WBB vs Wake Forest Preview -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Wake up CARDNATION, its GAMEDAY!  

WBB

#9 Louisville vs Wake Forest Preview



Demon Deacs are 13-12 on the season and 3-10 in the conference.


Wake Forest is coming off an 84-56 loss to UNC. The Tarheels shot better than 48% from the field against WF.

The Deacs are averaging 66 PPG. Since joining the ACC, Louisville is 12-1 against Wake. The Cards won 81-76 in the 2025 matchup. Only 4 players who saw minutes in that matchup are still on the UofL roster. Taj Roberts had 17 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal in the game.

Sophomore forward Grace Oliver is leading the offense for Wake averaging 13.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and shoots 38% from three point range. leads the ACC and ranks 15th nationally with a 58.9% field goal percentage. Mary Carter is sixth in the ACC with 52 three-pointers and eighth in the league with 2.1 three-pointers made per game. Freshman Milan Brown is leading the rebounding efforts averaging 6.4 per game.


The game is set to tip off at 7pm at the KFC Yum! Center or on the ACCNX.

Louisville has 5 games left in the regular season, 4 of them at home.

As Always, 
Go Cards

~Daryl 

WBB heads into final five games of ACC slate -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS WBB ONE GAME BACK OF DUKE WITH FIVE TO GO IN REGULAR SEASON CONFERENCE GAMES

You can count the remaining regular season ACC tests for Louisville WBB on one hand now...as most of the teams have reached the mark of over a dozen ACC games played. At 12-1 in conference, Louisville is behind Duke by one game. If the ACC WBB Tournament was played tomorrow, 

#10-#15 seeds play on the Wednesday opening round. If that was starting tomorrow, it would be #15 Wake Forest vs. #10 California, Other Wednesday games would be #14 Florida State against #11 Georgia Tech and #13 Stanford and #12 Miami facing off. The winners of the first round would go on to face the winner of Clemson vs. Notre Dame, Syracuse, Virginia or Virginia Tech on Thursday Your top four seeds are Duke, UofL, NC State and UNC and they would first see action Friday. I doubt it will go down in this sequence, but...it's as good a guess as any 3/4th of the way through the season .  

SMU, Pitt and Boston College would not make the ACC Tournament if today's standings were the final standings. 

Of course, we all know that things can go thru a dramatic upheaval in the final handful of conference games. 

Duke is on a 15 game win streak. UNC on a seven game win streak.

The Cards end conference regular season play against Wake Forest, FSU, Virginia, at Georgia Tech and Notre Dame. That's the current #6 , #15, #5, #11 and #8 seeds. four out of five at home bode well for the Cards. Duke has UNC, NC St., at Clemson, FSU and at UNC.

 I like the Cards schedule better, Louisville could battle their way back to a tie for the conference lead and if they can go undefeated the rest of the way and Duke lose two...say to UNC once and always tough NCSt.... the Cards could take the title. 

A lot of balls to bounce yet. 

Daryl will be covering my Thursday article ...as I will be in Cleveland at the Cleveland Clinic undergoing kidney evaluation. FINGERS AND TOES CROSSED FOR BEST OF LUCK. 

paulie

Lacrosse Opens Season at Home -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Teeter's Squad Hosts Ohio State

Louisville lacrosse is off to the races this week in their season opener, which is no surprise based on past seasons, but the unusual part this year is that they won't open with their traditional Colorado opponents. This year, Louisville will open the season at home, and they'll take on the Buckeyes of Ohio State. Louisville and OSU meet regularly, with the home team winning the last two matchups. Ohio State leads the all-time series 8-4, and they beat the Cards 9-6 360 days ago. 

The Cards are 14-4 all-time in home openers, which is quite the impressive mark. They're 11-7 in overall season openers and they won last season's opener over the #15 ranked Denver Pioneers. The Cards finished last year 7-10 with a disappointing 1-8 ACC mark. Louisville seemed on the verge of a breakthrough in 2024 when they posted their best ACC record under Scott Teeter with three wins. Last season was a step back in that regard, and we'll be looking for the Cards to get back to a higher win total this season. 

Louisville is making a fair number of replacements, with perhaps the most critical of those being Ashley Osborne. Osborne was a sixth year senior defender who reached a program-record 82 games played last season. She had a team-high 25 ground balls last year in a season that saw her become the 8th player in program history to amass 100 career ground balls. The Cards graduated a total of eight seniors, which also included goalkeeper J Pleck. Pleck's 258 career saves were fifth all-time in the program. 

The Cards had a freshmen battle at the backup position last season between Hanna John and Haley Richards. John transferred out of the program, so Richards will look to win the spot over fellow sophomore Campbell Murray, who transferred from Mercer, and senior Aubrey Bagenstose, who has been a career Cardinal but has not seen action in a game since 2023. Richards had seven saves in five games last season. 

 

Louisville does return three of their top six scorers from last season and a pair of defenders who started all 17 games. Cate Kangas and Olivia Scroggie will continue to hold down the defense, while Rian Adkins and Reese Whiteman lead the offensive attack. Whiteman was the team leader in goals (26) and points (32) last year, while Adkins was third on the team with 23 points. 

Louisville and Ohio State will get underway at noon today, and admission to the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium is free. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

SB wraps up first weekend -- WBB bounces back at Cuse -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Good morning all,




Im looking forward to some temps in the 50s this week hopefully melt some of the ugly piles of snow around town, especially the ones currently blocking places to park in front of my house.

WBB



Louisville    84    Syracuse  65

Laura Ziegler was unstoppable and scored 22 points on 10-13 shooting from the field.  As a team, the Cardinals shot 54% from the field.     

Recap

Louisville opened the game looking like they had something to prove after the midweek misstep with Duke.    After a quarter, Laura Ziegler scored a layup underneath on the feed from Imari Berry.  The Cards led 28-6 after 1 quarter, Syracuse shooting 0% and only scored from free throw attempts. 

But the Cuse would not be discouraged as they would respond loudly in quarter number two.  After being down by as many as 22,they engineered a 16-2 run by Syracuse and Darius going 6-6 from the field in that frame alone.   At one point, the Orange made 7 shots in a row and finished the quarter shooting 73%.  Cuse outscored UofL 30-16 in the quarter.  

Louisville led 44-36 at the halftime break.  

Cards lose it out of bounds but get it right back in the opening minute of the third.  Anaya Hardy got the foul called but she missed both at the line.  Orange scored 3 buckets in a row before Ziegler quieted the crowd and makes it 61-54 with 90 seconds to go in third quarter.

After a Syracuse airball and shot clock violation, Taj Robert’s went full length of floor and made it 9 pt game again and Louisville pushed it back to a double digit 11 point lead and the end of the third quarter.

Each time Cuse got a big bucket, The Cards responded with one of their own.  

After a 3 min scoring drought for Cuse put the Cards up by 15...there was really no looking back. 


Softball

 

Louisville  5   FIU   8 
 

The Cards are 3-2 on the season after the first weekend of the 2026 season.  Louisville fell to hosting FIU in both matchups this weekend, losing 8-5 Sunday afternoon.    

Brooke Gray took the loss in the circle after giving up 2 runs on two batters faced. Anna Wise got the start and gave up 5 hits in 3.1 innings pitched.   The Cardinals pitching staff gave up 8 runs on a total 9 hits, walked 6 and only struck out 4 batters face.  

Offensively, Madison Pickens and Katie Thatcher had 2 RBIs each and Chelsea Mack and Camryn Lookadoo each had 2 hits for Louisville. 

Recap

After securing a 4-2 lead in the top of the 4th, the Panthers responded with 4 in the bottom frame and the Cards could not rally from behind to even the series.   

In a game that saw 4 Cardinal pitchers, there were two pitching changes made in the bottom of the 4th.  

As Always, 
Go Cards 
~Daryl 

Softball takes two Saturday and WBB faces Syracuse today -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS SOFTBALL WINS BOTH GAMES IN FEISBURG TOURNEY SATURDAY

An oldie but goodie photo of Louisville Softball

A tale of two different ballgames for the softball Cards in the FIU Invitational in Miami on  Saturday, also known as the Felsburg Invitational.  

Why is it called the Felsburg Invitational for softball?

Michael Felsburg was a former FIU track and field and cross country star that graduated with honors and then went into the Marine Corps but was killed in Iran in 2004.

The Cards faced Texas A&M - Corpus Christi in the morning opener and went on a hitting and scoring rampage...scoring 13 runs and getting off to a 7-0 start before a wild sixth inning that saw TAMCC score five runs and the Cards respond with six runs for an 13-5 eventual victory. Two Cards drove in five runs each in Jordan Williams and Riley Janda and Alyssa Zabala (my favorite softball Cardinal...who is also a Miami native) got the win with a scoreless four inning performance to start the game. Madi Reeves handled the relief chores.  

In the second contest, Brooke Gray threw four shutout innings with only two hits allowed before giving way to Jayden Gohs who had three scoreless innings relief in the 4-0 win over Lehigh. 

The Cards scored a run in the first , two in the third inning and one more in the fifth to take the "W" It's good to see the Cards bats so lively this early in the softball season.  Head UofL softball coach Holly Aprile has some very efficient and smart players who head to the plate in Easton Lotus, Chelsea Mack, Jordan Williams, Madison Pickens, Camryn Lookadoo and Riley Zanda...just to name a few.

Louisville (3-1) will end their stay in the Felsburg with a return game against FIU, who gave them their only loss in the tourney. That one starts AT 11:30 A.M. and will be on ESPN+ again..

WBB GOES ON THE ROAD TO FACE SYRACUSE 

It'll be an early start for Louisville WBB in Syracuse on Super Bowl Sunday...with a noon start time. The contest will be shown on the CW.  The contest will take place in the JMA Wireless Dome (how many names had this thing had?) Old guys like me still refer to it as the Carrier Dome. 

Felicia Leggett Jack

A worthy foe, these Orange...19-4 overall and 9-3 in the ACC. The Cards enter the contest at #8 in the nation and sport a 21-4 ,11-1 record. 

Louisville enters the contest after the one-point loss to Duke in the KFC YUM! Center. The Cards are second in the ACC standings and Duke is tied for third.

It will be interesting to see how the Cards bounce back from their only conference loss as they take to the road to face a very challenging Syracuse squad. Felicia Leggett-Jack is the Orange head coach,  

Softball 1-1 After Day One -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Opens Season With Split

The Cards took to the sunny climes of Florida for the beginning of the softball season, as they do annually, and began their 2026 campaign with a victory. The joy of a 7-4 win over Stony Brook was a bit short lived, though, as they fell at the hands of the hosting FIU Panthers 5-7 in the later game. Louisville will get a chance for payback against FIU tomorrow morning, but they have a pair of games today first. The Cards take on Corpus Christi at 11:30 this morning and will face Lehigh this evening at 4:30. 

In the first game, Louisville fell behind in the second inning 1-0, but turned their fortunes around with a four-run third. They tacked on a single run in the fifth and their final two in the sixth before needing to hold on to their lead against a three-run seventh inning for Stony Brook. Brooke Gray got the start in game one and pitched four innings of one-run ball. She gave up three hits and hit one batter but tallied three strikeouts and no walks. Two of the three hits came in the second inning to set up the sacrifice fly that scored her only earned run, but it was a decent start for the junior. 

Offensively in game one, Louisville was led by Madison Pickens, who has moved into the third spot in the lineup, as she had two triples. One resulted in an RBI and a little-league home run as she scored on a throwing error by the left fielder, and the other saw her batted in for the Cards' fifth run of the game. Taylor Monroe also had a pair of hits, and Riley Janda had Louisville's only home run. Small ball and speed will likely reign again for Louisville, as the Cards had three stolen bases (Easton Lotus, Chelsea Mack, Bri Despines). 

In game two, the Cards jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first, but FIU responded immediately to take the lead by the end of the inning. The Cards got back-to-back solo homers from Pickens and Despines in the inning, but Alyssa Zabala had a nightmare start in her season opener. Zabala gave up four straight hits and an error put a fifth straight batter on base before Zabala was replaced by Anna Wise. Alyssa will surely be back to her normal form sooner rather than later, but she's sitting on the dreaded "infinity" ERA at the moment. 

Anna Wise settled in and got out of the inning with some defensive help, but Louisville trailed 3-2. The sophomore transfer from Ohio University pitched well as the quasi starter after that, going five innings before she ran into trouble. In the meantime, Louisville scored in the fifth on a Camryn Lookadoo double to tie the game. Things unraveled a bit for Wise in the sixth inning, but it was the defense that ultimately let this one slip away. Wise opened the inning with a popup, but a pair of singles followed. A fly out left runners on first and second with two outs. 

Easy enough, you might think, but not quite. A ground ball back to the pitcher was unable to be converted to the final out, and the bases were loaded. It was a tough call for Holly Aprile to put a freshman in a tie game with the bases loaded, but she trusted her gut. It didn't quite work out. Jayden Gohs took over in the circle and walked in the go-ahead run. Unfortunately, the defense made a bad situation worse when Taylor Monroe sailed a throw from short that could have ended the inning and instead scored a pair of unearned runs. A double added one more unearned run and the Cards trailed 7-3 with one more trip to the plate. 

To their credit, the Cards put up a valiant effort in the seventh. Katie Thatcher walked to open the inning, and Lookadoo singled to try to start a rally. FIU made a pitching change, which looked to be the right call as Easton Lotus struck out, but Chelsea Mack laid down a bunt that scored two runs on an errant throw. Mack advanced all the way to third and with a runner in scoring position, one out, and the heart of the order due up, Louisville wasn't quite out of it yet. Their hopes were dashed in fairly short order, though, as Pickens and Despines both lined out to end the game. 

There's a long season ahead, and Louisville gets back into it today. There's plenty of good and bad to take from the opening day of games, so we'll just see what the Cards do with the rest of their weekend. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

WBB falls to Duke 59-58 -- SB opens season in FL -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL

Good morning and welcome to the weekend. I've been chasing around cardinal birds on campus this week getting some shots for our new space on campus.  Thought I could share a couple here :D

This is 'Miller' in front of Grawmeyer Hall

WBB

Have I told y'all how much I hate the color blue? 


Louisville 58  Duke 59 


Mackenley Randolph scored first point at ft line with almost 4 min off clock. Cards 0-8 to start game while Duke was 7-7.  Louisville got it's first couple of buckets from Reyna Scott with 4:30 min left- Cards go on 7-0 run to make it 16-8.  Fornier for Duke scored 11 in the first quarter.  Duke shot 71% in the first quarter and the Cards shot 18%.


7-0 run for Cards made it 27-20 Duke which felt less daunting.  Blue Devils went scoreless for 3 min but UofL gained almost no ground 34-25.  Ziegler snuck in for the put up and in and then Duke hit the lucky 3 at the buzzer to make it a 10 pt. game at the half.  Not a great sign. 

Louisville comes out second half and scored immediately but the Blue Devils respond quickly.  An Elif three pointer in front of the UofL bench makes it a 3 pt ball game Cards on a 7-0 run 41-38.  4+ min scoring drought for Duke but 3 turnovers in row for Cards and all the sudden Duke up by 8 again with 3 min left.  


Full defensive possession with one min left in 3rd quarter to get the ball 46-43. Elif makes it underneath.  Ball off Duke at the baseline and Cards get the ball with 15 seconds left in the frame. 7 turnovers by Duke in the 3 quarter alone. Reyna took the 3 pt. shot attempt but it was off.


Cards tie it up on a Reyna Scott drive to the basket and one and it's 46 all.  Ziegler steals it and Cards looked for first lead when she makes it and its a 49-46 Louisville lead.  UofL outshooting Duke 22-9 in 2nd half.  Dunk retakes 50-49 lead with 6:30 left in the game


Laura goes 0-2 in one offensive possession but she really had some great looks they just didn't fall in.  The rims were not forgiving for Louisville against Duke.  Offensive foul by Duke's Fornier on Elif and Cards get the ball back.  The crowd is roaring.  


But... a 7-0 Duke run over 3 min makes it 54-49 with the Cards scoreless for more than 4 min and that quiets much of the fan base. 

The story here was as follows. 

Elif 1-2 at line and Duke hits 3 to make it a 7 pt Duke lead again.  Taj 1-2 at line.  Skylar 1-2 at line. and then another scoring drought where the Cards went scoreless from the field for more than 4 minutes.  But will someone come to the Cards rescue to close it out? A familiar superhero?

Imari Berry hits 3 to make it 57-55 with about 2 min left.   Duke responds Cards score quickly and Duke calls timeout with 66 seconds left and a 2 pt advantage. 


Cards get the steal and push it forward to Berry for the layup but the shot misses but they do get the foul call.  After sinking the first.. she misses the second FT with 1 second on the clock.   And that’s all she wrote for this one.  

I'll just say this... I would love to see this Duke team in the ACC tournament.   




Softball

The Cardinals are flying south for some warmer weather. They’ve got a forecast averaging about 70 degrees Fahrenheit for the weekend ahead.

Louisville has not lost a game vs any team in the Felsberg Invitational field; FIU, Lehigh, Stony Brook and TX A&M CC. They will play 5 games over the 3 days.


It is Holly Aprile’s 8th season at helm. The Cardinals return 15 of their 21 players from the 2025 season including 7 starters. The senior class is lead by Easton Lotus, Chelsea Mack, Bri Despines, and Alyssa Zabala . The Cards’ pitching staff features a blend of experience and youth. Zabala leads the group, joined by transfers Madi Reeves (Miami Ohio) and Anna Wise (Ohio), both of whom bring multiple complete games and all-conference credentials from the MAC. Freshman Jayden Gohs adds immediate impact potential after being named to the Softball America Freshman Watchlist, while Brooke Gray and Ryann Sanders provide additional depth.


Louisville opens tournament play Friday, Feb. 6, against Stony Brook at 4:30 p.m. ET, followed by a matchup with host FIU at 7 p.m. ET. The Cardinals return to action Saturday with games against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (11:30 a.m. ET) and Lehigh (4:30 p.m. ET), before closing the weekend Sunday against FIU at 11:30 a.m. ET.

As Always, 

Go Cards 

~Daryl 

Cards WBB faces Duke tonight in the KFC YUM! Center -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 11-0 IN ACC SQUADS DUEL FOR CONFERENCE LEAD

(photo by Clarissa Li) 

it's the highlight game of the ACC schedule so far this year, when Kara Lawson brings her Duke squad to Louisville for a nationally televised game on ESPN tonight at 7 p.m. 

Duke comes in on a 13 game win streak and the Cards have a 14 game win streak. Duke has one of the best player in the league in forward Toby Fournier, a Canadian, and the Cards have an incredibly balanced team that plays as a unit so well and efficiently. Taj Roberts recently was named to the mid-season Anne Meyers Drysdale Award List for best guard in DI basketbal. she's one of 10 named as mid-season finalists. l 

Jeff Walz talks about the upcoming game Here .

The Cards are 9-6 against Duke all time but lost the matchup in Durham last year 61-48. Mac Randolph (13 pts..) and Olivia Cochran (11 points) led Louisville in scoring...Duke was led by four players in double figures...Oluchi Okananwa (3 points) Reigan Richardson (12 points). Ashton Jackson (11 points) and Fournier (10 points). Jackson and Fournier are still on the squad...Okananwa transferred to Maryland and Richardson was waived by the Minnesota Lynx in training camp.

UofL has a $7 ticket promotion for the game. Tickets available at box office. 

The Cards are #6 in the nation and Duke is #17, according to AP Poll. Seven out of ten Duke writers pick the Cards to win this one (Read here)

We'll cover it and Daryl will have the recap Friday.

pauiie

ACC -- WBB WEEK OF 2/2/26 -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 ACC STANDINGS

2-9 ain't that fine for the Demon Deacons squad. 

With the majority of the ACC WBB schools having 11 games under their belt... we are almost 2/3rds of the way through the conference schedule   Let's take a look today at the league standings. 

Louisville (11-0, 21-3) and Duke (11-0, 16-6) are atop the pack. These two will match up tomorrow in the KFC YUM! Center and it should be a good one to watch  .Louisville is on a 14 game win streak and Duke is on a 13 game win streak. Jeff Walz wants you in the seats and would like a full bottom bowl. It's an ESPN broadcast and tips at 7 p.m.

Next in the standings are Virginia Tech, Syracuse and NC State at 8-3.  The Hokies are on a seven game win streak and Megan Duffy is proving to be just as good a head coach as Kenny Brooks ever was at Va Tech. The Notre Dame grad was a thorn in the Cards side when she was a player and Carys Baker leads VT in scoring. 

After that, UNC is at 7-3 and Virginia and Clemson are at 7-4. They're technically still alive for the conference title but at astronomical odds. 

Notre Dame is having an off season and is 6-5 in conference and 14-8 overall.. Georgia Tech is 5-6 and the West coast contingent of Stanford and California are at 4-6. Stanford is 15-8 overall and will probably make the NCAA Tournament if they don't fall completely apart in their final seven conference games and the ACC Tournament. 

The Seminoles of FSU are having a disastrously bad season at 2-8 and 7-15. Just behind them is Wake Forest at 2-9. SMU and Pitt stand at 1-9 and Boston College is in the basement at 0-11 and 4-20. Joanna Bernabee-McNamee is too good of a coach to be that bad this season but they've lost 16 games in a row  

We'll preview the Louisville vs Duke game for you tomorrow. 

paulie

FH Announces International Signing -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Adds to Netherlands Connection

There were brief signs of spring yesterday when we finally reached above-freezing temperatures yesterday, and softball is right around the corner, but let's return to fall sports for just a moment. Louisville field hockey announced a major signing to the fall 2026 class yesterday, as they'll add Bibi van der Lande to the roster. Van der Lande is a defender from the Netherlands, continuing the pipeline that head coach Justine Sowry has established between the land of tulips and the River City. 

Bibi van der Lande is not to be confused with Bibi van der Velden. Though it's pretty clearly different, a name similar to that of a Dutch jewelry designer made finding information on the field hockey player a bit more difficult. Nevertheless, it won't be the fashion icon stepping onto the turf at Trager this fall. The defender that will join the Cards has played for MOP (Mixed-Oranje-Pauw) for her entire career. As a member of the development team, van der Lande participates at the third-highest level of senior field hockey in the Netherlands. Last season, she was frequently asked to substitute for the second team as well. 

According to her recruiting profile, van der Lande has a calm presence in the middle of the defense and is adept at short and long passes to set up the attack from the back line. Like many top defenders, van der Lande has spent time playing at the forward positions as well, giving her knowledge of how the attack is formed. This is beneficial as both a defender and the beginning of the offense. She is noted as having strong communication skills that help set up her teammates for success. While van der Lande will be replacing one Dutch defender in Tatum Kroon (who graduated), she'll be able to transition her communication skills into the college game with the help of two more defenders from the Netherlands. Returning in 2026 are senior Annabel Sep and sophomore Trijntje Herfkens. 

There's still quite a while to go before the fall seasons start, but van der Lande will be a welcome addition to the program when she joins in the summer. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

WBB 1-0 in February -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Good Morning readers, 

Hope everyone is staying warm out there, because the snow is going nowhere anytime soon.  

WBB vs Cal


Louisville 71- California 59

The red hot Louisville Cardinals are heading back to the Ville still undefeated in the ACC and a prime time matchup with the Duke Blue Devils looms later in the week.  Louisville WBB is 21-3 on the year and looking like one of the top 10 teams in the country.  

Lets see how the match with the Cal Golden Bears unfolded.


The first half was a scrappy one as both squads struggled to score from beyond 3 point range, making 1 each. UofL went 1-7 when Cal went 1-9. Cal also had 3 turnovers in the last 6 min of the first quarter where Cards went on a 6-0 run to finally establish a lead. Mackenly Randolph hit a 3 and lead the scoring with 5 points in the quarter. As a team the Cards had 4 assists on 7 made buckets.

It took a while for the Cardinals to warm up only as they managed to score only 1 point, no FG within the first 3 minutes of the 2nd quarter. Reyna Scott gets her first bucket to put the Cards up 20-15. Cal went on a run over 20-19 with about 5 min. till half. Personal foul called on Cal and media timeout allows the Cards to regroup. After 3:30 minutes scoreless Imari Berry made a bucket . It was 24-21 before the Cards go into the half with only a 28-24 lead.

Jayda Curry and Kianna Smith in the house to cheer on the Cards
Photo: UofL WBB Facebook

Cal opened the second half with a bucket to make it a 2 point game but Laura Zeigler proved her time spent in the weight room paid off and put a strong one up and in.  Cal responded with a 3 pointer


E and Taj both tried to respond with threes of their own but after an offensive rebound and a chance, both bounce on the rim and out of bounds.   Cal took a 34-32 lead on a 3 pointer with 7 min left in the 3Q.   After that, E and Taj got another shot at back to back threes and sank both.   Then a layup from Istanbulluoglu put the Cards up 10 for their biggest lead of the game at that point and it was the turning point of the game with 3 min left in the third quarter.


An 8-0 run by Cards over 2 min. ending with Laura hitting the 3 pointer with 6:30 left made it 60-46 and the Cardinals never took their foot of the gas petal.  


FRED REPORT

FREE THROWS -- Louisville went 11-16 at the free throw line which is only good for 68.8% and not letter earning by Card Couple's standards.  There was an opportunity where Taj Roberts got to shoot 2 on a flagrant foul called on Cal and went 1-2 at the line and UofL also threw it out of bounds on the '2 shots and the ball' opportunity as a result.  Gotta clean up those silly mistakes.  No letter

REBOUNDING -- The Cardinals as a team outrebounded the Bears but the leading rebounder wore a California uniform.  Elif was the leading rebounder in a UofL uniform with 7 boards.  I'd like to see Laura pull down a couple more. lower case r    

EFFORT/EXECUTION -- UofL had their backs against the wall in the first half and were held to just 28 points.  After shooting just 32% in the first half the Cards doubled it up to an impressive 64% shooting percentage from the field in the second half.  Roberts scored 15 of her 21 in the 2nd half.  Capital E

DEFENSE -- The Cards let Cal shoot 56% from the field in the second half  but their struggles from 3 point range throughout the game is what let Louisville pull away.  Capital D


FINAL FRED TALLY:   _-r-E-D

As Always, 

Go Cards

~Daryl

"Perfect Cards" go Bear Hunting in Berkeley -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS PUT 10-0 ACC MARK ON THE LINE SUNDAY

The Louisville women's basketball squad has enjoyed life in the ACC so far this season. In 10 games, the Cards are a perfect 10-0. Clemson, UNC, SMU, Virginia Tech, Miami, Pitt, Notre Dame, Boston College, NC State and Stanford have all fallen by the wayside in their games against the Louisville squad. 

Up next, the final game in the UofL west coast swing when the Cards travel to Berkeley and face California in Haas Arena. My sister-in-law, her husband and their daughter live in Berkeley and the last time Sonya and I went to visit them there, we spent a day on the campus, just checking things out. It was a summer trip, so we didn't get to see any teams in action. 

Charmin Smith. Cal WBB head coach.  Wonder if she uses Charmin?...

                                                        OK, bad joke...sorry

 
This California squad is 13-9 on the season and 4-5 in the ACC. Their last conference win came against Notre Dame in the Haas Arena and the Golden Bears were led by Lulu Twidale (19 points), Gisela Maul (16 points) and Samika Walker (12 points). Samika's father will be familiar to UofL MBB fans...Samaki Walker spent two years playing for Denny Crum at UofL in the early nineties before deciding to go pro and joined the LA Lakers. Walker was with six teams in his 10 yr NBA career. 

The Cards are getting national recognition for being a well-balanced squad with multiple leading scorers per game this season. Against Stanford, it was Laura Ziegler leading the way with 22 points...one of four Cards in double figures. This one will be on the CW Network. In Louisville, on Spectrum it is channel 7, WBKI if you have regular TV. (does anyone anymore?)

This one airs at 11 a.m. (California time) and 2 p.m in the Ville. 

paulie

 

Swim and Dive Look to Bounce Back Against UC -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Fell to Indiana on Thursday   

We haven't talked much about Louisville swim and dive this year, but the Cards are putting up a great season so far. Louisville's women's team is ranked sixth, though they may drop slightly after a loss on Thursday at Indiana. The Hoosiers are ranked ninth, and the Cards hung tight, so it may not be a big fall if there is one at all. Louisville will look to get back to winning ways against Cincinnati today in the Ralph Wright Natatorium. 

Despite falling on Thursday, Louisville lost by just 23 points (161-138). Louisville had three individual wins by Anastasia Gorbenko, who has been a freshman revelation for the Cards. Gorbenko was a steal of a recruit for Arthur Albiero, as she is a member of the Israeli National Team. As a member of that team, Gorbenko has won eight European and World Championships, competed in two Olympic finals, and netted 14 national swim records. On Thursday, Gorbenko won three individual events (100 breast, 200 breast, and 400 IM) and helped win the 200 medley relay. Gorbenko's 2:06.75 in the 200 breast set a school record. 

Joining Gorbenko on the podium for the medley relay were Julie Mishler, Ella Welch, and Julia Dennis. Louisville also picked up wins in the 50 free, where Julia Dennis set an IU pool record of 21.46, and the 1000 free, where Leticia Fassina Romao was first and Tilda Hall was second. In the 100 breast, the Cards swept the podium, with Anna Inagaki taking second and Kim Herkle finishing third. The Cards also swept the podium in the 200 breast, with Herkle and Inagaki swapping positions behind Gorbenko Louisville's Daria Golovaty won the 500 free, and Louisville finished with seven other total podium placements.

On the platforms, Audree Brazeau-Howes led the way for Louisville at both the 1M and 3M heights. Brazeau-Howes finished third in the 3M dive. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case 

Cards bounce the Cardinal 84-66 -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

We returned to campus on Thursday and it was actually pretty nice out.  The snow is blinding but the contrast of the red Cardinal birds on the backdrop of the blanket of snow is aesthetically pleasing. 

While we're dodging piles of snow in Louisville the WBB squad went to the west coast for some sunshine.  

WBB

Louisville 84  Stanford 66

The Cards were back in action on the hardwood and continue to bring the heat.  

Laura Ziegler had a career high day for the Cardinals with 22 points and 11 rebounds.  Mackenly Randolph swished 3 threes in the first quarter finishing with 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and a block.  Randolph had made 8-24 threes before this night.  She had 13 of her total points in the first half.   Ziegler started the match 0-5 and finished 9-11.  

With Louisville up 31-17, a 9-0 run by the Cards forced Stanford to call the timeout with 7:52 until halftime.   Then UofL went scoreless for 2:30 with a wild sequence of events before Imari Berry got her first bucket with less than 5:30 till the halftime break. 

UofL went into the break with a 48-30 lead over Stanford.  The Stanford Cardinal had 14 TO in first the half.

And that was pretty much how the cookie crumbled the rest of the way in Palo Alto.  

With about 3:30 to go Berry went down after a making a deflection leading to another Cardinals steal. It looked like a tweak of the leg or ankle of some sort that sent her to the sidelines.  We will get the info from the program on that.  

It was a wild last minute and half of play with the bench on the floor.   Did somebody order some turnovers?? The Cards had 6 in that time frame so that stat is a little misleading although Reagan Bender had 3 to herself.    The Cards scored just 4 points in the final 2 minutes while Stanford scored 11. 

UP NEXT

Louisville vs California

Sunday 2/1/26

2p.m. The CW

Louisville and Duke are still the lone undefeated teams in the ACC with the NC State  2 games back.  Duke demolished Miami Thursday night but they did lose the third quarter 27-16.



FRED REPORT

Fred Mertz (William Frawley) is today's Fred. Remember I Love Lucy and My Three Sons?  

FREE THROWS -- Louisville went 9-12 at the line (75%).  Ziegler was perfect 2-2 on a career night. CAPITAL F

REBOUNDING -- The Cardinals barely outrebounded Stanford 38-34 even though UofL used 4 more players.   They have got to dominate this category to win the big games.   lower case r

EFFORT/EXECUTION -- UofL lead the entire way in this one and made it clear they're not looking ahead or taking any ACC opponent lightly.  The Cards poured it on Stanford and it was never really close.   CAPITAL E

DEFENSE -- The Cards executed a swarming defense on Stanford that allowed them to pick up no momentum at any point of the game.  UofL forced 22 turnovers and got 26 points off of them.  That was the difference maker.  CAPTIAL D



FINAL FRED TALLY:  F-r-E-D

As Always,

Go Cards

~Daryl 

CARDS WBB TRAVELS TO STANFORD -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS PLAY STANFORD FIRST IN A TWO GAME WEST COAST SWING

Let's take a positive look about the joy and excitement of Louisville WBB headed to California for their next two games. First off, there isn't a foot of snow to have to trudge through and deal with when they arrive on the Stanford campus . A forecast of 64 today at Stanford, which is about 35 miles south of San Francisco. Second, two of the Cards starters are from 'the Golden State' in Mackenly Randolph (Los Angeles) and Tajianna Roberts (San Diego). 

I doubt Taj or Mac ever heard it, but the Grateful Dead had a pretty cool song about California on their Terrapin Station album (1977) called Estimated Prophet. The late Bob Weir had the vocal and you can hear it HERE.

As far as the Stanford squad goes, they come into the fray 15-6 overall and 4-4 in the ACC. It's a 8 p.m. EST game and you can catch it on ESPN. The network is rolling out their "A" team in Beth Mowins and Deb Antonelli for this one...and it'll take place in the legendary Maples Pavilion. 

Kate Paye is the head coach of Stanford. She played there and was also an assistant for Tara VanDerveer. She took over in April of 2024.  

Lara Somfai the 6'7" Cardinal center

Stanford has one up on the Cards in that they have won a National Championship (in 2021). This year, they are a lot like the Cards in the aspect of having multiple scoring threats, They have five scorers that average nine points a game or better. Nunu Agara leads the Cardinal with 14.5 a game. Following her, you've got Chloe Clardy at 11.1, Lara Somfai 10.6 a night, Courtney Ogden 10.5 and Hailee Smith 9.0 

Here's an interesting tidbit....Nunu committed to Stanford because of the palm trees. Out of Minnesota, she says they are her favorite tree. I guess Kate Paye is happy she didn't visit Miami or FAU first. 

Losses have come against FGCU, Tennessee, Duke, Syracuse, California and NC State. 

The Cards lead the overall series 2-1 , with Louisville winning the last meeting, in Louisville last year 74-65. 

Finally, let's look at the nickname. They are called the Cardinal. They were the Indians until 1972. The nickname allegedly refers to the school color of Cardinal red, and not the bird or a religious figure.  They also go by the Trees. The tree was introduced as a joke by the Stanford marching band at a football game, but it caught on with the fans and the student body has a contest each year to re-design the tree. Thank goodness that has never happened with out Cardinal Bird. Novice announcers eventually refer to the Stanford squad as the Cardinals...but i doubt Deb and Beth make that mistake. 

Yes, it's one of those Atlantic coast school on the Pacific coast.  

It should be a fun one and Daryl will have the recap in the Friday Cardinal Couple. 

Hmmmm, I wonder if we should change our name to "Cardinals Couple?" 

paulie

Nine down and Nine To Go for WBB -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS AND DUKE ATOP THE ACC WBB RANKINGS. 

We are halfway through the ACC WBB conference slate now and...even though the city of Louisville is in a polar deep freeze currently, the women's basketball team is "en fuego". 

At 9-0 in conference and 19-3 overall, the Cards and Duke are the only two teams at 9-0 and the much awaited matchup between these two will be on Feb 5th in the KFC YUM CENTER. The Thursday night matchup will be shown on ESPN. 

The Cards are ranked #7 in the nation and Duke checks in at #20. Duke has struggled out of conference, with losses to West Virginia, South Florida, South Carolina, UCLA, LSU and Baylor....for a 5-6 record out of the ACC, Five of the schools they lost to, however, are in the top 25. 

Retired head coach "Katie the Lady" Meier of Miami

Duke has won 11 in a row, though, under Kara Lawson ...but faces a potentially tough outing in their next game, when the face Miami on Thursday in Miami. Head coach Tricia Cullop, formerly out of Toledo, is in her second year at "The U" . Former head coach Katie Meier is now a "special advisor and ambassador" for Miami athletics in Coral Gables and "Katie the Lady" was always a tough out for Walz and company when the two matched up....hanging losses on the Cards in 2022 and 2019.  

Looking at Louisville, their west coach swing , coming up next, should prove to be an interesting test for these Cards. Thursday, January 29th has the Cards on the Stanford (4-4, 15-6)  campus and Feb 1st brings the Cards to Cal (3-5, 12-8) . I do applaud the scheduling that lets  Louisville get both West coast games in a row...but I still have to chuckle when I tell people that the Cards have two Atlantic Coast Conference games in California. 

Toby Fournier is the leading scorer of Kara Lawson's crew, at 17.7 points per game and she had a long laundry list of schools she consider back in 2024. She also grabs 7.7 rebounds a contest. The Toronto Canada native looked at South Carolina, UConn, Stanford, UCLA, North Carolina, Arizona and Michigan. And, she's just a sophomore...if you needed any other reasons to have a headache. Maybe one redeeming feature for an opponent is to foul her...she is 68 for 129 (53%) from the charity stripe. 

So, who are some of the more worrisome foes left in the Cards final nine conference games before the tournament? Duke, obviously...and Cal, Stanford, Notre Dame and Syracuse. 

Any ACC WBB game, though, can be a nightmare for a visiting team, especially on the road...because of the big home team fan support in the league. Maybe it's just best to follow the philosophy of UFC great Conor McGregor when he said

"Success isn't a result of arrogance, it's a result of belief." 

paulie

AVCA Announces First Serve Showcase -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Showcase Keeps Expanded Lineup in Year Three

The AVCA Showcase is a long-standing event, originally created in 1995. It saw multiple format variations, including a conference challenge, through the years before coming to an end in 2012. The event was reintroduced in 2024. That season, it was played at the Yum! Center, which was scheduled to host the 2024 NCAA Championship event. That appears to have been more of a coincidence than a new tradition. Last year, it was played in Lincoln, while the championship was hosted in Kansas City. This season, the AVCA First Serve Showcase will be in Milwaukee, and the NCAA Final Four will be in San Antonio. 

Louisville played in the event in 2024, and they will return in this season's iteration. This will be their first time playing in the 8-team version of the event. They'll be among five schools making their second appearance in an AVCA showcase, with Nebraska, the only team who could have made all three, being left out of the lineup. The Cards will also be one of the four teams tabbed to play two matches. 

2024 Cards after their AVCA FSSC win

Louisville is joined by the lineup of the 2025 Final Four (Texas A&M, UK, Pittsburgh, and Wisconsin) and Arizona State, SMU, and Texas. All four teams that come from last year's final four are making their second AVCA First Serve Showcase appearance. The event will feature two matches on each day from Friday, August 21st to Sunday, August 23rd. Louisville will play on Friday and Saturday. 

The Cards will get a rematch against the defending national champion Aggies on Friday, following a match between Wisconsin and Kentucky. On Saturday, Louisville will get Wisconsin with both teams on short rest, and Texas and Arizona State will close out the evening. UK and TAMU draw the short straw in the event, as they'll each play fresh opponents on Sunday. UK and Pitt will play the afternoon match with TAMU facing SMU afterwards. 

Louisville will be looking to take down the team that knocked them out of the 2025 tournament in five sets when they face A&M. They can't be too mad, though, as the Aggies knocked everyone they faced out of the tournament on their way to a title. Louisville's last match against Wisconsin also came in the AVCA First Serve Showcase in 2024. The Cards upset Wisconsin 3-1 in a battle between teams then ranked sixth and third. 

We're still seven months (and an entire spring sports season) away from this event, but it will be here before we know it. If you're looking to make a trip to Wisconsin in late summer, you can look to snag tickets for the event on Ticketmaster starting at 10am central (11 eastern) on Friday, January 30th. We'll all be excited to root on the Cards whether in person or on the screen. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

UofL cancels classes Monday -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Good morning readers, 

The snowstorm that forced the Cards to alter the basketball schedules this weekend has now forced UofL to cancel classes for the next couple days.    UofL women's athletics are on a break anyways as they head out west for a couple matches with the California schools.   

Try and find some peace these next few days, Cards fans.   Its a cold world out there.    

Photos from UofL official flickr 

As Always, 
Go Cards

~Daryl 

Cards WBB storms past BC 85-56 -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS HAVE 6 FOR 9 (OR MORE) IN GROUNDING OF EAGLES

Maybe the Cards decided they wanted to emulate the big winter storm gripping the Louisville region. Maybe they were appreciative of the fans who came out in the blustery cold weather. Maybe it was the 11 a.m. start and the Cards thought they still asleep and dreaming about a huge win.  Whatever the incentive or scenario was, it worked like a snowball right in the face. The Cards jumped out to a 13-2 first quarter lead and never looked back in this battle of birds at the KFC YUM! Center.

Louisville is now 9-0 in the ACC and would eventually build the lead to 42 with six minutes left in the game, after a Rebekah Graves jumper to set the score at 81-39...but Boston College was playing for the full 40 minutes no matter what the score was and actually outscored UofL 17-4 to end the game in taking the 29 point loss. By the midway point of the fourth quarter, the Cards had a lineup of Berry, Hardy, Bender, Graves and Ziegler on the court.

It may have been the longest fourth quarter in the history of Louisville women's basketball.  That 22-14 B.C. win of the fourth quarter was with head coach Joanna Bernabei just trying to basically practice for future games and running scripted plays.  Louisville went inside often and it led to a 40-18 points in the paint edge for UofL...No Card played more than 22 minutes in the game (Berry). 

Mackenzie Randolph ended up leading Louisville in points scored (with 13) Taj Roberts and Skylar Jones added 11 each, and Ziegler, Berry and Istanbulluoglu finished with nine points each. 

A fun one to watch on TV, nestled in and warm . 

Let's hope BC didn't have too many delays in getting home (if they even tried) Welcome to a crippling winter storm here in Cardinals country,,.,Cardinals fans. 

(Today's photos from a big Cardinals fan)

Freddie Freeman...pretty fair first baseman for LA.

THE FRED REPORT

F - Free Throws -- The Cards were 20-28 from the free throw line for just a tad over 70% . And, that's our standard for a Capital "F"  Kudos to Taj Roberts and Skylar Jones (4-4). A questioning look toward Reagan Bender (1-4) 

R- Rebounds -- 49-26,,,advantage Cards. Laura Ziegler and Grace Mbugna led the way for UofL with eight each...and I have no problem awarding  CAPITAL "R" here.

E - Effort/Execution -- Louisville shot 54.7%  but has 21 turnovers. 16 assists on 29 baskets isn't all that spectacular...but, it was a great win in front of an appreciative crowd.  small "e"  

D - Defense -- The Cards held the eaagles to 6 points on 19-65 shooting (29%) and forced 15 turnovers. Seeing that 40+ point lead evaporate at the end of the game warrants a small "d" .

Final Fred tally:  F-R-e-d

POST GAME JEFF WALZ

Everyone stay inside today unless it is essential travel, you gotta work or you are going to walk to a place to go sledding. Stay warm, y'all.

pauiie