CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDINAL COUPLE
We report on the joy and excitement of UofL women's sports here. Thanks for checking us out! Click the picture of Louie to hear the latest Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast!!

Monday, January 6, 2025

Cards shake Wake 81-76 in overtime -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 LOUSVILLE WBB PICKS UP ROAD WIN AT WAKE



CARDS WBB placed five in double figures and used a strong overtime effort from Jayda Curry to defeat Wake Forest 81-76 in Winston-Salem Sunday afternoon. 

Curry totaled seven of her 11 total points in the final 1:32 to lead the Cards to the extra session win. It was a game where the Cards allowed WFU to shoot 59% from the floor and sink 10 threes, but still pulled off the "W". The Cards watched a five-point lead disappear to just a two point advantage with a minutes to go in overtime, but got a clutch three from Curry with 17 seconds left in overtime to seal the contest. 

Wake Forest took the fight to the Cards early on and had a 17-12 first quarter lead over UofL. Louisville trailed by seven midway through the second quarter, but staged a rally and two Olivia Cochran free throws got Louisville back to within one at 32-31 with 26 seconds left in the half  UofL missed al layup with 10 seconds left in the half to go in the locker room down by one.

The two squads battled back and forth in the the third quarter, neither leading by more than four points, until the Demon Deacons put together two threes from Rylie Theuefkauf to go up 54-47. The Cards were able to cut the home team's lead to two at 56-54 on a Nyla Harris layup with five seconds left in the quarter.

A close fourth quarter ensued until Wake edged ahead 67-66 with a minute to play. Louisville regained the lead 70-67 with fifteen seconds left in regulation but Theuerkauf sank a three a few seconds later to tie it at 70 and force overtime... when the Cards missed a three with a second left on the clock. 

THE FRED REPORT

(It turned out to be a beautiful day in the neighborhood for the Cards in overtime Sunday)

F-Free Throws --
 Louisville continued their hot hands from the charity stripe with an 18-19 performance. Olivia Cochran went 9-9 to lead the way for UofL A definite CAPITAL "F"

R- Rebounds -- The Cards lost th battle of the boards 28-23 despite Cochran grqabbing a team high seven. No letter awarded here. 

E- Effort/Execution.  UofL won second chance points 14-3 and forced WFU into 28 turnovers, but lost the points off turnovers battle 26-15. Still, the Cards won , so we'll award a lower case "e". 

D - Defense.  The Cards allowed 59% shooting and also were beat in points in the paint 24-20, but never trailed when it counted, in overtime, so we'll award a small case "d'. 

FINALFRED TALLY -- F-_-e-d

Road wins are always good in ACC play, and Louisville finally got this one after trailing the majority of the contest. The freshmen continue to learn by experience and one can't count out what Jayda Curry did for the squad yesterday. Stay safe and warm today, don't venture out unless it's an emergency, it's terrible out there, kiddies..

Louisville WBB returns to action Thursday against Pitt at Pittsburgh 


POST GAME JEFF WALZ PRESSER


pulie

Sunday, January 5, 2025

Snowy Sunday vs Wake Forest - Sunday Cardinal Couple

A Snowy Sunday

Good Sunday morning.  If you'll permit a brief aside from our coverage of sports, I hope everyone is safely hunkering down as a major winter storm passes through the Louisville area today.

I did venture out briefly to see if my (very) local coffee shop was open and operating so I could get my customary morning latte before conditions got too bad, but they were in the process of closing down, quite understandably, as I pulled in, so I didn't bother them and let them get on with what they were doing so they could get home and be safe.

Home brewed coffee is something I partake of only very rarely, but it's certainly pleasant as well.

OK, now on with sports.

Basketball in Winston-Salem

Basketball is the sole event on the calendar today.  The Cards escaped the imminent weather and header to slightly warmer climes.  They'll be taking on Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, NC today at 4pm.

For comparison, the weather forecast in Winston-Salem is to be cloudy with a high of 42 today, with a chance of rain arriving late tonight.  No solid precipitation of any type is expected for the area.  So the Cards may be challenged getting back to Louisville if they try to come back tonight, but if they elect to stay in North Carolina for the night, they shouldn't experience any problems there.

On to the game, the Demon Deacons are having a thoroughly mediocre season.  Their overall record is 7-6, and they're 0-2 in conference so far.  Conference losses have come to Clemson and Virginia, neither of which is a barnburner team in the ACC.  Outside of conference, losses came to Villanova, George Mason, Fairfield, and St. Johns.

So overall, Wake shouldn't be much of a contest for Louisville, particularly if they play like they played for most of the Miami game.

The Deacs are not a high powered offense, scoring at will, they've averaged just over 60 points per game so far this season, but they have held their opponents to just over 55 points per game on the defensive side, so the Cards will need to pay attention to their passing lanes and ball protection.  Wake has 125 steals on the season to opponents' 82, but have been outblocked by their opponents 42-34 so the threat is definitely on ball possession, not shot blocking.

No players average over 10 points per game, which is probably not surprising when the team's overall production is so low, but several are close.  Elise Williams averages 9.7, as does Rylie Theuerkauf.  Theuerkauf has notably more points on the season as she has played in all 13 games for Wake this year, while Williams has only played in 10.  Malaya Cowles is on their heels at 9.5, while Tamia Jones, and Demeara Hinds aren't far behind at 8.9 and 8.8 respectively.

That same quintet accounts for the bulk of the team's steals, with all in double digit totals for the year.

We saw that the Cards are capable of playing a composed, quality game when they beat Miami in good form.  The question is, will this same team show up today, or will they revert to some of their lackadaisical play from before the holidays?  My hope is that we're seeing the results of team development over the break, and not just a fluke.  Only time will tell for that, of course.

This game may not be the best test of that, but if we struggle against this team, we know there's more work to be done.

National linear TV coverage for this one.  The ACC Network has the game at 4pm.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Basketball was the topic for nearly all of the CCRHP yesterday.

After a bit of catchup, and discussion of the then-upcoming winter storm that is coming through Louisville at the time of this writing, Jared, Paulie, and I took to discussing the wins at Boston College and here against Miami before looking ahead to the Wake Forest game today.

Check out the fun:

-- 
JMcA

Saturday, January 4, 2025

Swim & Dive Open 2025 with Win -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Sweep Mizzou to Open New Year


With basketball being the only primary sport in action for the time being and WBB being between games, that gives us a chance to look at some other squads. Luckily, the Cards hit the pool for the first time in 2025 yesterday. Louisville women's swimming and diving is ranked 8th in the nation coming into 2025 and they're looking to continue their strong form as they pursue individual and team success in the NCAAs later this spring. 

photo by Chris Carter - UofL
The Cards headed to Columbia, Missouri yesterday for their first team action since the OSU Invite on Thanksgiving week and their first dual meet since October 24th against Tennessee. It was a strong day for the Cards, especially the women, as they won 204-95 while the men won 193-107. 

Louisville got off to a hot start with a win in the 200 medley relay with the team of Abby Karl, Caroline Larsen, Gabi Albiero, and Julia Dennis putting up a 1:36.15. Even better, their time was worthy of an NCAA A-cut. The Louisville women would also go on to get wins from Fernanda Gomes Celidonio (200 Free), Paige Hetrick (100 Back, 200 Back), Mia Cheatwood (100 Breaststroke), Dennis (50 Free), Albiero (100 Free, 100 Butterfly), Kim Emely Herkle (200 Breaststroke, 400 IM), Summer Cardwell (500 Free), and the relay team of Larsen, Albiero, Ella Welch, and Dennis in the 200 Free. They earned a number of other points finishes, including sweeping the top 5 of 100 Butterfly. 

Louisville's 200 Free relay win (they also took second with Abby and Avery Karl, Lucy Mehraban, and Hetrick) was not only an A-cut time, by the way, but it was also just 0.43s away from the pool record set by Tennessee in 2016. Safe to say the Cards are pretty quick. 

photo by Chris Carter - UofL
From the boards, Lindsay Gizzi led the Cards on the diving side. Gizzi took first in the platform diving with a 222.68 (just shy of an A-cut 225), while freshman Audree Brazeau-Howes came in 3rd. Gizzi was second in the 3m diving competition, with Brazeau-Howes finishing fifth. The top five all set A-cut scores in the event. 

Louisville will get an extended break again, as they're off for three weeks until they take on UK in the Battle of the Bluegrass in Lexington on January 25th. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast


You'll have three today, as Daryl is (as I mentioned yesterday) still celebrating the nuptials and I'm off for family activities. Basketball has shown quite a bit more to be excited about recently, so I'm sure you can guess what Paulie, Jeff, and Jared will cover. 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
Spotify: Link
Apple Podcasts: Link
Google Podcasts: Link
Overcast (free account required): Link
Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link
RadioPublic: Link






Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Friday, January 3, 2025

Cards Crush Canes 74-56 -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Daryl is off celebrating her nuptials, so you'll have to put up with me today instead. You'll see me again tomorrow and Daryl should be back next week. 

Jayda Curry's 21 Leads All Scorers in Rout


In my article on Saturday, I alluded to Miami's 11-1 record being a bit misleading. Although they hadn't played much of anyone, they weren't even receiving any votes to be ranked, which is a bit of a slap in the face, to be honest, since they were still winning the games. Unfortunately for Tricia Cullop's squad, it's been a tough week. Cullop took over in Coral Gables after Katie Meier retired and left Jeff Walz alone as the longest tenured coach in the ACC. Cullop is the winningest coach in Toledo history, but that wasn't much comfort to Canes fans last night. 

After a fairly close battle against UNC on Sunday (a 69-60 loss at home), Miami came to Louisville looking to pick up a signature win against a Louisville team that has been struggling. We can put the Boston College win aside for a moment, as the Eagles were beaten 86-59 by Duke last night after trailing 42-19 at halftime. The Cards needed to beat Miami to prove to themselves that they still hoped to make some noise this season. In the end, Louisville came out on top, winning even more handily than the final score suggested.

The Cards gave up the first basket of the game, but seemingly never looked back. After Ja'Leah Williams tied the score at 2, Olivia Cochran scored the game's next five points with a jumper and a three-pointer. Louisville would go on to extend their lead to 11-4 before Haley Cavinder (yes, the twins are still there) scored her first points of the night. Cavinder would finish just behind Jayda Curry with 19 points. Not content with a seven-point lead, Louisville's boom continued, and a quick 6-0 run, all on two-point baskets, triggered a Miami timeout. Out of the break, Miami missed a three and Louisville punished, making it a 19-6 game. 

After Miami finally broke their scoring drought with a three, Louisville committed three straight fouls, starting with an offensive foul creating a turnover, and put Miami in the bonus with 1:28 remaining. Nothing much came of that, though, as Miami didn't go to the line for the remainder of the quarter after Hanna Cavinder went 1-2 from the stripe. The Cards added free throws of their own and another basket, but a turnover on the final possession of the quarter gave Miami a breakaway layup to set the deficit at 9 instead of a potential 13. Cards led 23-14.

Despite only shooting 1-6 from beyond the arc in the first quarter, Louisville finished 10-16 from the floor. That means they were 9-10 from two-point land, and that's quite alright by me. The defense held Miami to a matching number from three and allowed just 37.5% shooting from the floor overall. 

Louisville opened the second quarter with a three from Elif Istanbulluoglu, almost as if to say, "Yeah, we're just pouring it on now." Elif scored Louisville's next basket as well, on a jumper, to reiterate that the Cards were capable of scoring from anywhere with their bigs. Elif's jumper came after Hanna Cavinder's second and final basket of the evening, as she would finish with just five points, far off the pace set by her sister. 

Leading by 12, Louisville went through a short slump that allowed Miami to close back to within seven before a Merissah Russell three-ball fell. The make brought the Cards back into the game a bit, and after another Miami basket with 5:30 remaining put the lead back at eight points, Louisville went on a 12-2 run to close the half... almost. A foul on the last shot put Miami to the line with three seconds remaining and they scored a pair to set the halftime score at 43-27. 

During that run, Tajianna Roberts scored eight of her 14 points with a pair of triples and another jumper. Roberts wouldn't make another three, but she added four rebounds, four assists, and two steals to her 14 points for a solid stat line over 22 minutes. She did tie for the team lead in fouls with three, but at least one was a questionable offensive foul call. Imari Berry had a forgettable night, as she had three fouls in just six minutes and wasn't able to score. 

The third quarter saw Louisville match the first as far as the deficit goes. The Cards put on their biggest scoring run of the night with another boom to close the third, as they scored 12 points over a 2:27 span. Curry started the run with a pair of free throws to put the Cards up 17 and ended it with a three to functionally end the game. Louisville led 65-38 with 1:22 remaining in the third. Miami would again score free throws to close the quarter, but the 25-point fourth quarter deficit was too large to overcome. 

Louisville's fourth quarter left a fair amount to be desired. Curry opened the quarter with a three and Williams matched a Miami bucket to keep the lead at 28, but the Cards couldn't quite stretch it to 30. In fact, they'd stay stuck at 70 points for just under five minutes before Williams bookended the scoring drought with another jumper. Fortunately for Louisville, Miami joined them in their scoring protest for much of the quarter. After Louisville's basket at 8:34, the Canes hit two quick threes and scored a layup to cut the deficit to 20 with 7:01 remaining. 

Caption this classic pic of Walz in the comments.
Jeff Walz called timeout to get things back on track, but apparently only the defense got the memo. At any rate, Williams' jumper with 3:35 remaining was the first score for either team after the timeout. Woof. Isla Juffermans knocked down a pair of free throws with 2:50 remaining, and Louisville would not score again. I've repeatedly talked about Louisville being seemingly unable to put a complete game together. This game was pretty decent, don't get me wrong, but the Cards scored 70 points in the first 31:26 and scored four points over the last 8:34. 


To put that into a bit of perspective, that means the Cards were on an 88.8 ppg pace for just over 75% of the game and scored at just an 18.8 ppg pace for the remainder. And it wasn't just because they called off the dogs. Louisville had three of their 13 turnovers in that stretch and shot 1-9 (0-5) from the floor. Again... Woof. The Cards will take an 18-point conference win, but I am sure Walz will have plenty for Louisville to address in practice ahead of their next matchup.

The FRED Report

 
F - Free Throws: Louisville didn't get to the line very much, but they were efficient when they did. The refs only called 31 fouls total, and 19 of them were on Louisville. Two of Louisville's seven free throws came after a flagrant was awarded on review. Curry knocked those down as part of her 5-5 night and Juffermans had the other two. 7-7 is 100% so that's a capital 'F'.

R - Rebounds: Louisville was outrebounded in this one, which is certainly not ideal. Although they won the second chance points battle 6-5, they were beaten on the glass on both the offensive (8-6) and defensive (25-24) ends. The Cards were technically at a height disadvantage, but they were also outhustled for a fair number (Haley Cavinder and Ahnay Adams, both 5'-6", combined for 10 rebounds). No letter.

Fred Willard was delighted
with Louisville last night.
E - Effort/Execution:
Louisville shot 47.5% from the floor and 34.6% from three. They had just 13 turnovers and forced 19 from Miami. If you exclude the fourth quarter, which I'm going to ascribe mostly to bad luck and questionable shot selection, the Cards were a glittering 53% from the floor and 42% from three. If the men's team shot 42% from three they'd score a million points per game. Louisville didn't seem to give up the fight in this one, despite how the fourth quarter looked. I'm awarding a capital 'E', but I completely understand any disagreement on that front. 

D - Defense: We've established that Miami's early opponents were bad, but they entered the game averaging 74.2 points per game and Louisville gave up just 56. Louisville let Haley Cavinder (19) and Cameron Williams (12) score their averages (18.3 and 11.9, respectively), but no one else was in double digits. The Cards also held the Canes well below their shooting averages of 46.5% and 30% from three, as Miami finished just 38.5/23.5%. I've mentioned the turnovers once already, but 19 is more than Miami's average in that category, and the Canes had just a .474 ATO ratio compared to .995 on the season. Another generous(?) grade from me: capital 'D'.

That's a final tally of F-_-E-D, which much like the game was close to perfect with a glaring question mark. 

The win moves the Cards to 9-5 and 2-1 in conference play. They've won their last three games -- their longest streak since November. The Cards won't get much credit from the voters or the committee for the win over Miami, but it should build confidence as they head into a short road trip ahead of a big home game against GT next week. Louisville will get the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest on Sunday in Winston-Salem, and they'll head to Pittsburgh on Thursday. Neither team has a conference win yet, and I'd rate it as "unlikely" that Pitt scores one against Duke before playing the Cards. 

Until next time, Go Cards!
Case

Thursday, January 2, 2025

WBB Opens 2025 Against Miami -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards and Canes to Square Off

Photo by GoCards

A winter storm may be en route to Louisville this weekend, but there's a hurricane coming first. Louisville women's basketball opens up 2025 with a game against Miami. The Cards and Canes will tip off at 7:00pm ET and will be aired on ACCNX.


Louisville is 8-5 on the year and is off to a 1-1 start in ACC play. The Cards fell to NC State in mid-December but most recently won at Boston College on Sunday. Louisville has won two straight games and three of their last four this season.

Photo by GoCards

Miami is 11-2 on the season and 1-1 in the ACC. Most recently, they fell to #17 North Carolina 69-60. Their lone ACC win came at Pitt by six points. They do have wins over 'Power Five' opponents Florida and Oregon State. The Hurricanes had won four straight games before their recent loss to North Carolina.


Miami has been outscoring opponents 74-64 and winning the rebounding battle 38-33. Haley Cavinder leads the Hurricanes with 18.3 points per game and 7.9 rebounds per game. Haley and her sister Hanna have combined for a little over 60% of the team's assists. Cameron Williams and Jasmyne Roberts are both in double figures in scoring at 11.9 and 11.5 ppg, respectively.

Photo by GoCards

Tricia Cullop is in her first season as head coach at Miami after 16 seasons in the same position at Toledo. Her time at Toledo included 13 winning seasons and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances.


 Louisville leads the series all-time, 9-3. All but one of those games came after Louisville joined the ACC. The Cards have won the last two meetings.


Cardinal Couple plans to have in-person coverage for this game.


Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Wednesday, January 1, 2025

Happy New Year -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 HAPPY NEW YEAR! 



From all of us, to all of you, HAPPY NEW YEAR! 


The Eagles -- Funky New Year


CARDINAL COUPLE

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

2024 Recap -- Jared's Favorite Photos -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

2024 Recap


Happy New Year's Eve! What a wild 2024 it has been for Louisville Athletics. While it may not have been the most successful year across women's sports at Louisville, there was still plenty of joy and excitement across the board.

Women's basketball made the NCAA Tournament again. Their regular season was packed full of ranked ACC opponents- Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, NC State, and Syracuse. The Cards have a winning record to start this new season despite facing a plethora of ranked foes again.

Lacrosse had one of its best seasons in the Scott Teeter era. They upset ranked Clemson, set a program record for regular season ACC wins, and advanced to the second round of the ACC Tournament for the first time ever.


Softball finished the season above .500. We saw the return of alumnae Carmyn Greenwood and Taylor Roby, who are coaching for Western Kentucky and Clemson, respectively. The Cards had upset wins over Arizona, Duke, Florida State, and Clemson.

Field hockey, relying heavily on younger classmen, had a down year. Their strength of schedule remained in the top 15. A majority of the starting roster is eligible to return next year.

Women's soccer finished above .500 and had a much improved offensive production from the previous year. They did get an upset win over ranked Cal.


Volleyball had a majorly successful season. The Cards opened the season with a win over top-10 Wisconsin at the KFC Yum! Center in the AVCA Showcase. Their season concluded as National Runner-Up at the KFC Yum! Center. The season saw wins over ranked opponents in Pitt (a big Final Four win), Stanford, Purdue, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Creighton, Tennessee, and Georgia Tech. Anna DeBeer, Elena Scott, and Charitie Luper were all taken in the Pro Volleyball Federation draft.

2024 also saw Paulie take a short hiatus from Cardinal Couple following a medical procedure. The rest of the crew stepped up to cover games in his absence and welcomed his return with open arms. 

Jared's Favorite Photos

I take thousands of pictures each year, partly due to covering over 100 Louisville games each year. 2024 was no different. While it would be impossible to share every picture I've taken over the last year, I do want to share a few of my favorites.

Volleyball celebrates a trip to the Final Four

Elena Scott gets a kill during warm-ups

Women's soccer celebrates a goal

Field hockey scores a goal

A rainbow shines over Trager Stadium

Anna DeBeer gets air time for the kill

Field hockey celebrates a goal

Louisville stretches out for a goal

A runner is tagged out at the plate


A plane flies over the lacrosse stadium before Thunder Over Louisville

The Cards celebrate a walk-off victory

The Ladybirds show off their Daytona routine

Co-Ed Cheer shows off the Daytona routine

All-Girl Cheer shows off the Daytona routine

Softball celebrates a home run

RBI hit for softball

Player intro "selfie"

Finger roll layup

Behind the back goal for lacrosse

Louisville celebrates an upset victory

Last but not least, the Cardinal Couple Crew (not one I took)

I look forward to many more photos and much more to celebrate across Louisville women's sports in 2025!

We also wish our good friend and writer Daryl Foust the best day ever today, as she marries her long time beau...Thomas Irwin. It is always a joy to get opinions and articles from Daryl and we wish her all the happiness in the world. She's a great example of the joy and excitement of women's  sports, here in out neck of the woods.  

Happy Tuesday, Happy New Year's Eve, and Go Cards!
Jared

Monday, December 30, 2024

Louilsville WBB flies past Boston College 86-73 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 BALANCED SCORING LEADS UOFL TO WIN VS. EAGLES



The University of Louisville placed six players in double figures and used a 8-0 run near the middle of the third quarter to pull away from Boston College and improve their record to 8-5 and 1-1 in the ACC. 

Jadya Curry had a season high, for her, with 14 points for UofL, Taj Roberts and Olivia Cochran added 13 each, Nyla Harris and Ja'Leah Williams put up 12 points and Merissah Russell finished with 11 points in the Cards 86-73 win. . 


The Cards and Eagles were in a one -point affair with UofL leading 51-50 at the 5:40 mark of the third quarter before the Louisville run that started  with jumpers from Harris, Curry and Williams over a one minute period. A Williams layup a minute later put Louisville ahead 59-50 with 3:18 left in the quarter. . The Cards were still up 64-55 at the end of the quarter and UofL won the final quarter 22-18 for the thirteen-point win. The Cards did score the final six points of the game, all on free throws...overcoming a rough shooting  streak to end the game, where UofL did not make a basket in the final 6:24 of the game and their final 12 points came from free throws..

Louisville led 23-18 at the end of the first quarter and held a 40-35 at the halff, before the referees decided a final shot of the quarter by BC's Teya Sidberry was a three instead of a two.

 64-55 is the advantage the Cards had at the end of the third quarter. 

THE FRED REPORT

{Fred McGriff played with six different MLB squads in 18 years and had 2490 hits)

Free Throws --
Louisville went 19-26 from the free throw line...Russell hitting seven of her eight attempts. That's 73.1% and good for a CAPITAL "F". 

Rebounds -- The Cards won the battle of the boards 36-33...Cochran getting seven, to co-lead the way with "team".  What is a team rebound in college basketball?. When a ball is shot and missed from anywhere and the ball goes out of bounds without anyone touching it or getting possession, that is a team rebound. We'll award the CAPITAL "R" here. 

Effort/Execution -- Louisville shot an even 50% (31-62) from the floor and had 15 assists. No one fouled out for the Cards, they had three less turnovers than BC and led second chance points 24-11. And, they won! I'll recommend a CAPITAL "E

Defense -- The Cards scored 28 points off 23 B.C. turnovers. They had 14 steals, and held the Eagles to 48% shooting. I can see a small case "d" here..73 points is a lot to give up to a middle-tier or worse ACC foe. Louisville still needs a lot p work on defense, but it gotmthe jpb done Sunday

FINAL FRED TALLY: F-R-E-d

So,it was a game that Louisville was able to go on several sizable runs in and was able to give Boston College their first home loss of the season. The freshmen continue to impress and improve....They had 50 of Louisville's points and continue to play well on the road.

POST GAME JEFF WALZ 


paulie

Sunday, December 29, 2024

And Then There Was One (For a While) - Sunday Cardinal Couple

And Then there Was One

Volleyball has put away the knee pads for the season, meaning we here at Cardinal Couple are left with only a single team in action this time of year.  Thankfully, it's a sport that we cover heavily, and is deeply embedded in the zeitgeist of the state of Kentucky.

Of course I'm talking about Basketball.  We won't be too long before we see other sports start to spin up either their winter seasons, such as indoor track and field, and swimming and diving; or spring seasons, such as Softball and Lacrosse.  But for now, we have basketball.  I suspect we're all ok with that state of affairs for the moment.  (I do plan to write up more of a retrospective on the amazing Volleyball season...but to be honest, I'm still processing it a bit)

Basketball

OK, so basketball it is for the moment.  And in the moment, we have a competition at Boston College to look forward to today.

The Cards are in Chestnut Hill getting ready to take on Joanna Bernabei-McNamee's squad.  She's in her 6th season with the Eagles and continues to, slowly but steadily, build the program into something the school can be proud of.

They boast a current record of 10-4, which at first blush looks respectable.  As you look through the opponents, however, they're not exactly leading the way in strength of schedule.  As a side note, Paulie and I did chuckle during the CCRHP yesterday about the presence of "Holy Cross" and "Sacred Heart" on their schedule, and the overlap of the names with Louisville area high schools.  It was this morning that I noticed that they had also played Providence, continuing the amusement.

Back to being serious, BC has been increasing their level of competition as their season progresses, certainly a reasonable approach to scheduling, with more recent competition being against a ranked Ole Miss, Oregon State, Arkansas, and Virginia.

Today's game launches, in earnest, the ACC conference season for both teams.  Both have had a conference game before going back to one or more non-conference foes, but it's conference the rest of the way for both.

Boston College has a fairly balanced offense, between four players averaging double digit scoring.  That starts with a graduate student 6'0" guard, Dontavia Waggoner averaging just over 12; junior 6'0" guard T'yana Todd coming in just short of 12; senior 6'0" guard Andrea Daley approaching 11; and junior 6'1" forward Teya Sidberry at about 10.5.

Todd will be the main threat beyond the arc, though Daley and Sidberry can hit some as well.  Waggoner will almost certainly not attempt any.  Conversely, Todd will not be much of a rebounder while the other three average between five and seven per game.

The Cards still feel like one big question mark of a team to me.  We've seen the team excel against some pretty good teams, and play competitively, even if to a loss, against some top tier teams, but then sometimes they seem to come out and just completely lay and egg.  They've had a couple of lengthy spans between games, eight days since they last played (Memphis), and six days before that.  So coach Walz has had some time to work with them in the gym, they got a break to potentially head home, or get away from the practice gym, and hopefully get into a good mindset to come back and put together a good run in conference play.  We'll see.

The game today is available on The ACC Network, the linear channel, and is of course also available through ESPN/ACC Network Extra streaming.  With the linear channel appearance, it's a 2pm tip.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Paulie and I played through some adversity to get the CCRHP recorded.  It's always a bit more challenging to keep the conversation flowing smoothly when it's only two people on the call, but it gets exceedingly difficult when, sporadically, the audio between the two participants drops out so they can't reliably hear each other.  The challenges didn't seem to impact the audio flow to the broadcast, but as you're listening, bear in mind that at times one of us couldn't hear the other, and occasionally neither of us could hear each other.

Despite the challenges, we did end up having a really good discussion wrapping up Volleyball for the season, and looking forward to today's basketball competition in Boston.

Check it out:
 
-- 
JMcA

Saturday, December 28, 2024

An Early Look at the ACC -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

WBB Heads into ACC Play


After a brief Christmas break, Louisville women's basketball will hit the road to take on Boston College tomorrow for their first game in a little over a week. This eight-day pause is the longest Louisville has gone without playing this season, and they won't go this long again. Twice during conference play they'll see a bye week that gives them seven days off. Hopefully, this longer respite can give them the reset they need. 

Louisville stands at 7-5 (0-1) on the season. Tomorrow's game against BC will give them the opportunity to win back-to-back games in December. A loss would mean that Louisville hasn't won back-to-back games since the Morehead State, USF, and Colorado games that were sandwiched between UK and Oklahoma to close out November. With 12 games under their belt and conference play on the horizon, let's take a quick look at the ACC overall. 

Every team in the ACC has played one game, which means that half the league is 1-0 and the other half is 0-1. Louisville was one of six teams to lose their ACC opener at home. Louisville is also currently tied for 15th in the league. At 7-5, the Cards are tied with Wake Forest and sit ahead of Pitt (8-6) and Syracuse (6-6). Surprisingly, no ACC teams have gone below .500 in non-conference play. In what appears to be a bit of a down year for Louisville, that could be an issue going forward. 

The league is topped by Georgia Tech, who remains undefeated. The Yellowjackets are 13-0 and are ranked 13/16 by the AP and Coaches' Polls respectively. GT has beaten three ranked teams this season, including UNC in Chapel Hill, when the Heels were ranked 14th. Close behind Georgia Tech in the national standings is Kara Lawson's Duke team. The Blue Devils are ranked 14/14, and slipped a touch after a road loss to USF moved them to 10-3 on the year. Louisville's escape of USF doesn't look so bad anymore. Duke's other losses are to South Carolina and Maryland, both on the road. They've beaten just two ranked opponents, but both (Kansas State and Oklahoma) were in the top ten at the time and both were on a neutral court. 

Cal and Miami each have just one loss so far, with the Bears at 13-1 and the Canes at 11-1. While Cal's hot start has put them into the top-25, as they sit 21/24, Miami's opening schedule ahs been a bit light. Despite their record, Miami is not receiving votes to be ranked in either poll. The ACC has a total of six teams ranked in both polls, with Notre Dame, UNC, and NC State joining GT, Duke, and Cal. Notre Dame dropped back-to-back games to TCU and Utah in the Cayman Islands over Thanksgiving. Had they not lost those games, they might find themselves ranked #1, instead of 3/4. The Irish have wins over then-ranked #3 USC (on the road), #4 Texas, and #2 UConn. They drubbed Syracuse on the road to open ACC play. UNC also has just two losses, and they sit at 12-2 overall. 

The 17/17 Heels only have one ranked win (72-53 over UK), but their losses are to UConn and Georgia Tech. They're riding a bit on that one win and no bad losses, so we'll see how voters treat them if they drop another game or two. Like the Heels, the Wolfpack also have just the one ranked win over an SEC team. They have three losses, but they came at the hands of South Carolina, TCU (on the road), and LSU in the Bahamas. The Wolfpack have won five straight and have been rewarded with being ranked 22/20. 

There is still a ton of basketball to be played, but more teams ACC teams appear to be separating themselves as winners this season rather than losers. As we get into conference play, there aren't a ton of teams jumping out about which you can say "circle the calendar for a win there". On the flip side, there are more teams than usual that should scare the Cards. Louisville will need to clean up a lot of the issues that we saw in non-conference play if they want this to be a successful season. With the non-con in the rearview mirror, there's no time like the present to get back on track. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast


I'm out sick and Jared is hosting family before heading to a noon tipoff at the KFC Yum! Center. This week's show will be a lighter cast, as we await the word from Daryl. Nevertheless, Paulie and Jeff will bring you the joy and excitement of Louisville women's athletics from the week. Expect coverage of Louisville's national championship appearance in volleyball as well as plenty of news from this holiday week. 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!

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case