Louisville Softball downs Evansville 5-4 in extra innings -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 BRI DESPINES DRIVES HOME EASTON LOTUS FOR CARDS WIN. 

Bri Despines

An ideal evening for softball Tuesday evening as the Cards (19-5) win the "Battle of the Ohio River" with an extra inning triumph over Evansville (7-13) at Ulmer Stadium. Bri Despines, a senior transfer from Kent St. drove home Easton Lotus for the game ender. 

Evansville jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on the Cards in the top of the first inning on Louisville starter Madi Reeves. A Brooke Voss home run was a key blow in the inning. 

Louisville countered with a run in the bottom of the third when a Jordan Williams sacrifice fly brought home Chelsea Mack. 

No further runs were plated until the bottom of the sixth inning. The Cards got a two RBI double from Ava Venturelli, then Chelsea Mack doubed to score Addy O'Dell and it was 4-2 Louisville. 

Evansvile responded in the top of the seventh, though. Maliyah Williams belted a two RBI homer to center field to tie the contest at 4-4. 

Brooke Gray came in to pitch for the Cards and held E'Ville scoreless in the top of the eighth. That set the stage for Despines game winning RBI in the bottom half of the inning. . 

The Cards return to action Friday when they travel to Clemson for a series with the Tigers. 

 

paulie

Softball Goes 3-1 on Weekend; Faces Evansville Tonight -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Score 34 in Shortened Cardinal Classic

Louisville softball was busy over the weekend, but we had our hands full with WBB in the ACC Tournament. The Cards hosted the Cardinal Classic in their final home non-conference weekend of the season. Louisville will participate in one more non-conference weekend event in a couple of weeks when they play in The Ohio State Tournament. Holly Aprile's squad was scheduled to play five games over the weekend, but a rainout on Friday meant that the game against LIU got the axe.

The Cards still opened the event on Friday, playing the first of a pair of games against Ball State. In Cardinals vs Cardinals action, Louisville ultimately fell 5-7 in the opener, creating an inauspicious start to their home event. Ball State tagged Alyssa Zabala for four runs in the top of the first before she was pulled after just two-thirds of an inning. Louisville was unable to tie the game, so Zabala officially took the loss, marking her first of the season. The Cards made a late rally in the sixth, scoring three runs in the bottom half to make it close, but their charge stopped there. 

The two teams played a rematch to open Saturday morning's events with a 9am start. Ball State scored first again, but this time Jayden Gohs held them to just one run in the opening frame, and Louisville scored a pair in the bottom half to gain the lead. Ball State wouldn't score again and Louisville went on to score in each of the five innings played. Gohs pitched all five and Louisville won in an 8-1 run rule. 

After opening the day at 9am Saturday, Louisville also closed it with a first pitch at 7pm. This time, they were taking on Illinois, and the Cards scored eight runs for the second time that day. Zabala got the start against the Illini and struggled in the first again. She gave up three runs before Louisville was able to stop the bleeding. This time, though, Zabala recovered, and twirled four scoreless before Illinois scored again. The Cards struggled to score for the first three innings, but they exploded for six in the fourth and tagged on two more in the fifth. Zabala allowed a run in the sixth to make it 8-4 in favor of Louisville, and Aprile gave her an opportunity to close the game out in the seventh. After Zabala gave up a single to open the inning, she got the hook and Anna Wise came in to clean up. A strikeout preceded a steal and a liner to third made gave Louisville two outs and a runner on second. A homer to deep left made it 8-6 and things got a bit nervier. Wise stayed cool and induced a ground ball to end the game. 

Louisville closed the weekend with another game against Illinois. This time, Madi Reeves got the start. Brooke Gray was conspicuously absent from the circle over the weekend, but she's been struggling of late. We may see her tonight against Evansville. Reeves pitched a solid first two innings but gave up three runs in the third. After a scoreless first two innings, matching Illinois, Louisville responded to their third inning outburst with one of their own. The Cards scored four in the third, marking their first of three innings with four runs. Louisville put up four more in the fourth and one in the fifth to set up a run-rule with a 9-3 lead. Illinois scored a pair in the sixth to stay alive, but the Cards added their final four runs in the bottom half to end the game. Gohs was the winner after coming on in relief in the fourth. 

Offensively, 34 runs over four games is quite good. Defensively, giving up 19 in four games is less good. At the end of the day, though, they went 3-1, so it's hard to complain too much. Taylor Monroe got off to a good start going 3-3 with three RBI in the first game against Ball State but didn't play for the rest of the weekend. Addy O'Dell replaced Monroe at short and had a strong three games. Her best came in the Sunday game against Illinois, where she went 2-3, scored three runs, and had an RBI on her first collegiate home run. In that game, she had one of Louisville's six doubles. The big bats came against Ball State Saturday morning, when Louisville hit three home runs (Camryn Lookadoo, Madison Pickens, and Katie Thatcher). Lookadoo led the team with eight RBI on the weekend and tied with Easton Lotus and Chelsea Mack for the team lead in hits (7). 

The Cards will face Evansville this evening with first pitch scheduled for 6pm. Evansville is off to a tough start this season, as they're just 7-12. The two teams don't have a common opponent, as the Purple Aces' scheduled game against Ball State on 2/15 was canceled. The Aces are coming off their conference opening weekend, where they lost an extremely close series against Illinois State at home. The series was determined by just one total run with final scores of 2-3, 5-6 (9 innings), and 8-7. Louisville's 3-1 weekend brought their season record to 18-5. If they aren't receiving votes in this week's poll, a win tonight and a series win on the road against current #25 Clemson could get them there. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Not In the Cards -- Duke wins ACC Tournament 70-65 in overtime -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS RELINQUISH LEAD IN FOURTH QUARTER AND FALL TO DUKE

 Another ACC WBB Tournament...another Cards failure to take home the championship trophy. The #2 seed Cards vs. the #1 seed Blue devils and a 1 p.m. ESPN showcase slot on Sunday. 

Louisville fought the good fight for three and half quarters and found themselves leading #1 seed Duke 55-51 with 4:26 to play in the fourth quarter after a Mac Randolph jumper. The squads had just come out of a timeout and ten seconds later the Walz designed play worked to perfection.

That lead got cut in half but three minutes later...two Randolph free throws re-established the four-point lead at 57-53. It was too early, it turned out, to give this one to the Cards but it certainly was looking good for Walz's squad. 

Someone forget to relay the plot line to the Blue Devils. They regained the lead at 58-57 on a Nelson three and the Cards found their backs to the wall. But another drawn up play worked to perfection and Randolph continued her hot hands to make it 59-58 Cards with 23 seconds to play. It looked even better when Imari Berry went to the line for free throws with 14 seconds to go. Berry made one of two to set the tally at 60-58. All the Cards needed was a stop and they would be the tournament champs. 

It didn't happen. Duke inserted Delaney Thomas and Ashlon Jackson found her on a pass for a shot attempt with four second to play and Thomas tied the contest at 60-60. Louisville had four seconds for another possible game winner but Taj Roberts attempt was blocked. 

Hello overtime. 

The Cards had one lead in the extra five minutes, when a Ziegler three put them up 63-62 with 3:52 to go. Louisville did get back within two when Randolph got a putback to go to make it 67-65 Duke with 51 seconds to go, but could not score again. A Duke three by Nelson Riley with six seconds to go was the final score of the game Duke added the conference championship to their regular season championship with the 70-65 win.  

The Cards ended with four in double figures...Berry totaling 18, Randolph 17, Roberts 12 and Ziegler 10. Duke got four in double digits as well, with 19 each from Mair and Thomas leading the way. 

(Even though Fred was in red...not a beautiful day in the neighboood for Cards)

THE FRED REPORT 

FREE THROWS --  The Cards shot nine (incredible, right?) and made six. That's 66.7%and not good enough for a letter. Duke had twenty something attempts. No discrepancy here, right?

REBOUNDS -- Louisville was outrebounded 42-34 by  Duke. Randolph had 11 for UofL. No letter here,either. 

EFFORT/EXECUTION -- The Cards shot 43% for the game and made 7 out of 21 threes. They had 16 turnovers and had 26 points in the paint. A good effort until the end, but not a winning one. Rebounding is so important. The Cards were lacking. We'll award a small case "e" .

DEFENSE -- The Cards held Duke to 39% shooting, but gave away four point leads twice and it ultimarely cost them. Giving up five points in overtime in the last 2:25 isn't horrible, but it was a Louisville loss and I can't award a letter on that

FINAL FRED REPORT -_-_e_-

POST GAME JEFF WALZ AND MACKENLY RANDOLPH

 pauiie

Cards WBB headed to ACC Tournment Final -- Sunday Cardinal Couple -

 65-57 CARDS WIN OVER UNC LED BY BERRY. 

Write it down. Louisville WBB is headed to the 2026 ACC Tournament final to face Duke. The Cards got a huge lift from Clarksville, TN's pride and joy Imari Berry and got a courageous effort out of Elif Istanbulluoglu who returned to the game after seemingly spraining her ankle earlier in the contest. 

How do you feel about the transfer now, Nyla Harris? she only totaled six points against her former UofL teammates. 

The Cards got two threes from Berry to end the first quarter and they gave UofL a 16-10 lead. .UNC wasn't ready to start up the bus and go back to Chapel Hill though. They saw the Cards get to an eight-point lead but battled back and made it 26-24 with a little over two mnutes to play. Nyla Brooks was doing all she could to keep UNC in it, she got a tip in to make it 28-27 with 29 seconds until half and that's how the teams went to the midway break.  

The Cards and Heels played ping-pong with the lead to start the second half. There were seven lead changes in the first four minutes of the second half. Berry got the Cards up by four at 42-38 with 1:17 left in the quarter but Brooks cut it to two with a couple free throws. A Laura Ziegler three pushed the Cards to a 45-40 lead after three. 

If you thought the first three quarters were a rollicking roller coasted, in the words of Bachman-Turner Overdrive "You ain't seen nothing yet." 

BTO sings "You Ain't Seen Northin' Yet

The Cards jumped put to a 10-point lead in the first monute of the final quarter but UNC cut it back to six halfway thru the quarter. Just before that, Cardinals fans took a deep collective breath when Elif fell awkwardly on her ankle and crumpled to the floor. She had to be helped off the floor and was taken to the locker room. But, somehow... she returned to the game with 3:42 to go. 

Berry stepped up, though...and said "I'm not ready to go home" and hit two straight baskets to keep the Cards ahead 56-46 with 2:51 to play. UNC got a three from Nyla Brooks with 21 seconds to play to cut the Cards lead to five at 62-57 UNC had no option except to foul and Reyna Scott hit two free throws with 17 seconds let in the game and one charity toss from Ziegler with eight seconds to go set the 65-57 final score. 

So. Duke for the final on Sunday at 1 p.m.. It should be a classic, and ESPN will have the broadcast.  

(Photosmfrom Internet) 

POST GAME WALZ, E AND BERRY

Cards Crush Orange -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville to Face UNC in Semis

photo by Taris Smith | Louisville Athletics

Led by 17 points from Taj Roberts, Louisville had a balanced attack that saw six player finish in double figures to propel the Cards to a relatively straightforward 26-point victory. Louisville jumped ahead to a 25-12 lead after the first quarter and used a 25-14 fourth quarter to put the game away. Joining Roberts in double figures were Reyna Scott (15), Mackenly Randolph (12), Skylar Jones (12), Imari Berry (11), and Laura Ziegler (11). Syracuse got 22 points out of Uche Izoje, but it wasn't enough to keep pace with the Louisville offense. 

The Cards got off to a strong start in the first, hitting 11 of their 16 shots. They went 2-3 from beyond the arc, which was a mark they would go on to match in the fourth. Louisville's ability to score inside was evident, and they went on to outscore Syracuse 46-30 over the course of the game. Although it took three minutes for either team to score to open the game, Louisville scored the first eight points and led 13-2 with 4:39 remaining in the quarter. The Cards stretched their lead to 15 points at 21-6 and again at 25-10 before the Orange made a tip-in to close the quarter at the 25-12 score. 

The middle portion of the game was quite close, with the teams only separated in the second and third quarters by a combined two points. Syracuse used 53.3% shooting from the floor and a 4-4 effort from the free-throw line to win the second quarter 21-20. Louisville, meanwhile, failed to reach the free throw line in the second and went 0-4 from three point land as part of a 10-22 second quarter. Louisville came out of the locker room with a 12-point lead and managed to scrape together a 17-14 third quarter victory that didn't get the best of either team. Louisville made just six shots, though three were from beyond the arc, and they went 2-3 from the stripe. Syracuse managed to be worse, making just five shots with two of them being threes. 

photo by Taris Smith | Louisville Athletics

The fourth quarter sealed the deal, with Louisville eerily matching its output from the first, hitting 11 of 16 shots and going 2-3 from three. It wasn't a carbon copy, as Louisville only scored the first seven points of the quarter, but by that point the game was out of reach. The Cards salted the game away, getting exciting ACC tournament minutes for some of the bench players, and took their rest to prepare for their game today. 

Mackenly Randolph finished with a double-double for the Cards, adding 10 rebounds to her 12 points. Imari Berry and Skylar Jones were very productive, with both tallying five assists, at least five rebounds, and a block. Leading scorer Taj Roberts added four assists, three rebounds, and three steals. She and Jones tied for the team lead with 70% shooting on the day.

The FRED Report

F - Free Throws: This one was bad. Louisville didn't get to the line much, and they usually missed when they did. 4-10 from the stripe won't get it done in a close game, and it earns no letter.

R - Rebounding: Like points, Louisville spread their rebounds around. Randolph had ten, but four other players had at least four. The Cards won the rebounding battle 43-34, and while I want to knock them for allowing Syracuse to pull down more offensive rebounds, Louisville shot 56% from the floor, so they didn't have a ton of O-boards to get. From an offensive rebounding rate standpoint, Louisville was actually better than Syracuse, as they pulled down 30.3% of their missed shots while Syracuse had just 25%. Capital 'R'.

E - Effort/Execution: It's hard to knock a 26-point win over a team that finished with fewer than double-digit losses, but Louisville didn't play their cleanest game. They had 14 turnovers, which was more than Syracuse, and the free throws were abysmal. That said, they did shoot well overall and they closed the game as strong as they opened it. 14 turnovers isn't great, but it didn't bite them in this one. Louisville also remains relatively rested going into their second game, so I'll grant a Capital 'E'. 

D - Defense: Nine steals and two blocks is pretty nice. The Cards forced just one other turnover, though, which is less nice. That said, they allowed just 34.3% shooting and never trailed. In fact, by the time Syracuse finally scored their first basket, Louisville would never lead by fewer than they did at that moment (six). The Cards faced a seven-point deficit at the free throw line, but they only gave up four more attempts. They allowed just 61 points, in the end, so I'm going to have to say Capital 'D'. 

photo by Taris Smith | Louisville Athletics

Was I feeling generous? Maybe. But that's a final tally of _-R-E-D. That's a fun cheer for the Cards going into a semifinal gameday as the only red team remaining. That said, Louisville will likely need to be better today (and tomorrow) from the free throw line if they want to leave Atlanta with hardware. 

The ACC quarterfinals were a bloodbath. Top-seeded Duke actually had the smallest margin of victory, and that was still 14 points. The Blue Devils topped Clemson 60-46. Notre Dame completed a minor upset of NC State in a major way. The Irish won 81-63 and will face Duke at noon on ESPN2. Louisville's win was the largest of the day and the largest of the tournament so far. They'll face UNC following the conclusion of game one. UNC beat VT 85-68. 

The Cards and Tar Heels are scheduled to tip at 2:30 on ESPN2. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Day Two ACC WBB Tourney Results -- Friday Cardinal Couple

NOT ALL FAVORITES PREVAIL IN DAY TWO OF ACC WBB TOURNAMENT 

Day two of the ACC WBB Tournament. Where the Day One winners advnace to play the #5, #6 and #7 seeded squads and #8 and #9 meet up. Let's see what happened, shall we? 

#8 VIRGINIA 50 VS #9 CLEMSON 63

Clemson broke away from UVA in the fourth quarter to begin the day's action. This one was anyone's contest after three quarters...as Clemson took the first quarter 15-14, the second quarter 13-12 and the third quarter 15-13. 

The Cavs had a 36-33 lesd in the third quarter, but Clemson came back with a 10-3 run to lead 43-39 after three quarters. Mia Moore took over the fourth quarter for the Tigers with 10 points and Clemson advances to face #1 seed Duke today. 

# 5 NOTRE DAME 73 - # 12 MIAMI 64. 

Miami got "Hildagoed" today after advancing to day two of the tournament. She went for 25 points against the Canes and UND advances to day three to play NC State. 

Notre Dame broke out to a 16-10 lead in the first quarter, but the Canes decided to make it a battle and won the second quarter 18-15 to make the tally 31-28 Irish at the half. Notre Dame was able to push that lead to 55-50 after three and got the win with a 18-14 fourth quarter edge.

#7 SYRACUSE 70 - #10 CALIFORNIA 59 

Uche Cootchie Coo..she beat you...Bears...

The Cuse roared out to a 23-7 first quarter lead and never looked back against the Cal Bears in the third game of the ACC Tournament. Uche Izoje led the Orange with 23 points and added 10 rebounds as the Orange advance to face UofL tomorrow.

This one was 37-16 at the half and you had to wonder if Cal used up all their energy in beating Wake Forest . Cal did mount a bit of a rally after halftime and got back within 13 at the end of the third quarter, but Syracuse hugn on and won the final quarter 20-19

#6 VIRGINIA TECH 62 - #11 GEORGIA TECH 54

The host (kinda) of the 2026 ACC WBB Tournament has now been eliminated as Virginia Tech downed Georgia Tech by eight in the final evening session. This one started out all Bees, as they assumed a 17-7 end of first quarter lead The Hokies roared back, though and took the lead 29-23 at halftime.

Virginia Tech was still in control  37-30 in the third quarter but saw GT rally back and get within two in the fourth quarter, The key to the VT win? Maybe that they had a 24-5 advantage in points off turnovers. 

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

Today...four more game await. Clemson takes on #1 seed Duke, Notre Dame faces #4 seed North Carolina State. #2 seed Louisville gets Syracuse and #3 seed UNC gets Va. Tech. ACC Network has the coverage, staring at 11 a.m.  They do a "Nothing But Net" show at 10a.m. that is pretty good about previewing the games and catching you up with previous action..

paulie

Day One ACC WBB results -- Lax downs FSU -- Thursday Cardinal Couple

 Miami. California and Georgia Tech advance in ACC WBB  Tourney

A new ACC Tournament location but predictability in the first round action as #12 seed Miami, #10 seed California and #11 seed Georgia Tech survive to play tomorrow. A "thanks for playing, sorry... you aren't staying" to #13 seed Stanford, #15 seed Wake Forest and #14 seed FSU.

Here's how it went down.

Miami 83 - Stanford 76 

Miami and Stanford got the tournament going with an exciting first game that went to overtime before Miami got the win 83-76. The two teams went back and forth in quarter win...with Miami handily winning the first quarter 19-10. The Trees weren't ready to hp on the plane just yet, though and roared back with a second quarter 29-18 ten minutes to take a 39-37 lead at halftime.

Miami must ave gotten a heck of a halftime pep talk, they came out and outscored the west coast school 28-13. It looked like the Canes were going to rollover the Trees but Courtney Ogden and Hailey Swain came roaring back to tke the fourth quarter with a ferocious defensive effort, Stanford holding Miami to just five points while putting up 18. Ogden's layup tied the affair at 70-70 with 19 seconds left in the game and Miami could not get a shot off in their final regulation possession. Miami did not score in the final 6:21 of the quarter.

 In the overtime, Miami grabbed the lead and never surrendered it to win 83-76. Miami had three players score 20 points or more in Ra Shay Kyle (25), Gal Raviv (20) and Amarachi Kimpson (20). Stanford got 22 points out of Ogden. Miami advaances to face Notre Dame on Thursday. 

California 75 - Wake Forest 52. 

Would another "left coast " team bow out after the first day? In game two on Wednesday, the lowest seed in day one participants at #10, California and the highest seed #15 Wake Foret looked like they were playing "first team to 50 wins" . A dearth of ofensive firepower had the score at 11-10 Golden Bears. Samika Walker (yes, Samaki Walker's daughter) led the charge for the Cal squad, one of four in double figures with 17 points and the Bears finally came out of hibernation and controlled the second quarter 21-11 and went into halftime ahead 32-21. 

UC ersed ny doubt on which school was going to advance with a blistening third quarter and outscored The Demon Deacons 29-12 to go up 61-32. Wake did manage to win the final quarter, but the game was long over and The Tress weren't leaving (sorry) winning 75-52. They advance to Thursday to go up against Syracuse. Cal sank all 12 free throws they attempted and shot 45% for the game. 

Georgia Tech 72 - FSU 60

The Bees jumped out to an early lead over FSU in the third game Wednesday and won going away. This one was 22-16 after the first quarter and Ga. Tech led almost all the way in the thumping of Nole Nation.

GT increased the lead to 10 at the half at 39-29. FSU's 21 turnovers in the contest didn't do them any favors and was plagued by 38% shooting in the contest. FSU did win the third quarter 19-17, and was down by just eight, but could not drive past the Atlanta based Tech. 

La'Nya Foster led GT with 18 points and Erica Moon added 17 for the YellowJackets. Sydney Bowles had 16 in defeat for FSU. 

With the win, Georgia Tech advances to face #6 seed Virginia Tech Thursday. 

The games will be on the ACCN again Thursday, starting at 11 a.m ...with #8 seed Virginia facing #9 seed Clemson.  Following that one, Miami and Notre Dame go to battle at appox. 1:30 pm. Next, we'll see seven seed Syracuse facing #10 seed Cal at around 5 p.m and the evening ends with Tech battle..Gobblers vs Bees. tipping around 7:30 p.m.

What will we see tomorrow? The Cavs beat the Tigers by 10 in regular season play, I'd be surprised if Virginia does not advance. Notre Dame is primed and ready to released Hildago on Miami and I see UND moving to day three. Cal vs Syracuse is the toss up game in my reckoning...the Orange won a high scoring 90-87 contest in the regular season. Ending day Three action, is the Tech battle and I'm going with the homestanding GT to pull the upset over the #6 seed Hokies. VT won the regular season matchup, but Georgia Tech is the "home team"...so to speak... and I think the Bees sting the Hokies this time around. 

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

LAX ROMPS FSU 15-5 AT THE L.L.S.

Louisville was on fire early in this one yesterday and roared out to a 12-2 halftime lead over visiting FSU. The Cards (3-4, 1-3) got their first ACC win of the season in a romp on campus. 

The Cards had seven student-ahletes score in the win, led by Maggie McMahon with four goals and Ella Berg with three. 

OK, a noon start on a Wednesday isn't exactly going to fill the bleachers at Louisville Lacrosse Stadium and going head-to-head with the first day of the ACC WBB Tournament didn't help either. 

Nevertheless, the Cards got a crucial win that just might ensure they make the post season LAX tournament. The contest box score shows the match ran almost four hours..my guess there was there were lightning delays in the area or someone goofed up the stat reporting. 

Sorry, we had no one there to report of take photos. With no photographer currently on staff, we'd welcome any fan photos you all want to send us in the future.  

pauiie

First round of ACC WBB Tournament today -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 ACC WBB TOURNAMENT STARTS TODAY -- Wednesday Cardinal Couple

The first round of the Ally 2026 ACC WBB Tournament starts today. Or, the "roundhouse at the Gas House"...as I have also heard it referred to. Although I will not be in attendance this year, a myraid of health, political and trite confluences have me on the sidelines here in the Ville...I'll still be covering and watching it here at home via good ol' cable TV.  

TEN THINGS TO CONSIDER

1) The Cards dont play until Friday. They could face Georgia Tech, FSU or Virginia Tech.

2) The Cards are a #2 seed. Their chance to be a #1 disapered when Notre Dame beat them. 

3) It's the first year of the ACC Tournament in the Gas House Arena, formerly Gwinnet Arena, a comfy 13,000 seat arena in the Atlanta suburbs that I have visited once before, Purely my own opinion here, but they are crazy for leaving Greensboro. Tradition takes another kick in the shins. 

4) The #3 and #4 seed are UNC and NC State. Both are very capable of winnng the tourney,

5) ESPN 2 and the ACC Network are sharing the coverage. You're gonna see a lot of Deb Antonelli and Pam Ward. Fine with me. Both know the game like the back of their hand. 

6) If you can't watch, Nick Curran will handle the radio duties. 93.9 WLCL (Cards Radio )- FM and 970 WGTK - AM are the stations. 

7) Four different teams have won the tournament over the last four years. Ain't no UConn's in this league. 

8) Taj Roberts leads UofL WBB in scoring at 11.5 ppg. One of the super sophomores on the team.

9) Hannah Hildago should be named the ACC Most Outstanding Player of the year. She earned it.

10) Jeff Walz deserves Conference Coach of the Year, for the job he did with this squad. 

Enjoy the Tournament ! We'll have first round recaps and Thursday previews in the Thursday Cardinal Couple.  

paulie

Stage Set for ACC WBB Tourney -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Holds Second Seed

Despite the Cards suffering a third loss on Sunday, Louisville remained in second in the ACC WBB standings, and will carry the second seed into the 2026 Ally ACC Women's Basketball Tournament. The Cards had an opportunity to take the top spot, with Duke also dropping another game, but Notre Dame bested Louisville despite a furious comeback. The Irish themselves were trying to snag a second bye on Sunday, but they would have needed a bit of a miracle to finish ahead of NC State, who were playing Pitt. Pitt had already been eliminated from tournament contention. 

Joining the Panthers on the outside looking in are Boston College and SMU. BC finished a woeful 5-26 overall to go along with their 1-17 conference record. Pitt was also 1-17 but went 7-6 in non-conference play. SMU managed to win one more conference game and finished the overall season 9-21. It's tough to say anyone will miss those teams in Gas South Arena in "Atlanta" (Duluth), Georgia. The arena was originally called the Gwinnett Civic Center Arena

The event will get underway at 11 AM on Wednesday with #12 Miami vs #13 Stanford. There's not really a lunch break built in on Wednesday, as the games will go 11, 1:30, and 4. The 10-seed, California, will get the last team in, Wake Forest, though Wake was in before the final day of the regular season. The Demon Deacons finished 4-13, and Cal was the lowest team to finish .500 or better (9-9). The last game of the day is Florida State vs GT. FSU has taken a bit of a fall and finished the year just 5-13 (10-20). GT managed to finish 11th in conference thanks to some quirky tiebreakers. Despite just a 13-17 overall record, they finished above the two teams tied with them at 8-10, despite Miami finishing the regular season 16-13 and Stanford coming in at 19-12. 

We'll see who comes out of day one of the fray, as Thursday introduces three teams that received a bye, and two teams that got an extra day of rest. Game one on Thursday is #8 Virginia vs #9 Clemson, and the winner of that game will face top-seeded Duke on Friday. Both teams had a chance to improve their seed on the final day, but when they finished tied at 11-7, it wouldn't have mattered who was actually ahead since they were destined to play anyway. Notre Dame's fifth seed earned them the 1:30 slot on Wednesday, and they'll face the winner of Miami and Stanford. The Irish finished in another three-way tie, this one at 12-6. ND beat out Virginia Tech and Syracuse, despite both teams taking two more overall wins. Nevertheless, Syracuse came out and the back of the pack with the 7-seed and will face the winner of Cal and Wake. VT closes the evening at 7:30 against either GT or FSU. 

As I already mentioned, Duke will play the first game on Friday and has a better bead on their opponent than any other double-bye team. Arguably, though, they have the worse deal, as both of their potential opponents have the same amount of rest and have just two potential opponents to plan for. While those setbacks are true, chalk holding would mean Duke faced the lowest remaining seed in the tournament. NC State finished fourth and will play ND, Miami, or Stanford. Following the mid-afternoon break, Louisville will return to ESPN 2 (Duke will play the first game off of ACCN) at 5PM on Friday, where they'll face Syracuse, Cal, or Wake. UNC finished third and will close the evening against VT, GT, or FSU. 

The ACC will crown a champion on Sunday, with tipoff at 1PM. We'll see just who is playing in that game in due course. The Cards have shown plenty of capability to win against any team in the league, but they've also shown a surprising propensity for losing. It would be nice to be rolling into tournament play with a long win streak, but perhaps some late adversity will renew a bit of hunger in the Cards. Only time will tell. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cards WBB "Hildago-ed" by Notre Dame 65-62 -- Monday Cardinal Couple

 CARDS DROP REGULAR SEASON FINALE TO IRISH

There was a lot on the line in this one at the KFC YUM! Center. 

Louisville had a chance to tie for the regular season conference championship after Duke lost to UNC. Notre Dame had a chance to move up to fifth place in the final conferrence standings with a win. Over 11,000 fans packed the downtown arena on Senior Day to honor Laura Ziegler and Reyna Scott, the Cards two seniors. 

Someone forgot to tell Hannah Hildago this was Louisville's day. 

Hildago...Cards killer. 

The sophomore (yes, Cards fans , she'll have two more years to haunt the Cards...) went off for 30 points on the Cards, so the Cards enter the ACC Tournament that starts on Wedneday with a two round bye and will play their first game on Friday. Notre Dame gets a Thursday opening slot and will face the winner of the #12 and #13 seeds in the opener on Wdnesday.  

The Cards got of to a hot start in this one and led UND 9-2 in a low scoring quarter with three minutes left. That lead was 12-4 Cards with a little over a minute left in the quarter, after a Berry basket and free throw..but Notre Dame nailed a three. It was 12-7 Cards after one.  

Notre Dame came out strong in the second quarter and took the lead at 18-16 on a Hildago layup with 5:32 untll halftime. A Hildago three put the Irish up by five..thirty second later. The Irish increased that lead to 29-19 with 3:32 until half and two Hildago free throws set the tally at 31-19 with 2:54 until half. Two more Hildago free throw gave Notre Dame at 36-24 lead which took them into the half. It was a 29-12 Irish dominance in the second quarter and Louisville looked to be in potential serious trouble. 

The Cards weren't ready to roll over yet, though. They scored the first six points of the third quarter...capped by a Elif Istanbulluoglu jumper. Notre Dame was riding the quickness and accuracy of Hildago, though, and her two free throws made it 45-35 Irish with 3:03 left in the third. 

Then, the Cards finally realized they were a pretty good team. The sophomore class led the comegback with a Randolph three and a Roberts three and two Roberts free throws. That capped a 8-0 UofL run that made the score 45-43 Notre Dame. The Irish went on a 5-2 run to end the quarter but Louisville was back in it, trailing just 50-45. It looked like it was going to be 47-45, but "You-know-who" nailed a three at the buzzer. 

Louisville tied it in the fourth 52-52 when Reyna Scott sank a layup...and the Cards went ahead 55-54 on a Istanbulluoglu basket and free throw. Thirty seconds later, Randolph sank a layup and you had to wonder if the Cards were on a game winnng run. Notre Dame was not going to roll over and play dead, though. They tied it at 60-60 with 3:37 left and Hildago had the Irish's final five points..where the Cards could only get two Randolph free throws with 54 seconds left. 

Never a good thing to end the season with a loss, but the Cards now have five days to get ready for ACC Tournament play..facing either Syracuse, California or Wake Forest in opening day action. 

We'll look at the ACC WBB tournament bracket tomorrow. 

paulie