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