CARDS 64 - CATS 58 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 THREE IN DOUBLE FIGURES IN WBB WIN OVER UK

Kianna Smith is presented her 1,000 pt. ball 

Another season, another Louisville women's basketball win over Kentucky. 

Another close affair, the Cards having to overcome a 54-53 UK lead with 3:37 left in the game, but...to the delight of 12,167 fans in the KFC YUM! Center...the Cards ended the contest on a 11-4 run and #7 Louisville improved to 8-1 on the season. 

Chelsie Hall led UofL with 15 points and Ahlana Smith and Hailey Van Lith added 13 each in the win. Credit a Cards 32-28 point edge in the paint, 21-9 edge in points-off 21 UK turnovers and holding UK star Rhyne Howard to just nine points on 3-13 shooting to give Louisville their fifth straight win over UK. The Cards won the battle of the guards on a night where Olivia Cochran left in the third quarter with a blow to the head and Liz Dixon saw just seven minutes and had just two points. In a game of runs, it was Louisville's final one that spelled the difference. 

A tightly called contest where 36 fouls were whistled, three technical fouls were issued and Kianna Smith fouled out with eight minutes to go. The "over-attentive" refereeing drew the ire of the Cardinal faithful -- Cardinal favorite Eric Brewton seemed to be on a mission to call the slightest hint of any contact and UK, for all their determination to hang with the Cards, seemed intent on giving the ball back to Louisville. The Cats had 23 turnovers and the Cards 10 steals. 

Louisville did build a 19-13 first quarter lead, but managed just two points in the final five minutes of the second quarter to go in down by one at halftime 33-32. A final five minutes of the first half that started with the Cards holding a 30-22 lead, but 1-5 shooting and a questionable technical foul called on Olivia Cochran after blocking a UK shot and looking at a UK player led to two Howard free throws. Let's order a set of horse blinkers for "O", I guess. 

 

It wasn't the best of nights for UK's potential ALL-American. She went 3-13 from the floor, had just seven rebounds in 39:30 minutes. Constantly frustrated by the Cards switching defensive tactics, she failed to score in the second half. 

Louisville used a withering defense to hold UK scoreless for the first six minutes of the final half.  During that strettch, the Cards built a eight point lead (43-35) and outscored UK 12-6 in the quarter. UK shot 1-13 in the third and one had to be optimistic that Louisville had this one if they could continue the defensive pressure. 

UK wasn't having it. 

With the Cards leading 49-42 after an Engstler steal and layup, UK got a timeout and started to chip away at the led. A 5-0 run had them within two at 49-47 with 6:26 to go and they tied it 30 seconds later on two free throws from the aptly named Treasure Hunt. A Hall steal and layup put Uofl back ahead but UK gained a 54-53 lead after a Howard block and Dre'una Edwards layup on a fast break. 

3;37 remained in the game. How would the Cards respond? 

The answer is...impressively. Ahlana Smith knocked down a jumper and Van Lith sunk a fast break layup to put UofL back up by four. Smith nailed another jumper to make it 59-54 with 1:41 to play. Cardinal fans started breathing a bit easier. UK's final points came with 84 seconds to play on an Edwards jumper.  A clutch bucket by Van Lith (she had eight fourth-quarter points) and three Hall free throws... after a technical on UK coach Kyra Elzy (who was a bit upset that a foul had not been called on Kasa Robinson after a Howard missed shot).secured the win. 

A win that sent Cardinal fans home happy. A win that UK tried to prevent, but, ultimately, fell out of their reach, despite 7-14 fourth quarter shooting. Turnovers will get you almost every time and the Cats six miscues in the fourth were a key factor in sending them back eastward on I-64 after the game with a loss and 6-3 record. 

THE FRED REPORT

As Fred Rogers used to say, it was
a beautiful day in Cardinal-hood Sunday 

Free Throws -- The Cards went 8-12 from the charity stripe,...getting four of them from Hall. 66% does not meet our 70% standard for a letter, though, so no letter here. 

Rebounds -- We had a 37-37 tie in the board grabbing category/ Engstler led Louisville with 10....no one else had more than five. We didn't lose the battle of the boards, so I'll award a small-case "r" for the effort/ 

Effort/Execution -- A 40% shooting night for Louisville (26-65) and just 13 turnovers. I'm not thrilled about the 4-13 three point effort, nor just nine assists -- but the overall effort got the Cards the win and I'll award a small-case "e" .

Defense -- I liked what I saw on the defensive end. UK shot 38.9%. They had 21 turnovers. The Cards had 10 steals and six blocked shots, winning both those categories handily. I have.no hesitations in handing out a CAPITAL "D".  Our defense won this one for us.

FINAL FRED TALLY:  _-r-e-D

We spoke at length at the start of the seasson about the Cards depth at guards and that was the area that UofL excelled in Sunday afternoon. Ahlana Smith and Chelsie Hall had 28 points, add in Van Lith's 13 and those three guards had 64% of our scoring. And none of the three are over 5'8". 

Louisville brings in Eatern Kentucky next -- on Thursday at 8 p.m.  A game scheduled when Samantha Williams was still coaching the Colonels. A nice tune-up for UConn next Sunday. 

(PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON)

THEY SAID IT:

: 

POST GAME WALZ

POST GAME CHELSIE HALL/AHLANA SMITH

paulie

    

L's UP in Rupp -- UofL WBB 67 - UK 66 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS PREVAIL IN ONE-POINT SUNDAY THRILLER

"Hey, ref

Head Louisville women's basketball coach Jeff Walz will tell you that the objective is to win games in the coaching world. Mission accomplished yesterday in  a packed, noisy Rupp Arena where 11,256 predominately blue-clad fans witnessed the exciting 67-66 UofL win. 

Matthew Mitchell, skipper of UKWBB, described it as finishing one play short of the objective. He was correct as well, UK with a chance to take the lead on the final possession and falling just short of the goal. You can't blame one player for a loss...ever...but either the shot goes in or it doesn't. Thankfully, it missed. 

A great view of Matty's bald spot in the coaches pre game chat. 

If this game didn't thrill you, have you on the edge of your seat and raise the pulse and emotional level in you yesterday...head to the doctor and see if you are human or cyborg. The annual UK vs. UofL yearly rivalry game felt like a regional final or, dare I say it, a Final Four type of contest instead of a pre-conference tilt between two top 15 squads who had one loss between them prior to the contest. The pre-game aura was electric, an anticipation (correctly so) of a contest that all wanted and thought might be exciting.



The battle of the Bluegrass, hoops style, began with the Cards jumping out to an early 8-3 lead after four minutes of action. Three different Cardinals scoring and Louisville avoiding what most Cardinal fans hoped they would -- a slow start. UK devised their own "comeback Cats" strategy, though, and it was centered around two players -- powerful Rhyne Howard scoring from everywhere and KeKe McKinney dropping threes on the Cardinal defense. The Cats grabbed a 16-15 lead with 2:10 left in the first but Louisville went on a 6-0 run to finish the quarter, Liz Dixon and Dana Evans leading the charge to give Louisville a 21-16 lead after one. 

UK was not backing off, though. Howard went on a second quarter, seven-point opening run to tie the contest at 25-25. Sabrina Haynes buried a deep three and drew a foul from Jazmine Jones to give the Cats a four-point edge halfway through the second quarter, and the media timeout couldn't have come at a better time for the Cards -- UK was on a 13-4 run in the quarter and led 29-25. The Cards managed to stay just four points behind until the final 106 seconds. Then, a half closing, Howard-led, 7-2 run changed a 33-29 score into a nine-point UK jaunt that had Louisville on their heels 40-31 at the intermission. 

A 24-10 quarter for Big Blue, Howard had 15 of the second quarter points and 20 overall in the game on 7-15 shooting. Dana led Louisville with 11 points but the Cards, simply put, had to find a way to shut down the superb sophomore 

They accomplished the task.

Howard was held to two made free throws in the third quarter, Louisville went on a 13-0 run that spanned the final three minutes of the third and turned a 55-45 deficit into a 58-55 lead. Yacine Diop exploded for six crucial points in the run. Louisville shot 64.7% in the session after halftime. Howard got just one look and missed it. Kylee Shook nailed two threes in the quarter and Dana added seven points to turn this one around in Lexington and the elated UK crowd had been partially silenced. The Cards led by three with ten minutes to go. Diop, Dunham, Jones and Shook had silenced the threat. Could they hang on, though? 

The fourth started and three minutes passed before either team could add to their point total. UK reserve Jaida Roper was fouled on a three-point attempt and sank two of her three free throw attempts to draw the Cats within one. A huge blocked shot by Kylee Shook (she had five in the game) got the ball to Louisville and Diop scored her final bucket to push the lead back to three. 45 seconds later, Jaz pulled up for a jumper and sent Cardinal fans and the UofL bench into a frenzy when it went through the net. 

Here came UK again, though. KeKe drained another three and suddenly it was 62-60 Cards and 4:52 showing on the clock. The Cards were trying to hang on and over a minute and a half of frantic hoops passed before the next points -- Howard bullying her way into the paint for two and a potential lead-changing free throw. The "gimmie" wouldn't drop, however and with 2:37 remaining, Diop found Shook for a jumper that put the Cards up 64-62. After a Howard bucket to tie it again , the possible play of the game occurred when Evans spotted Kylee alone past the three-point line, rlfled a pass to her and she played string music to set the score to 67-64 Cards. 

1:51 remained. 

Another costly UofL blunder had them fouling Haines on a three point attempt. She tanked the first but connected on the other two and it was 67-66 Cards. It stayed that way the rest of the way, a couple of turnovers and missed shots filling the time and leading up to final 11 seconds. 

Tatyana Wyatt corralled a missed, potential Dana dagger from beyond the arc three. Wyatt advanced the ball to Howard and she drove down the right side of the court. She decided to launch a three instead of driving to the hoop. Three seconds on the clock. Howard soared to take the shot over the defending Bionca Dunham, my heart skipped a beat as the shot approached the rim and...it drew iron but did not go in. Jaz corralled the miss, the buzzer went off and a joyous UofL bench stormed the court to celebrate and congratulate their victorious teammates on the floor. 

A nail-biting thriller had ended in Lexington. Louisville 67- UK 66. Four straight in a row for the Cards over UK. Yes, the joy and excitement of Louisville women's basketball came to fruition. I watched with pride and admiration as the Cards made their way off the court to the tunnel leading to the locker rooms. 

Breathe, Cardinal fans. It's over. The epic battle had ended and pandemonium reigned for the Louisville contingent. A game I'll remember for quite some time. Two heavyweights standing toe-to-toe slugging it out. Louisville getting the decision.


THE FRED REPORT

Fred G. Sanford. "Lamont, you got to get us
tickets to watch those Cardinal women ! 

FREE THROWS -- Louisville got four free throw chances in 40 minutes. No, this isn't a misprint. In one of the weirdest, one-sided calls by the officiating crew I can remember in recent memory. UK attempted 15 "free ones" and made 12. A 19-9 fouls called discrepancy -- the Cats being the huge benefactor -- but Louisville made all four attempts. Three for Dana, one for Diop. We'll award a capital "F"...any less of a effort, if humanly possible, and the Cards go to overtime or worse. 

REBOUNDS -- A clear 37-17 advantage to Louisville. Kylee reigning supreme with 13 grabs. No UK player gathered more than five. Diop's six rebounds off the bench in just 18 1/2 minutes was huge, as well. I break out the capital "R" for boards dominance. 

EFFORT/EXECUTION -- 15 turnovers for the Cards, not a bad number, considering the intense UK pressure. An eye-popping 10 assists for Dana. The Cards won the second chance points stat 11-6 and shot 51.8% from the floor (29-56). Yep, a capital "E" here. 

DEFENSE -- A gutsy Cardinal effort on defense. Six blocks, and shutting down Howard to just six second-half points in 20 minutes. Hanging in there at the end with both Dana and Jaz sporting four fouls. The 13-0 run in the third, after the media timeout when Louisville held UK to 0-4 shooting with Diop and Shook turning up the intensity pressure to"11" was the key for me. Let's close it out with a capital "D" 

FINAL FRED TALLY:  F-R-E-D  (our first perfect Fred report of the season) 


FINALLY...

This photo says it all. Heart-thumping eventual happiness
on Sunday

The Cards took UK's best punch, survived against the Cats and the referees on the road and took a highly exciting, competitive match. Four Cards in double figure scoring (Evans 18, Shook 11 and Dunham and Jones with 10 each) Two double-double efforts, with Shook's 13 grabs and Dana's 10  dishes. 

Maybe my MVP goes to Yacine Diop, though. When it mattered, when she was truly needed, she produced. Consider out of her almost 19 minutes, 10 of them came in the pivotable fourth quarter and 17 in the second half. The poise and experience of the veteran was a stabilizing force in the Cardinal third quarter rally and in the maintenance of a Louisville lead that withstood as much UK hammering as the construction efforts on the Rupp Arena property. .  


I saw a basketball battle yesterday that any basketball fan anywhere had to appreciate and talk about. After attending 16 straight contests between these two, I didn't think anything could surprise me anymore. I was wrong. I saw the continued emergence of maybe the best women's basketball player in the nation in Howard. I saw Louisville do a outstanding job of largely negating Howard's efforts in the final 20 minutes.

I saw why future Cardinal opponents will have feelings of dread and insecurity when they come to grips with having to face Louisville. From Shook to Jaz, to Diop, Dunham and Dana...this is a team that grew up a lot yesterday and went out with a competitive spirit.

I saw a classic. 




THEY SAID IT: 

Walz, Shook and Evans post-game video :  https://youtu.be/iPs3s7xQz8k

UK Players post-game video :  https://youtu.be/CAfnv7YFYEs

Matthew Mitchell post-game video :  https://youtu.be/fanliOwOeS8


(A HUGE THANK YOU AND JOB WELL DONE TO JARED ANDERSON FOR THE PICTURES IN TODAY'S ARTICLE AND THE ACCOMPANYING VIDEO OF THE POST-GAME). 


paulie
xxxxx

USA U 19 ROMPS HUNGARY TO SWEEP GROUP C -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

95-50 ROMP OVER HUNGARY HAS USA 3-0 IN GROUP C

After a night off in FIBA U 19 action, Jeff Walz's USA U 19 squad came back in fine fashion and form, romping Hungary 95-50 early this morning. 

Rhyne Howard (Kentucky) scored a game-high 18 points on 4-of-7 shooting from 3 and 6-of-6 from the free throw line; Paige Bueckers hit 5-of-7 from the field in scoring 13 points and dished out six of the team’s 20 assists; Francesca Belibi tallied 11 points and 13 rebounds; and Aliyah Boston registered 10 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field. Naz Hillmon-Baker came within a point of a double-double after registering nine points and 10 caroms.

Coach Walz was pleased. He cited better passing and finding the open player as the keys to the win.

Using a 24-4 run in the first quarter, USA lead 33-16 at the end of the first 10 minutes and extended that to 57-20 at the half. 

With the win, USA sweeps Group C competition with a 3-0 record and waits to see "who's next"? That opponent will come from Group D and whoever the four seed ends up being. Lativa is 3-0 in Group A play, 

USA won the rebounding battle 60-33, and had a great shooting night with a 55.6% on 20-36 makes and attempts.  

Apologize for the short article today...my Internet coverage is spotty at best where I am today.


Terrific Tuesday to you! 

Paulie

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



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

Lacrosse Releases Schedule -- Field Hockey News -- Preview of Cats -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

LACROSSE SCHEDULE FOR 2019

Year two of "Teeter's Term" begins on Feb 8th. Officially, that is, with a game in Evanston against Northwestern. Long before that, Coach Scott, Kay Morrissette, Renee Poullett and the squad will be practicing, preparing and planning for the season and, from the eyeball test, it looks to be a challenging and exciting schedule. Who will be some of the players to get to know?


Only one senior on the Lacrosse roster, and she's a great one in Tessa Chad. In her first year donned in the Red and Black, she was second leading scorer on the squad with 42 goals. She played in all 17 Louisville Lacrosse matches. Before the Cards, she was with Teeter at Canisius and earned quite a few MAAC honors in two year as a Golden Griffin. 

The Blaylock sisters return for their sophomore year. Midfielder Caroline made second team ALL-ACC last season and led Louisville in scoring with 45 goals. Sister Sarah is also a midfielder and had eight scores in the 17 games. Lexie Ball is back to compete for the starting goalkeeper role and her backup Jen Schaaf is back as well. 

Freshman Shay Clevenger is a name you might want to get to know. She was ranked #32 in the Inside Lacrosse Top 49 Young Gun Seniors for the 2018 season. The defender played at Marriots Ridge high school, where the Blaylock sisters played. 

A roster of 24 student-athletes that includes 11 sophomores and nine freshmen. Geographical breakdown of the roster shows nine players from Maryland, four from New York, three from Canada, two each from North Carolina, New Jersey and Virginia and one apiece from Kentucky and Florida.  

After the opener against Northwestern in Evanston, the Cards travel to play Marquette on Feb 10th. and then at Denver on Feb.,16th. 

They'll take the pitch for the home opener on Feb.24th against Mercer. Vandy stops by next on Feb 27th. to close out February action. 

March finds the Cards in South Bend to face the Irish of Notre Dame on the 2nd. They'll find out if the Butler did it on March 6th up in Naptown and return home for action against Duke on March 6th. A trip to Pittsburgh will bring a match against Duquesne on the 11th. Back home, the Cards will invite Cincinnati in on the 13th., and Syracuse on the 17th. 


A few days with action before they travel to Blacksburg to go gobbler hunting at Virginia Tech on the 23rd. Then, it's back to the Ville for three in a row to close the home part of the schedule...Delaware on the 31st., North Carolina on April 7th., and Ohio State  on the 9th. 

Louisville concludes the regular season travelling. They'll visit Virginia on April 13th. and Boston College on the 19th. The ACC Lacrosse Tournament is in Boston this year and that begins on April 24th. 

A challenging 2019? You bet. Seven of the Cards foes participated in the NCAA Tournament last year. The Cards went 5-1 early in the 2018 schedule before losing 10 out of the last 11 to finish 6-11. This year's squad should have better luck of it, it's easy to see at least equaling last year's wins and maybe even getting a few more to hit double figure wins and achieve Teeter's first ACC victory. 

We'll cover and report on all the LAX efforts here at the Couple. Go Cards! 



FIELD HOCKEY HONORS

Congratulations to three of Justine Sowry's "stick girls", who received NFHCA DI All-American honors! 

Senior Ayeshia McFerran took first-team accolades, the goalkeeper extraordinaire became the first Cardinal in history to be named to the All-American team for all four of her four years at UofL. The best goalkeeper in the world was named to the third team as a freshman and first team her sophomore and junior years. Her accolades at Louisville would take me a full hour to list here...she is the best to ever step on the Trager Stadium turf and will have a long and successful career playing for the Irish National team now. 

Sophomore Mercedes "Meche" Pastor was honored with second team status. She showed her magician-like skills with the stick and ball for the Cards this season and added this award to her All-West Region and ACC first team selections. At 5'1", the Buenos Aires native meets the qualifications for our "Attack Yorkie" status and we look forward to the next two years of seeing her baffle, confuse and score on the competition. The "pastor" is in the pulpit again! All rise and rejoice! 

Senior Taylor Stone caps off a very successful student-athlete time here at the Ville with third-team honors. This is the second time she's made All-American status and the Herndon, VA native was also named to the All-West and ACC squads this year. She's also a part of the USA Field Hockey National Development squad. 

We wish all three the best of luck as they continue their skills on the field for Louisville and beyond in 2019! 



CAT COMMENTARY

Since I'll be out of the CARDINAL COUPLE writing rotation until Monday, I thought I'd provide a few thoughts and observations on the upcoming UofL vs. UK women's basketball game this Sunday at the KFC YUM! Center.  

Rest assured that Jared, Case and Jeff will provide much more in the next three days about the annual "Battle of the Bluegrass". Be sure to check back here for their columns. The Sunday contest should be all that's advertised. It is a "red out" so dress accordingly! 



CATS GUARDS WILL BE A CHALLENGE

Maci Morris and Taylor Murray run the show out front for Matthew Mitchell's squad and they've been quite successful in helping UK go 8-0 so far. Morris poured in 31 points last time out for UK in a 87-57 win over Morehead. Point guard Murray leads the squad in assists and has 13 against the Eagles. She's showing a brand new confidence out front and has picked up her aggressiveness this season. Backups Blair Green and Jaida Roper are quite capable of providing quality backup minutes. We'll cover another guard below. 

FRESHMAN FIREPOWER

Rhyne Howard has come in and found instant success. The freshman, who played under Walz on the FIBA Americas squad, leads UK in scoring with 18.1 p.p.g. She's listed at 6'2" and classified as a guard. She also leads UK in three-pointers made (23-45) for 51% and has the highest rebounds per game average at 6.9 a night. 

CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARDS

Keke McKinney , a 6'1" sophomore and Tatyana Wyatt, a 6'2" sophomore are the other two probable starters for UK and prowl the paint. They combine for 8.3 p.p.g. a night and 8.5  grabs a contest. They could be the "weak links" in the UK configuration and an area where the Cards try to capitalize. 

Sam, Kylee and Bionca should prosper. 


WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? 

The Cats are 8-0 and their wins have come against Alabama St., Southern, Virginia, High Point and Morehead at home. They won the Paradise Jam Tournament with wins over South Florida, UCLA and UNC. A two-point squeaker against the Bruins. Every thing else has been by 10 points or more. They downed the ACC Cavs by 12 and the Tar Heels by 10.

They are ranked #19 by the AP. This will be their first top 25 test of the season. 

We'll have much more on the match-up in the following days.  If you want a sneak peek of UK, you can catch them tonight against Rhode Island in Lexington on the SEC Network tonight at 7 p.m.

(The weekly Paulie Podcast is up and you can hear him ramble at the following link):

Paulie Podcast for 12/6/18 
paulie
xxxxx




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

USA U18 Women Win FIBA Championship -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

USA Defeats Canada 84-60 to Win FIBA Championship

Canada gave the United States a run for their money.  Nothing came easy like some of the earlier games.  Ultimately, the American squad, coached by Jeff Walz was victorious, 84-60.

Walz, clad in his Team USA red polo with black pants and tennis shoes, had his hands full the entire night as the Canadian defense slowed his hot offense down.  As the game progressed Walz's squad furthered their lead to pull away.

As a team the Americans shot 34-for-76 (44.74%) from the field.  At the free throw line they went 10-for-16 (62.5%), which would receive a lowercase "f" if we were to do the ever-so-popular "F-R-E-D" report.  Since we didn't do a "F-R-E-D" though...if you were to give one what would yours look like?

Foul trouble limited a few players on the US team, with three players finishing with at least three fouls.  However, four of the five starters finished with one foul.

Nalyssa Smith powered the offense with 18 points and was one of four players in double-digits. Christyn Williams scored 11.  Ashley Joens and Nazahrah Hillmon-Baker each finished with 10. Aijha Blackwell got USA off to a nice start by nailing the first two threes she took and USA's first six points.
 

Maori Davenport joined Smith and Hillmon-Baker with six rebounds.  They led the way as the US out-rebounded Canada 50-44.  The Americans hauled in 19 offensive rebounds, but second chance points was not a stat readily available in the FIBA Championships.

Walz's team spread the wealth as they dished out 22 assists, compared to Canada's 17.  Williams and Anaya Peoples each had five to their name.

Jenna Brown displayed her excellent guard work for USA in the final. Stanford is really going to love her. Olivia Nelson-Odobo drew the tough assignment of trying to stop powerful Canadian post Christina Morra and did about as good a job as anyone could against her.

Desiree Caldwell had an extremely quiet night.  She recorded one assist, one steal, and one foul in five minutes played.  Sedona Prince did not play due to the injury (a broken right leg) she suffered a few nights back. She wasn't present for the awards ceremony or final two games, back in the states undergoing successful surgery. She will have to sit out the 2018-19 season at Texas.  .

Rhyne Howard, who is headed to Kentucky for college, was named the MVP of the tournament. She was also selected for the All-Tournament team, along with Maori Davenport (USA), Christina Morra (CAN), Mayra Caicedo (COL) and Florencia Chagas (ARG).

United States moves to 6-0 all-time vs Canada.  The other wins came in July 2006, July 2008, August 2012, and twice in August 2014.  This is the first time in the last three match-ups that the US failed to break 100 points.  It's the second-lowest point total in the history of the series.

The victory gives the United States nine straight gold medals and 10 overall in the 12-time history.  The full results of each championship is posted below:

1988: United States 70 - 68 Brazil
1992: Brazil 80 - 70 United States
1996: Brazil 82 - 78 United States
2000: United States 69 - 46 Cuba
2004: United States 121 - 56 Puerto Rico
2006: United States 85 - 52 Canada
2008: United States (round robin group) Canada
2010: United States 81 - 38 Brazil
2012: United States 71 - 47 Brazil
2014: United States 104 - 74 Canada
2016: United States 109 - 62 Canada
2018: United States 84 - 60 Canada

Despite the recent match-ups between the United States and their neighbor to the north it appears
Brazil has been more of a rival over the years after shocking the US in 1992 and 1996.

A big round of applause for this USA squad. After the contest, head coach Jeff Walz spoke of the devastating loss of Prince and how the team vowed and made a pledge to win the FIBA Americas for her.

They did that and did it convincingly. The final-game 24-point margin of victory was the smallest margin that USA won by.

What Day Is It?

For you feline or Kentucky lovers it is International Cat Day.  It's also Custard Day and Zucchini
Day.  Coincidentally, it is also a day you are encouraged to sneak zucchini onto your neighbor's porch.  Whether you do it as a kind gesture or in spite of them is entirely up to you.  For us financial industry folks we can laugh at National Dollar Day because it doesn't get you far anywhere.  No, it doesn't mean we're giving away free money either.

If you want to get really adventurous today, why not leave a zucchini, with a dollar wrapped around it, on your neighbor's porch while eating custard and taking your or someone else's cat for a walk?

If you're a fan of zucchini, here's a great recipe for it:

In a small bowl, combine Parmesan, thyme, oregano, basil, garlic powder, salt and pepper, to taste. Place zucchini onto prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with Parmesan mixture. Place into oven and bake until tender, about 15 minutes.

Happy Wednesday and Go Cards!

- Jared -