Louisville women's basketball. 20 minutes of perfection leads to 65-36 pounding of Pitt -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS HOLD PITT TO 19.2% SHOOTING IN 29-POINT WIN

Energy abounded (at least for one squad) in the KFC YUM! Center Sunday afternoon in front of 11641 fans as Louisville women's basketball rolled out to a 14-0 start and won their 24th. game of the season over the Pitt Panthers 65-36.

Myisha Hines-Allen led an early-game charge with nine of Louisville's first 11 points and when Briahanna Jackson nailed a three with 5:27 left in the first quarter it was 14-0.

On a Star Wars theme-day promotion, the Cards definitely had the force with them. 

Louisville led by the embarrassingly large total of 27-6 after the first period and then proceeded to hold Pitt to only four points in the second stanza to take a 42-10 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Not even Darth Vader could have helped the Panthers in the first twenty minutes of this one...the Cards shot 16 for 25 (64%) in the first half, led the rebounding battle 26-8 and held Pitt to 4-27 marksmanship (14.8%). Hines-Allen had recorded 17 of her game high 25 points by halftime and Jackson had 10 of her 12. 

Kathleen tells Deb about the double technical

If there was anything at all to be concerned about, it was Cortnee Walton leaving after just six minutes of play for the locker room and returning with her pinky on her non-shooting hand in a splint and heavily tape. Post-game comments by Jeff Walz indicated they thought she would be ready to go by the Cards first ACC game on Friday. 

After the onslaught, Walz began trying a multitude of different combinations in the final twenty minutes...Pitt did outscore Louisville in the third quarter 14-11...benefiting from a 7-12 free throw performance. The score was 53-24 and the Cards had Taja Cole, Sam Fuehring, Dakota Weatherford, Hines-Allen and Briahanna Jackson on the court. 

The squads mass-substituted again in the fourth period. Louisville using everyone but Walton and Pitt playing 11 players. Erin DeGrate had five points, along with Asia Durr in the final ten minutes and Louisville's Sam Fuehring picked up three fouls (one a technical) in the first minute of fourth quarter play. 

No Card saw more than 31 minutes of play (Mariya Moore) and the freshman got an impressive 76 of the 200 minutes available. Hines-Allen was a lights-out 11-14 from the floor with 13 rebounds as well...Jackson went 5-7 and DeGrate hit 4 of her 6 shots to finish with nine points in 15 minutes.

HOW DID F.R.E.D. DO? 

Fred Potvin from Pitt...
she had no points in 17 min.

The Cards only attempted 10 free throws...but hit eight of them for 80% and that's A-OK with us. Hines-Allen was a perfect three-for-three and Durr nailed both of hers. We'll award a capitol "F" for that performance.

Rebounds were strictly "no contest"...Louisville with a decided 43-31 edge, even with Walton limited to just six minutes. We proudly award a capitol "R" in this category and wonder how large the margin might have been if Walton had seen 20-25 minutes...

Easy Shots seemed to fall very smoothly in the first twenty minutes but dropped off (literally) in the final twenty. Even though the Cards won the points-in-the-paint battle 34-8, Louisville did miss eight of their 15 paint attempts in the final twenty so we'll withhold the awarding of an "E" in this category. 

Defense. You have to ask? 10-52 shooting for Pitt and 18 Panther turnovers tells the story here. The capitol "D" ...no doubt about it. 

WHAT WE LIKED

Hines-Allen Authority. "The reason she's so successful is that she takes good shots." -- Jeff Walz. Although the premise and effect seems simple enough, it takes a talented and smart player to affect it and some pretty savvy assist-makers to ignite it. 25 and 13 today for MHA. We think ACC Player of the Week again, right? 

Twenty minutes of perfection. What a fun first half it was. The Cards were running, rebounding, passing, scoring and playing defense. Pitt actually took two more shots in the first half that the Cards (27-25) but Louisville made 17 of theirs, Pitt four. You have to love that efficiency.

Defense! Defense! Defense! When you stop the opponent from scoring, it dramatically increases your chance to win. Louisville did that for 20 minutes very successfully and didn't really stink at it for the final twenty. 

THINGS THAT NEED WORK

Something afoul. With Fuehring fouling out and MHA gathering four we would have liked to see a little bit less of the whistle blowing on the home squad. 15 did come in the second half after the game had been long-decided, though, so we can't be too perturbed. 

Turnovers. Hines-Allen and Jackson with five each and the Cards actually committed 22 for the game. High risk, high reward maybe...some of the UofL fast breaks looked like Lamar Jackson trying to hit James Quick on a flanker bomb in double coverage...but when you're up that much, getting "cute" once in a while should be expected, we guess. 

MYISHA AND DEB CHAT IT UP POST GAME

Another blowout win for Louisville and in front of another large crowd that was absolutely loving the action. A great way to end the regular season and go into the ACC Tournament. Was it Louisville's best effort in ACC play this year? Debatable...but nevertheless an indication that the train is rolling with no engine malfunctions (knocking on wood that Cortnee will be OK). 

March Madness beckons and Louisville women's basketball looks ready to answer the call and be heard from.

Here's your ACC pairings. Feel free to enter our free contest here, in our comments section or by e-mail. Sonja promises to have her picks in the comments section by midnight (busy watching the Oscars currently...) I'll take a little longer to publish mine. $25 gift card if you get the most picks right out of the 14 games. 

        Wednesday, March 2

Game No. 1 – Seed No. 12 Pitt vs. Seed No. 13 North Carolina, 1 p.m. (RSN)
Game No. 2 – Seed No. 10 Wake Forest vs. Seed No. 15 Clemson, 3:30 p.m. (RSN)
Game No. 3 – Seed No. 11 Virginia Tech vs. Seed No. 14 Boston College, 6:30 p.m. (RSN)

Thursday, March 3

Game No. 4 – Seed No. 5 Miami vs. Winner of Game 1, 11 a.m. (RSN)
Game No. 5 – Seed No. 8 Duke vs. Seed No. 9 Virginia, 2 p.m. (RSN)
Game No. 6 – Seed No. 7 Georgia Tech vs. Winner of Game 2, 6 p.m. (RSN)
Game No. 7 – Seed No. 6 NC State vs. Winner of Game 3, 8 p.m. (RSN)

Friday, March 4

Game No. 8 – Seed No. 4 Florida State vs. Winner of Game 4, 11 a.m. (RSN)
Game No. 9 – Seed No. 1 Notre Dame vs. Winner of Game 5, 2 p.m. (RSN)
Game No. 10 – Seed No. 2 Louisville vs. Winner of Game 6, 6 p.m. (RSN)
Game No. 11 – Seed No. 3 Syracuse vs. Winner of Game 7, 8 p.m. (RSN)

Saturday, March 5

Game No. 12 - ACC Semifinal No. 1, Noon (ESPNU)
Game No. 13 - ACC Semifinal No. 2, 2:30 p.m. (ESPNU)

Sunday, March 6

Game No. 14 - Championship Game, 12:30 p.m. (ESPN)

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SOFTBALL SLUGS BACK FOR 6-3 WIN OVER KENT STATE. 

The 'hit and pitch' Cards ended the Red and Black Classic with a huge 6-3 win over Kent State Sunday afternoon at Ulmer Stadium. Megan Hensley (7-1) gets the win by pitching three scoreless innings of relief for Maryssa Becker.

Down 3-0 going into the bottom of the fifth, Louisville pieced together a walk, single, double, triple and sac fly to take a 4-3 advantage. They bolstered the advantage in the sixth when Hensley drilled a shot over the left-field fence that scored her and pinch runner Jordan McNary.

Louisville (10-4) hits the road next for a Wednesday double-header in Nashville against Lipscomb.

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HEAR YE, HEAR YE! 

The Soundcloud rebroadcast of Saturday's CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR is at the link below.

LINK: THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR 2/27/16

Your Cardinal Couple ACC Pick 'em tournament entries can be left in the comments sections or e-mailed to cardinalcouple@twc.com

You have until Wednesday 1 p.m. to get your picks in. A $25 gift certificate to either Panera or Cracker Barrel awaits whoever gets the most games correct out of the 14. 

You can see Sonja's picks in the comments section.

Link to a printable bracket: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/pitt/sports/w-baskbl/auto_pdf/2015-16/misc_non_event/ACCTournament.pdf

Good luck! 

paulie
xxxxx