ACC WBB Tournament Begins... Lacrosse Hangs on at Vandy... WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

ACC Tournament First Round Begins


                          ************FIRST ROUND UPDATE************

Action from Wednesday ACC Women's Basketball Tournament included three games from the #10 seed to the #15 seed.

#12 North Carolina 69  vs.  #13 Boston College 64

The B.C. Eagles had a horrific shooting first quarter (15.4%) that eventually, in part, cost them the game against UNC. Down 15-6 after 10 minutes, B.C. also had no answer for UNC's Paris Kea, who totaled 10 of her 28 in the first frame. B.C. would battle back to be down just three (31-28) at the half and was within two at 51-49 after Taylor Ortlepp hit one of her seven threes but UNC responded with a 10-0 run after that and went onto the five-point win. UNC gets NC State tomorrow at 11 a.m.


#10 Georgia Tech 61 vs. #15 Clemson 52


An 18-4 start for the Yellow Jackets to begin the game was the difference, as GT went on to the nine-point win. Clemson climbed back into contention several times behind Kobi Thornton and her 13 points, but a 7-0 run by the Ramblin' Wreck to start the second half and 8-3 run to end the game kept the Tigers at bay. Tech got a strong effort from their bench (23 points) and Francesca Pan (18 points) to advance to Thursday action against Virginia tomorrow at 6 p.m.

 #11 Wake Forest 72 vs #14 Pitt 38

Wake was the third team today to come out guns firing and the Demon Deacs led 19-10 after the first period. Pitt only trailed by 10 at the half (32-22) but the Panthers lost their claws in the final session...falling behind 57-27 after three and taking the 34-point loss. I left this one after three to get a good night's sleep and do the recao back at the hotel. It was the largest loss margin in the history of the ACC Tournament. Yacine Diop had 12 first half points for the Panthers...but they were no match for Wake Forest inside. Jen's Hoover's Wake squad advances to meet Miami in the 8 p.m. final Thursday.

Paulie

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

The day has come for the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament.  To represent the folks here at Cardinal Couple we have Paulie on his way to Greensboro.  He will be there to cover all games from start to finish.

With their number one-seed Louisville has a couple of days to rest and study film.  They will face the winner of Syracuse and Virginia Tech.  Besides seeing our basketball team down in North Carolina, the cheerleaders, pep band, and mascot will be in attendance.

There are three games for the first round today.  Tournament play begins at 1:00 p.m. when 12-seed North Carolina faces 13-seed Boston College.  The 3:30 p.m. game features 10-seed Georgia Tech and 15-seed Clemson.  11-seed Wake Forest and 14-seed Pittsburgh will conclude the action at 6:30 p.m.

*** Paulie will update this article this evening with updates of the sights and sounds of Greensboro tonight.  I expect that we will be seeing a new photo of Ms. Wuf in the next couple days! ***

CARDINAL COUPLE’S ACC PICK ‘EM Contest

Back by popular demand is the Cardinal Couple ACC Pick ‘Em Contest.  With Paul out of town and Sonya unable to be the judge I have stepped in to help monitor the results this year.  Word on the street is that the winner will be put into a drawing for a $25 Panera Bread gift card.  Free food!

The rules and format are pretty simple.  Just pick the winner of each game.  All entries must be in by 1:00 p.m. today, the same time as tipoff of game one.  Here is an example of a good format to go with:

Jared’s Picks:

Round 1: North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest

Round 2: NC State, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Miami

Round 3: NC State, Louisville, Notre Dame, Florida State

Round 4: Louisville, Notre Dame

Round 5: Notre Dame

*Feel free to give abbreviations such as “UofL” or “ND’”, etc, especially if you are as lazy as I am.

Lax Wins on the Road in Nashville

Ally Hall and Madison Hoover each scored four goals in a win at Vanderbilt.  The Cards topped the Commodores in a high-scoring affair 17-15.

Tessa Chad and Caroline Blalock pulled off hat tricks.  Jillian Balog added a pair of goals and Julia Wood scored a goal.  Emily Howell finished with four assists as she helped corral the offense in an aggressive game plan.

Louisville raced out to a 6-1 lead before the teams traded goals for a while.  Vandy crept back into the game right before halftime.  Their goal with 16 seconds remaining in the half set the score at 10-7.

The Commodores scored a pair of goals right out of the gate in the second half to bring the game to a one goal affair.  The 3-0 run between the two halves were all scored by Vandy’s Kayla Peterson, who finished with eight goals.

The Cards pushed it to a 13-10 lead and eventually 17-11 with 7:37 remaining.  Vandy gave Cards’ fans a scare when the went on a 4-0 run to bring the score to 17-15 with just under two minutes remaining.  UofL played keep away to close out the game to secure the win.

Scott Teeter praised Hoover and Hall in their first breakout performances of the season, “Madison (Hoover) and Ally (Hall) were outstanding for us at the X. They made a lot of plays, a lot of one-on-one plays, they created, and they went hard.”

Teeter and his lacrosse team improve to 5-1 on the year.  The only loss came to the sole ranked opponent the Cards have faced this year, Denver.  Seven of their 10 remaining regular season games are against teams currently ranked in the Top 20.  The lacrosse poll only goes to 20 instead of the normal 25.  Otherwise Louisville would be sitting at #25 in the country as of this past Monday.

They return home to the LLS this Sunday at 1:00 p.m., when they host Notre Dame.  This could be one of two potential Louisville-Notre Dame match-ups on the day.  This one includes free admission and a food truck.  Come on out and cheer the women’s lax team on.

Enjoy your final day of February and Go Cards!

Jared

Louisville women's basketball -- Off to the ACC, Lacrosse goes to Vandy -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS PLAY FRIDAY 2 PM AS #1 SEED

Down to Greensboro we go, for the ACC WBB Tournament. 14 games in five days. 15 teams and 15 dreams. Some of them, considerable long-shots. Some of the teams making a cameo appearance for a day and then back to campus. Some possible upsets along the way and a conglomeration of players, different cities and mascots. The best conference in college basketball gets together to do battle.

All assembling and gathering in the Greensboro Coliseum to vie for the right to be the ACC automatic qualifier in the NCAA Tournament. From Beantown to the beaches and all in between.  

The Cardinals are the #1 seed and won't play their first game until 2 p.m. Friday against the winner of the Virginia Tech vs. Syracuse game that tips off Thursday at 2 p.m. By then, eight teams will already be eliminated. Let's take a preemptive look at the matchups and Paulie's guesses. 

WEDNESDAY

The 1 p.m. contest features #12 seed UNC against #13 seed Boston College. The Eagles won the previous affair 77-64 early in conference play and then lost 12 out of their next 13 games. It's a B.C. team that has freshman sensation Milan Boldin-Morris, Georgia Pineau and not much more. UNC knocked off Duke in Chapel Hill in late January and then dropped eight in a row. In this battle to break the losing streak, I'll go with UNC. Paris Kea is a huge threat anytime she steps on the court. Jamie Cherry and Janelle Bailey can burn an opponent, too. TarHeels get unstuck and advance. B.C. trudges back to Chestnut Hill with Baldwin the Eagle. 

3:30 p.m. brings the #15 seed Clemson Tigers to prowl against the # 10 seed Georgia Techsters.  Tech went into Clemson and won by 12 in the regular season matchup. Tech gave the Cards a scare, too, in late December at the McCamish Pavillion. Tech has Francesca Pan, Zaire O'Neill, Elo Edeferioka and a bench full of role players. I'm glad to see them as a #10 seed instead of a #8 or #9...because I'd be nervous if the Cards had to open up against them. Clemson has a top four football team and the ever-optimistic head women's basketball coach Audra Smith. I see the Ramblin' Wreck rolling on and Clemson shuffling back to South Carolina. Sorry, Arthur.  I'll miss the psychedelic-eyed Tiger. 


The final game of Wednesday is a 6:30 throw-down between #11 seed Wake Forest and #14 seed Pitt. It's the best matchup of the day, in my humble opinion. The Panthers lost to the Demon Deacs by nine early in ACC play but I'm thinking that the Pitt team we'll see Wednesday is better than that early version. Yacine Diop and Jasmine Whitney are serious ballers and Danielle Garven has better than average guard skills. They'll battle with a Wake Forest squad that needs three wins to get to .500 on the season and a team that has no clear leader...but an excellent coach in Jen Hoover and high profile scorer in Elisa Penna.  I call the mild upset here and pick the Panthers to move on to Thursday. 

THURSDAY 

Four games in a full day of hoop-de-do and some interesting possible scenarios. 

The 11 a.m. opener should be an in-state rival, if I've picked correctly with UNC facing N.C. State. Wes Moore was primed to be the #4 seed in the Tournament with his Wolfpack but Notre Dame ruined those dreams in the final day of regular-season action. Don't cry, Ms. Wuf, you'll get a win over that silly Ram and Sylvia Hatchell's crew, but this just might be the most exciting game of Day 2. The Wolfack won both regular season games against Carolina Blue and Chelsea Nelson, Kiara Leslie, Kaila Early and Akela Maize will make sure Ms. Wuf gets to hang around another day with Paulie. State over UNC but it may not be by very much. 

2 p.m. brings Syracuse and Virginia Tech to the court. The 'Cuse has superstar freshman Digna Strautmane and a great surrounding cast with Tiana Mangakahia (both radio announcer's nightmares), Miranda Drummond and Gabrielle Cooper. And the ubiquitous Coach "Q". Otto the Orange should be around for Friday action. VT will counter with Regan Magarity, Taylor Emery, Chanette Hicks and Alexis Jean...but I'm seeing one and done for the Hokies. Doubters can point to VT's win over Syracuse 73-64 at the Carrier Dome...but Syracuse is on a five game win streak and I'll say Syracuse continues the win streak and gobbles up the Gobblers.   

At 6 p.m. we'll see Virginia, the #7 seed most likely face Georgia Tech. A tough match up here. JoAnne Boyle's squad had a killer stretch late in the year with losses to Louisville, Miami and Notre Dame. The Cavs have a well-balanced squad, though, and won by six over GT in Atlanta. 6'9" Felicia Aiyeotan will need a big game (no pun intended) for VA if they are to advance. I'm going with the Georgia Tech mild upset here, though, and seeing the Yellow Jackets buzz their way into the quarterfinals with a win over Virginia. 


The evening's nightcap sees #6 seed Miami make their tournament debut against either Pitt or Wake Forest. They handled Pitt easily in conference play but stumbled early in the schedule to Wake Forest. I picked Pitt and the Hurricanes should storm past them. If it is Wake Forest on the other bench, you can expect a closer game. Miami, with Erykah Davenport, Mykea Gray and Emese Hof all making big contributions to Sebastian the Ibus's squad, should advance but this part of the bracket is a toss-up and I'll go with Miami advancing, but wouldn't be too surprised if they don't. Intriguing. 

THE REST OF THE WAY. 

We'll look at Friday matchups once we know them. I'll be adding to the articles the rest of this week with summations and results from tournament action after the completion of the games...so be sure to check back each night. I've left my picks in the comments sections, because...

CARDINAL COUPLE'S ACC PICK 'EM CONTEST.  

Yes! The Pick 'Em is back for another year and Jared Anderson will be reviewing the selections for us in 2018. No entry fee required. 

It's simple to play. There are 14 games. You pick each one in advance. You get a point if your pick wins. Most points wins the tournament and a $25 Panera Card. FREE PANERA! 


Leave your picks in the comments section today or tomorrow before 1 p.m. 

*************************ALL ENTRIES MUST BE IN BY 1 p.m. WEDNESDAY*************************

Here's a sample of picks, provided by the cagey Sonya: 

SONYA'S selections

ROUND ONE:  North Carolina, Clemson, Pitt
ROUND TWO: NC State, Syracuse, Virginia, Miami
ROUND THREE: Duke, Louisville, Notre Dame, Florida St. 
ROUND FOUR: Louisville, Florida St. 
ROUND FIVE: Louisville 

14 games, 14 picks. We've never had anyone pick all 14 correctly in the history of the Pick 'Em. Will you be the first? 

Remember....put your picks in the comments section today or tomorrow by 1 p.m. and make sure and give us a name if you win.  Tell a buddy, phone a pal...the Pick 'Em is here! 


LACROSSE TRAVELS TO VANDY

Louisville takes their 4-1 record south to Tennessee today to face the Vanderbilt Commodores in 4 p.m. lacrosse action.

The Commodores are 3-0 on the season with wins at Fresno State and Kennesaw St. and a home victory against Furman. They're a high-scoring squad, currently tied for first in DI lacrosse with Syracuse at 19.67 goals per game.  

The 'Dores participate in the Big East Conference for lacrosse (confusing isn't it?) and are receiving votes in the top 25 poll, like Louisville. They are led by Emily Mathewson's 14 goals. Kayla Peterson (13) and Julie Blaze (11) round out the double digit performers. 

Louisville is led by "Don't mes-sa with" Tessa Chad's 18 scores and "Sweet" Caroline "one of da Blalock sistahs" Blalock follows is 13. Jillian Balog has eight goals for Louisville and Julie Wood (from Annandale, NJ) has also found net eight times. 

Louisville leads the series 6-2 and earned a hard-fought win over Vandy last year 11-10 in the "Ellis"...the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium. 

Julia Wood knows of these ship-dwellers...she faced them last year and comments: 

"They are a quick team. They play like a bunch of midfielders and are all over the field but I think we'll match up pretty well against them." 



No TV for this one that I've found but you can follow the action on Facebook Live 
Go to facebook.com/VanderbiltAthletics for the action. 

And Statbroadcast. Go LAX! Turn the Teeter Terrors loose!



Paulie
xxxxx 

Louisville women's basketball -- CHAMPIONS

CARDS WIN OVER PITT 81-49 

Champions. 

It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? 

The University of Louisville women's basketball team won the ACC regular season championship yesterday afternoon by defeating Pitt 81-49 in the KFC YUM! Center in front of 10431 fans. 

It was a game where Pitt never led and the Cards pulled away by winning each quarter. Louisville got spectacular performances from the two players that were essential for the Cards all season. Asia Durr with 20 points (six three pointers) and Myisha Hines-Allen (18 points and 16 rebounds). 

UofL finishes the regular season at 29-2 and 15-1 in conference play. Atop the ACC, technically tied with Notre Dame, so it'll be called a co-championship by some. The Cards beat the Irish 100-67 earlier in the schedule, so Walz's Warriors will get the #1 seed in the ACC Conference tournament that starts Wednesday. 

Sam Fuehring also finished in double figures with 13 points and recorded a double-double with 12 grabs. 

From the beginning, this was the Cards game. An 8-2 lead early after a Jaz Jones layup. 18-6 when Dana Evans nailed a jumper and 20-12 after one when Hines-Allen took a Durr feed on a fast break and laid one in.

It is fitting that Durr and Hines-Allen were at the post-game presser. Hines-Allen, with a net around her neck, smiling and eagerly answering questions. That same Hines-Allen who ran around the Denny Crum Court holding the huge placard that advertised the title. 

Durr, happy and confident. The Asia Durr who hit another amazing three as time ran out in the third quarter to give the Cards a 61-39 edge over the visitors. They spoke of each other, of not being done yet. They'll get a couple of days to recoup, recover and reflect the win...Walz musing that he'd probably give them Monday and Tuesday off before preparing for the ACC Tourney.  

The Cards shot 52% in the 32-point win. Controlled the boards 40-24 and created 20 turnovers that led to 22 points. 

Champions. 

While the flood waters from the Ohio, engorged and angry...lapped at the 2nd Street flood gate, the palace was safe and the Cards ruled over the downtown arena, hitting Pitt like the torrent of water cascading southwest. A few slow stretches, yes, but never any doubt who was the dominant team on the hardwood. 

The Louisville women's basketball team has met one goal. One of three. Stay tuned. Like the rampaging water lapping at the KFC YUM! Center's foundation...the Cards are rolling on the river and will be hard to contain in Greensboro. Or back in Louisville, Lexington, Columbus...wherever they may meander and roam...

For a sports-infused city that needed some good new and positive print, it happened yesterday. A fitting way to send Myisha Hines-Allen off. 

Susie McConnell Serio, Pittsburgh's head coach, may have nailed it when she stood up to leave the platform after delivering her post-game remarks and fielding questions but made one last comment: 

"You've got great fans, a great team, great facility and great coach here. Congratulations"



Champions. 

LINK: WALZ DISCUSSES WIN

LINK: MYISHA HINES-ALLEN AND ASIA DURR POST-GAME


(Photos by Jared Anderson) 



THE FRED REPORT

Fred "Mr." Rogers. It WAS a beautiful
day in the neighborhoosdyesterday! 

Free Throws -- Louisville shot 10 and made seven in a game that, thankfully, wasn't dominated by whistles and stoppage in action. 70% is good, it meets our standards for a letter in the Fred Report, so we'll award it. We'll award the small case "f". 

Rebounding -- The adage is that you have to have the ball in order to score and Louisville cleaned the glass well with a +16 edge over the Panthers. Hines-Allen and Fuehring, in 56 combined minutes, out-rebounded the Panthers 28-24. No problem in awarding a capital "R" for UofL's grab-a-bility. 

Effort/Execution. The hustle stats went in the Cards favor. Forcing the 20 turnovers, winning second chance points 11-4 getting eight steals and dishing 22 assists on 33 made baskets. Walz wanted the squad to come out running and force the pace. The Cards had their track shoes on. I'll sprint right to it, we'll give a capital "E" and Arica Carter will dash down the court with it to get it to Sam, Asia or Myisha. 

Defense -- Beside Louisville allowing Yacine Diop (and wouldn't you just love to see her in a Cardinal uniform?) 18 points and Jas Whitney 16...UofL shut the Panthers down and allowed just 43% shooting. When you increase the lead steadily on a foe, it means that you're stopping what they do and Louisville did that pretty well for the most part. Let's dig out another capital letter and hand a big "D" to the champs as well. 

FRED RECAP  f-R-E-D


SOFTBALL WALKS HOME AGAINST HARVARD


In Louisville Softball's final game of the D-9 Classic in Orlando, the Hit and Pitch Cards walked by Harvard 4-3 yesterday. 

Literally.

UofL loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh and then drew two walks against Pitt pitcher Kathleen Duncan to capture their tenth win of the season. 

Down 3-2 going into the bottom of the seventh, the Cards final-a-bat started with Megan Hensley getting hit by a pitch, moving her to second on a sac bunt and then another walk and another hit-by pitch had the bags full of Cards. With two outs, Caitlin Ferguson drew a walk to force home the tying run and Jamie Soles "the New pride of New Egypt, New Jersey" worked yet another base on balls to plate the winning run. 

Danielle Watson picked up the win, retiring 11 straight batters in a five-inning stretch to improve her record to 8-3 on the season. 

Louisville finally gets a home game (weather permitting) on Thursday with the start of the Red and Black Classic. They'll face UAB, the first of four opponents for UofL over a three day stretch at Ulmer Stadium. 


Paulie
xxxxx

Lacrosse, Softball pick up wins, WBB faces Pitt today -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

LACROSSE SINK COASTAL CAROLINA 16-7

Ball reaches for a stop. 

The University of Louisville Lacrosse squad sunk Coastal Carolina 16-7 yesterday at the LLS with a game ending 5-0 run in a rainy match that pushed the Cards to 4-1 on the season 

Louisville got four scores from freshman Carolina Blalock and three other UofL laxers had multiple scores against the Chanticleers, who lost their opening match of the season and have never defeated the Cards. 

UofL started the match in very good fashion, getting eight goals from seven different players to build a 8-1 lead in the first half...but the visitors from Conway, SC  rallied for three scores in the final 2:30 of the first half...including two goals in the final minute...to cut the Louisville advantage to 8-4 at the halftime break. 

Cards score! The Cards score !!

"We definitely went over that. It wasn't the way we wanted to go into the locker room." Louisville Lacrosse head coach Scott Teeter commented after the contest. "It was a little bit of a breakdown for us and credit Coastal for making the plays. We'll obviously have to fix that and go in with a bigger lead." 

The late first half rally seemed to bolster the visitors psyche and approach toward the game as second half action began. They stayed within four goals of the Cards and were dsown 11-7 before Louisville went on the game ending run. Besides Blalock's four goals, Julia Wood and Jillian Balog picked up three scores for Louisville and Emily Howell picked up two in a reserve role. 

Blalock talked about her team leading performance: 

Coach Teeter reminds the ref where the field is. 

"My teammates created space for me. I listened to my coaching and finished my shots."

Louisville defense looked very good at times again in yesterday's contest. Goalkeeper Lexie Ball had six saves on the afternoon. The LouLaxers out-shot the CCU squad 33-16 for an impressive 48.4% and won the draw controls 16-9. 

The Cards travel to Nashville, TN next for a Thursday, Feb 27th. 4 p.m. match against Vanderbilt. 

Watch post game with Coach Teeter, Julia Wood and Caroline Blalock: 

LINK TEETER, WOOD AND BLALOCK DISCUSS WIN OVER CCU

(Lacrosse photos by Jared Anderson.) 


SOFTBALL TAKES TWO IN ORLANDO

Louisville Softball took both games yesterday in the D9 Citrus Classic yesterday with a five inning, 12-4 romp over Morgan State and 5-4, eight-inning victory over South Alabama. 


MORGAN STATE

Jamie Soles wielded the big bat for UofL in the game, going, scoring three runs and driving in two in the 12-4  five-inning, run-rule shortened affair. The hit and pitch Cards got a strong effort out of freshman Danielle Watson in relief -- she did not surrender a hit or run in 3.1 innings. 

Scoring was no problem for Louisville. They pounded the Bears for seven first inning runs, led by Caitlin Ferguson's two-RBI triple. MSU countered for three runs in the bottom half of the inning but Louisville added four more runs in the fourth...Soles' triple the big hit in the inning. 

Coach Peasall on the win: 

"We had the opportunity to get some of our younger players in to see what they were capable of doing and they did some very good things. By and large, I was pleased with our performance." 

SOUTH ALABAMA

That's a BIG dog! If you can identify what kind of
dog it is, we'll register you for a PANERA gift card!
First correct answer gets the entry. 

Megan Hensley was pitching perfection through 5 2/3rds innings with a no-hitter and the Cards pushed across the winning run in the bottom of the eighth when Maddy Newman was safe at the plate on a fielder's choice from Celine Funke in the 5-4 victory. 

Nicole Pufahl went 2-2 at the bat and Danielle Watson came in to pick up her second run of the day in relief for the Cards (9-4). Louisville led 3-0 until the Jaguars got to Hensley with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. The Cards took a 4-3 lead in the top of the sixth, with the bases loaded Ferguson was hit by a pitch which brought home Pufahl. 

USA tied it in the top of the seventh before the Cards captured the win with the bottom of the eighth. Coach Pearsall remarked: 

"We came out and did a great job in the beginning. I thought we were very pumped up. I though we did a great job of understanding who they were getting ready to play . Again, the thing that has been our Achilles' heel, we made a very crucial mistake in the game and a few more that followed.If you add walks to that equalizer, it ends up going to extra innings." 

Louisville returns to the diamond for their final game, a morning affair against Harvard at 9 a.m.

SENIOR (MYISHA) DAY FOR UOFL WBB

Myisha conducts an impromptu interview

It hardly seems that Cardinal front-liner Myisha Hines-Allen has been here for years. She'll be the lone senior honored today at 2 p.m. when the Cards face Pitt in the KFC YUM! Center to close out the regular season. 

I could write for hours about what the 6'2" All-American candidate has done in her career here but most of you probably have your own favorite "DOO-BLAY" remembrance or story. She's created a bucket-full of things to fondly reflect on  in her career and, hopefully, will add a few more chapters to the book that is Myisha Hines-Allen. Just a few of the many accomplishments: 

- 110 wins in her career

- One of two Cards with 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. 

- Fourth all-time in Cardinal scoring history. 

- 42 career double-doubles...tops in ACC history and second in Louisville women's basketball.  


It is hoped...maybe even mandated... that Cardinal fans  show up with huge numbers, despite the flooding in Louisville, to pay tribute and honor the paint prowler. She deserves nothing less. It won't be the last time she's expected to step on Denny Crum Court...the Cards will open the NCAA Tournament with (hopefully) two games at home, but the Montclair, NJ native has been a remarkable asset to a 27-2 Louisville team that is #4 in the nation and a legitimate contender for the FINAL FOUR in Columbus. 

Myisha often speaks about "senior moments". Today will be one of those unforgettable ones down by the river and when asked about what she'd say to the crowd in an interview earlier this week, she paused and reflected...finally saying she wasn't quite sure yet. There was a bit of crack in her voice and her eyes brimmed with tears. 

It's OK, Mooks. You've said quite a lot in your court performances over your time here at Louisville. A lot of things we'll all remember. 

Pitt comes into the game 10-18 and 2-13. They've lost their last five outings. They're destined to play on opening day of the ACC Tournament and it certainly isn't the season that Susie McConnell-Serio could have envisioned for her squad at the start of the season. 

Louisville handled the Panthers 77-51 in the Petersen Event Center back in mid-January and one would hope the Cards would respond in similar fashion today against the ACC's leading shot-blocking squad.  

I'll probably  get a little emotional today as well when they bring #2 out and we honor and laud her efforts over her career. I remember interviewing her via phone back when she was a high-school senior and about to commit to the Cards. A shy and hesitant Hines-Allen back then. To see how much she has grown is rewarding and a tribute to her work efforts and philosophy on life. Myisha goes out and looks to get the job done. No quit in her. Not afraid of hard work and quick to show her emotions and encourage her teammates. A leader. 

A champion.

Let's hope the rest of the Cards can mirror that and deliver a big win to honor and celebrate one of the best to ever don a Louisville jersey. 


Paulie
xxxxx













  


LACROSSE 

A Full Schedule -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Seemingly Every Sport in Action for the Cards

With only one article per week, I sometimes like to give my take specifically on a single sport or player. I enjoy examining something at length and I hope you enjoy reading those takes, as well. Other times, like today, Louisville's athletes have been busy, and they deserve to be recognized. For some, this is the source for Louisville women's athletics news. I may not always be the one breaking stories, but I can at least adhere to the service of providing information.

This weekend, I think every sport that is currently in season is competing. There was a full day of events and results yesterday, and one that is even more full today. Let's take a look at what's happening.

Softball - Louisville softball is busy yet again this weekend, this time back in Orlando. Like last Friday, the Cards played a double header yesterday. They had a strong showing against Lehigh, winning 14-1, in the first game, but the second game was not as successful. The Cards were unable to keep up with the offense of the South Carolina Gamecocks, and ultimately fell 5-3. Despite giving up five earned runs, the Louisville pitching staff made a bit of headway in the areas I've expressed concern. They gave up only a combined 3 walks, but Danielle Watson plunked three batters. Control remains an issue and it continues to bite the Cards. Louisville is back in action with another double header today, taking on Morgan State at 12:30 and South Alabama at 3PM. They'll look to pick up both wins.

Women's Tennis - Continuing their strong season, women's tennis has officially wrapped up non-
conference play. Yesterday, the Cards beat Eastern Kentucky and Austin Peay to complete their non-conference schedule at 9-1. They've already picked up 2 conference wins and will hope to improve on their 11-1 start to the season as conference play kicks into gear. They'll get a bit of time off before taking on the Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech next Sunday.

Track and Field - The track and field teams are currently competing at the ACC Indoor Championships this weekend, and are having a great start. After two days of competition, the women's team currently LEADS while the men's team sits in second. The field competitors had a great day yesterday and were joined by successful runners. With one day remaining in the competition, both teams will look to maintain, or improve upon, their standings.

Swimming - Also in ACC action are the swimming and diving teams. The men's championship has been ongoing since Wednesday, and wraps up today. The Cards are 418 points back of first place NC State, but 178 points clear of third place Notre Dame. A strong final day likely doesn't win the meet, but could leave the Cards with a strong finish. The women's team wrapped up their ACC tournament last week but begin the championship qualifying meet today. The event runs through tomorrow and the diving portion of the NCAA tournament begins on March 8th.

Lacrosse - After a dominating win over Butler on Thursday, the lacrosse team is back in action today, weather permitting, against Coastal Carolina. The Cards defeated the Chanticleers 13-6 on the road last year, but they return a mostly new team and a new head coach. If the thunderstorms hold off, the new look Cardinals will see if they can repeat success at home at 12PM.

Basketball - While the women's team continues to impress, and wraps up their regular season
tomorrow afternoon against Pitt, the men's team is fighting for their postseason lives. Louisville almost assuredly needs to win two out of the last three, and they'll get their first chance today at 1PM at Virginia Tech.

It's senior (Myisha) day Sunday. Roll out to give her the love she deserves, please. 

Baseball - The Cardinal 9 opened their first home weekend series with a dominating victory over Youngstown State yesterday, shutting out the Penguins en route to an 11-0 win. The second game in that match-up will get underway at 1PM today, provided that the weather doesn't have anything to say about it.

Good work, Case! Have a slice! 

So there it is! Your Saturday morning wrap-up. I hope you're all ready to get this weekend chock full of Cardinal sports underway. Things may be "dark" at the University, but remember that there are hundreds of student athletes that relish in the support they get from the Louisville faithful. Don't give up on all these wonderful young men and women.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

After last week's unfortunate cancellation, we are back on the air this morning from 11AM-12PM.
Jeff is out this week, but Paulie, Jared, and I will be joined by Paige Sherrard as we all brave the floodwaters to head toward Mellwood Avenue. We've been assured that the floodwaters haven't reached the studio, so we'll carry on. Last week snow, this week floods. It's almost as if the weather doesn't want you to do anything but stay inside and listen to WCHQ FM! Catch the show on 100.9FM, wchqfm.com, or the WCHQ App.

We'll also be on Facebook Live. That should be interesting. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

WBB and Lacrosse Win for Paulie... Softball Hits the Road... FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Women’s Basketball Closes in on Conference Championship

One game.  That is all that stands between Louisville women’s basketball and their first ACC regular season championship.  After their 51-39 victory over Virginia the only team left on the schedule is Pittsburgh.

The Cavaliers/Wahoos (your choice of nickname) gave the Cards all they could handle.  It turned into a defensive battle as neither team could find an offensive spark.

“Nite-Nite” played the most minutes on the team despite having a minor injury.  Her 13 points also led the team.  Jaz Jones (10 points) was the only other Cardinal in double-figures.  Doo-Blay had a quiet night compared to normal.  She finished with seven points, eight rebounds, and team-highs with four steals and three assists.

The Cards capitalized from the free throw line, connecting on nine of their 10 attempts.  Everything else on the stat sheet was rather subpar.  51 points is quite a bit below average.  The 15 turnovers are higher than the dozen Coach Walz allows per game.  The eight assists were on the lower side this season.

J-A-R-E-D Report

J- jump shots: 19-for-50 (38%) is not terrible.  Many early shots would not fall.  Asia had some trouble even hitting rim tonight.  Sam did not make a shot and Myisha shot poorly on her deep two’s.  4-for-14 (28.6%) Behind the three-point arc was not impressive.  Nothing higher than a lowercase “j” can be awarded.

A- assists: Eight assists will frustrate coaches.  Part of the low number of assists goes back to the poor shooting percentage but the Cards had nearly twice as many turnovers as assists.  The guards contributed to only half of the assists count.  Better passes and better shots will get that number up, but it sits at a lowercase “a” for this game.

R- rebounds: Louisville got outrebounded 37-33.  In my book it is unacceptable to get outrebounded.  The poor shooting percentages by both teams left the door wide open to haul in rebounds.  Coach Walz’s squad had no players in the double-digits on boards- a rarity.  No letter can be awarded here.

E- effort: Things just seemed slow.  Communication was bad.  Passing was bad.  Shooting was bad.  Rebounding was bad.  But the defense looked good.  Full court pressure caused problems for the Cavaliers.  Effort was not 100% but they hustled on the defensive side of things so a lowercase “e” is given.

D- defense: Virginia managed 39 points in the entire game, an average of less than 10 points per quarter.  Louisville’s defense surrendered six points in the second quarter and eight in the fourth.  Walz administered a full court press for a majority of the game and disrupted Virginia’s struggling offense, resulting in 21 turnovers.  Holding an opponent to such a low number can almost always guarantee a win.  Capital “D” without a doubt.

“j-a-_-e-D.”  Yikes.  It’s a win but at this point in the season I expected better.

POST GAME WALZ: JEFF WALZ AFTER BEATING VIRGINIA

POST GAME PLAYERS: ASIA DURR AND ARICA CARTER POST GAME VIRGINIA


EDITOR NOTE: 

I have just returned from the Friday UofL WBB presser that had Myisha Hines-Allen and Jeff Walz.

Here are the links for listening:

MYISHA

JEFF WALZ

Lacrosse Blows by Butler

In their second road contest of the season the lacrosse team claimed a win at Butler 20-4.  After falling to Denver pretty badly last weekend the Cards rallied and responded to coaching. .

Caroline Blalock and Alex McNicholas had four goals each.  For McNicholas it was her first scores of the year.  Tessa Chad pulled off a hat trick.

Nine different players scored on the day, one shy of the 10 from the regular season opener.  The past two games relied heavily on two or three scorers, but this game showed the depth on offense.  Having several players with the ability to score makes the life of opposing coaches difficult.  Gameplanning against an entire team of scorers is no easy task.

Lexie Ball allowed four goals while recording nine saves to claim the win.  After seeing a combined 15 minutes in two games in the 2017 season Ball has stepped up to the plate this year.

The sticks move to 3-1 on the year.  They get to return home to the LLS to host Coastal Carolina on Saturday at noon.  The folks from the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour will rush over as fast as they can following the conclusion of the weekly radio show.

Softball Visits Orlando Again

The Louisville softball team returns to Orlando for the D-9 Citrus Classic 1.  They have two games today: Lehigh at 10 AM and South Carolina at 12:30 PM.

Unlike the previous mini-tournament in Raleigh this one features different opponents each game.  Morgan State, South Alabama, and Harvard are also on the schedule this weekend.

Megan Hensley and Danielle Watson have been the main pitchers in the circle, although Kyra Snyder has seen some playing time as well.  Caitlin Ferguson and Alison “Mike” Szydlowski lead the team in batting average, both having high success on offense early on.

I hope to see more home runs and RBI’s this weekend.  Jenna Jordan is on top with two homers while Nicole Pufahl and Hensley both have one on the year.  The baserunners have been there.  Now it is time to bring them all home.

The Cards have their home opener on Thursday.  If you have not been to a game yet come check them out and join the cheering section.  We sometimes get free peanuts and M&Ms.

It sounds like Pauline had a pretty good 21^st birthday yesterday.  WBB and Lax won and he got to go to bed knowing softball starts this morning.  Make sure to send him some belated birthday wishes if you have not yet!

Enjoy your Friday and weekend!  Be sure to tune in Saturday morning to hear Paulie, Case, special guest Paige Sherrard, and myself in the studio.  Worldwide will be back with us next week.

Go Cards!

Jared