WBB To Face Northwestern -- NCAA WBB Tournament Results -- Pick 'Em Update -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS WBB LOOK TO KEEP DANCING AGAINST NORTHWESTERN

The University of Louisville women's basketball squad will look to advance to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA WBB Tournament today when they face the Northwestern Wildcats. Game time is 5 p.m. ET and Louisville will be back in the AlamoDome in San Antonio. The action is on ESPN2 this afternoon, as well as on Cards Radio 790 AM WKRD.

What will Jeff Walz's squad face today in second round action? 

Northwestern comes into the game as the #7 seed in the Alamo region and advance to the next round with a 62-51 win over Central Florida. It continued a season that saw the Wildcats make the Big Ten semifinals for the first time in five years. Northwestern was 16-8 in the regular season and 11-7 in conference play.  They made the tournament despite a 85-52 shellacking by Maryland in the Big 10 semis. 

The Wildcats are a guard-oriented attack squad. Lindsey Pulliam and Veronica Burton are the main two threats. Burton, a 5'9" junior guard, was named 2021 Big  Defensive Player of the Year and she also led the Wildcats in scoring at a 16.3 clip a contest. She's also the main three-point threat for the Wildcats, hitting 37 out of the 122 she's attempted. Pulliam, a 5-10 senior guard, was selected to the All-Big Ten second team. She averages 16.0 points a contest and had 25 points against Central Florida in the first round of tournament action. That was a bounce back from  her one-point effort against Maryland in the Big Ten semifinals.  

Besides Pulliam and Burton, the Wildcats also regularly start Jordan Hamilton and Sydney Wood. They went seven-deep against the Golden Knights last time out, Paige Mott getting the start but playing just 11 minutes.  

Northwestern is not a tall team. Freshman Anna Morris is 6'3" but plays just 10 or so minutes a night and averaged 2.1 points an affair. Northwestern is not a strong rebounding team -- opponents out-grabbed them by three over the course of the season. UCF had a 39-24 advantage over them on the boards. 

The teams had no common opponents this season, Northwestern did face Indiana and fell to the Hoosiers 74-61. They did beat Iowa and Caitlin Clark twice, though...77-67 and 87-80. Michigan, who has advanced to the round of 16, played the Wildcats three times and beat them twice. 

(Winner gets to advance to Mouseville?)

If Louisville can avoid the slow start that hindered them against Marist, and establish a viable post-presence against the Wildcats, they should take this contest this afternoon.  If not, we could see the five-guard, under 6-foot contingent that rallied the Cards to the drubbing over Marist. In any event, it should be a good one and let's hope UofL is up to the challenge. 

NCAA WBB RESULTS/SCHEDULE

Eight teams advance yesterday to the Sweet Sixteen. Stanford, South Carolina, Georgia Tech, Connecticut, Iowa, Michigan, Baylor and NC State all are still dancing. The ACC lost Virginia Tech as a participant, though, the Baylor Bears showed no mercy on Kenny Brooks squad yesterday. 

In games today, besides the Cards vs. Northwestern match-up,  we'll see #13 seed Wright State face off against #5 seed Missouri State at 1 p.m. Alabama tries to slow down Maryland at 1 p.m. also.  Oregon and Georgia do battle at 3 p.m., Texas takes on UCLA in the 9 p.m. nightcap. IU goes against Belmont at the same time Louisville is playing (5 p.m.) #11 seed BYU tries to stay alive against Arizona with a 7 p.m. start and Iowa State will face the second-seeded Texas A&M Aggies at 7 p.m..

Shame that IU and UofL go at the same time, but that's how it works. It's also sad that they can't stagger these starts so games arent' on top of each other.  I was speaking with a Cardinal Couple regular reader last night and he proposed that they start action at noon with a game. Then, go with a starts every hour after that -- your final game would tip at 7 p.m. and viewers wouldn''t have to do as much channel switching. Of course, if you're like our Jared Anderson and Daryl Foust, you have multiple viewing devices in operation and track the action that way.

Maybe it's because I'm an old guy and don't stay up past 11 p.m. much anymore, but I was yawning and becoming disinterested in the two late affairs between Stanford vs. Oklahoma State and  UConn and Syracuse last night. I felt bad for the Orange and Coach Q -- they just got handled by the Huskies. 

How about families with kids? How about the young women trying to watch their heroes -- who might want to watch a UConn, Louisville or Texas A&M but have to hit the sack because of an early morning wakeup ahead? It's time the NCAA addressed this as well, get the games started no later than 8 p.m. and avoid overlaps as much as possible. 

CARDINAL COUPLE NCAA WBB PICK "EM" 

Much to my surprise, I have emerged to the top of the Pick 'Em standings. 

Surely this travesty will not stand and I fully expect to plunder back down the ladder as games are played.  Without verification from our Bracket Czar Jared, here's the standing the way I see them with our 20 participants. If I'm wrong, I'm sure he'll let me know. 

35-5    Paulie

33-7   Callie, Kenny S. 

32-8   Watson

31-9   Worldwide Jeff , Jason

30-10   Bracket Czar, Arthur

29-11   Vivian, Kstarksr, Sonya, Nole, Clemson Cuz, Bea

28-12   Blue Lou, Case

27-13   Nick O

26-14   Curtis

24-16   Joe Hill

20-20   The Cardinal Couple Chimps. 

Best of luck to all today in the eight games! 

paulie

 

WBB Defeats Marist -- FH Survives Miami -- NCAA Pick Em -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Louisville Flies Past Marist in First Round of NCAA Tournament

What started as a potential upset scare turned into a dominating Louisville victory as the Cards beat Marist 74-43. Louisville used a dominating third quarter to blow the game open and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

It was all Marist early on as they found themselves up nine in the second quarter. Louisville missed their first six shots of the game over the span of about three and a half minutes. The Red Foxes used the opportunity to go up 5-0 early. Despite the poor shooting, Louisville was able to cut the deficit to three on several occasions before the first quarter concluded with a 15-12 Marist lead.

In the first two minutes of the second quarter the Louisville woes continued. A pair of three-pointers gave Marist a nine-point advantage before Elizabeth Balogun knocked down a three to help lead Louisville on a 17-3 run to go into the half. It was Norika Konno and Mykasa Robinson energizing the Cards on defense with the duo contributing five steals and a block on top of a plethora of rebounds during the run.

The third quarter was all Louisville. The Cards won the quarter 26-9 and the light shining at the tunnel leading to the second round began to brighten. Louisville started the quarter rather slow and wouldn't score until two minutes in, but then turned on the jets. Over the next seven minutes the Cards went on an impressive 26-5 run, much of it with Dana Evans on the bench. Even without the two-time ACC Player of the Year on the floor, Jeff Walz continued to run with four guards.

Louisville went into the fourth quarter rocking a 55-33 lead and they pushed the lead even further, outscoring the Red Foxes 19-10. Evans made a deep three with a little under four minutes remaining to push the lead to 30 points. Malea Williams came in shortly after and recorded a block before knocking down a jumper to erupt the bench into celebration. Williams wasn't done as she drained a three for Louisville's final points and their largest lead of the game at 32.

Despite a rough night, Evans finished with 15 points but was bogged down by four turnovers and three fouls to go with one assist. It was Hailey Van Lith who carried the Cards on offense during times of need. The freshman put up 17 points on 7-11 shooting while adding four assists. Mykasa Robinson also recorded four assists to go with a team-high seven rebounds, two steals, and a block. Robinson even added seven points. Norika Konno provided a spark off the bench with five points, six steals, and three rebounds.

Louisville finished the game shooting 44.4% from the field and 33.3% from three-point range, but solid marks after a sluggish start. They didn't find themselves at the free throw line much but made the most of their opportunities going 8-8 at the charity stripe.

There was a pretty large margin in fouls with the Cards getting called for 23 and Marist just 10. Thankfully it didn't affect the final outcome but the disparity raises some questions on the officiating. Fans have already taken to social media about the poor officiating throughout the entire tournament and we're sure to see some examples from the Louisville game.

It's probably good that Louisville was playing a lower-tiered team that isn't a Stanford or UConn or NC State. Many of those teams could have easily been up 20 on Louisville in the first quarter. Maybe it was just a little bit of rust and nerves. Don't forget that only two active players on the roster dressed for Louisville in the tournament back in 2019. Either way, let's hope the Cards come out better in the second round.

Louisville advances to face #7 seed Northwestern on Wednesday at 5 p.m. in the Alamodome. The rest of the region is as follows: 1-seed Stanford vs 8-seed Oklahoma State, 5-seed Missouri State vs 13-seed Wright State, and 3-seed Georgia vs 6-seed Oregon.

F-R-E-D Report

Still dancin'...surviving and advancin'

Free Throws- As previously mentioned, the Cards were perfect from the free throw line. Their opponents went 12-20 from the line, far exceeding the attempts Louisville had. But we're looking at how Louisville did and there's no doubt for a capital "F".

Rebounding- Louisville finished with 39 rebounds and only eight of those were on the offensive glass. They gave up 14 offensive rebounds to Marist, who finished with 41 total rebounds. No letter here.

Effort/Execution - A solid shooting performance when you look at the final outcome as well as 16 assists on 28 made shots is always a plus. The Cards also had 11 steals and forced 22 total turnovers. You could give a letter based on the efforts of Konno and Robinson, but overall the Cards earned their capital "E".

Defense- Defense was never really an issue last night. Despite the first quarter the Cards held Marist to nine points, nine points, and 10 points, respectively. Marist shot 23.2% from the floor. Louisville also added eight blocks on the game. It wasn't the defense that had us nervous early on. This is definitely a capital "D".

Final Fred Tally -- F-_-E-D will usually get you a victory, as it did last night. Let's hope to improve on this score Wednesday.

Field Hockey Wins in Shootout

The Cardiac Cards lived up to their name yesterday afternoon on a trip up to Miami (OH). The #2 Cards and #20 Redhawks were having so much fun they decided to play two overtime periods and even proceed into a shootout. Louisville would win the game officially 2-1.

Field hockey is a little different so we'll break down the score real quick. The Cards scored a goal in regulation. Miami also scored a goal later during regulation. The teams entered a sudden death "golden goal" overtime period. Since no one scored they went into a second one. The scored remained tied at 1-1 so the two teams went into a shootout period.

Typically, a shootout is a best-of-five with each team getting five shots at the goal. If a team is far enough ahead where it is mathematically impossible for the opposing team to tie then it can be ended early, which is what we saw yesterday. Charlie van Oirschot's shot went in to give the Cards a 4-2 advantage, winning the shootout. The shootout is what became the final mark in the 2-1 score.

Louisville's goal came in the second corner on a penalty corner. The set piece is often a high-percentage scoring play and the Cards capitalized. Alli Bitting fed the ball in from the baseline to Megan Schneider, halting the ball in its track, and setting up Emilia Kaczmarczyk for her third goal of the season.

The Redhawks found an answer 59 seconds into the fourth quarter. Lexi Nugent scored the equalizer for her third goal of the season.

The Cards had a pair of shots in the first overtime but could not find the inside of the cage. Miami had a chance for the win in the second overtime but Sam Minrath came up with a big save.

Miami was first up in the shootout but Minrath was able to divert the shot. Megan Schneider was first up for the Cards and her shot went in for the 1-0 lead. Miami's second attempt went in to even the score. Mackenzie Karl took the second spot for Louisville and sent her shot into the cage to retake the lead. Sam Minrath recorded a save on Miami's third attempt. Katie Schneider was next and gave the Cards a 3-1 advantage in the shootout. The Redhawks got one back in the fourth attempt. Charlie van Oirschot came up to give the Cards four straight made shots in the shootout for the win.

Louisville improves to 11-3 on the season. They stay on the road to visit Boston College on Saturday.

Cardinal Couple NCAA WBB Pick Em

After a busy weekend of photography (six games in three and a half days plus other photo duties) I finally caught up on the rest of the brackets yesterday. Thank you to Paulie for helping me the first day.

We have no more perfect brackets. Some of the games yesterday that made an impact on our 20 brackets were Wright State beating Arkansas, Alabama beating North Carolina, BYU beating Rutgers, and Belmont beating Gonzaga.

The race is still pretty tight with 32 games down and 31 games to go. Here's a breakdown of all the brackets:

29-3: Callie Blue

28-4: Paulie

27-5: Kenny Schneider

26-6: David Watson, Jason Wyrick

25-7: Sonya, Jared, Worldwide Jeff

23-9: Arthur, Nole Knowledge, Blue Lou, Bea, Kenneth Stark Sr, Vivian McAdams

22-10: Curtis Franklin, Clemson Cuz, Case

21-11: Nick O

20-12: Joe Hill

18-14: Cardinal Couple Chimps

-- One bracket has lost their champion. One bracket has lost one of their finalists. Two brackets have lost a Final Four team.

-- Four brackets have lost one Elite Eight team while one bracket has already lost four Elite Eight teams (those poor Cardinal Couple Chimps).

-- Almost all participants have lost one or more Sweet Sixteen team. Only Jason Wyrick and Worldwide have all 16 of their Sweet Sixteen teams still alive.

We have 16 games over the next two days so plenty more basketball to come!

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Softball, Lacrosse, WBB and NCAA WBB Tourney -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

SOFTBALL SWEPT BY CLEMSON 

Another tough day on the diamond for Louisville Softball on Sunday, falling to the Clemson Tigers 4-2 at Ulmer Stadium. The Cards had a chance to tie it up in the bottom of the seventh with a runner on and tying batter at the plate, but Clemson pitcher Valerie Cagle shut the door on the UofL rally. 

Cagle definitely helped her cause yesterday, going to 12-1  on the season. She had all four RBI's for the Tigers and socked two home runs against Louisville pitching.  Clemson took and early 2-1 lead in the first inning, Cagle getting a two RBI single off Taylor Roby and her home runs in the third and sixth inning accounted for the other two Clemson scores. 

Louisville drops to 9-11 overall and 3--6 in ACC play. Clemson, who swept all four games in the series, improved to 20-2 overall and 12-2 in conference play. The Tigers are #23 ranked. 

For the Cards, their two runs came from Celene Funke in the first inning and Carmyn Greenwood in the sixth. 

Louisville hosts #16 Virginia next, that series starting on Friday, March 26th.

Cards head Softball skipper Holly Aprile had this to say about the game and the series vs. the Tigers: 

LINK:  POST GAME HOLLY APRILE 3/21/21 

(Thanks to Jared for the Softball photos) 

NOTRE DAME DOWNS LOUISVILLE LACROSSE. 

The Floyd Street action started at noon Sunday, when Louisville Lacrosse squared off against #4 Notre Dame at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium. 

The Irish jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on the Cards in the first 12 minutes, before Caroline Blalock could get UofL on the score board and the match stood at 4-1 with 12:25 left in the first half. The Cards got hot, though, and goals from Bella Karstien, Allegra Catalano and Hannah Morris tied it up at 4-4 with 7:05 left in the first half. Notre Dame found a rally, though, against the Cards defense and put the final three goals of the half on the board to take a 7-4 lead to the halftime tent.  

Another slow start to begin a half hurt the Cards, as the ND squad connected for the first two goals of the second half.  Once again, the Cards built a rally and cut the lead to 9-6 after Paige Richbourg and Ally Hall found the net. The Irish responded with two goal, and Louisville returned the favor -- Ally Hall and Kokoro Nakazawa connecting to draw the Cards within three at 11-8 . 

Notre Dame showed why they are a top five squad, though, pushing their advantage back out to 13-10 and they ended the scoring with the final two goals for the 15-10 win. 

Ally Hall led Louisville with three goals, all in the second half, as the Cards go to 4-4 on the season and 0-3 in ACC play. Louisville heads to Boston for two matches against the Eagles next, 

Lou LAX head coach Scott Teeter spoke with me after the contest: 

LINK:  SCOTT TEETER POST GAME NOTRE DAME 3/21/21

(Thanks to Jared for the LAX photos) 

CARDS WBB GETS IT STARTED TONIGHT ! 

Louisville women's basketball begins their 2021 NCAA Tournament this Monday evening with an 8:00 p.m. contest against the Marist Red Hawks. 

The two squads will face off in San Antonio's Alamodome, Louisville the #2 seed and Marist the #15 seed. The contest will be aired on ESPN. 

The Red Hawks went  18-3 during the regular season and 13-3 in the MAAC, winning the regular season and conference tournament. They average 63.6 ppg and allow just 50 a contest. Marist post Willow Duffell leads Brian Giorgis' squad with 12.3 ppg and 9.2 grabs a night. 

 

The Cards are 11-0 in firt round games played under Jeff Walz and have four players on the roster who have previously played in the NCAA WBB Tournament. Dana Evans and Mykasa Robinson suited up for Louisville during the Cards run two years ago. Kianna Smith played in the 2018 and 2019 tournaments when she was at California and Ahlana Smith was a member of the 2019 UCLA tournament team. 

Jeff Walz, Kianna and Hailey Van Lith held a tele-conference Sunday morning to discuss the season and upcoming tournament. I have the audio of that below. Be advised, it runs over a half-hour, so grab a coffee and get comfortable. 

LINK: WALZ, VAN LITH AND K. SMITH TELECONFERENCE 3/21/21

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

In the first round of tournament play Sunday, 16 games were contested. The winners were Stanford, Oklahoma St., South Carolina , Oregon State, Georgia Tech, West Virginia, Connecticut, Syracuse, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Baylor, NC State and South Florida. 

It was a "favorites" first day...the better seeds won each of the 16 contests. 

CARDINAL COUPLE NCAA PICK 'EM CONTEST

We ended up with 20 contestants in our CARDINAL COUPLE NCAA WBB TOURNAMENT PICK 'EM, and Bracket Czar Jared and I have verified your first round results and standings. 

One person remains undefeated in the 16 games contested Sunday -- that being first-time entrant Callie Blue  She's being closely chased by Kenny S., and Jared at 15-1. The rest of the numbers: 

14-2:  Jeff McAdams, Jason, David Watson, Paulie, Clemson Cuz

13-3: Sonya, Bea and The Cardinal Couple Chimps

12-4:  Vivian, KStarksr, Blue Lou, Case, Arthur

11-5:  Nick O, Curtis, Nole Knowledge and Joe Hill 

Squads that hurt brackets?   Wake Forest losing to Okla.State gave more than a few a bracket loss. FSU stumbling against Oregon State also tripped up a few bracket entries. Everyone did pretty well in the River Walk Region, though, Middle Tenn. State did have a bit of support but the Tennessee Vols eliminated them. 

Any disputes?  Contact Jared by leaving him a message in our comments section today or e-mailing him at eupherjared@gmail.com  Leave us a thought or comment in our comments section on the first day and today, AND...let's hope the Cards embarrass Marist. 

16 more games today! Best of luck to all !!

paulie

Sunday Cardinal Couple - Soccer, Softball, and Volleyball

 Soccer

Let's kick it off with soccer, shall we?

The spring portion of this soccer season is only five games, mostly against non-conference opponents.  Yesterday's foe was Auburn, and it was a close fought game.  The Tigers would eventually get the win on a penalty kick in the 2nd overtime period.

In the low scoring affair, the offensive attempts that the Cards generated were well spread in the team.  One shot apiece came from Ravin Alexander, Taylor Kerwin, Jessica Camken, Morgan Bentley, Delaney Snyder, Emma Hiscock.  Alexander and Snyder were on frame, but Auburn Goalkeeper Maddie Porhaska was able to corral both.

Meanwhile, on the defensive end, Gabbie Kouzelos had to handle a bigger burden.  Auburn put seven shots on frame out of their 13, with Kouzelos collecting six of them before the final PK made it past.

The Kickin' Cards will be back in action next week a couple of hours south playing Western Kentucky in Bowling Green in the mid-point of the relatively short spring portion of this season.

Softball

Softball also played the Tigers, of the Clemson variety, as they continued their homestand in Ulmer Stadium.

The 23rd or 25th ranked, depending on who you ask, Tigers took home the win in both games of the doubleheader yesterday, 2-1 in the 1st, and 6-1 in the 2nd.

Clemson set the tone early when their lead-off hitter, on the 3rd pitch of the game, almost hit the ACC Network Extra camera in center field.

The Cards would answer in the bottom of the 4th in the form of Rebecca Chung with one out.  One pitch, and the ball would be visiting the other side of the center field camera.

Clemson would finish it off when they got the bases loaded in the 7th, a sacrifice bunt got a run home and it would prove to be just enough as the Cards couldn't answer in the bottom half of the frame.

Taylor Roby was in the circle for the Cards for all of this one.

In the 2nd game of the day, Clemson got all of their scoring done in the first half of the game.  While the Cards got their run late, but it wasn't enough.

Clemson used five hits in the 2nd inning to get three runs scored, and then would tack on another run in the 3rd inning.  The 4th inning saw a pair of solo home runs to reach their tally of six runs for the game.

The Cards wouldn't give up and were able to shut down the Clemson offense for the rest of the game, but just weren't able to generate enough offense of their own to answer.

What they did get can perhaps partly be credited to Louisville softball alumnae Chelsea Bemis, Alicja Wolny, and Jordan "the Guv" McNary.  Shown out on the berm dancing and cheering as the telecast returned from he inning break.  The result was the first career home run from freshman Vanessa Miller.  Miller was the lead off hitter, and the count to full before dropping the ball on the berm pretty close to where the former Cards were bringing the hype.

The finale of the series is today at 2pm, of course still on Don Dobina field at Ulmer Stadium.  Of course, you will be able to see this one on ACC Network Extra with our latest writing addition here at Cardinal Couple in the studio facility pushing the buttons to help bring the great video coverage to you.

Volleyball

There was ACC Network Extra coverage of volleyball's matchup with Florida State, playing in Charlottesville, but I'm gonna be honest with you and say it wasn't great.  A single mediocre camera from behind the Cardinals side of the court, with no commentary, no score graphics or any graphics at all really, and a flakey live stats system left everyone not in attendance squinting to see what was going on, and not always being able to tell.  The UofL volleyball twitter account was left to tweeting score updates sent to them from Alexis Hamilton's mother Tina in the stands and a cell phone picture of a stat sheet texted from the locker room.

While the Virginia volleyball program was suddenly flipped on it's head this week with the sudden suspension and then removal of the whole coaching staff and cancellation of the rest of it's season, it didn't make the limited coverage any easier to consume.

To the game, though.  The Cards won this one 19-25, 25-16, 25-21, 25-16.

In the opening set, the Cards looked a little bit like the Keystone Cops, with nothing going right, and making seemingly more errors than usual.  They settled after the 1st set, however, and then got right to work winning this one over a good Florida State team.

The Cards mostly silenced Taryn Knuth, making Emma Clothier, and Morgan Chacon do most of the damage for the Seminoles.  The A-team got a lot done on defense, with Alexis Hamilton and Aydan Bartlett getting 15 and 18 digs respectively.  The middle blocker brigade also had a very nice day with Anna Stevenson tallying a pair of solo blocks and sharing credit on seven, and Amaya Tillman getting a trio of solos and sharing four.

Some position battles do continue for the Cards with Claire Chaussee only seeing action in two of the four sets and Anna DeBeer clocking time in all four.  It probably was a good call as DeBeer did lead the team, along with Aiko Jones with 14 kills.  Anna Stevenson was close behind with 13, for a gaudy - even for a middle - .632 hitting percentage.

UofL will officially get a win today as they were scheduled to play UVA, but with that cancellation not being related to Covid, it will be recorded as a "not contested" which is essentially a forfeit.

We wish nothing but the best to the fine players at UVA, and look forward to their return next season under the guidance of a new coaching staff.

UofL returns home for matchups against Georgia Tech and North Carolina State next weekend...hopefully.  The Cards haven't yet had a weekend of play in this spring part of the season go off as planned without cancellations, so our fingers are crossed we get a nice, normal, healthy and drama free weekend upcoming.

On Tap Today

Lacrosse hosts Notre Dame starting at noon at LLS.

Softball finishes their four game series with Clemson with a 1pm start at Ulmer.

All of the above should be available on ACC Network Extra as usual.

Cardinal Couple Pick'em

Time is running out to get your entries in to the Cardinal Couple Pick'em.  I'll be spending my normal 10 minutes of examining the bracket to get mine entered here in a few.

Can anyone take down David Watson?  I'll be giving it a shot.  Post your picks in the comments and our bracket czar, Jared, will get them recorded for Excel and posterity.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Speaking of Jared, he did check in briefly on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast from Ulmer stadium as he was getting ready to capture some of the great pictures you see here on the site.  Daryl had to be at the ACC Network Studio to get her finger button-pushing warmups in before the start of the telecast for Softball, so Paulie, Case, and myself held it down on Youtube.

Good discussions of basketball, including the NCAA's shameful disrespect of the women in San Antonio, volleyball, field hockey, soccer, lacrosse...just about all the sports as nearly everyone is in action this spring.

You can also check it out the recording in any place you normally get your podcasts.

Softball Falls in 11 Innings; Tennis Slump Continues -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Stumbles Across Finish Line in Marathon Game Against Clemson

Eleven innings is a lot of innings for a baseball game. It is even more innings for a softball game. That's how long Louisville and Clemson went before the Tigers finally pulled ahead in the top half and Louisville was unable to match. Ten innings of scoreless softball, punctuated by great pitching and sometimes not so great baserunning had many fans just hoping for the Cards to somehow scrape across the plate to end it after three hours. It was Clemson that ultimately drew first blood and took home a 4-0 win in the series opener.

Louisville had the opportunities in this one. Prior to Clemson's offensive explosion in the top of the 11th, Louisville led with seven hits compared to just two for Clemson. The Cards also benefitted from a pair of errors while only committing one themselves. Getting players all the way around to score was Louisville's issue, as they ultimately left 11 runners on base and struck out 14 times. If you're wondering whether or not that kind of offensive output was something Coach Holly Aprile would accept, I'd point out that there was no postgame interview for this one due to the intense conversations Coach was having with her players following the final out.

The Tigers came in at 16-2 and ranked in the top-25, so there could be not doubt that this would be a tough matchup. However, Louisville let their chances slip from the very beginning, a habit that will not lead to success against top teams and, if it continues, will prevent Louisville from becoming a top team themselves. The first inning saw the Cards sit the Tigers down in order with a groundout followed by two strikeouts. When Louisville stepped to the plate, Carmyn Greenwood led off with a walk and immediately stole second. Jordan Wolfe grounded out without advancing the runner, but Taylor Roby was walked on four straight pitches. With runners on first and second, the Cards struck out looking back-to-back to end the inning.

From the second inning to the top of the seventh, both teams combined for five baserunners. Neither team had more than runner on base at any given time and no runners advanced past second. It was a true pitchers duel, as strikeouts and groundouts abounded. The bottom of the seventh saw Louisville's next chance. From this point on, any Louisville score would win them the game. The seventh saw Cassady Greenwood reach on an error but she was out on a fielder's choice grounder by Elana Ornelas. Ornelas was able to advance to second on a passed ball, but she was stranded to end the inning. Onto extras they went.

The Tigers found new life and motivation in extra innings. Their best chance of the game to that point came in the top of the eighth, when they put runners on first and second with nobody out. Fortunately, Louisville was able to work out of the jam, following a foul out with two swinging strikeouts to end the threat. The bottom of the eighth saw Louisville get three runners on base, their most in any inning, but one of those runners reached on a fielders choice. A strikeout ended their threat with runners on first and second. 

The ninth saw a runner reach third for the first time all night. Clemson's Ansley Gilstrap led off with a nine-pitch walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. The next batter struck out looking, but Gilstrap stole third to find herself 60 feet from home with two outs. Louisville got out of it with an infield pop-up. In the home half, another great opportunity slipped away from the Cards. Makayla Hurst led off with a single to the outfield but was tagged out at second trying to stretch it into a double. Tough baserunning choice for the lead-off batter in a walk-off inning situation. Cassady Greenwood followed that by reaching on a throwing error and Ornelas made it two-on with one out by singling up the middle. The runner on first to open the inning might have been pretty important to Louisville at this point. Unfortunately, Celene Funke popped out and Maddy Newman flew out to end the inning.

The tenth was the least eventful of the extras, as both teams went three-up, three-down. Clemson's were a lot more threatening, as all three players flew out. Louisville had a pair of groundouts and a strikeout. The momentum had pretty much fully swung at this point. The eleventh inning spelled doom for Louisville. Clemson led off with a single and followed it with an RBI triple. 1-0 might have been enough to end the game right then given Louisville's offensive issues last night. However, the Tigers weren't done. A strikeout was followed by a single to score the runner from third and extend the lead to 2-0. A 2-run homer stretched that lead to 4-0, and Clemson kept looking to pile on as a walk was followed by a single to give them two on and just one out. Thankfully, a popout and a groundout ended the nightmare inning. 

Louisville's bottom half effort just couldn't match the big inning by Clemson. A lead-off single was followed by a strikeout and a walk. With runners on first and second and just one out, Louisville was in a position to try to claw back some runs, but they were destined not to score last night. Another strikeout was followed by a lineout to end the game. Cue the aforementioned Aprile anger and the look ahead to today's second game. The Cards will get another chance to get a big win and stay above .500 on the season as they take the field at noon today. It'll be available on ACCNX or, if you're up for it, it should be in the 50s and sunny by first pitch.

Tennis Can't Correct Slide

It's been a tough go of it for the Louisville women's tennis team recently. After a decent start in non-conference and back-to-back wins in the conference schedule, Louisville looked like they might be in a position to make some noise for the first time in conference play. Unfortunately, the Cards are 1-6 since those two conference opening wins, as they dropped their fourth straight yesterday against FSU. Raven Neely scored the sole point for Louisville as the Cards fell 1-4. They were swept in the doubles matches and trailed in one of the two unfinished singles matchups. After the hot start, Louisville is clinging on to try to salvage the season as they now sit at 6-8 overall and 3-6 in conference. The Cards will have one more road match at Miami tomorrow before they return home for a pair of non-conference matches against Xavier and UT Martin where they will try to rebuild their confidence before the final conference stretch.

Women's Swimming at NCAAs

The fourth and final day of the NCAA meet is today. Louisville's team currently sits in 13th overall. A pair of ACC teams in Virginia and NC State lead the meet, followed by Texas in third. Kentucky and UNC are tied ahead of the Cards in 10th. Louisville doesn't have any superstar names as we have grown accustomed to over the last few years, but the newcomers are showing a lot of improvement. The Cards scored two podiums in consolation finals on Thursday, but those are the only major items they've had to show to this point. Still, that 13th position is out of 34 teams to have scored so far, so they are keeping pace with some of the other teams despite a lack of showy finishes. The prelims for today begin at 10AM and finals begin at 6PM. Both will be available via watchESPN. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We're back this week, but we'll be without Daryl as she preps for the noon first pitch at Ulmer. We've got plenty to discuss, as it has been a busy week for the Cards and the NCAA tournament is set to start (be sure to get those pick 'em brackets in!). Tune in to the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour live at 11AM via the Cardinal Couple YouTube page or check out the replay either on YouTube or as a podcast. We'll bring you the joy and excitement of UofL women's athletics as we do every week (and there might even be some spicy NCAA trash talk, given the week that was in San Antonio). 

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

WBB Accolades - SB hosts #23/25 Clemson - Lacrosse loses to #1 UNC 19-7; FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL

Good morning Louisville fans! 

A few things to look forward to this upcoming weekend and a recap of Thursday night's lacrosse match with North Carolina on ACC Network prime time.  It should be a nice weekend ahead for some outdoor events! Take your TVs outside if you're tuning in for the tournaments.  I'm doing my best to avoid them unless it's the in the Cards interest.  The gang is pressuring me to fill out a bracket... still not convinced. 

Let's get right to it... 

Evans Named Finalist for Naismith Women’s Trophy

The Atlanta Tipoff Club announced today that University of Louisville senior guard Dana Evans is one of four finalists for the 2021 Jersey Mike's Naismith Women's Trophy, symbolic of the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball.

She is joined on the list by Kentucky junior Rhyne Howard, a 2020 finalist, UConn freshman Paige Bueckers and South Carolina sophomore Aliyah Boston.

Dana Evans, Louisville

-- The senior forward leads the ACC in scoring at 20.0 points per game.
Evans has scored 20 or more points in 17 games.
-- She has scored in double figures in 25 of 26 games played this season, including 40 straight games, the longest streak at Louisville in 20 years.
-- Named ACC Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, Evans became only the ninth player in league history to accomplish the feat.
-- She made 92% of her free throw attempts, leading the ACC and ranking fifth nationally.
-- Only player in UofL program history to win four regular season conference championships.

Aliyah Boston, South Carolina

-- Boston led the Gamecocks in rebounds (11.7) and blocks (2.8) this season and averaged 13.7 points per game.
-- The sophomore forward led the team in double-doubles (15).
-- Boston made the 2021 All-SEC First Team for the second straight season and was named to the SEC All-Defensive team for her dominant defensive performance throughout the 2021 season
-- She earned SEC Tournament MVP honors for her 27-point, 10-rebound performance.
-- In addition to her finalist ranking, she is a semifinalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award.

Paige Bueckers, UConn

-- Bueckers became the second BIG EAST player to win both the Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year awards (Maya Moore, 2008).
-- She had the highest single game scoring total by a UConn freshman since 2007 with 32 points.
-- The freshman forward was the first player in program history to have three straight 30-point games.
-- Her 14 assists against Butler rank as the single-game high in the history of the program.
-- Bueckers led UConn to both regular season and tournament championships in the BIG EAST.

Rhyne Howard, Kentucky

-- Howard averaged 20.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game this season.
-- The junior guard became the Wildcats all-time leader in three categories: points (455), rebounds (160) and assists (78).
-- She led the SEC in assists (54) and blocks (14).
-- Named 2021 SEC Player of the Year for the second year in a row, Howard became one of two players in program history to earn multiple player of the year honors.
-- She was also named to the 2021 All-SEC First Team for the third straight season and the SEC All-Tournament team for the second year in a row.

Norman Named WBCA Division I Assistant Coach of the Year

(from gocards.com ) 

The Assistant Coach of the Year award originated in 2016 and is presented annually.

ATLANTA — The Women's Basketball Coaches Association announced today that University of Louisville women's basketball associate head coach Stephanie Norman has been named the 2021 Division I Assistant Coach of the Year.

The WBCA Assistant Coach of the Year award is presented to one associate head coach or assistant coach in each membership division who demonstrates commitment to their program, their student-athletes and their head coach; their impact coaching on court; their mentorship and impact on other coaches; and their professional manner and attitude.

Norman, in her 14th year at Louisville and her ninth as associate head coach, has served on the Cardinals' staff since the hiring of head coach Jeff Walz. She has helped the Cardinals to a 382-107 overall record since the 2007 season. In that time she has aided Louisville to nine Sweet 16 appearances, five Elite Eight appearances, and three Final Four appearances, including a pair of national championship contests. Norman has been instrumental in the Cardinals' recruiting efforts, helping sign the No. 1 class of 2015 that featured three McDonald's All-Americans; helped pen the No. 6 freshman class in 2016, the No. 4 class in 2017 and the No. 5 class in 2020.

"I would like to thank Danielle Donehew, the WBCA and my colleagues and peers for this amazing award," said Norman. "I would like to thank all of the coaches that I have worked with, including head coach Jeff Walz, who I have worked with the past 14 seasons, as these coaches have been extremely instrumental in my growth, my success and my enjoyment of the game. I would also like to thank the players, it's because of them that we've been lucky enough to have success. Finally, I'd like to thank my family, my parents who always encouraged me to chase my dreams, my husband Geoff and my children Parker and Cassidy."

Softball Opens series with Tigers this weekend

The Cards will play their eighth straight home game in the first ever series opener with Clemson on

Friday at 7 p.m.

• Louisville (9-7, 3-2 ACC) brings a three-game win streak into the weekend.
• UofL is 3-2 in ACC play and stands sixth in the conference.
• The Cardinals are 6-1 at Ulmer Stadium in 2021.

Taylor Roby leads the team with a .419 batting average, five home runs and has driven in 20. She stands tied for second in the ACC in RBI. Roby has also produced a team-best six multi-hit games and multi-RBI games. Roby is on an eight-game hitting streak and has reached safely via a hit or walk in the last nine games.

• The Tigers are 16-2 overall and stand second in the ACC with an 8-2 conference mark.
• Clemson is currently on a 13-game win streak, most recently sweeping Furman in a three-game series last weekend.   

Marissa Guimbarda leads the Tigers with a .447 batting average, an ACC-best 21 RBIs and six home runs on the season. Valerie Cagle (10-1) has shouldered much of the pitching load, logging 65.2 innings and 14 appearances. The freshman has registered 63 strikeouts and is holding opponents to a .214 batting average. She has also helped her own cause at the plate, standing second on the team with four home runs and 13 RBIs.

LACROSSE loses under the lights 19-7 to #1 UNC Tarheels

UNC's Jamie Ortega had her way with 7 goals for the Heels on the night earning a hat trick less than 10 minutes into the first half. Louisville was lead offensively by Alex McNichols and Ally Hall was two each. UNC was fast.. scoring with about a minute off the clock to start.. Louisville matched before allowing the Tarheels to go on a 7-0 run taking a 10-4 into the halftime break. 

The Louisville defense gave up another UNC run allowing 6 straight goals in the second half. The Cards move to 4-3 on the season. Were there some positives to be taken away from this one?? I think Paulie and the guys could come up with something for Saturday's podcast and Coach Teeter outlined a few in his post-game comments.

Jared was out at Cardinal Stadium for the event, braving the cold wind for some quality shots down on the field that I'm sure will be shared once his fingers have thawed out enough to edit. Perhaps no editing will be required since the reason for at hosting Cardinal Stadium was for lighting purposes. :) Perhaps he's just that good by now anyways! I always enjoy his action shots!

Paulie spoke with Louisville LAX head coach after the match. You can hear that interview at the link below: 

LINK:  SCOTT TEETER POST GAME UNC 3/18/21

CARDINAL COUPLE NCAA PICK "EM" 

So, how are your bracket picks going?  We have this in from our Bracket Czar Jared: 

We have a total of nine bracket picks in so far. Entries from David Watson, Kenny Schneider, Paulie, Sonya, Blue Lou, Joe Hill, Nole Knowledge, Arthur and NickO. 

A reminder that we are offering your choice of a $25 Gift Card to either Subway or Raisin' Canes to the winner and second place gets the card that the winner didn't choose. 

Here's three games that are a real debacle;  

1) North Carolina vs. Alabama. So far, we have six participants selecting #10 seed UNC over #7 seed Alabama out of our nine entries. A strong ACC favoritism here. 

2) Michigan vs. Florida Gulf Coast. #11 seed FGCU is getting a lot of lot from our participants so far and has a 6-3 advantage in picks over #6 seed Michigan. No love for Ann Arbor? 

3) Wake Forest vs. Oklahoma State. #8 vs #9 matchups are normally a tough choice but our participants so far are in love with Jen Hoover's Demon Deacons, the #9 seed over the O.S.U squad with a 5-4 margin. Jeff Walz stated last week he fully expected Wake to get in and possibly win a few games. Can they shoot down the Cowboys? 

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

I won't be on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast Saturday, as I will be out covering Ulmer action for the new series with Clemson softball this weekend.  My 'Final thoughts' would be that I am very much looking forward to the CARDS WBB first round matchup with Marist on Monday night. Let's do this thing CARDS!! 


Have a great weekend!
~Daryl