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

Cards Host BC One Day Early -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

WBB Faces Eagles in Rescheduled Game

With the impending winter storm about to hit Louisville and, well, everywhere else, dozens of college basketball games this weekend have had their start times shifted or the games postponed or outright canceled. The KFC Yum! Center was set to host a game each day this weekend, and both have been moved to try to get fans (and teams) out safely before the weather sets in. The men's game was the first to be rescheduled, moving earlier in the afternoon instead of the 4PM listed start time. The women's game, as Daryl mentioned yesterday, was moved from Sunday to this morning. 

Louisville will host a Boston College team that shouldn't pose too much of a threat. That's quite good, since I wrote a little about Louisville's tough upcoming schedule earlier this week. The Eagles are just 4-17 overall and are last in the conference at 0-8. They've lost 13 straight games and only one of their eight conference losses has been by fewer than 15 points. They lost by three at home to Pitt, giving the Panthers their only ACC win so far this season. 

Despite their woeful schedule, BC ranks 3rd in the conference in free throw percentage (75%) which is also good for 60th in the country. They also have a player, Athena Tomlinson (great name by the way), who has 103 assists, which is also good for 3rd in the league and 23rd in the country. Tomlinson has the league's 12th best assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.69. Tomlinson's 103 assists, though, are out of only 261 total for the entire team this year. Yikes. BC's offense scores just 62.7 points per game and their average scoring margin is -11. The Eagles' 61 points against Pittsburgh are the most they have scored in a conference game. 

Louisville should be able to have a field day. The Eagles do manage to force slightly more turnovers than they commit (15.9 vs 15.2), but they allow opponents to shoot 47% from the floor and have an average rebounding margin of -4.7. The Cards should be able to get good shots, dominate the paint, and win the battle of the boards. It's not just the paint where teams beat up on BC, though, as they allow shooters space as well. Opponents are making 34.5% of their three-point attempts against the Eagles. 

Louisville WBB will want to get this game out of the way and potentially hit the road early to get to the west coast for next week's games. There was no change to the TV for today's game, as it was already scheduled to be on ACC Network Extra. That arrangement remains, and you can check it out at 11am.

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

GAMEDAY UPDATE !! Inclement weather alters WBB schedule -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Happy Friday readers and glad you're checking back in with us.  

Due to some inclement weather anticipated for the weekend in Louisville, both the men and women's basketball schedules have been altered.   

photo: UofL WBB Facebook

The WBB Cards are now scheduled to play early Saturday morning at 11am rather than Sunday afternoon and the MBB squad will play their previously scheduled 3:30pm matchup at 2:15pm.  

Its wild to think about all of the operations that had to go into making these sorts of decisions for everyone.  The amount of phone calls and adjustments that had to be made to put this plan into action is wildly fascinating if you ask me.  

As Case pointed out in the group text, BC just so happened to also have a midweek bye and were more able to pull it off.   I'm sure the anticipated flights out of town are also what people want to get ahead of.   And we support that decision because we want everyone to have a safe trip to and from the Ville.   

So that being said, who's in for Saturday morning mimosas?!  Please be safe if you are heading to the Yum! Center and have a great weekend. 

As Always, 

Go Cards! 

~Daryl 

WBB Cards named U.S. Basketball Writers Association Team of the Week -- THURSDAY CRDINAL COUPLE

 No. 8/7 Cards Peaking At Right Time. 

The mastermind Jeff Walz is up to his old tricks again. He's combined a group of talented, over-acheiving freshmen with a few returnees from 2024-25 and several key transfers into a squad that is leading the ACC WBB race. 

Obviously, his assistants have had a lot to do with the structuring and building of this squad as well. And, just three years ago...only one of the current players were on the roter. Bonus points if you can name her...answer at the end of today's column. 

Each year is a struggle and in the highly competitive ACC, the Carolina schools sometimes look at what the league has turned into and have to think..."This isn't the league of eight souheastern powerhouses anymore."  

The coaching fraternity is a interesting mix of new and old. The old guard guys and gals...Walz Banghart and Ivey, for example, have to wonder to themselves what happened to the days of Wyckoff, Fortner and Brooks 

Is the ACC a stronger conference now? The consensus is "yes" . Adding the California squads helped build the strength. Louisville and NC State are traditional powerhouses. Maybe the league is not as strong as the SEC...but is, still...a top five conference. 

Gas South (13,000) 

These Cards. 8-0 in conference. 11 game win streak. 10 games to go in the regular season. Despite the questionable decision of playing the ACC Tournament in Duluth GA, in Gas South Arena...the befuddled heads of the ACC Tournament Committee threw up an airball when they pulled out of Greensboro. I'll miss Greensboro, the friendly ushers, nice food buffets three times a day, auditorium for post game interviews and "School Day" when the ACC brought in school kids for a couple games and teams like Boston College and Pitt got more screaming and cheering for them than they did in the regular season. 

Welcome to college athletics...

(The answer to the above question is .....the Elf. Elif Istanbulluoglu) 

paulie

CARDS WBB TIED FOR TOP IN THE ACC -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 8-0 IN ACC LEADS THE CONFERENCE

Second best, Wes..sorry.

We are almost halfway through the conference slate in the 2025-26 ACC WBB season and the Cards WBB squad sits at the top of the 18 team slate. 

The Cards are tied with Duke in conference wins. The Duke squad is 13-6 overall and the Cards are 18-3 overall. Those two will meet on Feb 5th. in Louisville. 

Louisville is eighth in the AP Poll for all the DI WBB squads and their three losses have come to teams ranked higher than them in the rankings...UK, UConn and South Carolina was impressive in the fct that the cards trailed by 13 points before coming back to get the overtime win by eight...

 UNC assistant coach Ashley Williams saw the loss this way: 

"We knew the key to this game would be rebounding, boxing out and getting defensive boards and finishing possessions. Unfortunately they had some key offensive rebounds that they were able to capitalized on...Louisville sent all five players to the boards at times...they started out being aggressive with the ball screen defense. They were trapping, putting two on the ball at times and then in the second half they switched things up and really threw us out of our rhythm." 

The Cards got a career game out of Imari Berry to secure the win and it's a great example of how you never really know which Cards player is going to step up and lead them to a victory. That is probably the thing that opponents have to worry about the most when they face Louisville, just who is going to explode and take over a game?  I'm not sure if the cards can even predict that successfully. The are a very tough team o to figure out if you have to design a defense for stopping them. 

How does the rest of the ACC shape up? 

Behind Louisville and Duke...NC State, Syracuse and Virginia have two in-conference losses. Then comes Stanford, North Carolina Virginia Tech, Clemson and Notre Dame have three conference defeats. Miami and Georgia Tech have four  ACC losses. California has five losses. Wake Forest. SMU, PItt and Florida State have half a dozen defeats and Boston College is winless in eight conference games. 

The Cards have ten ACC games left before the ACC Tournament. Next up? Boston College comes to town on Jan 25th. 

paulie

 

Berry Named ACC POTW -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Imari Berry's Big Day Draws Accolade

Louisville women's basketball had a huge win on Sunday, as Daryl wrote up in her column yesterday, and the big road week for the Cards saw them regain some national attention. Louisville had a pair of tough road tests last week against Notre Dame and NC State and came away with wins in two of the toughest places to play in the conference. Those victories moved Louisville to 5-0 on the road this season and pushed them to 8-0 in conference play. Louisville stands tied atop the league with just one other undefeated team: Duke. The Cards and Blue Devils will face off just once this season, with Kara Lawson's squad coming to the KFC Yum! Center on Thursday, February 5th. The game is already announced as an ESPN matchup. 

Louisville's victories did more than keep them atop the ACC; they propelled the Cards squarely back into the top-ten in the country and resurfaced Louisville amongst teams to watch as the season rolls on. The Cards moved up to 8th in both the NET rankings and the Associated Press poll, and will likely see themselves on the rise when the USA Today Coaches Poll is released today. The Cards are the highest rated three-loss team, sitting three spots ahead of Kentucky, who stand at 11th in the NET and AP polls. 

Along with the team recognition, a Louisville player found herself in the spotlight as well, with Imari Berry being named the ACC WBB Player of the Week. Berry had a huge game on Sunday, pouring in a career-high 33 points and adding 12 assists for the second double-double in her career. Berry's game on Sunday included back-breaking shot after back-breaking shot as the Wolfpack tried to distance themselves, and she made two free throws to send the game to overtime. Berry also added three steals and a pair of assists. 

graphic via gocards.com

Berry was critical in a game that saw Taj Roberts struggle from the floor and be limited to just four points. Roberts was coming off of a big game of her own against Notre Dame, in which she scored 19 points on 4-5 shooting from three and went 5-5 from the line in 36 minutes, so it would be understandable if her legs weren't quite there on the back-end of two huge away games. Berry, to her credit, was good for the Cards in South Bend as well, scoring seven points to go along with five rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a block. Berry has shown that she can shoot the lights out in limited quantities in the past. Sunday's game was the first time where she went completely unconscious and took the game over. If she and Roberts can come together for big games at the same time against some of Louisville's key opponents down the stretch, the ceiling for this team gets a lot higher. 

After the tough road trip, Louisville gets a minor reprieve with a mid-week ACC bye. They'll have Thursday off before hosting Boston College on Sunday, January 25th. Louisville will need to get every bit of rest they can this week, as they have a tough stretch before their next midweek bye. After BC, Louisville will go on the road for the West Coast swing against Stanford and Cal before returning home for that game against Duke. Then they'll make a weekend trip to Syracuse before coming back home to face Wake Forest and Florida State. That's a lot of air miles and a lot of difficult matchups. Going 7-0 in this stretch would be a dream. Getting out of it with one or two losses would be commendable. We'll see what the Cards can do as the season heats up. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cards complete comeback on the Wolfpack in OT -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

Good morning and happy Martin Luther King Jr Day.  

The University of Louisville recognizes the federal holiday in observance of the late Dr King. 

WBB

Louisville 88 - NC State 80 

The Cards are toppling the big dawgs in a pretty convincing fashion with Louisville on an 11 game win streak and have now evened the series with the Wolfpack 9 each.

The two previous conference road wins vs rivals are big ones and now Louisville gets a 7 day break before welcoming Boston College to the Yum Center next weekend. 

Imari Berry had a career day with 33 points and 12 rebounds (her career rebounds is 13 vs Tennessee a few weeks ago).  

NC State dominated the first quarter before the Louisville defense put a stop to the bleeding.  Louisville gave up 23 points to NC State in the quarter before pulling it within 5 at the halftime break.  Zamareya Jones for NC State had 11 points in the opening frame while Louisville could only put 14 on the board.   

Wolfpack extended their lead again by as many as 13 in the 3rd quarter but not to be discouraged, Berry closed out the quarter scoring 8 points in the final minute to make it a 3 point game heading into the final frame of regulation. 

Cardinals forced OT when Imari Berry scored the final 5 points in regulation, a three pointer out of a timeout with 41 seconds and then swishing her 2 free throw attempts with 10 seconds left.  

Mackenley Randolph scored 5 for the Cards in the extra 5 minutes to secure the 88-80 win.

UP NEXT

Louisville vs Boston College 

Sunday 1/25/26 

2p.m. ACCNX

Louisville and Duke are the lone undefeated teams in the ACC with the next group 2 games back.  


FRED REPORT

Frederick Douglass 

FREE THROWS -- Louisville  13-17 at the line (76.5%) none bigger than the 2 made by Imari Berry in the final 10 seconds of regulation.  NC State went 18-24 from the charity stripe.  CAPITAL F 

REBOUNDING -- The Cardinals outrebounded the Wolfpack 44-35 lead by who else?  Imari Berry pulled down 12, 6 offensively and defensively each.  CAPITAL R

EFFORT/EXECUTION -- UofL was 0-7 from three point land in the first half and only hit 4-10 in the second half but none bigger than Berry's 3 pointer out of the Cards timeout with 41 seconds left. Berry's career efforts secured this one. Elif, Laura and Taj combined for only 13 points.   CAPITAL E

DEFENSE -- The Cards defense let NC St shoot 48% in the game, 53.8% in the first quarter where they let the Wolfpack get quite the leg up.  The Cards then went on and won 3.5 quarters offensively.  UofL scored 24 points off turnovers and had 10 steals.  no letter



FINAL FRED TALLY: F_R_E_

Imari Berry and Jeff Walz Postgame

As Always, 

Go Cards 

~Daryl 

WBB in Raleigh to face NC State -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 NCST LEADS SERIES 9-8

They're one of those ACC teams that Louisville has struggled with in the ACC. And, going to Raleigh and playing in front of what's sure to be a sellout pro-Wolfpack crowd isn't exactly a game where Coach Walz can unload the bench for the fourth quarter. 

NC State, coached by the ubiquitous Wes Moore, isn't quite the squad they were last year...but at 13-5 and second in the ACC standings...they are still a force to be reckoned with...and Wolfpack fans take a special delight in giving the Cards and Jeff Walz a welcome that is not warm and cheerful. 

Classless, mean, overly intense and abusive is the opinion of a few of the other ACC coaches and players when it comes to the NCST fan base. They, of course ,see themselves differently...as being loyal and passionate. 

A former UofL WBB player, who asked to remain anonymous, describes playing in the James T. Valvano Arena at William Neal Reynolds Coliseum as "worse than the biggest rivalry you had in high school. They'd probably boo Santa Claus because he wears a red suit..." 

Reynolds can hold up to 5.500 for women's basketball and has attracted a little over 5.000 for home games this season. Packed on top of the court, the crowd can be very intimidating to visiting teams. 

Of course, it's well known that my favorite mascot in the ACC WBB is Ms. Wuf...Below is a photo of the two of us, shortly before Mr. Wuf barged in and demanded to be in a picture. Yeah, things could get a little crazy in Greensboro 

So...who are the Wolfpack leaders? They currently have four student-athletes in double figures...junior Khamil Pierre leads the way with 15.8 a game.  

Khamil gives 'Pack fans a thrill...

The Pack have won four out of their last five...inexplicably losing to Clemson.

Last year, the Cards played NCST twice and won both...65-54 in November in Louisville and 70-68, in overtime, in the ACC Tournament.

 This one is a ESPN2 game and...of course, the network will trot out former NCST guard Deb Antonelli to do color analysis. It's a 1 p.m. tip.  Let's hope she doesn't go into a two-hour praise-fest of Wes and the Pack. 

And let's hope the Cards can hold up under the second most hostile fan base they face in a season...

paulie

New Star Shines for UofL Track and Field -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Ashley Callahan Breaks Pole Vault Record

Louisville track and field has had quite a bit of success over the last decade or so, especially in the realm of field events. Even more specifically, the Cards have excelled at jumps of many kinds, adding that to their list of specialties alongside throws. Louisville has three indoor national championships, all in weight throw, with the most recent coming in 2021. Their success in jumps has come primarily outdoors, with the Cards having a stellar season in 2022. That year saw three individual ACC champions in Synclair Savage (long jump), Emily Scott (high jump), and Gabriela Leon (pole vault). Leon would go on to win Louisville's first NCAA individual outdoor championship that season. 

Despite her championship, Gabriela Leon's didn't hold the most recent indoor pole vault record, as Natalie Lark broken the school record last February. Lark's record stood for just 11 months. Yesterday, at the Bellarmine Open hosted in the Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center, Ashley Callahan set a new school record of 4.48m (14'-8.25"). The senior transfer from San Diego State broke Lark's record by just one-quarter of an inch, but I would expect her to continue to push that barrier as the season goes on. 

photo by Mallory Peak via gocards.com

Callahan was one of five winners for the Cards yesterday in the one day event. On the women's side, she was joined by Demaria King, who set a personal best in the weight throw. The men also won the pole vault and weight throw, with KJ Byrd and Matt Giuliano. Josiah Horton set a personal best, as well, on his way to victory in the 800m.

Louisville track and field will be back in action next weekend, splitting the team between athletes staying home for the Bellarmine Invitational in the same building and going to Indianapolis for the Crossroads of America Invitational. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case 

Cards win the battle with the Irish 79-66 -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Good morning readers,  I'm ready for the temperatures to start warming back up.  The Cards are heating up on the hardwood.

Louisville is on a 10 game win streak with a big road win against the rival #22 Notre Dame Fighting Irish last night, lets get into a recap.  

WBB

Louisville moves to 17-3, 7-0 in the ACC.

Reyna Scott came off the bench for a career high 20 points against the Irish when she went 9-13 from the field with 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 assists to boot.  Tajianna Roberts also poured it on with 19 of her own when she saw 4 of 5 of her three point attempts go through the hoop. 

Hannah Hidalgo had herself a night when she scored 24 points and 8 assists but HH and Notre Dame's short bench would not be enough to topple the Cards on this night.  After the first quarter, the Cardinals took command of the lead and never relinquished it.  The Irish would run out of gas in the 4th quarter as UofL would hold ND to just 23% shooting and 10 total points. Roberts and Scott combined for 14 in the quarter.  

UP NEXT 

Louisville at NC STATE 

Sunday 1pm 

FRED REPORT

Fred Chopin

FREE THROWS -- Louisville was 12-16 at the line good for 75%. Compared to ND's 7-10 which were only attempted by Hidalgo, it was a solid night for the Cards. CAPITAL F

REBOUNDING -- The Cardinals outrebounded ND 38-36 but considering the Irish only had 6 players available and Scott mentioned in the post game interview that it was an emphasis for the team this week, I'd say there's much to be improved in this category. lower case r

EFFORT/EXECUTION -- Once UofL secured the lead, they did not let it go. There was no doubt in this one and the Cards got a much needed offensive effort and output from Roberts and Scott in hostile territory. CAPITAL E

DEFENSE -- The Cards held Hidalgo to 1-4 from three point range. She was held to just 2 points in the first and 4th quarter each. CAPITAL D



FINAL FRED TALLY: F_r_E_D





As Always
Go Cards

~Daryl

WBB Cards VISIT NOTRE DAME -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 irish 2-2 in last four ACC games

When it comes to evaluating 2025-26 Norte Dame WBB, one not need look much further than Hannah Hildago. The junior out of New Jersey is averaging 25.1 p.p.g. in sixteen games for the Irish and grabs 6 rebounds a night...not bad for a 5'6" guard. She is one of three Irish in double figures.

It's a Notre Dame team that has done fairly well until recently. Non conference losses came to Michigan and Ole Miss...those two are currently #8 (Michigan) and #16 (Ole Miss) in the nation. The A.P. brings Notre Dame in at #23 in the nation...and the Irish are a sparkling 10-0 at home this season. 

Cassandre Prosper is another high scoring guard for Niele Ivey's squad. Prosper averages 17.1 a game in sixteen starts. 

The Irish's two conference losses came on the road..at Georgia Tech,(90-95 in overtime)  to begin 2026 and to Duke on Jan 4th (68-82 ). 

The Irish were counting pretty heavily on freshman forward Leaah Macy to be a solid contributor this season, but a knee injury has ruled her out for this year. 

Jeff Walz on Notre Dame

It's a 6 p.m .tip in Purcell Pavilion and will be shown on ACCN.

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

In memorandum, our good friend and Cardinal great Al Parrish passed away last night. 

paulie

WBB Moves Up to #10 -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS WBB ON A NINE GAME WIN STREAK

The "Elf"...Elif Istanbulloglu

Here's a little quiz for you to start out your "hump day" Cardinal Couple reading...who was the last WBB squad to defeat the Louisville WBB squad? 

A) Kentucky  B) South Carolina C) North Carolina  D) East Carolina                                                                                                                              

If you had "B" South Carolina, give yourself a pat on the back and claim a seat next to the stats crew on the KFC YUM! Center (but be prepared to be run off by security). 

Taj Roberts

Related to the ongoing success of the Walzian Cards, Louisville has inched up another spot in the "polls" and can now be called a top ten squad. If you like the AP polls... they have UofL WBB at #9.  With a dozen ACC tilts remaining...the Cards are atop the ACC standings ...being one of two teams with a perfect 6-0 ACC record...Duke being the other. 

The AP top ten (as of 1/12/26) are 1) UConn 2) South Carolina 3) UCLA 4)Texas  5) Vanderbilt 6) LSU 7) Kentucky 8) Michigan 9) Louisville and 10) TCU. The Cards don't have any of the other top ten left on their schedule...but their next two games...at Notre Dame on Thursday and at NC State on Sunday could be tough contest. Someone at the AP needs a spelling lesson, though...I am unfamiliar with "Rode" Island...

NC State and Virginia are right behind the Cards in conference with 5-1 marks. Notre Dame just recently fell out of the top 25. 

Mackenly Randolph

The Cards are getting it done with a variety of players  stepping up when called upon and also playing lockdown defense. No one has posted more than 70 points on Louisville since South Carolina back on Dec 4th.,,,and the only other plus 70 efforts against the Cards were from the three teams that own victories over them. #1 UConn, #2 South Carolina and #7 Kentucky.

Seven Cards see 18 minutes of more per contest and Tajianna Roberts leads the way with 28.2 a game.

paulie 

                                                                                                                    

                 

Softball Looms -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Freshmen Honored in Preseason

Believe it or not, we are less than a month away from the start of softball season. The weather may have played tricks on us last week, but as is typical, Louisville will start on the road for the first three weeks of the season before opening the home slate on February 24th. Coach Holly Aprile is starting her 8th season at the helm of the Louisville Cardinals, and she'll look to have this team back on track after a slight dip followed their 2023 NCAA tournament appearance. Louisville followed up the 2023 season by missing the ACC tournament in 2024 and went one-and-done last season. The Cards showed promise at times in each season, so we'll look for improvement this year. 

Part of that improvement could come from a couple of the newcomers on this year's squad. Softball America certainly thinks it's a possibility, anyway. Two freshmen, Jayden Gohs and Addyson (Addy) O'Dell, have been added to the SA Freshman Watch List. 

Jayden Gohs (l) and Addy O'Dell (r)
image courtesy of gocards.com

Jayden Gohs is a right handed pitcher, who will try to step into the third spot in the rotation that Louisville has been looking for over the last couple of years. She'll be in the pitchers room alongside senior Alyssa Zabala and junior Brooke Gray, along with junior Madi Reeves and sophomores Anna Wise and Ryann Sanders. Gohs will also work to fill a position left open by Taylor Roby, as she was one of the top two-way players in the country. Her junior season saw her throw 339 strikeouts with a .454 ERA while she hit .528 at the plate and knocked in 66 RBIs and 18 home runs. The freshman from Goodrich, Michigan was a two-time all-state selection and an NFCA High School All-American. 

Addy O'Dell is on the roster as an INF/C so we will see how Aprile chooses to deploy her. O'Dell hails from Newton, Illinois, where she was a three-time all-state selection. O'Dell has elite speed, which is probably why Aprile elected to pursue her, as she'll look to keep Louisville as one of the top base-stealing teams in the country. As a freshman, O'Dell stole 37 bases. She followed it up in her sophomore year by setting a school record 39 steals. That record came while not being thrown out a single time. O'Dell, who has been recognized by Extra Innings as one of the Top 50 Softball players since playing the 12U league, showed her chops as an all-around athlete by also lettering in basketball and being a three-time state qualifier in track and field. 

When Louisville announced a freshman signing class of just two last year, Holly Aprile called the class "small but mighty." Both players in that class being named by Softball America to the Freshman Watch List backs up that claim. 

Louisville opens the season on February 6th at the Felsburg Invitation hosted by Florida International University in Miami. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case