Skylar Jones one of seven transfers on Baylor roster -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 EX UOFL GUARD GOES TO PLAY FOR NIKKI COLLEN

We all remember when Jeff Walz made the announcement that the Cards and Skylar Jones had mutually parted ways right before the 2026 NCAA WBB Tournament. I got tired of answering questions about why she was dropped from the Cards roster. I hadn't a clue. 

Speculation later surfaced that loyalty issues, playing time and selfishness were the cause for the mutual parting of ways. Walz's announcement back then was short and rather matter-of-fact. Jones never released a statement...at least not one I could find.  

Well, the 6'0" guard is now at her third college, She is a part of the huge influx to the Baylor Bears program. 

Seven transfers in... that are still on the roster. Besides Jones, they also have acquired Tatiah Scott (Auburn), Ella Brow (SMU), Lorena Awou (NC State), Reese Ross (Utah), Tianna Thompson (Ole Miss), and Trinity Turner (Georgia). 

The Bears have no incoming freshman on the roster. 

If Jones had been able to keep her cool, play as a teammate and a few other things, maybe she'd still be here. she has the talent, just not the college attitude yet. 

Nikki Collen's approach is one that you rarely see in women's college basketball. There is only one player who has been on the roster for five years...Kyla Abraham...who only averaged around five points last season and was more known for her shot blocking skills. 

First Kim Mulkey, now Nikki Collen....Baylor has had some interesting coaching this decade. I wonder if they are all wearing "Hello, my name is..."tags in the Baylor practices. 

paulie

Cards Lose Guard -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Opens NCAA Without Skylar Jones

Louisville women's basketball will begin their 2026 NCAA Tournament run today in the Yum! Center, but we learned yesterday that they'll do so with a surprising change to the roster. Coach Jeff Walz announced yesterday that Skylar Jones is no longer with the Cardinals program. In a statement, Walz said, "She will not be participating [in the NCAA Tournament]. She's no longer with the team, so we've just parted ways. It's best for both parties."

Rumors will fly, to be sure, but we try not to participate in the rumor mill itself. It sounds as though there was a disconnect between Jones, the coaching staff, and potentially teammates, and that disconnect didn't lend itself to a cohesive team going into the tournament. Regardless of your individual opinion of the player and her effectiveness, it is fair to say that a shakeup like that is bound to have interesting effects on the way the team performs going forward. 

Jones played in all 34 games for Louisville this season, starting one. She averaged just 16.6 minutes per game, though, the fewest of any player that played in every game. Jones shot 30.8% from three, making 20, and 44.6% from the field, making 104. She averaged 2.9 rebounds, and she had 33 assists and 51 steals. However, she had 56 fouls (nearly one per ten minutes played) and 41 turnovers. 

We'll have to wait and see exactly what happens with the offense without a significant role player off the bench. Jeff Walz has done plenty with his teams, especially personnel management, to earn trust, but this is definitely an interesting decision. 

Louisville tips off against Vermont at 12pm today in the Yum! Center. The game will be on ESPN. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cards Crush Orange -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville to Face UNC in Semis

photo by Taris Smith | Louisville Athletics

Led by 17 points from Taj Roberts, Louisville had a balanced attack that saw six player finish in double figures to propel the Cards to a relatively straightforward 26-point victory. Louisville jumped ahead to a 25-12 lead after the first quarter and used a 25-14 fourth quarter to put the game away. Joining Roberts in double figures were Reyna Scott (15), Mackenly Randolph (12), Skylar Jones (12), Imari Berry (11), and Laura Ziegler (11). Syracuse got 22 points out of Uche Izoje, but it wasn't enough to keep pace with the Louisville offense. 

The Cards got off to a strong start in the first, hitting 11 of their 16 shots. They went 2-3 from beyond the arc, which was a mark they would go on to match in the fourth. Louisville's ability to score inside was evident, and they went on to outscore Syracuse 46-30 over the course of the game. Although it took three minutes for either team to score to open the game, Louisville scored the first eight points and led 13-2 with 4:39 remaining in the quarter. The Cards stretched their lead to 15 points at 21-6 and again at 25-10 before the Orange made a tip-in to close the quarter at the 25-12 score. 

The middle portion of the game was quite close, with the teams only separated in the second and third quarters by a combined two points. Syracuse used 53.3% shooting from the floor and a 4-4 effort from the free-throw line to win the second quarter 21-20. Louisville, meanwhile, failed to reach the free throw line in the second and went 0-4 from three point land as part of a 10-22 second quarter. Louisville came out of the locker room with a 12-point lead and managed to scrape together a 17-14 third quarter victory that didn't get the best of either team. Louisville made just six shots, though three were from beyond the arc, and they went 2-3 from the stripe. Syracuse managed to be worse, making just five shots with two of them being threes. 

photo by Taris Smith | Louisville Athletics

The fourth quarter sealed the deal, with Louisville eerily matching its output from the first, hitting 11 of 16 shots and going 2-3 from three. It wasn't a carbon copy, as Louisville only scored the first seven points of the quarter, but by that point the game was out of reach. The Cards salted the game away, getting exciting ACC tournament minutes for some of the bench players, and took their rest to prepare for their game today. 

Mackenly Randolph finished with a double-double for the Cards, adding 10 rebounds to her 12 points. Imari Berry and Skylar Jones were very productive, with both tallying five assists, at least five rebounds, and a block. Leading scorer Taj Roberts added four assists, three rebounds, and three steals. She and Jones tied for the team lead with 70% shooting on the day.

The FRED Report

F - Free Throws: This one was bad. Louisville didn't get to the line much, and they usually missed when they did. 4-10 from the stripe won't get it done in a close game, and it earns no letter.

R - Rebounding: Like points, Louisville spread their rebounds around. Randolph had ten, but four other players had at least four. The Cards won the rebounding battle 43-34, and while I want to knock them for allowing Syracuse to pull down more offensive rebounds, Louisville shot 56% from the floor, so they didn't have a ton of O-boards to get. From an offensive rebounding rate standpoint, Louisville was actually better than Syracuse, as they pulled down 30.3% of their missed shots while Syracuse had just 25%. Capital 'R'.

E - Effort/Execution: It's hard to knock a 26-point win over a team that finished with fewer than double-digit losses, but Louisville didn't play their cleanest game. They had 14 turnovers, which was more than Syracuse, and the free throws were abysmal. That said, they did shoot well overall and they closed the game as strong as they opened it. 14 turnovers isn't great, but it didn't bite them in this one. Louisville also remains relatively rested going into their second game, so I'll grant a Capital 'E'. 

D - Defense: Nine steals and two blocks is pretty nice. The Cards forced just one other turnover, though, which is less nice. That said, they allowed just 34.3% shooting and never trailed. In fact, by the time Syracuse finally scored their first basket, Louisville would never lead by fewer than they did at that moment (six). The Cards faced a seven-point deficit at the free throw line, but they only gave up four more attempts. They allowed just 61 points, in the end, so I'm going to have to say Capital 'D'. 

photo by Taris Smith | Louisville Athletics

Was I feeling generous? Maybe. But that's a final tally of _-R-E-D. That's a fun cheer for the Cards going into a semifinal gameday as the only red team remaining. That said, Louisville will likely need to be better today (and tomorrow) from the free throw line if they want to leave Atlanta with hardware. 

The ACC quarterfinals were a bloodbath. Top-seeded Duke actually had the smallest margin of victory, and that was still 14 points. The Blue Devils topped Clemson 60-46. Notre Dame completed a minor upset of NC State in a major way. The Irish won 81-63 and will face Duke at noon on ESPN2. Louisville's win was the largest of the day and the largest of the tournament so far. They'll face UNC following the conclusion of game one. UNC beat VT 85-68. 

The Cards and Tar Heels are scheduled to tip at 2:30 on ESPN2. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

WBB Wins 93-62 -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Ball State No Match in Battle of Cardinals

Louisville women's basketball is running out of games in 2025. After last night, they have just three remaining before they turn the calendar over, and the non-conference schedule is winding down as well. The Cards took on Ball State last night, and they'll hit the road to face North Carolina this weekend. After that, there is one more home game against EKU and a neutral site matchup against Tennessee before the Cards move into the proper conference schedule. Facing a somewhat more difficult opponent last night than they have seen in some of their home games of late (excluding South Carolina), Louisville handed Ball State their third loss of the year with a strong 31-point victory. 

Louisville wasted no time in this one, jumping out to a 21-12 lead after the first quarter. The Cards shot just 35% from the field in the first and made just 1-7 three-pointers, but six free throws helped them extend that lead over Ball State. The two teams played fairly close early on, with Ball State having multiple chances to take the lead, but after a pair of free throws moved Louisville from a 6-5 lead to an 8-5 lead, Ball State would not meaningfully reduce the deficit for the remainder of the game. The Cards ended the quarter on an extended 15-7 run and that was pretty much that. 

Louisville shot much better in the second quarter, making 5-8 threes and shooting 60% (12-20) from the floor overall. As a result, they won the quarter 29-13, extending the large lead by even more at the half and setting themselves up to cruise through the second half. The Cards had a chance to break 100 in this game, but the shooting cooled off slightly in the third quarter and some missed free throws in the fourth kept them from running it up. 

All in all, UofL shot 48.5% in the second half and went 36.4% from three. That was a slightly better in overall field goal percentage than the whole game (47.9%) but slightly worse from three (38.5%). Louisville scored a whopping 42 points in the paint, had 17 second chance points, and picked up 50 of their 93 from the bench. Louisville mostly cruised in the second half, winning the half by just six. But when that ultimately contributes to a 31-point victory and you were at the end of your bench for most of the fourth, it's not all bad. The Cards scored at least 20 points in every quarter. 

The Cards were led by a big night from Skylar Jones, who finished with 20 points in 18 minutes and also contributed seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Her seven rebounds were second to Anaya Hardy's ten, as Hardy picked up yet another double-double by scoring 12 points. Mackenly Randolph also had 12, and Laura Ziegler had a big night, taking advantage at the free throw line especially, to score 15 points. Ziegler was 6-6 from the stripe. It was a quiet night for two players we don't usually say that about, as Taj Roberts scored just four, and Elif Istanbulluoglu had no points on 0-3 shooting in 20 minutes. Incredibly, it was Elif who kept it from being another night in which everyone who played scored. 

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Imari Berry and Peyton Bradley, who both had some of their best games of the year, scoring ten and eight points respectively. Berry also had a rebound, two steals, and three assists, while Bradley added two assists. Overall, the Cards assisted on 14 of 35 made baskets, which isn't great, but they also had 15 turnovers, so the offense could have used some cleaning up. Louisville also didn't force a ton of turnovers, as Ball State also finished with 15, but the visiting Cardinals couldn't find the bottom of the net. Ball State went just 35.6% from the field and 21.1% from three point land. Add in a sub-70% night from the free throw line and it was just an unfortunate night all around. Ball State went 0-9 from beyond the arc in the first half. 

The FRED Report

F - Free Throws: Louisville was kind of back and forth at the free throw line last night. They went 6-6 in the first and 6-7 in the third, but they took no free throws in the second and went 1-4 in the fourth. They finished 13-17 (76.5%), which is good for a lowercase 'f' 

R - Rebounds: The Cards had 45 total rebounds and scored 17 second chance points. That is pretty good, but they only won the rebounding battle (and points in the paint battle) by nine. I initially felt like Louisville should have a bigger advantage here, but they had 25% more rebounds than their opponent, so that seems worthy of a capital 'R'. 

E - Effort/Execution: The Cards played well throughout and didn't lose focus near the end, but they should have been a bit cleaner. Louisville sent Ball State to the line 23 times, and they committed 15 turnovers, giving up 17 points off those turnovers. I'm going to award a lowercase 'e' because the shooting night is too hard to ignore, despite the turnovers. 

D - Defense: Louisville forced only the same amount of turnovers as they committed, but they converted that into more points (22) and they picked up 10 steals. They also kept Ball State from getting clean looks and saddled them with the terrible shooting. I'm going capital 'D'. 

That gives Louisville a final tally of f-R-e-D, which will probably get it done most nights. There will be games in which the offense isn't working quite as well as it did last night, so more turnovers forced and fewer turnovers committed would be nice, but we'll take what we can get. 

Louisville is next in action on Sunday against UNC. The Tarheels are enjoying another strong start to the season as they are 9-2. Their losses are to #3 UCLA in Las Vegas and #2 Texas in Austin. That said, they've played basically no one else, and their best win is an eight-point win over Kansas State in Cancun on Black Friday. The Heels beat Boston University 82-40 on Sunday and have a full week off before facing the Cards. We'll see what Coach Jeff Walz can do to motivate his team in a big road test early in the conference slate. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

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

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

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

Reyna Scott

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

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

Skylar Jones

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

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

Peyton Bradley

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

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

paulie

Transfer News; Saturday Schedule -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

WBB Adds Skylar Jones

In today's college basketball landscape, the transfer portal gives and it takes away. Earlier this week, we learned that Nyla Harris chose to depart Louisville for UNC. That one stings a bit, and it will be hard to replace her veteran leadership and heart on the team. That said, the Cards announced an incoming transfer to help bolster the scoring and experience, although not from the post. 

Louisville is bringing in Skylar Jones from the University of Arizona. Jones is a 6'-0" guard from Chicago who will be a junior in the 2025-26 season. In her freshman season for the Wildcats, she was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team as an honorable mention. As a sophomore, she started 25 games and appeared in 32, averaging 10.7 points, 3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.6 steals. Her career night came against TCU, when she dropped 30 points on Van Lith and Co. That may have been part of what caught Jeff Walz's eye, since no one other than Jayda Curry could score against the Horned Frogs for Louisville. 

Jones is the first of likely multiple players that will be called on to bolster a depleted guard rotation. Louisville loses Jayda Curry, Ja'Leah Williams, and Merissah Russell to graduation and rising sophomore Izela Arenas has announced her intent to transfer. Jones joins Imari Berry and Taj Roberts as the only returning guards to see significant minutes last season, with Reagan Bender and Rebekah Graves also listed as guards on the roster. 

April Showers in Louisville 

If the Cards aren't on the road, I struggle to see how they'll play in any outdoor events today. As Daryl mentioned yesterday, Louisville softball announced their cancellation of today's double-header as far back as Thursday. The rain isn't set to let up here or anywhere nearby, as Louisville Metro crews were already setting flood gates yesterday afternoon and Louisville MSD announced that the city's combined sanitary/storm system was nearing capacity. 

Plenty of rain, but no rainbows likely today

All that is to say that Louisville Field Hockey is still acting like they will host their spring tournament at Trager Stadium today and tomorrow. It's an astroturf field with good drainage, but this weather seems absolutely abysmal to participate in any outdoor activity in. I'm already dreading walking from my car to the indoor golf facility tomorrow. There is also lightning in the area, threatening any sports with delays. Louisville is scheduled to kick off the event at 10 AM today, so we'll see. 

Lacrosse is on the road this weekend, but they're at Virginia, and I'm pretty sure Charlottesville is on this same path of weather. Their game against the top-ten Cavaliers is set for noon. The Cards are coming off of an exciting win over Liberty and would desperately like to get back into the win column in the ACC. That game will be available on ACC Network Extra. 

Track and field are taking part in split events, but both are west of the Rockies, so hopefully they are spared of the sogginess. The teams are at the Jim Vargo Invitational (Stanford) and the Jim Click Shootout & Multis (Arizona). Yesterday, the Cards picked up three wins, with Ashley Callahan (pole vault) and Jayden Ulrich (discus) taking the top spot in Arizona and Lauren Bettencourt (1500m) taking gold in Stanford. Both events continue today. 

Cardinal Couple NCAA Pick 'Em

Although Karen J has locked up first place, second will come down to the championship game as Thomas and Tim F are both locked at 52 points. There will be no need for a tiebreaker in this one; the two picked opposing champions. Thanks again to everyone for playing! 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We're finally back this week after getting everyone through various obstacles. We'll watch the rain fall out the window as Paulie, Daryl, and I record this week's show, with a potential appearance from Jared dependent on his puppy duties. Check out the show after it posts around 1PM, and be sure to subscribe so that it comes to your feed automatically. 

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case