Two Wins and a Loss -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

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Late Collapse Dooms Women's Soccer at Tennessee

As was the theme for Louisville's women's soccer team this season, Louisville once again scored early in a big game before yielding the lead and ultimately losing the game. In last night's match against Tennessee, Emina Ekic scored in the 20th minute of the match to give the Cards a lead they would hold for nearly 55 minutes. Unfortunately, this match was one in which Louisville's lead never really looked safe, and goals in the 75th and 86th minutes by Bunny Shaw saw Tennessee capitalize on their pressure. The Volunteers outshot the Cards 16-9 (9-3), earned 11 corners vs Louisville's 0, and drew 14 fouls compared to only 3 for the Cards. 

To their credit, Louisville's defense and Gabby Kouzelos held on for quite some time. Tennessee applied significant pressure throughout the game, and for the Cards to hold on for 74 minutes before conceding is admirable. The ball control exhibited by the Volunteers kept Louisville out of their preferred game plan. Through 90 minutes, Louisville's points leaders Maisie Whitsett and Brooklynn Rivers combined for one shot. Rivers did earn the assist for Ekic's early goal, but more productive offense could have resulted in a better result. Even against a good team, you have to get chances on goal in order to win. Louisville just didn't get enough of them last night. 

There isn't a lot else to say about this game. Louisville seemed to be outmatched in this one, with Tennessee using their advantage both as the home team and the higher seeded team to pummel Louisville into submission over time. It is a disappointing loss, particularly because it came about in nearly the same way every other big Louisville road game did this season, but it is still encouraging going forward. Next season Louisville will bring back ten of eleven starters. With experience comes fortitude, and Louisville should show a greater ability to close out games as time goes on. After a couple of disappointing seasons recently, appearances in both the ACC and NCAA tournaments are big steps for this program, even if both events resulted in early exits.

Hats off, though, to the Louisville defense and, particularly goalkeep Gabby Kouzelos, for not allowing more than two goals. UT kept the ball on Louisville's side of the pitch and in front of Kouzelos for most of the contest and she had some incredible saves that prevented scores.

Look out for a season wrap-up sometime in the future, as there is quite a bit to digest. Remember that only one team can finish as a winner at the end of every year and that every forward step is a positive for the program. I'm looking forward to next season already.

Coach KFD and Gaby Vincent talk about the game andnthe season at the link below:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1061080621685108741

Volleyball Seeks to Get Back on Track at Boston College

After taking a loss against Florida State on Sunday, the Cards continued their pattern of winning every other game with a road, four set victory over Boston College. The Cards will look to break the pattern with a win over Wake Forest on Sunday at 1. Louisville got off to an extremely hot start before falling in a second set slump. The Cards would turn it around, though, pushing through the reduced role of Melanie McHenry to take the third and fourth games to win the match 3-1. There's no box score available at time of writing, but Claire Chaussee once again stepped up and led the team with 15 kills. She was joined in double digits by Amanda Green with 11. Louisville finished with 10 blocks and 4 aces. An all around positive performance as Louisville continues to fine tune their game as the end of the regular season draws nearer.

WBB (Eventually) Takes Care of UT Chattanooga 75-49

The Cards needed a huge third quarter to stretch their lead, but the 30-10 stanza was enough to propel Louisville to a 26 point victory over the Moccasins of UT Chattanooga. As is typical, Louisville was led offensively by Asia Durr, who finished with 24 points in 31 minutes. "Nite-Nite"  paced the Cards with 50% shooting from the floor and behind the arc with a 5-5 perfection from the charity stripe. For the second game in a row, the Cards were beaten in the turnover battle by a lesser team, an issue which will come to haunt if it continues against stronger teams. We've discussed Jeff Walz's opinion on turnovers at length in years past, so I'll let this point go, saying only that this is a problem that needs to be resolved sooner rather than later.

At the end of the day, one can argue that the only stat that matters at the end of the game is the number of points scored by each team. While this is technically true, it would be irresponsible for Louisville to allow ACC teams to rack up double digit offensive rebounds. It would also be in their best interest to not double up on their opponent's number of fouls. Louisville did both of those things last night, but managed to come away with the win thanks, in large part, to abysmal shooting by the Mocs. UTC shot only 32% from the field, 19% from three, and 60% (12-20) at the stripe. Louisville did finish with 4 blocks, which certainly contributed to the poor field goal efficiency, but at some point, the opponent is just missing shots. 

On the positive side, Louisville ultimately won comfortably while allowing the majority of the roster to get into the game. Walz got 11 players onto the floor, and every one recorded a stat of some kind. In fact, every player to see the floor recorded a foul, which could be expected when the team fouls 25 times. To round out the box score, the Cards finished with 35 rebounds, 11 steals, 21 assists (on 28 baskets) and 20 turnovers. Louisville shot 54.9% from the floor, 44.4% from the arc, and 78.6% from the free throw line. Exempting the turnovers, Louisville finished with a pretty respectable box score, and nearly every player contributed positively when given the opportunity.

It is becoming quickly apparent how badly this team will miss Myisha Hines-Allen, as Jazmine Jones led the team in rebounds last night with 7. I can't imagine that Jazmine Jones is the player that Jeff Walz would like to be pulling in 20% of the team's boards on any given night. Sam Fuerhing and Yacine Diop each had 4 boards apiece, which is the same number that Durr, a player definitely not known for her rebounding, finished with. That is not a knock on Asia. Her athleticism is fantastic. That said, Walz's play style with this team should not lend itself to allowing Asia Durr to grab significant numbers of rebounds. It will be nice to see the middles get their feet under them as this season progresses. 

Louisville gets a large break after last night's game, as they are out of action for a full ten days before meeting up with Boise State on the 19th. Boise State will likely be looking for a bit of revenge for the embarrassment that the Cards provided in the opening round of the NCAA tournament last season. Boise State won their opener on Thursday 74-63 over Cal State Northridge, and they'll play two more games before taking on Louisville. Here's hoping Coach Walz can get some of the issues ironed out prior to that matchup, as the games will only continue to get tougher from there.

First-year Chattanooga head women's basketball coach Katie Burrows post-game remarks:

Head Coach Katie Burrows
Opening statement
"Great start to the game. We did everything we were supposed to do defensively. Our rotations from the weak side were excellent; especially compared to Tuesday. It was one of the things we really hammered and focused on in practice. They say defense wins championships but if you can't put the ball in the hole then you're in trouble.


THE FRED REPORT

Song and dance man Fred Astaire 

F- Free Throws -- The Cards went 11-14 for 78.6% from the charity stripe and only three players got to the line. Asia was 5-5, Dana 4-4 and Bionca 2-5. Red roses for the first two and extra hours in the gym with Jess Laemmle for practicing them for Bionca. We'll dole out the capital "F" for the overall "over 70%" marksmanship.

R - Rebounding -- UofL won the battle of the boards 35-29 with J.J, as mentioned, leading the way.
with seven.  Five players had four grabs each and eight out of the 11 Cards that played had at least one. We'll award a letter here for team effort on the boards, but it'll be a small case "r".

E - Effort/Execution -- Louisville struggled early with the offense and committed way too many turnovers, but, got their act together in the third frame and looked to be more engaged, energized and efficient. 20 turnovers is way too many for the team. Just three second chance points is unacceptable, though. The Louisvillians did shoot almost 55% though, so we'll award another small case letter in a "e: here.

D - Defense -- Walz's Warriors did hold UTC to 32.7% shooting and just 3-16 from the deep. They also got 11 steals. The third quarter shutdown of the Mocs offense was impressive. Louisville held the foe to 49 points, another plus. It's a toss up for the letter here, but, I'll go with a 26-point win on the road to award a capital "D" here. 

FINAL FRED TALLY:  F-r-e-D


ON THE AIR

The Knuckleheads assemble today at 11 a.m. for another broadcast of The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour from the magnificent, majestic, media mansion on Mellwood. We'll be without "Queso" Case Hoskins, worn out from today's comprehensive and informative recap...he's off on a bit of relaxation. After all, the guy just got married...we'll cut him a bit of slack.

Jeff and Paulie encourage Jared to prognosticate.

In studio, we laud the return of "Worldwide" Jeff McAdams tinkering with the knobs, levels, Facebook Live and offering his thoughts. Jared escaped from counting nickles and rolling dimes and will be behind a microphone also. Paulie occupies the corner and should be sufficiently "caffeined up" to get through an hour.  We reached out to Paige Sherrard to fill the fourth chair and hope she'll brave the cold to join us. 

A lot to talk about, no doubt, and we hope you'll join us on WCHQ 100.9 FM, or on the WCHQ app, Facebook Live or maybe just stop by with warm stuff to eat and drink and hang out in the "green" room.   Here's the station link: www.wchqfm.com  You can find all you need there. Except Case. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-