Sunday Cardinal Couple - Rivalry Day

Rivalry

Merrian-Webster defines "rival" as "one of two or more striving to reach or obtain something that only one can possess".

On first glance, that doesn't seem to capture everything that is a rivalry.  But when you stop and think about it, it is the core of the concept.  Only one team can hold bragging rights for the state of Kentucky in women's basketball.  In a series like UofL and UK, someone is a winner, and someone is a loser in the game, only one can be that winner.

But what makes a rivalry different than any other competition, as all of the above holds true for any series between two teams.

Frquently, there is a geographical component.  Most of the great rivalries (at least at the college sports level) are between teams that are relatively near each other.  Duke vs UNC, Pitt vs WVU, Ohio State vs Michigan; all of these schools are relatively close to each other geographically.

OK, that's interesting and all, but that certainly can't explain the phenomenon.

What I think may be one of the most important factors is relatively equality between the teams.  As
much as there's a tendency to trash talk a rival, and brag about how much better your team is than the rival's team...ultimately, most rivals have a relatively balanced competitive landscape, and tend to be from relatively similar school.  When you look at UofL and UK, you end up seeing a lot of similarities.  The schools are in the ballpark of the same size (UK is a bit larger, but not radically so), they're located in the two largest cities in the state (Louisville is definitely larger than Lexington, but they're both mid-sized cities in the overall scheme of things), they have a broadly similar set of academic programs available (yes, each school has programs unique to itself, but there are many degree programs in the same fields at both schools).

Rivaly, it seems, is largely about similarity, competitiveness, and equality...at least broadly.

I mentioned this on the Cardinal Couple Radio Show yesterday.  Rivalry games aren't fun when they're blowouts all the time.

So, when you're on that message board, or poised over the "Publish" button on that comment box, maybe take a second and think about the broader picture.

The trash talking and posturing can be fun (though I personally find I tend to tire of it fairly quickly), but maybe think about whether you really want a blowout of a game and the other team to be totally humiliated.  You probably don't, in reality.  It's OK not to admit that on that message board, or comment thread, but do keep it in the back of your mind, and consider, even if just for a moment, that the folks on the other side of that rhetorical Maginot Line, assuming they think it through like this, probably feel the same way.

The Deets

Gameday is here.  Louisville vs Kentucky.  Arguably, one of the greatest overall basketball rivalries of all time, comes to Louisville today.  2pm is the tip and for you out of towners, it is available on the ACC Network Extra.  If you're in town, well, it's still available on the ESPN streaming setup, but really, there's no excuse for not getting down to the KFC Yum! Center today.

 It is a Red Out, so wear red (and, yes, we accept that "The Guv" will be in blue today, that's fair.).  It is the annual Pack The House Promotion as well.  Today is also a Toy Drive for Family Scholar House, a fantastic organization that strives to break the cycle of poverty and support single-parents working to get a college education through housing and so many other programs that celebrate and support both the parent and the children's work in their education.

You can get a $4 ticket for admission either by showing your Kroger Plus Card for the Pack the House promotion, or by bringing a toy for Family Scholar House.  At this point, you're probably going to be sitting in the upper deck as more than 11,000 tickets have already been sold (as of the latest I heard yesterday), but the atmosphere should be electric, and the basketball should be amazing between two Top 20 and undefeated, teams.

We started a "name the winner and score" prediction revelation yesterday on the radio. On the Cards winning side of the ledger, Paulie sees it 78-73, Daryl 79-63, Jared 84-78 and Worldwide Jeff McAdams 86-83. We've also had people weigh in on the score verbally. Sonya went 55-49 UofL and Paulie's pal Hollywood says 100-79 UofL. Via comments on the site here, we've had Joe Hill 67-58 Cards, K.Starks 82-64 Cards, "The Guv" 77-61 UK and an e-mail from "someone who is well familiar with the UofL WBB squad" who went 77-67 Cards.

You can weigh in also in the comments section. We'll send you either a Panera or Famous Dave's Gift Card if you pick the winning team and are closest to the final score.

Fire away!

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Daryl joined Paulie, Jared, and I in the studio yesterday for the weekly Cardinal Couple Radio Hour, and a fun time was had by all.  We had a great hour-long discussion about the African Pygmy-Kingfisher.  I learned that they are a monogamous breed of birds whose habitat is pretty much all of African with the exception of the Sahara.  They burrow, or inhabit the abandoned burrows of other animals....

Wait, that's not right.

We had a great discussion about the upcoming rivalry basketball game of course.  Jared, Paulie, and Daryl previewed the UK team and what we should expect from this game.  I fiddled with knobs and buttons and forgot to double-check that the audio stream was coming across on Facebook Live at the beginning...sorry for that.

You can check the replay, including the pantomimed intros, at:
https://www.facebook.com/WCHQfm/videos/1131364903710958/

Daryl is deciding on permanent walk-up music, so if you have suggestions for her, throw them in the comments.

-- 

JMcA

A Statistical Look Nine Games In -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

How is Louisville Women's Basketball Doing So Far?

With a bit of a lull in the early winter schedule, it has been great timing for Louisville to be taking on Kentucky in women's basketball. Here on Cardinal Couple we've been bringing you seemingly non-stop previews of tomorrow's game, and I'm going to do a bit of that myself.

I'd like to look at how Louisville looks from a statistical standpoint so far this season, and then project how that might look against the Kentucky squad they'll face on Sunday. If you'll indulge me, we'll look at the season long FRED and CASE Reports to this point and then compare those season stats to the Wildcats and see what we see.

The FRED Report

F-Free Throws: On the season, Louisville has taken 16.3 free throws per game. They're not getting to the line an outstanding amount so far this season, but they are making 77.4% of those shots. 147 of their 781 total points (or 18.8%) have come from the line. On a per game basis, that would be 14.5% of their points. Louisville needs to continue to get to the line and make the free ones to succeed this season. They are scoring otherwise, but if you do not continue to make free throws, teams will prevent you from scoring by just fouling. For the record, that 77.4% puts them at a capital F.

Kentucky is getting to the foul line 16.8 times per game and only allows opponents 9.3. Louisville allows 12.7. The Cards will have to force Kentucky to foul, while also avoiding fouls themselves. This game could come down to free throws late, and it may finish with a very close overall foul/free throw number.

R-Rebounds: Louisville is averaging only 38.6 rebounds per game, which is good for 6 better than their opponents. Ideally, those numbers would be much higher. When you look at the offensive rebounds on the season, Louisville and their opponents are tied at 112. While Louisville has been making more shots this year, which would drive that offensive number down, their opponents haven't. This means that the Cards are giving up far too many second chance opportunities. For outrebounding the opponents, there has to be some credit given, but the Cards have got to clamp down on the defensive end and prevent second chance points. Lowercase r.

Kentucky, on the other hand, is being outrebounded on the year. They're only pulling down 36.7, which is a stat that Louisville can really exploit. They have grabbed 136 offensive rebounds, which is more than Louisville, but they're getting hammered defensively. This will come down to a battle of positioning, and the Cards will need to win it to prevent easy points.

E-Effort/Execution: Louisville has been all over the court this year, scoring 100+ on three separate occasions. The Cards have turned the ball over more times than would be preferred, but they still have a positive turnover margin. They're scoring 50% of their field goals, getting to the line more often than their opponents, outrebounding, and scoring more points off of turnovers. They're fouling at about an even rate, but still doing pretty well overall. And they're 9-0. I'd have to grant them a capital E for their efforts so far this year.

Kentucky has also been strong. They're not shooting as well, just 40%, but they're turning the ball over far less than their opponents, getting to the line a lot, and obviously scoring more off of turnovers.They're drawing a lot of fouls and they too are 9-0. Both teams will be hard at work tomorrow.

D-Defense: Louisville has been very strong on defense so far this year. Their average margin of
victory is 24 points. They're out-rebounding, out-blocking, and out-stealing their opponents. They've forced more turnovers and they're holding opponents to only 38% shooting from the floor and 29.6% shooting from behind the arc. I would say that is good enough for a captial D.

Kentucky is not blocking well and we've talked about the rebounds, but they are stealing the ball a ton and they're outscoring opponents about as well as Louisville. They're only allowing 38.8% shooting as well and only 31.3% from the arc. Both teams will be playing top notch defense and we'll see who bends and who breaks.

The CASE Report

C-Care: Louisville has turned over the ball 146 times on the season, compared to 183 for their opponents. That looks like a pretty big gap, but the per game margin is only 4.1. Looking at the opponent averages, you would expect Louisville's opponents to have forced 159.1 turnovers through their games. Louisville is still below that, but they're nowhere near the 70% number I'm looking for. That would be a lowercase c.

Kentucky has turned the ball over fewer than half of the times of their opponents and they're in the top five in turnovers forced per game. Louisville will have to be more cautious with the ball.

A-Assists: On 281 made baskets this year, Louisville has 168 assists. That's up near 60%, which I find very good. Assists lead to higher percentage shots. Higher percentage shots lead to more points, which usually lead to wins. However, their season-long assist-to-turnover ratio is only 1.2. That low ratio indicates that Louisville is throwing the ball away or failing to make the extra pass when they should at about the same rate as they're earning assists. That's still good for a lowercase a.

Kentucky is not a fantastic assisting team. They've got 128 on 246 made baskets, which is still better than 50% but not by much. Their assist-to-turnover ratio is only 1.1, so that's somewhere the teams are similar. If Louisville can avoid Kentucky's defensive pressure and prevent turnovers, they could take advantage of this matchup.

S-Steals: With 97 steals on the season compared to only 65 for the opponents, Louisville is achieving both benchmarks in steals. Their benchmark would be 67.5, so they're actually holding their opponents under that number as well.

Kentucky has a lot of steals. They average 14 per game, which is 4 more than Louisville. This is part of the reason that their forced turnovers are so high. I can't stress enough how important Louisville's guard play will be in this matchup. Capital S

E-Efficiency: The Cards are shooting better than 50% from the floor, 40% from three, and 77% from the stripe. The ball is finding the bottom of the net, which is what we expected from them this year. A lot of those are coming from jump shots, too, which means there is still room to find players inside and out on offense. Jeff Walz's offensive playbook is wide open with how Louisville has been playing so far. Look for the Cards offense to continue to drive this team as the season wears on.

Kentucky is shooting at 40/40/76, so pretty similar. They are not getting as many shots inside, which should be a benefit for Louisville, as they are good protectors of the rim and have pretty strong defensive guards.

Overall, the Cards are earning a F-r-E-D and c-a-S-E on the season. There is room for improvement, but Louisville is performing pretty well. On paper, tomorrow's game is pretty close. We will see if the homecourt advantage helps the Cards and which team will bring more energy. I'd expect a close game, but would love to see Louisville run away.

The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

I'm off of the air for the next few weeks as life gets in the way, but that doesn't mean Cardinal Couple
Radio Hour will stop. Jeff, Jared, and Paulie are joined in the studio by Daryl Foust this week, and they'll bring you the joy and excitement of Louisville women's athletics as always. Tune into WCHQ FM on 100.9 FM, wchqfm.com, the WCHQ App, or on Facebook Live at 11AM.

I would suspect a whole lot of basketball will be talked about.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

A Look into the Weekend -- A Preview of Kentucky -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

A Look into the Weekend

Ah, Friday is here at last.  There's no greater feeling than looking forward to the weekend.  As always, there are a few UofL sports in action and one major game coming up.

Saturday, Dec. 8

Men's basketball travels to Bloomington to take on Indiana at 2:30 p.m.  Sitting at 6-2, Chris Mack has lead his team to some impressive victories including wins against Michigan State and Seton Hall.  This game can be found on FOX.

The Cards get to face the "one who got away" freshman Romeo Langford. IU does have a win over Marquette, a team that beat UofL this year.

Sunday, Dec 9

Women's basketball will host rival Kentucky at 2:00 p.m.  This is one of those games that's circled on the schedule at the beginning of the season.  The Battle of the Bluegrass will feature a pair of undefeated teams, sitting at 9-0 each.  Unfortunately, I will have to miss seeing that I will be performing in a concert at the same time (great planning, right?).

Scouting Kentucky

JEFF WALZ PREVIEWS THE CONTEST: https://gocards.com/watch/?Archive=12180&type=Live

No. 19 Kentucky enters the match-up 9-0 with their most recent victory coming at home against Rhode Island last night, 75-52.  They have wins against NCAA Tournament teams from last year: Virginia (63-51) and UCLA (75-74).

The Cats have outscored opponents 719-497 so far this season.  The 79.9 points per game is fairly average for early season, but the defense allowing 55.2 points per game is something to make note of.

Defensively, Kentucky is one of the better teams out there.  They're forcing nearly 27 turnovers per game and are right at 14 steals per game.  Their 32 blocks on the year puts the average at about 3.6 per game, enough to make you think twice about driving in the lane.

Sending the Wildcats to the free throw line might not be a good idea as they are shooting .763 on the year.  Their three-point shooting is equally as dangerous, with an average right at .400.

Kentucky's biggest weakness might be the rebounding category, were they have been out-rebounded 342-330.  41% of their total rebounds have been offensive, a higher rate than the more-common 33.3%.  It's the defensive rebounding where Kentucky has struggled and been dominated.

There are three major scorers for the Wildcats: Rhyne Howard (164), Maci Morris (157) and Taylor Murray (133).  If you compare that to Lousiville, Asia Durr has 196 and Sam Fuehring is nearly 100 behind with only 97.  That trio of Blue players will be tough to for Louisville's defense to shut down.

Howard (62) and Keke McKinney (46) have been the major threats down low on the boards.  Fuehring is the closest to those numbers for Louisville with 58, but both Kylee Shook and Jazmine Jones are in the 40's.  Depending on foul trouble the rebounding could be a major key to victory in this one.

Murray is a solid scorer, but her passing is more dangerous.  She's tallied 39 of Kentucky's 128 assists and has been a great senior leader for Matthew Mitchell's squad.


Jeff Walz vs Matthew Mitchell

Both men became head coaches of their respective programs in time to start the 2007-2008 season.

The two had completely different starts to their careers at these programs.

Mitchell came to Kentucky after coaching Morehead State for two years.  Kentucky's program began to turn around in his third season, the year he earned SEC Coach of the Year honors and led the team to a 28-8 record.  Mitchell has made it to the Elite Eight three times, the last appearance in the Elite Eight was in the 2012-13 season. Last year, the Cats did not make the NCAA Tournament with only a 15-17 record.

Mitchell had previous experience at UK, having been an assistant coach there from 2003-2005.

Walz was an associate head coach at Maryland before getting called up to Louisville.  He found immediate success in Louisville, guiding the Cards to their first ever Final Four appearance in his second season, falling to UConn in the championship.  Louisville has made it to the Final Four three times and appeared in the NCAA Championship twice.

Louisville is 5-6 against Kentucky since the two coaches have taken over.  The Cards have won two straight in the series.

The gang (Jeff, Paulie and Daryl) and I review this matchup and these coaches more on THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR,  on WCHQ 100.9 FM and Facebook Live Saturday at 11 a.m. and we'd love to have you join us! Go to the website www.wchqfm.com to listen live as well and be sure to download the WCHQ app while you are there.


Happy Friday and Go Cards!

- Jared -

Lacrosse Releases Schedule -- Field Hockey News -- Preview of Cats -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

LACROSSE SCHEDULE FOR 2019

Year two of "Teeter's Term" begins on Feb 8th. Officially, that is, with a game in Evanston against Northwestern. Long before that, Coach Scott, Kay Morrissette, Renee Poullett and the squad will be practicing, preparing and planning for the season and, from the eyeball test, it looks to be a challenging and exciting schedule. Who will be some of the players to get to know?


Only one senior on the Lacrosse roster, and she's a great one in Tessa Chad. In her first year donned in the Red and Black, she was second leading scorer on the squad with 42 goals. She played in all 17 Louisville Lacrosse matches. Before the Cards, she was with Teeter at Canisius and earned quite a few MAAC honors in two year as a Golden Griffin. 

The Blaylock sisters return for their sophomore year. Midfielder Caroline made second team ALL-ACC last season and led Louisville in scoring with 45 goals. Sister Sarah is also a midfielder and had eight scores in the 17 games. Lexie Ball is back to compete for the starting goalkeeper role and her backup Jen Schaaf is back as well. 

Freshman Shay Clevenger is a name you might want to get to know. She was ranked #32 in the Inside Lacrosse Top 49 Young Gun Seniors for the 2018 season. The defender played at Marriots Ridge high school, where the Blaylock sisters played. 

A roster of 24 student-athletes that includes 11 sophomores and nine freshmen. Geographical breakdown of the roster shows nine players from Maryland, four from New York, three from Canada, two each from North Carolina, New Jersey and Virginia and one apiece from Kentucky and Florida.  

After the opener against Northwestern in Evanston, the Cards travel to play Marquette on Feb 10th. and then at Denver on Feb.,16th. 

They'll take the pitch for the home opener on Feb.24th against Mercer. Vandy stops by next on Feb 27th. to close out February action. 

March finds the Cards in South Bend to face the Irish of Notre Dame on the 2nd. They'll find out if the Butler did it on March 6th up in Naptown and return home for action against Duke on March 6th. A trip to Pittsburgh will bring a match against Duquesne on the 11th. Back home, the Cards will invite Cincinnati in on the 13th., and Syracuse on the 17th. 


A few days with action before they travel to Blacksburg to go gobbler hunting at Virginia Tech on the 23rd. Then, it's back to the Ville for three in a row to close the home part of the schedule...Delaware on the 31st., North Carolina on April 7th., and Ohio State  on the 9th. 

Louisville concludes the regular season travelling. They'll visit Virginia on April 13th. and Boston College on the 19th. The ACC Lacrosse Tournament is in Boston this year and that begins on April 24th. 

A challenging 2019? You bet. Seven of the Cards foes participated in the NCAA Tournament last year. The Cards went 5-1 early in the 2018 schedule before losing 10 out of the last 11 to finish 6-11. This year's squad should have better luck of it, it's easy to see at least equaling last year's wins and maybe even getting a few more to hit double figure wins and achieve Teeter's first ACC victory. 

We'll cover and report on all the LAX efforts here at the Couple. Go Cards! 



FIELD HOCKEY HONORS

Congratulations to three of Justine Sowry's "stick girls", who received NFHCA DI All-American honors! 

Senior Ayeshia McFerran took first-team accolades, the goalkeeper extraordinaire became the first Cardinal in history to be named to the All-American team for all four of her four years at UofL. The best goalkeeper in the world was named to the third team as a freshman and first team her sophomore and junior years. Her accolades at Louisville would take me a full hour to list here...she is the best to ever step on the Trager Stadium turf and will have a long and successful career playing for the Irish National team now. 

Sophomore Mercedes "Meche" Pastor was honored with second team status. She showed her magician-like skills with the stick and ball for the Cards this season and added this award to her All-West Region and ACC first team selections. At 5'1", the Buenos Aires native meets the qualifications for our "Attack Yorkie" status and we look forward to the next two years of seeing her baffle, confuse and score on the competition. The "pastor" is in the pulpit again! All rise and rejoice! 

Senior Taylor Stone caps off a very successful student-athlete time here at the Ville with third-team honors. This is the second time she's made All-American status and the Herndon, VA native was also named to the All-West and ACC squads this year. She's also a part of the USA Field Hockey National Development squad. 

We wish all three the best of luck as they continue their skills on the field for Louisville and beyond in 2019! 



CAT COMMENTARY

Since I'll be out of the CARDINAL COUPLE writing rotation until Monday, I thought I'd provide a few thoughts and observations on the upcoming UofL vs. UK women's basketball game this Sunday at the KFC YUM! Center.  

Rest assured that Jared, Case and Jeff will provide much more in the next three days about the annual "Battle of the Bluegrass". Be sure to check back here for their columns. The Sunday contest should be all that's advertised. It is a "red out" so dress accordingly! 



CATS GUARDS WILL BE A CHALLENGE

Maci Morris and Taylor Murray run the show out front for Matthew Mitchell's squad and they've been quite successful in helping UK go 8-0 so far. Morris poured in 31 points last time out for UK in a 87-57 win over Morehead. Point guard Murray leads the squad in assists and has 13 against the Eagles. She's showing a brand new confidence out front and has picked up her aggressiveness this season. Backups Blair Green and Jaida Roper are quite capable of providing quality backup minutes. We'll cover another guard below. 

FRESHMAN FIREPOWER

Rhyne Howard has come in and found instant success. The freshman, who played under Walz on the FIBA Americas squad, leads UK in scoring with 18.1 p.p.g. She's listed at 6'2" and classified as a guard. She also leads UK in three-pointers made (23-45) for 51% and has the highest rebounds per game average at 6.9 a night. 

CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARDS

Keke McKinney , a 6'1" sophomore and Tatyana Wyatt, a 6'2" sophomore are the other two probable starters for UK and prowl the paint. They combine for 8.3 p.p.g. a night and 8.5  grabs a contest. They could be the "weak links" in the UK configuration and an area where the Cards try to capitalize. 

Sam, Kylee and Bionca should prosper. 


WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? 

The Cats are 8-0 and their wins have come against Alabama St., Southern, Virginia, High Point and Morehead at home. They won the Paradise Jam Tournament with wins over South Florida, UCLA and UNC. A two-point squeaker against the Bruins. Every thing else has been by 10 points or more. They downed the ACC Cavs by 12 and the Tar Heels by 10.

They are ranked #19 by the AP. This will be their first top 25 test of the season. 

We'll have much more on the match-up in the following days.  If you want a sneak peek of UK, you can catch them tonight against Rhode Island in Lexington on the SEC Network tonight at 7 p.m.

(The weekly Paulie Podcast is up and you can hear him ramble at the following link):

Paulie Podcast for 12/6/18 
paulie
xxxxx




                                                         ##############

Cards Soar Past Skyhawks on Ugly Christmas Sweater Night -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville WBB Tops UT Martin



Coach Jeff Walz took a backseat role as the Louisville women's basketball team rolled past UT Martin on Tuesday night, 102-62.  There was plenty to enjoy from the win, but most importantly it was Ugly Christmas Sweater Night.


Of the 7104 fans in attendance at least a good quarter of them were decorated in holiday fashion.  As usual, the entire coaching staff joined in on the fun, ranging from sweaters, to vests, to full outfits.  Several members of the media also joined in on the fun.  Paulie and I agreed that this event is one of our favorites in Louisville women's sports so we will have quite a few Christmas sweater photos at the end of the article.

Steph Norman took over as the acting head coach for the night.  Walz chilled further down the bench with the players and spent more time observing and breaking down the game with the players who had just come out of the game and players on the bench.  With Walz set to face a one-game suspension in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, he figured they should prepare for that early on to see how things will go.  Norman found out a few hours before the game that she would take over the head coach duties for the night and she did a fine job at it.

We were privileged to have Norman at the post-game press conference.  She shook off the nerves and a recent illness that had her visiting the hospital to give a memorable first post-game Q and A with the media.  Norman was complimentary of her colleagues.  She mentioned how each one plays their own role and all the pieces get put together perfectly for a well-oiled machine.  Her and Sam Purcell were named as some of the top up-and-coming coaches prior to the season and we had a first-hand experience as to why last night.

The Cards trailed early in the game 6-5 before a pair of free throws by Sam Fuehring helped the Cards gain a lead they would not lose.  It was the start of a 13-0 run that helped get Louisville to the opening media timeout.  They went onto more than double up the Skyhawks at the end of the first quarter.


UT Martin started to utilize a rare form of substitutions in the second quarter.  Unlike the normal one- or- two-person subs the visitors subbed four or five players each time.  This method is good for deeper rosters when running a fast-paced offense or using a full-court pressure.  However, it seemed to hurt the Skyhawks as no one could get a rhythm going.  Midway through the period Louisville went on an impressive 18-0 run that featured several forced turnovers by the defense.

Louisville's substitutions grew more in the second half as the coaching staff tried out different groupings on the court.  The Cards continued to test the four guard lineup we've seen some this year.  It worked as the more athletic Louisville team found their largest lead of the night with a 43-point lead following an Arica Carter fast break layup.

The fourth quarter was trial and error time for Louisville.  Norman tried out a 3-2 zone, something outside of what we normally see on defense.  With many of the starters riding the bench to give them rest and putting bench players in to get playing time things got sloppy.  The Cards turned the ball over 10 times while tying UT Martin 23-23 in the final quarter.


Fuehring appeared frustrated at times, including yelling at UT Martin's Maddie Waldrop on the floor during the first quarter.  Despite her frustrations, the senior finishing with nine points and 10 rebounds while adding a pair of assists and blocks.

Asia Durr seemed to be a tad off on her shooting but still posted a game-high 25 points, including a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line.  She recorded three steals and three assists.

Bionca Dunham had another big game, going 7-10 from the field with 14 points. Her performance was quite needed and meaningful, since the Cards were down a post player.

Carter had the hot hand on offense, going 5-9 from the field and 4-4 at the free throw line for 16 points.  She added five rebounds and four assists on just one turnover.


Jaz Jones filled all categories of the stat sheet including a team-best six assists.  During post-game, she was more critical of her four turnovers though.  Jones also finished with eight points and six rebounds.

Kylee Shook was seen on the bench but did not play.  Norman told us that she has had a nagging knee pain and the staff decided to rest her tonight although she was ready to play if need be.  The extra rest should be beneficial as they prepare for a big game on Sunday.

F-R-E-D Report

Director of Bands at UofL School of Music Dr. Fred Speck (right)

Free Throws: On the stat sheet Louisville went 22-28 at the line.  We did see a couple three-for-twos with offensive rebounds and made baskets from there.  79% free throw shooting with the couple extra bonuses will earn the Cards a capital "F".

Rebounds: Louisville won the rebounding battle 45-39.  The only downside is that the Skyhawks had 21 offensive rebounds that gave them 21 second chance points.  Still, to win the rebounding battle by six with your tallest player and one of your best rebounders out of the game is a good sign. Capital "R".

Efficiency/Effort: The Cards finished with 25 assists on 36 made baskets.  They shot 52.9% from the field on the night.  Even without Shook Louisville had a whopping 54 points in the paint.  They ran the floor with 26 fast break points.  If you take away the trial run fourth quarter with different defensive reads and different lineups on the court there were only eight turnovers in the other three quarters combined.  Louisville scored 21 or more points in every quarter.  Capital "E".

Defense: Although UT Martin scored 62 points, 23 of those were in the third quarter.  One thing noticeable on the game was how many tipped passes and shots there were.  Louisville disrupted the Skyhawks' offense nearly every trip down the court.  They forced an incredible 27 turnovers.  There were also six blocked shots, even without Shook.  A capital "D" here.

For the second straight game Louisville gets a perfect score: "F-R-E-D".  Look for the "C-A-S-E" report in the comments.

(Note: There is a story behind the FRED picture today, but it is unrelated to UofL sports. Keep an eye on the comments section and I will add it in later on today.)

LINK: POST GAME UT-MARTIN WITH COACH NORMAN

LINK: JAZMINE AND ARICA


Caption This

We continue our fun game of captioning a picture of Jeff Walz with a shot from last night.  As always, have at it with the captions in the comments or email to cardinalcouple@twc.com.


Football's Big News

After Jeff Brohm turned down the head coach offer speculation on who the new head coach would be was up in the air.  Rumors spread on Monday that Scott Satterfield of Appalachian State would take over the duties.  Yesterday, before the women's basketball game UofL made their official announcement and had their press release to welcome Satterfield and his family.  Please welcome the Satterfield family with open arms as we look forward to a new era of Louisville football.


Christmas Sweater Pictures

Happy Wednesday and Go Cards!

- Jared -