11 from Women's Track and Field to compete in NCAA Prelims -- WNBA News -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

ACTION STARTS TODAY AT NORTH FLORIDA FOR CARDINAL ATHLETES 

The University of Louisville has 11 student-athletes competing in the NCAA East Preliminaries at the University of North Florida beginning today.

They will be trying to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships that will take place June 5-8 in Austin, TX. 

Here's the breakdown: 


HAMMER THROW -- Makenli Forrest, Halee Hudson

POLE VAULT -- Gabriela Leon, Morgan Zacharias

100m HURDLES -- Kayla Alexander, Sydney Hill

LONG JUMP -- Alexis Gibbons

10000m -- Dorcas Wasike, Ivine Chemutai

HIGH JUMP -- Alivia Ash

SHOT PUT -- Rashida Harris


If you have the paid subscription to FloSports Track, they'll be showing the East Prelims live. UofL's track and Field twitter account also will keep you up on the progress. 

Check with Cardinal Couple for the latest updates on these Cardinals in their pursuits for the NCAA Championships.  

We wish our Track and Field Cardinal the very best of times, numbers and results over the next three days as they give it their best to make it to the NCAA Championships! 



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WNBA UPDATE

With one day (today) left before WNBA rosters have to trim down to 12 players, all four  former UofL WBB players on rosters have survived the cuts, so far. 

Asia Taylor looks to remain with the Indiana Fever, Indiana did waive Kayla Alexander yesterday, so A-Tayy's spot looks to be safe. A-tayy seems to be a good fit in Indy and with seven guards listed on their current 13 player roster, we'll predict anymore waivers come from that spot. 

Arica Carter made it through another round of cuts out in Phoenix. She's one of six guards listed on their current roster of 13 and one of four rookies listed. With Diana Taurasi unavailable for another 3-5 weeks but listed on the roster, we like A/C's chances to remain with the Mercury. 


Myisha Hines-Allen is listed as one of the 13 left on the Washington Mystics roster. We feel "Mooks" is O.K. here...the Mystics cut a couple of players back over the last few days and with eight guards still on Washington's roster, we're betting any final cuts would come from that position. 

Asia Durr looks to be solid with the New York Liberty. They still show 15 players on roster, but six of them are centers and eight are guards...I doubt the Liberty would waive the 2nd overall 2019 WNBA draft pick and Durr has been starting for NY, so...we declare her safe as well for a spot on the "Big Apple" roster. 

Here's a cut that is surprising: 

Megan Gustafson was the 2019 Naismith Award winner and was the AP Player Of The Year, and she was the Big Ten Player Of The Year in both 2018 and 2019 for the Iowa Hawkeyes. She averaged 27.9 points and 13.5 rebounds per game as a 6'3" center and shot 70.1% from the floor while attempting 16.5 field goals per game.

She was drafted 17th overall, the fifth pick of the WNBA's second round in the 2019 draft. On Wednesday, Gustafson was part of the Dallas Wings' final round of cuts.

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DID YOU SEE THIS? 

Asia Taylor has a close and special relationship with her mom, Felicia. She had the chance to do something very special for her recently...in buying her a house...and did so. 

The surprise revealing and announcement was captured on Instagram and we proudly share it with you today: 




instagram.com/tv/BxxRZUQhaBk/?igshid=1wwr6294i7s4l …


Just one example of the kind, caring and giving student-athletes and their works that have graced the Belknap Campus over the years and continue to. We salute you, A-Tayy ! 

(thanks to former Cardinal Couple columnist and reader Jenny O'Bryan for notifying me of this special moment.) 


have a terrific Thursday 

paulie
xxxxx

WBB faces WKU tonight -- WSOC in NCAA Tournament -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL GOES TO BOWLING GREEN TONIGHT

It's here!

The 2018-19 Louisville women's basketball season gets underway this evening when the Cards travel to Bowling Green to face the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers tonight at 7 p.m. CST (8 p.m. Louisville time) in E.A. Diddle Arena. 

They'll face a team that was 24-9 last season and 11-1 in C-USA play (remember that conference, Cardinal fans?). It is a WKU team that has undergone some big changes, though.

Gone is former head coach (and former Jeff Walz assistant) Michelle Clark Heard. She's north of Louisville now, watching the Cincinnati Bearcats bounce basketballs. Gone are their top two scorers from last year...Tashia Brown and Ivy Brown...who accounted for almost 40 of the Hilltoppers 75 points per game last year. 

Greg Collins is the head coach up on "the Hill" these days. He's no stranger to Tops basketball, having served as an assistant on the staff for six years before being named head skipper. You might also remember Greg from his time at Louisville. He was former assistant to Tom Collen for the Cards and followed Collen to Arkansas when he took that head coaching gig. Collins basically held the program together during the transition time from Martin Clapp to Tom Collen back in 2003. 

WKU's Greg Collins

Western Kentucky does return some significant talent from last year's squad that won the CUSA Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament...falling to Oregon State in the first round. Raneem Elgedany, a 6'4" forward, was the third-leading scorer for WKU last year. A couple of girls who competed in Kentucky High School basketball are back as well -- 5'8" guard Whitney Creech and 6'1" forward Dee Givens. 

For Louisville, the major question confronting Cardinal fans is who and how will Walz fill departed graduate Myisha Hines-Allen's minutes with?  We've heard conversation about a variety of players picking up and improving small pieces of their games to cover the gap. 

My guess, and it is purely a guess, is that Walz will go "big" to counter-attack the taller front line possibilities that WKU can employ...and have Durr, Carter, Fuehring, Shook and Jones out there on the hardwood for tipoff. And, that's purely a guess. I have no "inside scoop" or advance copy of the starters. Coach himself even said a few days ago that there were a whole roster-full of players that could start for this team. Or more importantly, who will be out there at crunch time?  

(Watch him counter with Durr, Diop, Dunham, Fuehring and Evans, right? This is the "three D's, an E and F" -- or Paulie's semester report card option.)

One thing you can count on. Jeff will play just about everyone who is eligible and not injured tonight. He has mentioned the freshmen might see first quarter action. This game is a chance to see who will step up and lay claim to minutes. We wonder how Sam's "stinger" on her neck is doing and will she be able to contribute significant minutes if needed? 

In any event, it should be fun and we'll have full CARDINAL COUPLE coverage on site with Paulie, Sonya and Jared on hand...plus rumors that Worldwide Jeff might come out of his map-building room of secrecy and Daryl Foust, frequent CARDINAL COUPLE radio guest, all bouncing into Bowling Green for basketball. 

Look for Louisville to try and force the pace early against WKU and possibly press after made baskets. Asia Durr will have the "green-light" to create and it'll be interesting to see how the Cards front line will do against a WKU squad that has a 6'4", two 6'3" and a 6'2" players available for action.  

Video coverage is allegedly on ESPN +...so you'll have to pay for that. You can do what Paulie does when the Cards are on the road and he can't get there. Tune into 790 WKRD AM -- Cards Radio -- for Nick and AJ's call. We'll have the recap of "Big Red" vs. "Louie" tomorrow in Jared Anderson's article. 

The start of what promises to be a very-exciting, challenging and enjoyable journey for this 2018-19 WBB squad gets underway this evening. Don't you miss it! 


WSOC SELECTED FOR NCAA TOURNAMENT

Karen Ferguson Dayes and the kickin' Cards are headed to the Big Dance! Louisville received a #15 seed in what looks to be the "west" or the Palo Alto region and will face #2 seed Tennessee in Knoxville at 5 p.m. Friday this weekend for first round action. 

The teams have met once before, when UT took a 6-0 win back in 1998. They played that one in Nashville, oddly enough. 

UT went 13-2-3 this year and was ranked in the top 25 most of the season, getting a #12 ranking in the last poll. Their RPI is #9. 

Louisville earns the bid after a 12-6 regular season, finishing tied for 5th. in the ACC and got an "at-large" bid. They would face the winner between Arizona and Denver if they vanquish the Vols. 

All told, ten ACC schools got selected for the 64-team tournament. Joining the Cards are  Clemson, Boston College, Virginia, Duke, Wake Forest, FSU, Virginia Tech, NC State and North Carolina...who received a #2 seed in their region. 

A well-deserved honor for seniors Gabby Vincent and Kennadi Carbin.  Emina Ekic was named first team ALL-ACC and Vincent to the third-team. 

Always a tough task when a #15 faces a #2 seed but Louisville has employed a very strong and low-goals-allowed defense this season and has several scoring options when they are on the attack.

This is the fifth all-time NCAA Tournament appearance for the Cards in the history of the program...last visiting in 2013, when the Cards lost a first-round match against Illinois State in the old Cardinal Park 2-1, after the teams went from a 1-1 tie to a shootout-status that I.S.U won. Louisville finished 12-5-1 that season. 


Good luck to the Lynn Stadium Louisville girls in Knoxville on Friday! 


DONATION MONTH

November is Donation Month at CARDINAL COUPLE. If you like Cards WBB coverage, we like to think we do it as well, if not better, than any other site on the Internet. We "do" the away games, we get you the interviews, we go "beyond the play-by-play" to provide in-depth and comprehensive coverage of Jeff Walz and his student-athletes. 

And, we do it daily.

For WBB and all women's sports at UofL, you know you can come here and find it. Plus, we are on the radio weekly with THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR on WCHQ 100.9 FM. Saturdays at 11 a.m.

One thing we never forget is that YOU are Cardinal Couple and we appreciate it! 

SEND CHECKS TO: 

Cardinal Couple
PO BOX 91521
Louisville, KY   40291

or you can donate via Pay Pal here: DONATE TO CARDINAL COUPLE

Also, via Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/donate/251317425546724/?fundraiser_source=external_url

Thank you!


paulie
xxxxx



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Louisville women's basketball -- Cards squeeze Orange 84-77 MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

DURR, HINES-ALLEN COMBINE FOR 46 VS SYRACUSE

You could call them the "road warriors". 

The University of Louisville women's basketball team has won 13 games in a row on the road. That ties the best road win streak in program history.

Yesterday, in their 84-77 win at Syracuse, two familiar faces were both "being Mel Gibson" at times... (referencing the 1981 cult classic movie Road Warriors)...driving the Cardinal Cannonball through the ginormous but nearly-empty Carrier Dome to a victory that took awhile to emerge. Durr with 27 and Hines-Allen adding 19 points and 11 rebounds in the squeezing of the Orange Sunday afternoon. 

The Road Warriors professional wrestling team comes to mind as well. Imagine, if you will, "Nite-nite and DOOO-BLAY" in the outfits pictured above...

Hiya ! Orange you glad to see me? 

If you like action-packed, non-stop frenetic paces -- the first quarter was right up your alley. Louisville and Quentin Hillsman's crew hit the accelerator early. Jasmine Jones had six of the Cards first twelve points but 'The Cuse" countered with 16 to take a four point lead halfway through the opening period. It would be Syracuse's largest lead of the affair, Louisville rallying back to get within two at 23-21 to end the first quarter.. 

Good teams go on runs and the Cards are no stranger to those. The pace slowed down considerably in the second period and Louisville edged ahead with 7-2 opening run to hold a 28-25 lead with 5:11 until halftime.

A significant part of the momentum came from Sydney Zambrotta. She nailed two threes and Walz's Warriors went into the halftime break holding a 40-35 edge over the home team. Zambrotta's eight points, playing in her home state, were her biggest scoring outpit since UT-Martin back in December. She was "dialed in" and a spark. Maybe she's "dome friendly"?

What would happen in the halftime "chats"? 

Louisville came out with a full tank of gas and sped to a 49-35 lead with a 9-0 run in the first three minutes. The AM show (Asia and Myisha) was on the air and the broadcast was coming in clear. The period ended up 26-16 in favor of the women in black jerseys and pink numbers (a nice look for the Cards, right?) and this one was pretty much over at 66-51 with ten minutes to go. 

The fourth quarter brought the 2575 in attendance a couple of thrills near the end of the game, when Syracuse flirted with cutting the Cards lead to single digits. They also saw a rare sighting of the elusive "Sam Fuehring three ball" ...where she looked at Walz, he nodded his approval to shoot and she drained it. Magical powers in that man...

The Orange did muster a 10-3 closing run to draw them within seven but the outcome was never in doubt and a disheveled Quentin Hillsman (coat long since gone, tie abandoned  and shirt-tail out) walked the sidelines one last time to congratulate Coach Walz on the win and Durr on reaching the 1500-point mark for her career.

Stylish yet tasteful? Or Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz redux? 

He may have even asked Louisville coach Sam Purcell where he got the pink shoes adorning his feet, Sam's way of paying homage to Play 4 Kay Day. 

"What you gonna do in those shoes?" 

(Mandatory musical reference time...) 

From the Eagles. A Paulie post-game Internet exchange with Purcell confirmed that they are size 11's and available for parties, events and social occasions for a "yet undetermined fee". (He's got a wife and three kids...prices subject to market conditions and availability.) Sammy gonna get paid when he can. 



"THOSE SHOES" The Eagles

Cards win, Cards win! 24-1 and back to the 'Ville' for a Wednesday visit with Clemson and Mike the Tiger...who usually wears orange shoes but probably won't make the trip. 

LINK: 

Highlights (mostly Syracuse's) from yesterday 


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JULIE GOES TO ROAM THE DOME

Columnist Julie Sullivan was one of the 2575 on hand for the pre-Super Bowl warm up and shares her thoughts in the report below: 

Having been to the Carrier Dome for both football and men's basketball, it was a different experience being there for the women's game. Attendance was listed at 2575 and that seemed accurate. Even though seating was very close to the court, the cavernous dome muffled and muted the crowd. It was a reminder of what a great facility The KFC YUM! Center is and the great crowds that show up there.

A furtive glance to see if Sam "Pink Shoes" Purcell
is within ear-shot. 

Coach Walz, always an ambassador for the sport, spent considerable time during his post-game presser praising the very young Syracuse team. He hoped Louisville wouldn't have to face them in Greensboro in the ACC Tournament. Walz offered high praise for point guard Tiana Mangakahia, saying as a fan of the game, he would show up just to watch her and expressed disbelief that more fans are not coming out to support a very talented group of young women. 

Tiana had 20 points against Louisville and added 10 assists. She also had 10 turnovers...which gave her a dubious "triple-double" for the event. She also could be a "body double" or stand-in for Cardinal great Becky Burke...the two bear a remarkable resemblance to each other, which makes one wonder what else Walz has been doing in his "mad scientist" laboratory besides concocting "win" potions and practicing facial expressions? 

"No, I did not lend Sam those shoes." Next question? 

I had a "Paulie-in-Bloomington" like adventure, playing seek-and-find with my press credentials. I was sent to three different places to obtain them before a wonderful gentleman in Access Control directed me to the proper place which turned out to be the first place I tried. They DID spell my name right. I never did find the media room nor the dining fare available. What the Dome staff lacked in knowledge they made up for in friendliness, something important to me.

Happy idiot syndrome? 

(Editor note: Based on the four places we saw Julie seated during the Internet feed...either she's refined her attention-getting protocol or arena security kept upgrading her.   -Paulie- ) 


FRED REPORT  

(It is my first attempt at doing the FRED REPORT. I wasn't even about to attempt a JULIE report. Here we go.)

(ol' "claw-hand" Freddy) 

FREE THROWS - Louisville went 10-15. That's 67% and by the 70% standard, no letter is awarded. 

REBOUNDING - The Cards win the battle of the boards 38-27. DOOO-BLAY huge on the glass as always and a great team effort with eight players grabbing at least one. Kudos to Arica Carter's five and Sam Fuehring's eight. The capital "R" is earned. 

EFFORT/EXECUTION - Louisville got out-played in the first quarter and let up a bit at the end of the game. Shooting 50% was good but UofL's numbers weren't spectacular on Second Chance points or points off turnovers. A lower case "e" is the decision here. 

DEFENSE - The Cards allowed 77 points, their most since Ohio State. No single-digit quarters. Two 20+ point-scorers for Syracuse. Yes, 'Cuse scores a lot but I withhold a letter. 

FRED TOTALS:  _-R-e-_ 


Julie Sullivan 





  

Louisville WBB Beats Virginia... Walz one step closer to 300... FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS CRUSH CAVALIERS

A battle for first place in the ACC turned into a show for Louisville in the second half. A 31-27 halftime lead turned into a 77-41 victory as the Cards improved to 23-1 overall and 9-1 in the ACC. With Notre Dame also winning last night the two programs remain tied for first with the Cards owning the tiebreaker.

Unsurprisingly, “Nite-Nite” led the way in scoring with 21 points. Most of her points came from inside the arc this time. Bionca Dunham’s 13-point outing was a little surprising. In recent games B has stepped it up on both sides of the floor.

Dana Evans and AC combined for 10 assists and three turnovers, a solid ratio to see out of your point guards. They have cleaned up their ball handling recently to help keep momentum going.

The second half was a major adjustment, outscoring the Cavaliers or Wahoos (whichever you prefer to use) 24-6 in the third quarter and 22-8 in the fourth quarter. These two quarters are the 23^rd and 24^th times the season the Cards have held an opponent to a single-digit quarter.

I was disappointed in Sam’s performance. She let foul trouble get the best of her. Frustration forced her into some bad shots and she finished with zero points and spent quite a bit of time on the bench. Sam is a fighter and excellent player so one off game does not worry me.

Aliyah Huland El joined the 1,000-point club for Virginia, as she finished the night at 1,001. Despite playing for an opponent she deserves recognition for her accomplishment and congratulations are in order.

J-A-R-E-D Report

Remember this Jared? The Pillsbury Throwboy...
Jared Lorenzen. 

J – jump shots: 32-71 for 45.1% isn’t bad. Compared to the Hoos’ 34.7%, Louisville’s shooting percentage on the night looked pretty good. A few of the misses came on layups, which is something I’ve complained about al season. Make your layups! But a layup is not considered a jump shot so I will award a capital “J”.

A – assists: 14 assists is a pretty solid number. UofL had more assists than turnovers or fouls. Had a couple of layups gone in that number would be higher. Virginia only dished out eight on the night. If there was a downside to the assists it would be that we only saw five Cardinals get credit with an assist, and only three had multiples assists. Still, when your assists number is higher than fouls or turnovers it is hard not to receive a good grade. I will award a capital “A”.

R – rebounds: Louisville hauled in 45 total rebounds on the night. 18 of those were offensive rebounds, resulting in 14 second chance points. The Hoos managed just 28 rebounds and only eight of them were offensive. Of those 28 rebounds by Virginia, nine came in the second half. One of the biggest second half adjustments last night came on the boards. Doo-Blay had another double-double including 11 rebounds. She had some help down low as four other Cardinals had a least four rebounds. Capital R, easily. 

E – efficiency: If there was a subject Louisville struggled some it would be efficiency. The Cards forced 22 turnovers but couldn’t capitalize on it, scoring just 20 points off turnovers. They also managed a lone layup on fast break points, despite 12 steals. Three pointers were not nice for the Cards. 4-15 for 26.7% is not a great number. It may not be terrible but it sure can hurt on a night where offensive rebounds are slim. Thankfully that night was not against Virginia. I will mention layups one more time. A layup should be some of the easiest points a player can score most of the time- sometimes layups can be contested so they shouldn’t be guaranteed points. Things were a little sloppy at times, so it is going to be a lower case “e”.

Jared Anderson. He doubles as a purple people eater. 

D – defense: Holding a team to 41 points and two single-digit quarters is a strong case for a capital letter. Forcing 22 turnovers helps that case as well. The Cards’ defense held Virginia to 35% shooting on the night. The downside to the defense was the goose egg in the blocks column. With height from players like MHA, B, and Kylee there should be a couple of blocks minimum each game. The first sentence to this section is enough to convince me of a capital “D”.

“J-A-R-e-D” is a good night. It is not perfect but when going up against a top team in the ACC on the road that is something to be proud of.

It is always good to go on the road in the ACC and secure a win. It has been common to witness blowouts against nearly every opponent Louisville has faced. Not only have they established themselves as a dominant for in the ACC but they have sent a message to the entire NCAA with how good they are this year.

As promised, I would dive deeper into the chances and possibilities of Jeff Walz reaching the 300 wins mark this season.

*263 wins through 2016-17 season

*23 wins in 2017-18 season up-to-date

*7 regular season games remaining

*3 potential games in ACC Tournament as top four seed

*6 potential games in NCAA Tournament, seeding doesn’t matter

Walz sits at 286 wins at Louisville right now.

**Note: I am basing the ACC Tournament off Louisville receiving a top four seed and two-round bye.**

 300 wins by reaching the Final Four:

-wins out regular season, wins ACC Tournament, wins Elite Eight game as 300^th victory

300 wins by reaching the NCAA Championship:

-wins out regular season, loses in ACC Championship, wins Final Four game as 300^th victory

-loses one more regular season game, wins ACC Tournament, wins Final Four game as 300^th victory

300 wins by winning the NCAA Tournament:

-wins out regular season, wins one game in ACC Tournament, wins NCAA Tournament as 300^th victory

-loses one more regular season game, loses in ACC Championship, wins NCAA Tournament as 300^th victory

-loses two more regular season games, wins ACC Tournament, wins NCAA Tournament as 300^th victory

As you can see there plenty of scenarios to see the 300-win mark right now. The game at UConn is clearly the toughest regular season game remaining. Playing at UNC is always tough and there is still a rematch against Virginia, and they will be looking for revenge. The ACC Tournament is not kind and any team has a legitimate shot at making a good run. The double-bye takes some of the load off.

"Whaddya mean, not a UofL women's basketball fan? 

If you are not a Louisville women’s basketball fan, then you can disregard those first 1,000 words. There are a few other sports gearing up for action this weekend too.

Women’s tennis visits Middle Tennessee at 4:00 today. The women with the racquets are undefeated and have swept every opponent other than WKU.

Track & Field is at the Power 5 Invitational all day today and tomorrow. Keep and eye on Emmonie Henderson on shot put, Makenli Forrest in the weight throw, and Dorkas Wasike, Brooke Raglin, and Holly Hankenson on the track.

Next weekend softball and lacrosse kick off their schedules and there will be more to report on!

Best wishes this Friday as I know your excitement for another Saturday edition of The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour builds. I will be breaking down 20’s into 5’s and 10’s but I know the rest of the crew will find a way to survive my absence. River City Cards' Mike Gilpatrick will be in front of my microphone, with the scenic view of Mellwood Ave. 

 Go Cards!

Jared

Louisville women's basketball -- Moving on up -- Parker chooses Louisville -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

MOVING ON UP

The University of Louisville's women's basketball team is now ranked #2 in the Associated Press Poll, the highest ranking in program history. While I don't think anyone realistically expected to move to #1, the fact that UofL didn't garner even one first place vote is interesting. The Cards beat the (then) #2 Notre Dame WBB squad by 33 points. 

This is more than 3X the margin of victory of nne points, which is what #1 UConn could muster against Notre Dame. Not one first place vote? The Cards weren't even the unanimous #2 in the polls...undefeated Mississippi State moved up to third and received some acknowledgment as well. The Bulldogs will face a tough test on Sunday when they travel to "Ol Rocky Top" to face the Tennessee Volunteers. 

DURRIFIC

Asia Durr has been named ACC Player of the Week for the third time this season. She has also been named the espnW Player of the Week for the second time this season. Her 21.1 points per game average leads the ACC. She has heated up with a blazing 26.8 average in ACC games which is also #1 in the conference. As she racks up accolades, she remains grounded and humble -- giving credit to her teammates for spreading the defense and getting her the ball. She recently indicated that she'd like to go into coaching. Myisha Hines-Allen responded that she wanted her future kids to play for her. A revealing exchange that tells you all you need to know about how this team feels about her.

#Nite-nite.

DOOO-BLAY

Myisha Hines-Allen was named College Sports Madness ACC Player of the Week. Her 31 points in the Notre Dame game was a career high. Adding 12 rebounds, Hines-Allen scored her seventh double-double of the season and third in the last four games. Cardinal staffer Beth Burns jokes there is a "double-double" and a "Myisha double-double" Hines-Allen leads the ACC with 9.8 rebounds per game and has an ACC best 6.7 rebounds per game. Her 14.3 ppg ranks 15th in the ACC. 







NEXT UP

Louisville travels to play Pittsburgh on Thursday night. At 9-9 overall and 1-4 in ACC play it might be easy to overlook the Panthers but they are on a one-game winning streak after beating Georgia Tech in "the Pete"...a team that earlier this season took Louisville to the wire. The Cards lost on the Panthers home court in 2008 and 2010, pulled out a 71-66 overtime win there in 2012 and escaped with a 63-57 win back in 2015. The Cards did win in the Steel City in 2016 and 2017.

Now that the Steelers football season has ended, expect a good crowd for this one Thursday. As long as Pitt doesn't find a way to sneak Ben Rothlisberger and Antonio Brown on the floor...the Cards should prevail...but expect a close one. 

Will William Gay make an appearance? 

Gay played college football at the University of Louisville where he played in 46 games recording 134 tackles. Gay is also somewhat notable for being offside as a defender on a field goal kick attempt in the final minute of Louisville's game against Rutgers in 2006. Although the kick was unsuccessful, a penalty was called against Louisville that provided the kicker with a second attempt. This one was successful. As a result, Louisville experienced their only loss of the season, effectively ending their bid for a National Championship game berth




TEETER TALES

We're seeing life in the Louisville Lacrosse program as they prepare for their season start at Cincinnati on Feb. 9th. 

The once depleted roster is now up to 24 with the addition of four transfers and return of Madison Hoover, who had left the team in November. A team with 10 freshmen can use her senior leadership Hoover gathered 19 assists in 20 games last year. 

Two of the transfers come from head coach Scott Teeter's previous school, Canisius. Tessa Chad, a junior attacker, scored 53 goals last season. Brennan Shanahan, a junior defender, led Canisius with 31 ground balls and 27 caused turnovers. Both were All-MAAC First team. The fact that players are following Teeter from his previous school instills confidence that there will not be a repeat of last year's coaching issues that resulted in mass transfers. 


Courtney Denna, midfielder, is a grad transfer from Maryland. Last year she had 17 starts and saw action in 22 games. Jen Scaaf, goalkeeper, is a freshman transfer from Howard Community College. All four transfers are immediate eligible. 

We're still waiting to see who Teeter will pick to fill out his coaching staff. Renee Poullott was recently named as an assistant and we figure Teeter will add another soon. 


RAMANI RECRUITED 

Ramani Parker is a 6'4" post that has been pursued by many schools. A part of the 2019 class, she is now off the table. Jeff Walz strikes gold in California with her verbal to the Cards. The Fresno, CA junior went to Twitter to break the news. 

 

5:23 PM - 15 Jan 2018

Julie Sullivan

Cards and Irish - Friday Cardinal Couple

Basketball

"Are you not entertained?" (Thanks, JC.) 

I never would've believed it.  A basketball game ending with a tie, 67-67.

What?

Really?  Just the two of them?

Compared to the whole Notre Dame team?

Correction:  Myisha Hines-Allen and Asia Durr scored 67 combined, tieing Notre Dame's total score of 67.  The rest of the UofL team was responsible for the 33 point margin of victory, 100-67.

Where do you even start with talking about this one?  Asia Durr's 36 points?  She just calls that, "Thursday".  Myisha Hines-Allen 12 rebounds?  She has had games with with more.  6 assists for Sam Fuehring and Arica Carter?  Not really out of the norm, same for 5 dimes for Jazmine Jones.  4 blocks for Kylee Shook coming off the bench?  She holds the Colorado state high school record for blocked shots.  12,600+ in attendance?  Big, but we've seen much larger crowds.

I think you have to cover all of that, and really there is more in the stat sheet, all in the same game,and against the number 2 team in the country, to get a sense for what that game was really like last night.  As for the crowd size?  Maybe it wasn't the biggest in UofL WBB history (we've had 22k+ for games against Tennessee, Kentucky and UConn), but I think a decibel meter might have shown that it was the loudest.

As I sit and watch sleet fall outside after a very swift drop in temperature here in Louisville, I think about how last night's game was a perfect storm.  All of the elements came together, in all of the right proportions to demonstrate just how a finely played game of basketball looks and feels.  Asia Durr is a star player, MHA is a blue chip that just works and gets things done, sometimes without acclaim, but the whole team contributed last night, and again in ways that sometimes don't show on the stat sheet such as Sydney Zambrotta with some first rate defensive effort drawing a big charge foul that visibly deflated the Notre Dame squad.

Durr's 36, along with MHA's 31 dominates the headlines, Fuehring and Jaz Jones join them in double figure scoring with 10 each,

Really, when you get down to it, the stat that really makes the game is that UofL shot in the mid-60% from everywhere - in the paint, from the elbow, beyond the 3 point arc, at the free throw stripe (OK, mid-60s isn't great for that one)...the basket must've looked like it was 5 feet across.  I wonder if Asia Durr could've sat next to me in row CC carrying on a in-depth conversation about the finer points of southern cuisine while casually flipping shot into the far-end basket.

"You think I'm something? Say Hello to my little
friend Asia, Dee." 

The crowd was electric, the team was en fuego, Walz was smiling and fist pumping, Sam Purcell
was...well, he was typical Sam Purcell celebrating in his plaid suit coat.  A fine night in the KFC Yum! Center.

Savor this victory, because there's still a lot of season left, we still have a tangle with UConn on their home floor.  For right now, though, we're one of only 3 undefeated teams in the country (Tennessee lost to Texas A&M last night), at 19-0, we're number 3 in the country, likely to be number 2 when the new polls arrive Monday, and life is good in CardNation.

FRED 

"The name's Fred G. Sanford. The "G" stands for
"great"...which is what UofL WBB is." 

You know the drill by now, I give the FRED report, then Paulie posts something ridiculously wrong in the comments.  So let's get to it.

Free Throws?  64% doesn't get it done.  In a close game, if the other team is having to foul to stop the clock, 64% results in a shrinking lead.  Keep getting those shot up in Little Yum.  No letter.

Rebounding?  35-25 over Notre Dame?  Yeah, that'll do.  Notre Dame didn't have a rebounding...at all...until about 2 minutes left in the 1st quarter.  They were 1 and done on offense, and...well...at that point Louisville was shooting about 85% from the field, so defensive rebounding opportunities were just few and far between in the opening quarter for the Irish.  Good total, good margin over the opponent.  "R"

Execution/Effort?  65% shooting?  Outrunning Notre Dame at every position for 40 minutes?  Is there really any question on this one?  "E"

Defense?  Notre Dame's lowest scoring total prior to last night's game was 66 in their win over Penn.  UofL only let them better that by a single point.  "D"

Final Score?  -RED

A rare off night from the charity stripe for this 2017-2018 team, and a few late game miscues that weren't enough to lower any letter grades.  Tighten those up a bit and this team will be unstoppable.

Back in Action

The Cards will get a week before they head on the road to Pitt for another 7pm Thursday night
matchup.  They return back home on Sunday the 21st where they will host Florida State at 5pm.

Meanwhile, the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour plans to be back on the air this Saturday from WCHQ 100.9 FM and streaming on the WCHQ app at 11am tomorrow.  This might get the kibosh if weather turns significantly worse, but I don't believe the forecast suggests that it will be bad enough to cause that.

Wonderful work on the game photos by Jared "Mr Anderson Jared" Anderson today! Not bad for a guy who turns 20's into 5's and 10's...

--
JMcA


Paulie Report

Notre Dame Coach Muffet McGraw breaks
the final score to Sgt. Carter. 

I really can't add a lot to the nice recap that my usually dependable but somewhat quirky main man Worldwide put up here today. Maybe it's because I'm still in a state of shock. Maybe because words escape me on what I just saw 13 hours ago. Maybe because Jeff nailed it right down the fairway.

Musical selections for 19-0.

"Hey Nineteen" Steely Dan

NINETEEN (hundred and eighty five) Paul McCartney

POST GAME MYISHA AND ASIA

POST GAME WALZ

We'll see you on the radio Saturday. I wonder what we'll talk about? 

Paulie
xxxxx