CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDINAL COUPLE
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Thursday, March 2, 2023

Softball Schedule Change — ACC WBB Tournament — THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Changes Schedule Due to Weather




Inclement weather has forced Louisville softball to alter their schedule after just one home game into the season. With heavy rain expected all day Friday, the Cardinal Classic was adjusted with it now set to start today.

Thursday

4:00 p.m. LOUISVILLE vs Northern Kentucky

Friday

No Games

Saturday

10:00 a.m. LOUISVILLE vs Toledo
12:30 p.m. Toledo vs Northern Kentucky
3:00 p.m. Northwestern vs Northern Kentucky
5:30 p.m. LOUISVILLE vs Northwestern

Sunday

10:00 a.m. Northern Kentucky vs Toledo
12:30 p.m. Toledo vs Northwestern
3:00 p.m. LOUISVILLE vs Northwestern
5:30 p.m. Northern Kentucky vs LOUISVILLE

Louisville is 11-4 on the year following a run rule victory over Bellarmine on Tuesday and are now on a five-game win streak. The Cards are in the receiving votes category.

Northern Kentucky is 3-7 on the year. The Norse are coming off a 1-4 weekend last weekend. Louisville leads the series, 2-0.

Northwestern is having a somewhat down year this year, sitting at 6-6 on the year. The Cards and Wildcats are tied 7-7 in their all-time series.

Toledo is 2-7 this season. They went 0-5 last weekend. Louisville leads the series, 3-0.




ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament




The first day of the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament was a success. While other conference tournaments saw fights during the middle of the game *cough cough SEC cough cough* things went great in Greensboro.

Wake Forest held a commanding lead in the first half over Virginia before the Cavaliers cut their deficit to five in the fourth quarter. Jewel Spear had seen enough and helped the Demon Deacons pull away for an 11-point win. Virginia was without senior star Sam Brunelle, which was noticeable with Wake Forest winning the rebounding battle by a large margin. 68-57. Wake goes to Thursday. 

The second game of the day saw Clemson taking on Pitt. The Panthers held a small two-point advantage at the end of the first quarter before the Tigers used a 19-4 second quarter to command a large lead. Clemson continued to further their lead in the second half highlighted by 19 points from Hannah Hank.  71-53. Clemson advances




Day one’s final game pitted Georgia Tech against Boston College. While the Yellow Jackets held a slight lead after the opening quarter, Boston College had a strong second quarter to build a strong lead. Georgia Tech managed to get the game back within one possession but the Eagles hit their final five free throws to help hold on. Dontavia Waggoner came off the bench in her first game back in several weeks to score 16 points for Boston College. 62-57. Eagles move on. 

Today's action has four games and all four of them should be good games.

11:00 a.m. 5-seed Florida State vs 12-seed Wake Forest
2:00 p.m. 8-seed NC State vs 9-seed Syracuse
6:00 p.m. 7-seed North Carolina vs 10-seed Clemson
8:00 p.m. 6-seed Miami vs 11-seed Boston College

All games will be aired on ACCN.

The good news is we will have in person coverage of the tournament later this week. By the time this article goes live, I will be on the way down to Greensboro. I hope to catch some of the final game of today’s slate, but will for sure be present for all four games on Friday. In the event Louisville wins on Friday, I will remain there for Saturday’s slate. Let’s hope the Cards advance to the final on Sunday and I will be there for that game as well. We may not have Paulie available to travel this year but I’m excited to be going down with my camera to catch some of the games.

Paulie Recap:  Day 1

(Sadly, I am not with my girlfriend in Greensboro this year)

( I was not able to travel to the ACC WBB Tournament this year and I miss not being there. Mind you, I don't miss that drive out of Louisville to get there. I've tried both ways (the West Virginia Turnpike route and the I-75 to I-40 way) and have decided that if I go in 2024, depending on where it is...I might look into airplane and rent-a-car as an option. After all, I'm not getting any younger and my pleas to get on the Louisville charter in past years has gone un-noticed.) 

And....they're off ! Stephanie White is on the early ACC Network call. I like her analysts work. 

Game One had Wake Forest and Virginia. Wake threatened to run away with it early and Virginia was having trouble even inbounding the ball with no one guarding them.  In time, the Deacons finally started playing like a #12 seed, but Virginia was taking their time trying to catch them. Virginia cuts the lead, finally, to one...and then Wake runs off nine points in a row. Put out the fire, call in the dogs and bundle on up in the sleeping bag --- this one is over. They call the UVA coach "Coach Mock" . I guess that's life imitating art or an appropriate moniker for her job....it's was clear to see she was quite done with this season, this team and will roll the dice with a new bunch in 2024. Off you go to play FSU, Wake. Pity upon you and DON'T try to run with them. Seriously.

Game 2 was Hannah Hank vs. Pitt and the Aussie came out and made it career afternoon. She was on fire and the Tigers even look like they have improved and learned how to crash the boards. This one was over by halftime and the real question is can the Tigers keep the magic alive vs. UNC today? You gotta love Hank, Douglas, Bradford and Gaines for the Tigers and Coach Amanda B got Clemson to the second round...that ought to be worth a new, five-year contract. Go find a center, now. 

Game 3 was maybe the most entertaining of the day (or night). 

First off, we got Deb Antonelli doing analyst work. She's my fav., so it'll be a fun two hours.

Second...Joanna Bernabei McNamee coaches Boston College and she's another fav of mine. BC wanted this win and simply would not give up to what we all figured to be a powerhouse GT team at the start of the year a chance to get within range until late in the game, when it was basically over. Freshman power present in BC's Dontavia Waggoner stepped up and hit her free throws late.

You have to wonder how Cameron Swartz feels. She left BC to play her final year at GT and it's BC that knocks her new team out of the ACC Tournament. One helluva coaching job by Joanna for the Eagles. Will they have a prayer against Miami today? I fear not, these Canes have something to prove and the Cavinder twins are pretty awesome (and hard to guard0. Off we go to Day 2. 

I'm by the TV. Watching. 

paulie

Cardinal Couple Pick Em




We had a record number of entries for the Cardinal Couple ACC Pick Em Challenge with 27 people filling out a bracket. Thank you to all of you! We love your participation and the fact that this fun event continues to draw in more people each year.

Louisville was the crowd favorite with nine picks to take the title. Six brackets have Notre Dame winning it all. Five brackets picked Virginia Tech to take the crown. Florida State earned three picks to win the ACC. Duke got two picks while Clemson and Georgia Tech each got one pick.




We do still have a few perfect brackets after three games while other brackets have been a bit less fortunate.

3-0: Katy, Vivian, Bea, Case, Jeff, K Stark Sr, Daryl, Thomas, Lilli
2-1: Jason, Sonya, Nick O, Ben, Seminole Sally, Paulie, Dave-O, Jared, Karen, John, Jacob, Joe Hill
1-2: Kenny S, Curtis, Arthur, CC Chimps
0-3: Blue Lou, Ken B,

If you're like me, a couple of unknown injuries caught me off guard, but many folks went the smart and safe route by picking the higher seeds in the opening round.

Here's to more chaos in the second round of the ACC Tournament!

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!
Jared

2 comments:

  1. Hello Friends !'
    Arthur Here I

    Well, we survived round one. Now it's UNC today. I hope for a competitive game. I hope we hit the three like yesterday. We'll be tired, sure, but can we actually play our way into the NCAA Tournament? Sure, we need to probably reach the championship game, but...who was it who sang that popular song "Don't Stop Believing?"

    Go Tigers !

    Your Friend
    #1 Clemson Fan
    Arthur
    Greer, SC

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a game between FSU and Wake ! Can you believe that comeback? Cards get the DEACS !!

    Joe Hill

    ReplyDelete

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