Louisville women's basketball -- Back On The Bike for Cards -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

LOUISVILLE WBB AT BOSTON COLLEGE TONIGHT

I recently had a chat with a younger friend of mine. Married now, with a young daughter, he was relaying to me the story of teaching his daughter to ride a bicycle. They started with training wheels and, once that prelim was successfully negotiated, the next step was going sans the stabilizing attachments.

The first attempt did not go so well. Right after he let go of her and the bike, she went down. No injuries, just a bruised ego and a bit of trepidation to try again. He let it rest for a few days. Calmly listened to her pleas to put the training wheels back on. Finally, it was Round II. This time he stayed with her longer and didn't tell her when he actually was going to let go. He just gradually released her and continued to run along side her. Success, success! 

Now, he can't get her off the bike. It's a story we all can relate to and it mirrors what the Louisville women's basketball team has to do tonight. Get back on the bike. 

The sidewalk or parking lot is Boston College. The Eagles are the challenge...the bike with no training wheels. Their season has seen its share of crashes into the sidewalk that is the ACC, with a record of 2-10 in conference and 7-18 overall. They recently ended a nine-game losing streak with a 72-61 win over Pittsburgh on Sunday and they own another double-digit win earlier in conference over UNC. 

That 2-10 record keeps them out of the ACC cellar...Clemson still occupies that view with just one win...but the 7-18 mark is the worst overall record in the ACC. 

Jeff Walz will tell you that all conference games are important and that you can not overlook or by-pass scouting or preparing for any opponent. He's also probably had his share of taking his kids off training wheels and guiding them out into the sidewalks and parking lots. The UConn game is past, gone...history. It is time to get back on the bike and ride. 

I vaguely remember my first attempts to ride. I think my Dad pushed me into a pond and my brother threw rocks at me. Mean streets, tough neighborhood...

EAGLES TO WATCH: 

-- B.C. has three student-athletes scoring in double figures... Milan Bolden-Morris (13.0), Georgia Pineau (11.6) and Taylor Ortlepp (11.2). The Eagles average 58.9 points per game (14th in the ACC) and allow 67.2 (13th in the ACC). That -8.3 margin is 14th. in the ACC. 

-- Bolden-Morris has been awarded the ACC Freshman of the Week award three times this season. She's sunk 70 trifectas for the Chestnut Hill squad, which is third in the ACC. 

-- Pineau is the glass cleaner, averaging 7.3 grabs a night....good for 11th in conference. She's a sophomore from Australia. 

-- Ortlepp is another Aussie that  plays point guard. She put in 19 against Virginia Tech and UNC. 

(Maybe Coach Walz should have called Sydney Flames great Asia Taylor to handle the scouting report on these two...) 

Baldwin is the name of the Eagles mascot.
No relation to Alec or a Baldwin I used to
date, I'm presuming...

-- Andie Anastas is a graduate student that played hockey for B.C. from 2013-17.  If there is any muscle needed underneath the boards or an "enforcer" my guess is she'd be the one that head coach Erik Johnson would summon from the bench. Keep an eye open on press row and first row seats in Conte Forum tonight for cross-checks and glass slams...

B.C. enters the "murderer's row" part of their schedule with Louisville, Notre Dame and FSU back-to-back-to-back. They'll probably be 2-13 come Feb. 23rd. and be playing on the first day of the ACC Tournament.  

It is our hope that the Cards bounce back and put on a performance like they did against Notre Dame-like tonight instead of a Clemson-type effort. The first game after a loss can be tricky territory. We're hoping the Cardinals ignore the title to the tune and Eagles fans are repeating the refrain to today's SONG OF CHOICE..."Take it Easy" by no other than The Eagles...

Go play Louisville basketball. And soar high in this "Battle of the Birds"

"TAKE IT EASY" -- The Eagles


SWIM, SWAM, SWUM

Good Golly, Miss Molly!!

Louisville's women's swimming and diving sits in 4th place in the standings after Day One of preliminaries in the ACC Championships. UNC leads all school with 151 points, Virginia is second with 149, Duke gathered 139 points and Arthur Albiero's Cards have 138.  

The Splash and Dive Cards got a third from Molly Fears in the 1 meter diving. There's plenty of action on tap today for the events in the Greensboro Aquatic Center. 

The Cards also participated in the two other qualifying events (200 medley and 800 free relay) yesterday and got a fifth in the 200.

I have no earthly idea on how scoring works for swimming and couldn't find Kelsi Worrell's phone number to ask her.

138 points for three events seems excessive but, why not? Golf racks up a lot of points when they play. Or maybe I just couldn't comprehend what the Louisville asst. SID in charge of the write-up was trying to say.  Our intrepid columnist and photographer Jared Anderson spends a significant amount of time breathing chlorine, maybe he'll fill us in tomorrow, in addition to his recap of the Louisville WBB game. 


Paulie
xxxxx