Cardinal Couple: UofL women's basketball

Showing posts with label UofL women's basketball. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 2, 2026

WBB Cards and Cats announce 2026 date. -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

TWO TOP TEAMS IN STATE TO MEET ON DECEMBER 9TH

We now know when the 2026 edition of Cards WBB vs Cats WBB will take place.

The two schools will face off on December 9th in Lexington in Rupp Arena. No game time or network viewing information has been released yet. Since it is a weekday game, the best guess here is that it'll be snatched up by the SEC Network and get an evening time slot...but that is just speculation.

This is a switch from the last game between the two in Lexington, in 2024, when the two squads met in Memorial Coliseum. The Cards have won three of the last five meetings between the two squads. Last year's contest went to the Cats 72-62. Louisville won in 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Georgia Amoore. a pretty kitty. Now with the Mystics.

The larger arena venue in 2026 means more people will attend, in all probability. The last time I was in Lexington, the two squads played at Memorial Coliseum. That one was an overtime classic..where the Cats roared back from a late deficit under the leadership of Teonna Key and Georgia Amoore. A Saturday night game, and a tough drive back to Louisville after the loss.

Jeff Walz is 13-7 all time against UK. He has had a seven game win streak against the Cats, until two years ago.

paulie

Tuesday, August 3, 2021

FIBA 3x3 -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Engstler and Van Lith at FIBA 3x3

Photo from GoCards.com

Yesterday kicked off the three-day FIBA 3x3 U23 Nations League. The Cardinal duo joined forces with Oregon's Kylee Watson and NC State's Madison Hayes.

Team USA was part of Group A, which included Spain and Israel. The USA swept Group A, defeating Spain 16-9 to open the event and then taking down Israel 21-10. By winning Group A, Team USA faced the winner of Group B, France.

France looked scary good after winning their opening game over Great Britain 21-3. France then defeated the Netherlands 18-11. France cruised to a 21-10 team win over the USA in the final.

Today's event, Stop Five, regroups the teams with France and Great Britain joining the USA in Group B. Stop Six is Wednesday where the US will be in Group A with Great Britain and Israel. The format remains the same with all teams playing a round robin tournament in their group with the two group winners facing off in the final.

Due to the focus on the 3x3 Olympics, USA Basketball's website did not provide stats for the games. However, we know that HVL and Engstler each had three points in the final, tied for leading the USA.

The FIBA 3x3 Twitter account (@FIBA3x3) shared a video of an interview with HVL. She talked about some of her favorite things such as her favorite basketball move, music, tv show, and sport outside of basketball. Did you know she considered being a dual sport athlete with the second sport being softball? Van Lith loves to say "and one" as her most common trash talk line. Dana Evans was often heard using the same line on the court.

We will have a rundown of today's events in tomorrow's article.

Other News

Although it is not joyful or exciting, and it certainly isn't directly related to UofL women's athletics, we would be remised if we didn't address Coach Quentin Hillsman resigning for Syracuse. The now-former Syracuse women's basketball coach was the winningest coach in program history and even made it to the national championship game in 2016.

Coach Q was under fire due to several accusations regarding abuse and mistreatment of players as well as unwelcome advances. The findings of the investigation have not been released, but all signs point to the accusations being true. Any type of inappropriate behavior or abuse of players should not be permitted despite the successes of the coach.

We will continue to follow this story as more news develops.

On a much lighter note and actually pertaining to UofL, Paulie and I are trying to work our magic with Mechi Pastor before she heads overseas to play professional field hockey. She will remain a student at UofL, as she completes her master's degree at the JB Speed School of Engineering. English is not Pastor's first language, which is why she was absent from Cardinal Couple interviews in the past, but she is confident enough in herself and her English skills to try her hand at one now and we are excited at the chance to talk with her!

Our illustrious writer Case Hoskins is a Speed School graduate and Worldwide spent a couple semesters over there so they can tell you how challenging the program is and how impressive it is that Pastor will complete her master's while playing professionally. I had a world cultures class held in one of the Speed School buildings, but engineering was not my strong suit. I'd probably derail the train.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Friday, July 23, 2021

Payton Verhulst U19 World Cup -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Happy Friday, Cards fans! We have finally reached the end of the work week and now have the weekend to look forward to. Bright an early this morning the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremonies began.

We've barely scratched the surface of the Olympics and excitement continues to build. NBC and Peacock seem to be doing a majority of the streaming and coverage of events. I'm excited to see current and former Cards compete among different sports, but I'm also thrilled we have baseball and softball in the Olympics again. Cheerleading just got approved to become an Olympic sport effective the 2024 Olympics. That's something to look forward to in the future.

However, we do have some current UofL news involving women's basketball.

Payton Verhulst Participating in the U19 World Cup

Fans are eager to see Payton Verhulst in a Louisville uniform this winter, but the highly touted freshman has other business to take care of first.

Verhulst is one of 12 members that will play for the USA Basketball Women's U19 World Cup Team. They are currently training through July 27 before they head over to Europe.

The FIBA U19 World Cup will be held in Debrecen, Hungary from Aug. 7-19. Italy, Australia, and Egypt are all on the schedule so far for preliminary play.

Since 1985, Team USA has compiled a record of 86-13 in U19 play including eight gold medals, one silver, and one bronze. Let's hope they add a ninth gold medal.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

As of right now we are on for our Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast tomorrow. Daryl will be out, but I think the other four of us will be available. Our Cardinal Couple engineers Worldwide and Case have been working on setting us up using OBS as a replacement for Skype. OBS gives them more control on the audio settings and balance for each individual user.

Beyond the brief and simple explanation for the switch over you can check out the novel being written by our team of engineers on all of the benefits of OBS and how it will help us. Just don't ask me, I have a music degree.

Catch us at 11 a.m. Saturday ! Go to the Cardinal Couple You Tube page and click away.

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

Jared

Tuesday, July 13, 2021

Softball Transfer -- WBB Season Tickets -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Hannah File Joins Softball Roster

Louisville softball added a graduate transfer to the team in Hannah File. File comes to Louisville after having spent three seasons with James Madison University from 2018-2020. During her time with the Dukes, File helped the team advance to an NCAA Super Regional and carried a .325 career batting average.

"Hannah has such positive energy about her, and she truly loves the game," said Coach Holly Aprile. "Those are two genuine qualities that we value very highly. She carries herself with a confidence and attitude that we are excited to coach and we cannot wait to get started."

Besides being a strong hitter, File was a two-year starter in the infield. In her career with JMU, she recorded 88 hits with 32 of them being extra base hits. File recorded 62 RBIs and 53 walks. She also limited her double whammies by grounding into just one double play in her career.

Defensively, File had a .912 field percentage. After a season where infield errors were the Achilles Heel of the Cards and the graduation of Maddy Newman, Louisville is looking for an infielder with a clean glove.

File will work on her MBA at UofL's high-ranking business school while playing out her last year (or two if she wishes) of eligibility.

Women's Basketball Season Tickets on Sale

The KFC Yum! Center will be at 100% capacity and season tickets for women's basketball have gone on sale. Plenty of people took a hiatus last season with the COVID-19 pandemic but UofL has said that you will not be punished if you renew this season. It's also never too late to register for season tickets for the first time if you have never had them before.

Who wouldn't want to go see one of the best women's basketball programs out there? It's a stacked roster of returners with some new extremely talented faces joining the them. Jeff Walz is 15 wins shy of 400 wins at Louisville.

Maybe you can sweet talk Paulie into buying you season tickets? He's a big baller with that Cardinal Couple budget. For you newer readers, Cardinal Couple is a non-profit website so we can't actually afford to buy you season tickets.

However, Worldwide usually has season tickets with his mom and they are a hoot to sit by!

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

Congrats Baseball!

On a side note, I want to take a moment to congratulate all the UofL baseball players taken in the MLB Draft. The Cards also had their first ever #1 overall pick in Henry Davis, Alex Binelas, who is no stranger on UofL volleyball matches to see his girlfriend Claire Chausee play, was taken in the third round. As of last night, six Cards had been drafted.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Thursday, May 14, 2020

Funke Returns -- Duvall to NKU -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Funke Returns

Celene Funke and UofL officially announced that the center fielder would return for a fifth season. The Carmel, Ind., product saw her senior season cut short to due the outbreak of COVID-19, so she qualified for an extra year.

We have known for some time that Funke was planning to return for another year, but we were waiting on the process of Funke submitting the request to UofL and then the NCAA for clearance of that extra season.

Funke is scheduled to be on a teleconference today with fellow graduated senior Caitlin Ferguson and Louisville Softball head coach Holly Aprile today. Paulie will have the recap tomorrow here at CARDINAL COUPLE

On the decision to return, Funke states:

"I am excited that I will be returning for a fifth year! I would like to thank Coach Holly Aprile, Vince Tyra, the ACC, the NCAA and all other support staff that have made this fifth year possible," Funke released in a virtual letter. "I am extremely blessed to have the opportunity to play in front of CardNation for one more year."

I think I speak for all of the Cardinal Couple crew when I say that we are thrilled to see her return for one more year!

Duvall Transferring to NKU

Lindsey Duvall announced last night on Instagram (@little_duv5) that she will be continuing her basketball career at Northern Kentucky University. She announced recently her plans to leave Louisville to further her skills at another university, which Coach Jeff Walz supported the entire way. She later confirmed the transfer to the Norse in a Twitter exchange with Paulie.

"Excited for the next step but thankful for the ones that led me here! #NorseUp," Duvall said.

We are sad to see the Bullitt East product and 2017 Miss Kentucky Basketball leave us, but also wish her the best in her final two years of eligibility. Duvall averaged 23 minutes a game last year for the Cards and 5.2 points per game.

Norse head coach Camryn Whitaker has not released an official statement yet.

SCHEDULING AND A QUESTION FOR YOU

2020-2021 UofL WBB opponents have not been released, but Walz loves to face in-state teams, including four last season, so there is a good chance we may still see Duvall play in person before her career ends.

Most collegiate programs are starting to look at scheduling changes and playing schools in a closer proximity to each other, because of travelling concerns created by the CoronaVirus and also because of decreased revenues.

Pop Quiz: Can you name the four in-state teams UofL played last season? Two of them were at home and two of them were on the road.

Remember to stay safe! Gloves and masks can be your ally when used properly.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

RIGHT SIDE OF THE SITE

Welcome to the right side of the site! Table for two? Or would you like a seat at the bar? Over here, you'll find schedules, results, pictures, characters, notices, links and other ennui and general nonsense. We offer and come across. You can find out more about women's sports by following us... by reading daily ! Of course, they've shunned us at UofL and bullied some of our former writers to quit writing here... but we go on anyway.. It takes a great person to attack someone dying of kidney failure. and suffering hypoxema...Please don't double park or take up two spaces while you're here and tip your server !

Who we are and what we do

We are an independent website that covers the joy and excitement of UofL women's sports. We're not about birds here, or trysts with other like-minded couples or major league baseball. We write about women's sports at the University of Louisville. We are non-profit, we run no ads and don't ask you for fees and our writers volunteer their services. We have no premium boards or fee-based reads. We are "daily". Any questions, comments or observations can be left in the comments section at the bottom of any article or sent directly to Paulie at: cardinalcouple@twc.com .. Thank you for reading. As we like to say..."You ARE Cardinal Couple! We never forget that and we appreciate you" !!

CO-FOUNDER AND CO-OWNER

The other co-owner and voice of reason....the lovely Sonja...who returns to us on a permanent basis after what can be called an "interesting" time at Rivals. In her words..."you work, slave, research and study for hours and build a site... a women's board. You spend hours on a three column article and several of the readers decide to take aim at you when all you're trying to do is enlighten. I've never seen so many mis-spellings of Louisville WBB players names anywhere...which made me think I was dealing with third graders over there... I have decided to stay off that street and source from here on out and I'm so glad to be back with those who love and appreciate me... not with haters and self-anointed experts " An avid fan of native gardening, hiking and the Smoky Mountains....she loves German potato pancakes and Led Zeppelin....and reminds you to plant native species. I've only seen her mad once (when she was ready to punch out another woman writer who was spreading lies about her) and I've got a feeling that might be a typhoon you want to steer clear of. One of the original writers on the site (with Paulie and David Watson), she has returned. Not as a columnist, but as a proof-reader, confidant and one to bounce thoughts and ideas off of. She's tired of guys with very limited women's basketball knowledge but huge egos calling her out when they are usually chauvinistic, and can be compared to the dog outside barking at something he can't see...We welcome her back and know she'll enjoy the calm waters here. You've got nothing you need to prove or defend with us....you are among those who love you.

About the photos...

CARDINAL COUPLE uses photos from all sources in the daily columns that we present to you. If we've used a photo you have taken and want published credit it for it...just contact us and we'll be glad to do so. Shoot, we might even write a feature article about you and call your Mom and tell her what a good son or daughter you are. WE avoid pictures that may be subject to copyright. Our legal advisors are busy enough chasing ambulances and wheelchairs when they're not trying to figure out trifecta plays at Churchill. Some of the photos are actually taken by the staff of CARDINAL COUPLE. (When we can get the camera away from the chimps). Paulie uses his cell phone to take pictures, too. You have been warned. Please realize that the captions that go with the photos are sometimes parodies. It's up to you to figure out which ones are and aren't. We can't spoon feed everything to you, you know... Jared Anderson is our main photographer and we have loved his work (even his selfies) for many years. Congratulations if you made it this far in your reading! We know...reading stuff like this can be pretty boring but WE have to put it on the site somewhere so that we can say..."hey, there is disclaimer on the site" in case some bozo decides that they want to sue us or something. Like we have any money. We're so poor we can't even pay attention. We even owe bums money.

I was walking down this road once years ago and I saw this guy chopping down a tree. It was hot, the guy was really sweating and I stopped to watch a while. He finally took a break, cracked a can of beer and then asked me if I had a gun. I hesitated before answering but finally told him that I didn't. He said: "That's a darn shame. I'm cutting down this tree because it's my neighbor's and I'm really pissed off at him right now. I was going to just shoot his sorry a$$...but I decided to do this instead. I'm having second thoughts...though." Sometimes, there just aren't enough trees... (I've never chose that particular walking route since..) .

If I'd taken a picture of that guy working on that tree, I'd been glad to share it with the entire world. That's the way WE see other photos out there. Share 'em and create through exposure and appreciation. We provide credit to the photographer when we feel it's needed. We also pay our taxes on time...