Cards WBB releases non-conference schedule -- Wednesday CARDINAL COUPLE

 UCONN, UK AND SOUTH CAROLINA HIGHLIGHT NON-CONFERENCE SLATE FOR LOUISVILLE WBB 

We know know the 13 non-conference match-ups the University of Louisville WBB squad will play in the 2025-26 schedule. 10 of the 13 non-conference matchups wil be at the FC YUM! Center and UofL will face both teams that played in the NCAA Championship game last year. 

It kicks off against UConn in Ramstein, Germany on Nov. 4th as part of the Peraton Armed Forces Classic. The home opener on Sunday Nov. 12th.when they face  Northern Kentucky. Colorado comes to town next for a Wednesday, Nov. 12th contest.  A week later, Morehead State comes to town. 

The annual UK vs UofL game will be in the KFC YUM! Center on Nov. 22nd. the Cards have won the last four times that the game has been played in the YUM! Center. 

Thanksgiving weekend features multiple contests. Friday Nov. 28th when the Cards hosts Eastern Illinois. A day later, the action moves to Bellarmine, where UofL will meet East Tennessee State. They go back to the KFC YUM! Center Sunday where the Cards will play Bellarmine. 

Thursday Dec. 4th has South Carolina visiting the YUM! The non conference slate then has Louisville facing New Hampshire on Sunday Dec. 7th. Wednesday Dec. 10th when we get a Cardinals vs. Cardinals matchup when Ball State visits. EKU comes in for the final home non-conference match on Wednesday Dec 17th. 

The Cards end the non-conference slate in Brooklyn when they face Tennessee on Saturday Dec 20th.

We will cover and report on all the non-conference games for Louisville WBB..as well as the conference slate and post-season play. 

paulie

How will transfer guards strengthen Louisville WBB? -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 SCOTT, JONES BRING EXPERIENCE AND SKILL TO CARDS BACK COURT.

We've seen a lot of good guards on the University of Louisville Women's basketball team over the years. In looking at the upcoming squad...the current guard contingent consists of Reyna Scott, Imari Berry, Rebecca Graves, Peyton Bradley, Reagan Bender, Taj Roberts and Skylar Jones. 

Reyna Scott

Today we look at Scott and Jones. Both come to the Cards from other programs where they had success...Jones from Arizona and Scott from Oklahoma. Scott is a New York City native and Jones out of Chicago.  

Both should be key factors in the Cards 2025-26 season. Jones averaged almost 11 points a game for the Wildcats and also led the team with 52 steals. Scott averaged 5.3 a game with the Sooners.

Skylar Jones

The two come into a situation where their skills and experience will be quite useful in complementing the play of Taj Roberts, Imani Berry and Mac Randolph. 

Scott was a 2022 McDonalds All-American nominee and Jones led Arizona in steals last season. 

Peyton Bradley

It'll also be interesting to see how Peyton Bradley mixes in with this group. A 2025 Courier-Journal First Team All-State selection, she averaged 28.2 points a game her senior year at Meade County High School. She also shoots 42% from three-point range, which will keep defenses honest anytime she enters a game. Bradley will add depth to the backcourt, and contribute to the up-tempo, aggressive style of play. 

The Cards should be a key contender for ACC WBB title, along with Notre Dame. The things they can learn in the summer months about their teammates will be essential toward the overall success of the squad.

paulie

COULD WBB HOLD A SUCCESSFUL THE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT? --SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 HOW ABOUT  A WOMEN'S THE BASKEBALL TOURNAMENT?

Angel McCoungtry would have been fun to watch in a women's The Basketball Tournament

Always great to get a chance to watch basketball in the middle of July, even if it is on the men's side of the ledger and the single-elimination The Basketball Tournament. 

If you've watch any of the games, Louisville has a team called The Villians. THE VILLE TBT squad is a men's team, based on University of Louisville men's basketball team players trying to take down the $1 million dollar prize for winning the event against 60 other teams based on schools or cities. The Ville knocked off their first opponent...Boston vs. Cancer on Saturday. Always great to see games in Freedom Hall. Some of my best basketball memories were in Freedom Hall, men and women's games. 

Could The Basketball Tournament work on the women's side? 

Imagine Asia Durr on a Louisville women's The Basketball Tournament team!

The idea is an intriguing one. One would think Louisville, Kentucky and/or IU could definitely field women's teams for such an event...but could the event raise a 32 team or larger tournament , single elimination and could the find a sponsor to get close to the $1 million grand prize for the eventual winner...which the winning men's team receives. ? 

Could the get network television coverage for such an event, and, most importantly, would they be able to get sizable crowds to attend games, like the men  have been able to do for the men's games in Freedom Hall? 

Imagine a UConn WBB The basketball Tournament team. 

One would think the women might be able to get a competitive field of schools for send an alumni team. Certainly names like UConn, Stanford, Texas, Oklahoma, Memphis, Mississippi St, and many other school-based teams would be willing to hire a coach and enter a team. 

The Louisville team would be an interesting nucleus. what players would you like to see on it?

And, would WNBA plyers be willing to take a few games off their WNBA team game to participate in it? 

There is the premise, Feel free to leave a comment on whether you would like to see and watch and attend a women's The Basketball Tournament.

CARDINAL COUPLE Radio HOUR PODCAST

Case joined me...on the weekly Cardinal Couple Radio Hour podcast Saturday. It was a lively show and we covered a lot of topics. Check it out at the link below: 

CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR PODCAST

paulie

Girls Basketball Takes Over Expo Center -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Run 4 The Roses in Town This Weekend

The Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center is full of basketball courts this week as the annual Run 4 The Roses Classic and Run 4 The Roses Championship events take place from July 10-12 and July 13-15, respectively. The R4R event is a massive exposure event for middle and high school basketball players, drawing teams and coaches from all over the country. In fact, a coworker from a different office has been making use of some of our spare space in the Louisville office as he is in town with his daughter for the games. 

Just searching "Run 4 The Roses" will yield numerous posts from athletes wanting to draw attention to themselves as well as teams indicating they'll be in attendance to scout. One such post, from Tennessee Tech, feels like a recruiting opportunity for the team just as much as a chance to scout. 

This year, the events will be played on 88 courts and host 2,910 teams. With a guaranteed four games for each team, you can bet that it's quite the jam-packed space. I confirmed with the aforementioned coworker that it can be a bit difficult to "play to the whistle" when you can hardly tell which court a whistle is coming from. Nevertheless, the event has tons of value for the athletes to get in front of scouts from the next level, as the website boasts that 2,037 college coaches are credentialed. You can bet that if Jeff Walz and Kenny Brooks aren't among them, they've sent representatives. 

The event is also open to spectators. If watching loads of competitive youth sports is your kind of thing, you can head down to the Expo Center during any of the event times listed below. Spectator tickets are fairly reasonable, given the scale, as you can get a day pass for $30 or an event pass for $85. Granted, you might also pay half that in parking thanks to the Fair Board's wonderful parking policies, but that's neither here nor there. 

Might we see the next great Louisville player stand out this weekend? Surely there's a chance. It might even be a player not yet on anyone's radar, such is the nature of a huge exposure event like this. One thing is for sure, with more hotel compression in Louisville than the Kentucky Derby, the annual Run 4 The Roses hammers home that Kentucky is a basketball state and Louisville is a basketball town. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

No CCRHP This Week

When we skipped the show last week for the 4th of July, we anticipated returning to the booth this week. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, we'll be off again this week. In the middle of the summer slump, you're not missing much on the news front, but we'll aim to get back into the swing of things next week as we are just about a month out from the fall schedule getting underway. 

Brittany Morris Joins UofL WBB -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Morris is Newest Asst Coach for the Cards

Photo by GoCards

Following the departure of Stephanie Norman to her alma mater Arizona State, Louisville women's basketball had an assistant coach vacancy. That has been filled with the hiring of Brittany Morris.

Morris was an assistant at NC State for the last four seasons, where she worked under Wes Moore. During her time at NC State, the Wolfpack made three Sweet Sixteens, two Elite Eights, and one Final Four. NC State also won a combined three ACC regular season and tournament championships.

Prior to her time at NC State, Morris spent a year with East Carolina and three with UNC Wilmington. She was a part of UNCW's transition to DI. Morris specialized in recruiting during her time at each school, something she will be a part of at Louisville. 

We will catch more of Coach Brittany Morris this fall for the Louisville women's basketball season.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!
Jared

Istanbulluoglu and Walz Joining Turkiye Women's National Team -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Elif to Play and Walz to Help Coach

Louisville women's basketball coach Jeff Walz and current player Elif Istanbulluoglu have been selected to be a part of the Turkiye Women's National Team for 2025 FIBA Women's Eurobasket. Elif is one of 17 players named to the roster. Walz was named an assistant coach. The event will be held from June 18-29 and will take place in Czechia, Germany, Italy, and Greece.

Elif is a rising junior for Louisville. She saw an increased role during her sophomore campaign, averaging 10 minutes per game and seeing action in all 33 games. She averaged 3.0 points per game and 2.0 rebounds per game and had a strong shooting percentage of .442 field goal percentage.

Walz has been the head coach for Louisville for 18 seasons. He has amassed 486 wins and boasts an impressive .769 win percentage. Walz has guided Louisville to all four of their Final Four appearances in program history.

While the 2025-2026 Louisville women's basketball schedule has not been released yet, we know for certain that the Cards will host both South Carolina and Kentucky this season. With Monique Reid assuming the head coaching duties at Bellarmine, we hope to see a crosstown rivalry scheduled either as an exhibition or as a regulation game.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

WBB Adding New Assistant -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Walz Set to Replace Steph Norman 

After 18 seasons with Jeff Walz at UofL, Steph Norman departed at the end of the 2024-25 women's basketball season to return to her alma mater of Arizona State. It was a bit of a surprise to everyone, but Norman is taking a bit of an elevated role at ASU as the Associate Head Coach and Director of Basketball Strategy. That type of title is becoming more commonplace as NIL funds and relaxed transfer rules fully set in and change the landscape of college athletics by requiring more management of the team and players. I think Norman will do well, and wish her nothing but the best, but it left Louisville with a gap on the bench. 

Enter Brittany Morris. Morris will enter as an assistant coach under Walz after spending the past four seasons at NC State working with Wes Moore. Morris is a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, and coming to Louisville will mark her first major departure from the state since she left to play her collegiate ball at Seton Hall. Morris played for the Pirates from 2009-2013 and finished with a career-record 178 made three-pointers, including a school-record 78 in her senior season. She was the 20th-leading scorer in program history when she graduated and she started all 62 games at point guard in her junior and senior seasons. 

After graduating from Seton Hall, Morris made a stop in Virginia on her way back to the Tar Heel State, working as the video coordinator at Virginia Tech in the 2014-15 season. After that season, she returned to her home town of Raleigh to serve as a graduate assistant for two seasons at NC State. Her first true coaching gig came in the 2017-18 season, when she joined UNC-Wilmington as an assistant. She was there for three seasons and served as the team's recruiting coordinator in the latter two. Morris moved over to East Carolina for the 2020-21 season as an assistant before getting the call from Wes Moore to return to Raleigh. Morris has been an assistant coach for the Wolfpack since the 2021-22 season, and was largely responsible for the guards, which includes names that many know such as Diamond Johnson, Saniya Rivers, and Aziaha James. 

Morris's exact role with Louisville will become clearer in the coming days/weeks, but it seems likely that Jeff Walz has settled his staff. I suspect that Amanda Butler will move into the Associate Head Coach vacancy and others will fill in the chairs behind her. As the Cards look to build on the success of last season, one of recovery for Louisville, it will be interesting to see new faces on the bench. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case 

WBB Adds Late Signee -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Pick Up Post Player in Putra

Photo by Caledonia Gladiators

Jeff Walz wasn't quite finished building his roster for the 2025-2026 season. Louisville women's basketball announced the signing of Yevheniia (also spelled Yvheniia) Putra, a post player from Ukraine.

Putra is currently playing professionally overseas, which does not impact her NCAA eligibility. Most recently she was playing in Slovakia for MBK Ruzomberok. The 6'3 post player has played in 32 games, averaging 8.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game. She also has experience playing in FIBA for the Ukraine National Team.

Photo by Caledonia Gladiators

Putra adds depth at a position that has been slim for Louisville in recent seasons. She also has the potential to be another dominant post player alongside players such as Elif Istanbulluoglu and Isla Juffermans.

She joins two other incoming freshmen for the upcoming season in forward Grace Mugua and guard Peyton Bradley. The Cards also have three incoming transfers in forward Laura Ziegler, guard Reyna Scott, and guard/forward Skylar Jones.

Louisville isn't a program that rebuilds, they just reload. In the era of the transfer portal and NIL, massive roster changes are becoming more common and the Cards have been able to handle that fairly well.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

And now, the summer hiatus -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 NOW THAT THE BALLS HAVE STOPPED BOUNCING

And, so, we now go into the time of year at Cardinal Couple, where there are no events to follow at the UofL campus, no scores to report and no games to cover. 

It is a time of year when we reflect on the upcoming season and what we think we happen with the fall sports. We are also likely to cover how some of the Cardinals women's athletes that are in the "pros" are doing with their particular teams and any changes that may occur in player personnel on the various UofL women's sports squad rosters. 

Obviously , we will keep out eyes open for transfers, both in and out of the program. Since I tend to follow women's basketball very close and am our designated courtside reporter for all home games, let start with Jeff Walz's program

Transfers out, so far, from the squad are Isela Arenas, Eseosa Imafidon and Nyla Harris. Arenas went to Auburn, Harris to UNC and we don't have an update on where Imafidon went. Losing Harris is the biggest blow to the squad. She averaged 8.6 points per game and started 23 times for the Cards last season, She played three seasons for Louisville. 

Transfer in...the Cards WBB squad has Reyna Scott, previously with Oklahoma coming in and Skylar Jones, from Arizona. Both are guards. Scott averaged 5.3 points a game and Jones averaged 10.7. Jones is listed at 6'6" and Scott is 5'10". 

The Cards projected starters for the 2025-26 season?  Experts seem to think Imani Berry will land the point guard spot and Taj Roberts will be the starting shoot guard. Skylar Jones and Mac Randolph should battle for the "3" spot and power forward looks to have Elif Istanbulloglu slotted to start there. The big question is, who will be the center? Isla Juffermans, the Aussie, at 6'4" looks to be the prime contender for the spot, but Anaya Hardy could get a long look. Incoming freshman Grace Mbugna might weave her way into a starting or strong supporting role on the front line as well. She's 6'5" out of Danville Christian Academy and chose Louisville over Kentucky, Baylor, Duke, Florida, LSU, NCST and West Virginia.

We'll certainly report more on the WBB squad's news and notes as they occur this summer and other items that could affect the Cards WBB squad. With longtime associate coach Steph Norman leaving the staff in April to join Arizona St. WBB, we will also monitor any additions to the staff.

Stay with Cardinal Couple all season long for out unmatched coverage in women's sports. 

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

To all our mother readers out there, a Happy Mothers Day to you!! If you still have a mother, please wish her a Happy Mothers Day and do something special for her. You never really miss them until they are gone. I think of my late mother daily and wish I could tell her the things I forgot to say, or didn't say enough... while she was still living. 

Remember...A mother's hug lasts long after she lets go. 

paulie

Steph Norman Bids Farewell -- WNBA Draft -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Photo by GoCards

In a surprise move yesterday, Louisville women's basketball associate head coach Stephanie Norman announced that she will be stepping down and leaving the program. Norman is headed to Arizona State to become an assistant coach under Molly Miller. Miller was recently named head coach for the Sun Devils after five seasons at Grand Canyon.

Norman played four seasons at Arizona State from 1985-1989, including being named a team captain in her junior and senior seasons. She completed her masters degree at Hawaii. Following the completion of her education, Norman spent time as an assistant coach at Oregon, Oregon State, and Vanderbilt before joining Louisville in the fall of 2007. She was the first hire under then-newly-named head coach Jeff Walz.

Photo by GoCards

During her 18 year stint with the Cards, Norman was a part of 12 Sweet Sixteen appearances, eight Elite Eight appearances, four Final Four appearances, and two National Runner-Up finishes. Norman has helped oversee the development of several key players in Louisville history such as Angel McCoughtry, Candyce Bingham, Becky Burke, Monique Reid, Myisha Hines-Allen, Shoni Schimmel, Asia Durr, Dana Evans, Emily Engstler, Asia Taylor, Antonita Slaughter, Sam Fuehring, Arica Carter, Sara Hammond, Bria Smith, and many more. 

Norman helped guide the Cardinals to 486 wins and 227 wins in respective conference play. Louisville's conference record and overall record were both over .750 during that period. 

Photo by GoCards

Jeff Walz took to social media yesterday regarding Norman's departure: "It's hard for me to put into words what Stephanie has meant to me, this program, and our players. Her loyalty, wisdom, and heart helped build Louisville women's basketball into what it is today. Wishing her nothing but the best on her next chapter - forever grateful."

It has not been made clearly how Louisville will restructure coaching assignments and fill the vacant position, but we expect to hear news in the coming days.

Graphic by GoCards

We at Cardinal Couple remain grateful for all of Norman's contributions during her time at Louisville and are excited to see what she brings to the table at Arizona State. We wish her the best!

WNBA Draft

Last night was the 2025 WNBA Draft. We saw 38 players get drafted over three rounds. To no surprise, Paige Bueckers went first overall. We also saw former Virginia Tech and Kentucky guard Georgia Amoore go in the middle of the first round. Former Louisville guard Hailey Van Lith was taken late in the first round.

The ACC saw six players from the 2024-2025 season drafted, three in the first round. Five international players that did not play in the most recent NCAA women's basketball season were drafted. 12 of the 38 players drafted were on teams that Louisville played in this most recent season.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

WBB Departures and Returners -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Women's Basketball Returners and Departures

Now that we have concluded the season for Louisville women's basketball, we can start to prepare for offseason changes.

On the coaching side, there have not been any rumors or hints about departures. We also haven't seen any assistant coaches on watch lists to taking head coaching positions elsewhere. The current coaching staff should be sound next season and will be hard at work for recruitment and NIL opportunities.

Departures

As of this time, the only known departures are those graduating. Olivia Cochran and Merissah Russell both played all five years with the Cards. Cochran saw heavy minutes and had a starting role for a majority of her tenure. Russell played a bit more of a reserve role but provided veteran leadership in her later years.

Jayda Curry spent her final two seasons with the Cards and played a point guard and shooting guard role during her time. She went out with a band, scoring a career-high 41 points in her final game.

Ja'Leah Williams used her final year of eligibility at Louisville after four seasons at Miami. She was brought in to provide experience and be another ball handler for the Cards. She also proved to be one of the better defenders.

Returners

As of right now, all other players are expected to return for Louisville. As the transfer portal opens up and other schools throw NIL money out there, we could possibly so a player or two decide to leave. Only time will tell there.

The current returners are:

Nyla Harris, junior, forward

Elif Istanbulluoglu, sophomore, forward

Eseosa Imafidon, redshirt freshman, center

Izela Arena, freshman, guard

Imari Berry, freshman, guard

Mackenly Randolph, freshman, forward

Rebekah Graves, freshman, guard

Anaya Hardy, freshman, forward

Isla Juffermans, freshman, forward

Reagan Bender, freshman, guard

Tajianna Roberts, freshman, guard

I'd expect to see Walz and Co go after a veteran or two in the portal to help develop this young squad. Most likely, we will see Louisville go after a true point guard in the portal to help be the on court general.

There are some new faces that have committed to the Cards that will join in the fall including 6'5 forward Grace Mbugua and 5'9 guard Peyton Bradley. 

2025 NCAA Pick 'Em Update

After the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, the field is still close in the CC Pick 'Em Challenge. Here's how things look as we head into the Sweet 16. 

Thanks,

Jared

Cards face EKU in softball on Wednesday -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 COLONELS COME TO TOWN ON A NINE GAME WIN STREAK

Normally, one would look at the midweek match up between Louisville and EKU in softball as a probable romp for the ACC school against the mid-major in Richmond. Not so this season, EKU comes to Ulmer stadium on a none game win streak and with a sparkling 17-5 record...with wins over Georgia Tech, WKU and Dayton.

As a matter of fact, these two schools are 2-2 the last foir time they have met..so much for padding your schedule, eh? 

Whitney was an excellent Cards infielder. 

EKU plays in the ASUN conference and has former Cardinal softball great Whitney Arion on their staff as a Director of Player Development. Arion played for the Cards from 2012-2015. She was a sure-gloved shortstop for the Cards, and was an All-ACC selection her final year, a two time All-Big East selection and an AAC second team pick. 

EKU has won their last two games this season by run-rules...over Purdue Fort Wayne. They have one former Louisville high school player on the roster in junior catcher Lilly Davis, who attended Butler High School. Davis has been the starting catcher the last two season for the Colonels 

Louisville is 8-5 against EKU since 2001, but fell to the Colonels 6-2 last year in Richmond. The Cards did defeat them 10-1 in 2023. .Davis had a double and home run against the Cards last year and Cardinals pitcher Brooke Gray was touched for four first inning runs. 

The game will be shown on ACCNX at 5:00 p.m

FAREWELL JUNIOR BRIDGEMAN

Louisville MBB great Junior Bridgeman passed away of a heart attack while speaking in Louisville Tuesday at the Galt House. 

My own personal memories of Bridgeman come from when I was a sophomore at UofL. Bridgeman was a senior and I had an encounter with him one day. That fall, i was on crutches, due to an ankle surgery and was going to class, trying to juggle a couple of books and crutches. The elevator that I planned on taking to the second floor of the building was out of order, and i pondered the dilemma of going up a flight of stairs...with crutches and books...when he came over to me, and kindly offered to carry my books for me as i went up the steps. He also followed me to make sure i didn't fall backwards. 

I remember I thanked him and he just smiled and went back down the steps...this was when our city and county was going through the busing upheaval in the high school system and tensions between whites and blacks were probably as high as they have ever been. 

I saw him years later, at a UofL women's basketball game and reminded him of his kindness and thanked him again for that kindness many years ago. He just smiled and thanked me for my coverage of women's basketball at UofL. 

He will be missed by all Cardinal fans...and Louisville has lost a true legend.  

paulie

WBB survives vs Clemson 70-68 -- Softball opens ACC schedule -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Good Friday morning readers,


Welcome back for another weekend and officially basketball post season!  Which means, I get to watch basketball at work  YAY! 


Photos: Jared Anderson


WBB


The Cardinals survived and advance in the ACC tournament after defeating the Clemson Tigers 70-68.   

Taj Roberts and Ja'Leah Williams both scored 16 points with 10 and 12 rebounds respectively to lead Louisville to the quarterfinals.  It was announced just before tipoff that Jayda Curry and Merissah Russell would not play in the game.  Curry suffering a shoulder injury and Russell having back pains. 

End of 1Q 13-11 Clemson


FG %
5-13 38.5% Cards
5-12 41.7% Clemson
Reb. 9-7 Clemson
3-pt %
0-1 0% Cards
2-5 40% Clemson


Without the 2 seniors, the starters featured Imari Berry, Nyla Harris, Ja'Leah Williams, Tajianna Foberts and Olivia Cochran.  Olivia committed her first foul 14 seconds after putting up a missed layup too strongly. Williams put up a nice bank jumper to put the Cards on the board first.  

Nyla Harris takes the charge to go the other way with a 4-0 lead. she went 1-2 at the line on the next offensive possession. Louisville would lead 7-0.  At the first media timeout the Cards had the 7-4 lead while shooting 38% from the field (3-8) while not attempting a 3 pointer in that timeframe.

2:37 --  Clemson's Mia Moore hits a 3 pointer to tie it all at 11 before taking the 13-11 lead after starting the game down 0-7.  The Cards went on a more than 3 minute scoring drought to close out the quarter. 



End of 2Q 19-16 Cards


FG %
7-15 46.7% Cards
7-14 50% Clemson
Reb. 10-4 Cards
3-pt %
0-2 0% Cards
1-6 16.7% Clemson



Mackenly Randolph ends the scoring drought for the Cards about 30 seconds into the second quarter.  Williams secures the ball off the Clemson miss and takes it herself to find her sweet spot to put the Cards ahead again 19-18 just a couple minutes in.

Izela Arenas went 3-3 to start her night to make it 25-20 Cardinals and the Tigers call a timeout.

HALF 30-29 Cards


Photos: Jared Anderson 

End of 3Q

FG %
4-13 30.8% Cards
6-12 50%  Clemson
Reb.  10-5 Cards
3-pt %
0-3 0% Cards
2-4 50% Clemson


After hitting the 3 to open the quarter for Clemson, JaLeah Williams draws a foul on Evans to go to the line and retake the lead for the Cards 34-32.  Both squads were trading baskets back and forth.

Cochran picks up her 3rd foul with about 7 min left in the 3rd quarter so Mac Randolph comes back in.  Roberts was hitting some clutch baskets to match Clemson's.  A foul on Williams took us to the media timeout with the Tigers up 41-38. 

Clemson increases their lead to 47-40.  Elif went 1-2 at the free throw line and the Cards offense went stale for over 2 minutes but the defense was working overtime to force the same from the Tigers.  Williams secures a loose ball when Walz calls the timeout to regroup for the final minute of the third quarter

With 1 second left on the shot clock and under a minute to play left in the quarter Williams picks up her 4th foul on a reach in.  The Cards get the last shot and go to Elif for the 3 point attempt which doesn't go and the Cards close the quarter going scoreless for almost 2:30 minutes. 



End of 4Q   17-13 Cards 

FG %
7-14 50% Cards
 4-11 36.4% Clemson
Reb. 10-5  Cards
3-pt %
1-2 50% Cards
2-4 50%  Clemson

Olivia Cochran comes back in gets a quick bucket.  Arenas hits Louisville's first 3 pointers to make it 49-48 Clemson.  Randolph gives Cards 50-49 lead on the strong layup but Clemson quickly retakes the leads back when Loyal McQueen goes from coast to coast. 

Williams(6-7 on the night)hits for her 14th points to tie it 52 all with just under 5 min left in the game. she also had 10 rebounds, her 2nd double double of the season.  Roberts drives to the bucket to regain the lead for Louisville with 4:16 left.  Clemson with just 1 FG in previous 6 min span but only down by 2 points.  Ja'leah Williams goes 1-2 at the line and Cochran gets the rebound but Clemson ties it up yet again.  

The Cardinals execute excellent passing as they feed it inside to Cochran for the up and in finish to put cards up 57-54.   But yet again, Clemson ties it, this time with a 3 pointer.

   

Randolph with the beautiful reverse to put Cards up 59- 57 with under a min left.

After playing the fouling game, Randolph ends up at the line where she goes 1-2 and the cards have a 60-57 lead with 11.3 seconds left and the Tigers call a timeout... but i just had a feeling they would force an oveertime and they did it , Clemson hits the 3 to tie it 60 all with 4.3 left.  Clemson's Kohn, with her 4th 3 of the night. 

Photos: Jared Anderson 

Overtime 


FG %
1-2 46.7% Cards
3-8 37.5% Clemson
Reb. 4-3 Cards
3-pt %
0-0 0% Cards
1-2 50% Clemson

OVERTIME

Roberts scored first 5 points for the Cardinals to put them up 65-62.  With about a minute left Williams fouls out on the charge called.

  

Clemson's Thompson hits 3 pointer 67-66 Clemson leads with 38 seconds left. Randolph goes to line and gives Cards the 68-67 lead.  A clock issue gives both squads an extended timeout.

They decided on 35 seconds left in the ballgame with Clemson pushing it up the floor.... Thompson went for another 3 but air-balled it, Louisville playing intense defense on McQueen and the Cards corralled the ball and Taj Roberts was fouled with 5.4 seconds left  where she went 2-2 and put the cards up 70-67.

UofL went 8-12 at the FT line in the overtime period.  

UP NEXT

Louisville vs Duke 

Friday 7:30 PM 

FRED REPORT



Fred Astaire

FREE THROWS --  Louisville spent a lot more time at the free throw line than Clemson, where they went 21-32 at the line. Which is 65.6%.  They had a lot of attempts in the overtime period and Taj Roberts led for the Cards with 8-10.   This could;ve been very dangerous and did not meet the mark of 70%... no letter  

REBOUNDING --  The Cardinals grossly out rebounded the Tigers 41-26.  Williams and Roberts stepped up huge in this regard.  CAPITAL R

EFFORT/EXECUTION --   Considering they were missing their leading scorer and their 'quarterback' in Curry,  and then losing Williams to foul trouble i am super impressed UofL was able to survive and advance in this round.  The game plan worked.  Capital E

DEFENSE --  Clemson shot 44% on the evening and came up huge when they needed big shots.   Given the circumstances of Louisville being short handed, i give them a pass on a few opening round jitters.   lower case d


FINAL FRED TALLY:    _R_E_d

POST GAME LOUISVILLE:  HERE

CARDINAL COUPLE ACC WBB PICK 'EM CONTEST

Nick O remains on top with a perfect 7-0 mark after two days. There are "hounds" at his heels, though. checking in at 6-1 are Karen J, Kenny S. and Thomas I. Should the leaders falter, there is a traffic jam at 5-2, with Curtis Franklin, Clemson Cuz, The Real Joe Hill, and four Cardinal Couple writers...Paulie, Jared, Jeff and Case. The rest of you all have some work to do...and we'll launch an investigation to make sure the guys on the CC writing staff weren't peeking at Paulie's picks before submitting theirs. 



Softball

Photos: Jared Anderson

The 14-6 University of Louisville softball team is set to open ACC play, hosting Notre Dame for a weekend series at Ulmer Stadium on March 7-9. Friday, March 7th at 6:00 p.m., Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and Sunday at 12:00 p.m. All games will be played at Ulmer Stadium and broadcasted on ACC Network Extra.

Louisville enters the game with an 14-6 record after a going 3-1 in the Cardinal Classic. Louisville logs a .337 batting average, with a total of 176 hits from 522 at-bats. Sophomore Ava Venturelli is leading the Cards with a .476 batting average.   Redshirts Easton Lotus and Char Lorenz lead Louisville in stolen bases with nine and 11 apiece respectively, while Easton Lotus is a perfect 9-9 on attempts.

The Irish sport a 10-10 record, including ranked wins over #15 Missouri and #23 San Diego State.  

Notre Dame is 28-18 all-time against Louisville historically, dating back to both program’s days in the Big East. The Irish have won five of the last six matchups and eight of the past 10. The last time the two teams played was in 2023.

Notre Dame pitching has been racking up strikeouts in the circle. The 120 strikeouts by the Irish pitching staff this year is tied for the third-most in the ACC. Micaela Kastor’s 49 punch outs this season are tied for sixth most in the conference while Kami Kamzik is in the top-15 with 34 strikeouts.

At the plate for the irish, Olivia Levitt is hitting a .375 batting average. Paige Cowley is second on the team with two home runs and is slugging .625 and Sydney Poeck hit her first career home run against Cal State Fullerton and has seen time in the outfield and at first base.

As always
Go Cards!

~Daryl

Lax Wins at Vandy -- ACC WBB Tournament -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Lacrosse Takes Down Vanderbilt

Louisville lacrosse was able to bounce back from a loss against North Carolina by going on the road to beat Vanderbilt, 13-9. The Cards move back above .500 with a 4-3 record.

The Cards jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first quarter but allowed the Commodores to use a 4-0 run to close out the first quarter and start off the second quarter. A Louisville goal in the final seconds of the second quarter allowed the Cards to go into the break with a 5-4 lead.

The third quarter went heavily in Louisville's favor with five goals and a lone Vandy goal sandwiched in the middle. Headed into the fourth quarter, the Cards held a 10-5 advantage, their largest lead of the match. 

Vandy threatened in the fourth quarter, cutting Louisville's lead to 11-9, but the Cards needed 82 seconds to put up a pair of goals to extend the lead.

Rian Adkins led the charge offensively with four goals. Izzy Seikel posted her first career hat trick. Four other Cards scored in the match. J Pleck played the full match in goal, registering 16 saves to go along with nine goals allowed.

The Cards are back in action on Saturday, when they take on Virginia Tech at noon.

ACC Women's Basketball Tournament

The first day of the ACC Tournament has concluded and we move along to day two. Louisville women's basketball is in action with an anticipated tip-off time of 7:30pm.

Louisville went 20-9 in the regular season but most recently are coming off a loss at Notre Dame. Prior to that, the Cards had won five of six games. They went 13-5 in the conference to finish tied for fourth in the ACC, but earned the 6-seed because of tiebreaker rules.

Now that we are finally in March, we get to see the magic of Jeff Walz come into play as he will have his team playing up a couple notches.

On the first day of the ACC Tournament, we saw three games.

12-seed Boston College relied on a major second half rally to defeat 13-seed Syracuse. The Eagles outscored the Orange by 20 in the second half. Dontavia Waggoner dropped 32 points to help get the win.

10-seed Virginia defeated 15-seed Pittsburgh 64-50. While the Cavaliers held a small led at the half, they utilized a strong third quarter to pull away. Four Virginia players scored in double figures with Kymora Johnson leading the way with 17 points and seven assists.

In the nightcap, underdog Clemson came out firing on all cyl9nders and downed Stanford 63-46. Uo 11-10 after one, the Tigers put together a 16-6 second ten minutes and then a 21-14 third quarter to take a 48-30 lead going into the fourth...Loyal McQueen led the way with 17 for the Tiger.s

CARDINAL COUPLE ACC WBB PICK 'EM TOURNAMENT 

Day one is in the books...we have 16 participants this time around and only Nick O went 3-0 on the day There's a logjam at 2-1, with eight participants and five contestants went 1-2. Poor Sonya and Daryl are 0-3. 

3-0 Nick O

2-1 Curtis , Paulie , Clemson Cuz, Karen J , Case, Kenny S, Jared and Thomas

1-2 Chimps, Joe Hill, Blue Lou, Katy , Jeff

0-3 Sonya ,Daryl

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

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