WNBA Draft -- Softball vs UK -- Two National Champions -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

WNBA Draft

Last night was a big night in the world of women's basketball- the 2022 WNBA Draft. We kept a particularly close eye on the draft due to multiple Cardinals who were projected to get drafted.

Rd 1, Pick 4: Emily Engstler, Indiana Fever. Congratulations to Emily Engstler! Louisville knocked one out of the park when she transferred to Louisville to finish her collegiate career for the 2021-2022 season. The Cards' fourth Final Four appearance in program would not have happened without her. Engstler was one of four players taken in the first round by the Indiana Fever. The Fever had seven overall picks.

Rd 2, Pick 16: Kianna Smith, Los Angeles Sparks. Congratulations to Kianna Smith! Smith was on the court the last two seasons for the Cards after sitting out the 2019-2020 season due to the NCAA transfer rules. The California native reached 1000 career points early this past season. She heads back to her home state of California as one of four players selected by the Los Angeles Sparks this draft.

Louisville has had 16 players drafted in the WNBA in program history. The Cards have had at least one player selected in the last four drafts and have had eight total players drafted in that span. 14 of the 16 have come under the Walz era. 

The ACC had eight players taken in the 2022 WNBA Draft: Louisville (Emily Engstler, Kianna Smith), NC State (Elissa Cunane, Kayla Jones), Florida State (Kierstan Bell), Georgia Tech (Lorela Cubaj), Virginia Tech (Aisha Sheppard), and Notre Dame (Maya Dodson).

The SEC had seven players taken in the 2022 WNBA Draft. The Big Ten and Big 12 each had four players drafted. The Pac-12 had two players drafted. Baylor and UConn each had three players drafted.

Softball Hosts Kentucky

After an eventful seven-game weekend revolving around volleyball, softball, and baseball, plus a bomb threat scare, I'm ready to get back to campus for more UofL sports. Louisville softball welcomes rival #8 Kentucky to Ulmer Stadium at 6:00 p.m.

This game is rescheduled from last Wednesday, when weather was not cooperative. The weather appears to be not cooperative again today, but fingers crossed we will get this game in.

The game is marked as a RED out. Admission for chair back seating is $5 while outfield berm seating is free.

Kentucky is 27-9 on the year with an 8-4 conference record. They are 9-6 against ranked opponents, including a sweep over LSU. They boast a .318 team batting average with nearly the entire starting lineup batting over .300.

Erin Coffell has been the top offensive contributor for the Wildcats with a .415 batting average, 11 home runs, and 41 rbis.

Maranda Stoddard is their top pitcher with a 5-3 record, a 3.30 ERA and 30 strikeouts. Alexia Lacatena and Sloan Gayan have each had strong seasons with sub-3.00 ERAs. As a whole, UK's pitching corps has a 3.00 ERA with 159 strikeouts to 90 walks.

You can catch this game on ESPNU.

Cheer and Dance Have High Success at NCA/NDA Championships

Louisville Cheer brought back two national championships from their All-Girl and Small Coed squads and a third place finish from the Large Coed squad. The four-person stunt groups finished third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and ninth.

The Louisville Ladybirds finished fourth in the team/pom division and second in the hip-hop division.

Between a pair of national championships and several other top-tier finishes, we would like to congratulate the unofficial athletics teams at UofL, especially since neither championship could've have been accomplished without women student-athletes.

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

Circling back around to the bomb threat at Jim Patterson Stadium (baseball) on Sunday that I mentioned, I want to take a moment to praise the Louisville game day and operations staff for acting quickly and clearing out a 2000+ crowd out of the stadium in under 10 minutes. They were able to act a professional manner while keeping everyone calm. We never want to see an emergency situation at a game, but it is comforting to know that the staff and volunteers are all well-trained to handle a situation if it were to arise.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared