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!!

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Louisville women's basketball chills South Florida 67-50 -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


HINES-ALLEN DOUBLE-DOUBLE DOES IN BULLS


Over the course of the 2015-16 Louisville women's basketball season, we've come to expect great things out of Myisha Hines-Allen and Mariya Moore. Monday night in the KFC YUM! Center was no different, Hines-Allen going for 25 points (on 10-14 shooting) and grabbing 10 rebound and Moore with 19 points and three threes. 

The third factor in Louisville's win was a bit unexpected but definitely welcomed 15 points from sophomore guard Arica Carter. When asked about the effort, Carter was matter-of-fact about her performance:

"When I was open, I took the shots. My teammates have confidence in me all the time and tell me to knock it out...so I knocked it out." 

Louisville battled the Bulls closely in the first period...leading by no more than three. A Hines-Allen layup gave the Cards a 7-4 lead with 7:17 to play and her jumper made it 11-8 Louisville at the five minute mark. Her eight first quarter points led Louisville to a 13-12 edge...a quarter where neither team shot especially well...at 33% each.

The second period was Moore's time to shine...along with Carter. The duo combined for 16 of Louisville 18 points in the second stanza...but the Cards found themselves trailing 22-27 after a Kitija Laksa jumper with two minutes remaining. Carter responded with a jumper, Moore sank two free throws and Carter finished the 9-0 run with a layup and three with three seconds left off an assist from Moore. It was 31-27 and the Cards had taken nine USF turnovers and turned them into 10 points. 

Hines-Allen and Carter combined for 19 of Louisville's 21 third quarter points but Louisville started the second half slowly and the Bulls crept back to within two at 38-36 after a Laksa jumper after 3 1/2 minutes of play. Hines-Allen scored the next seven Cardinal points and a Carter three pushed Louisville to a 48-41 advantage with 2:22 left in the third. Cortnee Walton sank a jumper with less than a minute to play to extend the UofL lead to 52-43 after three periods. 


Neither team shot especially well (or over 30%) in the final ten minutes...but Louisville steadily increased the lead as time wound down. A Moore three made it 64-49 Cards with 4:53 left and Asia Durr's trifecta with 1:49 to play cinched the 67-50 final score. The Cards went 5-9 from the free throw line in the final ten and forced seven South Florida turnovers. 

HOW DID FRED DO? 

FREE THROWS. Louisville was 11-18 from the line (61%) and does not receive a letter here. Only five Cards attempted free throws in the contest...Moore 4-5, Hines-Allen 5-6, Walton 0-2, Carter 1-1 and Jackson 1-4. 

REBOUNDING. South Florida ended with a 39-34 edge in the battle of the boards. Alisha Jenkins nabbed 13 and Courtney Williams pulled down 10. Despite Hines-Allen's 10 and Walton's nine...no "R" gets awarded for grabs. 

EASY SHOTS. Louisville won the points-in-paint battle 22-14 against the taller Bulls and missed just one layup in the first half. Going 6 for 10 in the paint in the final twenty minutes warrants we award a capital "E" in this category. There weren't many of the rim rollers and bounces beneath the backboard tonight for Louisville, and that's encouraging.



HOWIE LINDSEY CAPTURES ME, SONJA, TREZ
AND PAUL BUNYAN ENJOYING THE GAME.
DEFENSE. South Florida finished at 39.3% (22-56) for the game and only 3-14 from three point range. Williams did get 25 points...but it took her 25 shots to get there. With 20 turnovers forced and no other Bulls in double figures...we'll award the capital "D". The Bulls were averaging 75.8 points per game and ended up with 50.

WHAT WE LIKED

Putting them away. When the fourth quarter rolled around the Cards closed the door on a top 25 opponent. They did it with defense and playing smart basketball. Louisville had no turnovers in the final 10 minutes.

Hines-Allen hierarchy. Another strong game for the Louisville sophomore. Her foul-line jumper has become almost automatic and she kept the fouls to just three tonight. You can see it in her face, she's having fun out there...

Welcome back, Carter! It's only fitting on Presidents Day that a Carter won in a landslide. Aggressive and confident, Arica impressed us by her effort Monday. Even Sonja remarked that she looked like a new player last night. Four more games! Four more games! The people's choice! 

WHAT NEEDS WORK


MY EXCLUSIVE SHOT OF THE BACK OF TREZ
AND PAUL BUNYON's HEADS
More Jackson Satisfaction. The ball wasn't dropping for B.J. tonight (0-10) but she did have four steals. The answer, I suppose is just keeping shooting...the shots will come around but it was a rough night against her hometown school for #23. Keep plugging away, B.J. Shooters gonna shoot. 

Asia's influence. The talented freshman has only scored 11 points in her last three games. Nearly a season low with just 12 minutes tonight...she's in a bit of a slump offensively.

SYNOPSIS


Referee Bryan Enterline turns his back on me. I guess
he found the LadyBirds slightly more interesting...
South Florida is a very good team and Williams and Jenkins could start just about anywhere in the country. For Louisville to take a 17-point win over them on national TV is a boost for the Cards as they roll toward the post-season. 

There were a few rough patches in Monday night's win...but the continued excellence in performance from the M&M girls and the resurgence of Carter were positives to build on as the Cards reach their 20th win of the season.


The momentum needs to carry over to Thursday night...when Virginia comes to town. Louisville wants...Louisville needs that top four ACC finish in the regular season and a two game road trip faces Walz's bunch next week. Performances in the final four regualr season games like the one turned in against USF would pretty much ensure the Cards would finish 15-1 in conference...and establish Louisville as a reckoning force in the post season.

Two successfully completed from the six pack. Time for the Cards to crack another one wide open, hopefully, when the Wahoos wander in.

paulie
xxxxx 






25 comments:

  1. What a great game for Arica Carter to get it going. It's been discussed on this site that one of the two point guards need to step up and own the position. Looked like Carter made her claim on it last night.

    -- The Real Joe Hill --

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She was impressive, no doubt. This was a team effort last night. Walz had substitutions at a minimum...maybe preview what he plans on the rotation being for post-regular season. USF is a very good team. They were ineffective against the Cards last night, though and Carter was one of the main reasons why.

      Paulie

      Delete
  2. Missing Paulie and Howie on 93.9 this morning. Markus Mayban is an a$$ and a loudmouth.

    Curtis Franklin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Agreed. Shut up, Maybin. FWIW, Paulie did call in and attempt to talk about the game and the station (or Maybin) cut him off after one minute. SMH. A breying jackass at 11:30 a.m. is no way to end a morning.

      Delete
    2. In all fairness, I did do The Howie Show Monday with a preview of the USF game and other UofL women's sports. Marcus was on a roll and wasn't engaging with any of the callers very much.

      Paulie

      Delete
    3. OK, fine but did you notice that they stripped all of Howie's music, no mention was made of why he wasn't there and Maybin said he'd be in tomorrow. Not trying to start any conspiracy stuff at all but is there something going on? Great game last night and good win. My 5 yr. old was extremely mad that she had to stay home with Grandma last night because of the late start but the wife and I were able to have an extra beer at the game. L1C4!

      Nick O.

      Delete
  3. Charlie Creme's latest bracketology has the Cards as a #3 seed and playing UT Martin or the OVC winner in round one. After that,he has Louisville playing either Tennessee or the MAC winner.

    Great. Exactly what the Cards need, especially after all this Walz interested in Tennessee blarney. Paulie, shed me some insight?

    Blue Lou

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Word from an undeniable source is that Howie will be off the air for a couple of weeks and then returning to the airwaves in a new role.

      Paulie

      Delete
    2. And what is up with Howie?

      Blue Lou

      Delete
    3. 840 WHAS has never been the same since Fred Wiche's gardening show went off the air. Just sayin'. Howie and a trowel. I can see it.

      Paulie

      Delete
    4. Whatever. Congrats to Howie. Please don't bring in Maybin or Demling to replace him tho

      Delete
    5. Only if Howie is using the trowel to dig a spot for Rush's show!

      Delete
  4. Jenkins has only two points last night. Paulie, you need to give the D in Fred five capital letters.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey, guys. A good friend of mine who follows Lady Vols basketball very closely is saying that the Vols have a big interest in Walz and money isn't an object. Any word on this?

    *Card4ever*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OMG! Everyone run to Iroquois Park and hire under a sapling! Let me get this straight...a good friend of yours who FOLLOWS Lady Vols basketball told you this? Wow! A GOOD friend, right?

      Well, that's it. Abandon your Louisville WBB season tickets and hook up with Bellarmine hoops, friends. Walz is gone.

      Allow me to be a "Barney Fife" here and nip this in the bud. Jeff Walz has publicly stated more times than I've driven the Snyder Freeway that Louisville is his job until he retires or the program no longer wants him. I'm pretty sure those statements weren't garbled non-sequiturs offered at a pig roast. Drowning rats in Knoxville grabbing for sticks in a flooded stream, I say, this poppycock about Walz and Tennessee.

      Never say never, though. I could win the Kentucky Derby this year if I were a three year old horse. If UT appeared on his doorstep with a 3 million dollar check, keys to the Mayor's office in Knoxville, blueprints for a 30,000 seat facility named the Jeff Walz Civic Center and the lead singer role in a reformation of The Beatles...he might have to think about it.

      The arrogant, self-perceived superior notoriety of some Lady Vols hoops fans is sad. News flash! Tennessee is no longer the grande dame of women's college basketball. The Vols may need a new coach, some better players and someone to replace the aura of Candace Parker that still hangs around like a dilapidated ghost in a Spanish castle...but Jeff Walz isn't the answer. Go find yourself, dear UT...a young guy or gal with a proven track record at a mid-major who is dedicated to recruiting and player development as Walz and his staff are, hire this person and give it a few years to jell and develop. someone that is hungry, humble and LOOKING FOR A BETTER JOB.

      If the clique-based UT fan base will allow it...that is. While the vast majority are secretly hoping that Pat Summit will recover from Alzheimers and magically take control of the program again...we here words from UT fans like "one of ours" and "someone who understands the tradition of the program" as what the Vols need in their coaching lead. Fine. Hire Tipper Gore or Dolly Parton. And, Holly WAS one of yours! This is rapidly turning into a Three Stooges routine in Knoxville. Bring in Bubba from UNC and stage a NASCAR event around it.

      Seriously, wouldn't you think UT would have had enough of Louisville hires? Need I remind the Vol faithful of the failed Wade Houston and John Shumaker experiments?

      I'd have to put any chances of Coach Walz being interested in UT up there with Erin DeGrate drilling back to back threes from halfcourt against Virginia on Thursday and our Commonwealth changing the state bird from the Cardinal to the vulture.

      Ain't gonna happen.

      "They swing at the known, the proven -- trying to bring them down to their level -- these saddened masses of despair and futility. They want what they cannot have, they try to take what is unavailable and they curse the very method that they employ. They are the land of the former and legions of the lost and there is no road map for them to find their way to a successful journey's end" -- Author Unknown

      Paulie

      Delete
    2. That is a damn fine quote, Paulie ! Where did you come up with it at?

      Delete
    3. I used to write down ideas I had and quotes I liked in a journal years ago. That was one of them but I didn't write down who said it or if it was one of my own.

      Paulie

      Delete
    4. So to recap here I guess you are thinking Walz might be staying put?

      Delete
    5. Yep. Unless I wake up tomorrow as a three year old horse in Baffert's barn

      Delete
    6. Can't fault Tenn for trying to get Walz if they are

      Delete
  6. Barrett Sports Media is reporting that Howie is moving over to 790 WKRD to host another attempt at a morning sports show.

    Curtis Franklin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good for him! Deener lost his mojo when Jared Stillman left.

      Nick O.

      Delete
  7. Either that or he'll be my jockey in the Kentucky Derby.

    Paulie

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anyone have a pick for freshman of the year across WCBB at this point? Mine is Kristie Anikwe center for Cal rated 10-18 depending on service. I heard a guard at Marquette was playing lights out

    ReplyDelete
  9. Angiwe would certainly be a top five consideration...despite Cal's less than impressive season. Stephanie Watts at UNC has done some great things. I'm going to throw our own Asia Durr out there as a possible as well. Katie Lou Samuelson at UConn could be an outside contender there.

    Paulie

    ReplyDelete

Please leave your comments here. We ask you be respectful of other posts, no matter how ridiculous they may seem to you. After all, it is CARDINAL COUPLE.

Any attempts to advertise a product or other website here in the comments section without the prior consent of CARDINAL COUPLE will result in a bill rendered for advertising services and possible legal action. We're serious. No more bots.

Now, have your take...