CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDINAL COUPLE
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Thursday, February 13, 2020

WBB at NC State Tonight -- Walz Presser -- Lacrosse Interview -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


SHOWDOWN IN RALEIGH 

The University of Louisville women's basketball squad is in Raleigh, NC and will take on the Wolfpack at 8 p.m. this evening in a game that could either propel the Cards into a share of the ACC lead or drop them to two games behind NC State. 

No easy task ahead for Jeff Walz's Cards. 


NC State is 22-1 overall and 11-1 in ACC conference games. They are ranked #4 in the nation now and on a eight-game winning streak. Only UNC has blemished the Wolfpack's record. NC St. handled Virginia Tech 71-59 last time out. 

Ms. Wuf's school has some put some very impressive numbers to date. They only commit an average of 12 fouls a night and are a strong defensive rebounding team at 31 a contest. They average a +19.1 scoring margin over opponents and allow just 54.9 points per game. 

Leading the way for NC State offensively in sophomore center Elisa Cunane. Averaging 17 points a night, she's considered one of the front runners for ACC Player of the Year and is one of three Wes Moore-coached players in double figures. Senior Aislinn "Ace" Konig contributes 11.1 ppg and junior Kayla Jones produces 10 ppg. 

The Cards get back Elizabeth Balogun for this one, having returned from Serbia, where she played for the Nigeria National Team during their Olympic qualifying action. A healthy Yacine Diop could also bolster the Cards chances in Carolina tonight.

Jeff Walz points out that when one of the two mentioned here play well, the other usually doesn't. It's time to break that trend and get hue games out of both tonight.

Louisville will need to be aggressive and find a way to take advantage of the fact that NC State commits more turnovers than they force other teams into. The scoring woes of sub-60 point performances in the last two outings for Louisville need to end. The Cards need to be bolstered by Jaz Jones and Dana Evans, hopefully they'll be a huge, positive factor if they can get her shot to fall.  Kylee will have her work cut out for her with Cunane, but we hope the all-time blocks leader in Louisville WBB history can gather a few swats and keep Cunane away from the basket. 

Evans picked up two more national honors this week, being named to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Watch list and the Citizen Naismith Trophy Mid-Season team. 


The Cards have been the "hunted" most of this season and find themselves in the role of the "hunter" tonight. Louisville has had a modicum of success in previous outing against North Carolina State, They hold a 7-3 all time record against the Wolfpack, are 2-0 in Raleigh since joining the ACC and have won five in a row against the Raleigh squad. Last time out, in the ACC semifinals last year, the Cards beat NC State 78-68 in Greensboro. It was a back-and-forth game, both teams actually had double-digit leads in this one. 

It's a ACC Network televised event and Pam Ward has the call with Deb Antonelli providing analyst work. Nick Curran and Adrienne Johnson will handle radio duties on 790 AM (WKRD) Cards Radio. The toughest conference test of the season awaits the two squads in a sold-out Reynolds Coliseum and we'll have the results for you here tomorrow morning. 


WALZ PRESSER

Jeff Walz met with the media yesterday morning to discuss tonight's game and I was there to offer questions and capture the words. A link to the audio of his weekly presser is below for your listening pleasure. 

LINK: WALZ PRESSER 2/12/20

If you'd like to view as well as listen, the UofL link is below. Walz is resplendent in his black Adidas pullover and if you're wondering what to get Paulie for his birthday this year, I won't say no to one of those...

LINK: WALZ 2-12-20 PRESSER (VIDEO VERSION)  


LACROSSE INTERVIEW


My day on the Belknap campus yesterday concluded with my weekly interview with Louisville Lacrosse head coach Scott Teeter and student-athlete, junior attacker Ally Hall.

Coach and Ally discussed the season opening win over Cincinnati and Saturday's upcoming match against #9 Denver. The Denver game is Louisville's home opener and will take place at noon at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium. Admission is free. 

We also got to know a little more about Ally, who is from Maryland andd led Louisville on Sunday with four goals. 

Just audio on this one, but it's a fun, lively and informative chat that is definitely worth a listen ! 

LINK:  LACROSSE INTERVIEW WITH SCOTT TEETER and ALLY HALL

We'll be doing these "talks with Teeter" and a player throughout the Lacrosse season when scheduling allows and hope you find this look into the action, players and philosophy of what makes Louisville Lacrosse enjoyable !! 

We invite you to give Lacrosse a try, if you're new to the sport. It has been described as "basketball with sticks" and you'll find a lot of the same terminology and movements, like fast breaks, zones, blocks, feeds and sets, that you find in basketball. Lacrosse offers a bit more scoring than Field Hockey or Soccer and the action is exciting! 


Have a Terrific Thursday ! 

paulie
xxxxx 



7 comments:

  1. We get the "A" team. I like Pam and Debbie.
    Looking forward to seeing what should be a good game, and like coach said, having Balogun on the floor opens up Jaz and Dana, these last two games they were the focus of the opponents defense, Balogun helps keep others defense honest.
    For me, there's nothing like "game day", especially when we're facing another good team, I'm probably just as excited as the players are😉
    Here's hoping we leave with a solid victory, or at least leave knowing we left it all on the floor 😊

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deb and Pam are my two favorites on Cardinal TV games also, K.

      Found out that Deb "can't exist" without Waffle House coffee in the morning and that she once shot free throws for 24 straight hours.

      IT's going to be wild, loud and crazy down in Raleigh tonight. I was there two years ago, when we blew out to the big lead and then had to fight for our lives at the end.

      Sure would like to be there tonight...

      paulie
      xxxxx

      Delete
  2. Stay fit, Keep sharp, and make good decisions. It worked for Rick Moranis in Ghostbusters II and if Louisville does that, they'll leave Raleigh with a win.

    Curtis "I ain't afraid of no wolves" Franklin

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello Friends !
    Arthur here !

    Wishing the Cards the best of luck tonight against the Pack tonight. We didn't do so well against them when they visited Clemson back at the end of January -- 79-60 loss. But, that's nothing new, we have complied a six game losing streak and it probably won't end when Wake comes to the Littlejohn tonight.

    Cunane is a force and she's deadly inside. The guard Konig punished us also, I think she had over 20 points and close to 10 assist, if correctly.

    We leave in a few to go to Clemson for a 7 p.m. game, so we probably won't get to see much of your game. I hope you beat them.

    Your friend
    #1 Clemson Fan
    Arthur
    Greer, SC.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Let's go Cardinals bop bop bop !let's go Cardinals bop bop bop,Go Card's !

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ummmm...
    #playedlikelouisville.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete

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