WBB secures victory over California 70-63 --SB and LAX open spring seasons -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL

(photo by Mike DeZarn)

Welcome back to the weekend, readers.   I had planned on making it out to Yum! last night for the Cardinals WBB vs California however, our house went under the weather and I didn't wanna risk spreading germs to my peers so I am covering the game from the couch and also covering the house in Lysol.   

Jared is also taking a vacation for the next few games so we will be using some photos from previous games and Mike DeZarn is allowing us to share his pictures!  With Sonya at work , it was just Paulie out there holding down the fort for the Cardinal Couple crew..

We're full steam into the basketball season so lets get right into it.  

WBB

(photo by Mike DeZarn)

The Cardinals secured a solid victory against a ranked California squad 70-63.  Olivia Cochran had 18 points and 9 rebounds on the evening.   It was a physical match with the Golden Bears and the Cardinals freshman got a lot of minutes and are starting to blossom just in time for spring.    Imari Berry was the second leading scorer with 14 on 4-5 shooting 2-3 from beyond 3 point range.  

UofL moves to 16-7 on the season and 9-3 in the ACC.  


End of 1Q 21-18 Cards
FG %
9-20 45% Cards
8-15 53.3% Cal
Reb. 10-7 Cards
3-pt %
1-4 25% Cards
2-7 28.6% Cal

(photo bY Mike De Zarn)

California got off to a 7-0 lead to start the game before Taj Roberts finally put the Cards on the board about 2 minutes into it.  Cal had 8 of their 11 points come in the paint to start the game.

Jayda Curry lost the ball in the lane and California made the Cards pay with a 3 pointer in Walz' face to make it 14-9. Imari Brrry hit a three pointer to make it a 14-12 lead Bears.  Berry tried to bury another one and it gets wedged into the corner of the rim making the Cards 5-15 to start the game

Cards hit a 2... stealing it on the inbounds and tie it 16 all.

(photo by Mike DeZarn)

UofL took the lead when Randolph goes long for the layup on Cal's 4th turnover of the game.

UofL got the ball for the last possession when they get their rebound on the missed jumper by Curry but that's when Berry gets fouled and goes 1-2 at the line.


End of 2Q 16-9 Cards


FG %
8-16 50% Cards
2-11 18.2% Cal
Reb. 13-6 Cal
3-pt %
0-1 0% Cards
1-6 16.7% Cal 

(photo by Mike DeZarn)

California called a timeout when the Cards extend the lead 25-19 with 2:30 minutes hone in the second quarter. 

Cardinals got 8 second chance and 12 bench points to start the game 25-19.  Cal's leading scorer, Ioanna Krimili went 0-2 to start the game. 5:25 in the second quarter and the Bears had only scored 1 point.

By this point, California had 8 field goals and 9 turnovers.   Cardinals had 13 field goals and just 2 turnovers.  

With the Cards up 33-20 and on a 14-3 run in the quarter. Louisville 5-7 over that time frame,  Krimili hits her first 3 to make it 27-37.  

California went 4-9 at the free throw line in the quarter. By comparison, JaLeah Williams went 0-1 for the Cards.  

HALF 37-27

End of 3Q  Cards 18-17


FG %
5-12 41.7% Cards
6-14 42.9%  Cal
Reb.   7-8 Cal
3-pt %

2-2 100% Cards
2-8 25%   Cal 

(photo by Mike DeZarn)

A Jayda Curry steal and finish at the rim opened the second half, Olivia Cochran secured a jump ball for UofL on the next possession.  The score is 39-30. Louisville in the lead when Marta Suarez hit a 3 pointer for the Golden Bears. 

Cal found a backdoor cut to make it 32-39 before Curry put up an acrobatic shot and made it an and one to extend it back to a 10 point lead for Louisville. 

Lulu Twidale got her 7th and 8th points in the game with a second left on the shot clock.  Her and Suarez were responsible for the 7 points for California in the quarter. 

Berry broke a 2:30 UofL scoring drought for Louisville and Curry got a steal, Berry hit a 3 to push the lead back to 13 at 47-34 after 30 minutes. .    

 
End of 4Q  19-15 Cal

FG %
5-14 35.7% Cards
6-14 42.9%  Cal
Reb.  11-8 Cards
3-pt %
0-2 0% Cards
1-7 14.3% Cal 

(photo by Mike DeZarn)

The Cards opened the 4th quarter on a 7-2 run.   With 4 minutes left in the game, the Cards had a 64-48 lead.  But as we have seen time and time again, the scoring struggle continued for the Cardinals in the final few minutes.  

With 1:30 left the Cards were up 66-57.  With about 70 seconds left in the game, the Bears stole the ball and got a chance at the free throw line where they went 2-2 to make it 66-58... Louisville head coach Jeff Walz called a timeout. 

(photo bt Mike DeZarn)

Cal again tried to make some sort of last minute magic when they made it 68-60 with about 39 seconds to go.    They sent the Cards to the line where Arenas went 1-2.   Cal's Williams hit a jumper and got sent to the line when Curry fouled her and that made it a 2 possession game with 30 seconds to go.    UofL didn't score a bucket for the final 3:15 in the game.  

UP NEXT

Louisville vs Stanford

Sunday 2/9 12pm

ESPN2

FRED REPORT


Fred Mertz 


FREE THROWS --  The Cardinals went 13-20 at the free throw line.  Jayda and Olivia made both of their attempts but overall the squad was 65% at the line which does not meet the 70% mark required - no letter  

REBOUNDING --   UofL was outrebounded 36-34.  Cochran led the rebounding category with 9 on the night.  It was a balanced effort but the further this team wants to go in March, they will have to secure more than the opponent.  lower case r

EFFORT/EXECUTION --  After a blank start in the first two minutes of the game from Louisville, they were able to put their foot on the gas and secure the lead and never really look back, even though they did once again go on scoreless stretches in the final quarter of the game.  i give it a CAPITAL E

DEFENSE --   The defense turned it up a notch against California when they had 12 steals and forced 23 turnovers holding the Bears' leading scorers to a total of 23 points.  It was a solid effort from the Cardinals - CAPITAL D

FINAL FRED TALLY:  _r_E_D

Lacrosse

LAX opens the season at home at 12 pm Friday afternoon when they welcome #15 Denver to town.

Denver owns an 8-3 record in the series with a 3-2 edge at Louisville Lacrosse Stadium.  Denver ranked 15th in the country in scoring defense after the 2024 season with 9.20 goals per game.  Last year, the Pioneers finished the season ranked fourth in the country with 11.45 caused turnovers per game.

ACCNX for this one f you can't go. 

Softball

The University of Louisville softball team opens its 2025 season at The Spring Games, taking place from Feb. 7-9 in Leesburg, Fla.

Louisville will play 5 games over the weekend with matchups scheduled against Middle Tennessee, Liberty, Rutgers, Radford, and Cleveland State.

The Cards will begin on Friday with a 4 p.m. game against Middle Tennessee followed by a 6:30 p.m. game against Liberty. The Lady Flames ended the 2024 season with a 38-25 record and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament.  UofL is 5-3 against MTSU and the Blue Raiders went 21-31 in their 2024 campaign.  

A LINK for the broadcast.

As always
Go Cards!

~Daryl