WBB in Final Four vs SC -- LAX falls 13-12 vs OSU in 2OT -- SB hosts NC State; FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL

 

Good morning readers, welcome April and GAME DAY!   This Final Four run has saved my sanity this week.   My work schedule is picking back up again ahead of the summer months so I look forward to the Cards' biggest fight of the season tonight in the Final Four in Minneapolis. No fooling,  today will be a tough battle for Walz and the Cards

WBB

#1 Louisville vs #1 South Carolina 

The Cardinals and Gamecocks will tip off at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN and 790-AM WKRD

                            LOU     SC 

Scoring               72.2     71.1 

Holds Oppnt       55.2     50.5

FG%                   46%     43%

Holds Oppnt       37%     33%
FT%                   72%     68%

South Carolina leads the all-time series with Louisville 17-4, but just one of those games has come since the two were members of the Metro Conference in the early 1990s.

The Gamecocks won 83-59 decision in the Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Challenge in Springfield, Mass. on 11/27/16.

South Carolina on the National Scale

-South Carolina is playing in its fourth Final Four in the last seven NCAA Tournaments winning their only title in 2017.
-South Carolina leads the nation with 12 wins over ranked opponents this season.
-Leading the nation in rebounding margin (+17.9), South Carolina grabs an SEC-best 45.9 percent of its own missed shots, turning 17.2 offensive rebounds per game into 16.4 points per game.
-The Gamecocks have allowed just 41.2 points per game in this NCAA Tournament. North Carolina (3/25) scoring the most of the group at 61 points.
-South Carolina has a +23.5 advantage on the glass through four games and has out-rebounded all four teams by at least 15.  Aliyah Boston is six rebounds shy the program season record (434) set in 1977-78 by Katrina Anderson.
-In her 22nd season as a head coach, Dawn Staley has taken a team to the NCAA Tournament 16 times. She is 32-14 at the event, including a 30-8 mark at South Carolina.

The Tall Order of Aliyah Boston - AP & Naismith Player of the Year 

Aliyah Boston captured that title via consistent dominance in the form of an NCAA-best 28 double-double, but she is punctuating it with an outstanding NCAA Tournament. Her 16.8 points and 14.3 rebounds per game lead the team, and she's tied for the team lead with eight assists.  She pulled down a season high 22 rebounds vs North Carolina last Friday. 

The Good JuJu for the Cards - Some of my favorite stories leading up to this game 

Excellent quotes in this transcript from Coach Walz presser
https://www.si.com/college/louisville/basketball/walz-previews-south-carolina

Some of my favorite ones:

In reference to a fan and her longtime commitment to the program..  "She was supposed to come before the game to talk to them, but unfortunately she got there a little bit late, and then the next thing I know after I meet with my staff at halftime, she's in there talking to them at halftime.  I think she thinks she's on staff. She does a great job. Our kids love her. Just the passion that she has for life, not just for our team but for life, and her experiences that she's been able to share with our players, as well as many of our fans, it means a lot to them."   

I picture Mrs. Green painting the picture of Shoni Schimmel running circles around Brittney Griner in 2013 (Bring Brittney Griner home) to the squad in the hotel lobby in between practice and film sessions.  Hailey Van Lith was 11 years old when that happened, Payton Verhulst was 9.  

Sidenote: I saw a video of the team walking through the hotel and they all stopped to acknowledge a woman, some even embraced her into a huge hug.... Does anyone know if this woman was Mrs. Green?!  

In reference to the transfer portal and roster adjustments.. "Now you can look and say, hey, what voids do I have; what can I fill in; what areas can I look to increase or get stronger in? Now, I do think you have to be real careful because you've got to make sure you're getting kids that are going to fit into your program, fit into your culture, and make sure they understand what you're trying to do. It's not all about them, and I think that's what's one of the things that we have here is we have kids that want to win, and it goes a long way. I've said it before, when Emily went into the portal last year and we were going to call, the first person I talked to was Mykasa on my team. Mykasa Robinson was going to be the player who was impacted the most if Emily decided to come here because her playing time was going to be impacted.The first thing that she tells me is, Coach, I'm tired of guarding her. If we can get her on our team, let's get her. Because these kids like to win. I think it just speaks volumes for the character of the players that we have here, and their end game is to compete and compete for a National Championship."

In reference to his familiarity with Minnesota.. "Oh, yeah, it's exciting to be coming back. I talked with my wife and my kids, and I can show them my house I bought in Minnesota. I've actually -- I bought the house in a cul-de-sac. I still stay in touch with a few of the neighbors. They've emailed me. They're planning to come to the game."

Its awesome that Coach Walz has established roots all over the country and lifelong cheerleaders.  

Warm fuzzies of the WBB squad going the extra mile 700 miles away
https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/ncaa/article259889525.html

My favorite part:

But in the moments after scoring 22 points to lead her team to the Final Four, being named Most Outstanding Player in the Wichita region and delivering a post-game interview to the ESPN cameras, Van Lith chose to leave the celebration to hop over the barrier, even with a limp, to take pictures and chat with a group of local teenagers she didn’t know.

Two of those girls were Destiny Smith and Naomi White, a pair of sophomores who are up-and-coming players on the Derby girls basketball team that recently played in the Class 6A state championship. They both have Division I dreams of playing college basketball and they aspire to be like the Louisville players they watched on Friday and Monday. Even before the Cardinals were assigned to the Wichita regional, the girls said Louisville was their favorite college basketball team to watch. “I’ve been watching Hailey play since she was in high school,” White said. “I love watching her play. She’s so good. I love her so much.”

If you've been to women's basketball game in the last 15 years and stayed after the final buzzer, you would have noticed these squads delay their showers and media questions until every kid lined up the stairs of the KFC Yum! Center gets their picture and autograph from the players.  And the lines get longer every season.   It should bode well for the Cards to pay it forward.  

LAX

Cards falls to Buckeyes 13-12 in 2OT

The Cards got off to a 3-0 lead before OSU went on a 9-3 run and dominated the second quarter 8-2 as the Cardinals trailed 9-5 at the half.

UofL was down 4 goals at the start of 4th quarter and were able to storm back and tie it up 12 all with 2:03 left in the game. Hannah Morris scored 5 of he Cards last 6 goals to get them there. Morris’ six goals marked a career-high, while her five second half goals are tied for the second most in Louisville program history.

The Buckeyes were held scoreless in the 4th quarter and first overtime period. 

Nicole Perroni received a yellow card and was ruled out for the final 2 after her stick hit the head of the OSU player.  She scored twice for UofL and had 5 of the team's 9 Draw Controls. 

With a minute left and the rain picking up at Cardinal Stadium, J Pleck had a huge save to push it to OT.  And then it went to 2OT. 

UofL took huge shot off the knee near the goal, possibly saving a game winning goal and the Cards got the ball back and OSU got the yellow card.  

However, UofL wasn't able to take advantage and the Buckeyes got the ball back when the Cards charge.  OSU went scoreless for 21+ minutes and it looked as if Ohio State was content to head to a third overtime but Nicole Ferrara found Lindsay Epstein with less than a second remaining for the game-winner. 

Jaws were on the floor after the final buzzer.  That is one that Scott Teeter and the squad will lose sleep over, I'm sure.  

With the loss, Louisville moves to 5-7 on the year, Ohio State improves to 8-4.  

Softball

Louisville @ NC State

Friday 6 P.M.

Cardinals bring an 18-13 overall record and a 2-4 mark in ACC play into the weekend.

Louisville leads 11-8, Louisville defeated NC State 5-4 on Feb. 20, 2021 at Dail Stadium. NC State enters the weekend with a 23-12 overall record following a pair of midweek wins against UNCW (3-2) and Charlotte (9-4). The Wolfpack carry a 3-9 ACC mark.
• Logan Morris is ranked 3rd in the ACC with a .420 batting percentage and is tied for second with 10 home runs to lead the Wolfpack's offense. As a team, the Wolfpack lead the league with 62 home runs.
• Sam Gress leads NC State pitching staff with a 2.79 ERA and Aisha Weixlmann has earned 10 wins on the mound.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour -- As far as I know, the whole gang will be in tow for the show.  Pleeeeease, Basketball Gods, let us have some F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C news to cover! 

As Always, 

Go Cards!

~Daryl 

VB beats Miami in 4 sets - WBB adds two grad transfers - SB schedule altered; FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL

Good morning L'ville fans.. It has been a roller coaster of basketball experience over the past week so I'll give a few thoughts on that.  Want to also include a personal note that my work schedule has picked back up since last year's shut down.  I'm excited to get back out at the ballfield at Slugger this year for Bats baseball games as well as continuing to work at the ACCN building for Olympic sport video production.  I plan on being out there for the entire ACC tournament!

Now that basketball is over in the Ville, I'm flipping to the diamond sport mode!

A quick reflection- We were blessed with an Elite 8 berth by the WBB program, a #1 ranking and regular season title, another ACC Championship appearance and the fierce, fabulous and classy career of Dana Evans, who took this program to new heights.

  

On Sunday the Cards beat the Ducks to advance to face the tournament's overall #1 seed, Stanford.  I do believe we witnessed Dana return to the confident scoring machine we know and love as well as the establishment of next year's team leader, Mykasa Robinson.

Speaking of next year's squad... The Cards did end up being a landing spot for a couple grad transfers!  One of them I am particularly a fan of!

Louisville Adds Emily Engstler, Chelsie Hall to 2021 Class

Engstler joins the squad after three seasons at Syracuse, Hall the last four seasons at Vanderbilt.

Engstler, a 6-foot-1 guard from New York, N.Y., started all 31 games for the Orange as a sophomore prior to coming off the bench as a junior last season and earning ACC Co-Sixth Player of the Year honors.

As a junior, she nearly averaged a double-double with 10.5 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. She had 12 double-digit scoring games and seven double-doubles last season. She finished with a season-high 21 points, while adding 10 rebounds in the ACC Tournament matchup against Louisville. She also had 16 points, 11 rebounds and a steal on 7-14 shooting % against the Cards as the team debut their first ever #1 ranking.

Engstler was named the 2018 New York State Gatorade Player of the Year and a McDonald's All-American.

"We are thrilled to add such a talented player and quality person to our roster. Emily is one of the top rebounders and shot blockers in the country," said head coach Jeff Walz. "Emily's versatility, size and strength will be a huge addition to our team. Her passing, basketball IQ and toughness will be contagious. We are looking forward to getting her on campus and beginning her new journey in a Cardinal uniform."

"I'm grateful to be given a new opportunity during this time in my life," said Engstler. "I hope for a new beginning that's filled with hope and much to celebrate."

Hall is a 5-foot-7 guard from Boca Raton, Fla. She spent the last four seasons at Vanderbilt. She was named to the SEC All-Freshman team in 2017-18 after starting all 31 games and averaging 11.9 points and 3.5 rebounds during her rookie campaign. During that rookie season, she played at the KFC Yum! Center with Vanderbilt, finishing with 16 points, three rebounds and two assists.

As a junior, she started all 30 games and was named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll after leading the team in free throw percentage (.813), assists (117) and minutes (972). Her 3.9 assists per game ranked eighth in the SEC. She averaged 10.6 points per game and reached double-figures in 18 games, including two 20-point performances.

In 2020-21, Hall started all eight games of Vanderbilt's shortened season. She reached 1,000 career points on January 10 against Alabama.

Hall attended Seffner Christian in Tampa, Fla., and was a first team all-state selection as a junior and senior.

"We are excited to announce the addition of graduate transfer Chelsie Hall from Vanderbilt. Chelsie is a consummate floor general who is poised and plays with great pace," said Walz. "She is a seasoned SEC guard who has started all four years for the Commodores. She brings with her a career positive assist-to-turnover ratio and she is a 1,000-point scorer."

"I am grateful and excited for this new journey," said Hall. "I can't wait to be a part of this special program."

VOLLEYBALL WINS AT MIAMI

#13 UofL got the 3-1 win over Miami in ACC volleyball action Thursday evening in Coral Gables, Fla. 25-12, 23-25, 25-23 and 25-16 were the set numbers. The VolleyCards clinched a tie for the regular season ACC title with the win. 

Nena Mbonu tied a career-high with 14 kills to lead. UofL hit .276 with seven aces, 14 blocks and 49 digs. Joining Mbonu in double digit kills was Anna Stevenson with 10 kills and seven blocks and Anna DeBeer with 11 kills and ace. Alexis Hamilton paced the defense with 12 digs and Amaya Tillman recorded six blocks. Tori Dilfer ran the offense with 49 assists and added six blocks.
Miami hit .127 with four aces and eight blocks. The Canes were led by Elizaveta Lukianova's 18 kills and four blocks.

The win clinches at least a share of the ACC crown as the Cardinals move to 12-2 in the league as Notre Dame (13-3) swept Georgia Tech to bump the Yellow Jackets out of the top two. Louisville will need to take down North Carolina to clinch the ACC's automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament.

The Cardinals face the Tarheels this afternoon in the regular season finale. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. It will be the Heels' 4th consecutive ranked opponent.. UNC 1-2 in those matches, losing the previous two.

SOFTBALL

UofL softball series at Pittsburgh has been altered due to cold weather projected in the area. This will be the second delay for the series. The teams will now open the series on Saturday with a doubleheader starting a 2 p.m. at Pitt's Vartabedian Field. The Cardinals and the Panthers will also play a single game at 2 p.m. on Sunday with the series finale taking place on Monday at 12 p.m. All games will be shown on the ACC Network Extra.

The Cards will return home following the series to face #8 Kentucky on Wednesday night April 7th at 7 PM. The Cats will face the #21 Tennessee Volunteers on the road this weekend before meeting the Cards at Ulmer Stadium for a midweek matchup.

NCAA WOMENS FINAL FOUR

If you happen to still care... the WBB Final Four starts tonight in San Antonio.  Personally, I'll be rooting for Dawn Staley and the USC Gamecocks to cut down the nets.  Not sure I'll actually tune in for the games, however. 

Stanford vs South Carolina 6:00PM

UCONN vs Arizona 9:30PM

I have a few meetings planned for Saturday with softball out of town so I am out for radio, Jared might be tied up with family so it should be Jeff Paul and Case to dissect the weeks events.  

Until next time Cardinals fans! 
~Daryl 

ASIA DURR NAMED TO AP FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICAN -- SOFTBALL TODAY -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR FOR 'NITE-NITE' ON AP SQUAD


She's the first player in the Cards program history to get the back-to-n=back accolades.

Asia Durr returns to the Associated Press All-American first team...joining some talent seniors and a junior on the squad. Out of the 28 "voters", Durr received first team votes from 25 of them. Her season ended with her averaging 21.2 ppg, which was the fourth highest scoring average in program history. Only she and Angel McCoughtry have received this esteemed honor among UofL WBB players.


  The other First Team selections: 

-- Napheesa Collier (UConn) 6'1 senior . 27/28 first team votes, 138 points. --

-- Megan Gustafson (Iowa)  6'3" senior.  26/28 first team votes, 136 points. -- 

-- Sabrina Ionescu (Oregon)  5'11" junior  26/28 first team votes,  136 points -- 

-- Teaira McCowan, (Mississippi St.)  6'7" senior  20/28 first team votes, 124 points --


The sportswriters who get these votes (and I ain't one of them, sadly) name second and third teams, as well, and an honorable mention list.

One has to wonder why Sam Fuehring didn't make any of these teams or even the honorable mention list. One has to wonder who (if anyone) from our fair city gets the ballot(s) and if they know much about WBB?  You can't convince me that Sam Fuehring is not one of the best 33 players in DI WBB this year. Three Mississippi State players were selected in the top 33. How's your season going, Vic Schaefer?

Give me a break. 

The other two teams are: 

2nd team: Ogunbowale (ND), Brown (Baylor), Anigwe (Cal), Smith (Stanford), Carleton (Iowa State). 

3rd team: Samuelson (UConn), Shepard (ND), Cox (Baylor), Cunningham (Missouri), Young (Notre Dame).

In case you stopped following the NCAA WBB tournament after the Cards got knocked out...the Final Four consists of Baylor vs. Oregon and Notre Dame vs. UConn. The semifinals are Friday night with the Championship game on Sunday, April 7th. 

I have all four finalists in my bracket challenge picks, how about you? The Cardinal Couple Bracket Challenge tournament Director Jared "I'll get around to those totals, I promise" Anderson says he'll have updated standings in tomorrow's article. I think I'm 46-14 going into the Final Four.  Sonya at 43-16, but, after a while looking at circled correct picks and scratched out wrong picks, I get dizzy.

Miami was my worst selection, along with NC State. Sonya had the Cards facing Mississippi State in the final game. 

(I've already had an individual e-mail me their starting lineup for the Cards in the 2019-2020 season. No, it wasn't Coach Walz. I think this person must be related to Nostradamus or Charlie Creme). 


SOFTBALL FACES LIPSCOMB TODAY

Louisville Softball (22-12) is having a pretty good season and you get the chance to see the "Funky" Cards in action today if you head down to Ulmer Stadium for the 5 p.m. first pitch against Lipscomb.

The Lady Bisons are 23-12-1 on the season and participate in the Atlantic Sun Conference. They took two out of three over the weekend against visiting North Florida. At the plate, Cardinal pitchers will need to be wary of Jordan Fortel, who is batting .411 and has five fence-clearers and Hannah Devault, who has sent six softballs out of the ballpark. 

Terrific Taylor

The Cards are led by red-shirt freshman Taylor Roby at the plate, she's batting .351. Celene Funke has nine triples on the season, tied for first in DI softball. Sidney Melton has pilfered 18 bases this year for the Cards and Megan Hensley is the ace of the Cardinal pitching staff so far with a 9-2 record. 

Surprisingly, Lipscomb leads the overall series with the Cards 3-1 and downed Louisville 3-1 last year at Draper Diamond in Nashville.

I was having a bit of fun formulating my "all-Taylor" team for UofL women's athletics last night. My top five are: 

 Taylor Bucklin (soccer), Taylor Stone (Field Hockey), Taylor Johnson (WBB), Missy Taylor (WBB) and Taylor Roby. 

Got one or two to challenge these? Add 'em in the comments section.  


TARHEEL TROUBLE? 

Interesting news out of Chapel Hill, NC yesterday. 

It seems the entire coaching staff of the University of North Carolina women's basketball program, including Hall-of-Fame head coach Sylvia Hatchell, have been placed on paid administrative leave by the University while a review of the program's culture takes place. 

Unspecified issues (for now) from student-athletes and others are the reason for the review. The law firm of Dewey, Cheatum and Howe...oops! Parker, Poe, Adams & Bernstein out of Charlotte, NC will conduct and assess the program. No time frame for this has been provided, but the review will be "thorough and prompt", according to UNC officials. 

Surprise and shock seem to be the most common reaction to this self-mandated review. Several players currently on the squad say they have no idea why this is being done and who is prompting it. 

Yeah, sure, we all know Janelle Bailey -- UNC freshman forward -- is a temperamental sort and her suspension for going after Duke forward Jade Williams during the last game this season between the two rivals was a situation that was pretty messy and uncalled for. Fortunately, cooler heads stepped in before it got too-out-of-control.

But, this is not about Janelle directly. It is about the coaches of the program. This could turn out to be pretty interesting, we'll keep an eye on it and report further on it as it progresses. As for culture? That's a slippery slope to ever try and define and assess. This might take awhile. Things always seem to, when it comes to UNC athletics.

UNC has had their share of controversies in women's basketball over the years. The highly recruited 2013 UNC class, led by Diamond DeShields and featuring Stephanie Mavunga, Allisha Gray and Jessica Washington was gone by 2015. DeShields ended up at Rocky Top, with Mercedes Russell...another one that was highly linked with that class but waved off the invite to join them. 

So....what say you, Sylvia?

“I’ve had the privilege of coaching more than 200 young women during my 44 years in basketball,” her statement read. “My goal has always been to help them become the very best people they can be, on the basketball court and in life.

“I love each and every one of the players I’ve coached and would do anything to encourage and support them. They are like family to me. I love them all.

“Of course, I will cooperate fully in this review. I look forward to a prompt conclusion of this matter and the continuation of our very successful women’s basketball program.”

Whoever prepared the statement for her (and she has lawyered up) is/are the master(s) of non-sequiturs. Remember the Sylvia comment from back in 2015?

“There has been a lot of speculation surrounding our program in recent weeks and that’s all that it is – speculation,” coach Sylvia Hatchell said in a statement. “Our players are working every day to get better and I appreciate their efforts. A number of former players have reached out to me with their support. We have a strong and loyal Tar Heel family.”



Have a tremendous Tuesday!

paulie
xxxxx

Walz Hits 299... Sports Playing Today... Final Four -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Jeff Walz Nears the 300 Win Mark

The victory over Oregon State not only sent UofL WBB to the Final Four, but it brought Jeff Walz within one win away from 300 wins at Louisville.

His record of 299-95 (0.759) is the best of any coach in Louisville women’s basketball history.  A win against Mississippi State Friday night would be a nice milestone to add to a historic season.  Let’s hope he finishes with 301 going into the offseason.

Lax Visits Brown

At 1:00 p.m., today, you can catch Louisville Lacrosse taking on Brown in the large state of Rhode Island.  The school, located in Providence, has close to 9,400 students, and charges an arm and a leg and a few other body parts to attend the high-academic-profile school.

The Bears are 5-4 on the season and carry a 3-1 homefield record.  Keep an eye on Brown’s leading scorer Risa Mosenthal.  The attacker has 35 goals on the season.  Louisville’s Tessa Chad and Caroline Blalock are tied for first for the Cards with 33 apiece.

Louisville is 6-5 on the season.  They lead the all-time series against Brown 2-0, winning in Orlando last year and at home in 2016.

The Ivy League Network will have video, but unless you are subscribed to the ILN you won’t be able to view it.  If anyone has login information to view that feel free to share with the rest of us!

Asia Durr Named All-American

It is quite an honor to be named an All-American and is Durrrr-ific to be named to the first team.  “Nite-nite” joins Sabrina Ionescu (Oregon), Kelsey Mitchell (Ohio State), Katie Lou Samuelson (UConn), and A’ja Wilson (South Carolina) on the list.  Nobody tell Muffet that Arike Ogunbowale was named to the second team.

Golf Concludes Anuenue Spring Break Classic

No matter what place you finish I consider a trip to Hawaii a pretty good time.  Women’s golf finishes up the Anuenue (Rainbow) Spring Break Classic today.  They are in a tight race against Hawaii, Oregon State, Santa Clara, and Long Beach State.

This complex sport involves yelling “fore”, scoring a six, but writing down “five”.

Softball Visits Lipscomb

Hop on I-65 and head south for about two and a half hours and you can catch softball taking on Lipscomb in the Music City.  The Cards have struggled, going 2-4 in their last six games.  They hope to turn things around against the 19-9 Bisons.  (Note: Lipscomb athletics has the official name listed as “Bisons” and not “Bison” on their website.)

A midweek win over a non-conference opponent doesn’t do much in terms of strength of schedule, but the 22-9 Cards are looking for as many wins as they can get as they are now in the back half of the season.

Danielle Watson and Megan Hensley have had solid seasons in the circle so far this season and both sit at ERA’s of under 2.7.  The duo have a combined 159 strikeouts compared to 155 hits allowed and 91 walks.

Offensively, Louisville has struggled to put runs on the board.  Perhaps the bats can get hot tonight and stay hot for the remainder of the season.

The game is listed as ESPN3 for viewing purposes so have a smartphone or computer handy and ready to go.

Home Run counter: Megan Hensley (2), Caitlin Ferguson (2), Jenna Jordan (2), Nicole Pufahl (1), Alison Szydlowski (1), Riley Schindler (1), Sidney Melton (1).

Cardinal Couple Prepares for the Final Four

Paul and I received confirmation of our media passes yesterday so we will be in attendance to cover Louisville vs Mississippi State Friday night at 7:00 pm.  Our courageous leader will face the never-ending line of media on the row giving live updates and maybe a few Tweeted typos as the game progresses.  I will join the interesting ranks of the photographers as we all mumble and groan over the ref getting in the way of what would have been a perfect shot.

Enjoy your Wednesday and I hope to see many of you in a couple of days!

Jared

Final Four, Softball and Comeford...FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

IS IT ANOTHER UCONN CORONATION THIS WEEKEND? 

Best mascot duo in the NCAA

We've come to the epoch and pinnacle of the women's college basketball season -- The Final Four. Four teams have survived the challenges, done the deeds and are currently on four-game win streaks in the tournament. The quest, of course, is to win your final six games of the year. Let's look at the participants. 

UCONN.  Is this another UConn coronation and Geno Invitational? The Huskies have certainly done nothing wrong in getting to Dallas. They did, if you recall, beat Mississippi State by 60 last year in the regional final. This is, though, an almost completely different UConn team than the Stewie, Moriah and Morgan bunch that delivered that beat-down. Katie Lou Samuelson, Gabby Williams, Napheesa Collier and Kia Nurse are the lead dogs in Geno's Husky sled and, although I don't forsee another 60 point romp across the tundra over the Bulldogs...it's not hard to see UConn winning a highly competitive game in this dog versus dog matchup and earning a Sunday berth in the final.  

MISS ST.  We all know how good Victoria Vivians is. The height factor definitely in the Bulldog camp with 6'7" Teaira McCowan and 6'5" Chinwe Okorie. Morgan William wowed college basketball with her 41-point spree against Baylor and won a lot of hearts with her emotional post-game interview. The key for them is getting the ball to the explosive guards and the bigs being on hand for any mop-up or putback work needed. You win the game by scoring the most points, right? The Bulldogs would like to see a high scoring affair here and this probably isn't going to be an intense defensive battle. 

THE PICK: Let's go with......drum roll, please.....UConn in a close win, maybe less than five points. 

STANFORD.  The West Coast representative gets it done by playing team basketball. Gone are the days of Candice Wiggins, Jane Appel and the Ogwumike sisters. This team had had six different leading scorers throughout the season. Yes, there is a Samuelson here also. Katie's older sister Karlie. Erica McCall and Brittany McPhee are the leading scorers and will do battle with the impressive South Carolina paint dwellers. Here's the thing about The Cardinal. Don't cont them out if they fall behind. They came back from a 16 point deficit in the second half to win against Notre Dame and they have trailed  by at least seven in five out of their last six games. 

"We're playing in THAT region? Again?"

SOUTH CAROLINA.  When Alana Coates went down with her season-ending injury...a lot of people put the Gamecocks chances of a Final Four bid on the bench as well. Someone, however, forgot to tell A'ja Wilson and Kaela Davis that they were supposed to stop winning. Some will argue the USC had the easiest path to the Final Four...with games against UNC Asheville, Arizona St., Quinnapiac and Florida St. Maybe so, but they won the games, they survived and advanced and they had to do the last two 2637 miles away from their campus.

I will tell you that this game just may come down to how well guards Allisha Gray and freshman Tyasha Harris play. This is a great contest that puts two very successful and demanding coaches in Dawn Staley and Tara VanDerveer up against each other.


THE PICK: South Carolina grabs an early lead and then fights to hold onto it late. Kaela Davis is on a mission and she guides to 'Cocks past the Trees. South Carolina by three. 

Speaking of coaches and women, check out this interesting read about women and coaching :  Numbers in women's coaching plummeting



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SOFTBALL STARTS THREE GAME SERIES WITH NOTRE DAME SATURDAY. 

We're previewing this series a bit early because tomorrow we hope to present you with an exclusive interview with future Card LORETTA KAKALA. 

The Cards and Irish square off for a three-game series at Ulmer Stadium that will feature coverage on the ACC Network Extra and ESPN on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Notre Dame (17-13) is in the midst of a five game win streak that saw them triumphant over Michigan State, Eastern Michigan and sweeping Virginia Tech in a three-game series. The Irish ae 4-5 in ACC play. 

Louisville (20-8) enters after defeating Indiana 2-1 Wednesday night. The Cards have a 4-0 record in the ACC...second best to Florida State's 12-0 conference mark. The Seminoles are having a super season at 32-1-1. 

The rain today should be long gone by Saturday and the forecast shows temperatures in the high sixties-low seventies for Saturday and Sunday...with a slight chance of rain Monday. 


Louisville will look to the hot bats of Jamie Soles (.370), Nicole Pufahl (.358) and Maryssa Becker (.321) to get them past an Irish pitching staff that features Rachel Nasland (9-5) and has a combined ERA of 3.58. In the circle, the Cards will hope Becker (15-5) can continue her strong performance against the Hoosiers against these other Indiana natives. 




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COMERFORD GETS ACC AWARD

Sophomore Mallory Comeford has made a big splash (sorry about the pun) in her two years as a Cardinal swimmer. She's an NCAA Champion and is now also the ACC swimmer of the Year. 

She was Freshman of the Year last year. We see a trend here. 

The sophomore made history at the NCAA Championships when she tied for first in the 200 freestyle. She had six other podium finishes, earning her All-America honors at the meet, and recorded two new conference records. At ACC Championships, Comerford had two first, two second and a third place finish


paulie
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Louisville Softball Slugs past UNC...Final Four a foregone conclusion?...Radio replay -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

BATS STAY HOT IN CARDS 9-5 WIN

We mentioned on THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR show yesterday how impressed we were with Louisville Softball's slugging ability as of late. The Hit and Pitch Cards must have been listening...cracking three home runs and producing 11 hits in the 9-5 win. 

Two games were scheduled for yesterday but rain concerns pushed the start time of the first back nearly four hours and it was decided to play the double-header today. 

UNC tried to flood the Cards early...with a two-run first inning that included a home run by the Tar Heels' Kristen Brown off UofL starting picture Maryssa Becker. 

It took Louisville (24-6) a couple of innings to get the bats working but in the top of the third Jordan Vorbrink tripled for UofL's first hit of the contest. She was thrown out at home on a fielder's choice from Sidney Melton but it left two Cards on the bags for Becker...who cleared the right field fence for her sixth "touch 'em all" of the season. 

UNC battled back to take a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the inning but the Cards regained a 5-4 lead in the fourth when Nicole Pufahl singled and rode a Vorbrink home run to the plate. The Cards later brought three runs across in the sixth...getting a solo home run from Brittany Sims and RBI hits from Melton and Becker. UofL tacked on a final fun in the seventh when Lillie Goetz tripled and scored on a Jenna Jordan single.

Becker (13-4) was keeping the TarHeels bats stuck at home plate...going three innings of perfect pitching before allowing a final UNC run in the seventh. 

They'll play two today...starting at 9:30 a.m. We know the noon game will be shown on ESPN 3. You can follow the first game at: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=125051&a=1 

Keep those bats smokin', Cards! 

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NCAA WBB FINAL FOUR TODAY

It's "go" time at 6 p.m. this evening as the women's college basketball world works toward a Final Two. Oregon State will try to ruin the Connecticut Huskies march to their fourth straight title in the first contest and upstarts Syracuse and Washington will vye for the chance to face the winner on Tuesday about 30 minutes after the first game. 

ESPN is the home for the two games up in Indianapolis and rumors are there are plenty of tickets to be had at discounted prices in the area if you should want to make the trip and do a little freelancing today. 

Oregon State has complied an impressive season. Can they take it a step further and slay the giant? Realistically, nope...probably not...but they might as go ahead and play anyway because everyone remembers the Easter miracle a few years ago when Louisville was give no chance against Baylor. 

The second game will probably be a lot more exciting, we surmise. Both teams are making their first-ever Final Four debut and not many expected either would be there. Syracuse knocked out the Sioux Falls top seed in South Carolina, plus a determined Tennessee squad to advance to the Indy date. Washington ran over Maryland, Kentucky and Stanford...in what must be considered major upsets...to earn the right to dance on the first Sunday in April. 

Will you watch? Who do you want to win? How many times will the ESPN announcers heap praise uopn the Huskies program and refer to the other three schools as "cinderellas"? Give us your take on the progression from March Madness to April Advancement...in our comments section. 

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RADIO, SCHAMADIO...

The archived replay of our Saturday broadcast of The CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR soon be available on the SoundCloud at Crescent Hill RADIO later this morning. 

It was a great broadcast...Clay "Point" Barnes was in studio with us and we learned all about the ins-and-outs of sports videography. If you missed the live broadcast, you don't want to miss the re-broadcast. You can go to the Crescent Hill website to access it at: www.crescenthillradio.com

or click this LINK: https://soundcloud.com/chradio/cardinal-couple-20160402

paulie
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