Cards WBB dismantles Notre Dame -- Softball Falls to Arkansas -- ACC Bracket

 CARDS WBB ROMP NOTRE DAME 86-64

Louisville women's basketball jumped out to a 31-3 first quarter lead (and, no Micale Cunningham was NOT on the court) and had Notre Dame totally dismantled by halftime 54-15 in Purcell Pavilion Sunday afternoon. 

The Cards were hot and Notre Dame was not in the first twenty. Forget the fact that Notre Dame won the second half 49-32. The Irish were never a challenge to the Cards, missing 15 of the first 16 shots and falling behind 18-1 in the first quarter. Louisville hit their first seven threes en route to handing Notre Dame their first home loss of the season.

Hailey Van Lith and Kianna Smith had 20 points each for the Cards and were joined in double figures by Emily Engstler (17 points) and Chelsie Hall (13 points) 

The Cards shot 80% in that sizzling first quarter and 58.5% for the game.

Notre Dame couldn't stop the Cards in a zone, went to man-to-man and fared no better and faced a 71-34 deficit at the end of the third quarter. 

Olivia Miles led the Irish with 13 points. She also got a bit chippy with 2:49 left in the first half and shoved Kasa Robinson after a layup that made it 48-10 Cards. After an official review, four players were assessed intentional fouls -- Miles, Robinson, Hailey Van Lith and Dara Mabrey. It may have been the stupidest move of the season for Miles -- woofing when down by 38.  

Norika Konno returned to the court for the Cards in this one and played eight minutes, hitting her only shot, getting a foul and committing two turnovers. 

" We could play them 50 times and I wouldn't expect a first quarter to be 31-3. It was one of those days for them, but, defensively -- I felt we caused a lot of it." -- Jeff Walz. 

For sure, Cards fans won't forget this beatdown of masive proportions for quite awhile.

THE FRED REPORT

We bring in Freddy Kruger for the
"Nightmare in Purcell" for Notre Dame. 

FREE THROWS:  The Cards went to the line four times and hit two of them.  Seriously.  (Notre Dame had 24 attempts). Any time Eric Brewton calls a UofL WBB game, the opponent never fouls. 50% won't get a letter, but, the disparity is glaring.... the striped crew called five fouls on Verhulst in just 11 minutes. Almost laughable. 

REBOUNDS:  The Cards dominated the boards 40-22. Engstler led the way with 10 for UofL. 30 defensive and 10 offensive grabs. No problem with a CAPITAL "R" here. 

EFFORT/EXECUTION:  That first 20 minutes may have been the best I have seen a Cards team  play against a top 25 team in the Walz era.  19 assists on 38 made baskets and just 14 turnovers. The Cards were unstoppable in the first three quarters. Crisp passing and excellent execution in the half court. A definite CAPITAL "E" here. 

DEFENSE:  A complete shutdown of anything Notre Dame wanted to do in the first half. The Cards had six steals and, if the fourth quarter was a bit sloppy for UofL, when you're up 42 in a game, your concentration tends to maybe waiver a bit, focusing on the ineptitude of your foe.  I'll go lower case "d" here -- for three outstanding quarters defensively and one that wasn't so defensive. 

FINAL FRED TALLY:  -_R-E-d

Two massive beat-downs of the Irish this year, and no one else I'd rather see the Cards administer them to. Dana Evans was on hand to watch the romp. it didn't change where the Cards would be seeded in the ACC Tournament (at #2) and Notre Dame still goes in as a #3 seed. The Cards play Friday at 6 p.m.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Ahlana Smith, who was not at the game. A death in her family and she was with them. 

paulie

SOTBALL FALLS 8-5 TO ARKANSAS

In the restructured Wooo Pig Classic in Fayetteville, Louisville played Arkansas Sunday and jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, 

It didn't last, though, and the Pigs came back with two runs in the fifth inning and four in the sixth for the win. 

All five Louisville runs came on three home runs -- Smith,.Otis and Miller going fence. Taylor Roby went four innings in the circle for UofL. The loss went to Gabby Holloway.. 

The two squads are scheduled to play two games Monday. Maybe...with the rest of the teams originally slated to play in the classic back home already, it seems like a plan.

ACC TOURNAMENT

 

 It's finalized and set. Louisville plays Friday at 6 p.m. 

In opening Wednesday action:

Game One -- Syracuse and Clemson                                                                                          Game Two -- Duke and Pitt                                                                                                          Game Three  -- Wake Forest and Virginia

I got my bracket copy HERE but there are plenty places to download it. Just do a Google search . (Make sure you have the 2022 ACC one, I nearly posted the 2020 !)  

Good luck to all in the Cardinal Couple Pick Em Challenge !!  Rules on "The right side of the site"  Entries are open, may the best one win ! Jared's e-mail is:  eupherjared@gmail.com  and Paulie's is: cardinalcouple@twc.com  Or ,you can leave your picks in any comments section up to Wednesday noon. (Don't forget the total score...) 

Sonja's Picks: 

Syracuse, Duke, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Miami, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, NC State, Louisville, Georgia Tech, NC State, Louisville, Louisville  Points: 141

paulie

! 

. 

   

Bracket Pick Em -- Lacrosse, Softball and WBB -- Sunday Cardinal Couple

Cardinal Couple ACC Pick 'Em Contest

The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast ACC "Pick Em" Contest returns for another year.

Your objective is to pick the most winners in the 14 games of the ACC WBB Tournament, which begins Wednesday at noon. We'll know how the bracket shapes up later tonight and when it's decided, feel free to send your picks. 

It's easy to enter, AND IT'S FREE ! You could win a gift card if you finish first or second -- plus the undying admiration of your friends, neighbors, selected dignitaries and The Cardinal Couple Chimps. 

You can leave your picks in any comments section here at the site today thru Wednesday noon. In case of a tie, please include a total score of the final game. Noon IS the cutoff time. 

You can send your picks via e-mail. to Bracket Czar Jared Anderson at eupherjated@gmail.com or to Paulie at cardinalcouple@twc.com . If we're able to, we'll send a confirmation that we got them if you choose the e-mail route.

Jared (allegedly) will post standings after each round.  (we'll see...) He and Paulie also have a discussion after each round to verify those standings, the price of grain in Topeka and how many "selfies" Jared took of himself during the day. 

Sample:entry

Kenny B's Picks:

Wednesday:  Syracuse, Duke, Pitt

Thursday: UNC, FSU, Duke, Ga. Tech

Friday: Va. Tech, NC State, Louisville, Ga. Tech

Saturday: Va Tech, Ga Tech

Sunday: Va. Tech

TOTAL PTS: 167 

We look forward to your entries and the ACC Tournament. 

Lacrosse

A good win yesterday for Scott Teeter's squad.  Lacrosse welcomed Virginia Tech into the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium and were able to beat them 14-11.

Three Cardinals got hat tricks to lead UofL to victory.  Caroline Blalock, Nicole Perroni, and Hannah Morris all tallied three.  Add a pair for Paige Richbourg and singletons for Alexa Steffens, Kokoro Nakazawa, and Allegra Catallano.

Virginia Tech got on the board first and led by 3-1 and 4-2, before Hannah Morris got a score with 10 seconds left in the first quarter to get the lead down to only one, 4-3 after the first frame.

Nicole Perroni scored in the opening minute of the 2nd quarter to tie it at four.  The Hokies would score a pair, and then be matched by Richbourg and Catalano to go into the half tied at six.

A good third quarter opened up by Morris in the opening minute, followed by Richbourg for the two point lead.  VT would tie it again, but Steffens and Blalock would each get on the board to get the Louisville lead back to two at 10-8.  The last four minutes of the 3rd quarter would go scoreless, along with the first three minutes of the 4th quarter.

Then the offense opened up again.  The teams traded goals with Blalock getting her 3rd with just over two minutes left in the game.  Nakazawa would that with her goal with only 37 seconds left to give the Cards a 14-10 lead.  VT would score a late goal, with only 10 seconds left to narrow the lead to 14-11, but that would be it.

The next action will be Tuesday when the Butler Bulldogs come down from Indianapolis to play an afternoon game against Louisville at 3pm at the LLS.

(Photos by Jared Anderson)

Basketball in South Bend

It's the end of the regular season for women's basketball.  One more game to play today, and the opponent almost always seem to be a challenge for the Cards.

Notre Dame is undefeated in Purcell Pavilion, all six of their losses on the season coming on the road, including a couple of weeks ago in the KFC Yum! Center in the previous matchup of these two teams.  The 73-47 win by the Cards in the game seemed to surprise a lot of people in just how big the margin of victory was.

The Fighting Irish have wins over Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, NC State, and North Carolina, all wins that gain attention for NCAA selections.  A loss in UConn won't be considered much of a blemish, though losing to Georgia in overtime is slightly concerning.  In conference, none of the losses to Duke, Boston College, Florida State, and Louisville, as mentioned above, will be thought of as catastrophic to their NCAA aspirations.

What are the stakes for each team, then?  For Louisville, honestly, they aren't huge.  A loss probably drops the Cards out the 1 seeds for the NCAA tournament, but nothing that happens today will change UofL's seeding in the ACC tournament.  Notre Dame might be playing to hold on to the double-bye for the ACC tournament.  They're currently listed in the 3rd place in the standings tied in record with Virginia Tech, and North Carolina only one game behind.  Notre Dame does hold the head to head wins over both of those teams, having played each of them only once, which I believe guarantees them a 4th seed at worst.

Plenty of threats for the Irish, of course,  Olivia Miles, and Maddy Westbeld get most of the attention for Notre Dame, but Maya Dodson, and Sonia Citron outscore Westbeld on average.  Of course, Dara Mabrey and Sam Brunelle contribute a lot as well.

This crew won't get easily flustered by UofL's intense defense, but they're not completely unflappable.  By now, we know UofL's general game plan...intense defense forcing turnovers or poor offensive possessions, leading to transition offense.  It can work against this ND team as well, but an outing such as the Cards had at The Pete likely won't get it done.

The game is on ESPN2, with Tiffany Greene on the call, with Steffi Sorenson providing color analysis.  A bit of an earlier start, at noon, so get in your seats early.

Softball

Let the Schedule Shuffle commence, or perhaps continue is the better word.

With inclement weather in Fayetteville, Arkansas, the Wooo Pig Classic has maybe been turned into the Meh Pig Classic.

Nebraska gave up on the event altogether and has headed to Kansas to play the Jayhawks in a three game series today and tomorrow.  The Cards are apparently made of sterner stuff and have stayed in Arkansas and will play three against the SEC hosts.  The first today at 6pm, and then they'll play two tomorrow.

SEC Softball is good across the board, probably the top conference in the sport, but Arkansas has lost three so far in this young season.  They dropped a pair to a quite good Washington team two weeks ago and split with Illinois last week.  Arkansas is helmed by former Louisville Assistant Coach Courtney Deifel, during the Sandy Pearsall era.

The game is listed with a watch link that points to ESPN's site.  That would suggest, given Arkansas' SEC membership, that it would be available on the SEC Network+, the streaming side of the SEC Network, but it's not listed on ESPN's site in upcoming games, so it's not certain that it will be available.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Jared was out getting the Lacrosse photos yesterday, but Case, Daryl, Paulie, and myself were on the call, and good fun was had as always for the CCRHP.

Basketball, Lacrosse, and Softball were on the menu, along with some Butler confusion.

Check it out at it's podcast home on anchor.fm:

https://anchor.fm/cardinal-couple/episodes/A-Winning-Week-for-Louisville-e1euudm

JMcA

Softball Canceled, Track at ACCs, and Lacrosse Opens ACC Slate -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Start to Wooo Pig Classic Delayed

Though last week's calendar indicated that the Wooo Pig Classic hosted by Arkansas was set to start earlier this week, the reality was that Louisville's first game was scheduled for today. However, due to inclement weather in the area, all of today's games in the invitational tournament have been canceled. Louisville was due to play Kansas at 1PM today, but that game will no longer happen, and it has not been rescheduled for later in the weekend. 

Louisville is set to play Arkansas and Nebraska tomorrow, and there have been whisperings that all of the teams might load up the busses and hit I65 to play at Ulmer in order to get away from the weather. Nothing is confirmed, and there are quite a few logistical issues, but we'll just have to see. Louisville is scheduled to open their day tomorrow at 1:15 against Nebraska before they take on their third ranked team in four games at 6PM against the host, Arkansas.

Gabriela Leon Sets School Record

In the first day of the Track and Field ACC Tournament in Blacksburg, the men's and women's teams put up a combined four podium finishes and both sit in sixth place in the team standings. In addition to the medal winners in the finals yesterday, plenty of athletes qualified for the final track events today. Katherine Coffey and Aliyah Welter finished sixth and fourth in the weight throw and pole vault, respectively, and were both named to the All-ACC second team.

The men and women split with a pair of podiums each. The first on the women's side went to Synclair Savage in the long jump. She set a personal best on her way to third place. The star of the show for UofL yesterday was Gabriela Leon, as she has been many times this season. Yesterday saw Leon break her own school record on the same track she set it on last month. While she continues to set school records and personal bests, Leon was able to finish just second. She was four inches ahead of third place and half a foot ahead of Welter's fourth place finish, but she was beaten by six inches by Virginia Tech's Rachel Baxter. Baxter's winning jump set an ACC record.

Lacrosse Hosts Virginia Tech

Louisville Lacrosse will look to continue its recent success as the calendar turns into conference play. The Cards will host Virginia Tech this afternoon to start their ACC slate. Unlike other sports, the beginning of conference play does not mean the end of non-conference matchups, and Louisville will play non-conference games up until the end of the season. 

When the Hokies step on the field, they'll do so as Louisville's most recent ACC victory. In fact, Louisville's win over Virginia Tech last season is their only ACC victory since Scott Teeter took over in 2018. The Cards have looked steadily more competitive throughout Teeter's seasons, but they've yet to break through with a really strong season or an ACC record anywhere close to .500. Coming off of back to back 9+ goal wins, Louisville will look to keep rolling and start their ACC season off with a victory. 

Today's game will get off to a chilly start at Noon. If you'd rather avoid the cold, the game will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We're without Jared today, as he braves the cold for pictures of the aforementioned lacrosse team in action, but we should have four on the horn for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast this week. We've got plenty to talk about, including bounce back wins for Louisville women's basketball after the clunker against UNC last week. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Anchor (podcast host): Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Breaker: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Spotify: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

WBB pulls away from Pitt 66-55 -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Welcome, weekend.. and the end of February.  

WBB

"You got class tomorrow? Yep, 9 a.m. Oyyyy"

Louisville WBB continues to give us something to believe in, as they went on the road and secured a second victory against the Pittsburgh Panthers this year and moving them to 24-3, 15-2 in the ACC.  March Madness is alive and well for #Cardnation for the 2022 season.   The Cards look to hit their stride and close out the season strong this weekend.  

Emily Engstler continues her draft campaign leading all scorers and rebounders with 17 points and 15 rebounds  including 3 blocks and 2 steals.  Hailey Van Lith met her average with 13 points but it was on 4-12 shooting from the field 2-4 from 3-point range and 3-4 at the FT line.  It was a low scoring ball-game for the Cards and by a smaller margin than the first meeting between the two teams. 

End of 1Q 19-13 Cards

FG %
8-19 42.1% Cards
5-17 29.4% Pitt
Reb.  15-9 Pitt 
3-pt %
1-4 25% Cards
3-4 75% Pitt

The Cards got to a slow start offensively, going almost 4 minutes without a field goal. HVL had 6 of her total points in the first quarter while Engstler went 2-7 in 7 minutes on the floor.   Pitt's 3 threes and rebounding advantage really stand out on the stat sheet.  The Cards saw a solid roster rotation with Mykasa Robinson, Ahlana Smith, Liz Dixon and Payton Verhulst getting 3 solid 1Q minutes each.  A.Smith went 2-2 in her time on the floor.  

End of 2Q 12-12 

FG %
4-14 28.6% Cards
5-13 38.5% Pitt
Reb. 11-8 Pitt
3-pt %
0-4 0% Cards
0-3 0% Pitt

 It was an offensive struggle bus for both squads in the second quarter as neither team found a bucket for the first 5 minutes and neither landed a 3 pointer in the quarter.  But two fast break layups by HVL and Chelsie Hall would put the Cards up 10 on Pitt and looking like they had established some dominance before Pitt put the starters back in to stop the bleeding.  Pitt went on a 6-2 run to make it a two possession game to close out the quarter and the Cards would have to make some adjustments at halftime to stave off the Panthers. 

HALF  31-25 Cards 

End of 3Q  17-16 Cards

FG %
8-19 42.1% Cards
6-16 37.5% Pitt
Reb. 12-12
3-pt %
0-3 0% Cards
2-2 100% Pitt

The Panthers came out of the break to tie it up 31 all on 3 Pitt baskets before Engstler and Olivia Cochran would sway the lead back Louisville's way.  The Panthers would not go away.  They tied it up again at 35-35 and Emily said (Michael Scott voice) No No No and made another layup before the media timeout. Coach Walz decided to switch it up again and put Unit 2 (A.Smith, Verhulst and Dixon) in for some fresh legs and to wake up the offense.  It worked, as the Cards went on a 13-6 run in the final 5 minutes.  Engstler had 6 points and 5 rebounds and played all 10 minutes of the quarter.  48-41 Cards with 10 minute to play.

End of 4Q  18-14 Cards

FG %
7-15 46.7% Cards
3-17 17.6% Pitt
Reb. 15-12 Pitt 
3-pt %
1-5 20% Cards
0-4 0% Pitt 

The Cards shot better than 46% from the field but just 1-5 from three point land while Pitt secured 8 of their poinst at the line in the quarter.  Engstler was called for a foul on an obviously all ball blocked shot.  It was beautiful.  The official stat sheet says 4 fouls and 3 blocked shots but the Cardinal Couple stat sheet says its 4 blocked shots only 3 fouls.  And just when you thought Pitt was going to go away, they again made it a little interesting when they pulled it within 6 with just under 2 minutes left in the game.  But again, Emily would come in to secure the jump-ball on a tie up and score for the Cards when they needed it most and UofL gets the dub in the Steel City.  The starters accounted for 15 of the 18 quarter points and spent the most minutes on the floor in the quarter. 

FINAL 66-55 CARDS WIN! 

UP NEXT

Louisville vs Notre Dame 

Sunday 12 p.m.

ESPN II

FRED REPORT

Fred Potvin, who played for
Pitt from 2013 to 2015

FREE THROWS --  10-19 52.6% at the line is atrocious.  This is just not a winning formula and does not meet our required 70% success.. no letter again this week from me. 

REBOUNDING --   53-41 Pitt advantage.  Engstler lead all rebounders with 15 while Pitt's Liatu King had 10.  As much as I hope it doesn't, I am afraid this stat category will catch up to the Cards at the wrong time.  The guards will HAVE to get more from its starters to have any chance against tournament opponents.  no letter   

EFFORT/EXECUTION -- Not gonna lie, it was not a thing of beauty for the Cards but it was a win.  Engstler stole the show for the Cards but I think we saw a healthy rotation for this squad as we head into the final weeks of play.  I liked the minute distribution and offensive spark from Ahlana Smith and Liz Dixon against Pittsburgh.  CAPITAL E 

DEFENSE --  Pitt only had 19 buckets for the evening and 16 FT attempts..  UofL had 9 steals and 8 blocks but all too familiar though, Pitt dominated the glass to lead the rebounding category against the Cards but only had 13 second chance points.  This game just felt like a 'going through the motions' type of match but with a lot of jump-balls. lower case d

FINAL FRED TALLY:    _ _E_d

Cardinal Couple Radio - Awaiting to hear the word from Paulie if he is going out to the lacrosse stadium this Saturday or if were all on for radio, minus Jared ... who WILL be taking selfies at the noon draw control for LouLAX and Virginia Tech.  Stay tuned! 

 

 

As always 

Go Cards! 

~Daryl 

 

Louisville at Pitt -- Four Cards Earn Postgrad Scholarship Awards -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Travels to Pitt

Louisville women's basketball begins their final road trip with a trip to Pittsburgh tonight. Having already earned a double-bye in the ACC Tournament, the Cards can clench the 2-seed with a win tonight.

Teams: #4 Louisville vs Pittsburgh

Records: Louisville (23-3, 14-2 ACC), Pittsburgh (11-16, 2-14 ACC)

Where: "The Pete" Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, Pa.

When: 6:00 p.m. ET

TV: ACC Network Extra (online)

Radio: 790-AM WKRD

Head-to-Head Record: Louisville leads 22-2

Coaches: Jeff Walz (15th season as Louisville head coach)

                Lance White (4th season as Pittsburgh head coach)

Key Players: Louisville: Hailey Van Lith (13.6 ppg, .355 3-pt pct), Kianna Smith (11.8 ppg, 3.0 assists per game .388 3-pt pct), Emily Engstler (11.2 ppg, 8.9 rpg, .426 3-pt pt), Olivia Cochran (8.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg)

                    Pittsburgh:  Dayshanette Harris (10.0 ppg, 2.88 assists per game), .326 3-pt pct), Amber Brown (9.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg), Liatu King (6.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg)

Pitt is riding near the bottom of the ACC and their NCAA Tournament chances ride solely on winning the ACC Tournament. Louisville throttled Pitt 89-31 earlier this season. The Panthers' two wins in conference play came against Wake Forest at home and at Clemson in overtime.

One big change in the Pitt lineup is that leading scorer Jayla Everett was dismissed from the Panthers squad on Sunday, for unspecified reasons. She was Pitt's leading scorer.

Since the thumping earlier this year, Pitt has shown signs of improvement  (if you can call losing by 15 or less each game improvement). Overall, on the year, the Panthers have just a -3.1 scoring margin.

The one good thing Pitt is good at is drawing fouls to shoot free throws. However, they aren't good at making free throws. The Panthers rank 14th in the conference with a 64.1 free throw percentage. With Louisville's poor luck with fouls, there is reason for concern in terms of players getting in foul trouble.

Tonight's biggest concern is the mentality and attitude Louisville has going into the game. With the 1-seed in the ACC Tournament no longer possible and a tie for the ACC regular season title highly unlikely, a game against a bottom dweller can be tough to get motivated for. Still, with Jeff Walz and Co, the Cards should be more than prepared for tonight's game.

Four Cards Earn Postgraduate Scholarship Awards

UofL prides itself on academic success in its athletics and four Cards just received postgraduate scholarship awards.

Alli Bitting, Michaela Dukes, and Gabriela Leon were among 54 recipients of the 2022 Weaver-James-Corrigan-Swofford Postgraduate Scholarship Award while Kianna Smith was named an honorary recipient by the ACC.

All four Cards have been on the Athletic Director's Honor Roll and have been named to their respective All-ACC Academic Teams. 

There's certainly plenty of reason to congratulate all four of them.

Weekend Events + Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Yes, our normal Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast is still on as usual this weekend. The crew on air might be a little slim as we see spring sports clashing with our normal time slot. Both lacrosse and softball are known to have early games on Saturday. Softball is down south in the Wooo Pig Clasic in Fayetteville, Arkansas and Scott Teeter's LAX squad is set for a noon start this Saturday, opening ACC play by hosting Va. Tech. Paulie is debating on whether he will hop on air or head out to the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium. I will be out there taking pics in the Cards' ACC opener.

Tune in Saturday to see just who is on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast at 11 a.m. Check out the CCRHP You Tube site at THIS link.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

ACC WBB Standings and scenarios -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

LATEST ACC WBB STANDINGS

Team	ACC	Overall
NC St	16-1	25-3
Louisville	14-2	23-3
Notre Dame	12-4	20-6
Virginia Tech	12-4	20-7
North Carolina	11-5	21-5
Georgia Tech	10-6	19-8
Miami	9-7	16-10
Boston College	8-8	17-10
Florida State	8-8	14-12
Duke	7-9	16-10
Syracuse	4-12	11-15
Wake Forest	3-13	13-14
Clemson	3-13	9-18
Pittsburgh Virginia	2-14 2=15	11-16  5-20
-- With the majority  of the ACC teams  having two games  to play before the ACC tournament, some of the Tournament matchups are becoming clearer, but there  are still a few still up in the open -- Wednesday opening day play, which involves the #10-15 seeds will definitely have Syracuse, Wake Forest, Clemson, Pittsburgh and Virginia playing. The #10 seed could be Boston College, Florida State or Duke.  -- The "double bye" or top four seeds so far are: Louisville is #2 and North Carolina State is #1. Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Miami are still, technically, alive for the #3 and #4 seeds. They, or course, play Friday against whoever survives Wednesday and Thursday games.  -- NC State, Louisville, Notre Dame and Virginia Tech have not lost at home this season.  -- NC State has won their last six games. Pittsburgh has lost their last seven, if you're looking for "hot" and "not hot" teams. Miami is on a four game win streak and ends with a game at Virginia Tech and hosting Clemson. If the ACC Tournament started today, Duke would join Syracuse, Wake Forest, Clemson, Pittsburgh and Virginia in Wednesday action. KEY REMAINING GAMES Miami at  Virginia Tech Georgia Tech at Florida State NC State at Virginia Tech Duke at North Carolina Louisville at Notre Dame A full slate of seven games await Thursday and Sunday. If I were to make a guess on matchups for next Wednesday and beyond, I'd go with:  WEDNESDAY Clemson vs Wake Forest Duke vs. Virginia Syracuse vs Pittsburgh THURSDAY North Carolina vs Clemson or Wake Forest Miami vs Duke or Virginia Georgia Tech vs Syracuse or Pittsburgh We'll see... (Thanks for putting up with today's different formatting. Got a "issue" I'm trying to work through.) paulie

WGolf to Final Day -- WBB -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Women's Golf Heads to Final Day of Moon Golf Invitational

After a 2-under-par 70 on the second day of the Moon Golf Invitational, Louisville women's golf heads into the final day in 12th place.

Gabbi Bentancourt led the Cards with a 2-over-74 to sit in 19th place. Agustina Gomez Cisterna was second for the Cards at even par-72 and 28th overall. Hana Ryskova sits at 56th while Carmen Griffiths and Mairead Martin are tied for 70th. Sitting at 79th, 81st, and 84th are Lauren Thibodeau, Molly Lynne, and Carly Haines, respectively.

The final round of the Moon Invitational concludes today.

Women's Basketball

Although the #1 seed in the ACC Tournament is officially out of reach and a tie for the ACC regular season title is nearly gone, Louisville women's basketball comfortably sits in second in the ACC and remains in the top four in the country.

Coming in at #4 in the most recent AP Poll, the Cards are in prime position to earn a 1-seed, but much more importantly, should host the opening two rounds of the ACC Tournament.

Louisville has two roads games left in the regular season, at Pittsburgh and then at Notre Dame. The Panthers are a bottom dweller in the conference this season with a 2-14 conference record and 11-16 overall record. Louisville *should* easily handle Pitt. Notre Dame is battling for the two-day bye in the ACC Tournament and sits tied with Virginia Tech for third with a 12-4 conference record. The Irish will be a force to be reckoned with in South Bend.

We will bring you more of a preview on Thursday and Paulie will break down the standings further tomorrow. We are also officially eight days away from the start of the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Successful Sunday with UofL WBB, Softball and Lacrosse wins --MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 A good Sunday, with Louisville WBB downing the Hokies 70-56, Lacrosse romping CMU 18-7 and Softball knocking off Villanova 3-2. Here's the details:

CARDS WBB 70- VIRGINIA TECH 56

A successful send-off for the three seniors (who aren't returning next year) in the 14-point win over visiting Virginia Tech.  

A game where the Cards led by 24 early in the fourth quarter and were never in any danger of losing -- they just ran into the best center in the ACC in Elizabeth Kitley, who decided she wanted to do a little scoring for her Hokies. Kitley finished with 21 points and 13 rebound for Kenny Brooks squad, but the Cards countered with 20 points out of Hailey Van Lith and 19 from Emily Engstler, to send the Hokies to 20-7 and 13-4 in the ACC.

The Cards took control early, racing out to a 13-4 lead in the first four and one half minutes and desperate for answers, VT head coach Kenny Brooks inserted Kayanna Traylor into the game. Traynor ended up with six points in the quarter, VT climbed back within two at 16-14, with 1:35 left in the quarter but Louisville decided enough was enough and Dixon, Hall and Robinson made shots to end the quarter with a 6-0 Louisville run. 22-14 Cards after one

VT used a 7-0 run to start the second quarter to make it 24-20, Kitley had woke up, but the Cards returned the favor with their own 6-0 run that featured a Van Lith three to push the lead back out to 30-20. with 6:06 until halftime.  The teams traded basketss the rest of the second quarter and Kitley sank two free throws with a second on the clock to create a 38-27 halftime score. Louisville tried Cochran, Dixon, Engstler and even Merissah Russell  in an attempt to quell Kitley's production but she ended the half with 10 points. Van Lith was "on" for UofL and had 13 first half points, complimented by nine Emily Engstler points, 

Kitley hit the first bucket of the third quarter, but the Cards shut the door on VT for next six minutes, going n an 8-0 run for a 46-29 lead. VT continued to have shooting woes and Louisville built a 55-33 on an Engstler bucket with 1:01 left in the quarter. Louisville was in charge, 57-36, after 30 minutes and won the quarter 19-9. 

Louisville would build the lead to 24 at 60-36 early in the final quarter on an Ahlana Smith jumper and coasted in the rest of the way. VT chipped away at the Cards edge, getting the score to 70-56 with 32 seconds to play, but Walz got a chance to replace all of the seniors along the way and all three received tremendous ovations from the crowd when he did. The foul that removed Engstler from the game with 2:43 to go drew the wrath of the fan base, but Engstler went to the bench and became the Cards biggest cheerleader the rest of the way.

  70-56 final.

{Fred McMurray's "My Three Sons" would have
approved of Walz's three leaving seniors Sunday) 

THE FRED REPORT

Free Throws --  Louisville went 11-15 for 73.3%. Van Lith was 3-4, so was Dixon and Engstler was 4-5. We award the CAPITAL "F", since the mandated 70% was cleared. 

Rebounding -- Louisville won the boards battle easily 43-31.  Engstler's 15 were awesome, Liz and Cochran combined for 11 and Hailey added five. She also jokingly blamed Emily and Liz for stealing several that would have been clearly Hailey's....in the post-game presser. No problem with a CAPITAL "R" here

Effort/Execution --  Points in the paint stand out 44-16 for the Cards. A 21-11 points off turnovers edge meets with our approval, too. 41.9% shooting was adequate for the win, and a 15-4 edge in 2nd chance points is impressive. Only seven assists on 26 made baskets, though. Just nine turnovers for Louisville, all-in-all, I think the effort and execution calls for a lower case "e". VT prevented the Cards from running away with this one. 

Defense -- Defense delivered most of the game, especially in the third quarter and despite Kitley's big night, VT shot just 39.5% and had 20 turnovers. The Cards also had 10 steals and held the Hokies to under 60 points. We' award the CAPITAL "D" here.

FINAL FRED TALLY:  F-R-e-D

- Walz praised the Cards for following the game plan, something that eluded them against UNC, and it was a big win over a potential contender for the Cards second-place standing in the ACC. We also found out that Hailey and Emily are really good friends and that's the kind of stuff you love to hear as tournament time draws near. 

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-- We also saw the return of Norika Konno to the sidelines. She participated in pre-game drills, appeared to be happy and supportive but did not see any game playing time. Good to know she's back, you want a strong contingent available as the ACC and NCAA Tournament get closer and Konno had been an important contributor to the squad before her illness sidelined her. 

Welcome back, Norika !!!

LOUISVILLE LACROSSE 18 - CENTRAL MICHIGAN 7 

Allegra Catalano and Nicole Perroni scored four goals each for Louisville Lacrosse in their Sunday afternoon 18-7 win over CMU at the L.L.S.

The Cards were aggressive early and built a 6-1 lead in the first quarter en route to winning the quarter 7-3. 

CMU would manage to stay close for awhile in the second quarter but Louisville went on a 6-1 run in the quarter to blow out to a 10-3 lead and go in the locker room at half time up 11-4. 

The Cards shut out CMU in the third quarter and got two of their five goals goals from Perroni  to force a running clock and a 16-4 lead.

Scott Teeter got a chance to go deep into the reserves in the fourth quarter and the Cards won easily by 11. 

Juliana Pleck and Sara Addeche split time at goalkeep for UofL, Pleck playing the first half an Addeche the second half. 

Louisville had a 25-14 shots on goal advantage in the contest and won the draw controls 18-11. Kylee Dobson, Bella Karstein, Paige Richbourg and Maddi McKee all scored their first goal of the season in the win, which improves the Cards to 2-2 on the season.

The Cards return to action Saturday when they open ACC play against Virginia Tech in the L.L.S.

SOFTBALL DOWNS VILLANOVA 3-2 in EXTRA INNINGS. 

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Louisville Softball and Villanova battled through seven scoreless innings Saturday morning in the final day of the T-Mobile Tournament on the University of Florida field in Gainesville. Then, the action got considerably more exciting a the teams went to EXTRA INNINGS. 

Villanova started the eighth inning with a two-run homer before the Cards were able to retire them and UofL was faced with the task of scoring at least two runs in the home half of the inning or taking a loss. 

The Cards were up to the challenge. 

Easton Lotus was placed on second base to lead it off for Louisville (those international tiebreaker rules, you know). She went to third on a wild pitch and then scored on a Carmyn Greenwood single. After an out, Korbe Otis smashed a triple to left-center to score Greenwood and tie the game up. Hannah File stepped to the plate next and ended the game with a single that got Otis safely home. 

Otis, Lotus and File...oh, my! The newbies to the Cards roster, along with Greenwood come through in the clutch to send the Cards to 7-3 on the season.

 

A big effort from Taylor Roby, who pitched the first seven inning for UofL an allowed just two hits. Gabby Holloway came in for the win in the eighth inning. 

The Cards return to the road next weekend and head to Fayetteville, Arkansas to play in the Wooo Pig Classic. (No, I'm not kidding. That's the name of it) 

LACROSSE AND WBB PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON

Have a great Monday !!

paulie