offensively by Sofia Maldonado Diaz, although the usual suspects of Charitie Luper and Anna DeBeer were hot on her tail. Maldonado Diaz had nine kills and hit .368, while also adding a solo block and four block assists. She picked up an assist and two digs to go along with the offense. Luper also finished with nine kills, but hit just .273. Luper added an ace, a block assist, and five digs. DeBeer was relatively quiet outside of her hitting (seven kills; .235) as she registered no other stats except for five digs. 

Defensively, Louisville was stout, allowing just the .009 hitting I mentioned earlier. The Cards finished with ten blocks, compared to just four for CSU. Hannah Sherman was the blocking leader, as she finished with seven block assists. The Cards had just two solo blocks (PK had the second), so the defense was reading CSU very well. Louisville also allowed no aces, while the Cougars committed five serving errors. The serving game benefited Louisville decently, as they were net +6 in that category. Louisville had five aces and just four errors. 

Louisville will face a familiar foe this evening when they take on UNI. The Cards swept the Panthers earlier this season, but that win was actually their first in the historical series. The two teams have played in early season events on four occasions, but their last meeting prior to this season was in the 2017 NCAA tournament. You may remember that upset loss, a sweep at the hands of UNI in Minneapolis. All five matches in the series have been sweeps, coincidentally, with UNI taking wins in 1987, 1989, 2013, and 2017. Louisville will be looking to add to their list of victories in the head-to-head tonight. As DBK mentioned in her postgame comments, this Louisville team is nothing new to UNI. In addition to having played earlier this year, UNI's head coach has had plenty of reason to watch every Louisville match to this point. 

The Cards should be prepared for a major test. There haven't been many upsets in this year's tournament so far, but Missouri proved last night that the top-two seeds are not invincible. SMU fought off a sweep by winning the third set in their match, but the 7th-seeded Tigers ultimately won 3-1. The winner of tonight's match between Louisville and UNI will face Purdue in the next round. Purdue was the beneficiary of one of the few upsets that have happened. Loyola Chicago swept the 5th-seeded BYU Cougars before becoming the second team to be swept by the Boilermakers in the tournament. Should Louisville win, next week's match will be in Freedom Hall. 

Tonight's match gets underway at 6PM eastern time and will likely be available to watch on ESPN+. No official broadcast is listed yet. 

WBB Looks to Bounce Back in Big Matchup

After the shocking fourth quarter collapse against Oklahoma earlier this week, there's no rest for the weary when it comes to Louisville women's basketball. The Cards face another huge test tonight, this time on a neutral floor. Louisville will take on UConn in the Women's Champions Classic at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Tonight's game is part of the first ever edition of the Women's Champions Classic, so I imagine there will be plenty of eyes on the game. 

UConn is currently ranked #2 in the country, taking seven first-place votes in last week's AP Poll. The Huskies have two ranked wins so far this season, having beaten UNC 69-58 on the road and Ole Miss 73-60 in the Bahamas. Apparently they've decided to do the thing where they're good no matter where they play again. 

Louisville will be looking for their first major win of the season, having come close in a number of big matchups. Tonight's game will air on FOX and is scheduled for 9PM. With the event styled the way it is, tipoff will be dependent on the first game, which features Tennessee and Iowa. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Daryl and I are out this week, but the three stooges remaining hosts will have plenty to talk about. Jeff will be buzzing to talk about exciting volleyball, and I'm sure Jared and Paulie will be thrilled to give him the floor and ignore the WBB midweek game. You can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Volleyballs Opens Up NCAA Tournament Against Chicago State -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Happy Friday, Cards fans! Jared checking in here for Daryl. She graciously traded days with me this week so I could edit photos from the Louisville women's basketball game Wednesday night. Sadly, Daryl had to recap a not-so-great loss. I, on the other hand, get to preview the excitement of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament.

Cards Face Chicago State in First Round

Louisville Volleyball opens up the NCAA Tournament tonight against Chicago State. The 1-seeded Cards will play the latter of the two matches tonight as 8-seed Northern Iowa and Illinois will square off at 4:00pm. With the Cards and Cougars set to begin at 7:00pm, we do not expect any major delays even if the first match runs long.

The match will be aired on ESPN+. All first and second round matches in the NCAA Tournament are exclusively aired on ESPN+ regardless of what other streaming options the host sites might have.

This is the 33rd NCAA Tournament appearance for Louisville, who has two Final Fours and a National Runner-Up finish since Dani Busboom Kelly took over as head coach. 

Louisville went 25-5 this season and finished second in the ACC with a 17-3 mark. 19 of the 30 opponents Louisville faced made it to the NCAA Tournament.

THE FOE

Chicago State went 19-9 this season. They cruised through the Northeast Conference, going 13-1 in the regular season and winning the Northeast Conference Tournament. The Cougars did not face many "Power Five" teams, but fell in all of them- Cincinnati (3-0), Indiana (3-1), and Minnesota (3-0).

Patrycja Lagida leads the offense with 3.39 kills per set. Karly Klaer (2.72) and Zahara Quraishi (2.27) have also produced strong numbers on the offensive end. Chicago State also utilizes aggressive serves to help with offensive production. The Panthers average nearly two aces per set.

Defensively, Andrea Calderon has been the go-to player with 4.48 digs per set. Karly Klaer (2.55), Wiktoria Zagumny (2.20), and Patrycja Lagida (2.15) have all provided solid back row defense. 

NCAA Volleyball Tournament Updates

NCAA Tournaments, regardless of the sport, are always enjoyable for me. You can't beat watching several games all back-to-back with all teams putting everything on the line.

This year's tournament opened up with an upset as Loyola Chicago swept 5-seed BYU. Upsets are bound to happen when postseason rolls around but it's rare to see an upset happen in sweep fashion. Another upset on the night was Ole Miss taking down 7-seed Florida State in five sets.

We did see 7-seed Georgia Tech hang out to beat Tennessee in five sets. The Yellow Jackets won the third set 32-30. The last of the three ACC teams in action last night was 2-seed SMU. The Mustangs had a little trouble against Wichita State, but prevailed. The two teams had an extended first set with SMU winning 28-26.

Looking into the great Commonwealth of Kentucky, two of the four Kentucky schools played last night. Western Kentucky fell to 6-seed Minnesota 3-1. The Hilltoppers scored 20 or more points in all four sets. 3-seed Kentucky was also in action as they easily took down Cleveland State.

Besides Louisville, the other ACC teams in action are 1-seed Pitt vs Morehead State, 8-seed North Carolina vs Yale, 8-seed Miami vs South Dakota State, and NC State vs 6-seed Florida.

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards WBB falls to Sooners 78-72 -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Happy Thursday yall 

It's Daryl recapping the Cardinals WBB loss to Oklahoma yesterday afternoon.   Cardinal Couple was out there representing for a relatively small crowd (7466) for a Cards game. Let's blame the 5 p.m. start time and ESPN2 for that.  Those who were watching saw the Uofl lead disappear in a disaasterous fourth quarter and a potential victory dissolve.  

WBB

Cardinals 72 - Sooners 78

Photos: Jared Anderson

UofL let one slip from their grasp when the #11 Sooners came into the Yum Center and stole another "W" for the SEC in the ACC/SEC Conference challenge.  Olivia Cochran scored 17 on 50% shooting from the field, 9 rebounds and 5-6 at the FT line.  Merissah Russell scored 14 shooting 50% from 3 point range.   

Former Card Payton Verhulst led for OU with 21 points and 7 rebounds. 

The Cardinals are 5-3 on the season... with another top ranked matchup on the schedule for this weekend, so they will have to move on pretty quickly.  


Recap

End of 1Q 21-14 Cards
FG %
8-21 38% Cards
4-15 26.7% Sooners
Reb. 15-12 Cards
3-pt %
2-5 40% Cards
3-8 37.5% Sooners


No changes to the starting lineup Walz has been utilizing recently.

Who else would hit the first shot other than Payton Verhulst, a three of course.

The Cardinals started 0-4 from the field before a strange timeout called by the refs when Ja'Leah Williams was about to shoot her second FT. It's rare to see the refs "ice" a player, and do it so early in a game, but it worked, Ja'Leah clanked the second one. 

UofL first scored when Olivia Cochran made a jumper assisted by Merissah Russell. Then Russell followed up with a three to tie it up 5-all with 6:30 left in the first quarter.

Then, the Sooners went cold, scoreless for more than 3 minutes while the Cards took their first lead when Elif Istanbulluoglu headed to the FT line and goes 1-2 Nyla Harris gets the rebound to put it back up and in to make it 8-5 Cards.

It was a back and forth quarter.  Olivia went to the line and missed the shot but who's there to clean it up again? Nyla Harris , as she corrals it and goes up. She gets fouled. The Cards were 1-5 at the FT line at this point, Nyla hit them both to put the Cards up 17-14.

Cards started to find their strength in the paint as Mackenly Randolph powered by the OU defense to put the Cards ahead 21-14.



End of 2Q 20-15 Cards


FG %
6-18 33.3% Cards
4-8 50% Sooners
Reb. 9-6 Cards
3-pt %
1-6 16.7% Cards
3-5 60% Sooners


The Cards struggled to score in the opening minutes of the second quarter before Roberts stole the ball from Verhulst and scores on the next two possessions. Another 2 min scoring drought for the Sooners gives the Cards some room to extend the lead before going scoreless themselves for a couple minutes before the media timeout...where the score was 27-20

Roberts hits the 3 with 3 min left in the half to put the Cards up 36-24. A Curry steal and Russell layup forces the Sooners to call a timeout.




HALF 41-29



End of 3Q 20-19 Sooners

FG %
7-17 41.2% Cards
7-14 50% Sooners
Reb. 12-6 Sooners
3-pt %
3-8 37.5% Cards
1-5 20% Sooners


Once again the Cards slowly start a quarter...and allow the Sooners to cut the Louisville lead to 43-38 in the first 3 minutes. OU went on a 9-4 run to open the second half. The Cards led the Sooners 45-40 before the Cards went on another run to push the lead back to 10 with less than 4:30 left in the third quarter.

Jayda Curry hits her first three with 3:33 left in the third to put the Cards up 55-42.

But a 2:30 scoring drought for the Cards allows the Sooners to get it within single digits before Russell says..."Hold my beers" and drains her 4th three of the game to put the Cards up 60-49 at the end of the third quarter


End of 4Q 29-12 Sooners

FG %
4-16 25% Cards
9-16 56.3% Sooners
Reb. 13-7 Sooners
3-pt %
0-7 0% Cards
2-6 33.3% Sooners


The Sooners would not go away that easily. Every time the Cards went cold, OU inched close,r but the Cards maintained about a 5 point lead throughout the 4th quarter until OU was able to pull it to 68-66 with 3:30 left in the game. Merissah pulled up for another 3 but this one did not fall. The Cards come out of the timeout and turn the ball over... allowing the Sooners to tie it up at 68-all on the next possession.

Olivia Cochran fouled out when she was called for one against Verhulst that put Payton at the line. She put the Sooners ahead for the first time since the first quarter.

jayda Curry tied it up on the jumper with 1 minute left but OU responds with the jumper of their own and then 2 FTs put them up 74-70. Walz calls the timeout. It was a fouling match the last minute of the game but the Cards could not overcome the deficit.   

UP NEXT

Louisville vs UCONN

Saturday 12/7

9pm tip-off

FOX

FRED REPORT (Freddy Mercury) 

FREE THROWS --  Olivia Cochran leading the way 5-6 at the charity stripe.  The Cardinals went 16-20 at the FT line after starting 1-5.  80%. I'll give it a Capital F 

REBOUNDING -- UofL lost the rebounding battle 43-37 with Olivia Cochran once again leading the efforts for the Cards with 9.  It was a great game for Olivia, I think she needed a big night against a big team on a big stage.  It just sucks the Cards couldn't get the W along with it.   No letter 

EFFORT/EXECUTION --  The Sooners are the #11 ranked team in the country, They are a veteran squad that scores a lot of points... if the Cards hadn't been up by 17 points on them and just let this one slip out of their grasp, I wouldn't have been shocked to lose to OU... But they did have major control and looked like they were going to pull away big.  I do think some things were learned by the squad and coaching staff and this one stung a little bit extra, however the Cards shooting took a vacation at the end of the game...going 1-9 from the field.  No letter.  

DEFENSE -- After holding them to 35% shooting in the first half, the Sooners shot 53% in the final 20 minutes.  Olivia and Nyla both fouled out with a couple minutes left in the game.  no letter


FINAL FRED TALLY: F_  _  _

POST GAME COCHRAN AND RUSSELL

POST GAME JEFF WALZ


As always
Go Cards!
~Daryl 

Cards WBB hosts Oklahoma tonight --WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 #11 SOONERS VS #24 CARDS IN SEC/ACC MATCHUP

Louisville WBB looks to go to 6-2 on the season when they bring Oklahoma to town for a Wednesday matchup in the  KFC YUM! Center. Note the early start time on the contest -- 5 p.m. -- alledgedly a "TV created tip-off time" to faciliate ESPN2, who is supposedly televising the game...we think.

ESPN2, however, lists they are showing a game with Vanderbilt v. Miami in their Wednesday listings at that time, but so is the ACC Network, so...I guess the TV viewers will find out which is where at game time. It is part of the ACC vs.SEC Challenge...it's still hard for me to remember the Sooners are SEC after being BIG 12 for eons. Who's on first stuff...

(How many of the above names are still revelant in college hoops ths season?) 

Maybe your best bet is just to attend the event live... it's gonna be a good one. or check the ESPN2 and ACC Network broadcast schedules tomorrow, if you can't attend. 

Oklahoma is 6-1 on the season, starting the season with six wins...over Southern U, Virginia, Western Carolina, Wichita St., UNLV and DePaul...before falling in overtime to Duke 109-99. The loss saw Oklahoma battle back from a 15 point deficit and force the o.t. on a Payton Verhulst buzzer beater three.  

So, who are these Sooners? One name Cardinals fans will recognize immediately is starter Payton Verhulst, she was...of course... with the Cardinals a couple off years until she transfered out to Oklahoma. Verhulst had a triple-double against #13 ranked Duke (29 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists) last time out. It was the fourth triple-double in the history of OU WBB, and she became one of two players of all time (Caitlin Clark being the other) since 1999 to post a 25 points-scored triple double against a top 25 team. She was named SEC Player of the Week for her performance. (Note: Cardinal Couple did attempt to arrange an interview with Verhulst about her return to Lousville, but our request was denied by the OU sports information staff.) We don't know if Verhulst blocked the request or the school did...but we got the answer Monday after a Sunday request.  

Oklahoma also usuallly starts Reagan Beers, Skylar Vann, Sahara William and Neveah Tot along with Verhulst. . Verhulst, Beers, Vann and Williams all average in double figures for a Sooner squad that averages 92 points a game. Louisville allows just 64 points a night, so it'll be interesting to see how the pace goes in this one and how many points the visitors actually score.  

Coach Jeanie Baranczyk

Head coach Jeanie Baranczyk is going into her fourth season as the head honcho for OU hoops, coming over from Drake, where she was the head coach for nine seasons. She has been very successful in her time at OU, winnng 25 games in 2021-22, 26 games in 2022-23 and 23 games in 2023-24. 

Jeff Walz met with Louisville media on Tuesday to preview the match. You can see that presser at the link below. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnVn3FVXkCM

What must Louisville do to win this game?  i see five keys: 

1) Control the tempo. Louisville wants to avoid a runout against the Sooners. Oklahoma wins those, usually, by 20 points or more.The OU game against Duke may be the exception, but it was an overtime contest and at a neutral site. 

2) Go to the boards. OU is not a exceptionally tall squad, with Beers being the tallest starter at 6'4" The Cards won't see a "monster" center, like they did at UK or against UCLA. Cochran and Harris need to be invested in this one and rebound the basketball. Elif and Isla could also be key contributors in this one. 

3) No one's guarding you, make the shot. I speak of free throws, the Cards are only sinking 64% of those this season. Roberts and Cochran must do better at the charity stripe for a UofL win Wednesday.

4) Get that big second quarter run. It's been a staple of success this season for the Cards, they're out-scoring the opposition 143 to 78 in the 10 minutes before halftime. 

5) Be "Berry good" from beyond the three point arc. I use the pun because Imari Berry is showing alredy this season that she can go on three point runs that seem almost automatic. She's 52% (15-29) from the deep. And, not even a starter. She needs a few more than 18 minutes a game she's averaging, in my opinion. 

It should be a fun one tonight and, hopefully, a Cardinals win. 

paulie

Taj Roberts Named ACC Rookie of the Week -- ACC Volleyball Awards -- Volleyball Tournament Reaction -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Roberts Named ACC Rookie of the Week

For the second time this season, freshman Tajianna Roberts was named ACC Rookie of the Week. Although Louisville only played one game over the last week, Roberts played a crucial role in the road win against Colorado.

Roberts scored 13 points while shooting 50% from the field. She added four steals as well as a pair of rebounds and a pair of assists. This is the sixth time this season where the freshman guard finished in the double figures in scoring. Roberts used a 5-0 run to help spark the Louisville 16-0 run in the fourth quarter.

Louisville returns home tomorrow night to host #11 Oklahoma. Tip-off is a bit earlier than normal, slated for 5:00pm. This game also features the return of former Louisville player Payton Verhulst, who is now with the Sooners.

ACC Volleyball Awards Features Multiple Cardinals

The ACC announced the annual ACC Volleyball awards yesterday. Elena Scott and Nayelis Cabello earned accolades.

Elena Scott was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight time. It is her fourth All-ACC award in her career. This season, the Louisville native averaged 4.43 digs per set played with a total of 456 digs on the year. She also had 110 assists and led the Cards with 33 service aces. Scott's career tallies include 1,861 digs, 419 assists, and 137 aces. The digs and aces both rank in the top-10 in program history.

Nayelis Cabello was named ACC Freshman of the Year. Cabello played a major role in Louisville's 6-2 offense, where she rotated with Elle Glock. The newcomer averaged 5.32 assists per set with a total of 554 this season. She also added 162 digs and 15 blocks. She was named ACC Freshman of the Week six times this season.

Scott was named to the All-ACC First Team alongside Anna DeBeer and Charitie Luper. Care Cresse was named to the All-ACC Second Team while Cabello was named to the All-ACC Freshmen Team.

ACC Player of the Year was awarded to Pitt's Olivia Babcock. ACC Setter of the Year went to Stanford's Kami Miner. Dan Fisher was named ACC Coach of the Year as Pitt won the ACC and was named the top overall seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Louisville opens up play in the NCAA Tournament on Friday night at approximately 7:00pm against Chicago State.

Volleyball Tournament Reaction

With the release of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament Sunday night, the biggest question for Louisville fans was answered. What seed would Louisville get? They earned the final 1-seed.

Pittsburgh earned the top overall seed. The Panthers lost one match all season and won the ACC. Nebraska and Penn State each earned 1-seeds, both with two losses.

Louisville beat out Stanford and Creighton, both of whom the Cards beat this season. Stanford did turn around and even the season series against Louisville this past weekend. The Committee seemed to weigh Louisville's wins over Stanford, Creighton, SMU, Wisconsin, and Kentucky pretty heavily. Kentucky earned a 3-seed while the other four on that list are 2-seeds. UofL went 5-1 against 2-seeds and 3-seeds, but went 0-4 against 1-seeds. 

Stanford went 5-3 against teams 3-seed or higher. The Cardinal (singular) won three sets against the Cardinals (plural) but Louisville won four sets, which might have helped been the deciding factor.

While Creighton went 29-2, they went 1-2 against teams 3-seed or higher. The Blue Jays fell to Louisville and Nebraska, but did sweep Kansas. The weakness of the Big East most likely played a factor in the seeding.

The ACC saw much love from the selection committee. Four of the top eight seeds are ACC schools: 2-seed Pitt, 1-seed Louisville, 2-seed Stanford, and 2-seed SMU. Nine ACC schools made the NCAA Tournament, The other five include 7-seed Florida State, 7-seed Georgia Tech, 8-seed North Carolina, 8-seed Miami, and NC State.

The Commonwealth of Kentucky also saw a fair amount of love with four schools dancing: 1-seed Louisville, 3-seed Kentucky, Morehead State, and Western Kentucky. The three non-Louisville schools were placed in the Pitt Region, highlighted by top seeds Pitt and SMU. I don't see any of the three surviving to the Final Four.

Louisville played a lot of matches against teams in the NCAA Tournament this year. Those opponents include Wisconsin, Tennessee, Penn State, South Dakota, Missouri, Northern Iowa, Creighton, Kentucky, Nebraska, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Miami, NC State, SMU, North Carolina, Stanford (2x), and Pitt (2x). 19 matches out of 30 opponents this season in the NCAA Tournament shows that this Louisville team is battle tested. Are the Cards ready for the challenge? Playing at home the entire tournament plays in their favor, but the Cards did lose at home to both Nebraska and Pitt this season.

Keys to Winning the NCAA Tournament:

-Limit unforced errors. This includes service errors and attack errors. Louisville likes to serve aggressively, but taking a little off the serve to keep the ball in gives your defense a chance to make a stop. Attack errors seemed to be more plentiful than kills a few times this season. That's more of a mentality or lack of focus.

-Strong blocking. Louisville is one of the top blocking teams in the country. They averaged 3.0 blocks per set this season. The Cards have established their identity under Dani Busboom Kelly through their blocking.

-Feed the hot hand. This might be an underrated key point. Louisville is not short on playmakers by any means. Different players have stepped up in various matches. Whether it's Anna DeBeer, Charitie Luper, Sofia Maldonado Diaz, Payton Petersen, Reese Robins, Cara Cresse, Phekran Kong, or Hannah Sherman, find the hot hand and feed them. It's no different than feeding the hot shooter in basketball.

Cardinal Couple plans to have in person coverage for all Louisville matches in the NCAA Tournament.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared