The Crew - Sunday Cardinal Couple

The Crew - An Appreciation

Last night was the first event on the gocards.com calendar, a Men's Soccer exhibition game against Belmont.  Given the absolutely wonderful turn of the weather, I decided to pop out and check it out.  The good guys won, 4-1, but that's not the important thing.

I was, as you might imagine, refreshed by getting out in gorgeous weather, taking in a sport that I do enjoy watching, even if it was between teams that I don't follow closely.

But I think even more refreshing, our famous photographer Jared Anderson was (as is typical for him) out there as well getting some shots.  After the first period (they played three 30 minute periods rather than two 45 minutes halves...I'm not sure why), he came and sat with me in the stands.  He was still getting a few shots from that vantage point, but in between he and I just chatted across a variety of topics, many, but certainly not all, being various UofL sports.

The chance to just hang out with Jared got me thinking about "The Crew" we have here at Cardinal Couple, and really appreciating what each of us brings to the virtual table.

 

Of course, each of us focuses a little bit (ok, a lot in my case) on different facets of our coverage.  To some degree that is oriented along program boundaries, but also a bit in our approach to the programs.

An example:  Both Jared and Case bring lots to the table when we're talking about Soccer.  Case has a great mind for the game, having actively played the sport for many years, while Jared, partly through his photography, brings a more up close and personal view of the team.

Speaking of experience with a particular sport, while Jared and I are perhaps the most regular attendee to Softball, Daryl has many years of experience with that sport, both stepping up to the plate, and standing behind it, and brings strategic insights to it that I never could. She was the TV "Voice of the Sofbtall Cards" too, a few years ago.

Bringing Daryl into the picture, it wasn't lost on me that, for a significant period of time, Cardinal Couple basically comprised four dudes expounding on women's sports.  The addition of Daryl brings a welcome woman's voice to the site and podcast.  As suggested above though, she's not just here because she's a woman and we're talking about women's sports, she is every bit the avid sports fan, excellent writer, and podcast presence, to rival and surpass the rest of us.  Softball, and WBB are Daryl's main wheelhouse, though she has vowed to add more coverage of golf to the mix as her own golf game has improved over the past few years.  I really look forward to that.

Case was already mentioned above, but aside from his knowledge and expertise in Soccer, I always know that Case will be ready to geek out with me about whatever random technology thingamabob that I've been working with.  Case also typically prepares and posts the podcast form of the CCRHP each week unless he can't be on the call, in which case it falls back to me to do it.  (Which reminds me...)  Beyond that and more on point here, he has really built an expertise in Lacrosse as well, helping to anchor our coverage of that sport.  Jared and I will continue to try to get him to come out to more Volleyball matches, too.

Who have I missed?  Oh, of course, Paulie.  The technologically challenged one (his words).  Despite that, Paulie has persevered over the years, adding, albeit slowly, various bits of technology to his work with Cardinal Couple, including his trusty Tascam audio recorder, and with our CCRHP migration from WCHQ, which he spearheaded,  over to online distributed recordings, he persevered and figured out how to connected...with a little bit of remote handholding, but this was during Covid times, so ultimately he had to figure it out and he did.

Of course, Cardinal Couple is ultimately the brainchild of Paulie, and he is our fearless leader.  I thought he was a little bit crazy when he first suggested starting a radio show, but when it came together on (the now dearly departed) WCHQ with him at the helm, it worked and has evolved into the CCRHP that we know and love today.

Paulie managed to stay pretty current with all of the sports we cover, but I think he really spends more of his time with WBB, Lacrosse, and Field Hockey. He has known WSOC head coach Karen Ferguson Dayes since she arrived on campus, too, and their yearly preseason interviews are...classic.

Paulie and Daryl..at WBB preseason

We've all cheered Paulie on as he deals with various medical issues, particularly over the past year or so and we certainly missed his presence at various events last year when those medical issues prevented his attendance.  But he has vowed to make it out more this year to some of the programs and we'll all be better off for it.

He needs a kidney. If you want to step up and donate one. sign up for the testing and compatibility tests with the very fine UC (Cincinnati) Kidney department . Call (513) 584-7001 and get more details

We're about to dive headfirst into Fall sports this week, with Women's Soccer kicking it off Thursday evening vs Bellarmine and Volleyball's Red & Black scrimmage on Saturday afternoon, so now seemed like a good time to put into words my appreciation for what this Crew does each year.  We're a bit niche, but I hope we're bringing about a net positive for women's sports.

And, of course, it would be pointless without our readers and listeners, and it's oh so rewarding to hear back from you all in the comments or in other channels.  Keep it up, keep cheering, and Go Cards!

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We had three on the call yesterday, Jared, Paulie, and myself.  Which means that it fell to me to post the podcast form as hinted at above (darn you, Case!).

It's now available as I forgot to do it yesterday right after the show.  We had a good conversation about the ongoing Olympics and UofL's rooting interests in them.  And we looked ahead to the beginning of official competition this week with Women's Soccer kicking it off on Thursday.

Check it out at it's Spotify home, or any podcast directory:

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cardinal-couple/episodes/Olympics--Fall-Sports-preparation--and-more-e2n2akn

-- 

JMcA

A Gray Day in Kentucky, and a First Glimpse at Volleybal

A Brooke Gray Day in Kentucky

It's been quite a weekend for Ballard's Brooke Gray.  After being named Gatorade Kentucky Player of the Year on Friday, Gray led her Bruins to win the state championship yesterday over Henderson County, 12-4.  She then picked up the tournament MVP honor, and was also named the 2023 Kentucky Miss Softball.

All of that, in roughly 48 hours, makes for quite a whirlwind weekend for the senior

Some final season stats for Gray's senior year: 29-0 win/loss record, 0.81 ERA, and 307 strikeouts in 189 2/3 innings pitched.

The lefty pitcher will be joining an already solid pitching staff at UofL in the fall, though a staff that is losing one of the best to have done it at UofL in Taylor Roby.  Gray will be the second lefty hurler on the staff, joining Cassie Grizzard in the southpaws-in-the-circle club.

Gray and Grizzard, along with Alyssa Zabala, Gabby Holloway, and Sam Booe...plus incoming freshman Lindsey Mullen... should create a good pitching staff that the team can build on to hopefully see another year of improvement in performance.

A Brief Glimpse of Volleyball

Volleyball is, of course, on their tour of Brazil, and they had their first match of the trip yesterday against Clube Panaireinas do Morumbi U-21 in São Paulo.  There was a low production stream that was, I believe, posted on the team's facebook page, but it only last to 19-12 in the first set before it died due to technical difficulties.  The team has a social media person with them on the trip, but not a Sports Information Director, so most of the information available is scattered among various social media posts.

This is the first opportunity to see the assembled team that will be competing in the fall, so I tuned in with interest to see what initial thoughts on lineups looked like.  Louisville "won" the match 5-0 with scores of 25-16, 25-18, 25-12, 25-20, 25-17.

First, a couple of apparent injury notes based on what I saw on stream.  Nina Moorer is still in a boot from some stress fractures that she experienced during spring play, and Cara Cresse has some sort of cast on her left wrist and part of her hand.  I have no details of the nature of the injury prompting that.

For the lineup, keep in mind, of course, that these are friendlies, they don't count for any official record, so lineups should be expected to be fluid and experimental, but they will give us some idea of what the coaching staff is thinking about for the fall.

The biggest surprise I saw in the lineup in the first set was incoming freshman Reese Robins playing right side in place of Aiko Jones.  Robins was listed primarily as a middle blocker, but with the ongoing position battle on the squad at middle, getting Robins to the right side may give her an opportunity to see some playing time that she may not have had otherwise.  Could we see a 6-2 offense in the fall?  With Aiko Jones, Nina Moorer, and Reese Robins all having spent some, or a lot in Jones' case, of time out there, it only leaves a question of how well we can swap out setters and maintain consistency.

Phekran "PK" Kong, and Hannah Sherman were the middles for the start.  Crese was dressed and participated in warmups, but I don't know if she ended up playing during the match.  The cast is on her non-hitting hand, so it is conceivable that she played.

Another incoming freshman, Molly Urban subbed in for Reese Robins as a DS for back-row playing time.

From some social media bits, the team had 20 aces in the five sets, and incoming freshman Kamden Schrand accounted for five of them.  Allana Bankston, yes another incoming freshman, apparently got nine kills on 17 swings for either .450 or .412 hitting.  Dan Meske said .450 in the audio of his Instagram story, but the caption on it said .412.  I suspect .412 is the correct number.  Regardless, an impressive debut for the Omahan.

They Tied the Knot

We want to extend a hearty congratulations to our Cardinal Couple colleague Jared Anderson and his beautiful wife Katy Whitesell.  The two got married yesterday in a wonderful celebration with family and friends in South Carolina.  We have yet to receive Jared's pictures from the event, but expect to have them shortly.

I kid, of course.

Congratulations to the bride and groom.  And the cake.  (Check out the CCRHP, or Jared and my twitter accounts, for explanation of that one.)

Say you missed it? Fear not, the replay is online at the link below{  

KATY and JARED 6-10-23

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

It was a bit of a throwback for yesterday's CCRHP, with only Paulie and I on the call.  Daryl was a late cancellation having come down with a bit of an illness, and of course we hope she's feeling better soon.  Jared was at a piece of cake's nuptials, and Case will be out for various events for the next couple of weeks.

Paulie and I had a great conversation about Softball, and what it looks like for the future.  We dug into the signed class, including singing the accolades of Brooke Gray, and the prospects for the future.  We did touch a brief bit on volleyball, and speculated on potential news from Lacrosse.

We also asked the question:  What is going on with Kay Morrissette> 

For an agenda with nothing but question marks on it, we managed to find plenty to talk about and had fun.  Check it out!

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cardinal-couple/episodes/Summer-Travels-and-Events-e25hlri

JMCA

LAX FACES PITT in ACC TOURNAMENT OPENER -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS AND PANTHERS KICK OFF ACC W.LAX TOURNAMENT

And, so, it's come down to Tournament time for Louisville Lacrosse.  The second season. The win or go home scenario. 

The Cards will face Pittsburgh at 2 p.m. at Notre Dame. It's viewable on the ACC Network. It's the #8 seed vs. #9 seed play-in-game. The winner gets UNC (#1 seed) on Friday at noon. The Cards (the #9 seed) go into the contest at 7-10 overall and 1-7 in conference play. The Panthers finished with a 8-9 record and 1-7 in the league. 

A history between the two? Well, no, not much of one.  It's Pitt's first year of competition, The Panthers did defeat Louisville during conference play.. The match, held in Pittsburgh in their Highmark Stadium went to the Panthers 17-10. 

A nice stadium, no doubt, that holds about 5,000 and is about two miles south of Heinz Stadium. On the south bank of the Monongahela River. Louisville had a rough second half in that previous meeting, scoring only four times, and losing despite three goals from Hannah Morris. 

So, what say you, Scott Teeter, about the matchup?

"We've got to battle. It's a short turnaround for us and a bit of a revenge tour. I think it's going to be a good battle between two good teams. We were unhappy with our consistency the first time we played them, so we just need to bring it for 60 minutes and give it everything we've got."

The Cards probably need to go on a four-game win streak in the ACC Tournament to make the ACC Tournament, although...if they can get by Pitt, UNC and either Duke or Notre Dame -- I'd think they might deserve at least a look for NCAA tournament consideration. The Cards were able to put a four-game win streak together early in the schedule against Marquette, Central Michigan, Virginia Tech and Butler -- but all four of those were in the friendly confines of the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium. 

The Cards will look for big scoring efforts from Morris, All-ACC Second Team selection Caroline Blalock, Nicole Perroni and a strong net presence from our goalkeepers J.Pleck and Sara Addeche

Let's hope our Cards can start a new win streak today. At this time of the year, you worry about one game at a game, because ii's either a win or your season is over. We'll worry about UNC once we're safely past Pitt. 

Here's UofL's "hype" video for the tournament: 

https://twitter.com/i/status/1519111584823627776

WHO AM I?

Jared had a little fun with the Cardinal Couple crew Tuesday when he texted us a picture from a photo-shoot and asked if we could identify the people in the photo. Our Jeff McAdams eventually made the correct selections. I was nowhere close with my guess.. Let's see how you do, leave your guess in the comments section if you want and Jared will have the answer for you tomorrow in his column. 

Jared will personally drive the first correct entry to a place that serves breakfast and spring for a cup of coffee and a three-hour review of the photos he's taken in 2022. The catch is, he'll use your car and you're responsible for any tip...and the facility must offer a "bottomless" cup of coffee...

Have a wonderful Wednesday! 

paulie

Cards Sweep ACC Volleyball Awards -- Field Hockey #4 -- HAppy Birthday -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

CARDS VOLLEYBALL TAKE PLAYER AND FRESHMAN OF WEEK AWARDS

A CARDINAL COUPLE congratulations to middle blocker Anna Stevenson and freshman libero Elena Scott on being bestowed the ACC Volleyball Player of the Week Awards! 

The Cards had two wins last week against two top-10 opponents and Stevenson and Scott played a huge role in them.

Stevenson recorded 11 kills and a impressive .588 hitting average -- plus six blocks in the Cards three-set sweep of Nebraska. Earlier, against Kentucky, she tallied 12 kills, four blocks and hit .439 against the Cats. The Laurens, SC pulled off the trifecta, it seems --we mentioned her getting engaged yesterday.  I'm not sure how you top a week like that. 

Scott, a Louisville, KY Mercy Academy grad, had 14 digs against Nebraska and 18 digs versus Kentucky. It was an impressive showing for the freshman, who had the upped hand on the Cornhusker's highly regarded Lexi Rodriguez (the top libero in the 2021 recruiting class). It's the second week in a row that Scott has been awarded the ACC Freshman of the Week  award. 

The VolleyCards will be at the LNFCU this weekend, hosting Miami on Friday and Florida State on Sunday. Jared will bring you more on that in the Thursday and Friday Cardinal Couple columns. 

FIELD HOCKEY CLIMBS TO #4 

The FH gals may have split last week's action at Trager -- beating Virginia 1-0 and losing to #2 Iowa 2-0, but the DI NFHCA Coaches Poll thought enough of the Cards performance to bump Louisville up a spot in the poll from #5 to #4. 

The Cards leapfrogged Boston College in the latest poll, who fell from third to fifth after a weekend loss to #12 Syracuse and overtime win over unranked New Hampshire on the Eagles campus. 

The Big 10 remains on top of the coaches poll -- with Michigan remaining in first, Iowa holding on to second and Northwestern checking in at third. 

Justine Sowry's stickers take to the highway for their next two -- a Friday visit to Durham to visit Pam Bustin and her #18 ranked Duke Blue Devils and then a sojourn to the capital of Ohio for a match against #19 Ohio State. 

The Blue Devils (3-4) are the lowest ranked of the seven ACC schools --all of them are all in the DI Coaches Poll top 25. North Carolina checks in at #7, Virginia remains at #11, and Wake Forest -- who dropped a position in the polls despite wins over Duke and UMass in Winston-Salem.

As Worldwide Jeff likes to say -- the polls contain a lot of sheer madness this season in all the fall women's sports. At least the madness of the Field Hockey latest polling was a benign sort of crazy for Sowry's Swingers. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! 

The last thing any of you probably want to hear is Paulie singing early in the morning, but we want to wish a very happy 27th. birthday to CARDINAL COUPLE writer and photographer Jared Anderson.  

Did you know that the popular sitcom FRIENDS debut was on this day back in 1994? I wonder if Jared's mom was watching as she waited for her oldest baby boy to make his first appearance?

Jared does a lot here at the Couple. He writes the Tuesday and Thursday columns and is glad to step in and cover a writing day for any of us of us if something comes up and we can't write.. He also is our photographer and you can fins him prowling the turf at numerous Cardinal home venues to get the shots that people talk about. All this, and he works a full time job, just recently got engaged and does photo shoots for people on the side.

How he breeched the space/time continuum to create more than 24 hours a day is a mystery, but our guy is always "on the go".  

Join me and the CARDINAL COUPLE crew in wishing "Mr. Anderson Jared" a very happy birthday and remember -- you just never know -- Jared could be waiting around the corner to catch a photo of you....so always keep a smile on your face.  

Have a wonderful Wednesday! 

paulie

Softball series vs FSU Schedule change -- Tennis loses to Duke 0-4 -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Fridays with Daryl! 

Good morning UofL fans!  How is it Friday again already?  A lot to unpack.. we watched Volleyball bow out of the tournament, that was a bummer. 

Our buddy and columnist Jeff McAdams lost his dad... I hope he had an easy week returning from Omaha after the Cards loss and laying Charlie to rest.

I have had a HECK of a M-F work-wise on all fronts.  The softball Cards lost in undisciplined fashion Wednesday evening to the UK squad, it freaking snowed that morning... and we anticipated softball schedule changes for the weekend.  But there is good news to share!! 

SHE SAID YES !!!

Our pal, photographer and CARDINAL COUPLE columnist Jared Anderson has announced his engagement to longtime girlfriend, Katy! Congratulations to the lovely couple! I almost called them a Cardinal Couple until I realized Katy is a FSU grad/fan! I wonder if there's any coincidence to the weekend of the engagement announcement and that FSU in in town for Softball ?!?   

Speaking of Florida State... the visiting softball squad..

Schedule Update: Cardinals and #7 Seminoles Will Play 

Friday Doubleheader at 3 p.m.; Sunday Doubleheader at 12 p.m.

UofL Softball (16-21) will take on its third-straight top-25 opponent this weekend when the Cardinals play host to #7 FSU (31-6) in a four-game ACC series starting on Friday.

With rain in the forecast for all day Saturday, 

the weekend schedule has been altered to open with a doubleheader at 3:00 p.m. on Friday. 

The final two games of the series will be played as a Sunday doubleheader starting at 12 p.m.

 

On both days, the first game will be televised on the ACC Network with game two airing on ACC Network Extra.

Prior to Sunday's 12 p.m. doubleheader, UofL will honor 2020 senior Caitlin Ferguson followed by the 2021 departing seniors.


Series Record: Seminoles lead the series 14-6.

The last time the Cards played Florida State at Ulmer...remember the beautiful sunset? Our Jared Anderson caught this magnificent photo.

Last Meeting: April 6-8, 2019 - Ulmer Stadium

RECAP: The Cards upset No. 3/3 Florida State winning the three-game series 2-1. The first game of the series resulted in a 2-0 win. The second game of the day ended in a 4-1 victory for the Seminoles. The final game of the series resulted in a 10-9 victory for the Cards. In the bottom of the seventh, the Cards rallied back from a 9-7 deficit with a three-run walk-off double from Rebecca Chung.

• With the win the Cards clinched the series, marking the Seminoles' first conference series loss since 2012.

About the 2021 Seminoles

Florida State heads into the series riding a 15 game winning streak. During that streak, the Seminoles have recorded seven shutouts while only allowing 15 runs. Last week in Syracuse the Seminoles hit 13 home runs, including a six home run game against the Orange, tying a program record.

 
RS-Senior Caylan Arnold and RS-Sophomore Kathryn Sandercock are leading the Seminole pitching staff. They have combined for 25 wins and 158 strikeouts. Arnold leads Florida State with 94 strikeouts and Sandercock leads the team with a 1.30 ERA and a 16-1 record.

Former Card, Danielle Watson returns to Louisville now with FSU. Listed as a RS-Junior, the RHP left Cards suddenly in December of 2019. She's third in line in the circle for the Seminoles.


Tennis falls in ACC tournament to Duke

The University of Louisville women's tennis team bowed out of the 2021 Atlantic Coast Conference with a 4-0 loss to No. 14-ranked Duke Thursday morning in Rome, Ga.

The Cardinals dropped the singles match losing at the No. 2 and No. 3 slots. Chelsea Sawyer and Raven Neely fell 6-3 to Chloe Beck and Karolina Berankova. The point was clinched when Tatiana Simova and Dina Chaika fell 6-3 at No. 3.

Moving to singles, Duke added to its lead with a 6-2, 6-2 win by Chloe Beck over UofL's Raven Neely. Next to fall was Louisville's Andrea Di Palma at No. 1 dropping the match to Georgia Drummy 6-3, 6-2. The match was clinched at the No. 6 spot, when Dina Chaika fell 7-5, 6-0 to Hannah Zhao.

The Cards end their season at 9-13.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

I'll be back on for podcast this weekend. I think I recall Case saying he was out, Jared might have some ENGAGEMENTS now but like I stated, we've got a lot to unpack, so make sure you tune in tomorrow morning. 11 a.m.  

As always, go Cards go! 

~Daryl 

Dana. Dixon Deliver -- Cards 79- Miami 76 -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 EVANS, DIXON COMBINE FOR 41 IN CARDS WIN

"Katie, I bet I can get Norika to yell in today's game."

It was a case of Liz Dixon early and Dana Evans late in Louisville women's basketball's 79-76 win Tuesday over a Miami team that refused to go away. The 6'5" Cards post from Memphis, TN delivered 13 points and seven rebounds in the first half for UofL to help lead them to a 44-36 lead. Miami staged a rally in the fourth quarter to trim Louisville's team to four with 1:47 remaining in the contest, but four late free throws by the Gary, IN senior prevented the Canes late comeback attempt from being successful.

Evans scored the Cards last 12 points of the contest and had all but two of the 14 total points Louisville registered in the final quarter. Her 20 points were second high for UofL, Dixon contributed 21 in just 26 minutes. 

"Hands up if you want to hear Norika yell !" 

Tuesday's contest was one where the Cards would build substantial leads at various times but Miami would manage to come back and stay in contention. Witness the Cards 62-46 lead with 4:03 left in the third quarter after a pair of Kianna Smith free throws. That had shrunk to 65-56 by the end of the quarter and the Canes outscored Louisville 20-14 in the final ten minutes to make it interesting.

Katie Meier ws proud of her squad, despite the loss:

"We played tough and it was a heck on an environment. I could tell before the game that the team was really dialed in. I thought we were very focused for 40 minutes." 

"Well, we're all waiting..."

Meyer was looking for her 300th. win in a coaching career that has seen her at Miami for 16 years now. 

Louisville also got nice production from  Elizabeth Balogun (14 pts) and Kianna Smith (8 pts) in getting their 15th win of the season. Dana Evans summed up the victory this way:  

"You just do what you gotta do to win the game. Obviously that's what I do. Whether it get to the free throw line, because, obviously my jump shot was off again tonight --  do what I have to do to help this team win." 

 Evans was 5-15 from the floor in 37 minutes and 2-9 from three-point range but went a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line, logging six of those in the crucial fourth quarter. 

"SUCCESS !!" 

The Cards launched 30 threes in the contest and saw ten of them go in. Kudos to Balogun, she was 4-5 on her long-range attempts and handled the rock well with no turnovers in 28 minutes. 

Jeff Walz spoke at length about the mental strain of three games in five days...plus the return to classes for the student-athletes for the spring semester. It doesn't slack up for the Cards as they'll host UNC Thursday night. Early in the season, the Cards were struggling to find games and juggling the schedule, now it's a "cup running over" of contests and opponents. Despite the obvious physical strain, the players will tell you that they'd rather be on the court instead of sitting around wondering if they'll play. 

THE FRED REPORT

"Fred" from  SNL (when he's not being
Ian Rubbish) 

FREE THROWS -- Another fine performance from the charity stripe for Louisville. 21-27 is 77.8% and that will get the Cards a CAPITAL "F" by our standards. What was kinda weird was how they developed. Louisville received just four opportunities in the first half and 23 in the final 20 minutes. I can only attribute that to either the refs reeiving new whistles at halftime and being eager to try them out, or Miami deciding that fouling Liz, and Dana was the only way to get back in the game -- the two had 20 of the UofL attempts and made 17 of them. 

REBOUNDS -- Whatever the Cards worked on in practice Monday in terms of getting grabs sunk in. Louisville out-rebounded Miami 34-32. It's interesting to note that Dana may have had a career high with six and Liz barely missed her double-double with nine. The Carrds guard combined for 24, which had to bring a smile to Coach's Walz and the staff's faces. I award the CAPITAL "R" for grabbing the missed shots. 

EFFORT/EXECUTION --  There was still too much standing around, excessive dribbling and offensive stagnancy for Louisville Tuesday, the Cards could get out on the transition game (just two fast break points and 15 assists on 24 made baskets, but the 46.2% from the floor could have, should have been better if you toss out the dismal 25% (3-12) shooting in the fourth quarter. Nothing spectacular here in points-in-the paint either, where Louisville lost the battle 30-26 or second chance points, where Miami had a 20-13 edge. No letter here. 

DEFENSE -- It started well for the Cards on defense, holding the Canes to 38% shooting, but Miami went 8-18 from three-point range (44.4%) and Kelsey Marshall, the ACC's best long-range bomber had four of them. Louisville lost the steals stat six to four, and forced 14 turnovers, compared to Miami forcing 13. Miami's 76 points were 10 over their average and those 76 points were the most the Cards have surrendered this season (DePaul scored 75 early in the season). It was a win, though, so we'll offer a lower-case "d". 

FINAL FRED TALLY:  F-R-_-d

"Another three for me !" 

 

Maybe a bit of concern that the Cards aren't blowing opponents out of the KFC YUM! Center or on the road as of late but you have to figure that it's a whole new ball gane now, when your foe is looking to kncok off #1 in the nation. I expect a scenario that could be the same on Thursday night, when Janelle Bailey, who I consider the best center in the ACC, brings her TarHeels in to test Liz and Olivia. 

Wins are wins, though, whether they're by two or 22 and Louisville keeps amassing them. Let's hope it continues. 15-0 and (who knows how many more?) to go...

"I get down low when I'm ready to go." 

(A special THANKS to Jared Anderson for the photos. They can move you around, gripe and whine...but your photos always turn out fine...)

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

paulie

 -- 

Favorite Pictures From The Field Hockey Season -- WBB Teleconference Today -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Click Here for link to Louisville women's basketball 11/5 teleconference with Dana Evans and Kianna Smith 

Jared's Favorite Field Hockey Photos

With the field hockey regular season over and the ACC Tournament set to begin today I figured it would be a good time to share my favorite photos from the season.  The Cards, who earned the #1-seed for the first time in school history since joining the ACC, have a bye and will play Friday.

The photos range from action, to celebration, to pregame routine.  Most of these made their way to the site or social media already while others may still be hiding on Flickr and Dropbox.

This home season was one for the record books as the Cards went a perfect 4-0 at Trager Stadium including a colossal upset over North Carolina. With a 7-1 record, the Cards will enjoy today off as they prepare for the winner of Wake Forest and Virginia on Friday.

It's not too late to join in on the fun with some brackets. Field Hockey brackets are due by 2:00 p.m., ET, today.  Soccer has a few days (Nov. 10) before they kick off.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TELECONFERENCE TODAY

University of Louisville Women's Basketball co-captains Dana Evans and Kianna Smith will be on a teleconference call today at 12:30 p.m.  I'm sure we'll get some updates on the team and how things are going in practices -- as the Cards are now 20 days away from their season opener at MTSU. 

Paulie will monitor and add the audio here later today, so be sure to check back to hear the words!. 

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared