Survive and Advance - Sunday Cardinal Couple

Elite Eight Achieved

The Louisville women's basketball team advanced to the Elite Eight with a 76-64 win over Tennessee in Wichita.

The Lady Vols got on the board first at the beginning of the game, and would trade buckets with the Cards a few times.  UofL would take their first lead of the game three and a half minutes in on a Kianna Smith three pointer, and would never relinquish the lead in the game again.  Tennessee would get within two at the beginning of the fourth quarter after spending all of the 3rd quarter chipping away at the lead.

Louisville led by as much as 15 points midway through the second quarter, and while it never felt like UofL was about to let it slip away, no lead ever felt truly safe.

Emily Engstler and Hailey Van Lith both had 20+ point games, 23 for Van Lith and 20 for Engstler.  Engstler would pair that with a 10 rebound effort for a double double.  Van Lith was the most giving on the team with six assists, and Chelsie Hall handed out four assists while just missing double-digit scoring with nine.  Kianna Smith had 12 points and four steals.  A great effort by the freshman Payton Verhulst as well.  Verhulst dropped seven points and snagged a rebound in front of what was reported to be a massive group of family and friends with Wichita being only about two and a half hours driving time away from her home in De Soto, Kansas.

Perhaps the most under-stat-captured efforts of the game were Olivia Cochran and Liz Dixon.  Three points, three rebounds, and an assist show up on the stat sheet for Cochram, and more alarming if all you look at is the stat sheet was only 16 minutes and five personal fouls.  Dixon had a similar sort of stat line, two points, three blocks, and four rebounds, but what doesn't get shown is how they battled in the paint against 6'6" Tamari Key and was part of largely shutting down the Tennessee big game, holding Key to only three points as well.

The Cards advance to the Elite Eight and will be facing Michigan tomorrow night with a 9pm EDT start time.  Michigan...it can only be described as survived...against 10 seed South Dakota, winning 52-49 over the Coyotes.  The other 10 seed still in the tournament, Creighton, did advance to the Elite Eight but will have a tall task ahead of them tonight against South Carolina.  Also in action yesterday, again "survive" is the only verb for NC State's win over Notre Dame, 66-63, and UConn handled business against Indiana, 75-58.

The FRED Report

"Yabba, Dabba, Doo ! It's the Elite Eight for you, LOU !!"

FREE THROWS -- The best quarter for free throw shooting for the Cards was the 2nd quarter, with the squad hitting 4-6 for 66.67%.  And if that's the best it got, well, obviously there's not going to be a letter here.  At just a touch shy of 62% for the game, no "f" can be awarded.  -

REBOUNDS -- 36 rebounds for the Cards, not a terrible total, but this is always compared to the opponents total as well, and in this defensive battle with lots of forced shots on both ends of the court, there were lots of rebounds to be gotten.  Tennessee claimed 52 of them, putting Louisville on the losing end of this stat.  Against, no letter can be awarded here.  -

For EFFORT/EXECUTION, there's a lot of "eye test" here, though assists come in to play.  15 assists on 28 made field goals is a nice total, and compares favorably to Tennessee's nine assists on 24 field goals.  Under 42% field goal shooting is ok, but not spectacular.  I'll award an upper case "E" here.  I think there could be an argument that it's a bit generous, but I credit a lot to the team not giving up as the lead narrowed at the beginning of the fourth quarter, and digging deep to finish the game off well.  Capital "E"

DEFENSE -- For the "D" letter grade, I tend to look to the right side of the stat sheet a lot, in addition to feel from watching the game.  11 steals, eight blocks, and only seven turnovers (compared to UT's 18), combined with keeping the effort level high, I'll give the capital "D".  

FINAL FRED TALLY: 

- - E D

Cardinal Couple Bracket Report

Bracket updates from Bracket Czar Jared, with double-check by Paulie, as is our typical practice:

42 wins: Bea, Perry Sosh

41 wins: Kenny Schneider, Nick O, Kenneth Stark Sr, Jared, Jeff (wait, really?  My dumpster fire of a bracket has 41 wins?!)

40 wins: Benny J, Joe Hill

39 wins: Doug Anderson, Jason Wyrick, Katy Whitesell, Blue Lou

38 wins: Case

37 wins: David Watson

36 wins: Arthur, Louavulfan35, Daryl, Vivian, Curtis

34 wins: Paulie

32 wins: Sonya

19 wins: CC Chimps

Brackets with all of their Final Four picks still remaining: Kenny Schneider, Blue Lou, Nick O, Kenneth Stark Sr, Bea, Vivian, Doug Anderson, Jason Wyrick, Jared, Katy, Jeff, Daryl

Lacrosse

Scott Teeter and his Lacrosse squad tangled with UVA yesterday at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium in what Winnie the Pooh would certainly have called a blustery day.  The Cavaliers would get the win in a close matchup, 12-11.

Hannah Morris likely scoring one of her pair

Our Jared was there and brought us these pictures, but alas, I couldn't take this one in as I was driving to Cincinnati and back dealing with car problems.  Many thanks to my mother for the rescue and impromptu trip there so I could pick up a loaner vehicle.

UVA did get out to a quick start in the first quarter, getting three on the scoreboard before Louisville could get the offense in gear.  The Cards would get two back, thanks to Nicole Perroni and Paige Richbourg.  The Cavs would get another before the end of the quarter, however.

It was all Cards in the 2nd quarter, though.  A pair by Allegra Catalano, and one by Hannah Morris put the Cards on top 5-4 at halftime.

Catalano would complete the hat trick to open the 3rd quarter scoring, but also set off a blizzard of offense on both ends of the field.  UVA would find the back of the net five times in the quarter and UofL got four.  Catalano claimed three of those with Hannah Morris chipping in her 2nd of the game.

Kokoro Nakazawa tallied a couple of assists

With the score tied 9-9 after three quarters, it was a sprint to the finish.  UVA would score a pair before Nicole Perroni would claw one back with just over five minutes left in the game.  Another UVA score and Paige Richbourg would get another to bring the UVA lead back to just one. 

At the end of the game, Louisville would have one last chance, without about 10 seconds left on the clock, to run the length of the field a fire a shot home, but the long shot was saved by the UVA goalkeeper to preserve the 12-11 lead for the Cavs as time ran out.

UofL Lacrosse alumnae (left to right: Jen Schaaf,
Alex McNicholas, and Ally Hall

Another great effort by the Louisville Lacrosse squad as they continue to chip away at fearsome ACC opponents.

UofL will stay at home for another couple of games, but step out of conference a bit.  Ohio State (no, I'm not putting a "The" in front of it), will come to play Thursday evening at 7pm.  Vanderbilt will be next up at the LLS on Tuesday April 5th with a noon start.

Softball

Softball will be wrapping up their series with Clemson today after falling to the Tigers again yesterday.  Louisville would like to get a win against the solidly Top 20 Clemson team, but so far the Tigers have come out on top

.

Yesterday's bout was a five inning run-rule win for Clemson.  The Tigers put up a trio of runs in both the 2nd and 3rd innings and were threatening for that many or more in the 5th, but the run-rule put a stop to it after the 2nd run of the inning got the score to 8-0.

Chardonnay Harris takes the loss on this one as both the starting pitcher and spending the most time in the circle with 2.1 innings pitched.  Sam Booe made an appearance for 1.2 innings, and Payton Hudson finished out the final two outs of the fifth.

The game today will start at noon in Clemson and is on the ACC Network via your tuner, or as always you can catch it via streaming on the ACC Network Extra.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

(Not a pic of yesterday's podcast lineup...
but we do have CCR as our show's first three initials.)

Case, Daryl, Jared, and Paulie all convened to record the CCRHP yesterday.  Alas, with my emergency trip to Cincinnati and back, the live streaming component via Youtube was not able to happen.

I did listen to most of it myself on the way back down I-71, and it was a great discussion and a lot of fun to just get to listen to.  Basketball dominated the discussion as you might expect as they covered the tournament journey to that point, and previewed the game against Tennessee.

Good fun, and easy to check out at any of your favorite podcast directories and at it's anchor.fm home at:

https://anchor.fm/cardinal-couple/episodes/Cards-in-the-Sweet-Sixteen-e1g9mmd

JMcA

Cards WBB dismantles Notre Dame -- Softball Falls to Arkansas -- ACC Bracket

 CARDS WBB ROMP NOTRE DAME 86-64

Louisville women's basketball jumped out to a 31-3 first quarter lead (and, no Micale Cunningham was NOT on the court) and had Notre Dame totally dismantled by halftime 54-15 in Purcell Pavilion Sunday afternoon. 

The Cards were hot and Notre Dame was not in the first twenty. Forget the fact that Notre Dame won the second half 49-32. The Irish were never a challenge to the Cards, missing 15 of the first 16 shots and falling behind 18-1 in the first quarter. Louisville hit their first seven threes en route to handing Notre Dame their first home loss of the season.

Hailey Van Lith and Kianna Smith had 20 points each for the Cards and were joined in double figures by Emily Engstler (17 points) and Chelsie Hall (13 points) 

The Cards shot 80% in that sizzling first quarter and 58.5% for the game.

Notre Dame couldn't stop the Cards in a zone, went to man-to-man and fared no better and faced a 71-34 deficit at the end of the third quarter. 

Olivia Miles led the Irish with 13 points. She also got a bit chippy with 2:49 left in the first half and shoved Kasa Robinson after a layup that made it 48-10 Cards. After an official review, four players were assessed intentional fouls -- Miles, Robinson, Hailey Van Lith and Dara Mabrey. It may have been the stupidest move of the season for Miles -- woofing when down by 38.  

Norika Konno returned to the court for the Cards in this one and played eight minutes, hitting her only shot, getting a foul and committing two turnovers. 

" We could play them 50 times and I wouldn't expect a first quarter to be 31-3. It was one of those days for them, but, defensively -- I felt we caused a lot of it." -- Jeff Walz. 

For sure, Cards fans won't forget this beatdown of masive proportions for quite awhile.

THE FRED REPORT

We bring in Freddy Kruger for the
"Nightmare in Purcell" for Notre Dame. 

FREE THROWS:  The Cards went to the line four times and hit two of them.  Seriously.  (Notre Dame had 24 attempts). Any time Eric Brewton calls a UofL WBB game, the opponent never fouls. 50% won't get a letter, but, the disparity is glaring.... the striped crew called five fouls on Verhulst in just 11 minutes. Almost laughable. 

REBOUNDS:  The Cards dominated the boards 40-22. Engstler led the way with 10 for UofL. 30 defensive and 10 offensive grabs. No problem with a CAPITAL "R" here. 

EFFORT/EXECUTION:  That first 20 minutes may have been the best I have seen a Cards team  play against a top 25 team in the Walz era.  19 assists on 38 made baskets and just 14 turnovers. The Cards were unstoppable in the first three quarters. Crisp passing and excellent execution in the half court. A definite CAPITAL "E" here. 

DEFENSE:  A complete shutdown of anything Notre Dame wanted to do in the first half. The Cards had six steals and, if the fourth quarter was a bit sloppy for UofL, when you're up 42 in a game, your concentration tends to maybe waiver a bit, focusing on the ineptitude of your foe.  I'll go lower case "d" here -- for three outstanding quarters defensively and one that wasn't so defensive. 

FINAL FRED TALLY:  -_R-E-d

Two massive beat-downs of the Irish this year, and no one else I'd rather see the Cards administer them to. Dana Evans was on hand to watch the romp. it didn't change where the Cards would be seeded in the ACC Tournament (at #2) and Notre Dame still goes in as a #3 seed. The Cards play Friday at 6 p.m.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Ahlana Smith, who was not at the game. A death in her family and she was with them. 

paulie

SOTBALL FALLS 8-5 TO ARKANSAS

In the restructured Wooo Pig Classic in Fayetteville, Louisville played Arkansas Sunday and jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, 

It didn't last, though, and the Pigs came back with two runs in the fifth inning and four in the sixth for the win. 

All five Louisville runs came on three home runs -- Smith,.Otis and Miller going fence. Taylor Roby went four innings in the circle for UofL. The loss went to Gabby Holloway.. 

The two squads are scheduled to play two games Monday. Maybe...with the rest of the teams originally slated to play in the classic back home already, it seems like a plan.

ACC TOURNAMENT

 

 It's finalized and set. Louisville plays Friday at 6 p.m. 

In opening Wednesday action:

Game One -- Syracuse and Clemson                                                                                          Game Two -- Duke and Pitt                                                                                                          Game Three  -- Wake Forest and Virginia

I got my bracket copy HERE but there are plenty places to download it. Just do a Google search . (Make sure you have the 2022 ACC one, I nearly posted the 2020 !)  

Good luck to all in the Cardinal Couple Pick Em Challenge !!  Rules on "The right side of the site"  Entries are open, may the best one win ! Jared's e-mail is:  eupherjared@gmail.com  and Paulie's is: cardinalcouple@twc.com  Or ,you can leave your picks in any comments section up to Wednesday noon. (Don't forget the total score...) 

Sonja's Picks: 

Syracuse, Duke, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Miami, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, NC State, Louisville, Georgia Tech, NC State, Louisville, Louisville  Points: 141

paulie

! 

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Lax Cruises Past Cincinnati -- ACC Pick Em -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Lacrosse Cruises Past Cincinnati

It was an easy day for the Louisville lacrosse team as they had no trouble dismantling Cincinnati 13-5.

Louisville, who is ranked #25 in the latest poll, improves to 2-1 on the year. They also improve their record against the Bearcats to 14-0 all-time dating back to when UofL formed a team in 2008.

"I'm really happy with the win. I thought our defense played lights out, but on offense we have some things we need to improve on," said Coach Scott Teeter. "Rachel Florek was a rock in net for us again, which gave us the opportunity to get the win."

Florek recorded 15 saves on the day, just two shy of her career-high and program record which she set against Michigan and Virginia Tech last year. The senior keeper is up to 38 saves on the year.

The record number of saves in a season is 194, set by Brittany Read in 2017. Florek's average of 9.33 saves per game would put her at 140 on the year, assuming the Cards play every game scheduled. 140 would put her fourth in a season.

Her 246 career saves are already fourth in program history. The record is held by Read, who recorded a whopping 323 goals in her career. She is currently on pace to top that.

Hannah Morris recorded a hat trick to power the offense. She is tied for second on the team with six this season  Louisville was quick to put a number on the scoreboard. Bella Karstein found the back of the net just 40 seconds in for her first of two goals on the day. It was part of a 5-0 run over the first 12:10 of the match.

The Bearcats scored their first goal on an unassisted shot with 4:17 remaining in the first half, but the Cards held the 5-1 advantage when the clock went to 00:00.

The second half broight more of a see-saw scoring as the first six goals were traded off between the Cards and Bearcats with Louisville starting the scoring 89 seconds into the half. Cincinnati cut the Louisville lead to just three with 14:27 remaining in the match. Scott Teeter got a time out, a play was set, it worked and the Cards answered by closing out the match the same way they started it- a 5-0 run.

In all, eight Cards recorded a goal. Freshman Bella Karstien added two, early in the match, Caroline Blalock has two, Ally Hall was good for two. Freshman Kokoro Nakazawa got her first collegiate score, Allegra Catalano, Paige Richbourg and Kylea Dobson all had a goal each as well. 

Louisville won the draw control battle 10-9, but got beat on the ground balls 25-20. 

Paulie continues to have interference problems with his laptop, so he conducted the post-game interview with Teeter and Hannah Morris via cell phone. We'll see if it gets posted. 

The Cards head to #9 Virginia on Saturday to start a three-game road trip. They return home for a Thursday night game under the lights on March 18.

ACC Tournament Pick Em

Don't forget to submit your bracket if you have not already done so. The ACC Tournament begins Wednesday at 2:00 p.m., so if your bracket hasn't been submitted by then it will not count.

Options of entry include posting in the comments section or emailing us at either eupherjared@gmail.com or cardinalcouple@twc.com.

As of  8:45 p.m. yesterday I have 10 entries: Curtis, Louavulfan35, Kenneth Stark Sr, Paulie, David Watson, Joe Hill, Nick O, Vivian McAdams, Ramblin' Eric, and Kenny Schneider, in that order.

Kenny's Picks are listed below:

Wednesday: Boston College

Thursday: North Carolina, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame

Friday: Louisville, Florida State, North Carolina State, Notre Dame

Saturday: Louisville, North Carolina State

Sunday: Louisville

If you submitted an entry already and I did not mention it above please let me know. I don't want to miss anybody's entry, especially if you end up being the winner!

I haven't finished my studying and research but will add mine to today's comments section later on. The rest of the Cardinal Couple Crew in Worldwide, Case, Daryl, and Sonya will also have their picks ready by Wednesday.

As a reminder with the scoring, it is one point for every correct pick, Wins in later rounds do not count for extra points. The maximum number of possible points is 12.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Lax Schedule Changes -- ACC Indoor Championship -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Lacrosse Sees Two Schedule Changes

Well, COVID-19 has affected Louisville lacrosse just two games into the season. Thankfully, no one tied to Louisville's program has tested positive, but Notre Dame is on pause due to positive tests. The Cards and Irish, who were scheduled to play this Sunday have postponed to Sunday, March 21, at noon. It is not yet known if Coach Teeter will try to find a last minute fill in for this weekend.

Hours after that Notre Dame postponement was announced the Cards saw a second schedule change. Cincinnati, who was originally slated to come in town on March 3, will now come to Belknap Campus on Monday, March 1. Start time is set for 2:00 p.m.

Louisville sits at #23 in the IWLCA poll and have started the season 1-1, both against then-ranked opponents.

Track and Field Begins Indoor ACC Championships

Today marks the beginning of the three-day indoor ACC Championships for men's and women's track and field. The entire event is hosted by Clemson down in South Carolina.

All eyes will be on Makenli Forrest, who recorded a season-best 22.16m in the weight throw recently. The mark is sixth-best in the NCAA this year and is ninth all-time in program history.

Halee Hudson also sits high on the list in weigh throw nationally. Her 20.79m mark in the weight throw ranks 16th nationally.

Gabriela Leon has dominated the record books at Louisville and has a season-best clearance of 4.23m and is the reigning Indoor ACC Champion for pole vault.

Dorcas Wasike owns the top three times in the 3000m and 5000m in school history. She has had high success in both races in the past with multiple champion and runner-up finishes.

McKenzie Bell recorded a personal-best 54.97 in the 440m a the Lenny Lyles Invitational this season. Her finish ranks second all-time at Louisville.

Purity Sanga also ranks in the Louisville record books. Her time of 9:44.69 in the 3000m at the McCravy-Green Invitational is fourth-best in school history.

Today's events begin at 9:30 a.m., and will run (figuratively and literally) well into the evening with a continuation into Friday and Saturday.

CARDINAL COUPLE ACC WBB TOURNAMENT PICK 'EM

Start studying for your ACC Pick Em. With COVID-19, the ACC Tournament is not guaranteed and may have last minute changes so it is not decided all what will happen for the Pick Em yet. We will run the event, though, and, hopefully, return the Cardinal Couple NCAA WBB Tournament Pick 'Em as well. 

Entry is free for the event. Once we know the bracket assignments (probably late night Sunday) we'll start accepting picks. If things go the way we think they will down in Greensboro, there will be one game on Wednesday, March 3rd. Thursday brings the second round with four contests scheduled. Friday is quarterfinal Day and four more contests, Saturday brings two semifinal games and the championship on Sunday.

ACC WBB Standings, going into
Thursday and Sunday contests. 

So, a total of 12 contests to make picks on. As in previous years, most number of correct picks wins and in case of a tie, the earliest entry in to us will break the tie. Different this year, unfortunately, is the COVID aspect. If a team tests positive and cannot play, that will count as a loss for you in your picks if you had them in your selections. 13 ACC teams are scheduled to head to Greensboro. All picks must be entered by Wednesday, 2 p.m. -- unless the ACC changes the schedule of events

Paulie has appointed me (Jared) as the Bracket Czar again this season. I'll track all entries and solve all disputes. Picks can be submitted several ways.  1) Send them directly to me at my e-mail address:  eupherjared@gmail.com  2) Send them to the Cardinal Couple e-mail address:  cardinalcouple@twc.com   3) Leave them in the comments section (the most popular way)  in Sunday, Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday articles next week. 

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

Paulie will dip into the prize vault and offer gift cards for the first and second place finishers in both tournaments. He should have the type and denomination of such firmed up by Sunday. (Depends on how the panhandling goes...) 

Questions? shoot me an e-mail of raise it in the comments section. 

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

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WBB Cards Gobble Up Hokies 70-53 -- Softball at Tulsa -- Cardinal Couple ACC Tournament Pick 'Em -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

SENIOR SUPERLATIVES IN WBB WIN OVER VIRGINIA TECH

On Senior Day, in the KFC YUM! Center, Louisville women's basketball put an exclamation point on the end of the regular ACC season with a convincing 17-point win over Virginia Tech in the KFC YUM! Center. 

10423 filled the lower bowl at the KFC YUM! Center and got in the YUM early to see five seniors get honored before the game. A touching, tears-of-happiness and wonderful tribute to Jess Laemmle, Yacine Diop, Bionca Dunham, Kylee Shook and Jazmine Jones before the game. Each walked to mid-court, with family alongside them, to receive a bouquet of flowers, hugs from Jeff Walz and Vince Tyra and were presented a framed jersey before an appreciative crowd. Overhead, on the scoreboard, tributes to each from family, friends and fans. 

The pre-game love-fest got the Cards a bit teary eyed, as well as many fans, but it also fired up the five seniors (who started) and their teammates and staff. Maybe it's only fitting that Jess would score the fist points of the game. She took a Kylee Shook pass after an offensive rebound, drove into the paint, found a gap in the VT defense and calmly sank a pull up jumper in the paint. Everyone went crazy. How great was seeing that...hard working, never seeking glory, dedicated and dependable Jess hit her first shot? 

It was only the beginning of the beat-down. Bionca Dunham followed suit with a score in the paint and with 5:35 left in the first quarter, Shook got a feed from Jones, found herself open at the top of the circle and drained a three ball. 7-0 Cards. The media timeout was well-needed by Kenny Brooks and VT. They had missed five shots, had two turnovers and were back on their heels (bo pun intended) . 

After the timeout, Dana Evans, who had subbed-in for Jess three minutes into the game, put up her first shot of the game and nailed a three. At 10-3, the rout was on. The appreciative fan base loved what they were seeing. 

And, they got more of it.

Ya-Ya connected on a jumper and then made a steal on defense. She found Jaz in the paint and a turn-around jumper from her was nothing but net. 14-3. Kylee's second three with 1:17 left set the score at 17-5.  All five starters had scored and the Cards would finish out the first quarter with a 19-8 lead. 53% shooting for Louisville, 25% shooting for the guests (3-12). The defense had already forced four turnovers and weren't allowing second chance shots.

Louisville maintained the focus in the second quarter and Walz entered Elizabeth Balogun, Liz Dixon and Kasa Robinson into the romp. VT countered by getting the ball inside to standout freshman center Elizabeth Kitley. Louisville was still shutting down the VT offense early in the second and had pushed the lead out to 26-10 with seven minutes left in the first half after another Evans three. The Hokies re-intensified their effort to get Kitley looks and they were briefly successful. VT went on a 8-0 run over the next two minutes to trim the UofL lead to 26-18. That score still stood at the media timeout.

The teams traded baskets for the next four minutes and the Cards still had a eight-point lead when Jaz went on a mini-run.

Diop found her with a pass and the jumper was good. The Diop-to-Jones connection worked again a minute later and this time a three-ball sank for Jones. Diop continued her spectacular final two minutes of the half by grabbed a Evans missed three with five seconds to go, driving in the paint and scoring as the buzzer went off. 

37-24 Cards at the half. Louisville shooting was pretty decent against the aggressive Tech defense at 16-34 (47.1%). Jaz led all with 11 points, Kylee right behind her with 10 and Kylee's seven rebounds led all players also. 

The refs were "letting them play". Kitley was getting away with mayhem, walks and fouls in the paint against Kylee and Bionca.

She picked up no fouls.

In fact, the Cards only went to the line once in the first 20 minutes. A mere 10 total fouls (seven on Louisville, three on Virginia Tech) were called, total in those 20 minutes. The ref crew of Eric Brewton, Mark Berger and Maggie Tieman were not spinning the pea. Overall, we love that cessation of stopping play...but the jostling in the paint was constant and, it seemed, only Bionca was the "alleged" guilty one -- with two fouls. 

The Cards started the third quarter with defense on their mind and put the thoughts into action. Virginia Tech managed just three points in the first five minutes. In that same time frame, Jaz was taking over and scored seven points. Her "drive the court and take the three" with 5:15 left in the quarter went in and the Cardinal faithful were up and roaring again. The score was 46-27 now. Tech looked frustrated and beat. 

Kasa had the play of the quarter (maybe the game) was 1:33 on the clock. She grabbed an errant Shook shot and took on the VT trees of Trinity Baptiste and Alex Obouh Fegue. She got the shot off, despite being hacked by Obouh Feige. The shot went in over the 6"5" center. For once, someone blew a whistle and Kasa went to the line and completed the old-fashioned three-point play. The heart of a champion is alive and beating in Kasa. She knows no fear, goes for any loose ball in question and her play gave Louisville a 51-32 advantage. Kylee's jumper with 11 seconds to go in the third ended the quarter at 53-32. Guess who made it happen?  A Robinson rebound and feed.  

Guess who started off the final quarter with a bang? That's right, #5 Kasa Robinson. She created a steal, drove the court and made a layup. That number #5 she wears had belonged to visiting Taja Cole during her one year at Louisville. I think it looks pretty good on Kasa. Cole still wears #5 and was approaching a double-double for the Hokies. They were a defeated team, though, and the questions that remained were how would Walz handle the substitutions for the seniors as time waned and who would come out last? 

"E" got into the three-point contest with her first make of the game at the 6:20 mark to make it 60-40 Cards. Virginia Tech came up with a way-too-late, futile surge to go on a 7-2 run in the following two minutes, getting production from their bench, but Evans quieted the run with a beautiful, step-back three with 4:28 to go to make it 65-47.


Coach Walz put Jess back in the game with 3:33 to go and she promptly found Kylee with a pass that set up Kylee's third three-pointer of the night. With 1:32 to play, the substitutions began. Ya-Ya, Kylee, Jaz and Bionca all left the floor, one-by-one, to loud cheers of appreciation from the attendees. Evans came back in...basically because Walz had no active bench player left to substitute for Jess with less than a minute to go...with Lockhart, Duvall, Dixon and Robinson already in the game. 

A 70-53 win over Virginia Tech. The post game celebrations were poignant, each senior looking, pointing and heading to their families in Section 117. Asia Durr was there with her family, her brother T.j. a senior student-athlete manager who was also recognized before the game. She exchanged hugs with me as she and T.J. left their seats to mingle with the team. Samantha Williams was in the house, in from EKU, to see those seniors she loved. She was so influential in their recruitment, spending countless road hours scouting and evaluating them. Convincing Jeff Walz that they had to get Bionca Dunham.

Dunham with a touching moment with boyfriend, football great Mekhi Becton -- who is destined for great things in the NFL. 

What a great, early Sunday in the downtown arena! We now look ahead to the ACC Tournament, but, the final regular season game for five fabulous seniors. They all kissed the Cardinal Bird on the court simultaneously after the game. Wonderful. Excellent. Next? 




THE FRED REPORT

Fred "Mr Rogers" would have agreed.
A wonderful day in the Cards neighborhood

FREE THROWS -- A non-factor in the outcome of this one. Louisville did make three out of four. Dana 2-2. Kasa 1-1. Only 20 fouls called in 40 minutes. Virginia Tech a woeful 2-8 from the stripe. 3-4 is 75%. That meets our standards and we'll award the CAPITAL "F". 

REBOUNDS -- Kylee with 12 and Bionca with nine as the Cards out-rebounded the school from Blacksburg, VA 36-31. Kasa with four grabs was fantastic, also. That'll get another high mark and a CAPITAL "R" for controlling the boards.

EFFICIENCY/EXECUTION -- Louisville limited the miscues with just eight turnovers. They tallied 18 assists on 29 made baskets. Nine threes made for 36%. The Cards excelled at points-off-turnovers (21-7) and 2nd Chance points (16-4). Let's keep the capital letters rolling, a CAPITAL "E" for smart, effective play. 

DEFENSE -- Spectacular again, with just 53 points allowed. 21 of those came in the fourth quarter for VT, when the issue was long decided and over. Louisville forced 17 turnovers, had five steals and had their seventh straight game where they held the foe to less than sixty points. Yes, the three you expected might shine for VT (Mabrey, Cole and Kitley) did reach double figures, but, three on five rarely wins a game for the "three". I'll end the final stat we track in the final regular season Fred report with a CAPITAL "D". 

FINAL FRED RECAP:  F-R-E-D


THEY SAID IT

Post-game presser comments below: 

KYLEE SHOOK/JAZ JONES

VT's KENNY BROOKS, TAJA COLE, ELIZABETH KITLEY

JEFF WALZ



SOOOO...

There was worry about a good Virginia Team coming in here, needing a win to get the double bye in the ACC Tournament. 

That worry soon turned into a raucous, Cardinal Community celebration. The WBB Cards are hot, winners of six in a row, and go into the ACC Tournament trending and running on all eight cylinders.

They'll take the court Friday at 2 p.m. Up first? Either Syracuse or Virginia, who are the Thursday #8 vs #9 combatants. 

This has been an amazing, wonderful regular season ride. One bump, yes, but so many big wins, stories to proudly relate to and players who bought in, brought it and delivered. I'll miss these five, but, not ready to say good bye to them yet. I'm wanting three more game in Greensboro with a ACC Tournament champ title, and then see the Cards end the season with six more wins and a National Championship. 

Who's with me? 

I'll be providing updates, live on the scene in Greensboro, starting Wednesday night. The party continues...

(PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON)


SOFTBALL WINS AT TULSA 3-2

Taylor Roby provided the fireworks and heroics yesterday against Tulsa, with a top of the eighth inning "grass, wall...touch 'em all" home run to give the Cards a 3-2 win. Her team-leading sixth home run of the year came on the Cards first batter of the inning on a 0-2 count

Roby also pitched the final three innings of the contest to get the pitching win...shutting down the Hurricane in the bottom of the eighth to clinch it. 

Louisville jumped out to a 2-0 lead in this one, a run in the first inning on a Carmyn Greenwood solo shot and another in the fourth inning. Jenni Servi reached on a fielder's choice in the fourth, stole second and scored on a Celene Funke single. 

The Cards (7-12) return home and will play their first home game of the season Friday when they welcome Illinois to Ulmer Stadium to start the Red and Black Challenge Tournament. 

Welcome home, Cards Softball! Play great in my absence and take all five games!


THE CARDINAL COUPLE ACC TOURNAMENT CONTEST

Yes, we're running the popular event again this March! 

Entries MUST be in by 1 p.m. Wednesday. 

Earliest entry gets the nod in a tie. 

You can submit your picks a couple of ways. They way we prefer is to leave them in any of the comments sections here at the site over the next three days. If needed, you can e-mail Jared Anderson, bracket judge and jury, at: 

eupherjared@gmail.com

As a last resort, send them to me (Paulie) at: cardinalcouple@twc.com

If you don't see your picks in the leader board, it's a possibility we didn't get them. Sorry, but no entries after Wednesday 1 p.m. We will not review any "you missed my picks" claims that surface a couple of days after the start of the contest. E-mail Jared if you have a question. 

We cannot guarantee a "text" attempt will be received or entered. Don't do it. 

We'll provide updates after each round. 

If you're new at this, we'll reveal Sonja's Picks for you today and her format for listing them. Remember, your entry should have fourteen winners on it: 

SONJA SAYS: 

Wednesday: North Carolina, Notre Dame, Clemson
Thursday: Virginia Tech, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Boston College
Friday: Florida State, Louisville, North Carolina St., Boston College
Saturday: Louisville, North Carolina St.
Sunday: Louisville

Enter your picks in other formats that you care to, use abbreviations if you wish, but make sure you identify your pick clearly and correctly (if it's a "state" school like Florida State or North Carolina State, make sure you put "ST" or "State" in the pick). "Tech" schools need the state name in front of them (Virginia or Georgia). 

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE BRACKET AT THE LINK WE'VE PROVIDED BELOW:

LINK: 2020 ACC WBB BRACKET

Have fun, good luck and choose wisely...


paulie
xxxxx