Louisville women's basketball vs. Virginia tonight -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

15-1 CARDS BRING IN CAVALIERS TONIGHT

The University of Louisville women's basketball squad plays the Virginia Cavaliers tonight at 7 p.m. in the KFC YUM! Center.

A Cavalier squad that is 7-10 overall, 1-3 in ACC play  under first year coach Tina Thompson. You might remember Tina if you follow the WNBA. 

Tina was the first pick in the inaugural WNBA draft back in 1997. She ended up with the (now defunct) Houston Comets and won four straight WNBA titles alongside Sheryl Swoopes and Cynthia Cooper. After a career that included stops at the Los Angeles Sparks and Seattle Storm...she retired after the 2012 season after 17 years in the league.

Tina was the all-time leading scorer in the WNBA until Diana Taurasi passed her in 2017. 

After a stint as an assistant at Texas, she became the Cavs head coach for the 2018-19 season, replacing JoAnne Boyle. Her college alma mater is USC, where she played with Lisa Leslie.

So, what kind of team does she bring tonight to the YUM? 

It's a tale of two teams. A team that knocked off Virginia Tech by four two games back in the Battle of the Commonwealth. After being down 19 points in the third quarter. It's also a team that was drubbed by Michigan St. by 25 points, Mississippi St. by 28 points, NC State by 28 and Central Michigan by 13.

Beside CMU, the Cavs and Cards have Kentucky as a common opponent. UVA fell to the Cats by 12 in Lexington. 

The Wahoos looked like they might be turning the corner on the season with the win over Virginia Rech, but three days later they got hammered by NC State. In Charlottesville. 

A couple of starters of note for the Cavs are Jocelyn Willoughby, who leads them in scoring with 12.8 points per game and is the leading rebounder at 7.8 a night. Dominique Toussaint has also started all 17 games and is good for 11.3 a night. Mone Jones has 7.5 points while performing in all 17 "Wahoo" games and Brianna Tinsley tickles the nets for 9.1 a night. Willoughby is a definite three-point threat, her 35-69 accuracy (.507) is one of the best percentages in DI WBB. 

Then, there's Felicia. 

At 6'9", she's the tallest women's basketball player you'll see in the Downtown Arena this season. Back from some recent knee issues, she's a defensive stopper but not much on the offensive end. In six games, she's averaging about 20 minutes a game and five points a night. She does have 17 blocks on the season, though and averages 7.2 rebounds a night. 

Against the Cards last year, she had eight points, seven grabs and a block in Charlottesville in a Cavs 77-41 loss and two points and three rebounds in a UVA 51-39 defeat at the YUM! Center.

OF NOTE:

-- Tonight's official are Luis Gonzales (the bald guy), Jeffrey Smith and one of the Enterline brothers -- Bob. They are a pretty good crew, all things considered. 

-- It is "Bobblehead Night" and the first 1000 who claim them get Jeff Walz. It's not a bad replica of Coach, although he commented that he could put four of them in his house and ward off any bug problems. Be sure to catch the Walz presser from yesterday at the bottom of today's column. 

-- ACCNE has the viewing, with Don Russel and Sara White, plus Cortnee Walton on the sidelines and the Cardinals illustrious radio crew in Nick Curran and Adrienne Johnson on Cards Radio 790 WKRD AM. Thirsty Thursday is also in force, so $3 beverages will be available.. 

-- The Cards are 7-2 lifetime vs. UVA and 4-0 at home. 

How do I see it? The Cavs like a lower scoring type of contest, they allow just 64 points a night while tallying 59. They did give up 91 to Mich. State, though and Mississippi State, Kentucky and Central Michigan got it into the 70's against them in wins. I expect the Cards to try and run, run, run against UVA and they have been working hard on rebounding and eliminating silly fouls. Let's go with a Louisville 82-61 win. Let's hope Tina doesn't decide to suit up and play...


JEFF WALZ PRESSER

Coach has been holding a Wednesday presser over the last several weeks and did so yesterday. Not much in the way of UVA analysis but it was one of the more entertaining and fun pressers I can remember with Walz. Will he wear a matching outfit that the bobble-head is dressed in? Coach wouldn't spill the beans on that one. 

Listen and watch for yourself below. Thanks to Daryl Foust, frequent CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR guest and girl of many occupations and diversions,  for the video and audio feed! 

LINK: WALZ PRESSER PRE-VIRGINIA 1/16/19



ASIA VS ARIKE

Regular reader Sandy Walker found this article about the probable top two picks in the upcoming WNBA draft. It's an interesting read and it is linked up below: 

LINK: Asia and Arike


See you at the YUM! tonight! 



paulie
xxxxx

What's Happening Outside of Women's Basketball -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Around the Campus

With the focus being centered on Louisville women's basketball and how they are doing in the midst of their season we have neglected to give other sports the attention they deserve.  We do still cover all women's sports at UofL, don't worry.  We'll take a step away from the realm of women's basketball for one day before diving right back into it tomorrow.

(EDITOR'S NOTE - He couldn't do it. Knew it. See bottom of today's column for WBB news.) 

Track and Field

The guy the meet is named after.

The men and women combined for nine victories in their indoor season opener for 2019 at the Gene Edmonds Invitational in West Lafayette.  Three of the wins came in track events while the other six wins were in the field.

Sophomore Makenli Forrest claimed the weight throw with a throw of 21.50m/70-6.50.

Senior Morgan Zacharias took the pole vault crown with a personal best of 4.15m/13-7.25.

Junior-transfer Rashida Harris made her first appearance a a Cardinal.  She won the shot put with a throw of 15.15m/49-8.50.

Junior Renate van Tonder made her first appearance repping the Red and Black.  Although her previous college experience is not listed, the South African native won the long jump with a jump of 6.11m/20-0.50.  Alexis Gibbons and Gabriela Leon took second and third as Louisville swept the long jump.

Sophomore Brooke Raglin won the 60m with a time of 6.59.

Senior Aurilla Wilson ran a personal best on the 3000m with a time of 10:00.26.  The time was fast enough to take gold.

They travel to South Bend over the holiday weekend.

Women's Tennis

Coach Beckham has experience returning. 

The women's tennis team kicks off their 2019 season this coming weekend at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.  Based off the forecast for the next few days it's safe to assume all matches will be held indoors.  However, I think it would be cool to watch them play in the snow.

The Cards will face Bowling Green Sunday morning at 11:00 before turning around to face Miami (Ohio) at 5:00.  It's a stretch of five straight matches held at home over the next two weekends.

Five of the eight players on Mark Beckham's roster are junior status or higher so he has a good amount of experience this year.

Swimming and Diving

This was mentioned briefly recently, but the men's and women's swimming and diving teams took down Missouri in a rare one vs. one meet.  The women won 163-137.  The men won 178-122.  When it comes to meets such as this they typically have a total score of 300 so often times we know the victor before the final events ever take place.

Sophie Cattermole won the 1000 freestyle with a time of 10:03.45, eight seconds faster than the runner-up.

To no surprise, Mallory Comerford found herself taking gold in a freestyle event.  She won the 200 free with a time of 1:47.48.  Arina Openysheva took third with a time of 1:50.32.

Alina (not to be confused with Arina) Kendzior won the 100 backstroke in a nail-biter, finishing with a time of 55.01.  Maria Sumida took third with a time of 56.59.

Mariia Astashkina took the crown in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:02.88.  Kaylee Wheeler came in third with a time of 1:03.80.

All of the previously named swimmers also went on to later take first in their respective strokes in the longer distances.

Grace Oglesby also recorded a win and a couple second place finishes, one of them being a medley relay.

On the diving side Molly Fears led the charge.  She won the platform with a score of 268.88 and was the top Card in the one meter with a score of 258.83.

They're home Friday, Jan 25 against Northwestern for Senior Day before heading to Kentucky and Indiana later in the month.  The Louisville Invitational is set for mid-February.


Lacrosse

Scott Teeter is less than a month out from beginning his second season as head coach.  Louisville will open up the 2019 season on the road with three games (Northwestern, Marquette, Denver) before they make their first visit home (vs. Mercer) on February 24th.

The Cards will have eight home games and play nine on the road.  Sadly, it appears there are quite a few midweek midday games and most of their weekend games run into conflicts with other sports including women's basketball.  We will do our best to have a representative out at as many home games as possible.


Softball

Holly Aprile's squad began practices recently, including outdoor practices in some freezing temperatures.  Let's hope that we see (MUCH) warmer weather before they play a game at Ulmer.  For now, they gear up for trips to warmer places such as California, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

They open up home play the first day of March and have 22 home games this year.  We'll see a lot of the Friday-Saturday-Sunday schedule like in years past.  However, the Florida State series in town this year will begin on Saturday and conclude on Monday night.  It is following suit from past years.  I attended the first two games of the series in Tallahassee last year with Katy.  The previous year was held in Ulmer with that schedule.

Kentucky is on the home schedule this year and will probably be the only ticketed game of the regular season.  I made the trip to Lexington last year to witness a slaughter in 40 degree weather so let's hope for revenge this year.




The Cards do not face Pittsburgh this year so we will not get to see Coach Aprile take on her former team until at least 2020.

I did talk to a few people recently to find out that there is not a big kickoff banquet this year, although there is a small luncheon gathering for players, families, and a handful of fans.


Volleyball

Louisville commit Shannon Shields was recently named Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Arizona.  The 5'10 setter has a strong year with 974 assists, 401 digs, 143 kills, and 49 service aces.  Shields led her team to a 33-win season and a 6A championship.  Shields is a candidate for the starting setter role with Wilma Rivera having graduated.

Head coach Dani Busboom-Kelly was spotted at the latest UofL WBB home game by a couple of our eagle-eyed writers. Maybe eyeing the facility for a return to action there for a future meet or so?

Recently transferred to the Cards from TCU, Tori Dilfer is another that will try and fill the gap created by the graduation and departure of Molly Sauer, Wilma Rivera, Jasmine Bennett and Amanda Green.

Tori is a setter as well, so there will most likely be a bit of competition for the spot, along with returning sophomore Anaya Martin


Back to Basketball

OK, you knew I couldn't resist adding just a little WBB hoops in today's write.

Felicia Aiyotan is 6'9" and will be here
Thursday with Virginia. 

Tomorrow we will bring you back to your regularly scheduled program of women's basketball.  The #4 Cards host a 7-10 Virginia team. Including Thursday's game, there are seven home games remaining in the regular season.  Of course, we may see a couple more home games in the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament, pending no bizarre incidents between now and then.

Jeff Walz is holding what is becoming a regular Wednesday presser today at the Planet Fitness Kueber Center media room. No, this isn't a new venue -- it's the old Little YUM! on Floyd Street with a new name. 12:45 is the tee time and we expect Coach will slice into upcoming Virginia and Wake Forest plus putt out on the win over Georgia Tech. Paulie will cover it and have it here for you in tomorrow's Cardinal Couple article.



The Caption Contest

(Paulie sends this following message to the Cardinal Couple news room) 


The Cardinal Couple Caption Committee has decided that Curtis Franklin's caption about the two-headed, three armed Georgia Tech defender is the winner.

After meeting for several hours and discussing the picture, amidst many objections, delays, filibusters and one messy incident involving sliced prosciutto, a sailor on shore leave and a edgy squirrel, the decision was released late last night scrawled on the back of the game score-sheet from the Georgia Tech game...which featured a picture of Attack Yorkie Jessica Laemmle. Three staff chimps brought the decision to Paulie, who yawned, looked at it, nodded sagely and went back to sleep.

Great. Now we have to deal with that inflated Curtis ego for a few days. Hey, who wants to go hear some surf music?

LINK: SURFER JOE

Happy Wednesday and Go Cards!

- Jared -

Louisville WBB #4 in AP poll -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS GO FROM #2 TO #4 IN AP POLL

As most expected and surmised, the University of Louisville women's basketball squad slid from #2 to #4 in the latest AP poll, released yesterday. The Cards went 1-1 in the past week, but the pollsters dropped Louisville two spots, because of the loss to Notre Dame at Notre Dame on Thursday. Louisville received 652 points. Notre Dame retained the #1 ranking (23 first place votes and 736 points) and UConn climbed back into a tie for second place with one first place vote and 706 points. 

The Baylor Bears are tied with UConn in second with (6) first place votes and 706 points also. After Louisville, Oregon fills out the top five with 621 points. 

The top 12 remains the same as last week, just a little shuffling of the deck occurred at the top. Stanford retained sixth spot and Mississippi State checked in at seventh again. Keeping their spots also from last week were #8 NC State, #9 Maryland, #10 Oregon State, #11 Texas and #12 Syracuse. There was only one newcomer in the top 25, that being Rutgers -- tied for #20 with Tennessee. Florida State dropped out of the top 25 but is the leader in others receiving votes with 54. Indiana stays at #25 with 56 votes. 

Some interesting developments in the week that ended January 13th.  Kentucky fell to Ole Miss but remained at #16 in the AP poll. Clemson downed Florida State and knocked them out of the top 25. Tennessee has lost three games in a row now but retains a tie for #20. No climbing for NC State, despite them being the lone undefeated team in DI WBB.

Clemson actually got (3) votes in the "others receiving votes" category. How long has it been since we've seen their name mentioned there? 

By conference, the Big 12 has five teams in the top 25. Four conferences (ACC, SEC, Big 10 and the Pac 12 have four schools representing. the Big East checks in with two, the AAC and WAC have one team on the list.  

The Cards have faced three of the top 25 so far (Notre Dame, Kentucky and Arizona State). They have three to face, based on the current rankings , in Connecticut, Syracuse and NC State.  

According to ESPN's Charlie Creme's "Bracketology" , the Cards are getting placed as the #1 seed in the Greensboro region of the NCAA Tournament. Plenty of river to row, though, before we get there. 

Coming up? The Cards host Virginia in two days and travel to Wake Forest this week on Sunday. 


DID YOU KNOW?  

Here's five fast facts for you.

--  The top nine in the RPI rankings stayed the same? Louisville has a #6 RPI. The top five are Notre Dame (16-1), Stanford (14-1), Baylor (13-1), Syracuse (14-1) and Oregon (15-1). 
UConn checks in at #7. 

-- Louisville WBB has a +18.5 scoring margin over their opponents this season? The Cards largest win (55 points) came against Tennessee State and closest victory was over #19 Arizona State ( two points). 

-- Louisville is #10 in the nation in scoring offense with an average of 81.4 points per game. Louisville has scored 1303 points this season and allowed just 1009. 

--UofL is actually shooting threes better on the road? They connect for 40.9% away from the KFC YUM! Center and 32.1% in the downtown arena. 

-- The Cards are averaging 8791 per home game? Last year UofL averaged 7836 at home.


CAPTION THIS PICTURE

Caption Me !! 

Our illustrious photographer here at CARDINAL COUPLE is Jared Anderson. We share him with River City Cards and after each home game, he sends me a multitude of pictures to peruse for articles. Monday morning was no different. Here's one from the Georgia Tech game. Feel free to apply a caption to it. 

No prize or award (I'm trying to conserve the contents of the prize drawer for later on this season...after all, we still have ACC and NCAA Tournaments contests to take part in and the total UofL ACC WBB record is in progress). 

Every picture tells a story. I think Rod Stewart wrote a song about that. Tell us your story about the picture in this segment. 

Have a terrific Tuesday.  Today is the late Ronnie Van Zant's birthday. We recommend you crank up a little "Free Bird" or the Lynyrd Skynyrd song of your choice in remembrance of one of the greatest rock and roll singers of all time. Gone too soon, a victim of a plane crash on October 20, 1977.  Good lord, has it really been 41 years? I suddenly feel very old.

We got some Skynyrd linked up for you below.

A Paulie favorite here, indeed, that goes back to the days of singing with Robbie Bartlett's band at UofL Football tailgate parties over at the Parrish House. Show me that back door...

LINK:  GIMME THREE STEPS





paulie
xxxxx

Cards take sting out of Yellow Jackets 61-44 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

DURR, FUEHRING LEAD LOUISVILLE TO 17-POINT WIN

They say the best way to avoid being stung is to avoid the source. Georgia Tech didn't bother the Cards offensively, never let Georgia Tech get close to them, thanks to a strong Cardinal defense, and UofL goes to 15-1 on the season with the 61-44 win Sunday afternoon in the KFC YUM! Center. 

Tech managed just 26.2% shooting (17-65) on a cold and cloudy day by the Ohio River and couldn't pester Louisville from the the free throw line either with just nine attempts and six makes. The Cards drove the swarm away early, with an opening 15-2 salvo in the first
4 -1/2 minutes and was never seriously bother the entire game by the 12-5 Jackets. 

That early UofL run featured Asia Durr, who led all scorers with 21 points, 10 of those in the first session of the afternoon, and "#Nite-nite" went 8-16 from the floor -- including three threes in her body of work in the Cards fourth ACC contest of the season. 

Showing her strength and skills, as well for Louisville, was Sam Fuehring. Her 13 points and 14 rebounds gave her a double-double for the afternoon. The feat was the sixth  of her career and first of the season. On an afternoon where Louisville lost the rebounding battle for the second straight time 46-32...almost the same numbers we saw in the Notre Dame game  (48-32), Sam and her sleeveless arm had the most time on the quarter for the Cards (37:20) and 44% of the Cards grabs. 

The future...my girls Duv and Kasa

Arica Carter with another steady performance, 10 points that included two threes and 50% shooting. She also, maybe for the first time in her career, led Louisville in blocks with two.  A strong 14 minutes off the bench for Kylee Shook yesterday as well, getting six of her eight points in the fourth quarter to keep a Georgia Tech team,that had trimmed the lead to 11, at bay. 

The Cards took that 24-14 first quarter lead and turned it into a 36-23 halftime advantage. Jazmine Jones and Dana Evans took their turns at dismantling the Rambling Wreck with five points each in a 12-point quarter for Louisville...the Cards getting eight of those off turnovers. 

Georgia Tech would pare that Cardinal lead down to 44-33 at the end of the third quarter. Freshmen point guard Lotta-Maj Lahtinen (from Helsinki, Finland) sparking Buzz's Ballers with four of her eight points in the ten-minute segment. 

Kylee Shook took over the offense for Louisville early in the fourth quarter, though and made the Cards first two baskets to create a 48-33 advantage that had Cardinal fans breathing a bit easier and Louisville actually won a fourth quarter for once, outscoring the Atlanta school 17-11. 

"Gimme that s--t" 

105-point games aren't exactly as exciting as they get. But, a win is a win and Louisville's defense was a thing of beauty. Coach Walz will tell you he wants his team to get up shots but it was the Techsters who held the 65-53 shot attempt edge. Fortunately, the Cards led in "makes" (23-17) and that's the stat that makes the biggest difference. 

The Ramblin' Wreck never could get started against UofL WBB yesterday. Call AAA. 


THE FRED REPORT

The late, great Fred Wiche would have
approved of this elimination of a
pollinator. 

F- Free Throws. Louisville didn't take many (10) but converted eight of those. Just three players had the privilege of toeing the line (Fuehring 4-4, Shook  2-2 and Durr 2-4). We universally accept 80% as capital letter material here at Cardinal Couple...we bestow the capital "F" for the job done.  

R - Rebounding. Besides Sam, the Cards sent in a few absentee ballots on the boards Sunday afternoon. Jaz had the misfortune of being in the wrong place all night with zero grabs in 21 minutes. The offensive grabs were particularly embarrassing for UofL, Tech taking that stat 21-4. No letter awarded

E - Effort/Execution. Points off turnovers was a bright spot, 23-24 in favor of the Ville. Fast break points solidly in the Cardinal camp at 10-0. Nineteen assists on 23 made hoops shows a bit of team unity and effectiveness as well. Unfortunately, the hustle involved in getting second chance points wasn't present...GT taking that category 15-2. I'll offer the lower case "e" here. IT was a win, UofL didn't stink the place up and the hustle was there

D- Defense. The Cards came out hawkish, hungry and harassed the Tech squad into 21 turnovers. Credit the Cards for six steals, too. Holding an opponent to 26.2% shooting can mean two things...an excellent defensive presence or an opponent that isn't very good at shooting. Besides three-time freshman of the week Elizabeth Balogun's 13 points,t here weren't many offensive threats in yellow and white uniforms. Hand out the capital "D". 

FINAL FRED TALLY:  F-_-e-D

SOOOO...

On a day where there was one surprising result in ACC play (Clemson taking down #22 Florida State 57-45) the Cards did what was expected and what they needed to do with the win over Georgia Tech. You need to pile up the wins in the ACC when you're expected to, even if they aren't exactly masterpieces, and the Cards added another one to their resume. 

Virginia comes in Thursday night, sufficiently humbled by still-undefeated NC State 66-38 yesterday. The Cards feature the Jeff Walz bobble-head as a promo, so get there early to grab yours...even though we got several reports that fans were getting "bobble-heads" yesterday afternoon.

On "spirit" and Speed School Day, yesterday....Louisville exhibited plenty of "get up and go" early on Sunday afternoon and constructed a needed and earned win over "a hell of an engineer" school. 

"I've got spirit, how about you, Tom?" 

The defense rests. They deserve that rest, after a strong performance on National Rubber Ducky Day...the Cards put the squeeze on Georgia Tech. 

Links for Walz's, Asia's and Sam's post game presser below. 


LINK: WALZ POST-GAME GEORGIA TECH

LINK: ASIA AND SAM POST-GAME GEORGIA TECH

(Photos by Jared Anderson, except for Fred. Check out his other photography work at https://www.instagram.com/jdaphotography1994/  or www.jdaphotos.com ) 


paulie
xxxxx

Louisville women's basketball faces Georgia Tech today -- Sunday Cardinal Couple

Basketball Preview

Game day is here again, and today UofL WBB faces the Ramblin' Wreck of Georgia Tech.  I do have to admit that I appreciate the rhyming.  I also, as someone that works in engineering-esque work, always have a bit of a soft spot for "Engineering schools", such as Georgia Tech and Purdue.

Apparently I'm not the only one, as today's game is listed on the gocards.com schedule as "Presented by The J.B. Speed School of Engineering".  Us geeks have to stick together, you know. We won't get the Model A in the YUM! today and probably not "Buzz" the mascot either. That's a shame.

GT has a history of being mostly an also-ran in ACC WBB, and while they're not exactly world beaters this year, they're putting up a respectable record so far.  They're coming into Louisville today off of a win over Duke (though, Duke is sitting at 0-3 in conference and barely above .500 overall).  I think it's also worth pointing out that, while it's still very early in conference play, GT and Louisville are officially tied in conference standings at this point.

In the solid wins column, GT lists Duke, a surprising entry in Boston College (who isn't playing the doormat of the ACC role that they typically do), Seton Hall, George Washington (new home of former Cardinal, Sydney Zambrotta), Georgia, and Appalachian State.  On the loss side of the equation, the Houston Cougars took two overtimes to get the win, the YellowJackets played to within 13 of Maryland, lost by about 20 to Dayton (which may be their worst loss of the season), and almost kept it within 20 with what we know is a very good Notre Dame team.

Elizabeth Balogun is the offensive leader for the Model A driving Yellow Jackets averaging 16 points per game.  Oh, and she's a freshman.  Also look for Lorela Cubaj, and Elizabeth Dixon to contribute to the offense, with both posting up double-doubles in the game against Duke.  Oh, and Dixon is also a freshman, and Cubaj a sophomore. Francesca Pan, a veteran on the roster, also has big game.

The game tips at 2 p.m. with doors opening at the KFC Yum! Center at 1 p.m.

Coach Walz talked a lot about dedication and getting into the gym after the loss to Notre Dame. Usually, that equates some players picking up more time and some players getting less time. We'll see what the "mad scientist" has come up within the deep,dark recesses of his laboratory with his assistants.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Review

While we missed Case and Jared at the Magnificent Media Mansion on Mellwood yesterday, we're always happy to be joined by the magnificent and majestic Daryl Foust.  We, ah, had a thing or two to say about the officiating in the Notre Dame game, but we did break down a bit about what else went wrong for the Cards in South Bend.  We also shared a bit of news from the Volleyball world.

You can check out the replay at:

https://www.facebook.com/WCHQfm/videos/322667508436115/

-- 

JMcA

New Roundup -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Catch Up Time

The Cardinals' women's basketball team was in action Thursday night, which means you've gotten a recap, and they don't play again until tomorrow, which means it's not quite time for a primer.

The Cards WBB squad will bring in Georgia Tech, who has been having a very good season so far at 12-4 and 2-1 in ACC play.

They have two great freshmen and will be looking for revenge from last year, when they got "Myisha-ed" in Atlanta.

There has been a lot going on in the other sports in the world of UofL and general women's athletics, so here are some quick news items for late this week. 

Volleyball Brings in Transfer Setter

Tori Dilfer, daughter of former NFL QB Trent Dilfer, has decided that she no longer wants to call TCU her home. Louisville Volleyball announced the incoming transfer of Dilfer yesterday afternoon. Head coach, Dani Busboom Kelly, says she's excited to add Dilfer to the 2019 team, but unless a waiver is filed and granted (which I would find unlikely), it seems Dilfer will be sitting this entire year. Dilfer was a full time starter at the setter position for the Horned Frogs last season and played every set for them. 

In the 2018 season, Dilfer found herself climbing the single season record lists for TCU. Her 11.2 assists per set is good for 5th all time and her .40 aces per set was best in the Big 12 and 7th all time in a season for TCU. Dilfer was All-Big 12 second team, and Academic All-Big 12 first team. Dilfer's former head coach at TCU, Jill Kramer, says she respects all of her players' decisions and just wants them to be happy and successful. I imagine Kramer may think otherwise if the two schools meet in some capacity once Dilfer is eligible, but it is a commendable position to be sure.

Dilfer will join a setter room that is a bit thin following the departure of Wilma Rivera. She'll sit and learn with the rest of those trying to fill Rivera's shoes as she awaits her eligibility.

Coach Dani Busboom Kelly was pretty successful with that first setter transfer, so let's see if the magic can work again.

At the very least, maybe Trent will hang around campus and venture over to watch the Cardinal quarterbacks a bit and offer advice if asked. He did have a very decent NFL career (winning a Super Bowl with the Ravens) and joins the list of celebrity fathers of Louisville Volleyball players...we'll miss Winston Bennett. 

Indoor Track and Field Season Begins Today

The indoor season for Louisville Track and Field gets underway this weekend as the Cards travel to West Lafayette for the Gene Edmunds Cup. There, they'll be taking on Purdue, Alabama State, IUPUI, Northern Illinois, Notre Dame, and Western Kentucky.

Standout Dorcas Wasike began her indoor season last month, but the rest of the team will be joining her in competition today. Live results are available on the Go Cards website.

Lauren Hartlage Invited to Augusta

Hartlage has been invited to the inaugural Augusta National Women's Amateur event in April.

Hartlage earned an invitation as one of the top 30 ranked amateur women's golfers in the United States, as she found herself ranked 22nd at the end of 2018. The event takes place the weekend before the Masters, with only the final round actually being played on Augusta National. Hartlage says it has been a goal of hers to make the tournament since it was announced, and I imagine that goal also includes making it to that final 18 hole round.

Best of luck to Lauren, who should be one of the leaders in the Louisville clubhouse this spring.

Maori Davenport Reinstated

Following an absolutely bonkers saga, Maori Davenport returned to the court for her high school team in Alabama last night. She scored 25 points and the high school stat keepers were unable to keep track of her assists and rebounds. In her first game back after being held out by a ridiculous ruling, Davenport showed why she was a highly sought out recruit.

Congratulations to her for getting the opportunity to enjoy her senior year before heading off to Rutgers and a semi-sarcastic congratulations to a sports association for finally making a common sense decision. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

I am a late scratch from the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour squad this morning, but have no fear!

Paulie and Worldwide will be joined this morning by Daryl Foust who is amped to bring you her wrath about officiating in women's basketball. The crew will talk the women's basketball loss to Notre Dame and what needs to be different for the Cards to reestablish themselves going forward. They'll also dive into the transfer news and more about the joy and excitement of Louisville women's sports.

Tune in at 11AM to WCHQ FM, available at 100.9 FM, wchqfm.com, the WCHQ app, or on Facebook Live at WCHQ FM.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Cards Falter in South Bend 82-68 -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Notre Dame Tops Louisville at Purcell Pavilion

Little Miss Muffet,
Sat on her tuffet,
Getting the calls to go her way

I'm not one who likes to put the blame on the officiating but you have to be kidding me with how last night's game played out.  Arike Ogunbowale attempted to kick AC in the face and AC was called for the foul.  Brianna Turner flopped and stretched out on the court to get Bionca her fifth foul.  The fouls were 28-15 and the free throw attempts were 39-16. UofL will have plenty of footage to send to the ACC offices for "examples" and review of a job that was less than average.

Granted, there was much more than poor officiating that led to the outcome of Louisville's 82-68 loss at Notre Dame. The Cards were seemingly fouling Notre Dame every time they went into the paint on offense. Rebounding for UofL was not a pretty thing.  The loss, however, ends any hopes of a perfect season for the Cards, now 14-1 with a 2-1 conference record.  Notre Dame is 15-1 with a 3-0 conference mark. Believe it or not, NC State is the lone undefeated team in the nation.

For starters, the Cards lost the rebounding battle badly.  The final numbers were 48-32.  Notre Dame's defensive rebounding numbers (30) nearly matched UofL's total rebounds.  Jessica Shepard was nearly unstoppable on the glass with 15 boards.

Missed lay-ups were a problem for the Cards.  This didn't just happen overnight seeing that this has
been an ongoing issue all season.  A lay-up should be one of the easiest buckets a player can make, but the Cards struggle to make them nonetheless.  In close games that each position can spark or ruin a run, missing the easy bucket can help build momentum for the other team.

Overall, Louisville shot 38.2% from the field.  26-68 is poor and well below the season average.  From three-point range, the Cards were 4-20, 20%, another below-average mark.  The free throws were pretty solid with the 75% of 12-16.

The first quarter resulted mostly in the two team trading baskets.  Both teams saw their lead as high as four points early in the game.  Sam Fuehring and Jaz Jones both found themselves with a pair of fouls before the quarter ended, quickly dwindling the impact they would make on the half.  Notre Dame held a 20-19 lead after the first 10 minutes.

Louisville doubled up the Irish's second quarter points before Notre Dame got the final five points to get to halftime.  Of the Irish's 13 points in the second quarter, nine came from the free throw line.  Six different Notre Dame players made a free throw.  Asia Durr, Arica Carter, and Kylee Shook joined the ranks of Louisville players with multiple fouls.

At halftime, Durr was already up to 19 points and the Cards only had two turnovers.  The 2-11 three-point shooting and the missed layups were holding the Cards back from leading by more than two at the time.  Ogunbowale was held to just four points in the first half.

Things changed in the third quarter.  Notre Dame won the quarter 24-12, holding to Louisville to one of their worst quarters of the season.  Foul trouble became more apparent and Jeff Walz had to be careful not to burn through his players in foul trouble too early in the game.  Turnovers and transition defense became worse and the Irish capitalized on fast break points.


Both teams had their highest scoring quarter in the fourth quarter, although Notre Dame used it to add
a few extra points down the stretch.  Dunham, Carter, and Evans all retired to the bench with their five allotted fouls being used.  Fuehring recorded her fourth foul, but managed to stay in the game for the final seconds.  The highlight of the final quarter was Mykasa Robinson's in-your-face defense on Ogumbowale.  The 2018-19 Finals MVP became frustrated and it allowed the Cards to bring the score within two at the 1:48 mark.  Sadly, things went south the rest of the way.

When you lose the "second chance" stat 19-5...it probably isn't your night. That 14-points differential was also the final margin of defeat for the Cards...82-68.

POST GAME WALZ PRESSER: WALZ TALKS SANDERFORD, LOSS TO ND 1/10/19

F-R-E-D Report

"How many intentional fouls were called on
UofL, Fred?" 

F - free throws: Louisville made 75% of theirs.  Notre Dame made more than double what the Cards did with 29 made free throws on 39 attempts, but we don't give a grade based on comparisons on free throws. Capital "F".

R - rebounds: Losing the rebounding battle by 16 is not good.  Foul trouble limited some of the post players and kept them off the boards. Notre Dame also had a player in double-digit grabs (Shepard) with 15 and that was more than double UofL's best rebounder on the night. No letter.

E - effort/efficiency:  In terms of effort, UofL battled tough in the Purcell Pavilion.  They even roared back to trail by two with under two minutes remaining.  The true ACC Player of the Year totaled 29 points.  Louisville was smart with the ball and only committed eight turnovers.  Getting out-shot 44.6% to 38.2% isn't terrible.  Louisville also scored 25 points off turnovers.  Notre Dame scored 19 second chance points and 23 fast break points.  We can award a lowercase "e".

D - defense: Notre Dame shot 44.6% overall and 37.5% from deep.  The Irish totaled 82 points and scored at least 20 points in three quarters.  Ogunbowale scored 30 points, 26 coming in the second half, and two other Notre Dame players (Brianna Turner 16 and Jackie Young 14) also were in the double-digits.  The Irish scored 23 fast break points.  Some of those were off a turnover, but many of them came on poor transition defense by the Cards.  The one plus side is the Cards forcing 18 turnovers.  Still, the second half defensive struggles and the 82 points prevent the Cards from earning a letter here.

FINAL FRED TOTAL: F-_-e-_

F-_-e-_ is not too good of a report.   Assuming a capital letter is 2/2, a lowercase letter is 1/2, and no letter is 0/2, the Cards get an ugly 3/8 on the score chart.

The women are back in action Sunday at 2:00.  They return to the KFC Yum! Center to host a solid
Georgia Tech squad.  The Yellow Jackets are 12-4 and are 2-1 in the ACC.  They defeated Boston College in Massachusetts, fell at Notre Dame, and beat Duke at home by six last night.  Expect the Cards to come out angry and ready to leave a trail of destruction in their path between now and Jan. 31, and then the same on the path to the ACC Tournament.

The Irish were dancing on January 10th. Louisville needs to put this one behind them and go on, so they can dance in March.

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

- Jared -