Louisville women's basketball -- 16-0 and a long way to go.

CARDS SWEEP 2017 

Paulie and Sonya at TaxSlayer Bowl

OK, technically they have lost in 2017, if we go back to the end of the 2016-17 season...but as far as the 2017-18 competition goes...they are unblemished. 

The road trip to start ACC play, one that caused a bit of consternation and white-knuckle time to close 2017 nevertheless was a success in terms of wins. Two tough trips, maybe too soon after the Christmas break, but two wins against two opponents that we'll probably see at the end of the year in the field of 64 for the NCAA Tournament. ACC wins are gold, no matter the margin or opponent and Louisville has accomplished that. 

We were fortunate to see both. The slow start against the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta that showed us why Asia Durr IS the best player in women's college basketball and the "what-appeared-to-be-a laugher-early" but ended up being a gut-check and fortunate win in Raleigh. Two schools not ranked in the top 25 but getting votes in the USA TODAY/COACHES poll and with a combined record of 23-4. Each unique in their method of getting a "W" and games that were still in doubt with 120 seconds remaining on the clock. 

This is the conference we are a part of. 

-- A conference that has gone 150-44 against non-conference foes. 

Held hostage by Mr. and Ms. Wuf !!

-- A conference that has 15 players on national award watch lists. The Wooden Award, Naismith Trophy, Wade Trophy, Nancy Lieberman Award, Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, Cheryl Miller Award, Katrina McClain Award and Lisa Leslie Award.  OK, maybe a couple of too many awards? And...of course...the prestigious Cardinal Couple Award, which will be awarded in a clandestine ceremony in a un-disclosed location at an undetermined date and time by a variable amount of Cardinal Couple staffers for a yet-un-named category and achievement.

-- Two espnW National Player of the Week honorees so far...Asia Durr (Nov. 20th) and Shkayla Thomas (FSU - Dec 4th.) 

-- Four teams in the Top 25 with #2 Notre Dame, #3 Louisville, #11 Florida State and #17 Duke. 

So, how are the Cards measuring up in the ACC Conference categories? The ACC tracks and reports on 19 team and 13 individual statistics. We'll close today's Cardinal Couple with Worldwide's favorite thing to follow and monitor...numbers on how Louisville is doing in ten of these 32. The numbers are through Dec 29th.

SCORING OFFENSE. Louisville is third with a 82.4 average through 15 games. On top is Florida State with 87.1. 

SCORING DEFENSE. The Cards are fifth allowing 56.5 a contest. Leading the league is Clemson who has held opponents to 51.2 in 13 games.  

SCORING MARGIN. UofL leads the league with a +25.9 margin of victory. 

FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE. Louisville atop the ACC with a .496 mark. They've attempted 936 shots and made 464. 

FREE THROW PERCENTAGE. Holy cow! The Cards are on top here with a .786 success rate. They've tried 271 and made 213. 

INDIVIDUAL SCORING. UofL has two in the top 30. Durr is #3 with 20.3 a game and Myisha Hines-Allen sits at #19 with 13.5 per outing. Lexie Brown (Duke) leads the way with 21.2 per contest. We'll see her in the KFC YUM! Center Thursday night. 

OMG! Walz's Christmas list has an ENTIRE
undefeated season! I just brought the 2017 part. 

HIGH POINTS PER GAME. Hello, Asia Durr! She's atop the conference with her 47 against OSU and also has the third place with her 38 against Georgia Tech. 

3 - POINT FG MADE. Have we mentioned Asia Durr in the stats columns yet? She leads the ACC with 45 threes...an average of 3.2 per game. 

ASSIST/TURNOVER RATIO. Louisville has two in the top five. Checking in at #3 is Arica Carter with 53 assists and just 22 turnovers for a 2.4 ratio. At #5 is Dana Evans with 67 assists and 32 turnovers for a 2.1 ratio. 

ATTENDANCE. The Cards lead the way! In 15 games, an average of 5206 have attended.  At home, an average of 6126 in nine games, which is second to Notre Dame's 6333 for five games. 

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The first reader who can correctly guess who in conference is #3 in total attendance average will be entered in our Panera Card drawing !!!!

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Everyone have a great second day of 2018! Stay warm and don't stay outside too long...it's cold out there (in the Louisville area) baby! 1 degree as I write this Tuesday morning. Hot coffee, please...


Paulie
xxxxx