WBB Visits Notre Dame -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Visits South Bend to Face Notre Dame

Louisville women's basketball hits the road again with a trip to South Bend for a 7:00 p.m. game against #10 Notre Dame. The Cards and Irish will command the spotlight as they will be aired on ESPN.

Notre Dame comes into the game 20-4 on the season while their 11-3 ACC record places them second in the conference, one game ahead of the Cards.

The Irish are riding a two-game win streak with victories over Syracuse and Pitt, both by single digits, after losing two of three prior to that.

Dara Mabrey is out for the year due to an injury, but plenty of other players still pose a major threat to Louisville. The name that tends to draw the most fear in opposing teams is Olivia Miles. She leads the team in scoring (14.9 ppg), rebounds (7.1 rpg), and assists (7.2 apg).

Sonia Citron (14.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg), Maddy Westbeld (11.2 ppg, 6.7 rpg), and Lauren Ebo (9.9 ppg, 7.0 rpg) have all played crucial parts for the Irish this season. While Citron and Westbeld both regularly find themselves in the starting lineup, Ebo is a player who comes off the bench and then have an immediate impact in the flow and pace of the game.

Notre Dame and Louisville have both been lethal on offense with the two teams shooting .464 and .459, respectively. Despite the high number of turnovers this season, Louisville ranks second in the conference with 15.4 assists per game. The only team ahead of them? Well, they'll be on the other side of the ball, putting their 15.8 assists per game on the line.

The Cards and Irish have built themselves a bit of a rivalry that dates back to the Big East days. Notre Dame currently leads the series 16-12, but Louisville has won six straight and eight of the last 10, going back to the 100-67 game where a certain "that other player" dropped 36 points.

The Cards are 4-0 with their "new" stating lineup, following the win over Clemson Sunday.  In that Clemson win, Norika Konno had a career high 12 points and Olivia Cochran had a career high 12 rebounds. Louisville has also increased their assist rate in the last four games, with 75 (or 18.8 a game) on 99 made baskets. 

Niele Ivey, Irish WBB head coach, sees it this way:

"It's an opportunity to bounce back from the two losses last year. We both get up for this game, it's a battle. They have a different lineup this year, but they always have a great inside and outside presence.". 

The next installment of the rivalry happens in the spotlight tonight and we are ready for it.

HE SAID IT: 

JEFF WALZ PRE NOTRE DAME PRESSER 2/15/23

(PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON AND OTHER SOURCES) 

WHAT'S IN A NAME? 

(Remember Dennis Hopper's nickname in Hoosiers?) 

Slowly but surely we're catching up on some of the player's nicknames on the WBB squad. Here's what we've got, if you have any to add, just drop them in the comments system!

Merissah Russell -- RIZ (rhymes with 'fizz') 

Norika Konno -- REEK (rhymes with 'seek')

Kasa Robinson -- KOS (rhymes with pause)

Olivia Cochran -- O 

Chrislyn Carr -- CC

Alexia Mobley -- (I've heard 'LEX' but not sure how widely it's used)

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Will defense be a bright spot this year for Louisville Lacrosse? -- WEDNSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

LAX HAS ALLOWED JUST TEN GOALS AGAINST TWO TOP 25 TEAMS SO FAR THIS YEAR.

There is an old, tongue-in-cheek adage about the way to win athletic events. You either outscore your opponent or hold them to less points than you. If you need more of an explanation on this, I just don't know how much more I can help you...

The Louisville Lacrosse squad has come out and played shut-the-door defense in the squad's first two games this season -- allowing #9 Denver just five goals in a heart-breaking 5-4 loss, and limiting #24 Colorado to five goals in a resounding and convincing 12-5 win. The effort has moved Louisville into #24 in the IWLCA rankings. Does it make a statement about how good the Cards are defensively, or a statement about how over-rated a few of the west coast schools are this season? 

One thing that points to an improved Cardinals defense is the play of Sara Addeche at goalkeeper.. She's recorded 21 saves in just two games this season and it's interesting to note that Denver came back after the low-scoring win over Louisville to put up 12 goals against Vanderbilt next time out. 

A good defense doesn't begin and end with the goalkeeper, obviously, and the Cards have gotten some great defensive play from Maggie Foster, Sydney Kirchenheiter, Ava Coyle, and Olivia Toll. 

Looking at the ACC some of the numbers for the Cards competition there reveal some interesting items. The cumulative conference record is 11-1 so far, with (you guessed it) Louisville recording the only loss. It's too early for a lacrosse top 25 to come out yet, but with ten ACC teams playing lacrosse now, one would have to put at least five schools, in my opinion in that top 25. USA Lacrosse puts six ACC schools in their top 20 (UNC, BC, Syracuse, Duke, Virginia and Notre Dame) and Louisville got consideration votes. 

Ask Scott Teeter. He'll tell you that the defense (and Addeche) carried the Cards against Colorado and played excellently all game long against Denver. 

On the offensive side of things, a vet (Nicole Perroni) and a sophomore (Izzy Seikel) are leading the way in scoring with four goals each. Other top efforts have also come from newcomer freshman Negal Nakazawa (Kokoro's younger sister), grad student Hannah Morris and sophomore Lauren Figas. It's good to see the younger players making a sizable impact on the team's fortunes. It shows, if anything, that the recruiting is having a favorable impact on the squad's abilities and now that the roster is at full, the number of impact players has the potential to become larger and larger

Yes, the conference still looks tough as ever and newcomer Clemson put up 23 goals in their most recent outing against Wofford.  while allowing just one. 

Lindenwood comes to the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium Sunday for the WLAX Cards third match of the season. All they did last year was win DII women's lacrosse. They moved up to DI and they're 1-1 in DI this season, with a season opening loss to California 17-9 and a win over Central Michigan 17-15. We'll get more into then as the game gets closer. 

Over the years, and especially in the Teeter rebuild years, we've seen a huge effort by Scott and his coaches to build trust, unity and a feeling of team and shared goals.  Things that were sorely needed when he came to town. He warned me back then that it wouldn't come overnight.  The thing is, the team has gotten better at it each year since he's been here. It's no small feat to accomplish all that in the best women's lacrosse conference in Division I. But, it's getting there. Going into the 2018 season, you had to wonder if the program could recover...but, recover it has and showing steady improvement.. 

In summing up the defense, it might be best to wait and see how the squad performs against the ACC schools before placing a lot of crowns on their heads. If Lax can hold traditional conference powerhouses like UNC, BC, Syracuse and Virginia to less than double digit scoring, let's go ahead and confirm the earlier observations....this Cardinals defense is pretty good. 

Here at Cardinal Couple, we certainly hope the Cards defensive excellence can continue as the season goes on. Another old saying is that..."offense fills the seats but defense wins games". I've got a feeling the UofL women's lacrosse coaching staff just might agree with that so far this season, and it'll be fun to see how they've progressed in putting the ball in the net by the time they've reached the midseason mark.  

(SOME JARED ANDERSON PHOTOS USED HERE) 

paulie

LAX Joins Top 25 Rankings -- WBB Receives Votes -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

After a 6-0 Sunday across all Louisville sports, a few teams saw some improvements in rankings and various polls. On the women's side, Lacrosse upset then-#25 Colorado 12-5. Softball upset #23/RV Missouri 4-0 and took down Howard 8-0 in a five-inning mercy rule. Women's basketball beat Clemson 81-69. 

Lacrosse Ranked #24

Louisville lacrosse had a rather strong showing in their opening weekend. After holding a lead for most of the match, the Cards eventually fell in a 5-4 heartbreaker to then-#9 Denver, who recently dropped a spot to #10. The Cards rebounded by crushing then-#25 Colorado 12-5, knocking the Buffaloes out of the rankings altogether.

The Coaches Poll voters seemed impressed enough, especially with the defense, to award the Cards a spot in the rankings at #24. The season is young and Louisville has plenty to prove, but they have shown great promise in their first wo games of the 2023 season.

Louisville remains at home and hosts Lindenwood this coming Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Admission is free at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium.

Women's Basketball Receives Votes

Last week, Louisville women's basketball received two votes in the AP Poll, a first since they dropped out altogether a couple months back. After a pair of victories against Virginia and Clemson this past week, the Cards were able to earn a few more votes- 11 total.

Five ACC teams saw their names in this week's Top 25 while NC State saw theirs disappear. The Wolfpack fell into the receiving votes category with 30 votes, enough to tie them for #26. Louisville would be ranked #32 if the rankings continued. The NET rankings put Louisville at #31.

The Cards put their four-game win streak on the line when they visit #10 Notre Dame on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.

Will Softball Flirt with the Rankings?

With the exception of being on the wrong end of an 8-0 mercy rule against #20 Kentucky, Louisville softball outscored their other four opponents 26-2 in the four wins including a 4-0 win against #23/RV Missouri.

Louisville did not start the year in the rankings nor did they receive any votes in the NFCA Poll. The Cards finished the 2022 campaign 27-25 so they have some work to do to prove to the voters that they deserve to be in the Top 25.

A two-game series each with Illinois and Wisconsin are on the schedule next. Illinois opened their season going 2-3 with all three losses coming to ranked opponents. Wisconsin fared worse, going 0-4 with a pair of losses to ranked opponents and being outscored 13-6 on the entire weekend.

Ideally, a 3-1 or 4-0 ACC/Big Ten Challenge for Louisville would help continue the strong start to the season and maybe even earn the Cards a few votes. For now, we will wait and see.

If you choose to celebrate Valentine's Day, we wish you a Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

A tale of two halves in WBB win over Clemson --LAX upsets Colorado -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS BLOW OUT AND THEN HANG ON VS. CLEMSON

It was a tale of two halves in Sunday's WBB game against Clemson .

Louisville came out gangbusters in the first twenty minutes, led by 30 points late in the second quarter and looked to be on their way to a huge blowout over the 14-13, 8-10 Tigers. You can credit a lot of the UofL superiority to the Cards lights out three-point shooting from Norika Konno and Hailey Van Lith, and a defense that held Clemson to 34% shooting. Creating Tiger turnovers was huge and capitalizing on them even larger -- the Cards created a 20-0 points off turnovers advantage to lead 51-22 after twenty minutes. 

It was sort of a chess match for most of the first quarter, Louisville found themselves up 7-6 with 3:36 to play after a Eno Inyang Clemson jumper. Then, someone lit the fuse. Liz Dixon converted inside, Van Lith dropped a free throw shot and Konno buried a three to make it 16-8. The Cards would complete the 13-2 run with two Morgan Jones free throws and a Kasa Robinson jumper at the buzzer. 20-6 and Clemson looked confused. 

The Cards would tack on five points to begin the second quarter on a Chrislyn Carr three and Jones jumper. It was 30-10 after Robinson scored again and Merissah connected on a three-pointer. No one would have blamed the Clemson bus driver for getting up and heading to team parking to start the bus at that point. 

To their credit, the Tigers didn't completely fall apart and were still down, but by just 22, after Van Lith rolled in a jumper with 3:24 until half time. The Cards had one more spurt left in them as halftime approached, though...back-to-back threes from Van Lith and Konno and then another Van Lith three had the total at 49-19 and Josie Williams put back in the paint completed the 11-4 half-ending run and the Cards had a 51-22 lead at half. A 31-14 second quarter advantage for UofL and the Cards had shot a sizzling 60% in the second quarter. 

A slow third quarter start for Louisville, not scoring for the first 4:18 of the session bfore finally getting a couple of Robinson free throws to drop. It's not that Louisville was in danger of losing their massive lead, but Clemson had their hatchet out and were chopping away. Makaya Elmore had a huge quarter with nine points for the Tigers in the third, what was just as impressive was that Clemson had held Louisville to eight points in eight minutes. It was 62-41 Louisville with a minute left in the quarter before the Cards got a follow up by Carr and a Cochran jumper to to take a 66-43 lead into the final quarter. 

   

If there was anything memorable about the final quarter, it was the five-minute stretch where the Cards scored just one point. UofL had a 75-52 at the 7:02 mark of the quarter after a Russell jumper. They scored a free throw over the next five minutes and it was a 76-67 game with 2:17 to play. Credit Clemson for the 15-1 run on the Cards and, although it looked like the Cards had a substantial lead to hang on with, there were more than a few nervous people left in the KFC YUM! Center. A Cochran jumper with 2:02 to play broke the scoreless streak.  The Cards would add two Russell free throws the remainder of the way and clinch the 81-69 win.

(Someone get on the story Hailey's accepted a proposal...fast!) 

THE FRED REPORT

FREE THROWS -- The Cards took 13 free throws and made nine of then for 69.2% That's just a tad lower than the 70% we mandate for a letter...they did go 4-5 in the crucial fourth quarter, no one attempted more than four, but no letter here.

REBOUNDS -- Clemson took the boards battle 39-34, despite Cochran gathering 12 for the Cards. No letter here.

EFFORT/EXECUTION -- Louisville shot a decent 48.4% for the game and had an impressine 23 assists to go with the makes. 15 turnovers is a bit high and you can't like getting outscored 44-24 in the paint. I do like the 50% from three point range though, so I'll award a small case "e" 

DEFENSE -- The first half Cards defense was spectacular, allowing just 22 points. Paint defense overall wasn't that spectacular, though, getting outscored 44-24 and Clemson did climb out of a slow shooting start to finish at 43.8%. Still, the defense was good enough to win and we'll allow a CAPITAL "D" for that. 

FINAL FRED REPORT:  _-_-E-d

The Cards return to action Thursday with a trip to Notre Dame. 

THEY SAID IT: 

POST GAME VAN LITH AND KONNO

POST GAME WALZ

LAX DOWNS COLORADO 12-5

Louisville got a career high four goals from Izzy Seikel and Sara Addeche turned in another impressive performance at goalkeeper as the LaxCards beat visiting and #25 ranked Colorado 12-5 Sunday afternoon at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium. 

Louisville held a 5-1 lead at the half, with four different Cards scoring. The Buffs would battle back to start the second half with three straight goals, but UofL would go on a 5-0 run to finish the quarter and hold a 10-4 advantage after three quarters.  

The Cards would add two more goals in the fourth quarter before Colorado ended the scoring...it was Louisville, though, who ended up with the win to go 1-1 on the season. 

POST GAME CARDS INTERVIEW

Cardinal Couple did not have anyone in attendance to cover this one, with the changed WBB time, but we congratulate Louisville Lacrosse on getting a convincing win over a top 25 foe. (This post game audio from UofL sports, not us.)

PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON

paulie. 

Softball Wins and Winning, Lax, and WBB

 Softball Wins and Is Winning

That's not a typical headline we get to write, but it is the case on this opening weekend of Softball.

In the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Florida in the Tampa/St. Pete area, the Softball Cards are in the middle of a game against Missouri after it got rain and lightning delayed yesterday.  That means the Sunday schedule will have Louisville vs Howard at 10am, Missouri vs Prairie View A&M at 12:30(ish), and then hopefully the conclusion of the Louisville vs Missouri game.

Hey, it's an outdoor sport, you do whatcha gotta do to get as many of the games in as you can.

The game stands at a score of 2-0 with the Cards leading 23rd-ranked Missouri in the bottom of the 3rd with 2 outs.  The Cards are (or will be?) batting.  Taylor Roby is on 2nd, and Korbe Otis is on 1st with Sarah Gordon coming to the plate to bat.  The scores came all in the bottom of the 3rd: Easton Lotus singled, then advanced to 2nd on a wild pitch.  Daisy Hess doubled to right, scoring Lotus, then Roby doubled to right, scoring Hess.  Otis then drew a walk to get on base and that's where the game stands.

The Cards did have an earlier game in the day against Southern, with Sam Booe in the circle for the whole thing.  In five innings of pitching, Booe only allowed a single hit, while the Cards rounded 10 to take advantage of the college run-rule to end the game after just four and a half innings.  Taylor Roby went 2-for-2 at the plate with a two run homer in the mix.  Vanessa Miller and Paige Geraghty both had triples in solid performances at the plate as well.

Booe's no-hitter was going strong until the top of the fifth inning, and I want to know what commentator said something to jinx it.  She retired the first 10 hitters she faced and never faced more than three batters in any inning of the game thanks to a solid defense backing her up.

As mentioned, the Cards will face Howard today at 10:00 am and will hope to finish the Missouri game in the afternoon, depending on the lengths of games, and team travel schedules.

Colorado Visits Lacrosse

After a tough battle against Denver on Friday, the Colorado Buffs come to visit the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium starting at noon.

CU makes the drive up I-65 from Nashville where they tangled with Vanderbilt on Friday, going down to a 10-11 loss in overtime.

Charlie Rudy and Morgan Pence are the main attackers for the Buffs, and there seems to be some early uncertainty between the pipes with Danielle Heintz and Grace Donnelly spending time in goal.

With Louisville hosting, you can catch it on ACC Network Extra streaming.

Clemson Comes to Town

Oh yeah, there's a basketball game as well.  The Clemson Tigers will match up against a UofL team scrabbling to get back into the national rankings in the chaotic ACC.

The Tigers are in the lower ranks of the conference, at 5-9, but that has proven to not be a solid determining factor on who wins games in the ACC this year.  And one of the prime examples is from the end of December when Clemson knocked off a very good Virginia Tech team.

Louisville will be looking to climb out of the quagmire of teams all at 9-4, tied for third in the league.  This, of course, has particular relevance when it comes to ACC tourney time to get the double-bye.  Of course there are four more games past this one to help determine that, including one against Miami, another participant in the 9-4 mosh pit.

Amari Robinson, a name I feel like we've been calling for a decade, leads the Tigers.  She hails from Douglasville, GA, which, you know, has a penchant for producing some pretty good hoopsters.  Robinson averages over 13 points per game.  Ruby Whitehorn is the only other player to average in double-digits.

Will Walz continue the Konno, Kasa, Harris version of the starting lineup?  Or has Chrislyn Carr's recent high scoring efforts earned her a place back in the opening look?  Your guess is as good as mine, but if you can't be at the KFC Yum! Center for the game, it can be found on ACC Network Extra, and you should be able to make it a nice double-header with Lacrosse which should finish up right around in time for the 2:00 pm tip-off.

Do note that 2:00 pm is a changed gametime, with the original tip scheduled for 6:00 pm, but moved because...well, apparently there's a big football game, or something like that.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Even Louie is fed up with the officiating

Case, Jared, Paul, and myself had a lot on our plates as we dive headlong into the overlap between winter and spring sports.  Basketball, Softball, Lacrosse, and plenty more discussion happened.

Check it out at anchor.fm:

https://anchor.fm/cardinal-couple/episodes/Spring-Sports-Underway-e1uqeb5

and it can also be found in any quality podcast directory.

-- JMcA

Softball Splits; Lacrosse Drops Heartbreaker -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Opens with Win, Falls to UK

Louisville softball got their season off to an interesting start yesterday in Clearwater, Florida. That start included back-to-back games to open their schedule with the second coming against a ranked rival. The Cards opened with South Alabama at 11AM, with the game against Kentucky scheduled to start at 1:30PM or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. At the same time as Louisville faced South Alabama, Kentucky took on St. John's on a different field at the same complex, so the Cards don't have that as an excuse. However, their games couldn't have gone much differently.

Kentucky cruised to a 14-4 run rule over St. John's. The Red Storm took a 3-0 lead into the bottom half of the first, which UK quickly erased with a 2-out grand slam. In the meantime, Louisville struck first against USA in the third inning. On the play, Korbe Otis stood at first, having earned a one-out single before Taylor Roby fouled out. With two outs, Otis was running on contact, which came lightly off the bat of Hannah File. The ball blooped over Otis's head, and fell in front of South Alabama's second baseman, who was playing off. As Otis rounded second, the second baseman fumbled the ball, taking a play for File at first out of the question. Recovering, she prepared to throw the ball home as Otis didn't slow down. The throw was way off target, allowing Otis to score and File to reach second. Vanessa Miller went down swinging to end the inning, but the Cards held a 1-0 lead.

That lead was quickly erased by an unearned run by South Alabama in the bottom half. What goes around comes around, they say. Louisville got a strikeout to start the inning, but back-to-back singles put runners on first and second. A grounder looked like it would end the inning harmlessly, but newcomer Daisy Hess (a transfer from Georgia State) made an uncharacteristic error. The high school Gold Glover and three-year starter at shortstop for GSU stepped on the bag for the first out but airmailed the throw to first to allow the runner rounding third to score. Louisville got another grounder to end the inning, but the score was tied at one. 

Neither team was able to break through for the remaining four innings of regulation ball, with Louisville grabbing two singles and reaching on an error and South Alabama picking up two walks. The Cards took to the plate first in the eighth, with a runner standing on second, per the international tiebreaker rules. To Louisville's great benefit, the previous batter had been Korbe Otis, who advanced to third on a wild pitch quickly. Taylor Roby doubled to score Otis and was pinch run for to continue the attack. After a strikeout, a dropped flyball put runners on the corners for catcher Sarah Gordon. Gordon doubled down the left field line to score them both and give the Cards a 4-1 lead. A flyout and a strikeout ended the inning and Louisville took to the field. USA would score one in the bottom half, as it's pretty difficult not to score a runner from second with no outs. In fact, USA used two outs to score her, getting an advancing ground ball and then a sacrifice fly. With nobody on and two out, Alyssa Zabala picked up her third strikeout to finish the inning and grab her first win as a Cardinal.

As I said, Kentucky was a little more rested than Louisville, but neither team could claim much momentum. Even though Louisville had just picked up an extra inning win, Kentucky scored seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to complete their game one run-rule. The #20/17 Wildcats wasted no time getting back to business. After sitting Cards down in order in the top of the first and having their leadoff batter ground out, the Cats put three straight players on base with a single, an outless fielder's choice, and a double. A passed ball helped set up the fielder's choice and a fielding error by the catcher on the double allowed the second run to score. After a groundout advanced the runner to third, another double brought her home. Another groundout ended the inning, but Louisville was quickly in a 3-0 hole. 

Louisville finally got a runner on base to leadoff the third inning, but she was caught stealing to quickly end that threat. Defensive issues came back to bite the Cards again in the bottom half of the third. After a single and a walk had runners on first and second with two outs, a throwing error by the pitcher on what should have been the third out allowed both runners to score and pushed the Kentucky lead to five. The fourth inning saw six up, six down, and Louisville finally got their second base runner to open the fifth when Roby singled. Again, the runner was quickly erased, this time on a lineout double play. 

The bottom of the fifth unraveled for Cassie Grizzard, who hit a batter to open the frame, gave up a four pitch walk after a steal, and saw a 2-2 pitch skied to center for the walk-off home run to end the run-rule shortened game. Though they had only two strikeouts, the Cards also had just two hits. They committed three errors, leading to four of Kentucky's eight runs. The Cats are good, and Louisville will get another shot at them this season, but this is a game to forget. Fortunately, there are positives to take from game one of the day, and Louisville is allowed to have a short memory early in the year. The Cards are back in action today at 1:30PM against Southern University and later at 4 against another ranked SEC team. This time it's Mizzou. The gocards website includes a video link, but the stream can be a bit hit and miss.

If you would like to follow Softball today, TRY THIS LINK HERE

Lacrosse Drops Four-Goal Lead Against Denver

Louisville lacrosse opened their season against Denver yesterday, and the game is beginning to feel like a given on the schedule. Unlike in years past, Louisville looked very prepared early in this one. While the Cards have played Denver close before, it didn't exactly feel like they threatened to win. That was different yesterday, as Louisville opened the scoring and held a 3-0 first quarter lead. Unfortunately, their offensive firepower ran out much too early, and the Cards fell 5-4.

Nicole Perroni was the first on the board for the season, surprising no one, as she scored in less than five minutes. Negai Nakazawa, Kokoro's younger sister, scored to put the Cards up 2-0 and Perroni struck again to make it 3-0 with just eight seconds remaining in the frame. The second quarter was much less eventful, with neither team able to score again until Louisville increased their lead to four with a Lauren Figas goal with 2:25 remaining. If you had told Scott Teeter or anyone else that it would be their last goal of the day, they'd surely be shocked and dismayed. Those feelings would come to pass. It took Denver fewer than 30 seconds to answer the fourth goal, cutting the lead to 4-1 with just under two minutes until halftime. Louisville held on to the break and went to the locker room feeling good. Remember, no one had told them yet that they wouldn't score again.

The third quarter played out much like the second, with neither team making much offensive headway. Lauren Black scored a second goal for the Pioneers with 3:05 remaining in the third, but Louisville still held a two-goal lead. Unfortunately for the Cards, a two-goal lead entering the late stages of a game is among the most dangerous leads you can have psychologically. Two goals feels comfortable, but just one quick goal cuts your advantage in half and gives the opponent more motivation. Such was the case in the fourth quarter of this one, as Denver scored at the 9:49 mark and equalized just 44 seconds later. All of the sudden, Louisville went from a two-goal lead to a tied game and Denver was rolling. Such is the psychological snowball effect. In just under a minute and a half more, Denver scored the go-ahead goal, the ninth and final goal of the match. Neither team was able to attack successfully for the remaining eight minutes of the match, but only one team needed to. After scoring the first four goals of the match, Louisville gave up five straight to end their chance at a top-ten upset.

There is a lot to be encouraged about with this match. Similarly, there is plenty to be discouraged about. Denver is a top-ten team (ranked 9th), and the Cards should have beaten them. They scored early and often, but they weren't able to keep up the scoring later in the game, despite having seven shots in both halves. One of the discouraging stats is the turnovers, as Louisville had 25 in the game, ten more than Denver. Another issue was draw controls late. After winning the draw control battle 3-1 in the first quarter, the Cards lost it 6-3 over the remaining three quarters. Those draw control losses can lead directly to goals, as was the case on the quick Denver run.

Louisville has today off before they host Colorado tomorrow. The game is at Noon and will be available on ACC Network Extra. The Cards will look to bounce back from the tough loss and regain some momentum. It's a short non-conference season, as Louisville will get Lindenwood next Sunday before starting conference play against Virginia on the 25th. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We're without Daryl this morning, but after recovering from travel last week, I'm back to make it four on today's show. With spring sports getting fully underway, we'll have more than enough to talk about to fill the hour. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Anchor (podcast host): Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Spotify: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

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