Sydney Zambrotta joins George Washington WBB -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

"THREE" Z TO G.W.

Sydney Zambrotta has decided where she will continue her collegiate basketball pursuits and the rising junior will take her game to our nation's capitol...Washington, D.C. and join the George Washington Colonials squad for her final two years of eligibility. 

Per NCAA transfer rules, she'll sit out the 2018-19 season and have two years to play for GW head WBB coach Jennifer Rizotti. Rizotti spoke yesterday about the addition. 

"I'm excited about the versatility Syd can offer at the guard position. Although she's known as a tremendous shooter, she has the basketball I.Q. of a point guard, which wil allow her to both facilitate and score in our offense. I look forward to getting her on campus, so she can begin the next chapter of her career". 

Syd also spoke about the move from Louisville to Washington and seemed excited about what lies ahead for her: 

"I chose GW because of the superior academics, incredible teammates and unparalleled coaching staff. They are a community that I feel privileged to be a part of. They are a family that is allowing me in. What a honor! Raise High"! 

The Colonials are part of the Atlantic 10 Conference and won the A-10 Basketball Tournament back in March with wins over LaSalle, George Mason, Dayton and St. Joseph's. They drew Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament but fell to the Buckeyes 87-45 in Columbus. Overall, GW went 19-14 and 10-6 in A-10 play. 

GW is in the midst of a bit of rebuilding, it would seem. Three freshman join the 10 player roster that has just two seniors. Zambrotta is one of three transfers on the squad. Sarah Overcash comes in from Illinois, Olivia Gumbs previously played at Lafayette. 

Rizotti begins her third season as the head Colonial. A former protege of UConn's Geno Auriemma, she is also President of the Women's College Basketball Association and a USA National Team assistant coach under Dawn Staley. Previously, she spent 17 years as the head coach of the Hartford Hawks and had quite the successful student-athlete term playing for the head Husky in Storrs. Highly respected by her peers.

The "Jen will succeed Geno" rumor mill has been active for several years. Unless Geno pulls a "Pearsall" and hits the sporting community with a surprise retirement announcement, though...it looks like she'll continue to be "the woman in waiting". 

For Syd, a second start. 

At UofL, she came in highly regarded and had gained the reputation as a three-point specialist. Joining a mix of talented guards as a freshman, she served as a reserve for two seasons that Louisville head coach Jeff Walz would employ to bust zones and bring defensive pressure on occasion. As a freshman, she got court time in 29 games during the Cards march to the Sweet Sixteen.  She averaged 3.4 points and 1.2 rebounds in the 2017-18 season and saw action in 33 games for UofL. 

She could nail the three. 46% from beyond the arc in two seasons for Louisville. A fan favorite, the majority of her action came in games where the contest had long since been decided. Louisville P.A. announcer would emphasize her trifecta successes with the elongated "THREEEEEEE ZZZZZZZZ !!" proclamation. 

The Louisville guard contingent grew stronger each year that Syd was on campus and when Seygan Robins and Mykasa Robinson joined the Cardinal fold with commitments, one can hardly blame her for looking at options where she might get more playing time. 

I last saw Syd at one of the Louisville Lacrosse games this spring. Rushing to get to the press box to cover a game that had already started, I nearly strode past her without recognizing her sitting in the metal bleachers, front row...watching the contest. This was a few days after she announced her transfer intent and did not know her destination. We exchanged a few cordial words, I wished her the best of luck wherever she ended up and I headed to the press box. Later, I mentioned her presence to our columnist Jared Anderson and he wondered if she'd be up for a couple of pictures. By the time he got back down to field level, she had already departed.

All of us as CARDINAL COUPLE wish Syd the best at GW. In Rizotti, she'll have a great teacher and quite knowledgeable student of the game. One of the best point-guards in UConn history. Eight seasons in the WNBA.

Jeff Walz is 0-2 in "Syd retention" at UofL. Syd Brackemyre also spent a couple of years as a Card but with knee injuries...she never got the chance to perform much for the red and black. Her student-athlete college time did find a happy ending when she transferred to U of Indy. She became the scorer and shooter we all saw in high school. We hope the same sequence follows for "Z". 

Light 'em up, Z. Go earn that playing time in the 2019-20 season. And, hopefully, the P.A. announcer for Colonials' games will have tons of opportunities to perform the joyous annunciation.....


"Threeeee ZZZZZ!!!!!"  


DAN MCDONNELL TO....LOUISVILLE

Speculation comes to decision. 

The Louisville baseball community was a-buzz with the possible departure of Cardinal baseball skipper Dan McDonnell to Mississippi State recently.  Sound the "all-clear". Dan is staying at Louisville. 

He did speak with the powers that be in Starkville. Not enough there to pull him out of the Jim Patterson Stadium and Cardinal Community. He believes in the Cardinal leadership of Neeli Bendaputi and Vince Tyra. Has an unfinished agenda at the corner of Central Avenue and 2nd Street. 

Another notch on the gunbelt for the Cardinal Athletic Director. An affirmation of the promising new leadership that Neeli is bringing to the University. 

Dan says it best: 

" I had a chance to learn about the Mississippi State program and what they've accomplished. It's a great program but ultimately we have done great things here at Louisville and we have great things left to do". 

No confirmation on whether M.S.U. A.D. John Cohen made an offer to McDonnell. 

It's pretty clear and obvious to me when it comes to weighing options and it appears it was for Dan as well. Starkville or Louisville?  I think you go with the town that has the greatest two minutes in sports instead of the city which has The Cobb Museum of Archaeology. 

This final just in: 

ACC 1 - SEC 0 


And, the Cards finally got a win over M.S.U. in something. 


(Grateful acknowledgment to GWSports.com for information used in today's article)  


paulie
xxxxx

Myisha Drafted 19th -- Jeff Walz Named U18 Coach -- Syd Zambrotta to transfer -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Myisha Drafted 19th in WNBA Draft

UofL's newest pro

Wiping tears from her eyes with a huge smile on her face Louisville forward Myisha Hines-Allen celebrated with her friends and family as she found out where life will be taking her next.  With the 19th pick of the WNBA Draft, the Washington (DC) Mystics selected the All-American.

Hines-Allen is the eighth Louisville women's basketball player to be selected in the WNBA Draft and the first since a trio of players went in the 2014 draft.  The 118 wins in four seasons make her the winningest player in program history.

Highlights from MHA's career include one Final Four and three Sweet Sixteens in four NCAA
appearances, tied for second at UofL in career double-doubles with 33, third in program history with 2028 career points, and second in program history with 1151 career rebounds.

She'll be with superstar Elena Della Donne and Cardinal great Asia Taylor on the Mystics roster. That sounds like a VERY powerful front line to us...in addition to the other "painters" on Washington's roster.

Congratulations to you, Myisha.  I know your accomplishments in the pros will be great.

Jeff Walz Takes No Breaks

What is Jeff Walz thinking?

It was announced yesterday that Jeff Walz will head up the USA U18 National Team.  His assistants include Delaware's Natasha Adair and UCLA Cori Close.

With the 2017-18 NCAA women's basketball season over Walz has a little bit of spare time outside of his recruiting trips and early preseason workouts to take on this responsibility.

The team will compete at the 2018 FIBA Americas U18 Championship, which dates and locations are to be determined.  The top four teams will qualify for the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup.

Sydney Zambrotta to transfer

From a source on the UofL women's basketball coaching staff, we have confirmed that guard Sydney Zambrotta is transferring and has been given her release from the program.

"Syd is looking for a place to get more playing time, She's a great kid and we are doing everything we can to help her."  is the quote we got from a representative of the Louisville basketball team.

In two years as a Cardinal, Zambrotta saw 530 minutes of court time in 62 games and had 1 start. She scored 195 points and was 49 for 129 from the three-point range. Her career high was against WKU back on 12/11/16 when she scored 15 points.

A 5'9" guard from North Babylon, NY....Syd was a 4-star recruit and chose Louisville over Miami (FL), Minnesota, Pittsburgh and South Carolina.

We at Cardinal Couple wish her the best in her future court time and will always remember the "Three....ZZZZ" yell Sean Moth would intone after a successful trifecta. Good luck, Syd !!



Are Cheerleading and Dancing Sports?

To clarify, I am specifically talking about what the University of Louisville cheerleaders and Ladybirds do.  In Wednesday's article I wrote about how the groups won four national championships over the weekend.

The textbook definition of "sport" is "an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment".

Going by the textbook definition both are sports without a doubt.  Their tumbling, movements, and pyramid-stacking would be considered physical exertion and skill.  When they compete against other schools in the championships  it would be for entertainment.

So why doesn't UofL make cheerleading and dancing part of their sports?

Cheerleaders pose with WBB

The obvious reason is because the NCAA doesn't recognize them as sports so if UofL became the only school to do so would be silly.  Secondly, the cheerleaders and Ladybirds are currently self-sufficient financially. Their car wash and spirit calendar fundraisers are just a couple of the fundraisers they participate in to raise money for uniforms.  The university covers travel and hotel expenses for NCAA Tournaments, but athletics does not offer scholarships to the groups.  Any scholarships the spirit members receive are on the academic side of things.

It is unfortunate that the NCAA will not recognize cheerleading and dancing as sports, but hopefully we will see more recognition for the groups in the future.  They do have more championships in their history than all of the other 21 UofL sports combined...

Lacrosse and Softball

Rain won't melt lacrosse

Softball pushed their Friday game against Syracuse up to 2:00.  It is on the road so make sure to tune into Twitter early for updates.  Women's tennis is enjoying the weather- warmer weather than the warm weather we finally have- down in Clemson and will start at noon.  Football (7:30) and men's soccer (8:00) both moved their games up from Saturday to today because of pending weather.

The wonderful SID for women's basketball and lacrosse, Nick Evans, also does some work with the Louisville Bats.  I spoke with him about weather affecting lacrosse on Saturday.  He laughed. Rain won't make the team melt... unless they're in the Wizard of Oz.  As long as lightning does not make it's way to Floyd Street they are still set to go at noon on Saturday.

Besides being Friday the 13th (let's hope for some good luck) today is also Scrabble Day, Peach Cobbler Day, and Blame Someone Else Day (the first Friday the 13th of each calendar year).  So just remember, it's probably Paulie's fault.  What did he do?  Who knows, but we'll blame him anyways until he passes the blame onto Sam Purcell.

Enjoy Your Friday and Go Cards!

- Jared -

20 - 0 start - Friday Cardinal Couple

STRONG FINISH BUOYS CARDINAL WBB WIN

After a bit of a slow start, the Hoop Cards pulled it together and eventually won the 4th quarter of the game in convincing fashion to put away the Pitt Panthers to move to 20-0 on the season.  The final score was 77-51.  The Cards didn't lose any quarter of play, but Pitt equaled the UofL scoring in the 2nd quarter at 15 apiece.  At 53-43 after three quarters, the Cards started the fourth on a 18-0 run.

The 20 game win streak to start the season continues to improve on the best ever start, and best ever win streak (not necessarily to start the season) in the WBB program.  This ties the 2nd best ever start for any team in UofL Athletics with Volleyball's 2005 season start.  The best ever start in UofL Athletics history is held by the 2012 Softball squad which went 28-0 before dropping a game to DePaul.  (That roster had such Softball luminaries as Alicja Wolny, Taner Fowler, Caralisa "Carl" Connell, Chelsea Leonard, Kayla "The Pride of New Egypt, New Jersey" Soles, Whitney Aron, Tori Collins, and the vicious don't-try-to-steal-on-'em combo of Maggie Ruckenbrod and Katie Keller)

I was watching this one on my phone while out with friends playing pub trivia, but Louisville was pretty clearly the better overall team, although I don't feel like we played our best.  Certainly our shooting wasn't the best we've seen all season, but with 14 offensive rebounds, we cleaned up a lot of our own misses, so that mitigates poor shooting to a degree.  I say "poor shooting", but we averaged almost 50% from the field, which isn't bad by any rational measuring stick, it's just something of a letdown after the red-hot Notre Dame game.

Sydney Zambrotta may be starting to work her way out of the bit of shooting slump that she's been in, popping two straight 3-pointers to buoy the Cards spirit.  She continues to contribute with surprisingly strong defensive efforts.  A very off night for Asia Durr, scoring "only" 9 points, but good balanced effort most of the rest of the way around the court.  Myisha Hines-Allen tallied 13, Sam Fuehring, and Arica Carter each accounted for 12, Dana Evens contributed 8, and Bionca Dunham put in 10 in only 18 minutes of play.  Those rebounds?  Yeah, that was pretty much all MHA, with 8 of the 14 offensive ones, and 10 of the 22 on the other end of the floor.

All in all, this was a solid win, with good, but not quite great, play for most, against a mid-pack ACC team.

The Cards return home for a Sunday tilt versus 12th ranked Florida State in a game that is later than usual on a Sunday with a 5 p.m. tip.  Let's hope a lot of the crowd from the noon-starting Men's game stick around downtown and come to the
women's game.  Tickets have already been selling well, with the lower bowl and terrace effectively sold out already (a handful of individual seats are available) and 300 level seats being sold.

Attendance was announced as 441. UofL has probably had more attend an open practice than that...

--
JMcA


THE FRED REPORT

Former Pitt star Fred
Potvin. 

I'm offering the FRED report today, Worldwide will probably disagree with the analysis but that's how it goes...he usually disagrees with most of my comments. No one can accuse us of being single-sighted or minded. 

F- Free THROWS.  12-20 equals 60% and that's below the standard. Seven players attempted them and only Evans and Carter were "perfect" (2 for 2). No letter.

R- Rebounding. 36-26 Cards advantage and a whopping 18 for DOOO-BLAY Myisha Hines-Allen. No one else had more than three. A ten-rebound advantage on the road works. I'll extend a capital "R"...mostly because of MHA. 

E - Effort/Execution. 13 turnovers isn't so bad and 24 assists on 29 made baskets is pretty acceptable as well. The 10-0 shut out on fast break points is exemplary and paint production 36-18 Cards offsets a CARDINAL so-so performance for the first three quarters. I'm going small "e" here....Pitt was only down by 10 until they fell apart to start the 4th session. 

D- Defense. The Cards held Pitt to 51 points....which was their 3rd lowest point total of the season. The Panthers had 19 turnovers and Louisville did get eight steals. 42% shooting can largely be credited to Yacine Diop's 10-20, 26 point performance. We've seen better defense out of the Cards, so a small-case "d" is the decision here. 

Final FRED tally:  _-R-e-d

paulie
xxxxx


PEARSALL, STANFILL and SNYDER PREPARE FOR SEASON

Five star prospect Leon Burger should give the
Cards excellent base-running skills. 

The January meeting of Sportsmen's Supper Club welcomed Louisville head softball coach Sandy Pearsall, pitching coach Kassie Stanfill and UofL Baseball recruiting coach/coordinator Eric Snyder to their monthly meeting last night at the University Club. 

Kassie has seven pitchers to keep track of (after two for most of last year) and finding replacements for Maryssa Becker and Sandy is watching intently the battles to secure starting roles at first base and in left and right field to replace graduated Jordan McNary, Tiarra Sanabria and Morgan Meyer. 

Eric filled the membership in on where they recruit and what they look for. 

Their presentation was well-received and we learned a lot about how a team prepares for the season. 

Softball's banquet is this Saturday night and a few tickets are still available for the Brown and Williamson Club event on a will-call basis. 

Future meetings planned for Sportsmen's Supper Club tentatively include Arthur Albiero, Dani Busboom Kelly, Scott Teeter and John Asher as prospective speakers. If you are a UofL fan, like to eat and enjoy hearing top-notch speakers in a question and answer format...you should look into joining the club. 

If you are interested in joining Sportsmen's Supper Club, contact Paulie via e-mail :

cardinalcouple@twc.com

Membership is open to all. 

Monthly meetings with great speakers, a cash bar, Cardinal fans and buffet for $25 a month! 

paulie
xxxxx 

Louisville Women's basketball -- Media Day...Comments and Clips -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

WALZ TALKS TO MEDIA...MEDIA TALKS TO PLAYERS

Paulie chat up Kylee Shook with assistant
interviewer Jaz Jones assisting (Photo by Daryl Foust)

I'm into my second decade of covering Louisville women's basketball media days and this is the first time I can remember them feeding us. That's how the day started...sub sandwiches, chips and water. Sonya and I arrived at the Yum! Practice Center (the first time the event has been held there) in time for that and got to share a table with Daryl Foust, who's been on the radio with us and writes for The Crunch Zone,  Mike Gilpatrick, another alumni from The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour and Nick Curran, radio voice of the Louisville women's basketball squad. The conversation was generalized...football's woes, a scrimmage the WBB squad had against Bellarmine on Sunday (which Nick got to attend) and the ACC Network Extra pulling the rug out from under Daryl for softball play-by-play this year. 

That, in itself, could be a whole different article and shame on UofL (seems we've been saying that a lot lately) for sidelining one of the best and brightest upcoming female, hell...any gender...announcers in our area. The decision was to go with Maryssa Becker instead and we'll wait until spring to diagnose that....other than questioning why BOTH of them couldn't be in the booth together? 

From Nick, both teams shot well in the scrimmage and the coaches got to spread the time pretty equally. It was there we found out that Lindsey Duvall did not play and is having knee-clean up surgery that will sideline her for the season. She'll take the red-shirt and the team was planning to go visit her after Monday's practice. 

Arica waits for Kylee's response at UofL WBB Media Day
(Photo by Daryl Foust) 

After the chow, we headed downstairs the media interview room in "the little YUM". It's a smaller room that the one in the SAC, where we've gone in the past for these, and the attendance was larger than I've seen in the past. So, seating was at a premium...but ol' Paulie got one of the last ones. I got to sit next to Paul Rogers, the affable play-by-play caller for football and men's hoops. He probably doesn't remember the time he signed the back of a promotion shirt for me...nor the story...where, several months later, I was wearing that shirt in a restaurant with Sonya and thylis middle-aged women cam e up from behind me and started gushing about how well I did play-by-play and explained game. After my initial bemusement, I finally told her that I wasn't Paul Rogers, he has just signed this particular shirt...but I knew him and would pass on the compliments. 

I don't think I've ever worn a shirt I've autographed and I'd guess that Paul Rogers hasn't either. In fact, I'm not sure if I have ever autographed a shirt. 

How many of these Cardinal greats can you name? 

Walz came in and the interview process began. Jeff doesn't like to do opening statements...so after greeting us, he opened up room up for questions. I went first. This gave Coach Walz the chance to get his first zinger of the year in on me. 

"Coach, what's the main thing you're looking to see out of this group early on in the season?" I queried? 

"Well, I guess our number one goal is to score more points that the the people we play. We hope to make more baskets than our opponents." Walz psuedo-seriously replied. 

He did on go to remark that he was looking to see a few players improve this year. Mentioning Sam Fuehring and Jazmine Jones specifically, Walz commented that has been impressed with their practice performances and is waiting to see if that will transfer over to game day.

In the almost half-hour long session with the media...Walz covered a lot of things. Durr. Hines-Allen. Fuehring and Jones. The Freshmen. The opponents. Some highlights below: 


-- Freshman Dana Evans is looking spectacular on the court and plays defense much better than the average freshman.  Loretta Kakala is very productive in the minutes she plays...while still working on conditioning. 

-- Myisha Hines-Allen progression from her freshman to senior is quite amazing. She's in the best shape ever since she's been her. He's looking for a consistent season from her. 

-- Kylee Shook has become more of a force with her back-to-the-basket this year. 

-- Walz will not re-appear as "The Man in the Yellow Hat" tonight for Halloween, he would not disclose this year's outfit but did mention that homes with full-size candy bars would likely get a second visit...even if it necessitated the kids changing costumes. 

To hear Walz and see Walz without audible media questions...go to:  http://gocards.com/watch/?Archive=7643&type=Archive

You can hear the entire Walz media session (including questions) here: JEFF WALZ ADDRESSES THE MEDIA ON MEDIA DAY

This is a nice sequence from Louisville Athletics: https://twitter.com/GoCards/status/925105054779981825/video/1 Watch Arica teach the Attack Yorkie a dance move! 

(The players' clips below are available through SoundCloud. SoundCloud is FREE and we use it for our audio files. You can download it for free at soundcloud.com) 

After an extensive Q&A...it was time to go talk to the players. Without question, this is always my favorite part of Media Day and I get in as many player chats as we can before they toss me of the practice court. Assisting me for the third year in a row on some of these was Arica Carter...it was a little harder to get her freed up this year since she's become such a celebrity...but we were able to get some good clips in...



-- I started wiht Sydney Zambrotta. You can hear that one here:  https://soundcloud.com/user-748907999/dr0000_1233mp3

-- Bionca Dunham talks Philly and food:  https://soundcloud.com/user-748907999/dr0000_1235mp3

-- We also caught up with Retta Kakala: https://soundcloud.com/user-748907999/dr0000_1234mp3

-- Next up, our buddy J.J. Jazmine Jones and Halloween: https://soundcloud.com/user-748907999/dr0000_1236mp3

-- We finally drug our assistant interview away from the hoarding masses and got her to accompany us to complete the interviews. First up was Kylee Shook. Hear Kylee here:
https://soundcloud.com/user-748907999/dr0000_1237mp3

-- We got a two-for-one in our final interview...as Arica and I started with Jess Laemmle and ended with Dana Evans. Listen! https://soundcloud.com/user-748907999/dr0000_1238mp3

-- I did at least get a quick chat with Myisha before the girls went to review the scrimmage film against Bellarmine. Myisha speaks: https://soundcloud.com/user-748907999/dr0000_1239mp3

I probably didn't get to some of your favorites, but...they keep things on a tight schedule for practice and they let Walz run pretty long...however, it's always a pleasure to "do" the Media Day thing and we hope you enjoy the clips! 

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE AND LEAVE US WHAT YOUR FAVORITE HALLOWEEN CANDY IS OR A SCARY HALLOWEEN STORY IN OUR COMMENTS SECTION !! 

If this guy shows up at your door on
Halloween...run and hide!

paulie
xxxxx

Monday Cardinal Couple - BracketTime

BracketTime

We've closed the books on another Women's Basketball regular season, and the conclusion was about what we expected.  The Cards got the win over Wake Forest 75-46.

As we discussed on The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour yesterday, Walz and crew needed to take care of their own business against Wake Forest to ensure the 5 seed in the ACC tournament.  With a little help from Virginia they could've jumped up to the 4 seed, but alas, the Demon Deacons couldn't get the deed done vs NC State, so UofL was still playing to stay in 5th.

Some of the story lines of the game are pretty familiar at this point, as they should be wrapping up the season.  Myisha Hines-Allen picks up a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds.  Asia Durr has her 33rd consecutive game with a 3pt shot, though she did score "only" 15 points.

Beyond those two, we mostly had a bunch of players scoring in mid-single digits, though there were a lot of them that scored that much.  Sydney Zambrotta made it out of single digits with 10, but otherwise we're looking at a bunch of 4pt scorers, a 6 from Ciera Johnson, and a few 2pt scorers.

For CC readers, the most exciting story may come from the free throw line.  After a first half with no free throws even being attempted by the Cards (sideeye look at officiating, there, WF had 14 attempts).  In the 2nd half, however, the Cards get to the line 9 times, and sink all 9 of them.  That's the sort of free throw prowess we've been looking for.  The breakdown on those are 5 to Durr, 2 to Hines-Allen, and 2 to Taylor Johnson.

The game started out with a pair of points from foul shots for Wake, but then UofL went on their first run, out to 14-2 getting it back to 17-11 before closing out the first quarter 21-13.  While UofL opened the 2nd quarter with 4 points, the Deacs would win the 2nd quarter overall 14-10 to go into halftime only down 4, 31-27, having gotten it as close as 2.

UofL exploded in the 3rd quarter, stretching the lead out to 20 in the 10 minutes.  They would continue to stretch that lead out in the 4th quarter reaching the final margin of 29 with the 75-46 win.

The Cards mostly got it done in the middle with a 44-14 advantage in the paint, as well as getting points off turnovers, taking the 31-12 advantage there.

FRED Report

With 100% free throw shooting, there is no doubt of the capital F, never have we been more enthusiastic to award an F.

Rebounding is a swing and a miss, however.  Wake outrebounded UofL 46-38, but the most painful part was the 22 offensive rebounds for Wake.  Fortunately, they were incredibly undersized to handle going back up for shots in the paint with the Louisville bigs, only scoring 13 second chance points.  While the results of this one could've been a lot worse, they certainly don't get the R.

Execution/Effort looked good for the Cards.  I don't think there was ever any real doubt about getting this win.  The Cards didn't look like the sharp team we know they can be in the 2nd quarter, but in the 3rd and 4th, it was clear they were ready to play.  We'll give the full capital E, here.

Defense definitely gets the letter awarded.  Wake was held to 19.4% from the field, and 16.7% from beyond the arc.  Special commendation to Kylee Shook here, with 5 blocks in the game.

So, in the final tally, that's F-ED.

Tournament Bracket

So, with the 5th seed, UofL will play at 11am on Thursday against the winner of the first round game between Virginia Tech and Clemson.  Advancing from that game will see us playing #4 NCState.

In Other Action

Baseball finished their sweep of Omaha to run their season record out to a still-perfect 7-0.  The Mc's - McKay, McClure, and McAvene - are getting it done on the mound for The Cards during the weekend.

The Women's Tennis Squad got a solid conference opening win over Pitt, 6-1.  The Cards got the doubles point with two courts getting 6-2 wins and leaving the 3rd court unfinished at 5-3.  Louisville won 5 courts of singles in 2 sets, with the only loss coming in a 3 set tangle.

-- JMcA

Louisville women's basketball -- A follow up on the freshmen...TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

HOW IS THE LARGEST FRESHMAN CLASS IN THE WALZ ERA DOING? 

Six true freshmen joined the UofL women's basketball roster this season, making it the largest freshman class in the Jeff Walz era at UofL. This was a subject of discussion the other night...an esteemed colleague of mine thought the 2009-10 class had six freshmen. He was close. Walz brought in five that year. My colleague was sure it was six. Here is who he named off. See if you can pick out the one that wasn't a freshman in that class.  Answer at the end of today's article. 

Shelby Harper                                      Nikki Burton
Tia Gibbs                                             Asia Taylor
Rachel Story                                        Ashley Rainey

As good as that class turned out...all six had success, even if it was ultimately at different schools for three...this 2016-17 class has the potential to be even better. Let's see how they are doing.


Kylee Shook. The 6'4" forward out of Mesa Ridge, CO...(And some will debate the height listing...claiming she is at least 6'5"...maybe taller) has given Louisville strong minutes at the "4" or stretch forward spot. She's been called on to play the "5" or center at times...but stretch forward is where she'll serve this squad best. Shook has played in 20 of the 22 games for a total of 225 minutes...third highest of the freshmen...for an average of 11.3 a contest...also third best. Her field goal % is .518 -- second best for the freshmen. She's 8-21 from three point range...those eight makes second best and she has 61 rebounds, which is tied for tops for the freshmen. 

She poses a dilemma for the opponents. Very capable of scoring either inside or out...how do you defend her? Leave her alone outside and she'll make you pay. Defensively, she needs to be a bit more aggressive...but with 21 blocks (second-highest) front-line opponents think twice when going up inside when she's on the court. Her length poses problems for foes in the passing lanes and she runs the court well for a "big". You can team her up with about anyone inside and she performs well. So far...we're impressed with her skills and feel that we'll see continued greatness as her career progresses. 


Ciera Johnson. Also listed at 6'4", this Duncanville, TX All-American has proven to be a valuable addition at the "5" for the Cards. Put into a starting role at the beginning of the year with Cortnee Walton's elbow injury, she held her own in the early competition and has continued to give the Cards quality minutes in a reserve role.  

Johnson has seen action in all 22 of the Cardinal's games and has logged 264 minutes...second best for the frosh...for 12.0 per contest. Her field goal shooting is 41-82 (50%) and she has 55 rebounds...good for third highest among the freshman. She is a student of the game and knows it quite well for a first-year. Still a bit slow on defensive assignments, she does use her size and strength to command position in the offensive sets and has shown the ability to go to the board strongly. We'd like to see the free throw accuracy improve (20-35 .571) Opponents have had trouble with her strength underneath and she has the most blocks (23) of the freshmen. So far...we like how she has performed in the Walz system and can only see better things down the road for her. 

Jazmine Jones. The Tallahassee terror has made quite an impact her in first season at the "Ville". Blessed with one of the smoothest mid-range jumper we've seen in awhile, extremely quick and athletic...Jones has been getting "first off the bench" assignments for Louisville and usually provides a spark when she does enter a contest. She's appeared in all 22 contests and put in 315 minutes (14.3 per game) which is tops for the freshmen. She is first in assists (23) steals (15) and tied for first in rebounding with 61. Her shooting (40-88) is at 45% and free throws (16-26) register in at 62%.

Jones is an exciting, dynamic and powerful addition to this squad. She provides valuable minutes at the "3" despite not having that great of a three-point proficiency (0-2 for the season) and can easily go to the "2" or even "4" if needed. Quickness and athleticism are two good descriptions for her. Prone to freshmen mistakes at times...sometimes she needs to adjust to the pace of the game...but we've heard people compare her to a young Angel McCoughtry. It will be up to her to develop the leadership skills, ability to take-over a game and strong all-over-the-court domination and three-point ability Angel had as her career progressed...but she has the talent, motivation and love for the game to become one of the best at Louisville. All it takes is the execution, hard work and dedication to get better and better. We look forward to "hearing the Jazz" the rest of this season and for a long, long time in the KFC YUM! Center. 

Sydney Zambrotta. Syd is a shooter. It's what she does best and it's the reason she is here. Especially from the three-point range. Out of Christ The King high school in New York, she has played in 18 of the 22 contest this year...for 124 minutes (6.9 a game). She's 18-42 from the floor this year and of those attempts...13-34 from beyond the arc. She also has the best free throw percentage on the squad (7-8  .875). 

Can she become a Becky Burke or Brandie Raddie type specialist for the Cards...being brought into games to do the outside bombing effectively? She's already shown she can be a force from the deep...five 3's connected against WKU and two other games where she's made two or better. Along with Asia, Mariya and Kylee...she's the outside threat and her playing time could increase as she gets more and more accustom to the pace of D1 basketball and her defensive skills improve. We hope she'll continue to work hard and continue to develop all aspects of her game...but perfection at trifecta distance when called upon is what the squad needs from her and is how she'll continue to help this squad.

There's a certain pride in knowing you're the "gunslinger" on the squad and that role could be hers if she is willing to work for it.


Bionca Dunham. The 6'2" Philly flash (once again...there is debate if 6'2" is correct...she seems taller) comes to the Cards as the least experienced baller...she didn't start playing serious, competitive hoops until her sophomore year in high school...but one with perhaps the most upside. Entered in 16 games this year...she leads Louisville with a .621 shooting average (18-29) and has seen 95 minutes on the court. 

Offensively, we see the ability and potential. Going strong to the boards in the paint certainly isn't a problem for her.  Defensively, there is still a lot of work to be accomplished...but that really isn't that uncommon for someone who has been playing as short of a time as she has. With time, experience, hard work and learning the D1 pace and mechanics...we think she can become a very valuable presence inside for the Cards. She reminds us of Asia Taylor in so many ways...Asia had a better basketball knowledge and talent when she got to Louisville...but Dunham has shown she can produce inside and Monique Reid and "A-Tayy" made nice careers out of that very same skill set. She may be the most gifted athletically of the freshmen...turning that into productivity and overall court-awareness and performance is the challenge that we hope she continues to pursue with abandon and embrace with a work-hard ethic.

Jessica Laemmle. Everyone's favorite "attack Yorkie" at 5'2"...she walked on the Louisville squad after a very successful career at Louisville Mercy. Fulfilling a lifelong dream to be a Louisville Cardinal, she's probably never going to be the Cards starting point-guard...but is the perfect candidate to lead the second squad on the court. Above average ball-handling skills, excellent court awareness and skilled at being the on-court leader...Laemmle is the type of hustle and drive player every team needs on a squad. 

Appearing in 14 games for the Cards, she's seen 79 minutes and provided eight rebounds, six assists and four steals in her court time. She fully understands her role on this deep and talented squad and works as hard as any player on the roster. A crowd favorite when she hits the floor, Laemmle is one of those girls you love to see on the roster and gives it her all when called upon. 


*          *          *          *          *          *          *

We're not going to rank the freshmen on who is best, most effective or valuable to the team. You probably have your own ideas in those categories and feel free to share them in the comments section if you wish.

We will point out that they've been an integral part of Louisville's successes this season and given Coach Walz a multitude of options in game situations. Continued success and improvements are essential from them if the Cards are going to "March" to the Final Four. We feel confident that they'll respond successfully. 

( Answer to the question at the top of today's article:  If you picked TIA GIBBS, you are correct. Gibbs started her career at Vandy and joined the Cards her sophomore season. )


Paulie
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Southpaw specials...Cardinal Couple Saturday

Cardinal Couple Collaborative Southpaw Special Squad

It's been a while.  I know you have been craving a Cardinal Couple team honor, so today we bring you The Cardinal Couple Collaborative Southpaw Special Squad.  An honorary team of all left-handers.  We only have appearances from three of the Louisville women's teams because, here's a fun fact for you, there is no "left-handed" equipment for Field Hockey, so it's nigh-on impossible to tell the lefties when they're out on the field in that sport, and similar for Lacrosse.  So we have honorees from Basketball, Volleyball, and Softball, as these are the sports where handedness really makes a more significant difference.

Softball Honorees

We'll start on the diamond.  We have three full lefties on the Softball Squad.

Jordan Vorbrink

A sophomore this year, Jordan saw action last year as a freshman, with appearances in 24 games, and 15 starts at either first base, or in the outfield.  Seemingly a specialist in triples, tying for the team lead, she almost had a cycle in one game, lacking just a single in the attempt.  Jordan is a local, playing high school ball at Mercy Academy

Morgan Meyer

A senior leader on the team, co-captain last year, "Mo" played in 45 games last year, with 37 starts in the outfield.  A real speedster, Meyer has found a home in the outfield, covering acres of grass to deny hitters their success.  Before making her presence known in the outfield, she frequently made base running appearances, taking advantage of her quickness and speed to advance on even marginal hits.  Morgan is definitely a country girl at heart, but also hails from the Derby city, and also is a Mercy graduate.

Jordan McNary

To round out the true-lefty softballers, Jordan McNary shares a lot of traits with Morgan Meyer.  She's a senior speedster that patrols the outfield, appeared in 45, started 38.  She also tied with Vorbrink for triples.  Also a Kentuckian, McNary hails from Madisonville, and went to Hopkins County Central HS.

Volleyball Honorees

To the wide net, and another trio of lefties.

Gabbie Wiley

From Hannibal MO, and Hannibal High School, Gabbie Wiley had a great year as a defensive and serving specialist for the Cardinal squad that generally struggled through the year.  Gabbie played in a more attacking role in high school, and has taken a couple of years to adjust to playing a more defensively oriented role on the team, but came into her own this year, with several matches where she equalled Libero Molly Sauer's dig totals, with only half the rotations to do it in.  In service, the left-handed serve puts a different spin on the ball which tends to cause serve receive problems.  Notre Dame seemed particularly hapless this season in handling the southpaw spin.  Gabbie also was on the ACC Honor Roll and Athletic Director's Honor Roll, as a pre-med student, no less.  Gabbie was a junior this year.

Kali Eaken

The Cardinals primary setter this year, Kali also hails from Missouri, but from the city of fountains, Kansas City.  Kali initially committed to and enrolled at Kansas State, but after a redshirt freshman year, transfers to UofL to continue her career.  Eaken struggled with several injuries throughout the season, which limited her playing appearances some, but the impact when she was on the court was significant.

Morgan Miller

Morgan Miller comes to us from Magnolia, TX, the second recent Cardinal to hail from that town, following in the footsteps of Roxanne McVey, though they attended different high schools, but did play in the same club system.  The Cardinals are losing the play-her-anywhere services of Janelle Jenkins, who is graduating and heading off to be awesome in whatever she does, but Morgan Miller is from a similar mold.  A competent defensive player, with a good serve, those skills are probably the areas where she has the most room for improvement, as she is already, as a sophomore, a quite good hitter from anywhere on the court.  We don't see her hitting in the middle often, as UofL already has a great roster of middles, but I'm confident she could do a fine job of it.  Otherwise, swinging from the right, from the left, from the backrow, or maybe even not swinging at all, but instead setting others for attacks, she can do it all.  A true utility player with a great eye for the opponent's court, she has excellent ball placement on attacks.

Basketball Honorees

Sydney Zambrotta

"THREEEEEEEEEEEEE 'Z'" is already a common refrain from Cardinal PA guy Sean Moth.  This freshman sharpshooter hails from the venerable Christ The King high school in New York.  Zambrotta, who has also bolstered the ranks of the Cardinal Couple All-Syd/Sid/Szyd team, has already seem some clutch minutes, but we should only expect her contributions to grow as she progresses through her freshman year and further.  At Christ The King, Sydney also played Soccer in the fall, and Lacrosse in the spring, keeping busy all year around.

Asia Durr

Cardinal Couple seems to have an affinity for "Asia"'s, as we continue to follow the career of excellence of Asia Taylor currently tearing up the court in the land down under.  This Asia comes to us from Douglasville, GA and St. Pius X Catholic HS.  Really, who will ever forget her 36 point performance vs Syracuse a couple of weeks ago?  Another sharpshooter, she has just about the range of Shoni Schimmel, but plays great defense as well.  Durr has great handles, and can dribble drive with the best of them.  She's back at full speed this year after being hampered by injury somewhat during her freshman campaign.  We can't wait to see what the next 2 and a half years hold for this star, and for once we won't be excited for the final countdown.

Some Honorable Mentions

Nicole Pufahl

Softball has a couple of players that throw right handed, and I believe are predominantly right-handed, but bat left-handed, so we wanted to give them some love.

Lillie Goetz and Sidney Melton both bat left handed.  Frequently you'll see right handers bat left handed in Softball to be "slappers", but Lillie swings for power from the left side, with a pair of home runs in as many games, both grand slams, no less.  Sidney Melton also doesn't just slap at the ball, tallying some triples in the 2016.

An unusual combination, Nicole Pufahl (who's last name I still can't spell right without checking), throws left handed and bats right handed.  This suggests that she may be predominantly left handed, but learned to bat (with some serious power as well) right handed at some point.  Why?  We're not sure, but we're OK with it.

Radio Today

Today's broadcast will be pre-empted by "Baking with Paulie."  We'll be highlighting turnovers in today's baking show.  Do check it out, it should be a bunch of fun on WCHQ FM 100.9 or streaming at http://www.crescenthillradio.org.  As useless as I am in the kitchen, I'll be fetching coffee.

-- JMcA

Louisville Women's basketball...Cards hop over Jackrabbits 83-30 -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

JAZMINE JONES GETS CAREER HIGH 15 IN WIN OVER SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 83-30.

This was no tortoise vs. hare race in the KFC YUM! Center Wednesday night when Louisville women's basketball faced the South Dakota State Jackrabbits. Maybe more like a souped up 1971 Dodge Challenger screaming past a 1972 Ford Pinto. Louisville used a very fast start off the blocks and a 21-5 second quarter to effectively put away the visitors and sped to a 53-point win in front of 7408 fans. 

Jazmine Jones had a career-high 15 points for the Cards...12 of them in the first half...as the freshman from Tallahassee, FL. went 6-8 from the floor in 14 minutes of play. It was pretty much share the wealth when it came to playing time...all 14 that could go for UofL did...and all seeing at least five minutes (Dunham) but no more than 25 (Durr)

Beside Jones, Sydney Zambrotta...or "Z" as Sean Moth fondly refers to her...scored 10 for Louisville...going 2 for 4 from trifecta land and Myisha Hines-Allen...or MHA as we like to call her finished with 10 as well. 12 Cards scored and Louisville shot a wicked 50.7% from the floor (35-69).

It was strictly no contest for the majority of this one and Louisville's finest defensive effort of the season helped bring that about. They forced 30 turnovers and held S.D.S.U. to 19.6% shooting. In all fairness, the Jackrabbits leading scorer Macy Miller did sit this one out with knee trouble, and without her the visitors went 2-22 from the three point line and gave up 15 steals.

The Cards wasted no time in starting the party...ripping out to a 11-0 lead in the first 4:39 of the game. Four different Cards scored in the speedy start.  A bit of a lull ensued...the Jackrabbits responding with a 7-0 run..but two J.J. jumpers stretched the Cardinal lead to 15-9 and Ciera Johnson's two free throws sealed a 17-9 first ten minutes for the home squad. 


J.J. continued the fireworks in the second stanza...scoring eight points in a 10-5 Ville run that set the board at 31-14 with 3:31 left until halftime. The Cards proceeded to score the final eight points of the half and a set play for Kylee Shook resulted in a long three with five seconds remaining until intermission . 

It was 38-14 after twenty and it really didn't seem that close. 

A Durr three started the third frame festivities and Louisville got a 30-point edge on another Shook three to make it 48-18 with 6:20 to play. The Cards would push that to 61-25 by the time the third period ended. 


Walz began to distribute the playing time to those who haven't received a lot of it in the fourth session and Sam Fuehring and Sydney Zambrotta stayed on the floor the entire period. Fuehring tallied four points and grabbed two boards in her time...it was Zambrotta's 10 that led Louisville's reserves to a 22-5 edge in the fourth and the final margin of 83-50. The Cards win! The Cards win! 


HOW DID FRED DO? 

Free Throws --  The Cards got good performances from C.J. (4 for 4) and J.J. (3 for 4) and ended up sinking eight of their 12 attempts. This equals 66.7 % and although it is short of the mandated 70% we like to see...and since the starters only attempted three in the game...we'll offer a lower case "f" here. It is the gift-giving season, you know. 

Rebounding --  Louisville got another outstanding performance from Walton with nine but no other Card had more than five. That's understandable...given the playing time for the players...they did out-rebound the "wrasically wrabbits" by one so the lower case "r" seems appropriate here.

Effort/Execution -- Everyone that played seemed to be working their tails off and shooting over 50%, claiming a 42-14 edge in the paint and scoring 38 points off the 30 turnovers was a sign the cards were clicking. We'll go out on a Christmas branch here and assign a capital "E" for this category. Deck the halls! 

Defense -- The Cards best defensive effort of the year. No hesitation in rolling out a capital "D" for this item. 

FINAL FRED COUNT:  f-r-E-D 



WHAT WE LIKED

-- We got a basketball Jones, we got a basketball Jones...and we like it! You can see the confidence and knowledge growing each time Jazmine Jones takes the court and it's a very fun thing to watch. She's been first off the bench for the Cards the last several games and the spark that she provides and excitement she creates in the seats is...well...very electric. You might say...she's "all that Jazz." That wide smile tells us she loves the game and puts in the work to excel at it. The smiles her teammates get when they watch her or talk about her is an indication that we're not the only ones enjoying this J.J.'s version of "Good times!" 


-- Finishing strong. A dominant final half (45-16) and final quarter (22-5) is what we like to watch and the Cards shot 77% in the last ten. Granted, it was a well-defeated South Dakota squad by then and we don't see Walz ending close games with Syd, Jessica, Bionca, Sam and Brianna on the court...but to see a lead continue to grow at the end and not shrink or disappear creates a happy ending for all (except the visiting team). Outscoring WKU 24-9 to end that game was impressive but this one tonight was a 40 minute culmination which is better...in my humble opinion.  

-- Defense, defense! It was tenacious, ever-present and the Jackrabbits may still be wondering just what hit them. I call it the best defensive performance of the year. If you can come up with a better one, I'm willing to listen. 


THINGS TO WORK ON

-- Celebration levels. I hope the squad can fully appreciate and enjoy just what they accomplished Wednesday night. It was a true marvel to behold and there's no harm in doing a little woofing about winning one bigger, much bigger then most thought they might. 

-- The weather. Man, it's cold in Louisville, KY! Where did those 80 degree days go? 16 degrees with the wind chill and 1 above by early morning. Eeewwwww! 


SO...

An excellent way to end a very tough five game stretch. It was the kind of blow-out Louisville needed after close games against Maryland, Kentucky and WKU. I hope it is an accurate look and view on how the Cards will continue to play defense and team basketball. It would be a wonderful thing to witness if this effort continued against Charleston, Evansville and at Vanderbilt.  

9-2 is about where I thought the Cards might be at this stage of the season and wouldn't it be great to have Syracuse come in here and have to face a 12-2 Cardinal squad? 

Louisville is showing that they have an even ten or so that can start or come in and positively affect the action. That's important to have when you go into conference play and beyond. If they can stay at that level of accomplished student-athletes, they'll be a tough "out" for anyone. 


LOOK WHO'S TALKING

Your post game interviews... 

CORTNEE WALTON AND JAZMINE JONES

JEFF WALZ



😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞



HERE WE GO AGAIN...

Wake Forest guy had a big mouth, has to share secrets and Louisville Football gets all the pounding and rage tossed at them. Nobody cares about Wake Forest football, granted, but this is not the felony...it is receiving stolen property...which is bad enough. 

The right thing would have been to disclose the leak. It was not until after the school released the leak and it was not handled properly on Louisville's part. 

We reach a pinnacle with the Lamar Jackson success story and then get pulled back down off the mountain by this? 

Sad. Ugly. Disgusting. C'mon, man. Especially now that main-stream media has jumped on this like a bulldog with a new ham-bone. 

Joe Walsh -- Here We Go


paulie
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