WBB Accolades - SB hosts #23/25 Clemson - Lacrosse loses to #1 UNC 19-7; FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL

Good morning Louisville fans! 

A few things to look forward to this upcoming weekend and a recap of Thursday night's lacrosse match with North Carolina on ACC Network prime time.  It should be a nice weekend ahead for some outdoor events! Take your TVs outside if you're tuning in for the tournaments.  I'm doing my best to avoid them unless it's the in the Cards interest.  The gang is pressuring me to fill out a bracket... still not convinced. 

Let's get right to it... 

Evans Named Finalist for Naismith Women’s Trophy

The Atlanta Tipoff Club announced today that University of Louisville senior guard Dana Evans is one of four finalists for the 2021 Jersey Mike's Naismith Women's Trophy, symbolic of the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball.

She is joined on the list by Kentucky junior Rhyne Howard, a 2020 finalist, UConn freshman Paige Bueckers and South Carolina sophomore Aliyah Boston.

Dana Evans, Louisville

-- The senior forward leads the ACC in scoring at 20.0 points per game.
Evans has scored 20 or more points in 17 games.
-- She has scored in double figures in 25 of 26 games played this season, including 40 straight games, the longest streak at Louisville in 20 years.
-- Named ACC Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, Evans became only the ninth player in league history to accomplish the feat.
-- She made 92% of her free throw attempts, leading the ACC and ranking fifth nationally.
-- Only player in UofL program history to win four regular season conference championships.

Aliyah Boston, South Carolina

-- Boston led the Gamecocks in rebounds (11.7) and blocks (2.8) this season and averaged 13.7 points per game.
-- The sophomore forward led the team in double-doubles (15).
-- Boston made the 2021 All-SEC First Team for the second straight season and was named to the SEC All-Defensive team for her dominant defensive performance throughout the 2021 season
-- She earned SEC Tournament MVP honors for her 27-point, 10-rebound performance.
-- In addition to her finalist ranking, she is a semifinalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award.

Paige Bueckers, UConn

-- Bueckers became the second BIG EAST player to win both the Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year awards (Maya Moore, 2008).
-- She had the highest single game scoring total by a UConn freshman since 2007 with 32 points.
-- The freshman forward was the first player in program history to have three straight 30-point games.
-- Her 14 assists against Butler rank as the single-game high in the history of the program.
-- Bueckers led UConn to both regular season and tournament championships in the BIG EAST.

Rhyne Howard, Kentucky

-- Howard averaged 20.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game this season.
-- The junior guard became the Wildcats all-time leader in three categories: points (455), rebounds (160) and assists (78).
-- She led the SEC in assists (54) and blocks (14).
-- Named 2021 SEC Player of the Year for the second year in a row, Howard became one of two players in program history to earn multiple player of the year honors.
-- She was also named to the 2021 All-SEC First Team for the third straight season and the SEC All-Tournament team for the second year in a row.

Norman Named WBCA Division I Assistant Coach of the Year

(from gocards.com ) 

The Assistant Coach of the Year award originated in 2016 and is presented annually.

ATLANTA — The Women's Basketball Coaches Association announced today that University of Louisville women's basketball associate head coach Stephanie Norman has been named the 2021 Division I Assistant Coach of the Year.

The WBCA Assistant Coach of the Year award is presented to one associate head coach or assistant coach in each membership division who demonstrates commitment to their program, their student-athletes and their head coach; their impact coaching on court; their mentorship and impact on other coaches; and their professional manner and attitude.

Norman, in her 14th year at Louisville and her ninth as associate head coach, has served on the Cardinals' staff since the hiring of head coach Jeff Walz. She has helped the Cardinals to a 382-107 overall record since the 2007 season. In that time she has aided Louisville to nine Sweet 16 appearances, five Elite Eight appearances, and three Final Four appearances, including a pair of national championship contests. Norman has been instrumental in the Cardinals' recruiting efforts, helping sign the No. 1 class of 2015 that featured three McDonald's All-Americans; helped pen the No. 6 freshman class in 2016, the No. 4 class in 2017 and the No. 5 class in 2020.

"I would like to thank Danielle Donehew, the WBCA and my colleagues and peers for this amazing award," said Norman. "I would like to thank all of the coaches that I have worked with, including head coach Jeff Walz, who I have worked with the past 14 seasons, as these coaches have been extremely instrumental in my growth, my success and my enjoyment of the game. I would also like to thank the players, it's because of them that we've been lucky enough to have success. Finally, I'd like to thank my family, my parents who always encouraged me to chase my dreams, my husband Geoff and my children Parker and Cassidy."

Softball Opens series with Tigers this weekend

The Cards will play their eighth straight home game in the first ever series opener with Clemson on

Friday at 7 p.m.

• Louisville (9-7, 3-2 ACC) brings a three-game win streak into the weekend.
• UofL is 3-2 in ACC play and stands sixth in the conference.
• The Cardinals are 6-1 at Ulmer Stadium in 2021.

Taylor Roby leads the team with a .419 batting average, five home runs and has driven in 20. She stands tied for second in the ACC in RBI. Roby has also produced a team-best six multi-hit games and multi-RBI games. Roby is on an eight-game hitting streak and has reached safely via a hit or walk in the last nine games.

• The Tigers are 16-2 overall and stand second in the ACC with an 8-2 conference mark.
• Clemson is currently on a 13-game win streak, most recently sweeping Furman in a three-game series last weekend.   

Marissa Guimbarda leads the Tigers with a .447 batting average, an ACC-best 21 RBIs and six home runs on the season. Valerie Cagle (10-1) has shouldered much of the pitching load, logging 65.2 innings and 14 appearances. The freshman has registered 63 strikeouts and is holding opponents to a .214 batting average. She has also helped her own cause at the plate, standing second on the team with four home runs and 13 RBIs.

LACROSSE loses under the lights 19-7 to #1 UNC Tarheels

UNC's Jamie Ortega had her way with 7 goals for the Heels on the night earning a hat trick less than 10 minutes into the first half. Louisville was lead offensively by Alex McNichols and Ally Hall was two each. UNC was fast.. scoring with about a minute off the clock to start.. Louisville matched before allowing the Tarheels to go on a 7-0 run taking a 10-4 into the halftime break. 

The Louisville defense gave up another UNC run allowing 6 straight goals in the second half. The Cards move to 4-3 on the season. Were there some positives to be taken away from this one?? I think Paulie and the guys could come up with something for Saturday's podcast and Coach Teeter outlined a few in his post-game comments.

Jared was out at Cardinal Stadium for the event, braving the cold wind for some quality shots down on the field that I'm sure will be shared once his fingers have thawed out enough to edit. Perhaps no editing will be required since the reason for at hosting Cardinal Stadium was for lighting purposes. :) Perhaps he's just that good by now anyways! I always enjoy his action shots!

Paulie spoke with Louisville LAX head coach after the match. You can hear that interview at the link below: 

LINK:  SCOTT TEETER POST GAME UNC 3/18/21

CARDINAL COUPLE NCAA PICK "EM" 

So, how are your bracket picks going?  We have this in from our Bracket Czar Jared: 

We have a total of nine bracket picks in so far. Entries from David Watson, Kenny Schneider, Paulie, Sonya, Blue Lou, Joe Hill, Nole Knowledge, Arthur and NickO. 

A reminder that we are offering your choice of a $25 Gift Card to either Subway or Raisin' Canes to the winner and second place gets the card that the winner didn't choose. 

Here's three games that are a real debacle;  

1) North Carolina vs. Alabama. So far, we have six participants selecting #10 seed UNC over #7 seed Alabama out of our nine entries. A strong ACC favoritism here. 

2) Michigan vs. Florida Gulf Coast. #11 seed FGCU is getting a lot of lot from our participants so far and has a 6-3 advantage in picks over #6 seed Michigan. No love for Ann Arbor? 

3) Wake Forest vs. Oklahoma State. #8 vs #9 matchups are normally a tough choice but our participants so far are in love with Jen Hoover's Demon Deacons, the #9 seed over the O.S.U squad with a 5-4 margin. Jeff Walz stated last week he fully expected Wake to get in and possibly win a few games. Can they shoot down the Cowboys? 

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

I won't be on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast Saturday, as I will be out covering Ulmer action for the new series with Clemson softball this weekend.  My 'Final thoughts' would be that I am very much looking forward to the CARDS WBB first round matchup with Marist on Monday night. Let's do this thing CARDS!! 


Have a great weekend!
~Daryl