Sea of Red sees Cards defeat UK WBB 80-75 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

DURR'S  32 PACES CARDS PAST CATS

Another classic Battle of the Bluegrass yesterday in the KFC YUM! Center as Louisville WBB holds on after squandering an 18-point lead to down Kentucky by five in front of 13786 screaming fans Sunday afternoon. 


The fans had plenty to yell about. A Cardinal team that looked invincible in the third quarter after a close first half. A Cats squad that did not buckle under the pressure after falling behind 18 points in the third quarter. Frustration about the Cards 41% free throw shooting in the final quarter. Outrage at maybe the most ridiculous technical foul assessed to Louisville this season. All the elements were in place to create a situation that ultimately ended with a lot of Cardinal fans leaving with feelings of relief that victory was secured and UK fans walking out wondering "what might have been" if the defense had been a little stouter earlier. 

This was a contest early on that featured an Asia Durr 7 - Cats 7 start, after the senior All-American provided the Cards offense in the first two minutes. UofL used a 5- 0 run to take a 12-7 lead after Sam Fuehring completed an "and one" a minute later. Louisville held that five-point lead for the quarter with Dana Evans knocking down a jumper with 25 second before the horn. 

Evans also started the scoring to open the second quarter. Several fans commented to me that they were puzzled by Arica Carter's lack of minutes in the contest, but with Evans performing the way she was on both ends of the court, Walz made the decision to keep the diminutive point-guard from Gary, Indiana out there. Her free throws gave Louisville a 34-27 edge with 2:30 before the halftime break and Durr's two charity tosses secured a 36-29 halftime edge for the red-clad home team, an interesting choice of uniforms, arguably to support the "red out" promotion..while UK was clad in the white. 

Louisville was bucketing the ball and that was good for a 16 for 29 half of shooting for 55%. UK at 38%...hindered by a less than spectacular 4-15 effort in the second session of ten minutes. Cardinal fans gladly, but a bit nervously, eyed the lead while wondering if the Cats had a run still to come. 

One thing UK was proficient at was knocking Durr around like a cue ball on a billiards table. Between UK's trio of Maci Morris, Rhyne Howard and Taylor Murray...Durr was getting pummeled like a defenseless quarterback under siege by the Chicago Bears defense. Asia shrugged it off and even smiled about it in the post-game presser. Just a part of the college game were her words.

Nevertheless, the Cards came out on fire in the third. A Jazmine Jones three-ball, followed by a Durr trifecta and then a Fuehring basket plus free throw gave the Cards an early 9-4 run in the first two minutes of the second half to push the lead to 45-33. That would grow to 57-39 (the Cards biggest lead of the game) with three minutes left in the quarter when Jones went coast-to-coast to put in a layup. A minute later, a beautifully timed lob to Jones for an alley loop basket had the YUM! Center patrons in a frenzied delight.  Then, inexplicably and incredulously Jones was whistled for a technical foul. She was stunned, the fans were stunned and Jeff Walz argued the call vociferously with head referee Joe Vaszily. He's not nicknamed "silly Joe" without good reason, you know.

Jones had yelled "Let's Go!" after the alley-oop went in.

Either those two words are a couple that really tick off this officiating crew or her vocal delight was mis-heard and mis-understood. It was the start of a 8-2 run for the Cats after the free throws and subsequent possession. The Cards recovered, though, and finished the quarter up by 15. Bionca Dunham on a excellently-timed bucket and free throw and an Evans basket. It appeared the Cards might have the Cats searching for the exit and the quarter ended with Louisville up 67-52. 

Give credit to Matthew Mitchell and his squad for succeeding on their strategy to get back in the contest. In what might have seemed like the longest ten minutes in Louisville play this season, the Cats employed the "let's foul them and see if they can earn it from the line" ploy. 

It was the right employment and worked well. 

The lead started to drop. From 17 to 10 halfway through the fourth. Louisville was sinking either just one of the two free throws they were getting, or none at all. The Cats were scoring on their possessions. Asia Durr was having trouble finding the range on three-pointer attempts and, despite a eye-popping swat of a Rhyne Howard layup by Jones, the Cards had seen the lead evaporate to five with two minutes remaining. 

The Cards had 12 free throw attempts in those final two minutes. Five went in. UK sank two free throws with 27 seconds remaining to get within four at 77-73. It was nervous time in the downtown arena. 

Fortunately, UK never got closer than four. A Fuehring free throw with 14 seconds set the tally at 79-73 and Carter hit one of two with 5 seconds to set the final numbers 80-75. The Cards win. Despite being out-scored 23-13 in the final quarter. Louisville remains undefeated at 10-0 and Kentucky takes their first defeat of the season to set their record at 9-1.

Asia Durr early made this win possible. Despite 2-10 three point shooting (I still say she had dead legs in the fourth quarter, something she denied in the post-game interviews) Durr's theatrics for three quarters helped UofL construct an advantage.

The first seven points, 17 in the first quarter, 24 by halftime. Despite the tae-kwon-do, defense-by-mugging tactics UK employed. 

Walz played nine players in the contest, but three of them combined for just 14 minutes (out of the 200 minutes available). I'll not question the substitution patterns. He's with them every day and knows what he's got.  


THE FRED REPORT

I think we all needed water (or something stronger) after Sunday. 

Free Throws -- 15-28 is 53.6% I won't say anything else about it. I've already got Coach Walz mad at me about my earlier question about them. No letter awarded

Rebounds -- UofL held a 32-28 edge in grabs. Fuehring and Dunham with seven each. Jazz added six. The number, while a "win" for Walz's squad, pales when you consider that the Cards managed only six on the offensive boards and gathered only six second-chance points. I'll offer a lower case "r" here, but it could easily be a "no letter". 

Effort/Execution -- The Cards definitely hustled all game and had a 12-0 fast-break-for points edge. Seven steals and 13 forced turnovers. 56% shooting is excellent. They had no answers for Rhyne Howard (25 points, 10 rebounds and six assists) but they just may have faced the SEC Freshman of the Year yesterday. Just seven turnovers for Walz's Warriors. I'll award the capital "E" here. 

Defense -- Louisville held UK to a 43.3% shooting percentage. They shut down long range threat Maci Morris ( 11 points in 26 minutes ) but senior Taylor Murray and Howard went for 43 points on 14-29 combined shooting, You can defend free throws and the Cats did excel there with a 16-19 success rate. (84.2%) 75 points a bit higher than Louisville normally allows. I'm OK with designating a lower case "d" for the defense. 

FRED RECAP:  _-r-E-d


SOOO...

Louisville did what they needed to do to win the Battle of The Bluegrass. Five players in double figures (Durr's 32, Fuehring with 12, Jones added 12, Dunham contributing 11 and Evans ending with 10). 

A game yesterday that Louisville was never really in danger of losing but a game where UK dominated the final quarter, a quarter that has been their worst quarter so far this year. Kudos to the incredible hustle and spirit of Jazmine Jones, Durr's "oh-it's-time-for-another-big-game-performance" afternoon and solid battling in the paint from Fuehring and Dunham. 

An example of the beating performed on
Asia yesterday (From Charlie Springer's
UofL Card Game website -- Photo credit to
Cindy Rice Shelton) Taking it on the chin...

I'm not overly concerned with the lack of minutes from Shook or Carter. You win as a team and you go with whose hot. We don't know how much Shook's tendinitis affected her time or performance and Carter contributed well in her time out there. 

This was a game most Cardinal fans thought would be a close win for Louisville and they got just that. Maybe not in the way expected, but, any landing you can walk away from is a good one and Louisville flew through some choppy weather, weathered a slew of questionable "calls" and "no calls" from the stripes and scored the most points. 

The team will take it. The fans will accept it. I'm happy about it. A fun afternoon in front of a vocal and enthused sea of red that hung on every shot, play and sequence. 

An opponent that refused to roll over. A home squad that gutted out a quite physical win. College basketball, with all it's many twists and turns, was in fine display yesterday by the river.


THEY SAID IT

Post-game comments below: 

JEFF WALZ

ASIA DURR AND SAM FUEHRING

KENTUCKY'S MATTHEW MITCHELL, MACI MORRIS and RHYNE HOWARD (audio only)



paulie
xxxxx



                                                                     #############

A Look into the Weekend -- A Preview of Kentucky -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

A Look into the Weekend

Ah, Friday is here at last.  There's no greater feeling than looking forward to the weekend.  As always, there are a few UofL sports in action and one major game coming up.

Saturday, Dec. 8

Men's basketball travels to Bloomington to take on Indiana at 2:30 p.m.  Sitting at 6-2, Chris Mack has lead his team to some impressive victories including wins against Michigan State and Seton Hall.  This game can be found on FOX.

The Cards get to face the "one who got away" freshman Romeo Langford. IU does have a win over Marquette, a team that beat UofL this year.

Sunday, Dec 9

Women's basketball will host rival Kentucky at 2:00 p.m.  This is one of those games that's circled on the schedule at the beginning of the season.  The Battle of the Bluegrass will feature a pair of undefeated teams, sitting at 9-0 each.  Unfortunately, I will have to miss seeing that I will be performing in a concert at the same time (great planning, right?).

Scouting Kentucky

JEFF WALZ PREVIEWS THE CONTEST: https://gocards.com/watch/?Archive=12180&type=Live

No. 19 Kentucky enters the match-up 9-0 with their most recent victory coming at home against Rhode Island last night, 75-52.  They have wins against NCAA Tournament teams from last year: Virginia (63-51) and UCLA (75-74).

The Cats have outscored opponents 719-497 so far this season.  The 79.9 points per game is fairly average for early season, but the defense allowing 55.2 points per game is something to make note of.

Defensively, Kentucky is one of the better teams out there.  They're forcing nearly 27 turnovers per game and are right at 14 steals per game.  Their 32 blocks on the year puts the average at about 3.6 per game, enough to make you think twice about driving in the lane.

Sending the Wildcats to the free throw line might not be a good idea as they are shooting .763 on the year.  Their three-point shooting is equally as dangerous, with an average right at .400.

Kentucky's biggest weakness might be the rebounding category, were they have been out-rebounded 342-330.  41% of their total rebounds have been offensive, a higher rate than the more-common 33.3%.  It's the defensive rebounding where Kentucky has struggled and been dominated.

There are three major scorers for the Wildcats: Rhyne Howard (164), Maci Morris (157) and Taylor Murray (133).  If you compare that to Lousiville, Asia Durr has 196 and Sam Fuehring is nearly 100 behind with only 97.  That trio of Blue players will be tough to for Louisville's defense to shut down.

Howard (62) and Keke McKinney (46) have been the major threats down low on the boards.  Fuehring is the closest to those numbers for Louisville with 58, but both Kylee Shook and Jazmine Jones are in the 40's.  Depending on foul trouble the rebounding could be a major key to victory in this one.

Murray is a solid scorer, but her passing is more dangerous.  She's tallied 39 of Kentucky's 128 assists and has been a great senior leader for Matthew Mitchell's squad.


Jeff Walz vs Matthew Mitchell

Both men became head coaches of their respective programs in time to start the 2007-2008 season.

The two had completely different starts to their careers at these programs.

Mitchell came to Kentucky after coaching Morehead State for two years.  Kentucky's program began to turn around in his third season, the year he earned SEC Coach of the Year honors and led the team to a 28-8 record.  Mitchell has made it to the Elite Eight three times, the last appearance in the Elite Eight was in the 2012-13 season. Last year, the Cats did not make the NCAA Tournament with only a 15-17 record.

Mitchell had previous experience at UK, having been an assistant coach there from 2003-2005.

Walz was an associate head coach at Maryland before getting called up to Louisville.  He found immediate success in Louisville, guiding the Cards to their first ever Final Four appearance in his second season, falling to UConn in the championship.  Louisville has made it to the Final Four three times and appeared in the NCAA Championship twice.

Louisville is 5-6 against Kentucky since the two coaches have taken over.  The Cards have won two straight in the series.

The gang (Jeff, Paulie and Daryl) and I review this matchup and these coaches more on THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR,  on WCHQ 100.9 FM and Facebook Live Saturday at 11 a.m. and we'd love to have you join us! Go to the website www.wchqfm.com to listen live as well and be sure to download the WCHQ app while you are there.


Happy Friday and Go Cards!

- Jared -

Louisville women's basketball -- No contest. Cards clobber Cats 87-63 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

DURR'S 32, FIVE IN DOUBLE FIGURES PUT AWAY UK

Look, ma! They spelled it right in Lexington !! 

Louisville women's Basketball goes to 13-0 with a domination of Kentucky 87-63 Sunday afternoon in Lexington's Memorial Coliseum. The Cards never trailed in a contest where Louisville used a five minute, 20-5 half-ending run to take a 27-20 lead to 47-25 advantage after 20 minutes. 

#25 was Durrific. What more can you say about the Douglasville, GA junior in the contest? 32 points, 6-11 from trifecta range and just one foul and one turnover in 36 excellent minutes of court time. She's Asia Durr, the best basketball player in D1 women's college hoops. In keeping with the tradition we've come to expect of her, she passed the accolades on to her teammates: 

"My teammates find me on the court, Coach Walz calls great plays and if I don't have the shot there -- I know I have my teammates to count on. They always help me get hyped. They get me going." 

Daryl Foust, Al Greener and a guy I'm pretty sure isn't
Santa Claus with me in end zone media row. 

The teammates did a wonderful job of energizing Durr, no doubt...but with her seven first quarter points and aided by Myisha Hines-Allen's three baskets, the Cards streaked out to a 23-16 advantage and the normally raucous and rafter-rattling Coliseum was more like a funeral parlor setting, except for the Cardinal fans squeezed into the corners of the big box. 

It was evident that UK came out wanting to run every chance they got but after an early success by Alyssa Rice on a jail-break that got her in front of the Cards' transition defense for a bucket...UK would score no more fast break points. The heralded guard combo of Maci Morris and Taylor Murray was also pretty much kept at bay with just 24 of UK's points and a combined 9-21 shooting. 

Jeff Walz commented on them: 

"They are guards that have the ability to take over a game. We knew they loved to drive to the right. Unfortunately, for the first few minutes we allowed them to do that and they scored. We made some adjustments. Forced them to their left. Defensively, we did a lot of good things."

Coaches Walz and Mitchell exchange views pre-game

Things like holding UK to 34.6% shooting in the first half. Creating turnovers. The Cards forced UK into 16 miscues and scored 22 points off them. Eliminating second chance opportunities. Give that stat to Louisville 20-8. Give the Cards credit for keeping the fans out of the game. And, UK, too...for that matter.

It was over at the half.

Yes, they continued the game and Louisville did outscore the Cats 40-38 in the final twenty. Going into the locker room after the first twenty, UK walked off the court like a defeated team. The scoreboard read 47-25. A second quarter where Louisville dominated 24-9 and where starters Myisha Hines-Allen and Jazmine Jones sat the entire 10 minutes because of two fouls each. 

Their court absence wasn't a factor. Durr remained hot, starters Sam Fuehring and Arica Carter picked up the slack. Dana Evans came off the bench to contribute valuable minutes. 

If there are a better "nine" in the nation than these contributing Cardinals, beside possibly UConn, point them out to me. 

Sam drawing a charge early was big for
the Cards

You control the ball, you control the game. Louisville did that. Out-rebounding UK 36-25. The evolution of Sam Fuehring has been a wonderful thing to watch this season. Give the New Jersey junior 10 points and 10 grabs from Sunday. Maybe "give" is the wrong term. She earned each and every one. Drawing charges. Giving UofL 34 minutes of effort and hustle that wore me out just watching from the end-zone. 

Walz had to be happy with only 11 turnovers. No more than two by any player. Once again, control the ball, control the game. One thing he couldn't talk about, but was a discussion of sorts on media row, was the discrepancy in foul-calling.

The Cards were whistled for 24 infractions. UK 17. Four Cardinals played with four each at the end and two others had three. Another rough outing for the sometimes brilliant, sometimes head-scratch causing Bionca Dunham. Four fouls in three minutes. A couple that could have gone either way. The same thing happened to Jazz Jones. Whistled for four and two of them were "phantom" calls. Louisville normally gets a pretty evenly-called game when big, bald Luis Gonzales has a whistle. Didn't happen Sunday. Mark Zentz was his usual below-average in court officiating and Michael McConnell (Mitch's son, maybe?) might as well have grabbed a seat and enjoyed some popcorn instead of running around and making bad calls and missing infractions. I know, we're positive here at Cardinal Couple, but these guys were less-than-mediocre at best.  

The Cards owned the paint Sunday. 

13-0. It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? A determined and delightful effort in the barnyard for the Cards in front of 5871 (funny, it looked like more than that). About 400 left happy. The others walked out into the misty, late afternoon conditions in Lexington and will wait for Thursday...wondering if Matthew Mitchell can get his first win in four games...against a California team that is 8-2, falling only to #1 UConn and #13 Missouri and winners of their last five. It's our ol' buddy Lindsey Gottlieb coming to visit the Cats and she's got Kristine Anigwe, Asha Thomas and Mikayla Cowling guiding her sleigh as she attempts to deliver a few more lumps of coal to "Kan't-tucky."  

When she shoots, good things usually follow

It's a sweet feeling to finally walk out of that cracker-box after a UofL win. I was there for the last one in 1979...making the trip to cheer on a classmate who was on the team.

This UofL team is something special. I stand humbled in their effort and presence.

The usually flamboyant UK head coach Mitchell, after some early antics, spent long stretches of Sunday's game sitting on the bench with a look of askance, bewilderment and resignation on his face. He has a squad that needs to embrace the concepts of defense and continuity. That's his job...and UK might be able to respond to these needs...but, on Sunday, little of that was present. With classes not starting back up until early January, one would figure he'll be searching for that particular rainbow. 



THE FRED REPORT

It was a "beautiful day in the
neighborhood" for UofL WBB Sunday.
Fred Rogers. In a red sweater. 

F- Free Throws. If there was one area where Louisville could have improved on Sunday's slaughter, it was at the charity stripe. 11-16. Myisha the main culprit with a 0-4 effort. No letter awarded for 68.8%

R- Rebounds - Louisville controlled the boards 36-25. They got over half of those from Myisha and Sam. They out-rebounded their Wildcat counterparts Makenzie Cann and Alyssa Rice 19-4. That'll get you a capital "R" every time. 

E - Effort/Execution - The Cards won the hustle stats convincingly. They got the ball to their scorers. Save for the the disappointing afternoons for Jones and Dunham, they were a crisp and finely-tuned machine. 20-8 second chance points. Game-changer. No problem in extending a capital "E" here. 

D- Defense - Louisville had been holding foes to 55 points a game. Despite Kentucky managing 63, the Cards forced 18 turnovers, allowed just 44.9% from the floor (which was 39% before the fourth quarter) and dominated the paint on both end of the court. We'll give out a capital "D" here. Only Ohio State has managed over 70 points against UofL. 

THE FRED REPORT:  _-R-E-D

Mission accomplished. The Cards move on to explore the wild, blue yonder with a trip to the Air Force Academy on Wednesday. A chance to be the "top guns" once again. Another chance to "fly into the danger zone." and emerge unscathed. 

FOLLOW KENNY'S LEAD

Somewhere, "Goose" is probably smiling...

Goose and Maverick understand UofLs
"need for speed" 

In Louisville, grins are a' plenty. 

UK made some interesting choices. The Cats decided to see if Arica Carter could beat them. Mission Accomplished with 11 points and three threes. They chose to shut down Durr's three attempts and driving to the basket. That worked out well, right? 

The question I had going in was whether Durr and Hines-Allen continue their All-American performances? Mission Accomplished. Fall out, troops, and re-assemble in Colorado. The Empire still stands unblemished...the record perfect. 

The Battle of the Bluegrass goes to the Cards. Convincingly. And, an old curse...the spell of the "winless Cards in Memorial" is broken and put to rest. 

THEY SAID IT:  

MATTHEW MITCHELL POST GAME

MYISHA, ASIA and WALZ POST GAME


paulie
xxxxx

Coaching changes and additions in WBB -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

STEPHANIE WHITE AT VANDY THE RIGHT MOVE

MELANIE BAUCOMB

As of a couple of years ago, the thought of Melanie Baucomb ever leaving Vanderbilt would have drawn a raised eyebrow from me...and many basketball analysis. Not that I consider myself to be a basketball analysis, but she had a good thing going in Nashville and was producing. 310-149 isn't anything to sneeze about. You're winning two out of every three games you coach. How many coaches would snub a 26-13 season if offered to them before the season began? 

Things change. 

After a 15-16 season in 2014-15 and 18-14 mark for the Dores in 2015-16...with no NCAA appearances...there were rumblings that it might be time for a change in Music City. 

STEPHANIE WHITE

Baucomb spared herself the embarrassment of a possible firing by stepping down on April 27th. After 14 years at the SEC school, she indicated that she wanted to spend some time with her family. She also left the door open for a return to another hiring down the road. After all, you can only spend so much time with family before you start second-guessing coaching decision on televised games you're viewing, right? 

The nationwide search for a replacement didn't take that long. Stephanie White was brought on-board to take the reigns and decided to bring ESPN analyst and former national champion coach Carolyn Peck with her as an assistant. 

CAROLYN PECK

White, an excellent player in her own right and having success with the WNBA Indiana Fever, is a splendid choice for Vanderbilt. They'll have the #6 nationally ranked recruiting class to work with coming in. She'll also have the three leading scorers from last year's squad in Christa Reed, Rachel Bell and Rebekah Dahlman returning for their junior seasons.

Should her fellow SEC Coaches be worried? Maybe not this upcoming season, it takes time to set and convince a team on your philosophy and style and there can be bumps in the road...but, beginning in 2017, the 'Dores could very possibly return to the top echelon of SEC WBB. 


UK ADDS LIN DUNN TO WBB STAFF

If Matthew Mitchell is looking to bolster his coaching staff in case he doesn't survive the UK fiasco...or if he wants a few highly regarded second opinions...he's doing quite well in the hiring process. 

Add Lin Dunn to the roster as an assistant for the Cats. Dunn came out of retirement to head to Lexington and help Mitchell reassemble Humpty-Dumpty and if there's anyone who has experienced the X's and O's...it would be her. 

25 years in college for Miami (FL), Ole Miss, Austin Peay and Purdue. Seven NCAA appearances and one Final Four trip. Head Coach of the WNBA's Seattle Storm and Indiana Fever. 

You might say that...if there's anyone who has seen the game of women's basketball from every imaginable aspect possible, would you please raise your hand?...Dunn's hand would be one of the first in the air. That much coaching experience is an asset. Anywhere. 

And, with her hire, it's doubtful she'll be coming in to replace White at Indiana. 

Mitchell is assembling some nice collectibles to assist him in re-filling the curio cabinet at UK. He needs to do a bit of work on the shelf that will store players...and just how much identification will today's players have with the venerable Dunn?...but, as of now,...at least he's brought to Lexington a group of coaches and staff in Dunn, Amber Smith, Kyra Elzy and Niya Butts that would make any dinner table conversation a lively one. 

paulie
xxxxx



  

Kylee Shook invited to USA U 18 tryouts...UK WBB suffers more defections -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

MESA RIDGE STAR SELECTED FOR U 18 TRYOUTS

Incoming UofL WBB freshman Kylee Shook has been selected to tryout for the USA U 18 team. The Cardinal commit and all-time leading rebounder and shot-blocker in Colorado Girls high school history is one of 27 that will compete for the roster in Colorado Springs, CO at the USA Olympic Training Center May 28-30.

Shook is part of the very talented 2016 freshman class that is headed to Louisville. She participated in the McDonald's All American Game earlier this spring with Cardinal commit Ciera Johnson. 


14 of the invitees have prior USA team experience...including Lauren Cox and Crystal Dangerfield...who were on the FIBA U 19 Gold medal squad who competed last summer in Moscow. 

A very nice honor for the Mesa Ridge machine. Best of luck to Kylee in her quest to make the squad! 

_________________________________________________


UK WBB CONTINUES TO SUFFER DEFECTIONS

What in the wide world of women's college basketball is going on Lexington? This story has been weird and continues to get weirder. What is going on with Matthew Mitchell's program? Alexis Jennings...see ya. Add Lindsey Corsaro (2016 commit -- Indianapolis Roncali) and Lindsey Duvall (2017 commit -- Bullitt East) as the latest two defections. Corsaro has reopened her recruitment and Duvall has ruled out the Cats completely.

UK fans are blowing up the message boards and social media with their outrage. Expectedly so...the Cats are down to six scholarship players. Last one in Memorial Coliseum...please turn the lights off. 

A few years ago...it was "Ditch Mitch" It's back...just add a
"ell" to the phrase. 

Is it time for Mitch Barnhart to walk out to the mound and signal for a pitching change? To tell Matthew Mitchell that his days as the head women's basketball coach are over? 

I say yes.

Despite our love here at Cardinal Couple to see the Cards beat Kentucky in all aspects of sports, I feel badly for the embarrassment and prolonged agony that Cat WBB fans are feeling now. This shouldn't have to happen to any fan-base or program. UK WBB fans are a proud and loyal bunch. Pull the plug on this and end the life support. 

It's time for a change of leadership of Kentucky WBB. Damage control hasn't gotten it done. There is no darkest before dawn left for this scenario. Barnhart needs to hang out the closed for renovation sign and start anew. 

paulie
xxxxx

Cards v. Cats in Softball Tonight...Congrats Angel McCoughtry...What up, Matty? -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

#11 KENTUCKY FACING CARDS AT 6 P.M.

The in-state rival between Louisville and Kentucky switches to softball and takes place tonight at Ulmer Stadium. ESPN 3 will air the ball game (Don Russell and Stephanie Cantway are the talking heads). This one will cost $5 if you decide to go. 

The Cards enter the contest at 32-10. UofL bested Syracuse in a three game series 2-1. Louisville recently gained control of second place in the ACC with a 13-5 record.

Kentucky (39-11) enters after a 1-2 series against #4 Alabama. The Cats are third in the SEC with a 14-7 conference mark. 

The two foes were scheduled for an early April game this season but the contest was cancelled due to weather concerns in the Lexington area. With a 60% chance of rain today in the Louisville area...both teams will have their eyes to the skies as game times approaches today. 


Louisville won the last outing between the two...knocking down UK 8-0 in Ulmer Stadium. The all-time record favors the Cats 19-17.

Old foe Kelsey Nunley (18-5) and Megan Prince (17-4) share the pitching duties for Kentucky. At the plate, Sylver Samuel is batting .370 with 19 stolen bases and Abbey Cheek hits for .329 and leads the Cats with nine home runs and 48 RBI's. 

Louisville counters with the pitching duo of Maryssa Becker (19-6) and Megan Hensley (13-4). Becker is the leading swinger for Sandy Pearsall with a .425 batting average and Hensley is batting .372 and leads Louisville with 13 over-the-fence shots. Sidney Melton has had a successful sophomore campaign with a .342 average and has scored a team-high 40 runs. 

Fun times at the ball park tonight (rain, rain...GO AWAY !) when the Cats and Cards step in the circle for softball! 

_________________________________________________


MEANWHILE...IN LEXINGTON...

The beleaguered Kentucky women's basketball program has had their share of body punches recently and Matthew Mitchell has called a press conference today at 1:30. 

He will probably announce that he's hired Kyra Elzy, who Tennessee recently dismissed, as an associate coach. How much further he goes is anyone's guess.  

With five transfer announcements, one dismissal, two de-commits and three coaching changes in the last six months...one would assume he might also want to discuss the state of the program. 

Cardinal Couple will be sending Bill The Goat to cover the presser and (probably) disrupt the proceedings. 

__________________________________________________


CONGRATS TO ANGEL!!

The USA Olympic women's basketball squad has been announced and Louisville's Angel McCoughtry is one of the 12 headed to Rio for Geno Auriemma.

She joins Tamika Catchings, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Brit Griner, Breanna Stewart, Elena Della Donne, Tina Charles, Maya Moore, Lindsay Whalen, Seimone Augustus and Sylvia Fowles on the roster.

Five UConn players. No Candace Parker. Not throwing stones or anything...but Tina Charles over Parker? 

Let's face it...you could probably take 12 of the McDonald's All-American players down there and win the Olympics...but leaving Parker off the squad is just wrong...

paulie
xxxxx

Know the foe....Kentucky has lost players, but remains undefeated -- Wednesday Cardinal Couple

7-0 KENTUCKY WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TO HOST LOUISVILLE THURSDAY NIGHT

The old joke goes:

"Will the last player left on the roster please turn out the lights to the gym?"

Ivana stares in disbelief at Matty's latest hand jive.

It isn't quite that bad in Lexington for Matthew Mitchell's #8 Kentucky Wildcats 2015-16 squad but four roster departures and an injury have left the Cats with eight players available for action when the 3-4 Louisville Cardinals come to visit Thursday night. 

The saga began when incoming freshman Morgan Rich left the squad before even participating in WBB Media Day. According to a University spokesman, she 'had not met certain program standards to practice'. Transfer Chrishae Rowe, a transfer from Oregon, was dismissed for 'failure to uphold standards of the program'. Junior Linnae Harper left the squad next for an unspecified reason. We're not sure if standards were involved here or not...

This is not the UK 2015-16 team photo

Junior Kyvin Goodin-Rogers became the fourth departure of the young season after the win over Jackson State. Add in an foot injury to sophomore Alyssa Rice that will have her out for several games and the UK squad resembles the Von Trapp family in the movie The Sound of Music..disappearing from the stage one-by-one during their final performance.

Mitchell retains a 'glass-half-full' attitude about the squad:

"The sky's definitely not falling. In fact the sun's coming up. There are going to be some storms here and there but I'm not concerned." 

A statement that resembles the famous Bill Murray quote in the movie Caddyshack:

"I don't think the heavy stuff is gonna come down for quite awhile." 

Despite the changes in the UK roster, the Cats are 7-0 and ranked #8 in the nation. They haven't beat up on a very challenging slate of opponents...#24 Arizona State took them to overtime in Tempe in their second game of the season. If you look at the combined win/loss record of the teams UK has played this season, it is an unimpressive 26-25. It's been a schedule that has also featured five home games and a brief jaunt to Highland Heights, KY to play NKU. 

Louisville's next? I'm all-in !!

Two players return that have a penchant for being "Card Killers". Senior Janee Thompson sank Louisville in the KFC YUM! Center with her performance her freshman year. She had 19 against the Cards last year in a 77-68 win at the KFC YUM! Center. She's never lost to Louisville, nor has junior Makayla Epps...who leads UK in scoring and was considered to be in the Louisville camp along with Goodin-Rogers back in high school at Marion County until a late reversal of thinking landed them in Lexington.

Beside the two, only Alexis Jennings has played in the rivalry for UK. Newcomers Evelyn Akhator (Chipola C.C.), Ivana Jakubcova (Murray State College, OK) and freshmen Batouly Camara, Taylor Murray and Bell County product Maci Morris round out a UK squad that averages 86 p.p.g. and has had five different leading scorers in their seven contests this year.

Matthew always seems to be doing something with his hands...

Wins over winless Rice, E. Michigan, Jackson State, Morehead State and NKU aren't exactly RPI builders. A home win over rebuilding Colorado and the Arizona State game lead us to believe that the Cats haven't been tested as strongly as the Louisville squad this season. It's been a UK schedule that Jeff Walz and the Cards probably would have prospered with. 

So, how does Louisville break the UK win streak over them? We'll go into more detail on that in Thursday's column...but stopping the impressive UK dribble-drive attack of Epps, Thompson and Morris has to be near the top of Jeff Walz's list. The Cards will need a strong rebounding effort from Cortnee Walton, Myisha Hines-Allen and Sam Fuehring and late-game lapses that have led to several losses this season can't poke their head into Rupp Arena.

Again...with the hands...

Yes. Rupp Arena. The game will take place there because of NCAA Regional Volleyball action in Memorial Coliseum. Regional volleyball action that the UK Volleyball team expected to be a part of until they were shockingly upended by American University.

The last time the two squads faced there was Jeff Walz's inaugural 2007-08 season...when the Cards took a 80-65 win home. A game where Angel McCoughtry took a bump over the eye that required 17 stitches. She watched the game in the locker room while getting treatment, demanded to be taken back to the floor and returned to play...ending up with 23 points.

With less than 48 hours before the tip-off, we're fairly sure that there will be no additional changes in the UK roster. Thompson was reported to have the stomach flu in the Cats win over NKU, but is expected back for the UofL game. Our attempts to send Epps on an all-expenses paid cruise to Alaska this week didn't come to fruition. 


The Cards will go into Rupp with four players who have experienced the rivalry. They hope to bring thunder and lightning to the blue skies Matthew Mitchell is experiencing these days. If the Cards lose...it wouldn't shock anyone. If they win, though...the storms could get nasty in Lexington.

paulie
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