Basketball On The Road - Sunday Cardinal Couple

WBB vs Virginia

A week ago today, the Cards were in Blacksburg, VA, today they're 145 miles away in Charlottesville.  It seems a little crazy that these trips couldn't be combined in to a single weekend, but here we are, subject to the whimsy of ACC scheduling.

Charlottesville, is of course, the home to the University of Virginia who will be the Cards' opponent today at 2pm.  Louisville will be looking to get back into the win column and continue to add to their NCAA tournament resume'.  We still have a lot of season to play, but the team is currently 41st in the NET rankings which doesn't necessarily put them "On The Bubble", but it is uncomfortably close.

Virginia is down around the bottom third of the ACC standings, with a conference record of 3-5 and 11-9 overall.  The only real notable win on their schedule so far was against their neighbors Virginia Tech (73-65).  Losses to Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Duke, are certainly understandable.  Georgia Tech, Boston College, and NC State are a bit tougher to take for the Hoos, but the losses to Wyoming and Washington State would be concerning for fans of the blue and orange.

Only two players score in double digits for UVA, Kymora Johnson and Latisha Latimore, 18.3, and 13.3 points per game respectively, while Olivia McGhee, and Breona Hurd fall just short of the mark at 9.6 and 9.5.  From range, Johnson is the biggest threat, not being afraid of hoisting the 3-ball, and hitting about 41% of them.  McGhee hits about 36%, so she shouldn't be left open on the outside either.

Many of the team stats are close compared to their opponents, though UVA does fall short of their opponents, just slightly, in assists, steals, and turnovers.  On the other hand, they do outblock their opponents, and by a margin of almost 2-1, so careful shot selection will be the order of the day.

Let's give some credit to the UVA fanbase however, for a team that maybe doesn't inspire a huge amount of awe, they average over 4,000 in attendance, which is a nice turnout.  I always think watching a game is more enjoyable when you can hear a crowd getting into it, even if they're cheering for the opposing team.

A 2pm start suggests and TV scheduled game, and that is indeed the case here.  An unusual outlet for it, though with The CW being the network carrying this one.  That is a linear channel, and in the Louisville area it is broadcast channel 58 in some areas and on channel 7on Insight. .  It should be available on all TV providers such as Spectrum, DirecTV, YoutubeTV, and others.

Tennis and Swimming

Tennis bounced back from their "short-handed" loss against Middle Tennessee and were able to win, 5-2 against Tennessee Chattanooga.  The Cards were still missing two player to illness meaning that The Mocs got a point on singles court 6 by default.  Despite defaulting on the 3rd doubles court, Louisville won in tie-breakers on the other two courts to get the doubles point.  Regardless, four wins on singles courts would have been enough to secure the overall victory, but the doubles point gave a bit of insurance.

Swimming had a dual meet against Kentucky, and won both the men's and women's side of the event with solid margins.  The women, ranked 10th, out-paddled the Cats to a 206-94 meet win.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Daryl, Jared, Paulie, and I carried on without a illness-striken Case in the CCRHP and had a good discussion about Basketball, as is the norm this time of year.  We did spend a few moments towards the end of the show looking at the newly released Softball schedule and examining the plethora of pitching options on the squad.

Check it out at:

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/cardinal-couple/episodes/Basketball-Looks-to-Get-Back-to-Winning-e2u0gpa

-- 

JMcA

WBB digs deep to win 63-53 at UVA -- Softball and Lax opens 2023 Season --FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Good Friday morning readers, the birds are chirping! And I don't just mean the ones outside in the trees.  The university grounds crew was out doing some landscaping Thursday which means, SPRING is near!! 

The UofL softball Cards flew south to open the 2023 season like they usually do to find some warm temperatures.  They will open with a double header In Clearwater, FL against South Alabama and then #21 Kentucky on Friday and then 3 games to close out the weekend down there. 

Lacrosse entertains #9 Denver at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium today as well, they'll start their action at 1 p.m.

WBB pulled out a gutsy win in Charlottesville to move to 9-4 in the ACC.   The Cards are looking to secure a double bye in the conference tournament.  Louisville is 18-8 on the season and have now won 3 in a row. 

 

WBB

The Cards win 63-53!!  

Louisville secures a must-win at Virginia after trailing for almost 27 minutes of the game. The Cavs have only won 3 conference games and have been dominated by the Cards in series history, however, the short-handed Wahoos managed to give Louisville all they could handle on Thursday night. Every game matters at this point in the season as UofL looks to stay with the pack for third place in the ACC. Miami and North Carolina are right on the heels of that pack.

Chrislyn Carr scored 12 of her 14 points in the 4th quarter to lead the comeback with Hailey Van Lith scoring 10 of her 17 in the second half. UofL outscored Virginia 37-19 in the second half while losing the first half 34-26.

End of 1Q 16-15 UVA

FG %
5-14 35.7% Cards
6-17 35.3% UVA
Reb. 10 all
3-pt %
1-6 16.7% Cards
2-7 28.6% UVA

The game started with a 7-0 run for Virginia. UVA really pushed the Cards around on the floor. The score was 12-9 after two good HVL free throws at the 5 minute mark. UofL started the game 1-5 from three point land. Carr does something we don't see her do too often and drove the lane and got fouled to pull the Cards within a point, 12-11 UVA lead. Cavaliers were held scoreless for 5 minutes to end the quarter while the Cards went on a 9-0 run.   Louisville was unable to capitalize on a forced shot clock violation as they turned it right back over to the Wahoos.  A UVA offensive foul gave it back to the Cards and HVL fed it low to Dixon under the basket for the Cards first lead of the game 13-12. In the final 30 seconds of the quarter, Morgan Jones sunk her first attempt of the game but UVA responded with 10 seconds left to retake the lead 16-15. The Cards converted 5 assists on 6 made buckets in the quarter, HVL with 3 of them.

End of 2Q 18-11 UVA


FG %
4-11 36.4% Cards
6-13 46.2% UVA
Reb. 8-7 UVA
3-pt %
1-3 33.3% Cards
1-3 33.3% UVA



UVA opened the quarter hot going 9-4 to start the quarter. Camryn Taylor for UVA had 6 of the Cavs 9 points. The Cards continued to struggle to take care of the ball, HVL had 4 turnovers in the quarter. It was 25-19 at the media timeout just under the 5 minute mark and the Cards were in a 2:30+ min scoring drought until Jones got open under the basket to put it up and in 25-21 Cavs. Russell hit a 3 to make it 25-24 but UVA responded with one of their own to make it 28-24. Konno with the great rebound but no favors from the refs when she got clobbered and the ball rolls out off of her and out of bounds. UVA ball. Right on cue, another infuriating call by the refs, they called a touch foul on Konno and gave UVA the ball right back. The refs called a foul on the Cards 4 plays in a row at both ends of the floor.   Norika Konno, Jones, Josie Williams and then Konno again.  I'll say it, I don't care, the calls were crap! The NCAA can't suspend me.  Meanwhile, London Clarkson scored her total 6 points to close the half for UVA. Clarkson and Taylor combined were 6-10 from the field for 18 points.

HALF 34-26  UVA

End of 3Q  15-9 Cards

FG %
4-14 28.6% Cards
4-12 33.3% UVA
Reb.  12-7 Cards
3-pt %
2-7 28.6% Cards
1-2 50% UVA


HVL opened the quarter for a bucket before we are reminded, Virginia can do as they please and it will go their way .. a held ball when Olivia had it underneath? Goes Wahoo way... HVL fouled Valladay but the shot was after and of course it went in? Count it and one. Olivia's turnaround jumper rolled in and around the rim 4 times and back out but a Nyla Harris rebound goes out off of her? Unfortunate. HVL broke a 2:30 minutes drought on a follow up jumper after getting her own rebound.  Clean. Olivia charged into the UVA defense and UofL had committed 4 turnovers in 4:30 minutes.  Dixon went 1-2 at the FT line after the media timeout to make it 38-31 UVA. HVL had a steal and went 1-2 from 3 point range over the next minute to pull the Cards 38-34. UVA then went scoreless for over 5 minutes with Kasa taking the charge, 3 minutes left in the 3Q. Russell made a 3 to pull it 38-37.  A huge Kasa block and she was acrobatically able to get the ball to roll off UVA and out of bounds to encourage the Cards on a 9-0 run. #5 then able to get to the line went 1-2 to tie it 38 all.  Russell got fouled and made them both to give UofL their first lead since the 9th minute of the 2Q. UofL on a 12-0 run over 4:30 minutes. Once again, UVA found a way to get ahead to close the quarter, making a 3 pointer to pull Virginia ahead 43-41.

End of 4Q   22-10 Cards

FG %
6-12 50% Cards
3-11 27.3% UVA
Reb. 10-6 Cards
3-pt %
2-6 33.3% Cards
1-6 16.7% UVA

Carr scored the first 5 points putting the Cards up 46-43. Cards go up 50-45 after getting to the FT line. UVA drained a 3 to pull it 50-48 after getting the offensive rebound over Carr's back.  With more than 5 minutes left in the game, the fouls started to rack up for the Cavs, London Clarkson picking up their 5th foul.  Morgan dished it to Olivia for the teardrop to put the Cards ahead 52-50 before Camryn Taylor fouled out on the offensive end with more than 3:30 left in the game. Robinson got the defensive rebound and assist as she pushed it ahead to Hailey for the layup and one 55-50 Cards lead with just under 2 minutes to go. 'Kasa then found her way to the FT line to put the Cards up 7 with 80 seconds left in the game. As the Cards looked to wind down the final minute, and UVA intentionally fouled UofL about 4 times but no call ( L O L ) before Carr hit her second three of the quarter and night to make it 60-51 Cards.   

CARDS WIN 63-53

UP NEXT

Louisville vs Clemson 
2:00 PM KFC Yum! Center 
Sunday 2/12 

FRED REPORT

(Fred Biletnikoff made so many great game saving and winning catches
for the Oakland Raiders, The Cards pulled a Biletnikoff Thursday with their late pull away win) 

FREE THROWS --  Louisville went 19-25 at the line which is good for 76%.  They scored 9 more points on 10 more attempts than the Cavs.  This was a huge difference maker in this game.  Carr and Robinson both lead in attempts with 6, Chrislyn made all 6, 4 of them coming in the 4Q.  HVL hit her 5 attempts as well.  CAPITAL F

REBOUNDING --  The Cards out-rebounded UVA 39-31.  Merissah Russell lead all rebounder with 8 in 22 minutes on the floor, 4 coming in the 4Q for her and Yonta Vaughn for UVA.  CAPITAL R 

EFFORT/EXECUTION --  Walz decided to start Konno and Harris which I think it worth mentioning.   Virginia came out to start the game 7-0 and lead for more than half of it.  It was a low scoring- high turnover affair between the two squads before the Cards took over in the 4Q to pull out the decisive win.  I say trust the process, we can breathe now.. this win is one the Cards will probably pull out for some of the post season playbooks. CAPITAL E 

DEFENSE --    It was a gutsy win for the Cards on the road against a not so great Wahoo squad.  UVA hasn't won a game since January 15th but I will admit they looked like they still had some fight left in them the way they started the game.   If the game was only 3 quarters long, Virginia would've won on the 3-pointer by UVAs Mckenna Dale with just under 30 seconds to go.  Russell had the chance to tie it with a layup after a steal with 3 seconds but it didnt fall.  lower case d 

FINAL FRED TALLY:   F_R_E_d

Around the ACC 

Duke beat BC 68-27 while Syracuse took down UNC and Miami beat Florida St 86-82 on Thursday night.  


SOFTBALL

The Cardinals will return 13 letter-winners and seven starters from last year's team including two-time NFCA All-Southeast Region selection Taylor Roby and 2022 ACC all-freshman honoree Korbe Otis. Louisville also welcomes six newcomers to the 2023 roster including transfers Paige Geraghty and Daisy Hess.

The Cardinals were picked to finish seventh in the 2023 ACC Preseason Coaches' Poll.

The Cards are 14-9 in season-opening games and have won their first game of the season in nine of the last 11 years.

We're told you can watch the contests HERE

Louisville vs South Alabama
11:00am in Clearwater, FLA

Louisville leads the series 1-0 last meeting on February 24th, 2018 - Louisville won 5-4 in the D9 Citrus Classic in Orlando, Fla.

Scouting the Jaguars: South Alabama is coming off a solid 2022 season, finishing second in the Sun Belt with an overall record of 26-21. The Jaguars are picked to finish fourth in the Sun Belt, coming off a 16-6 record in conference play. 

The Jaguars roster is highlighted by Junior pitcher Olivia Lackie.  Lackie finished season with a 15-8 record, while striking out 208 batters and allowing just 45 earned runs and holding opponents to a .168 batting average in 155.2 innings of work a year ago Also named to the Preseason D100 Player List by D1 Softball.

Senior outfielder Mackenzie Brasher were named preseason all-Sun Belt Conference for the second straight season. Brasher led the club in batting (.341), runs scored (30), hits (46), stolen bases (20) and multi-hit games (11), and her 20 stolen bases were seventh-most in the SBC.

Louisville vs Kentucky 
1:30PM in Clearwater, FLA

Kentucky leads the series with the Cards 22-20.  UK won the last meeting on April 12, 2022 9-0 at Ulmer Stadium behind Stephanie Schoonover's no-hitter.

Kentucky ended the 2022 season with a 37-19 overall record, finishing fifth in the SEC. The Wildcats competed in the Blacksburg regional before falling to third overall seed Virginia Tech in the regional final.

Depending on which poll you look at, UK is somewhere in the #17-21 national rankings.  The Wildcats are led by veteran catcher Kayla Kowalik and junior infielder Erin Coffel both named to the USA Softball top-50 watchlist and the Preseason All-SEC team.

I honestly forgot the Cards opened the season with a rivalry game.. with a rematch coming at the end of March.   It would be a nice little kick off for the weekend to get an early season victory over that blue team down the road.   Right now, the USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 has Louisville receiving votes. while the ESPN rankings has UofL at #47 behind UK and WKU. 

LACROSSE

Scott Teeter's LAX squad begins the 2023 season by inviting #9 Denver in for a 1 p.m. match at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium

Denver went 16-3 last season and won the Big East Championship, so the Cards will have their hands full. 

It'll be shown on the ACC Network Extra or not today...if you can't make it out for the match.

The Cards were 7-11 last year and Scott Teeter returns one grad student, eight seniors and six juniors from 2022. 

We're not exactly sure how we're going to cover this one, but Paulie will, at least, try to tune it in on the ACC Network Extra.

As always 

Go Cards! 

~Daryl 

 

WBB vs Virginia cancelled -- Softball 2-0 vs FAU -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL

Good morning Louisville fans.. It's me again!  Back on the Friday column, back on the podcast Saturday but it looks like no WBB game recap today. 

Why? It isn't because the dog ate my stat sheets or Jeff Walz decided to take everyone bowling and to catch a movie...keep reading for the answer

WBB

After playing 4 games in eight days last week, the Cards are looking at back to back 'weird weeks' on the schedule as we learned around 3:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon that the Virginia Cavaliers did not make it to town for a fan-favorite and annual Play4Kay game which was scheduled to tipoff at 7 p.m.  Mechanical/airline staffing issues being the reason for the cancellation.  

I am sure after some conversations between the staff and administrators about possible alternatives to make up the game, an agreement could not be made.  As concern over potential conference record tilts for the top spot, the ACC announced that the game would be cancelled and it would result in a forfeit by Virginia.  That moves the Cardinal's record to 22-2 on the season and 12-1 in the ACC. 

Coach Walz and staff are working to move the highly anticipated Pink-out to a different game on the schedule.  Stay tuned on that! 

UP NEXT
Sunday 2/13 2 p.m. vs Notre Dame 
KFC Yum! Center

Around the NCAA

NC State escapes Boston College 85-78 in OT --  The Eagles came out to a roaring 23-12 lead after the first quarter. Cameron Swartz lead all scorers with 24 points on 10-19 shooting and Taylor Soule had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.  The Eagles finished the game 1-7 on shot attempts while the Wolfpack finished 3-3.  Diamond Johnson lead the scoring for NC State with 22 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. 

South Carolina escapes Kentucky 59-50 in Lexington --  This is the second time the two programs faced off this season, a much staler offensive performance by either squad.  There was a late push by the Cats to pull it within 7 with a minute and a half to go but that was a close as they would come to the #1 Gamecocks.  Rhyne Howard had a better showing that the one in Columbia, SC where she went 2-14 on the evening.  She lead the offense for UK with 21 and 9 rebounds but it wasn't enough for the Cats to steal a win.  

Softball

 

The Cards flew south for the winter, picking up two victories to start the 2022 season on the road in the 'FAU FIRST PITCH CLASSIC' over the host team, FAU.  

Game 1  UofL 2    FAU 0

Game 2  UofL 11  FAU 7

Taylor Roby pitched all 7 innings of Game 1 while Chardonnay Harris and split time in the circle with Gabby Holloway in Game 2.  Roby faced 23 batters giving up 4 hits and striking out 2 and earing the win.  Harris started Game 2 pitching 4 and giving up 5 runs on 6 hits as she faced 20 batters in 4 innings of work.  Holloway got the save as she relieved Harris and faced 14 batters, giving up 2 runs on 3 hits with 5 strikeouts.

Game 2 featured a lot of offense for both squads with the Cards in the lead the whole way.  Carmyn Greenwood secured the team's first home run of the season in the 6th inning.  UofL jumped out to a 5-0 lead before giving up a 3-run homer in the bottom of the first to make it 5-3.  Roby capped off the offensive performance with a 3-run homer for the Cards to make it 11-5 heading into the bottom of the 7th.  Greenwood had 4 runs on 3 hits in 4 at bats with a walk and 2 RBIs. 

UP NEXT

Friday 2/11 2 p.m. vs Bethune-Cookman

Boca Raton, FLA

Lax

UofL Lacrosse begins its 2022 season this Friday on the road in Boulder, Colo. as the Cardinals take on the Colorado Buffaloes. The game is set for 4 p.m.

Last season, the Cardinals finished 5-11 after playing the toughest schedule in Division 1 lacrosse. The Buffaloes lost to Stanford in the Pac12 Championship last season.

The Cards are 1-0 vs Colorado, beating the #24 ranked Buffalo squad 12-9 in the 2021 matchup.  

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast - As far as I know, we should have a full line-up for the podcast on Saturday!  And plenty of content to cover! 11 a.m. is the start time and go to the Cardinal Couple Radio You Tube page for previous broadcasts or check any Sunday column here at the site!

 

As always 

Go Cards! 

~Daryl 

Strong First Half Sends WBB Cards past UVA 71-56 -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

22-4 RUN OVER 10 MINUTES LEADS TO CARDS 19TH WIN

The University of Louisville women's basketball team used a 10-minute stretch that ended the first quarter and extended into the second quarter to outscore Virginia 22-4 and put away the Cavs last night in the KFC YUM! Center before 7776 fans. 

With 5:31 left in opening period action, Louisville found themselves in a bit of a struggle against the foe from Charlottesville. The score was 13-11 and despite Kylee Shook recording the Cards first five points, the Cavs were hanging close to Louisville. 

A media timeout and Jeff Walz inserting Yacine Diop and Liz Dixon into the lineup, though, worked wonders for the Cardinals production. UofL went on a 12-2 closing run to end the quarter, two Dana Evans threes and four points from Diop propelled Louisville to a 25-13 advantage as time expired in the opening session.

Another great start for Louisville and 71% shooting in those first ten minutes from the Cards had this one pretty much looking to be "in the bag" for a UofL "W". 

The hot streak continued as the second quarter began. 

Norika making a list and checking it twice? 

Bionca Dunham ran off three baskets in a row, and after an Evans layup with 6:26 until half, UofL had increased the lead to 35-15. The Cards defense was getting the stops and ended up forcing eight UVA turnovers. Shook already had three blocks in the books and the Cards ended the half ahead 39-22 after a Kasa Robinson jumper. Despite Louisville only hitting two shots out of their final 12 in the last six minutes, they managed to win the quarter 14-9 and were shooting 50% (16-32). They had also managed to hold Virginia to just 33% shooting for the half. 

Evans and Shook had combined for five first half three pointers, the Cards were winning the points in paint battle 18-8, had 11 points off turnovers (compared to UVA's 5) and were out-rebounding the smaller foe 20-16. Walz had already played the nine players available for the game (Jess Laemmle and Molly Lockhart were out with the flu) and it looked like UofL had the Hoos boarding the bus early to navigate I-65 traffic. 39-22 was the score, it probably could have been much higher if the Cardinals hadn't stumbled and sputter a bit as the quarter wore down. 

It didn't quite turn out to be a romp, though, in the final twenty minutes.  

UVA came out determined to get back into the contest and, after Louisville went on an early 4-0 run to start the quarter and build their largest lead of the game at 43-22 after Jaz Jones got in the scoring column, the Cavs struck back. 

43-22 became 43-30 in the space of three minutes. Balanced Virginia scoring and the Cards five missed shots and three turnovers had turned the momentum and lead to a 8-0, four minute Cavalier run. Robinson connected on two free throws with 4:16 to go and Diop followed suit with two more charity tosses two minutes later to give UofL a 46-33 lead.

The Cards played VA pretty evenly to close out the third quarter thanks to Jaz.  Her 5-0 quarter-ending run included an old-fashioned three point play and two free throws, but a late Shemera Williams three pulled the Virginia  squad within 12 as the quarter ended with the score board showing 51-39 Louisville. 

The Cards made just three of 11 shot attempts in those 10 minutes, Virginia had scored six points off turnovers and won the quarter 17-12. What would the final period bring? 

Fortunately, the Cards did not suffer a fourth-quarter collapse like they did at UNC Sunday. Dana, Jaz and Elizabeth Balogun made sure of that. The trio combined for 17 of Louisville's 20 final quarter points. Louisville got off to a slow start in the fourth, but, UVA couldn't do much either. Just seven points scored in the first two minutes, the Cards getting two of them on a pair of Jones free throws. UVA narrowed it to 11 after a Jocelyn Willoughby jumper that made it 55-44, but UofL responded with a 5-0 run, started by a Balogun three and capped off by an Evans layup to create a 16-point, 60-44 lead with 5:58 to play. 

UVA head coach Tina Thompson maybe reminiscing
about her stellar playing career? 

UVA would get no closer than 13 the rest of the way. An Evans jumper made it 67-47 at the four-minute mark. Three Cardinal free throws in a excessive, late whistle blowing contest between the officials, set the tally at 71-53.

Freshman Shemera Williams, who had a nice outing against the Cards with 20 points off the bench in just 22 minutes ended the scoring with a late three.

Louisville had captured their eighth straight ACC win with the 71-56 final. 


FRED REPORT

Fred G. Sanford , the "G" stands for Gun, Balogun,
He would have enjoyed last night's win 

FREE THROWS --  24 fouls called in the final 20 minutes of this outing, compared to just 13 in the first half. The Cards went to the line and shot for an acceptable 75% on 15-20 marksmanship. Diop and Jones went 9 for 12, Dana only got two chances but made them both.  75% works for all parties concerned, much better than the Hoos 10-18, 55.6%, and we have no problem extending a CAPITAL "F" for knocking down the ones where no one is guarding you. 

REBOUNDS -- How about "E" !! She dominated the defensive end of the court with 10 grabs and ended up with 12 grabs overall to lead all players. Louisville won the battle-of-the-boards 40-33. Kylee added seven rebounds and the CAPITAL "R" goes out for a gutsy performance against a battling UVA squad that was employing a four guard offense most of the game. Credit to Jocelyn Willoughby, whose 11 rebounds complemented her 17 points. Get to know the name, readers, she'll be earning money in the WNBA next year. 

EFFICIENCY/EXECUTION -- For stretches in this one, the Cards looked like the #3 squad in the nation. Sixteen turnovers still a bit high, but they passed the ball well most of the game (13 assists on 25 made baskets) shot an acceptable 44% from the floor and proved the best in the paint 28-20. That third quarter lapse, though, will dictate that a small case "e" is the designation here. All nine Cards that played had at least one turnover. 

DEFENSE -- UVA came into the game last in ACC scoring with just 59 points and Louisville defense did what most expected them to do, allowing just 56. Kylee Shook the "wow" factor last night with six blocked shots and Dana and Jaz created three steals each. Only 36% shooting for the Cavaliers and a mere 21% in the second quarter. After deliberation,  I'll extend a CAPTIAL "D" for holding the foe under their already lacking season point production and creating a game where only two Cavs were effective from the floor. 


FINAL FRED TALLY:   F-R-e-D


THEY SAID IT: 

Post game comments below: 

VIRGINIA HEAD COACH TINA THOMPSON

DANA EVANS AND KYLEE SHOOK

JEFF WALZ


SOOOOO...

Louisville came home and did what they were expected to do, beat a sub .500 ACC foe by double digits. UofL held Virginia to below their season average with mostly spectacular defense and double figure scoring performances from Dana, Jaz and Kylee. 

Jaz had a rough first half but responded with all of her 13 points in the second session. Kylee was "on" early and ended with 10 points in just 25 minutes. Dana...maybe I've gotten a bit spoiled or jaded by her consistent, every game magic....led all scorers with 21 points and logged a team-high 35 minutes. It's what she does, regular as rain in Louisville. 

I'll point out the very effective games Bionca Dunham and Yacine Diop had last night. "B" is the blue collar, punch the clock and go to the job --  working class hero on this squad. One rebound may raise a few eyebrows, but she did total eight points and was creating havoc for the Cavs when they had the ball. YA-YA came off the bench, helped spur the early, dominating run and, despite the four fouls, once again showed that she will always give you 100% plus when she's on the court. Her defense and overall hustle were key last night.

Let's hope the flu bug stays away from the rest of the roster and the Cards go into Sunday ready to rumble against Pitt. If not, Jeff Walz is bringing in over 1500 Girl Scouts in on the Sabbath to bolster the noise level and I would imagine there will be a few Thin Mints available for fan-base dining pleasure.

Maybe a couple GSA attendees will get playing time if the Cards can run up a sizable lead against the visiting Pitt Panthers. NC St. doubled the score on them last night 88-44. 

According to Coach Walz, if you freeze them, they become fat-free (FDA opinion on this pending). Bring cash, y'all. 

Also, it was good to see my good friend Bobbie and her son in attendance last night. Talk about huge Cardinal fans, they traveled down from way up north for this one.

Finally, former Cardinal staffer Jimmy Yu was at the game, performing his duties as UVA's assistant WBB operations director. I had a quick chat with him before the contest, he's a rising star in the profession and a great guy overall. We're going to need to do a feature on him during the slow months of Summer 2020. 

PHOTOS AND POST GAME INTERVIEWS BY JARED ANDERSON. WE'RE SPOILED BY HIS EXCELLENT WORK.


paulie
xxxxx 

Cards Prepare for Virginia -- Spring Sports Media Day I -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Prepare for Virginia

Get your naps in today because it's going to be a late one!  Louisville basketball is set for an ACC showdown against Virginia tonight at 8:00.

Virginia comes into the KFC Yum! Center carrying a 7-11 record with a 2-5 conference record.  On the other side, the Cardinals are 18-1 and sit at 7-0 atop the ACC.

The Cavaliers, or unofficially but more commonly called Wahoos, have had a tough schedule that features an 0-5 mark against ranked opponents.  A major factor behind that is their league worst 59.1 points per game.  They are almost no threat from three-point range, averaging just over four per game.

Defensively, the Hoos are not much better.  They allow 62.6 points per game.  Unlike the Cards, who have been fortunate with Kylee Shook, Bionca Dunham and E Balogun swatting shots, Virginia averages just two blocks per game.

Keep an eye on Jocelyn Willoughby.  The senior leads the ACC with 19.6 points per game.  Willoughby has made 98 free throws and 37 minutes per game are also top in the conference.

Coaches across the league, including Jeff Walz, seem to think she's a "guaranteed next level" player once here collegiate done are done.

Outside of Willoughby, the Wahoos struggle to find players who can score.  Dominique Toussaint, another senior, is averaging 10.1 points per game.

They did earn a pair of wins in conference play this year.  Virginia took down Duke at home in a 66-63 nail biter and defeated Boston College on the road in a 69-52 dominating performance

Louisville owns the series 9-2.  They are 5-0 at home against Virginia.  Last year, Louisville ran away with a 71-49 at Virginia.

If you're not in attendance at the game it looks like this one is on ACC Network Extra as of right now but hopefully a local channel will pick it up.  You can always tune into 790 AM on the radio to listen to the ever wonderful duo in Nick Curran and Adrienne Johnson.

It is 90's night tonight in the KFC YUM! Center.

No doubt we'll hear a lot of Green Day, Alice In Chains, LL Cool J and Beastie Boys on the soundboard. I wonder if Al Greener and the pep band will attempt any Metallica?


Spring Sports Media Day:  Part I

The Spring Sports are rapidly upon us, and, in a few cases, already started.

This year, the Spring Sports Media Days have been divided into two different days. Today, the media will here from Swimming and Diving, Women's Golf, Women's Tennis and Track and Field. Next Thursday, Men's Tennis, Softball, Lacrosse, Men's Golf and Rowing will greet the press.

We'll attend and have all the comments for you here in audio form later today in our Thursday article, Be sure to check back to hear the words from the student-athletes and coaches Arthur Albiero, Whitney Wade Young, Mark Beckham and Dale Cowper. Lunch is at 11:30 and the squads start at noon.

THE INTERVIEW LINKS:

WOMEN'S GOLF WITH COACH WHITNEY WADE YOUNG AND LAUREN HARTLAGE

TRACK AND FIELD WITH HEAD COACH DALE COWPER AND STUDENT ATHLETES GABRIELA LEON AND CHRISTIAN BUCKLEY

WOMEN'S TENNIS WITH HEAD COACH MARK BECKHAM AND STUDENT ATHLETE RHEA VERMA

SWIMMING AND DIVING WITH HEAD COACH ARTHUR ALBIERO AND STUDENT ATHLETES NICK ALBIERO AND GRACE OGLESBY


Speaking of food earlier (we got pizza for lunch at the Spring Sports Media Day) Jared has revived an old feature we used to run here at the site:


Bring Back the Burger!

Before I joined the cast here at Cardinal Couple there used to be a feature burger on the site. It was a popular feature, and, people still ask about the possible return of it here at the site.  I will try to pick up that duty for a while... at least until the end of basketball season or so.

One thing I will try to do is focus on either local places or places that have few stores, so no McDonald's, Wendy's, Steak N Shake, etc.

For our first feature I'll focus on a place I regularly go for lunch- Kern's Korner.  The locally owned restaurant on Bardstown Rd near the intersection of Taylorsville Rd is no longer owned by the Kern family, but you can often see them working there. You'll also run into a lot of Cardinal fans there.

Their burger is praised as one of the best in town and goes well with a side of chips.  If you visit let them know that Jared from the bank sent you. If they don't throw you out on your ear, enjoy the meal  !!

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards Use Second Half Run to Down Virginia 71-49 -- Weekend Preview -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

A Tale of Two Halves; Cards Defeat Cavaliers

Despite trailing at halftime Louisville used a big second half to roll past Virginia, 71-49.  Dana Evans led the Cards with 13 points, although five Cards were in the double-digits for points.  Evans also finished with a team-high six assists.

Louisville was down three at halftime but outscored the Cavaliers 46-21 in the second half for a blowout victory.

Asia Durr scored 12 points with most of her damage coming in the second half.  Sam Fuehring (or Firing, if you heard the ACCNE broadcast) went for 11 points and eight rebounds.  Kylee Shook and Bionca Dunham each added 10 points.  Dunham joined Mykasa Robinson with five rebounds apiece.

The two teams were tied at 14 apiece at the end of the first quarter and Asia Durr had a goose egg in the points column.  Bionca Dunham scored early for the Cards and Dana Evans finished out the quarter as the duo contributed most of the points in the period.

The Wahoos took the second quarter 14-11 and their efforts resulted in a 28-25 halftime lead.  The Cards took three minutes into the period to score and went on a four minute scoring drought later on...allowing the Hoos to go up by 10 at one point.  Luckily, Virginia struggled equally as much neat the end of the half because of the UofL defense and the score remained close going into the break.

Louisville looked like a new team coming out of the locker room at halftime.  The won the third quarter 23-9.  A 10-0 run started the quarter for Louisville and they never surrendered the lead after.  Jaz Jones and Sam Fuehring led the charge in the period and Louisville's three-pointers began to fall.

A 23-12 fourth quarter sealed the deal in the win.  Five three-pointers and an old-fashioned three-point play was the theme for the final period.  It was part of a second half where the Cards shot 63.6% from three-point range.

A win that took awhile to develop but was eventually worth the wait. Hats off to a Virginia team that threw a scare into #4 for 20 minutes last night.


F-R-E-D Report

Free Throws- Louisville shot 7-9 from the line, all in the second half.  The 77.8% is enough to earn a"F".
capital version.

Rebounds- Virginia won the overall rebounding battle 38-27, 24-11 in the first half.  The Cards won the second half rebounds 16-14.  The Cards got four second chance points, as opposed to UVA's 15 on the night.  No letter here.

Effort/Efficiency- The bench provided a spark with 25 points and 32 points came in the paint.  Of the Cavaliers' 18 turnovers Louisville scored 20 points.  They also only turned the ball over six times on the night, three in each half.  The Cards shot 45% from the field and 37% from downtown.  Of the 27 made buckets 18 were assisted.  There are some really nice numbers in there, including many of those getting a big boost in the second half and well deserving of a capital "E".

Defense- At halftime, it appeared that Virginia was on the verge of scoring close to 60.  They wound up being held under 50.  The Cavaliers shot just below 39% from the field and went 3-10 from three-point range.  UofL forced 18 turnovers on the game including 11 steals that helped lead to 12 fast break points.  The second half turned what would have been a lowercase letter into a capital "D".

F-_-E-D for a score of 75%, not too shabby, but could be better.  The rebounding was rather disappointing.

Louisville's record improves to 24-2 and they are now 11-2 in the conference and sitting at a 2-seed in the ACC Tournament if it were to begin today.  Their 1-seed for the NCAA Tournament should remain intact.

In other women's basketball news around the country there were a few games worth mentioning.



Georgia Tech put a thumping on Clemson 75-53. Tech is trying to play their way into NCAA Tournament position and may have put Clemson on that NCAA fence with their win.

#16 Kentucky went to #13 South Carolina and pulled off a win 65-57.

Virginia Tech earned their first home ACC victory by upsetting #14 Miami 73-65.

#8 Maryland managed to snag a win at home in the final seconds against Minnesota 71-69.

A Look at the Weekend

Friday, Feb. 22

Track and field continues their trip in Greensboro in the ACC Championships.

Women's swimming and diving continues their stint in the ACC Championships and are coming off an incredible Day Two! The big highlight was a first place and new school record in the 500m freestyle by Mallory Comerford.  We'll report more on this following the conclusion of the multi-day event.

Women's tennis has a big home match against Syracuse at 4:00 p.m.

Baseball will have a double-header against Brown starting at 2:00 p.m.  The second game takes the place of the originally-scheduled Saturday game.

Saturday, Feb. 23

Track and field continues competing in the ACC Championships.

Women's swimming and diving also continues the ACC Championships.

Men;s golf heads to Tallahassee for the FSU Seminole Intercollegiate.

Rowing has a scrimmage in Orlando against Tennessee and UCF.

Softball will play two games in the Tennessee Classic, facing Kansas at 9:30 a.m., and Bradley at 2:30 p.m.

Lacrosse has a noon game against Mercer for their home opener.  Paulie and I will attempt to venture that way following the conclusion of the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour, weather pending.

Men's basketball has a noon tip-off against a projected 1-seeded Virginia Cavaliers.  Remember last year's... er... last second loss?

Sunday, Feb. 24

Men's golf continues their event in warm, sunny Tallahassee.

Women's tennis faces Clemson at noon, which I will try to make the first few minutes of.

Women's basketball returns home to take on Boston College at 2:00 p.m.  It's their final home Sunday game and leaves one home game remaining after this.

Softball will take on Bradley for a second time in Knoxville at 5:00 p.m.

On a Personal Note

This evening, I will accompany my colleagues in the semi-professional community ensemble I play in for a recording session.  We are applying to play at the prestigious Midwest Clinic held in Chicago every December.

 It is one of the "don't-miss" events for musicians worldwide and features guests from all 50 states and over 30 countries.

We will be one of over a thousand ensembles auditioning for one of approximately 30 spots.  Please wish us the best of luck and fingers crossed we get accepted!

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

Jared

Scott Teeter Interview -- Holly Aprile Interview -- WBB v VA tonight -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

LOUISVILLE WBB PLAYS VIRGINIA, INTERVIEWS WITH SCOTT TEETER AND HOLLY APRILE

A busy Wednesday for Paulie, with interviews on the Belknap campus with Lacrosse head coach Scott Teeter and softball coach Holly Aprile. The home opener for LouLax is Saturday, a noon start against Mercer and softball travels to Knoxville for five games over three days in the Tennessee Classic. 


SCOTT TEETER

I began my day on campus in the Lacrosse offices talking with Scott Teeter. 

His office, on the second floor in the southwest corner of the Planet Fitness Kueber Center affords a beautiful view of the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium. After meeting with Lacrosse S.I.D. Nick Evans on the first floor, we proceeded to the office on the second floor. We "cut through" the women's basketball lobby/greeting area en route to Lacrosse and after greeting Kate Tucker, the WBB Director of Operations, we entered the offices to talk with Scott. 

Teeter was just ending a meeting with assistant Lacrosse Coach Kay Morissette and welcomed us into the office. Scott conducts his interviews at a table next to the south-view window and we chatted about the Denver game and the wild, snowy conditions during the first half of that contest. Scott showed me and Nick parts of the video feed from it before we sat down to talk Lacrosse and it was truly amazing to watch how the conditions rapidly deteriorated during the first half and just as quickly disappeared by the end of the match.

It's always fun to talk with Teeter about Lacrosse and a few other things we have in common and we present you the interview in it's entirety below: 

LINK: SCOTT TEETER INTERVIEW 2-20-19

After our chat, I headed back to my car to head northbound and meet with Holly Aprile in her office at the SAC Building across from Ulmer Stadium. I could hear Sam Purcell in the offices somewhere as I left and as I looked out the windows to my left, I could see several UofL WBB players warming up for their Wednesday practice. I stopped by for a quick chat with Nick on the first floor S.I.D. room to assure him all went well, tell few "war stories" and wish him and the team luck on Thursday against Virginia. 

Nick is a busy guy these days with his dual responsibility of being the S.I.D. for lacrosse and women's hoops. During our interview, he opted to go check out the Louisville Lacrosse press box to make sure all was well for the opener. We appreciate him arranging the "meet" and thanks to Coach T for taking time out of his busy day to talk a little Lacrosse with us! 

HOLLY APRILE 

It's a short drive northward on Floyd Street from the Lacrosse office to the SAC building where Softball and several other sports have their coaches' offices. Normally, I'd use the parking garage that is just south of the SAC, but I opted for the "pay/meter" parking spots located where you drive into the SAC/Starbucks area. A few quarters later, I was in the SAC, up the escalator and headed to the second floor offices. 

As I got off the escalator, I saw Softball SID Lori Korte emerge from the small room where students and staffers can hang out adjacent to the offices. We walked into the offices together, said "Hi" to program assistant Elaine Jones at the front desk and walked down the hall to Softball. 

Coach Aprile was there, prepared and ready to talk some softball. Like Teeter, she usually doesn't have a set of notes in front of her, we just "free form" the interviews in a question and answer format. I try not to make the questions too difficult nor controversial, after all, we are discussing the joy and excitement of Louisville women's athletics. Lori likes to "sit in" on the interviews, which is always welcome, so I playfully admonished her to "be a good little girl and sit quietly at the table". I've known Lori a long time, since the start of Cardinal Couple, and she's always been quite accommodating and friendly when I request interviews with her sports Field Hockey and Softball. 

Holly and I do our interviews at the oblong table near the door. Her window isn't as scenic type of view as Scott's...it offers a eastern view of a roof of the first floor of the SAC but you can see the top of Ulmer Stadium in the distance.

Coach and I discussed the road trips to California, Chapel Hill and the team. We had just learned that, due to expected wet weather, the Tennessee Classic would  be postponed to start on Saturday instead of Friday. Here's our interview link: 

LINK: HOLLY APRILE INTERVIEW 2-20-19

In my interviews with Coach Holly since she arrived on campus, I've found her comments are a bit of personal philosophy and a bit of strategy, which is refreshing and truly embodies our quest to bring you something else beside the stats, numbers and records. We try to go "beyond the numbers" and Holly is quite good at it. 

With my "chats" finished, I said my "goodbyes" to coach, Lori and Elaine and hustled back to the car, wondering if the meter had run out. I was good, and, as I prepared to leave...I saw Athletic Director Vince Tyra leaving the SAC and headed to the Floyd Street sidewalk. He was on his cell phone, so I didn't shout out a greeting. After making a quick call to Sonya to discuss lunch plans and I was back out on the streets and headed home. 


WBB GOES TO CHARLOTTESVILLE

Tonight the Cards WBB squad attempts to start a new win streak. The quest starts on the UVA campus against a Virginia team that Louisville demolished five weeks ago 91-43 in the YUM! Center. The Cavs have gone 3-4 since the drowning "by the river" and now basically is in a battle to avoid playing on the first day of the ACC Tournament (Wednesday) as a #10 seed or worse. They are currently alone in tenth place. 

The Cards go into the 7 p.m. start with a 8-2 lifetime record against the Cavs and last loss to them in the 2014-14 season, the Cards' first year in the ACC.

The "Hoos" have switched to more of a four guard format since the Louisville loss and 6'9" center Felicia Ayeotan hasn't stepped on the court (injury) since that 48-point defeat. First year coach Tina Thompson relies on Jocelyn Willoughby, Mone Jones and Dominique Toussaint for the majority of the offense and Willoughby had a double-double in the Cavs last outing, a 70-53 loss at UNC.

"It's a new day, find a new way" is the word around the Cardinal WBB program these days and reports are that practices on Tuesday and Wednesday were spirited and went well as the Cards prepared for the UVA squad. 

Following the game plan, execution and limiting the mistakes would be the things I'd put on the whiteboard in the Cards facility and bouncing back from the loss to Miami the prime objective.  

It's the ACC, and nothing is guaranteed, but it's hard to see any other type of outcome than a Cardinal crunching over the Cavaliers. The ACCNE has the internet feed, Nick and A.J. provide the 790 Cards Radio WKRD call and a "better than average" crew of Joe Vaszily, Maj Forsberg and Marc Merritt will carry the whistles up and down John Paul Jones Arena's floor. 

Have a terrific Thursday and GO CARDS! 


paulie
xxxxx