ACC WBB Bracket Winners and Losers -- ACC Pick Em -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

The ACC Women’s Basketball bracket is set. Paulie broke down much of the schedule so far, but who are the winners and the losers with the bracket? Today, we'll take a look at who those might be.

The Losers

The three teams who did not make the tournament. For the first time in decades, the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament will not take every team in the conference. Due to the expansion from 15 to 18 teams, the bottom three schools are left out looking in. Miami (4-14 ACC), SMU (2-16), and Wake Forest (2-16) will not make the conference tournament and therefore are also not eligible to make the NCAA Tournament after finishing below .500 in the regular season.

Notre Dame looked to be nearly unbeatable all season. Then, they lost two out of their final three games to NC State and Florida State. The Wolfpack got the head-to-head tiebreaker for the top overall seed. The ACC tiebreaker rules are still better than the SEC, who had to resort to a coin flip.

Louisville had a rocky season as the veteran players didn’t provide as much consistency as hoped for and the plethora of freshmen had growing pains. The Cards won at Florida State and choked away a lead against North Carolina down the stretch. They also got stuck playing Notre Dame twice. In a three-way tie with Florida State and North Carolina, Louisville drew the short straw with the lowest seed.

The Winners

NC State won their final four games of the season to propel themselves to an ACC regular season title and the 1-seed in the tournament. Playing two of the bottom teams in that stretch helped but they did take down Notre Dame too.

Florida State earned the 4-seed and a double in the ACC Tournament. The Seminoles lost at home to Louisville by 14 but went on the road to beat North Carolina by two. A win against Notre Dame down the stretch played a big factor in maintaining pace for a top four seed. The three-way tie between UofL, UNC, and FSU went to the Noles.

ACC Pick Em

We are just one day away from the start of the tournament with three games being played Wednesday beginning at 1:00pm. 12-seed Boston College and 13-seed Syracuse will kick the tournament off. The championship game will be on Sunday at 1:00pm on ESPN. Louisville’s first game will be on Thursday at 7:30pm. They will play the winner of 11-seed Stanford and 14-seed Clemson, both of whom the Cards beat in the regular season.

Big shout out and thanks to Case for being willing to take over the  bracket czar duties this year. We currently have multiple positions vacant in my department at work and another person out with the flu so overtime will be plentiful and my schedule will be a bit demanding. Thankfully, I should still be able to follow parts of the tournament each day.

Make sure and play the Cardinal Couple ACC WBB Tournament Pick Em !! 14 games to pick...pick the most correctly and win. Paulie has either a $25 Gift Card to Cracker Barrel or Wagner's Restaurant for the winner...your choice. Make sure you enter your total score also with you entry. Make sure and enter your picks in the comments section either today or tomorrow by noon. Here's an example, this one from regular reader Nick O. 

Round 1:  Boston College, Virginia, Clemson

Round 2:  North Carolina, Georgia Tech, California, Louisville

Round 3:  Florida State, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Louisville 

Semis:     Florida State, Notre Dame

Champ     Notre Dame

Total Points in Final Game:  141  

A Few Late Softball Photos

Over the last week, Louisville softball played five games at home, going 4-1. We had a couple days of beautiful weather and a couple days of less-than-ideal weather. Here's just a few shots from those games.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards Join AP Top 25 -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Cracks Rankings at #25

Following a 1-1 week against a pair of highly ranked teams, Louisville women's basketball has found itself back in the rankings. The Cards enter the AP Poll at #25.

Last week, Louisville went to then-#11 Duke and secured a win. They followed it with a down-to-the-wire loss to then-#9 North Carolina loss. The latter was a game where Louisville led for 39 of the full 40 minutes but a late game collapse plus some interesting antics by referee Maj Forsberg and her crew led to another loss on the schedule.

While Louisville boasts a 19-8 overall record, the losses have come against some of the toughest competition available. The eight losses have come against current ranked teams:

#2 UCLA (by 7)

#3 Notre Dame (by 18)

#5 UConn (by 33)

#8 North Carolina (by 4)

#9 NC State (by 30)

#13 Oklahoma (by 6)

#15 Kentucky (by 10, OT)

unraked Virginia Tech (by 5)

The Cards are one of six ACC teams currently ranked with Georgia Tech and California in the receiving votes category. Louisville is joined by #3 Notre Dame, #8 North Carolina, #9 NC State, #16 Duke, and #24 Florida State.

Clemson on Thursday night and a rematch with Notre Dame are the only remaining regular season games. Winning both games would solidify a top-four seed and a double-bye in the ACC Tournament. One or two losses would drop them down to a single-bye. The Cards cannot finish below sixth in the ACC this year.

National Girls and Women in Sports Day

Louisville Volleyball

UofL celebrated National Girls and Women in Sports Day on Sunday. Louisville volleyball and new head coach Dan Meske were recognized at halftime. Louisville women's soccer coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes was also recognized at halftime.

Dan Meske

Karen Ferguson Dayes with Amy Calabrese and Josh Heird

Angel McCoughtry

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards Host Cal for Late Night Tip -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Are in Middle of Three-Game Homestand

Photo by Jared

Louisville women's basketball has a prime opportunity to earn a ranked win when they host #21 California tonight. The Cards and Bears are slated for a later-than-normal tip-off time of 8:00pm and will be aired on tv on the ACC Network.

Last week, Louisville fell at home to #3 Notre Dame after having a first half lead. It snapped a two-game win streak that featured wins over Virginia and SMU. The Cards now carry a 15-7 record and sit in fifth place in the ACC at 8-3.

California, in their first year in the ACC, has been red hot this year. The Bears are 19-4 on the year highlighted by ranked wins over NC State and Alabama. They did suffer an early season loss to Michigan State, but their other three losses came to ACC foes Clemson, Duke, and North Carolina. 

Photo by Jared

In their last outing, Cal defeated Pitt 84-53. Their offense is averaging 74.4 points per game while their defense has been stifling and has limited opponents to 61.8 ppg. Part of the offensive success comes from the Bears shooting .461 from the field and .707 from the free throw line. They are turnover prone at just over 18 turnovers per game. Defensively, Cal limits opponents to shooting .376 and forcing 16 turnovers per game.

Five Cal players are scoring in double figures: Ioanna Krimili (15.4 ppg), Lulu Twidale (13.3 ppg), Marta Suarez (13.0 ppg), Kayla Williams (11.0 ppg), and Ugonne Michelle Onyiah (10.5 ppg). Eight different players average over three rebounds per game. Onyiah has logged 29 blocks. William and Krimili have combined for 58 steals.

Louisville leads the current series 2-1. The Bears earned a 75-71 in Louisville back in 2015 while the Cards took a win in Berkeley the season before 70-57. Most famously, Louisville used a monstrous second half rally to defeat Cal 64-57 in the 2013 Final Four in New Orleans. The Cards' final five points of that game came at the free throw line.

Photo by USA Today / 2013

Paulie and Daryl will be in attendance to cover this game. By the time this post goes live, I will already be on a plane to Florida and will be enjoying some warm weather for a few days. Our friend Mike DeZarn has kindly offered to send some pictures in my absence.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

DBK Resigns, Meske Takes Over -- WBB to Face SMU -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Dani Busboom Kelly Leaves Louisville, Dan Meske Takes Over

While I was hoping for a calm and peaceful Wednesday night where I could scout SMU women's basketball some, life decided to make it a chaotic middle of the week. We got some pretty big breaking news last night as Dani Busboom Kelly stepped down as head coach of Louisville volleyball to take the head coach position at Nebraska following John Cook's sudden retirement.

The announcement happened quite suddenly about 6:00pm last night and I haven't had time to sit and process this yet so we'll see how sporadic and 'pinballish' my thoughts will be here.

John Cook spent the last 25 years leading Nebraska and led the Huskers to four national championships. While Cook had recently extended his contract through 2029, he decided it was time to ride off into the sunset.

With the head coach vacancy at Nebraska, there was no doubt that the top choice would be Dani Busboom Kelly. DBK won national championships as both a player and a coach under Cook during her time at Nebraska. 

Dani Busboom Kelly came to Louisville in 2017 and coached the Cards for eight seasons. During her tenure, she posted a 203-44 record that included four ACC Championships, eight NCAA Tournament appearances, three Final Fours, and two National Runner-Up finishes. Prior to the arrival of DBK, Louisville had never advanced beyond the Sweet Sixteen.

Under the leadership of DBK, several Louisville players earned All-American honors including Anna DeBeer, Elena Scott, Charitie Luper, Anna Stevenson, Tori Dilfer, Aiko Jones, Raquel Lazaro, Amaya Tillman, and Claire Chaussee.

With Busboom Kelly headed back home to Nebraska, Louisville plans to elevate Dan Meske to head coach at Louisville. Meske joined DBK's staff from day one at Louisville as an associate head coach after previous stints as an assistant coach at Nebraska and a head coach at Augustana.

We will let our Volleyball guru Jeff McAdams provide a much more thorough breakdown of what this means for Louisville in a few days. He will also provide any updates that we may have on Dan Meske's staff (Todd Chamberlain is expected to stay but unconfirmed) and any possible player transfers.

We do wish Dani Busboom Kelly the best at Nebraska.

Women's Basketball Visits SMU

Onto our regularly scheduled happenings, we have Louisville women's basketball set to face off against SMU tonight. The Cards and Mustangs will tip off at 8:00pm ET (7:00pm SMU time) and will air on ACC Network.

Louisville enters the game 14-6 on the year with a 7-2 ACC record. Most recently, the Cards survived a scare at Virginia to earn a road win after falling at Virginia Tech before that. The Cards sit at fourth in the conference, currently.

SMU is 10-11 this season and boasts a 2-7 conference mark. The Mustangs have lost five straight with their most recent loss coming at Miami. Their losing streak began on the road to Pitt in a game that will go down in the NCAA history books. That game saw SMU up by a large a margin before surrendering a 31-0 run including a 28-0 third quarter. Pitt went on a 54-10 extended run to win. The Mustangs' non-conference schedule isn't great and they went 1-3 against 'Power Five' opponents. 

SMU averages 65.8 points per game while surrendering 67.4 ppg. They shoot a solid .375 from the field but have been poor from three-point range, shooting .284. The Mustangs have been outrebounding opponents by two rebounds per game.

Nya Robertson (19.0 ppg) is a dangerous scorer and has had plenty of offensive support from Chantae Embry (11.7 ppg) and Jessica Peterson (9.6 ppg). Peterson has been nearly unstoppable in the paint and brings in 12.3 rebounds per game. The senior center also has 25 blocks on the year.

SMU's team and individual stats are better than their record shows but they have struggled against the competition.

Louisville is 2-1 all-time against SMU. The Mustangs won the inaugural meeting back in 1996 but the Cards took the win in the other two meetings during the 2013-2014 AAC season. 

Walz

Coach Jeff Walz had his pre-contest presser Wednesday before the Cards WBB squad travels to Dallas to face SMU tonite. Hear it below:

WALZ PRESSER 1/29/24

*All photos by Jared*

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

WBB outlasts Syracuse 72-62 -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL



Hello readers! I am back and covering the joy of Louisville women’s athletics after a (what to me seemed like) a quick wedding and honeymoon.  I appreciate the guys handling my coverage and I am looking forward to some more exciting moments in 2025.  

Here's a fun photo from the wedding :D   

You can find Jared and Katy in there and our very special guest, Louie!! 
  

Paulie also invited me back to the Yum! Center for some ACC WBB action with the Syracuse Orange so lets jump right on in. 


WBB



The Cards are hot and on a 7 game winning streak as they beat the Cuse by ten and now hit the road for 3 games.   Six Cardinals finished in double figure scoring as Louisville outlasted Syracuse 72-62 and move to 13-5 on the season.  Nyla Harris went 5-11 for 10 points and 11 rebounds, Jayda Curry went 4-8 from 3 point range.

Photo: Jared Anderson

End of 1Q  Cards 21-15
FG %
10-18 55.6% Cards
5-11 45.5% Syracuse
Reb. 10-5 Cards
3-pt %
1-4 25% Cards
2-4 50% Syracuse

Georgia Woolley took it to basket (missed) and grabbed the defensive board to start the game.   She also sported a black eye and a large mouth piece so I quickly remembered how tough she plays.  She was all over the floor the entire night even though the stat sheet doesn't reflect as much. 

The Cardinals Ja’Leah Williams drove in to score and got fouled, she grossly missed the FT but followed up with a rebound and Roberts gets the second chance bucket to get the offense going.  Nyla Harris joins the scoring party and the Cards are off to a 6-0 start to the game. 

With about 5:30 on the clock in the first quarter, Jayda Curry hits the Cards first three pointer beyond the arc.  At the media timeout UofL had a 17-7 lead on the Orange.

Sophie Burrows controlled the offensive charge for Syracuse, going 4-4 for all of the Orange’s points before Woolley was finally able to convert for something making it a 19-12 game, Louisville.

A couple of UofL turnovers in the paint lead to more scoring opportunities for Syracuse as the clock ticked down its final minute.  The two TOs committed by Merissah Russell and Olivia Cochran got Walz visibly frustrated after too many pass attempts...leading to the easy steals by Syracuse.

End of 2Q 15-12 Syracuse

FG %
5-19 26.3% Cards
6-15 40% Syracuse
Reb. 12-11 Cards
3-pt %
1-5 20% Cards
0-3 0%. Syracuse

The Cards open the quarter with a missed 3 point attempt.  Coach Walz made it a point to mention in yesterday's press conference that this team is capable of making a lot of 3-point shots, as they do it often in practice but they started the game 1-6 from 3 point range.

Both teams were struggling to find any offensive rhythm, and the Cards went on a scoring drought for almost 4 minutes where they went 0-4. 

And after another turnover, the Orange put together a scoring run of 8 more points to tie it 23 all.

Then the Cards turned it up a notch and found themselves with a 33-26 cushion after an 8-0 run of their own when Imani berry hit a 3 pointer, prompting an eruption from the crowd heading into halftime. 


HALF 33-30


Photo: Jared Anderson


End of 3Q 26-21 Cards

FG %
11-15 73.3% Cards
9-17 52.9% Syracuse
Reb. 6 all
3-pt %
3-3 100% Cards
3-5 60% Syracuse



Syracuse started the scoring in the second half but the Cards took control scoring 7 straight points before Nyla Harris lost a shoe and played that way for about a minute and a half.  A Syracuse timeout would give her the opportunity to grab the 2nd shoe after she tossed it in Cardinal Couple’s direction.

The Cards went on a 5-5 run and extended the lead to 15 points 54-39 before another Syracuse timeout with just under 5 minutes on the clock.

It looked like the Cards were going to pull away before the Orange found a spark to close the quarter on a 12-5 run and bring the score to 59-51.  Jayda Curry went 3-3 from 3 in the quarter.  


End of 4Q

FG %
3-11 27.3% Cards
5-16 31.3% Syracuse
Reb.  12-7 Cards
3-pt %
0-0 0% Cards
1-4 25% Syracuse



The Louisville defense held Syracuse scoreless for more than 2 minutes to start the quarter but then went on their own scoring drought for more than 7 minutes going 0-8 along with 3 turnovers in that time.  With 2:30 to go, Syracuse pulled it within 5.

Olivia Cochran's trip to the line was productive extending the Cardinals lead with a much needed 2 points.  Louisville went 7-8 from the free throw line in the quarter.   

Photo: Jared Anderson

UP NEXT

Louisville vs Virginia Tech

Sunday January 19th

4pm ACCN

FRED REPORT

Freddie Freeman is today's "Fred" The Dodgers first baseman slugged 22 homers in 2024.


FREE THROWS -- Louisville went 9-12 which is good for 75%.  They came up big in the fourth quarter when they really needed some points and the Cards found a way to get to the line.  Capital F

REBOUNDING -- The Cardinals out rebounded the Orange 40-29 with Nyla Harris and Ja’Leah Williams leading the charge with 11 & 10 boards respectively.  Given Syracuse's height advantage, this was a large advantage for UofL.  CAPITAL R

EFFORT/EXECUTION --  The Cards established control to start the game and held on tight towards the end to continue the win streak.   It seems to me, this team is starting to have some fun.  Nyla Harris lost a shoe for several trips ups and down the court and a part of me thought maybe she felt some joy and excitement and some of the crowd giggled and cheered her through it.  Because of the silly turnovers due to passing it too many times when they should've taken the shot, I give it a lower case e 

DEFENSE --  Both teams went on some runs here and there, most notably at the end but it happened a couple times in the first half too.  Holding Woolley 1-5 from 3 point land was a huge factor in the victory.   The Orange still shot 42.4% in the game.... i give it a lower case d



FINAL FRED TALLY:   F_R_e_d


The Cards head to Virginia Tech next for a Sunday tilt, then to Virginia and SMU completes the three game road trip. Tje VT game could be a tough one...the Hokies are inviting Liz Kitley back to laud and praise her and the Gobblers are 12-5 on the season. 

POST GAME JEFF WALZ

POST GAME JA'LEAH WILLIAMS AND JAYDA CURRY



As always
Go Cards!

~Daryl 

Louisville Hosts Syracuse in ACC Match-Up -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Welcome Cuse to the Yum!

Photo by GoCards

Louisville women's basketball remains at home for the second of a two-game homestand and will welcome Syracuse to the KFC Yum! Center tonight. The Cards and Orange are slated for a 7:00pm tip-off and will air on ACCNX. It is Salute to Service night.

The Cards enter the game on a six-game win streak, most recently coming off an upset victory over ranked Georgia Tech. Louisville is 12-5 on the year and 5-1 in the ACC, putting them at second in the conference.

Photo by Jared

Syracuse brings a 7-9 record into the game. ACC play has proved difficult for the Orange as they are just 1-4 in conference play. Most recently, Syracuse took down Miami 66-61. Prior to that, they had lost three straight to SMU, Florida State, and Georgia Tech. 

The Orange have outscored opponents 1,176 (73.5 ppg) - 1,143 (71.4 ppg). They have been exceptional on the boards, outrebounding opponents by 3.5 rebounds per game. Georgia Woolley (15.3 ppg) and Kyra Wood (11.2 ppg) have been the top scorers this season and are the only two averaging double figures. Wood has also been the top rebounder with nearly seven boards per game.

Photo by Jared

Louisville is 20-8 all-time against Syracuse. In their most recent match-up last season, Syracuse hit a pair of free throws with two seconds remaining to earn the 73-72 win. Prior to that, the Cards had won eight straight. Louisville is 12-1 at home in the series.

Cardinal Couple plans to have in-person coverage for the game.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

WBB Climbs Conference Standings -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Sits at Second in ACC

When it comes to the point in the season where winning becomes crucial, no one does it better than Jeff Walz. Year after year, Walz and his staff have managed to have this Louisville team starting getting hot in conference play and peak right as tournament time begins. 

This year's Louisville team to appears to be trending in that direction... with a few speed bumps. This is the time of the season where we see the first increase in how well Louisville plays. We typically see another jump right about the time tournament time begins. 

Welcome back, Kasa!

Louisville women's basketball has won six straight with all but one of those coming after Christmas break. Not all of those wins have been easy. The Pitt game came down to the wire. Wake Forest took Louisville to overtime. Boston College led in the second half before the Cards pulled away. Georgia Tech tried to rally before the Cards slammed the door shut. But, Louisville won those games.

At the end of the day, a win is a win regardless if it's by one or one hundred. That's what this team is doing. They are finding ways to win.

Louisville currently sits alone in second place in the ACC at 5-1. Only Notre Dame is further ahead at 5-0. There are a handful of other one-loss teams including Duke, California, and NC State. The Wolfpack got the best of Louisville earlier this season. Four of Louisville's wins have come to teams in the ACC with four conference losses or more: Miami, Boston College, Pittsburgh, and Wake Forest. Louisville is playing much better now, than they did when NC State put their beating on them.

The toughest part of the conference schedule is yet to be played with teams like Notre Dame, Duke, and California on the horizon. Louisville will need to find ways to do so, but at least for now a 12-5 overall record and 5-1 mark in the ACC is a good start.

Updated ACC standings from ESPN

Caption This

Caption this picture in the comments below.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

WBB Visits Pitt -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Wrap Up Road Trip Against Pitt

Louisville women's basketball will conclude their road trip with a game against Pitt. The Cards and Panthers will tip-off at 6:00 pm and will be aired on ACCNX. 

UofL is 10-5 and currently on a four-game win streak. Most recently, Louisville won in overtime at Wake Forest to improve to 3-1 in the ACC.

Pitt has struggled the first half of the season, going 8-8 with an 0-3 record in the ACC. The Panthers most recently lost to Duke 69-31 and fell to Georgia Tech 100-61 before that.

On the season, Pitt has outscored opponents by one point, 1009-1008. Khadija Faye is the only Panther scoring in double figures at 17.4 ppg. Nine other players average between 4.5 - 9.7 ppg. Faye has also been the top rebounder at 9.7 boards per game. Pitt's assist-to-turnover ratio has been rough with the Panthers having 85 more turnovers. 

Louisville owns the all-time series, 27-2. The Cards have won the last 23 match-ups. Last year, Louisville owned both meetings- 74-44 and 77-58.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Early ACC Standings -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Early ACC Standings

Caption this picture of Imari Berry in the comments

While much of Kentucky is dealing with one of the heaviest winter storms in decades, the ACC basketball standings are beginning to take shape some. Before we dive deep into basketball, we take a quick look at this winter storm, where parts of Louisville were recorded to have 9" of snow and ice. A depth to that extent was last seen on Feb. 4, 1998. For many folks, Monday and maybe even Tuesday became a work from home or snow day. To those who had to brave the conditions and get behind the wheel, we hope you were safe and returned home in one piece.

Poor Louisville women's basketball. After surviving an overtime scare at Wake Forest, the Cards returned home to poor weather conditions and below freezing temperatures. But... they did return home with a win. We preached on our podcast on Saturday the importance of conference wins, especially stealing some on the road, which Louisville did.

With the newly expanded ACC, not everyone makes the ACC Tournament anymore. The format of the tournament this year reflects that of the last several years, meaning 15 (of the now 18) teams get in. The bottom three in the ACC will be SOL.

So far, everyone in the ACC has played at least three games. Five teams are a perfect 3-0 and four teams are winless at 0-3. Everyone else is somewhere in the middle.

We have some early surprises such as Georgia Tech and Florida State both sitting atop the standings. Clemson has been off to a hot start too at 3-1. On the other end of the spectrum, teams like North Carolina and Stanford have some work to do as they sit at 1-2 and 0-3, respectively.

Here is the current ACC standings:

Click on picture to make larger

There is still plenty of season left to be played, but the ACC appears to be more challenging than ever before. We will not have any in person coverage for when the Cards visit Pitt on Thursday, but we do plan to have in-person coverage at the KFC Yum! Center for Sunday's game against Georgia Tech.

(Photos by Jared. Screenshot of ACC standings came from ESPN's website)

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

WBB Opens 2025 Against Miami -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards and Canes to Square Off

Photo by GoCards

A winter storm may be en route to Louisville this weekend, but there's a hurricane coming first. Louisville women's basketball opens up 2025 with a game against Miami. The Cards and Canes will tip off at 7:00pm ET and will be aired on ACCNX.

Louisville is 8-5 on the year and is off to a 1-1 start in ACC play. The Cards fell to NC State in mid-December but most recently won at Boston College on Sunday. Louisville has won two straight games and three of their last four this season.

Photo by GoCards

Miami is 11-2 on the season and 1-1 in the ACC. Most recently, they fell to #17 North Carolina 69-60. Their lone ACC win came at Pitt by six points. They do have wins over 'Power Five' opponents Florida and Oregon State. The Hurricanes had won four straight games before their recent loss to North Carolina.

Miami has been outscoring opponents 74-64 and winning the rebounding battle 38-33. Haley Cavinder leads the Hurricanes with 18.3 points per game and 7.9 rebounds per game. Haley and her sister Hanna have combined for a little over 60% of the team's assists. Cameron Williams and Jasmyne Roberts are both in double figures in scoring at 11.9 and 11.5 ppg, respectively.

Photo by GoCards

Tricia Cullop is in her first season as head coach at Miami after 16 seasons in the same position at Toledo. Her time at Toledo included 13 winning seasons and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances.

 Louisville leads the series all-time, 9-3. All but one of those games came after Louisville joined the ACC. The Cards have won the last two meetings.

Cardinal Couple plans to have in-person coverage for this game.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Louilsville WBB flies past Boston College 86-73 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 BALANCED SCORING LEADS UOFL TO WIN VS. EAGLES

The University of Louisville placed six players in double figures and used a 8-0 run near the middle of the third quarter to pull away from Boston College and improve their record to 8-5 and 1-1 in the ACC. 

Jadya Curry had a season high, for her, with 14 points for UofL, Taj Roberts and Olivia Cochran added 13 each, Nyla Harris and Ja'Leah Williams put up 12 points and Merissah Russell finished with 11 points in the Cards 86-73 win. . 

The Cards and Eagles were in a one -point affair with UofL leading 51-50 at the 5:40 mark of the third quarter before the Louisville run that started  with jumpers from Harris, Curry and Williams over a one minute period. A Williams layup a minute later put Louisville ahead 59-50 with 3:18 left in the quarter. . The Cards were still up 64-55 at the end of the quarter and UofL won the final quarter 22-18 for the thirteen-point win. The Cards did score the final six points of the game, all on free throws...overcoming a rough shooting  streak to end the game, where UofL did not make a basket in the final 6:24 of the game and their final 12 points came from free throws..

Louisville led 23-18 at the end of the first quarter and held a 40-35 at the halff, before the referees decided a final shot of the quarter by BC's Teya Sidberry was a three instead of a two.

 64-55 is the advantage the Cards had at the end of the third quarter. 

THE FRED REPORT

{Fred McGriff played with six different MLB squads in 18 years and had 2490 hits)

Free Throws -- Louisville went 19-26 from the free throw line...Russell hitting seven of her eight attempts. That's 73.1% and good for a CAPITAL "F". 

Rebounds -- The Cards won the battle of the boards 36-33...Cochran getting seven, to co-lead the way with "team".  What is a team rebound in college basketball?. When a ball is shot and missed from anywhere and the ball goes out of bounds without anyone touching it or getting possession, that is a team rebound. We'll award the CAPITAL "R" here. 

Effort/Execution -- Louisville shot an even 50% (31-62) from the floor and had 15 assists. No one fouled out for the Cards, they had three less turnovers than BC and led second chance points 24-11. And, they won! I'll recommend a CAPITAL "E

Defense -- The Cards scored 28 points off 23 B.C. turnovers. They had 14 steals, and held the Eagles to 48% shooting. I can see a small case "d" here..73 points is a lot to give up to a middle-tier or worse ACC foe. Louisville still needs a lot p work on defense, but it gotmthe jpb done Sunday

FINAL FRED TALLY: F-R-E-d

So,it was a game that Louisville was able to go on several sizable runs in and was able to give Boston College their first home loss of the season. The freshmen continue to impress and improve....They had 50 of Louisville's points and continue to play well on the road.

POST GAME JEFF WALZ 

paulie