CARDS WBB STATS -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 WBB STATS AFTER 17 GAMES

Figured it might be time to take a look at a few UofL WBB stats...as the Cards are now atop of the ACC standings ...let's see what helped get them there.

First off...14-3 is impressive. The only losses...to UConn, UK and South Carolina...came to teams that are #1 (UConn), ,  #3 (South Carolina)  and #6 (UK) in the nation Those three teams have only two losses in their 47 games...so no major upsets ,or  unexpected losses there.  Of course, it's always disappointing to lose to your in-state rival....but .the Cards are outscoring their opponents 83.1 to 58.0 this season. 

 The Cards have only hit the 100 pt. mark once (against Bellarmine), 90's points five times, in the 80's four times, 70's four times ,and 60's three times

Overall the points scored is solidly in favor of the Cards...1412 to 992. 

On an individual basis, the Cards three leading scorers are Tajianna Roberts (13.2), Laura Ziegler (11.7) and  Imani Berry (10.1). Leading three-point shooters are Roberts (32), Ziegler (27) and Berry (21). Skylar Jones has 33 free throws made, Ziegler 32 and Berry 30. 

In minutes played...Roberts has 482, Ziegler 460 and Elif Istnbulluoglu 413.

Roberts. Ziegler, Istanbulluoglu and Mac Randolph have started in all 17 games.

Home states or countries?  There are three players from Kentucky on the roster, two from California and one each from New York, Tennessee, Texas, Michigan, Illinois....for the US contingent. Other countries are one each from Turkey, Ukraine, Australia ,and Denmark. .

By class... There are three seniors, two juniors, six sophomores, one redshirt freshman and two freshmen

(Photos from UofL and Jared Anderson) pulled rom internet...

 paulie

Cards Back in Top 10 -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville WBB on the Rise

After head coach Jeff Walz's 499th and 500th wins over the past week, Louisville has seen themselves move back into the top ten of the AP poll. The Cards moved up from 13th to 10th, taking advantage of their opportunities as other teams fell. LSU lost a pair of games to drop from 5th to 12th, and Iowa State and TCU each lost one game to drop them behind the Cards. Louisville is the highest ranked three-loss team in the poll, with Baylor (13-3) checking in at 16th after their win over then-#10 ISU. 

The USA Today Coaches Poll releases on Tuesdays, so we'll see how many spots the Cards gain there, but the NET ranking shows that the games played matter as much as the results. Louisville remains 12th in the NET, as home games against middling opponents added a Q2 and Q3 win each. Those don't get you a ton of credit, but they're better than losses, to be sure. LSU, after two Q1 losses, remains fifth in the NET. 

Louisville's four ACC wins keep them at the top of the pile in the league, but they still haven't distanced themselves in this early season. Virginia, NC State, and Duke also sit at 4-0. All three of those teams have won six straight games, one behind Louisville's current streak of seven. Notre Dame dropped back-to-back ACC games with an overtime loss to Georgia Tech in Atlanta and an 82-68 loss in Durham. The Irish have given up more than 60 points just five times and have lost four of those games (won 78-65 at James Madison). They've also failed to score 70 just four times and lost three of them (won 61-59 against USC). 

Louisville will put their rankings to the test in the coming weeks, starting with a road trip to Coral Gables to take on the Miami Hurricanes. Miami is 10-5 this season and 2-2 in the ACC. They find themselves ranked 45th in the NET, which isn't much to write home about, but four of their losses came in their four Q1 opportunities. They'll be looking to snag a big win when the Cards come to town on Thursday. After that, Louisville returns home for a classic trap game against Pittsburgh. The Panthers are 8-9 (1-3) this season and they are ranked 243rd in the NET. The following game week is huge for the Cards as they travel to Notre Dame and NC State on the 15th and 18th, making it a prime opportunity for Louisville to lose a bit of focus after their road game against Miami. 

Just like I said last week, there is a ton of basketball left to play. Teams left and right are showing how easy it is to slip up or underestimate an opponent. Louisville has had a few games this season where they have "gotten away with it," and we'll hope that the signs of consistency we've seen more recently are here to stay. This year's team has shown they can match up well with really good opponents, so we'll see what the rest of the season brings. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

WBB pours it on VA Tech 85-60 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Good Monday morning readers, 

I am trying to remain positive as the Sunday scaries set in and I report back to work.  Attempting to get my last bits of zen in before the crazy creeps back in.   Wish me all the luck.  

And good luck to students as they begin the spring semester! 

Basketball is the thing that gets us through the dreadful winter months and the Cardinals were in action at the Yum! Center Sunday evening for an ACC battle with the Virginia Tech Hokies.    Cardinal Couple was not on the sidelines for this one.   

WBB

Louisville 85  -  Virginia Tech 60 

Louisville WBB moves to 14-3 on the season and is currently on a 7 game win streak.  

Laura Ziegler had 18 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists and Imari Berry had 13, 2 and 2 of her own on a night the Cardinals shot 58% from three point land.   The two went 100% in the first quarter with 9 of the teams 19 from beyond the arc.   On top of that, the UofL defense held the Hokies scoreless (0-16) from outside in the game.  

The Cards established ultimate control on VATech in the second quarter when they went 25-15.  UofL went on a 7-1 run in the final minute of the half.  It was 44-27 at the halftime break in UofL's favor.  

To open the third quarter,  Louisville's defense held the Hokies scoreless for more than 3 minutes when they had a block and 2 steals.  

UP NEXT 

Louisville at Miami

Thursday Jan 8th

at 3PM (for some reason)

The FRED Report

FREE THROWS -- Louisville went 6-7 at the line.  On a night they scored 85 total points, only 6 were at the line and went 85.7% when they got there.  It was a solid night on this front.  CAPITAL F

REBOUNDING -- UofL pulled down 41 rebounds for a seven-grab advantage.  Ziegler and Anaya Hardy had 9 and 8 respectively. Of the starters, Elif Istanbulluoglu had the least amount of rebounds with 3.  She's averaging 5.2 per game.   I would like to see this trend upward over the next few weeks. CAPITAl R 

EFFORT/EXECUTION -- The Cards gave it all from start to finish making them undefeated in 2026. The depth of this squad is becoming apparent.  Grace Mbugua got 5 points and 2 rebounds in 7 minutes of play in the 4th quarter.  CAPITAL E

DEFENSE -- UofL held the Hokies scoreless from 3 point land.  VaTech's leading scorer, Carys Baker who averages 13.7 ppg had 16 but the bigger story is that the following leaders, Carleigh Wenzel (13.0) and Mel Daley (11.6) combined for only 9 points total in the game.  Wenzel was 1-10 from the field.   CAPITAL D




FINAL FRED TALLY: F-R-E-D

Looking forward to seeing some familiar faces on campus!   I know the Cardinal birds here on campus are super stoked for the lunch lady (me) to get back to work.  

As Always,
Go Cards

~Daryl 

Cards WBB hosts Va. Tech -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 #13 CARDS FACE HOKIES ON ACC NEWWORK

13-3 (3-0) Louisville women's basketball puts their unbeaten conference record on the line when a dangerous Va. Tech team comes to town for a 4 p.m. match up in the KFC YUM! Center and on the ACC Network. 

Louisville has completed a six pack (of wins) recently and faces an opponent that that never really been an easy pushover for the Red and Black. The overall series between these two is 24-21 in favor of the Cards...not many Cards fans will ever forget the powerhouse Liz Kitley. 

Kitley is no longer playing for the Hokies (thank goodness...) but is back on campus as an "Assistant to the head coach for External Operations" Yeah, sounds like one of those made up title to me as well...ok...kinda like a Director of Media Relations. I mean, seriously, I never knew the "media" ever needed any "direction" ..but I guess VT head coach Megan Duffy likes the company and Va. Tech has managed to survive the loss of Kenny Brooks to that school in Fayette County that wears blue and white. If Kitley comes to the game, she'll be easy to spot, of course...extremely beautiful and 6'5" 

Kitley got her degree in 2003 in human Nutrition, Food and Exercise. I wonder  what those finals were like....Eating the right foods while running?  

But let's get on to learning about the 2025-26 squad from Blacksburg. They re 11-4 coming into the Louisville game, unranked in the national polls and have wins over Towson, Gardiner-Webb, Loyola Marymount, Coastal Carolina, Abbott and Costello (just kidding on that one!!), Niagara, Florida, Presbyterian. Oregon St.  ETSU, FSU, and Radford  Losses have come to James Madison, BYU, Duke and ...most recently...Miami on New Years Day. 

Carys Baker

VT has three players in double figure scoring for the season....Carys Baker (13.7), Carleigh Wenzel (13.0) and Mel Daley (11.6)

It's National Spaghetti Day here in the states...so make sure and pay due diligence by carbing up.  I like mine with those tiny meatballs, garlic bread and maybe a small side salad with ranch dressing. I gotta watch my phosphorus and potassium levels...so light on the red sauce, please...for me. My old buddy Sonny Lentini was "a red sauce" man, his dad was a "white sauce" man...and his daughters are still...beautiful. Enough on that, Paulie. I still miss Lentini's food. 

We'll recap this ball game tomorrow...it is too crazy to "want a bowl" at 8:45 a.m.? 

We go into double figures...ten days..of the prejudicial banning of Cardinal Couple representatives from covering UofL sports from media seats. Maybe we'll hear something once classes start again. one thing is for sure, they can't censor our website. In better days, Sonya and I covered all the home games, attended both visiting and home coaches post-game pressers and had a photographer. Do you want Jared Anderson photos back on this site?  Let UofL know. Maybe let Amy Calabrese know...she is the deputy athletic director/senior women's administrator.

She might even be able to get you a free trip down Jeff's Walz's slide. 

paulie 

 

Welcome to the New (?) Year -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Happy Saturday, dear readers. We're in the interesting period of the calendar when nothing is actually happening due to the holiday scheduling. The Cards took care of business at home on Thursday and they'll look to do so again on Sunday. Other sports aren't quite into the swing of things in 2026, so it's a slow day in the world of Louisville women's athletics. 

It's not a very slow day in the rest of the news sphere, though, and it's somewhat difficult to find the joy and excitement sometimes these days. Is 2026 feeling very "new" yet to anyone out there? Alas, I'll endeavor to stay more positive here on these pages. 

The great Michael Clarke Duncan (1957-2012)
in The Green Mile (1999)

We're still awaiting resolution of Paulie's appeal to the powers that be at UofL about Cardinal Couple's status on media row, and we're hopeful for a late Christmas present soon. 

Wishing peace and prosperity to you and yours in the year to come. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

WBB takes care of SMU 91-58 -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL




A question Ive been asking myself often recently 'What day is it??' Only a few more days before staff reports back to campus for the 2026 year.

With a game finally on the schedule, lets get into the recap.     


WBB

The Cardinals got the new year off to a great start when they dominated SMU at the Yum Center for another ACC victory. That's now 3 ACC wins on the season and 3 dominating wins in a row. 

In the first quarter, UofL found the most production in the paint when Anaya Hardy and Elif Istanbulluoglu combined for 12 of the Cards 19 total points.  Laura Ziegler had 3 rebounds and 2 assists.   As a team, 4 turnovers were committed. 

Skylar Jones and Taj Roberts each had 8 points in the second quarter to propel the Louisville lead to double digits and a 19 point lead at halftime.  After a 3 pointer by SMU's leading scorer on the night to open the quarter, the Mustangs went scoreless for almost 4 minutes.

Coming back from the halftime break with a 46-27 lead, Ziegler scored 6 of her 8 total points on back to back three point attempt. Reagan Bender also put 2 through the hoop from beyond the arc.   Imari Berry had 5 rebounds while Yevheniia Putra pulled down 3 of her 4 total boards in the third frame.

The bench contributed 44 of the team's total points.  Skylar Jones had 5 steals and SMU committed 24 turnovers where the Cards were able to rack up 22 extra opportunity points.  

UP NEXT

Louisville vs Virginia Tech
Sunday 1/4  4 pm 
ACCN

FRED REPORT

FREE THROWS --  Louisville went 10-11 at the FT line which is good for 91% from the charity stripe.  This was not a night where either team spent much of their time but we will give kudos to the Cards for taking advantage. CAPITAL F

REBOUNDING --  UofL's offensive rebounding advantage gave them 21 more points than SMU.  The Cards outrebounded the Mustangs 15-3 in this category. CAPITAL R

EFFORT/EXECUTION --  The Cards showed no signs of rust after being off for 11 days.  Coach Walz has often talked about the recharge the Christmas break brings for his squads and how important it is to prevent burnout.  Louisville had fun against the Mustangs.   CAPITAL E

DEFENSE --  UofL let SMU shoot almost 44% in the game and allowed a player to go off for 20 points.  The game was won because of the Cards depth and their impressive rebounding margin.  They did force 4 Mustangs players to commit at least 4 turnovers.  They'll have to do more against a tougher opponent  lower case d 

  WALZ ON THE GAME

FINAL FRED TALLY:   F-R-E-d







As always
Go Cards!
~Daryl

HAPPY NEW YEAR -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

                                                           HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year! 

LINK: MERRY NEW YEAR !!

PAULIE & SONYA

CARDS WBB to face SMU on New Years Day -- WEDNESDAY CARINAL COUPLE

 #13 LOUISVILLE WBB TO FACE MUSTANGS ON NEW YEARS DAY

Coming to Louisville to start 2026 WBB are the SMU Mustangs. The "Ponies" are 7-7 this season, 0-2 in ACC play and 1-3 on the road. 

SMU is ninth in the ACC and lost to the Cards 80-75 last time the two played...last year in  Dallas. 

Zahra King

SMU is led by Zahra King, with 12.8 points a game. Miriam Ibezim gathers 6.3 rebounds a contest and Kyla Deck leads in assists with two a game.  SMU lost to Syracuse and Virginia in conference play 

The Mustangs are coached by Adia Barnes.If the name sounds familiar, Barnes was Arizona's coach for nine years before leaving to take the SMU job last year.  She also played for the Seattle Storm's WNBA franchise. 

The Cards WBB squad is 3-1 all-time against SMU and Louisville has won the last three games.

While as Arizona , Barnes Wildcats would make it to the WNIT Final, knocking off Northwestern to become the 2019 WNIT Champions.

The Wildcats beat Indiana in 2021 to reach the school's first ever Final Four. They also beat #6 Louisville and Hailey Van Lith that season.

the 2 o clock game will be shown on ACCNX.




paulie

ACC WBB Check-In -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

WBB Standings as Conference Season Arrives

The holiday season is nearly behind us, which means that college basketball's conference slate is on the horizon. Long past are the days when you wouldn't meet a conference foe until January, as many teams have already played at least one conference game. These days, you might even play a team in your conference early in the season and it not count as a conference game (looking at you Virginia football). Nevertheless, while a few teams will play some marquee non-conference games in the next couple of months, most every matchup will be between league opponents going forward. 

That makes now a great time to look at the conference as it stands. Louisville is one of five teams with a 2-0 record in ACC play so far this season, as they took care of Clemson and North Carolina earlier on. Both of those teams won their other conference matchup and are among six total teams at 1-1. Stanford and California have each played just one conference game, with the Cardinal at 1-0 and the Golden Bears at 0-1. Yes, they played each other. The remaining five teams are 0-2. 

Notre Dame sits atop the league with the best overall winning percentage at 10-2 (.833). Louisville is close behind with a 12-3 record, good for an .800 winning percentage. Virginia is 10-3, NC State is 9-4, and Duke has struggled in non-conference play, as the Blue Devils are 7-6. Stanford would lead the league if they had a second conference win, as they're 12-2 overall. 

Surprisingly, though, a look at the NET rankings sees Louisville as the highest rated ACC team in 12th. The Cards have had 0 quad 2 opportunities, but they are 9-0 in Q3/Q4 games and 3-3 in Q1 opportunities. North Carolina is second in the ACC at 17, followed closely by Notre Dame at 18. Both teams have struggled in Q1 games, with the Tar Heels 0-3 in those matchups and the Irish 1-2. UNC is 3-0 in Q2, though, which is bumping them ahead of ND, who are just 1-0. Stanford finds themselves all the way down in 36th, one spot behind Virginia. NC State is 30th, and Duke, the team that was below .500 in non-conference, is 25th. The Blue Devils are 1-5 in Q1 opportunities and 2-1 in Q2 games. They've made a living in playing difficult teams, facing just four Q3/Q4 opponents so far. 

There's obviously a ton of basketball left to play, but Louisville finds themselves in a good spot. We may be disappointed by the games that got away, but Louisville has won all of the games they were supposed to, and the losses were to teams ranked 1st, 2nd, and 8th in the NET. The Cards will get the ACC season underway in earnest on Thursday with a New Year's matchup against SMU. The Mustangs are 0-2 in conference and 7-7 overall. They find themselves currently sandwiched between Brown and Purdue Ft. Wayne in 137th in the NET rankings. It's a home matchup Thursday afternoon, so the Cards should be able to take care of business.

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

2025 in Pictures -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Good morning readers, 

Its our last week off for the holidays before campus opens back up for the spring semester so I plan on soaking up every second of it.  

With no games on the schedule and the New Year on the horizon lets look back on some of the best photos from 2025.

(disclaimer: these photos were taken from before Jared's decision to step away from Card Couple. We hope he will be back once our hacker situation has been resolved.)

These were huge moments for the joys and excitements of UofL Women's Sports this year and we thank you for following all year long.   Cheers to 2026! 

As Always, 
Go Cards 
~Daryl