Day One ACC WBB results -- Lax downs FSU -- Thursday Cardinal Couple

 Miami. California and Georgia Tech advance in ACC WBB  Tourney

A new ACC Tournament location but predictability in the first round action as #12 seed Miami, #10 seed California and #11 seed Georgia Tech survive to play tomorrow. A "thanks for playing, sorry... you aren't staying" to #13 seed Stanford, #15 seed Wake Forest and #14 seed FSU.

Here's how it went down.

Miami 83 - Stanford 76 

Miami and Stanford got the tournament going with an exciting first game that went to overtime before Miami got the win 83-76. The two teams went back and forth in quarter win...with Miami handily winning the first quarter 19-10. The Trees weren't ready to hp on the plane just yet, though and roared back with a second quarter 29-18 ten minutes to take a 39-37 lead at halftime.

Miami must ave gotten a heck of a halftime pep talk, they came out and outscored the west coast school 28-13. It looked like the Canes were going to rollover the Trees but Courtney Ogden and Hailey Swain came roaring back to tke the fourth quarter with a ferocious defensive effort, Stanford holding Miami to just five points while putting up 18. Ogden's layup tied the affair at 70-70 with 19 seconds left in the game and Miami could not get a shot off in their final regulation possession. Miami did not score in the final 6:21 of the quarter.

 In the overtime, Miami grabbed the lead and never surrendered it to win 83-76. Miami had three players score 20 points or more in Ra Shay Kyle (25), Gal Raviv (20) and Amarachi Kimpson (20). Stanford got 22 points out of Ogden. Miami advaances to face Notre Dame on Thursday. 

California 75 - Wake Forest 52. 

Would another "left coast " team bow out after the first day? In game two on Wednesday, the lowest seed in day one participants at #10, California and the highest seed #15 Wake Foret looked like they were playing "first team to 50 wins" . A dearth of ofensive firepower had the score at 11-10 Golden Bears. Samika Walker (yes, Samaki Walker's daughter) led the charge for the Cal squad, one of four in double figures with 17 points and the Bears finally came out of hibernation and controlled the second quarter 21-11 and went into halftime ahead 32-21. 

UC ersed ny doubt on which school was going to advance with a blistening third quarter and outscored The Demon Deacons 29-12 to go up 61-32. Wake did manage to win the final quarter, but the game was long over and The Tress weren't leaving (sorry) winning 75-52. They advance to Thursday to go up against Syracuse. Cal sank all 12 free throws they attempted and shot 45% for the game. 

Georgia Tech 72 - FSU 60

The Bees jumped out to an early lead over FSU in the third game Wednesday and won going away. This one was 22-16 after the first quarter and Ga. Tech led almost all the way in the thumping of Nole Nation.

GT increased the lead to 10 at the half at 39-29. FSU's 21 turnovers in the contest didn't do them any favors and was plagued by 38% shooting in the contest. FSU did win the third quarter 19-17, and was down by just eight, but could not drive past the Atlanta based Tech. 

La'Nya Foster led GT with 18 points and Erica Moon added 17 for the YellowJackets. Sydney Bowles had 16 in defeat for FSU. 

With the win, Georgia Tech advances to face #6 seed Virginia Tech Thursday. 

The games will be on the ACCN again Thursday, starting at 11 a.m ...with #8 seed Virginia facing #9 seed Clemson.  Following that one, Miami and Notre Dame go to battle at appox. 1:30 pm. Next, we'll see seven seed Syracuse facing #10 seed Cal at around 5 p.m and the evening ends with Tech battle..Gobblers vs Bees. tipping around 7:30 p.m.

What will we see tomorrow? The Cavs beat the Tigers by 10 in regular season play, I'd be surprised if Virginia does not advance. Notre Dame is primed and ready to released Hildago on Miami and I see UND moving to day three. Cal vs Syracuse is the toss up game in my reckoning...the Orange won a high scoring 90-87 contest in the regular season. Ending day Three action, is the Tech battle and I'm going with the homestanding GT to pull the upset over the #6 seed Hokies. VT won the regular season matchup, but Georgia Tech is the "home team"...so to speak... and I think the Bees sting the Hokies this time around. 

                                ********************************************************

LAX ROMPS FSU 15-5 AT THE L.L.S.

Louisville was on fire early in this one yesterday and roared out to a 12-2 halftime lead over visiting FSU. The Cards (3-4, 1-3) got their first ACC win of the season in a romp on campus. 

The Cards had seven student-ahletes score in the win, led by Maggie McMahon with four goals and Ella Berg with three. 

OK, a noon start on a Wednesday isn't exactly going to fill the bleachers at Louisville Lacrosse Stadium and going head-to-head with the first day of the ACC WBB Tournament didn't help either. 

Nevertheless, the Cards got a crucial win that just might ensure they make the post season LAX tournament. The contest box score shows the match ran almost four hours..my guess there was there were lightning delays in the area or someone goofed up the stat reporting. 

Sorry, we had no one there to report of take photos. With no photographer currently on staff, we'd welcome any fan photos you all want to send us in the future.  

pauiie

CARDS WBB PULLS AWAY FROM FSU 88-65 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 BALANCED SCORING LEADS THE WAY FOR UOFL WBB IN WIN OVER NOLES

Louisville WBB got off to a hot start and never really let up the gas in a convincing win over FSU Sunday evening in the KFC YUM! Center. The Cards jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first two and one half minutes..thanks to a Laura Ziegler three and rebound bucket and led by 11 in the first quarter before ending the first ten minutes session with a Skylar Jones layup for a 19-10 lead.

The Cards built the lead halfway through the second quarter to 27-14 after two Reyna Scott free throws and took a 34-20 lead into the halftime ocker room...only three Cards scored in the second 10 minutes...Imani Berry with six points, Reyna Scott with five and Grace Mbugna with four. 

Louisville pushed the lead out to 19 in the third quarter three minutes into the third quarter with a Reyna Scott layup with three minutes gone in the half to make it 46-27. A Laura Ziegler layup at the 4:13 mark gave the Cards a 20 point lead at 52-32. Rhee quarter ended with the Cards still ccomfortbly ahead at 61-39 after  Berry three with 22 seconds left. 

The Cards builtthe lead to 81-50 when Grace Mbugna tipped one in with 4:33 to play. FSU did outscore the Cards 15-7 the rest of the way..but Walz had pretty much replaced the starters in the final part of the fourth quarter. Anaya Hardy did score the Cards final three baskets for the 88-65 win. 

I NEVER SAW THIS MOVIE..WAS IT ANY GOOD? 

THE FRED REPORT

FREE THROWS -- The Cards shot 10-18 from the charity stripe. That's not quite 60% and nowhere near the mandated 70% we need to award a letter..so..no letter. Wonder who will be shooting a bunch of free throws next practice?  Maybe Elif (0-3) and Skylar (2-4)? 

REBOUNDS -- The Cards held a 46-37 edge on the hrbbing of missed shots and that's good enough for a CAPITAL "R"  Laura Ziegler had eight for UofL and Mac Randolph had seven. 

EFFORT/EXECUTION -- The Cards shot 59.4% from the floor and had only 11 turnovers. That's worthy of a CAPITAL "E"

DEFENSE --  Allowing less that 70 points and forcing 16 turnover over is OK..but FSU just isn't that great this year. I see a small case "d" here

FINAL FRED TALLY _-R-E-d

The log term view? Keep winning and hopes Duke slips up a couple of times, so the cards can win the regular season title. Anything ncan happen. 

paulie

 

paulie

UofL WBB handles Florida State 75-62 -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Happy Friday all! Took forever to get here or maybe that was just me.. But, we made it!  Thanks for checking in with Cardinal Couple today and everyday.  

I'm just going to throw it out there that I am so glad to have something to look forward to with this WBB program.   I am so happy we still have Coach Walz and the joy and excitement of the women's game.   So let's get right to it.. 
 

Louisville WBB wins vs Florida State 75-62

Was it The Liz Dixon show or the Emily Engstler draft stock night?   Perhaps it was the Mykasa Robinson appreciation night as the three seniors lead Louisville to a victory on Thursday night against the recent thorn in the Cardinals side, Florida State.  Engstler lead the Cards with 19 points, 12 rebounds, 5 blocks and a steal.  Olivia Cochran also chipped in 17 points on 6-10 shooting from the field. 

End of 1Q   Cards 13-10                                 Photo: Jared Anderson

FG %
5-17 29.4% Cards
4-12 33.3% FSU
Reb. 10-11 FSU
3-pt %
2-5 40% Cards
0-2 0% FSU

Louisville opened the game cold again..  missing 9-10 before Liz Dixon was able to put it up and in with 4:35 left in the first quarter as the Cards' starters struggled to find buckets.  Hailey Van Lith went 1-5 in the quarter,  Kianna Smith 0-2, Olivia Cochran 0-4 and Chelsie Hall 0-2.  Dixon laid it up again to tie it up 8-8 before Mykasa Robinson got the steal and goes to hoop and one!  Liz and Emily would both go on to record a block on the same FSU possession before HVL finds her first bucket of the game, then a 3 pointer from Kianna Smith with 1 minute left in the quarter.                               

End of 2Q  Cards 23-15


FG %
7-15 46.7% Cards
7-17 41.2% FSU 
Reb. 11-8 FSU 
3-pt %
1-5 20% Cards
0-1 0% FSU

         Photo: Jared Anderson

Morgan Jones was responsible for 12 of FSU's 16 points on 5-7 shooting from the field.  She was single handedly keeping the Seminoles in the game.  Liz Dixon was also displaying extreme confidence as she came off the bench to go 3-3 for 7 points, 3 rebounds and an assist.

Dixon and Cochran were both on the floor while Engstler got a breather, Liz showing up huge on the defensive end for UofL.  FSU fouled Dixon on a bad block out and then a charge followed by a huge block.  Dixon had 7 of the Cards' 11 points off the bench in 9 minutes.   FSU called a timeout when Ahlana Smith took it to the hoop to put the Cards up 26-19.  Engstler came back into the game with 4 minutes left in the half.  Six players scored for UofL by this point, just 3 for FSU.  With inside 2:30 minutes left in the half, Emily records the 5th block for the Cards to force a shot clock violation.  With UofL back on offense, Kianna found her first bucket on the assist from Kasa to make it 34-21.  Engstler lead the Cards with 8 points, 5 rebounds and 4 blocks in the half. 

HALF  Cards 36-25


End of 3Q  FSU 23-21

FG %
6-13 46.2% Cards
10-13 76.9% FSU
Reb.  6-4 FSU
3-pt %
2-3 66.7% Cards
1-3 33.3% FSU                                                     Photo: Jared Anderson

FSU came out of the halftime break to score 5 quick points and make it 36-30 but Cochran responds with 4 points of her own on 2 layups to cushion the Louisville lead.  When FSU pulled it within 2 points, 40-38 in just 4 minutes, Olivia Cochran again responds at the FT line to keep the Cards ahead.  Morgan Jones did not slow down as she put it in the hoop in Kasa's face for her 23rd point of the game.   But Kasa, not allowing herself to get deflated, responds with a steal and a layup in transition to make it 47-40 Cards.  With 3:30 left in the quarter, FSU shooting 50% from the field, the Cards 40%.  We finally get a Payton Verhulst sighting with just 1:30 left in the quarter.  The Cards were losing the quarter battle 23-16 at this point but maintained the lead 52-46.   FSU had 14 turnovers while the Cards managed to limit their own to just 5. 

                                         Photo: Jared Anderson

End of 4Q  18-14 Cards

FG %
8-18 44.4% Cards
4-13 30.8% FSU                                                 Photo: Jared Anderson

Reb. 13-7 Cards 
3-pt %
2-3 66.7% Cards
1-3 33.3% FSU

Cards began with a 57-48 lead over FSU to start the 4th.  No lead over an ACC opponent to start the final quarter is big enough.  Morgan Jones continued to do whatever she wanted vs the Cards...

FSU managed to score 62 points on the Cards defense - only 2 three pointers and 20 points in the paint, 10 points came from free throws and the rest were jumpers that FSU's Jones was making with a defender in her face.   Usually by this point, Coach Walz has reached deep into the arsenal and let the bench players get some playing time but he had the starting roster with Kasa at the point out there with 4 minutes left and the Cards up 69-55.  Jones hit another jumper and Engstler responded with a three pointer.  Emily had 2 three pointers on the evening and did everything she could to secure the victory for UofL.  The Cards were able to pull away as the clock wound down... with 2:30 left on the clock, Kianna Smith hit the jumper to put the team up 71-55 off the inbounds pass from Robinson. 

 

FINAL 75-62 Cards WIN!! 

                                         Photo: Jared Anderson

UP NEXT

Louisville vs Duke 

Sunday 1/30 @ 3 P.M. on ESPN

KFC Yum! Center 

FRED REPORT

"Freddy Free Throw" demonstrates
the style and the Cards followed suit!

FREE THROWS -- Louisville got the majority of free throw attempts in the 2nd and 3rd quarter where they went 8-9 and 7-7 respectively.  They went 16-19 on the night which is 84.2% which is better than our 70% minimum requirement.   Engstler lead the Cards going 5-6 at the line.  CAPITAL F 

REBOUNDING -- A big 4th quarter on the glass for the Cards helped make it an even effort on the boards for both squads, 35 all.  Again, Engstler lead all players with 12, 7 of them offensive rebounds.  I think the Cards will lose this battle against most squads out there, which is why they have to covert on the possessions they do have.  Capital R

EFFORT/EXECUTION -- One of these days, I think the slow start for the Cards will put them on the wrong side of the victory column.   The Cards got almost nothing from it's starters in the opening quarter.   Mykasa Robinson and Liz Dixon provided a huge offensive spark for the Cards vs FSU when they needed it the most. CAPITAL E

DEFENSE --  UofL was able to keep most of the Florida State squad to single digit scoring but the Cards allowed Morgan Jones to score a season high 28 points against Louisville against them.  She went 11-18 on the evening with Engstler guarding her in the first half and Robinson in the second.  She pretty much did whatever she wanted against the Cards and kept FSU in the game.  As a team, UofL forced 17 turnovers - 6 steals and 9 blocks - and only allowed 2 three pointers but also let FSU shoot the better of the two from the field at 45%.  Capital D

                                         Photo: Jared Anderson

Payton Verhulst is VERY excited about this week's FRED Report vs FSU


FINAL FRED TALLY: F_R_E_D

Cardinal Couple Radio - The men's game vs Duke being scheduled at noon on Saturday will likely interfere with some of the gang's participation on the Radio Hour Podcast this week but we are on schedule for an 11a.m. start as usual.  Tune in! 

 

   Photo: Jared Anderson

 

As always 

Go Cards! 

~Daryl