Confident Cards Clobber Notre Dame 82-49 -- Lacrosse Today -- Women's Golf -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

WBB PICKS UP 23rd WIN IN ROMP OVER IRISH

(rounding up the usual suspects)

Confidence problems? They don't exist on Floyd Street for Louisville women's basketball, according to head coach Jeff Walz. That statement was fully backed up Sunday in the Downtown Arena, as Louisville women's basketball steadily pulled away from visiting Notre Dame on Play4Kay Day in front of 12086 fans, mostly dressed in pink. 

A balanced scoring effort and plenty of playing time for all in the 82-49, 33-point blowout of the 10-16 (5-9) Irish. No one played more than 28 minutes, four in double figures and great efforts in reserve roles for Liz Dixon, Yacine Diop and Kasa Robinson. The Cards also found themselves back on top of the ACC standings at the conclusion of play  -- after NC State took their second loss in a row -- getting stunned and stung by visiting Georgia Tech 65-61. 

Notre Dame came in upset-minded and took the fight to the Cards quite well in the first 2:30 of this one. Buckets from Marta Sniezek and Katlyn Gilbert gave the Irish an 8-4 lead over Louisville. A Dana Evans three (the first of four from her on the afternoon) cut the margin to one, but Notre Dame kept pounding the paint on the Cards and kept a 12-10 edge with 5:55 left in the quarter after another Vaughn connection inside. 

that was the last time the Irish would see the lead on the afternoon, though. Walz went to the bench early in this one, and Liz Dixon, Yacine Diop and Kasa Robinson scored six of the final eight points in the quarter to give the Cards a slim 18-16 advantage after ten minutes. 

The return of the "ugly" shoes...

Louisville wasted no time in the second period adding to the lead. Diop and Jazmine Jones accounted for the Cards next seven points and after a Kylee Shook layup in the paint...Louisville had produced a 9-2 run on Muffet McGraw's squad in the first three minutes of the second session and had forged ahead 27-18.

A Notre Dame timeout didn't stop the Cards momentum.

A Diop jumper pushed the lead to 31-21 and an old-fashioned three-point play by Evans had the Cards up 36-21 with 4:15 until half-time. Notre Dame had gone cold from the floor to that point of second quarter (2 for 9). The Cards were getting a huge quarter from Ya-Ya (8 points) and Kasa (four assists). Two Diop free throws with 58 seconds left in the half closed out the scoring and Louisville went to the locker room in charge of a 40-26 lead. 

Even Joe Pesci got in on the act...

Diop ended the half with 10 points and Dana (9 points) and "E" (8 points), were knocking on double-digits' door. The Cards were shooting 48.6% and had forced 13 ND turnovers in 20 minutes. 

The sharks has surrounded the struggling swimmer and begun to attack. It was time for the kill. 

Louisville started the third quarter on a 14-2 run and had built a 54-28 lead after a Evans three with five minutes left in the third. Notre Dame went 1-7 from the floor in that stretch and added three turnovers to their stats. Evans had taken over the game, with eight points in that significant stretch and Shook had added two close-in buckets. 

"I wonder which way we should go?"  

The scoring continued, from a variety of Cardinals, and after a Robinson jumper from outside the paint with 2:29 left in the third, the Cards held a 63-33 lead. Two Dixon free throws with 19 seconds on the clock closed out the third quarter and the Cards were comfortably in control 67-40. The Cards had done the work -- out-rebounding Notre Dame 10-5 in those ten minutes and forced a total of five Irish turnovers -- scoring 10 points off them. Walz had already pulled starters Bionca Dunham, Kylee Shook and Elizabeth Balogun for the night and the only thing left to decide was whether the Cards could top the 32- point margin of victory that they had complied in South Bend back on Jan. 30th. 

"Go that way !!" 

There was no let down from the fourth quarter Cardinal contingent. A Lindsey Duvall  three increased the lead to 74-46 with 4:22 remaining. A bucket from Robinson and a Diop three extended that to 79-46 with three minutes left on the clock. Molly Lockhart got in on the scoring frenzy and the Cards final point came on a Duvall free throw to set the tally at 82-48. Louisville had topped the win total in South Bend by one, a late Irish free throw set the final mark for a 82-49 Cards WBB win. 

And, Muffet did shake Jeff Walz hand, albeit it quickly --  while walking, in the post-game player/coach line up exchange.  

Paulie finds Madeline and "hizzoner fer life" Jerry 

It was all good on an afternoon where Cardinal favorite Robbie Bartlett started things off with the National Anthem, Denny Crum was in attendance and breast cancer survivors were honored at halftime. 

Momentum worries? Erase them. Questioning confidence? Don't. Louisville has returned to the "play like Louisville" mode and that mode is something no one can beat. 



THE FRED REPORT

Freddy the Wonder Mule would have enjoyed
this one yesterday....

FREE THROWS -- Dee Kanter (resplendent with her pink whistle) and her crew didn't call many fouls in this one. 11 on the Cards, 10 on Notre Dame. Louisville went 8-12 from the stripe, Dana going a surprising 2-4. She caught a little post-game, good-natured grief for that, since made free throws get contributions for the Play4Kay, Kay Yow Cancer fund-raising efforts. 66.7% doesn't quite meet our 70% standards, so  we cannot award a letter here. 

REBOUNDS -- The Cards got to play the "two bigs at the same time" lineup a lot against the front line Irish contingent of Brunelle, Vaughn and Cosgrove and won the battle of the boards 37-29. Liz Dixon was very impressive with seven grabs in 13 minutes and only committed one foul. Kylee Shook added seven and Kasa Robinson -- all 5'7" of her -- joined them with seven grabs as well. No problem in assigning a CAPITAL "R" in the rebounding category. 

EFFICIENCY/EXECUTION -- Just 14 turnovers, 24 assists on 33 made baskets and a 33-0 bench scoring shutout stand out here. The Cards went 33-63 in shooting (53.4%) and hit eight threes on 21 attempts (38%). An eye-popping nine assists from Kasa, as well.  Let's hand them a CAPTIAL "E" for the hustle, effort and putting the ball in the bucket.

DEFENSE -- Guarding effectively was a key in the win. Notre dame went 2-13 from the deep, committed 23 turnovers and scored just 49 points. 36.8% shooting overall for Muffet's squad. A well-deserved CAPTIAL "D" earned, for stopping the Irish from scoring and shutting down everyone but Vaughn, who went 8-10 and had 16 points. 

FINAL FRED TALLY:  _-R-E-D


THEY SAID IT: 

"Put your hands in the air, Jess". "I can't!" "How about you
Lindsey?" "I'd rather clap..." "How about you Ya-Ya?"
"No, I'm sitting this one out."  SEGYAN TO THE RESCUE!  

Muffet McGraw was factual,complimentary and even displayed a bit of humor in her short remarks.  Concerning Louisville, she called them the best team on their schedule. 

LINK: POST GAME MUFFET McGRAW

Jeff Walz was back to his sharp wit and seemed happy, after calling me, Dana and the absent Rick Bozich out. 

LINK: POST GAME JEFF WALZ

Dana and "E" were the post-game players at the presser and Dana withstood a little playful teasing. "E" was excited about the Olympic qualifying experience and for the upcoming game against her former school Georgia Tech.  she's recovered from the jet lag. 

LINK: POST GAME DANA EVANS AND ELIZABETH BALOGUN


SO...

"Catch me if you can, Danielle !"

No letdown Sunday against a team the Cards previously romped at their place. Louisville played according to expectations and got huge efforts from Evans, Shook, Balogun, Diop and Robinson in a total, dominating game.

23-3 and 12-2 in the ACC. Alone at the top. No worries here. Georgia Tech will be a rough one in Atlanta Thursday night with a great sidebar in "E' and "Liz" returning to their first college stop. 

You could see the excitement in "E"'s eyes when she was asked about facing her former team. I do think she and Liz will be quite ready for this one. 

IF the Cards can play like they have in the last two, it should be a win.

Tech will be fired up after their win over NC State at Raleigh and Nell Fortner has done a great job down there in her first year. The Cards are the better team and can, hopefully make it two dozen wins for the year...in what could be a close one 

( A SPECIAL THANKS TO JARED ANDERSON FOR TODAY'S PHOTOS AND POST-GAME VIDEO WORK.) 


SOFTBALL FALLS 8-4 TO #22 MICHIGAN


The Cards battled bravely against the 9-0 Wolverines for five innings in Chapel Hill yesterday but lost their final game in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge. 

A sixth-inning UM grand slam off off Taylor Roby prove the difference in this one. 

It's been a rough season-opening stretch for UofL Softball, facing some very excellent teams out of the SEC and the Big 10 while compiling a 2-7 record. 

Roby had three RBI's for Louisville. 

The going doesn't get any easier this weekend for the Cards Softball squad. they head to the Bama Bash and will have to face perennial powerhouse Alabama twice in the three-day affair...plus Penn State and Wichita State in Tuscaloosa. 


WOMEN'S GOLF STARTS SPRING MATCHES

Whitney Wade Young and her 2019-20 women's golf squad begins the Spring season in  Melbourne, FL at the Duran Golf Club...hosting the Moon Golf Invitational. 

Defending champion Central Florida is there also, along with three top-25 schools in what looks to be a challenging two-day event for the "chip-and-putt" Cards. women's golf squad.

The Cards will look to Lauren Hartlage for leadership and are probably close to being on the course as I write this, with today's start scheduled for 8 a.m.

Fifteen teams, plus Louisville, are in action and you can follow the strokes at

www.golfstat.com



LACROSSE TODAY

Scott Teeter's Laxers take to the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium turf to face Marquette today at 1 p.m.

Both squads are 1-1. Louisville began the season with a win at Cincinnati 16-11 before falling to 39 Denver at home 15-6 on Saturday. Marquette started their 2020 campaign with a loss at Notre Dame 18-3 but rebounded for a  17-6 win at Cincinnati. 

The Cards will look to get more stellar goalkeeping work from Rachel Florek. In two games, she has 22 saves and equalled her career high of 13 against Denver. 

The LaxCards will be looking for a bit of payback after falling to the Golden Eagles 15-12 last year at Marquette. That one was a tightly fought contest most of the way, Louisville trailed 12-11 with 12 minutes to play, but the home squad out-scored UofL 3-1 to close out the action. 

Junior forward Ally Hall recorded a hat trick against MU last year and currently leads Louisville in scoring with five goals on the season.

You can follow this one on the ACC Network Extra on-line if you can't attend. Should be an OK day for Lacrosse with "50-ish" temperatures and  no rain in the forecast. Admission is free to all Louisville Lacrosse events. 


Have a marvelous Monday!

paulie
xxxxx