Cardinals vs Cardinal -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Cardinals vs Cardinal

A trip to the Final Four is on the line. 2-seed Louisville gears up to take on 1-seed Stanford in the Alamo Region final.

The Cards are fresh off their best win of the NCAA Tournament, defeating 6-seed Oregon 60-42. Their first and second round victories had slow starts with the Cards having to rally in the second half in both to win. Louisville took command early against the Ducks and would not be stopped.

This is Louisville's sixth Elite Eight appearance and their third straight appearance. They are 3-2 all-time in the Elite Eight. In 2019, Louisville fell to UConn. In 2018, the Cards took down Oregon State to advance to the Final Foul in Columbus.

Dana Evans found her mojo in the Sweet Sixteen as the senior guard went off to tie her career high with 29 points. She shot above 50% from the field. Her final points came on SportsCenter's #2 play yesterday when Mykasa Robinson recorded a steal and did a no-look behind the back pass to Evans for a breakaway layup.

Robinson's moxie has been a big factor this tournament. The junior from Ashland, KY posted seven rebounds, two points, and NO turnovers against Oregon all while stepping up on defense to overwhelm her much taller competitors. 

Hailey Van Lith, who Axios valued her NIL at $965K yesterday, had another strong showing. The freshman scored eight points and hauled in seven rebounds while adding an assist and two steals. Van Lith was another force on the defensive end despite being outsized.

Kianna Smith has been consistent all tournament. The junior transfer from Cal hasn't put up MVP-like numbers, but her composure has helped the Cards get through tight spots. She posted an 11-point, five-rebound performance against Oregon.

Of course, we have to give huge props to Olivia Cochran and Elizabeth Dixon, as the duo did an excellent job against the 6'7 Sedona Prince and six other Oregon players listed at 6'2 or taller. Cochran is listed at 6'3 and Dixon is listed at 6'5 so they had their work cut out for them.

Elizabeth Balogun has six blocks this tournament. Sara Hammond and Chauntise Wright each had six blocks in an NCAA Tournament. Balogun has a chance to set the program record tonight.

UofL is allowing 46.0 points per game this tournament. The 138 total points is allowed is the fewest a Louisville team has allowed through the first three games of the tournament ever.

About Stanford

Their mascot is weird. Each year, a new tree mascot is designed and they have had some funky looking designs in the past. The Stanford band is also non-traditional with outlandish uniforms at times and having been the center of a half dozen controversies since 2000. They were one of the only bands to be a registered student organization instead of controlled by the schools' athletic or music dept until recently.

Stanford basketball has been rock solid this year. They carry a 28-2 record into tonight's game. Their only losses came in back-to-back games in mid-January. The Cardinal fell on the road in overtime to Colorado by five before falling to UCLA by four a week later. They now ride a 17-game win streak including wins over Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, Arizona, and Colorado.

Tara VanDerveer is a future Hall of Fame coach and is the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history with 1122 wins. She passed Pat Summit in December and is now just a few games ahead of Geno Auriemma. VanDerveer's coaching tree is long and includes UofL's Beth Burns when the two were at San Diego State together.

Stanford has been strong on both sides of the ball, scoring 78.9 points per game while allowing 53.1 points per game. Stanford's opponents shoot a little over 32% from the field, second only to Baylor this year.

Four players average double-digits scoring for the Cardinal. Kiana Williams has averaged 14.5 points per game to lead the way. Haley Jones is scoring 12.8 points per game. Lexie Hull is averaging 11.1 points per game and Cameron Brink comes in at 10.1 points per game.

Jones and Brink have been a force on the boards, averaging 7.4 and 6.7 rebounds per game, respectively. Overall, Stanford averages 43.1 rebounds per game with roughly 30% of them on the offensive end.

Stanford's odds to win the championship before the start of the Elite Eight games was +125, just behind UConn at +105. Meanwhile, Louisville's odds to win sit at +4000.

The two foes have met just once. Remember the Final Four run back in 2018? The Cards met up with Stanford in Rupp Arena for the Sweet Sixteen. Louisville cruised to an 86-59 victory behind Asia Durr's 24 points and Myisha Hines-Allen's 17 points. Baylor's DiJonai Carrington was a freshman for Stanford that year.

This game is set to tip off at 9:00 p.m. but I expect it to tip off late if it follows suit with yesterday's games. This will be televised directly on ESPN and will also be on radio on 790-AM WKRD with Nick Curran and Adrienne Johnson.

Pick Em

We saw two great games last night. 1-seed UConn defeated 2-seed Baylor 69-67 following some late game controversy. Both teams held double-digits leads at certain points during the game and seemed to have the whole country watching.

3-seed Arizona and 4-seed Indiana had the later game. There was a little excitement in the third quarter as the teams exchanged words and a couple bumps. It was Aari McDonald's triples and 33 points that led the Wildcats to a 66-53 victory over the Hoosiers. It's Arizona's first ever trip to the Final Four.

With just five games remaining our standings have really taken shape.

48-10 Paulie

46-12 Kenny S

45-13 Callie Blue

44-14 Jason Wyrick

43-15 David Watson

42-16 Arthur, Worldwide

41-17 Jared

40-18 Blue Lou

39-19 Clemson Cuz, Vivian McAdams

38-20 Nole Knowledge, Case, Kenneth Stark Sr

37-21 Sonya

36-22 Bea

36-22 Nick O

34-24 Curtis

31-27 Joe Hill

24-34 CC Chimps

Paulie has secured a top two finish. Kenny, Callie Blue, and Jason are also still competing for a prize. Based on future picks and future round losses already no one else has a chance to win anymore. Sadly, that knocks out the rest of the Cardinal Couple crew unless Daryl wants to come in and say she hasn't lost a game yet (she did not fill out a bracket).

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards Become Elite -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Durr and Hines-Allen Propel Cards Past Cardinal

Lucy shows Dad that lockdown defensive technique.
Nick Evans WILL NOT get by! 

It was a late start made even later by the preceding game dragging out, but Louisville overcame the timing favoring the West Coast team to take down Stanford in the first ever meeting between the two teams and advance to the Elite Eight. It was an eerily familiar position for Stanford, as they have now faced the number 1 seed ACC Champion in the second week of the tournament in Rupp Arena in the last three years. In the previous two matchups, Stanford disposed of Notre Dame to advance. This year, Jeff Walz and the Louisville Cardinals had something to say about that.

Beth Mowins and Debbie Antonelli have been on the call for the last few Louisville games that I can remember, and I don't have a problem with that. The two have knowledge of the women's game and show respect for each team in the games they call, and they also acknowledge poor officiating. The reason I bring them up is because they were fantastic last night. Mowins and Antonelli had clearly done their homework for this game (which is something that doesn't always seem true about tournament games) and could accurately diagnose plays and cite the scouting report for specific players. Prior to tip, they said this game would be one of significant offense, and that whichever team could limit the opponent the most should come out victorious. When the game started with a flurry of scoring and offensive rebounds, it was clear that this analysis would prove to be true.

This is MY court and ye shall not challenge that. 

Despite the clear analysis, it wasn't immediately obvious which team would fulfill the prophecy. Stanford started hot, with Alana Smith hitting Stanford's first three shots of the game. Smith would go on to finish with just one more basket for the rest of night. On the other side, both Myisha Hines-Allen and Asia Durr missed their first shots of the night. Hines-Allen followed up with an offensive rebound and a put back. Durr followed her miss with a steal and an assist. Louisville and Stanford played within a 3 point bubble of one another for the first eight minutes of the game. After the Cardinal cut the lead to one, an Arica Carter 3 pushed the lead to four, the largest of the night. Carter then drew an offensive foul which led to an Asia Durr three. Louisville had stretched their lead to seven, and they smelled blood in the water.

The two teams traded a couple of more baskets, and Louisville took a 25-19 lead into the quarter break. Stanford was accustomed to making comebacks this season and in NCAA history, so I hardly believed that a six point lead was safe. Of course, Louisville had no intention of maintaining just a six point lead. After an awkward start to the quarter, the Cards eventually began the second quarter scoring and stretched their lead to eight. Ultimately, they never looked back. Louisville won the second quarter by 5, pushing their halftime lead to 11. They were equally driven after the halftime break, winning both second half quarters by a score of 22-14. Louisville went on to defeat Stanford 86-59. After trailing by 1 with 2:40 left in the first quarter, Stanford could never even sniff a one possession game for the rest of the night.

Louisville was led in last night's game by the usual suspects. Asia Durr followed up her renaissance second round performance with an even better showing against Stanford. Durr had 24 points on 50% shooting from the floor and 7-7 shooting from the stripe. She finished with 4 boards and 5 assists, and, while she did have 3 turnovers, she added 2 steals and a block. Durr shook off a couple of hard fouls to play 32 minutes, with most of her rest coming after the game was decided and she was taken off the floor for the night. While Hines-Allen wasn't able to pick up a double-double last night (though she sprung out of the gate with a flurry of rebounds), she did end up with 17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Only 1-2 from the line and 2 turnovers aren't great numbers, but she was efficient on defense and away from the ball, plus she scored some of those fantastic jumpers in space that make her impossible to defend.

Arica Carter and Jazmine Jones also scored double digits with 13 and 10, respectively. Jones was a bit erratic at times, and drew some harsh words from coach when she completely botched a wide open breakaway layup, but she was efficient enough from the floor (4-10) and sunk her only two free throws. Her two steals made up for her two turnovers, and she peppered in 4 assists. Ironically, Carter finished the game with no assists, but provided extreme value at the point position and limited her mistakes to just one turnover. Like everyone else mentioned so far, she finished with 2 steals. Sam Fuehring continued her impressive tournament, nearly finishing with a double double. Sam was just one point away, and she brought down 11 boards to go with an assist and a block. Despite the announcers mentioning the depth both teams had, every Louisville starter played at least 30 minutes last night and they brought it every second they were on the floor.

The CASE Report

C - Care: At this point, since we just had a CASE Report earlier this week, we should be on board with the scoring. We are looking at how the Cards took care of the ball. Both teams struggled with turnovers this game, but the Cards finished with only 11 compared to Stanford's 19. Louisville limited Stanford's opportunities, as well, allowing only 6 points to be scored off of the turnovers. It is good to be able to prevent your opponent from capitalizing if you can't hold on to the ball. Unfortunately, Stanford has not been good at forcing turnovers, as they only averaged 13.18 per game on the season. Louisville committed 83% of the Stanford average, so they'll earn a lowercase 'c'.

A - Assists: Louisville turned the ball over a bit, so the gripe many of you have with my assist comparison did come in to play. The Cards finished with only 17 assists on the evening. As the 17 assists were on 33 made baskets, they did reach the 50% assist ratio mark, but the assist-to-turnover ratio was too low (1.54) to meet the second mark. Another half point, so that's a lowercase 'a'.

S - Steals: Defense was not a category in which the Cards were lacking last night. Though Stanford started off strong (and actually made quite a few baskets late), the Cards were able to resist 43% shooting from the Cardinal. In fact, Stanford only made 23 shots. Louisville stole the ball a total of 9 times, which is greater than the 7 of Stanford and the 7.5 benchmark. Capital 'S'.

E - Efficiency: I wrote on Tuesday that Louisville's shooting was not something that they could effectively change at this point. Hopefully, they are able to continue to find open shots, and shoot with confidence as they have so far in the tournament. Louisville was 36% from three last night, which is pretty good, but they were 51.6% from the floor which is even better. Louisville was 57.4% from two, scoring 34 points in the paint. The bigs have been key to Louisville's success so far, and it will be the same going forward. Louisville also shot 77.8% from the free throw, sneaking over the benchmark by one made free throw. Capital 'E'.

The Cards finished with c-a-S-E, an improvement over the first weekend. After Oregon State showed their abilities while knocking off Baylor last night, it is clear that Louisville will need to continue to perform well in the CASE (and FRED) Report as this tournament goes on. The teams remaining did not get here by accident. Each game in the NCAA tournament is potentially the last chance to give it all you've got, so that's what every team will be doing every night. Louisville needs just three more wins, but it starts on Sunday. There is no game if you don't get past the next opponent. Coach Jeff Walz will do his part to prepare the team with scouting, film, and direction, and it will be up to these players, who may truly be a part of something special, to finish the job.

Vince takes in the action

All of the pictures from today's article came directly from our resident photographer, Mr. Jared Anderson. He also provided the postgame locker room interviews which you can check out below. Be sure to tune in throughout the day to check in on comments, discussion, and any thoughts Paulie might like to add from his time in the arena last night!

A magnificent win against a quality opponent. A team effort and a defense and aggressiveness that the Cardinal will not soon forget. Onto Sunday we go...


Chopping Down the Trees

Case has done a wonderful job in describing the tone, tempo and action last night in Rupp Arena during the Cards 27 point win over Stanford. I'll add some personal thoughts and commentary here, after five hours sleep and a fitful rest at that (I kept seeing Jazmine Jones run by me like a Kentucky Derby contender flying toward the wire) =.

Stanford did come out ablaze early, shooting 72.7% in the first quarter but Louisville was equally impressive with a 64.7% from-the-field number. This one became the Cards (from Louisville) game when they broke open a close 13-12 game with 3:43 left in the first quarter and went on a 8-2 run for a 21-14 lead just two minutes later. Surprisingly, it ws about the same time Walz inserted Dana Evans and Bionca Dunham into the contest. Arica Caarter knocking down a jumper,, following that with a three and Asia Durr planting a three ball squarely in the "Trees" and the West Coast visittor never recovered.

Carter, the quiet but deadly assassin, hd 13 points in the affair...five in the first half...but it was the emotional and quite impressive Myisha Hines-Allen and her 11 first-half points that .had us talking on Media row. She'd finish with 17, one of four Cards in double figures. Give Sam a free throw and she'd been the fifth starter to reach double-figures, her work spoke for itself quite well -- seven of her nine points came in the first twenty minutes and she led both squads with 11 rebounds.

The lead of 42-31 at the half was quite encouraging, but you hd to wonder if Stanford had one last charge left in them. That notion was quickly dispelled as third quarter play began. Louisville raced out to a 11-5 start, holding the Cardinal to just one basket and a few free throws in the first four minutes of second half action. 53-36 and dreams of Sunday basketball against Oregon State had been fulfilled.

The fat lady had sung, to use an old expression, and the Cards steadily pulled away from "The Farm"...driving a John Deere and plowing up the soil that was formerly known as Rupp Arena and the Trees that were trying to grow there. .

Jazmine Jones was taking sprint affairs past the  Stanford guard set of McPhee, Sniezek and Williams with regularity and ended with 10 points. I asked DiJonai Carrington, talented Stanford sophomore, during the post-game presser if she sensed the UofL superior quickness, but she denied it.

Something she wasn't able to do on the court..

Then, there was "Nite-Nite". Calmly burying the Stanford defense with a variety of shots and assists.

There may not be a player in DI WBB that hits the floor more often than the talented Douglasville, GA junior... every time she goes to the hardwood, you hold your breath and murmur a prayer that she'll get back up.

Asia Durr got up last night. Asia Durr got down, as well...with 24 points and three threes. In typical Durr fashion, she preferred to talk about the team effort and deflect any attention headed her way.

When a team shoots 51.6% for the game, wins the points-in-paint by 12, goes on a 18-0 second-chance domination and captures the ponts-off-turnovers 22-6, I guess it's easy to talk about your teammates. Asia, though, set the bar high and cleared it easily with last night's effort. If there is a better college basketball player out there than "that girl"...point her out to me.

Just 13 bench points tonight, eight from the fabulous freshman Dana Evans. Walz stayed with a six-player rotation most of the night, until late. If it works, don't go changing it.

That's the way I saw it from the bowels of Rupp. I look forward to seeing more Sunday. I told Deb Antonelli we'd have breakfast together on Sunday. NCAA's Treat, don't ya know?

- Paulie


THE FRED REPORT

Nightmare on Main Street for
The Trees last night

F- FREE THROWS. Thank goodness there were only 27 fouls called last night. Credit "Silly" Joe Vaszily and his crew for letting them play. The Cards attempted 18 "free ones" and cashed in on 14. That's 77.8% and that definitely gets them a capital "F" for the night. Asia is probably still shooting them somewhere, maybe in her sleep, going 7 for 7.

R- REBOUNDING. It was Sammi Jean's night to retrieve loose shots and she did it well with 11. The Cards outrebounded Stanford 34-29, not the domination on the glass that they showed in the first two tournament games...and Myisha only pulled down five in 30 minutes, but it was a good enough overall effort to toss a small-case "r" up for grabs. I'll wager Sam comes down with it.

E- EFFORT/EXECUTION. The Cards swept the "hustle" stats, convincingly and committed only 11 turnovers. HAND OUT THE CAPITAL "E" Dilly, dilly!

D- DEFENSE. A superb effort. Louisville gained early control and shut down Smith and McPhee for the most part. Forcing 19 turnovers and getting nine steals. A team effort and A TEAM CAPITAL "D" is the decision here. 18-0 in second chance points is an incredible stat. 

FRED RECAP: F-R-e-D

Paulie

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

I'm still on the sideline recovering from my surgery, but that doesn't mean the Cardinal Couple Radio

Cards response to a Stanford win...

Hour will slow down. The guys will be back in the studio after a drive back up 64 early this morning. I would almost assure you that the main topic of discussion for this week's show will be the exciting Louisville women's basketball team, but there are other sports that deserve mention as well. Softball picked up two wins yesterday and lacrosse is in action as well. Tune in to 100.9 WCHQ FM for all of the joy and excitement of Louisville women's sports that you can't get just by reading. For those out of the LPFM broadcast area, you can also listen via wchqfm.com, the WCHQ app, or the Facebook live video feed on the WCHQ 100.9 FM page.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Locker Room Interviews

Postgame with Dana Evans

Postgame with Jess Laemmle

Postgame with Jaz Jones

Postgame with Arica Carter

More Jared photos

Louisville WBB Sweet Sixteen... Softball Visits Duke -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Sweet Sixteen vs Stanford

Today is the day!  Pack your coffee and a sleeping bag because it's a late one.  Women's basketball faces Stanford in Lexington tonight at approximately 9:30.  Paulie enlightened us yesterday with Stanford basketball and what to keep an eye out for.

"what do you mean 'late game'?"

Jeff Walz was more concerned with the decision to play a late night game.  During Thursday's presser our commander-in-chief spent some time showing his displeasure.

When asked about his thoughts on playing 60 miles away from home Walz voiced his opinion:

"It's great.  We were really excited about it until they came up with a 9:45 tip time.  We're expecting snow tomorrow night, so it's going to cut down on a ton of our fans that want to drive back and forth. But it should increase the viewership, which is great, because that's what we're trying to do. I think it'll increase TV viewership. But the actual in-person, it's going to have a huge effect on.

You know, I'm still -- I know what they're going to tell me, and this is the standard line, you're the feature game on ESPN, all that good stuff. It's what you hear all the time. We never tip a game at 9:45 eastern standard time all year. Why would you do it in the NCAA Tournament? I just don't understand. I thought this was about the student-athletes.

But I mean, if we played at a normal -- if we play at 9:45 during the year, that's great, and I know it's listed as a 9:00 tip. The first game starts at 7:15. It will take two hours; they all do. So now you're looking at about 9:15, then they're going to put about 26 minutes on the clock, so you're talking about a 9:45 tip.

Rupp Arena seating chart

I'm not worried about the players, I just feel bad for the fans. I feel bad for the fans that want to come and support us and have a great environment. What player doesn't want -- when we go play at Notre Dame, they're not cheering for us, but golly, what an awesome experience to have a packed house. That's what it's all about. In '13 when we played at Oklahoma City in the regional and we're playing Baylor, I mean, it was all Baylor fans, but it's the environment that these kids remember.

You know, I can go back to '09, our first year we go to the Final Four, we play Maryland in Raleigh, and there was nobody there. There was maybe 2,000 people that were at a regional championship game. I'd much rather play in front of people.

So unfortunately, the times are just awful, and I hope it's something that we can look and try to adjust for the future, just for the fans. You know, I understand if I'm sitting in my house in Louisville and I'm watching a game that's taking place on the West Coast and it's starting at 10:00 my time. Hey, I understand that; it's 7:00 out west. But to be starting a game at 9:45, it's just sad to me. And it's not for the players; the players are going to be fine. I'm not worried about that at all. They're not going to be tired, they're not going to be anything. They're going to be excited to play. It's we're trying to grow our game, and I think we just had a huge turnover."

EDITOR NOTE: Fortunately, the chance of snow is gone. A chance of rain moving in after 9 p.m. and temps in the 40's. 

Asia Durr, Myisha Hines-Allen, and Jazmine Jones carried themselves well during the interviews as well, but then again, our Cardinals always present themselves with class.  The common theme all three mentioned was the chemistry this team has both on and off the court.  Juniors and seniors have taken roles as leaders while the younger classes have been open and willing to learn.  As a whole, the team has become close and the entire roster is a strong friend group.  Doo-Blay complimented the freshmen on the team.

To stay updated with the Baylor vs Oregon State game make sure to follow Paulie on Twitter (@cardinalcouple) and as always, he will be on top of things when the Cards take the court.  I will be on the court with my handy-dandy camera and will do my best to get some pictures up before the night is over.

LINK TO THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW: http://thecrunchzone.com/transcript-walz-hines-allen-jones-

durr-prior-to-sweet-16/  Thanks to our buddy Daryl Foust for posting it and you'll get to hear her and Swish Appeal's Paige Sherrard on The Couple Couple Radio Hour with Paulie and Worldwide Jeff Saturday morning (and on Facebook Live, too) at 11 a.m. on WCHQ 100.9 FM plus streaming throughout the Universe on the WCHQ app and at www.wchqfm.com.

Should be a good one with Delightful Daryl and Precious Paige. Plus the two old guys.

I wonder what they'll talk about?

Let's hear from you! What are your thoughts about the "late one in Lexington"? The city will probably be in a salty mood after the UK Wildcats men's basketball team fell out of the NCAA Tournament after a upset loss to the Kansas State Wildcats late last night. Give us your thoughts in the comments section. After all, YOU are Cardinal Couple and WE never forget that.

Ladies of the Diamond Visit Durham, NC

Sandy Pearsall

The first weekend of ACC play did not go as planned when Notre Dame swept the Cards.  They hope to turn things around today and tomorrow.  Today's games are set to be played at 3:00 and 5:30 (double header) with Saturday's session starting at 1:00.

The biggest concern right now is the status of Nicole Pufahl.  The Puf went down last weekend after chasing down a fly ball.  Her foot found a hole in the grass and she went down with an ankle injury.  Puf sat out the final game of the series.

Duke sits at 16-12 on the year and is 3-3 in conference play.  The Blue Devils swept Boston College, but fell all three games against UNC.  They ride a two game losing streak (South Carolina and East Carolina) into the weekend.

Their team batting average is .276 and the offense averages roughly four runs per game.  Defense has been a struggle for Duke, which has committed 41 errors on the year for a .955 fielding percentage.

This series could get ugly with errors on both sides of the ball.  Louisville holds an edge on offense IF the bats can get hot.  The Cards have power and speed.  They will have ample opportunities to put runs on the board so it is all about capitalizing with runners on base.

Tennis Visits BC

The women's tennis team has had a hot start to the first half of the season and they sit in the Top 50 in the rankings currently.  They visit the Eagles of Boston College today at 2:00.  If you have not made it to Bass-Rudd this season they do have a pair of home matches remaining coming up soon.

I hope to see many of you in Lexington tonight.  Do not be afraid to say" hi" or ask for a picture (we would love to feature pics of our wonderful readers) if you see me.  I am the tall, lanky guy with glasses on.

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

Jared

Loretta Kakala Interview...All-SEC WBB Final -- Saturday Cardinal Couple..

FROM SMALL TOWN TO BIG CITY...RETTA FINDS HER SECOND HOME

One of the first things that you pick up on when you talk with Retta Kakala is that she puts a lot of thought into what she says. She'll laugh easily but answers from her are precise, concise and straight-forward. 

CARDINAL COUPLE had the chance yesterday to speak with her about her All-American game performance and her choosing Louisville....as well as several other subjects. In typical Paulie fashion, there is also a bit of schmaltz and humor included as well in the nine-minute interview. You'll find a link to hear the interview at the end of this segment...we'll hit a couple of the highlights here. 

Why Louisville?

'Louisville is home away from home. Being from California, Kentucky is a long way to go so I wanted to be somewhere that I was comfortable and I felt like I was around family."

The All-American Game

"Honestly, I think I just played my game. I just did what I needed to get done...like rebounding, scoring when we needed points and just being a supportive player off the court, too. Keeping everyone fired up." 

What areas of your game are your going to work hardest on?

"Definitely getting into college-level shape and my ball-handling and shooting.

If you could be an animal, what animal would you be?

"A lion. Because I'm super-aggressive. And because they're really pretty!" 

You wear #32. Is their a significance to that number? 

"I love Blake Griffin. I've also worn it since I began playing basketball. 

A great interview with one of the future 2017-18 WBB Cards! We'll try to catch up with Dana Evans and Lindsey Duvall in future interviews as well. 

LINK TO ENTIRE INTERVIEW AUDIO: 

KAKALA ON CARDINAL COUPLE 3/30/17



******************************************************************************


UCONN STREAK ENDS AT 111.

No, this isn't an April Fool's joke. 

No five-peat, The 111 game win streak ended. 

Mississippi State delivered the first blows in an exciting semi-final game last night, weathered the UConn comeback and forced overtime...winning on a Morgan William drive and floater over UConn's Gabby Williams as time expired to seal a major-upset win over the Huskies 66-64. 

After Saniya Chong turned the ball over with 12.3 second left in the extra session, Mississippi State regained possession and called a timeout. Head Coach Vic Schaefer told William: 

"Mo...you're about to win the game." 

And he was right. At the end of regulation, Morgan had tried a similar move. Gabby swatted that effort away. This time, the ball cleared Gabby's up-raised hand and found net success. 

Schaefer was jubilant after the win:

"What an unbelievable, gusty performance that no one in the country probably thought could happen. We beat the greatest team, with the greatest win streal in the history of sports." 

Losing coach Geno Auriemma's thoughts on the defeat: 

"They beat us. They took us away from the things we like to do. We didn't have the kind of maturity that you need to win at this level at this time of year." 

Credit the MSU defense as well. Schaefer, who engineered the defense that took Texas A&M to a title in 2011 when he was an assistant there, laid out a defensive strategy that forced 17 turnovers, held UConn to almost twenty points below their season average and turned a usually dependable and patient squad into one that lost its composure and became frustrated.  

An SEC final. If someone had told you that at the start of the season, you probably would have passed it off as a delusional, fanatical Kentucky Wildcats fan trying to raise the ire of a rival fan base. 

It has come to pass. Mr. Samuelson goes 0-2 on Friday night. 

Nothing stings like getting this far and then having to go home. A bitter taste that even Geno's Spaghetti Sauce won't be able to vanquish. See ya, Huskies.


SOUTH CAROLINA TAKES THE TREES DOWN

South Carolina advances. After a forgettable first half, the Gamecocks erase a nine-point deficit and down Stanford 62-53. How big was the hobbling of Stanford's Karlie Samuelson and the ankle sprain with about five minutes until halftime? 

How huge were the efforts from USC'S Allisha Gray (18 points) and the double-double from Aja Wilson (13 points and 19 rebounds?) 

When the 'Cocks lost Alaina Coates in mid-march...shortly before tournament time...most figured that the Dawn Staley squad would make a brief apperance in the tournament and then head home. Some wondered if they'd reach Stockton for the regional. 

Survive and advance. It's the catch phrase this time of year. 

For what it's worth...South Carolina won both contests against the Bulldogs this year. A 64-61 win in mid-January and 59-49 victory in the SEC Tournament finals. 

***********************************************************


THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR

Case and I will be joined by Jared Anderson in the studio today and call Jeff McAdams who will be covering volleyball. 

Should be a good show. We'll play the Retta Kakala interview and get the guys opinion on men's and women's hoops, softball, lacrosse and more.

Always live, always unpredictable and always worth the hour you spend listening. 

11 a.m.  WCHQ 100.9  Listen at www.crescenthillradio.com

March Madness is now April Awareness
paulie
xxxxx

Four advance, four leave tonight -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

BATTLE OF CAROLINAS AND IRISH VS TREES TONIGHT IN NCAA WBB SWEET SIXTEEN

We are getting closer to a Final Four in the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament. In Greensboro, NC and Oklahoma City, OK it'll be a scenario where eight survivors enter and four have there survivals extended. Some very good basketball on tap.

We'll look at the matchups in a minute. First, we'd like to extend our best wishes and hopes to the UofL men's basketball squad...who faces ACC foe NC State in the men's Sweet Sixteen. The Cards lost to the Wolfpack in the KFC YUM! Center in the conference schedule...a game where Louisville led at the half but fell upon a cold shooting stretch and numerous defensive breakdowns. 

The Pitino led squad is playing better than that these days and should send Mr. and Mrs. Wuf packing back to Raleigh.

Oh yeah...be prepared for Big Blue boasters today in your travels. Teflon John and his NBA roster decimated Wichita State by 39 last night. 40-0, 40-0 !! Three games away...

Now...to the ladies. In the four games tonight, there are really no major surprises here in the contestant's chairs. The top four seeds advanced to this stage in these two regionals. Only Texas and Dayton in Albany and Gonzaga in Spokane are teams that were not #4 seed or better that made the Sweet Sixteen. Gonzaga, you figured had a good chance...playing in the northwest...Dayton a surprise and Texas was a #5 seed and not that big of a stretch.

UNC vs South Carolina  7 p.m. Greensboro


South Carolina has looked very good in getting this far.... hammering Savannah St. and Syracuse. They'll find the sledding a little tougher against a Sylvia Hatchell squad that handled Liberty and managed to hang on against a Ohio St. squad who rallied back big time to barely lose. 

It's a ACC vs SEC matchup and I'm going with the rough and tumble TarHeels to narrowly send South Carolina back to Columbia. They've gotten lucky once when they survived the Ohio St. spree and luck will be a lady again tonight for Carolina Blue.

Iowa vs Baylor  7:30 p.m. Oklahoma City


It's back to the scene of Kim Mulkey's most disappointing career loss...where Louisville downed Griner and company a couple of years ago. Griner is gone, but Iowa is no Louisville (The Cards dismantled Hawkeye Nation by 34 earlier in the season).

Baylor may not win by as much, but win they will and Kim won't have to do a striptease for the Oklahoma City contingent. Iowa has improved since the Cards clipped their wings but the midwestern farm girls will be headed home Saturday morning. 

Arizona St. v Fla. St.  9:30 p.m. Greensboro

This time, the ACC goes against the PAC Conference and Arizona St. Sue Semrau's Seminoles were second best in the conference but have looked like champions against Alabama St. and FGCU...maybe the easiest path anyone had in getting to the Sweet Sixteen. These Tallahassee lassies will trot forward against a group of Sun Devils that said "no way-o" to Ohio and sent UALR packing

Charli Turner Thorne does have Sophia Brunner and a candidate for Worldwide's All-Name team in Promise Amukamara...but these Charli's Angels won't solve tonight's mystery and are headed back to Tempe..from what we see.

Notre Dame v Stanford  10 p.m. Oklahoma City

It looks like the PAC will go "0-for-Sweet Sixteen" tonight when Tara Vanderveer takes her trees for a toilet-papering by the Irish. (Interesting fact: The Trees nickname only applies to the Stanford band...the sports teams are The Cardinal.)

Muffet McGraw is fully aware that The Cardinal is the only team to beat UConn this year. Ol' leopard-skin-print-lady is also aware that she has Jewell Loyd, Taya Reimer, Lindsay Allen and a team that shrugged off miserable Montana and Dougie Bruno's Blue Demons. Irish eyes will be smiling again tonight (or tomorrow morning) as Muffet's Curds and Whey won't be scared by any spiders, trees or Samuelson's...

paulie
xxxxx

Big East Volleyball Tournament

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SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Big East Volleyball Tournament Live Streaming

-WBB: Cards sign 3 for Class of 2013


-Down goes Griner...Baylor loses to Stanford 71-69

The Big East Volleyball Tournament is being live streamed by the Big East.  The stream is available via the Big East website at multiple links, but I found it at:

http://www.bigeast.org/Sports/WomensVolleyball/2012VolleyballChampionshipCentral.aspx

Click on the green "Live Stream" bar.

UPDATE #1....THE CARDS DID WIN IN THREE SETS AND FACE CINCINNATI TOMORROW AT 2 p.m.

UPDATE #2....WBB UPSET!!!!! STANFORD HAS KNOCKED OFF #1 BAYLOR IN HAWAII 71-69.


RUCKER KEY IN CARDS VICTORY OVER RED STORM

The #10 VolleyCards easily handled St. John's in BIG EAST VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT quarterfinal play yesterday in Milwaukee, WI...zipping to a 3-set 25-15, 25-23, 25-17 win over the Red Storm.

Senior middle blocker and All-BIG EAST First Team selection Gwen Rucker had 13 kills in 15 attempts for a .867 hitting percentage. This sets a new record in the BIG EAST.

BIG EAST Player of the Year Lola Arslanbekova added 13 kills for the VolleyCards, who have won their last 10 matches in a row.

Who's next for Anne Kordes' machine? The UC Bearcats, who escaped with a five-set battle with Connecticut earlier in the day. The Cards defeated Cincinnati twice in regular-season conference play.

Game time is 2 p.m.

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CANNON, HENDERSON and BREEDLOVE SIGN LOI'S

As expected, Jeff Walz received letters of intent from the three to comprise the 2013 recruiting class for the Lady Cards.

The Cards get a strong paint prescence and two talented point guards to complement the already deep and strong Cardinal roster for next year.

Louisville leaves Sunday for three games in Mexico.

First foe is future BIG EAST member Central Florida. They play Tuesday at 7 p.m. (E.S.T.)

We lament the fact that there will be no TV for the Cards conquest but you can follow the action through the radio broadcast on 790 AM WKRD...or Gametracker...on the GoCards.com Super Scoreboard.

We'd love to be with the team covering the action live but will still try to provide you with updates on how the Lady Cards "south of the border" soiree goes. The Cards, at #8 in the polls, are 3-0 on the season...with wins over Texas A&M, Portland and Austin Peay.

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STANFORD KNOCKS OFF #1 BAYLOR IN HAWAII

Early season speculation about the women's college basketball season involved quite a bit of discussion on whether Baylor could go two seasons in a row unefeated.

Nope.


Griner and the Baylor Bears take a upset loss at the hands of Stanford 71-69. 

"The failure to communicate this important event is illogical,
Captain Kirk."

It's a shame this one wasn't on national television because it was quite the exciting game. The Stanford feed was choppy at best, I couldn't get any audio and there were no screen graphics. The camera guy would show the overhead scoreboard during timeouts...but keeping track of who was in the lead was a chore most of the game.

ESPN will show Friday night football featuring two mid-majors but can't pick up this important women's college basketball contest? 

C'mon, man...

It's just another example of how the four-letter network serves their own agenda and does whatever the he!! they want, when they want to and everybody else can either watch it or not.  

The days of kings, dictators and monopolies are no longer in fashion. J.P. Morgan, Carnegie, Idi Amin and Hitler are dead.  ESPN still believes they are the only dog barking on the block, that's why we welcome the advent of other broadcasters (CBS, NBC, Fox) expanding on their college sports broadcast networks.

Football may be the revenue magnet but it doesn't mean that it's the only game in town. Last night's Stanford vs. Baylor WBB game should have been shown nationwide.

At least the ESPN guys delivered a pretty good post mortem.

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It's Tuesday so it must be laundry day at Sandy's!

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Our illustrious staff columnist Sandy Walker grabs the Tide and harumphs in acknowledgement as she heads to the multiplex CARDINAL COUPLE laundry room/ orchestrial chamber/ late income tax filing center and stromboli bistro. It is Tuesday. Here's Sandy: 

Volleyball falls in five sets to #11 Texas

Despite Lola Arslanbekova's season high 29 kills, Louisville Volleyball fell in five games to Texas last night in the KFC YUM! Center. The Cards played their hearts out in the 21-25, 25-18, 21-25, 26-24, 15-10 loss. We expect CARDINAL COUPLE correspondents Jeff McAdams and/or Jenny O'Bryan will have more on the loss in a future article. The VolleyCards go to 16-3 with the loss. About 5,000 attended the match. Timmy the Intern was ejected for handing out whoopie cushions to the season-ticket holders and telling them that they were "thunder sticks"...

  

It's Raining Top 25 Cardinal Rankings   

KFC YUM! CENTER & WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

As a follow to Jenny’s article about the YUM! Center I wanted to share a discovery I made this last week concerning the playing facility of Stanford University.  A couple of other UL fans and I are fortunate to be able to attend the University of Conn.  @ Stanford game scheduled for Maples Pavilion, which is their women’s and men’s regular home court.  At first I was concerned that the best seats available to the general public were closer to the top of the arena than to the playing floor.  That is until I was shocked to learn that the entire arena seats less than 7500 fans.      

                                               

I had no idea that a historical premiere NCAA women’s basketball team plays in such a small arena with a fan base that does not average an attendance greater than 4,250 attendees which ranks as 22^nd in the nation.  I point this out for the purpose of making sure that Louisville fans never find that we are envious of a far away or well respected team’s situation.  We absolutely are so very fortunate to have such an exciting team to watch that we drew the 2^nd highest numbers of fans per game but that as fans we are also are able to enjoy our 60,000 sq. ft. arena and a place that many indicate as the best facility in the nation.  Let’s take advantage of it again this year – and also remember to bring an extra fan to every game.

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GOLF

September’s Big East Women’s Golf Player is Louisville’s Louisville’s sophomore Emily Haas.  Emily is a Nicholasville, Ky native.                 

                                                                 

Emily Haas

Last Tuesday the women’s golf team finished in ninth at the Johnie Imes Invitational.  Update:  Former University of Louisville women's golfer Sara-Maude Juneau has recently earned her LPGA Tour card. She finished No. 10 on the season-ending money list in the 2012 Volvik Race for the Card which gives her an exempt status for the 2013 LPGA Tour season.  Juneau describes herself as a simple girl from a small town in Canada and says "I'm playing golf for a living, how can it get better?"

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SOCCER

Women’s Soccer student-athlete of the week is Angelika Uremovich.



Angelika Uremovich


Also, for those of you who have signed up for Cards TV and watched Head Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes weekly show...  since last week, the Soccer team took away a 1-0 win (goal by Charlyn Corral) over Villanova and played to a 1-1 draw against 11^th ranked Georgetown.  Check out

http://twitter.com/ULFlyingCard/status/254354869853491200/photo/1 to see a photo of the women’s soccer team wearing their special uniforms for the Villanova October 5 PINK game.  (Nick Stover (@ULFlyingCard) is responsible for  the information and pictures)             

                                                                                  

The team does not play at home again until October 19.  In the meantime they play Rutgers then Seton Hall on the 12^th and 14^th.

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BASKETBALL

RECRUITING

Jconline reports from Purdue source 




Emmonnie Henderson

                                                                                                                                                                     
http://php.jconline.com/blogs/mike/purdue-womens-basketball-recruiting-update/ that 2013 recruit Edwardsville, Ill., standout 6’1” power forward, Emmonnie Henderson, will decide between Purdue, Louisville, Tennessee and Miami (Fla.).  Louisville is currently reported to be at the head of her list.  Emmonnie responded to questions with ”I like Louisville. I like them all. I don’t know why. It’s all based on good feelings.”  The good feelings from Louisville fans are mutual.  She has been to Miami for an official visit, will be in West Lafayette on Oct. 12 and 13, Tennessee on Oct. 19-20 and Louisville on Oct. 26-27.  She plans to be a team member of both basketball and track as she is the defending Class 3A state champion in the discus and won the shot put state title twice.  Last reports indicate a school decision will occur before the end of the year.

Coach Walz spent last week traveling coast to coast – we believe visits occurred to Mercedes Russell and Emmonnie Henderson --- possibly also to others but I don’t have specific information.  Fortunately we have the scholarships available so the more the merrier.

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TIP OFF LUNCHEON

Reminder: The basketball tip off luncheon is set for Tuesday October 23.  Be sure to call and make your reservations for the noon start time on center court of the KFC YUM! Center.   $30.00 tickets can be purchased by calling the U of L special events office at (502) 852-0706 or completing the form found at http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/lou/sports/w-baskbl/auto_pdf/2012-13/misc_non_event/2012Luncheon.pdf.  Jeff Walz is the featured speaker. Bill the Goat declined an offer to sing the National Anthem.

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NATIONAL RANKING

Lindy’s sports magazine has ranked Louisville women as number 6 in the nation with UK number 7.   The December 2 UL-UK game at the KFC YUM! Center should be a match-up of national interest. 

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ECKARD COLLEGE GAME

Halloween night (October 31) is the date our U of L women will match up with the St. Petersburg, Fl. Eckard College for its’s first exhibition game of the season. Eckard sophomore guard Kayla Bowlin will get the opportunity to be back in her home state of KY. whose hometown is Monticello.

There are some who have complained that the women’s pre-season games are too easy but I think this presents a great opportunity for Coach Walz to see all of his players in action while playing together in different combinations.  If the schedule is light then we must presume that the coaching staff created the situation for a reason and the people on the outside looking in just need to come out and watch everyone have the opportunity to show their improved skills. THe BIG EAST will be plenty tough. Sometimes, you gotta ride downhill...

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CBS SPORTS NETWORK GAME BROADCASTS

This year the CBS sports network will continue its Big East women’s Tuesday night package.   January 15 will feature U of L’s game with Connecticut.    That’s great for folks who want to have a tape of the win or for those who can’t make it to Louisville for the game but the locals will be at the game packing the arena.

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VOLLEYBALL

On Sunday the VolleyCards sweep the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 25-20, 25-13, 25-18.   Lola Arslanbekova had 20 kills and 14 digs and became the all-time kill career leader in school history. The KFC YUM! Center match was also a Pink Out Dig for the Cure day where the team sported special pink uniform tops.  The Saturday Seton Hall and Sunday’s Rutgers wins bring Louisville to a 16-2 and 5-1 in Big East record.

The Cardinals are now No. 4 in the Ratings Percentage Index which is the highest in school history.

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KAITLYNN JAMES

A Courier Journal interview of Senior Kaitlynn James, both written and video at

http://buzztap.com/link.jsp?id=15693440&cid=304&source=feed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed includes her decision to transfer back to U of L after first playing for Nebraska.  The Assumption High School graduate credits the hiring of Coach Anne Kordes for her decision to return to Louisville.

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FIELD HOCKEY

On Sunday the Field Hockey team pulled off an upset by defeating number 11 Iowa by a score of 2-1. Two freshmen team members helped pull off the win with Victoria Statton making her first career goal while Elisa Garcia scored her 5^th career goal.

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CARDINAL COUPLE CHOOSE YOUR FAVORITE UofL WOMENS' ATHLETE CONTEST

It does look like Becca Shine will advance to the round of eight after soundly thumping softball's Katie Keller in first round action. Congrats, Becca!

 Our next matchup features top-seeded Shoni Schimmel against Krissie Brandenburg.

Krissie is one of the best on the UofL women's swimming and diving team. She was the 2009 Kentucky High School Girls Swimmer of the Year and has been selected All-BIG EAST three times in her days at Louisville.

Schimmel...you've probably heard of.
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Sandy W.

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