Who Is The Best in The ACC? -- Thursday CARDINAL COUPLE

GRABBING THE TITLES

Paulie asked me to fill in for him today here at "the Couple" and it's always a pleasure to grace these honorable pages for me. When deciding on a topic for today, I went back to a conversation I had recently. A question that surfaced between me and one of my SEC friends that was based on 'who has the best women's sports program in the ACC?'.

We started it out by pondering which school was better than FSU. I decided to do a bit of research and just see how the 'Noles stacked up with the rest of the ACC -- plus how Louisville did in these sports. 

-- David Watson --  

I have two ACC schools in my state of residence. FSU and Miami. Neither won that clear cut title of 'best of'-- but the Noles tied for it. Louisville is my favorite ACC women's program. Unfortunately, they didn't take the title. 

Based on the 12 sports and 13 different titles available (track and field has an indoor and outdoor title up for grabs) the title is shared by NORTH CAROLINA and FLORIDA STATE. Both laid claim to three each of those 15 overall titles-- counting ties.

Cross Country, Field Hockey and Tennis for UNC. FSU in soccer, softball and outdoor track.

We'll award a silver to NOTRE DAME. They had two titles. Seven schools won one title each. Out of the 15 ACC schools, no titles were earned by CLEMSON, DUKE, VIRGINIA TECH or GEORGIA TECH. 

To toss even more sawdust in the transmission, DUKE won the NCAA Championship in women's golf, but did not take the ACC Championships. 

I also found it interesting that, although tennis is played indoors and outdoors, there is just one championship for that sport

Here's a breakdown for you, by sport, in alphabetical order of the winners and how Louisville did in each sport. I left out fencing, since Louisville does not participate in this ACC sport. I need a fence repaired, though, as a sidebar. 


WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Louisville and Notre Dame tied for the regular season title and the Irish, of course, went on to take the tournament and finish second the NCAA Tournament. I gave each school a "point" here...so the Cards would get at least one point. Irish fans will probably howl about that. 


CROSS COUNTRY

Notre Dame barely "ran away" with the ACC Championship title, scoring one point less than North Carolina 67 to 68. Yes, in cross country, the less points the better -- like in golf. Louisville was 14th. They had 324 points. The Cards need to pick up the running game.  


FIELD HOCKEY

North Carolina showed their dominance last season with a perfect 6-0 conference slate, 22-0 overall record and ACC and NCAA championship titles. Louisville finished third at 3-3 and 13-6 overall. Justine Sowry loses a strong goalie but has tons of talent returning.


GOLF

Wake Forest took the ACC Championships in the links sport. The Cards shot their way to a fifth place finish and did qualify for the NCAA Regionals, where they finished 11th. The Cards welcome Whitney wade Young as their new head coach. She's a good one so be excited.


LACROSSE

Boston College picked up the title in the ACC Championships. The Cards, still rebuilding under Scott Teeter, placed 7th and last but showed signs of improvement in this very competitive sport. A strong lineup returned and Teeter has recruited quite well. 


ROWING

Virginia has been the squad to beat for the last several years here and defended their title again in the ACC Championships. Louisville ended up seventh in the ACC standings. Derek Copeland can only continue to do the best he can against several ACC powerhouses. 


SOFTBALL

Florida State hosted the ACC Championships, Florida State won and also took the regular season title. Louisville finished third in the regular season at 12-12 in conference and was knocked out of the tournament by UNC. I look forward to season two of "HollyBall". 


SOCCER

North Carolina gathered 20 points to win the regular season competition but Florida State took the ACC Conference Tournament so we give the title to the Noles. The Cards were fifth at 6-4 and 18 pts. Louisville returns a lot of starters. They should improve.


SWIMMING and DIVING

North Carolina State outswam the competition in the ACC Tournament to lay claim to the title. Louisville had a third place finish in the tournament. Arguably, with considerations to basketball, one might say that Arthur Albiero has the best squad on campus in Louisville women's sports. You decide. I'll go with "hoops". 


TENNIS

NORTH CAROLINA served and returned their way to the ACC Championships. The Cards were 13th. out of 15 with a 2-12 regular season conference record and 10-15 overall. Mark Beckham has to step up the talent level for the Cards to be competitive in the ACC


TRACK AND FIELD

Miami claimed the indoor season title championship with 95 points while the Cards finished fourth with 63 points. Outdoors, it was FSU taking the top spot with 134 points. UofL with ninth with 45 points.


VOLLEYBALL

Pittsburgh nudged out the competition in the conference standings with a 17-1 mark. Louisville grabbed third with a 15-3 ACC mark. The ACC does not have a conference tournament in this sport. Dani returns some very good players, excellent newcomers -- now she has to unseat Pitt. 


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SUMMATION

So - in conclusion -- the Cards have a bit of work to do if they want to lay claim to this "best of" title in the 2019-20 athletic schedules. The coaches are in place, the facilities certainly are not lacking and the talent is quite impressive as you check each roster. Can Louisville lay claim to the title in the upcoming season? 



I wouldn't bet against them. 

(Thanks to Paulie for proof-reading and (hopefully) adding a few photos).

Dave-O
David Watson

Louisville WBB Sweet Sixteen... Softball Visits Duke -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Sweet Sixteen vs Stanford

Today is the day!  Pack your coffee and a sleeping bag because it's a late one.  Women's basketball faces Stanford in Lexington tonight at approximately 9:30.  Paulie enlightened us yesterday with Stanford basketball and what to keep an eye out for.

"what do you mean 'late game'?"

Jeff Walz was more concerned with the decision to play a late night game.  During Thursday's presser our commander-in-chief spent some time showing his displeasure.

When asked about his thoughts on playing 60 miles away from home Walz voiced his opinion:

"It's great.  We were really excited about it until they came up with a 9:45 tip time.  We're expecting snow tomorrow night, so it's going to cut down on a ton of our fans that want to drive back and forth. But it should increase the viewership, which is great, because that's what we're trying to do. I think it'll increase TV viewership. But the actual in-person, it's going to have a huge effect on.

You know, I'm still -- I know what they're going to tell me, and this is the standard line, you're the feature game on ESPN, all that good stuff. It's what you hear all the time. We never tip a game at 9:45 eastern standard time all year. Why would you do it in the NCAA Tournament? I just don't understand. I thought this was about the student-athletes.

But I mean, if we played at a normal -- if we play at 9:45 during the year, that's great, and I know it's listed as a 9:00 tip. The first game starts at 7:15. It will take two hours; they all do. So now you're looking at about 9:15, then they're going to put about 26 minutes on the clock, so you're talking about a 9:45 tip.

Rupp Arena seating chart

I'm not worried about the players, I just feel bad for the fans. I feel bad for the fans that want to come and support us and have a great environment. What player doesn't want -- when we go play at Notre Dame, they're not cheering for us, but golly, what an awesome experience to have a packed house. That's what it's all about. In '13 when we played at Oklahoma City in the regional and we're playing Baylor, I mean, it was all Baylor fans, but it's the environment that these kids remember.

You know, I can go back to '09, our first year we go to the Final Four, we play Maryland in Raleigh, and there was nobody there. There was maybe 2,000 people that were at a regional championship game. I'd much rather play in front of people.

So unfortunately, the times are just awful, and I hope it's something that we can look and try to adjust for the future, just for the fans. You know, I understand if I'm sitting in my house in Louisville and I'm watching a game that's taking place on the West Coast and it's starting at 10:00 my time. Hey, I understand that; it's 7:00 out west. But to be starting a game at 9:45, it's just sad to me. And it's not for the players; the players are going to be fine. I'm not worried about that at all. They're not going to be tired, they're not going to be anything. They're going to be excited to play. It's we're trying to grow our game, and I think we just had a huge turnover."

EDITOR NOTE: Fortunately, the chance of snow is gone. A chance of rain moving in after 9 p.m. and temps in the 40's. 

Asia Durr, Myisha Hines-Allen, and Jazmine Jones carried themselves well during the interviews as well, but then again, our Cardinals always present themselves with class.  The common theme all three mentioned was the chemistry this team has both on and off the court.  Juniors and seniors have taken roles as leaders while the younger classes have been open and willing to learn.  As a whole, the team has become close and the entire roster is a strong friend group.  Doo-Blay complimented the freshmen on the team.

To stay updated with the Baylor vs Oregon State game make sure to follow Paulie on Twitter (@cardinalcouple) and as always, he will be on top of things when the Cards take the court.  I will be on the court with my handy-dandy camera and will do my best to get some pictures up before the night is over.

LINK TO THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW: http://thecrunchzone.com/transcript-walz-hines-allen-jones-

durr-prior-to-sweet-16/  Thanks to our buddy Daryl Foust for posting it and you'll get to hear her and Swish Appeal's Paige Sherrard on The Couple Couple Radio Hour with Paulie and Worldwide Jeff Saturday morning (and on Facebook Live, too) at 11 a.m. on WCHQ 100.9 FM plus streaming throughout the Universe on the WCHQ app and at www.wchqfm.com.

Should be a good one with Delightful Daryl and Precious Paige. Plus the two old guys.

I wonder what they'll talk about?

Let's hear from you! What are your thoughts about the "late one in Lexington"? The city will probably be in a salty mood after the UK Wildcats men's basketball team fell out of the NCAA Tournament after a upset loss to the Kansas State Wildcats late last night. Give us your thoughts in the comments section. After all, YOU are Cardinal Couple and WE never forget that.

Ladies of the Diamond Visit Durham, NC

Sandy Pearsall

The first weekend of ACC play did not go as planned when Notre Dame swept the Cards.  They hope to turn things around today and tomorrow.  Today's games are set to be played at 3:00 and 5:30 (double header) with Saturday's session starting at 1:00.

The biggest concern right now is the status of Nicole Pufahl.  The Puf went down last weekend after chasing down a fly ball.  Her foot found a hole in the grass and she went down with an ankle injury.  Puf sat out the final game of the series.

Duke sits at 16-12 on the year and is 3-3 in conference play.  The Blue Devils swept Boston College, but fell all three games against UNC.  They ride a two game losing streak (South Carolina and East Carolina) into the weekend.

Their team batting average is .276 and the offense averages roughly four runs per game.  Defense has been a struggle for Duke, which has committed 41 errors on the year for a .955 fielding percentage.

This series could get ugly with errors on both sides of the ball.  Louisville holds an edge on offense IF the bats can get hot.  The Cards have power and speed.  They will have ample opportunities to put runs on the board so it is all about capitalizing with runners on base.

Tennis Visits BC

The women's tennis team has had a hot start to the first half of the season and they sit in the Top 50 in the rankings currently.  They visit the Eagles of Boston College today at 2:00.  If you have not made it to Bass-Rudd this season they do have a pair of home matches remaining coming up soon.

I hope to see many of you in Lexington tonight.  Do not be afraid to say" hi" or ask for a picture (we would love to feature pics of our wonderful readers) if you see me.  I am the tall, lanky guy with glasses on.

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

Jared

Louisville women's basketball -- Selection Monday -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS #1 SEED! WILL OPEN FRIDAY AGAINST BOISE ST. 

The University of Louisville women's basketball team now knows the road ahead of them. And, it turned out just the way the Cards wanted...logistically. Louisville will open as a #1 seed in the Lexington Region and play their first two games in Louisville, opening Friday, March 18th at noon against  #16 seed Boise State. 

Also in the Louisville first and second round site are #8 seed Marquette and #9 seed Dayton. The winner of that matchup advances to play the Cards on Sunday at the KFC YUM! Center. Going two for two would advance the Cards to Lexington for action starting March 23rd. 

A crowd of over 500 packed the Thornton's Academic Learning Center's fourth floor to witness Selection Monday with the team. A nice change of venue, with all the trappings...a free food line, cheerleaders, pep band and autograph tables lined with players. More on that later. A nice 300 seat auditorium to view the broadcast, too.  

I represented Cardinal Couple at the event and arrived a little after the doors opened. Once inside the fourth floor, I found a pretty huge crowed already at tables and in chairs awaiting the show. Right away, I saw familiar faces and spent a brief period strolling through the crowd, speaking with people and just taking it all in. I picked Sam Purcell as my first interview and you can hear that one at this link: 


SAM PURCELL SELECTION MONDAY


After my enjoyable chat with "Sammy P" I sought out the other "Sam" on the UofL coaching staff and did find Samantha Williams. She was surrounded by well-wishers, but after they slacked off a bit, I chatted with Samantha. Neither of the "Sam's" claimed any knowledge of the Central Florida Chimps Aerospace University (CFCAU), who I think might make a strong run in the "dance" and an institution that has approached me about a position as Floor Warden for Freshmen Scholarship Chimps.  Here's Samantha (who was dressed stunningly) and the ol' Pauster. Here's that audio below:  


SAMANTHA WILLIAMS SELECTION SUNDAY

I did consider another coaching interview, sisn't see any but saw my pal Lamont Russell hovering nearby and wanted to get a few words with the guy who "carries" the team. His graphic design and video coordinator work at Louisville is invaluable in helping the team prepare for opponents, and as a former DI basketball player, he also has a vast knowledge of hoops, the squad (his little sisters, per him) and can really "pick up" the players. (See photo).

Lamont and I had a great chat, I didn't probe too much into his occasional "picking up girls mid-game" and we talked about the event and team. Hear his words below: 


LAMONT RUSSELL SELECTION MONDAY



Following Lamont Russell, I went to a fan who I know pretty well and I wanted to get a little fan perspective on the event. We decided to keep him "anonymous" and we chatted about the season, the Selection Show and a few other topics, as the players entered the big room and headed to a couple of long tables to sit and sign autographs. Here is anonymous fan: 


ANONYMOUS FAN SELECTION MONDAY



I decided to get in line with those waiting for autographs after my talk with anonymous fan and while waiting to reach the tables, Jeff Walz grabbed the main microphone and talked a bit to the crowd. 

Walz thanked the fans that were in attendance and went on to cover a lot more material with them...but the line was moving pretty quickly and I decided to cut these Walz remarks short, because I was getting closer to Dana Evans, first one seated at the table. Part of Jeff's opening remarks are below: 


WALZ OPENING REMARKS



I decided to try something I thought might be fun, going through the autograph line and interviewing each player quickly as I progressed. It may be un-rivaled in interview history...it certainly was a madcap seven minutes... and I did have a 8x11 picture that was free and on the table of the team that each player signed as I strolled down the tables. You can hear my questions and the great responses here: 


WALKING PLAYERS INTERVIEWS

After the dash through the players, I needed a moment to re-compose. After resting a bit and getting a quick beverage,  I saw Walz surrounded by people and decided to see if I could get a bit more from Coach. He was gracious and chatted with me while he signed shirts and stuff. I appreciate his time and "exclusive".

Hear Coach's comments below: 



WALZ ON THE SELECTION SHOW AND ACC.



It was time to go into the auditorium and see the selections. The seats were filled and I spent a little time with the media group, stationed behind the cameras, chatting with a couple of our occasional CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR guests Mike Gilpatrick and Daryl Foust. I also chatted with Howie Lindsey and decided to follow him to the entrance to the auditorium's seats. We were able to see the big screen, see the fans and players and watched the drawing there and I took a few of the pictures you see here. 

Louisville has an interesting road to Columbus. In the Lexington bracket are also Stanford, Tennessee and Baylor. Several people I spoke with after the show was completed expressed concern about Mulkey's Bears and Kalani Brown. At least her dad...ex NBA'er Dee Brown...has no eligibility. 

It's all about survival and advancement now.

Just survive somehow.

As I prepared to leave the facility, Walz got hold of the microphone again and thanked everyone for attending. He also made a heartfelt plea to the fans in attendance to get their tickets and bring a couple of friends. Louisville was been allotted 3500 tickets for rounds 1 & 2 and he'd like to see all those gobbled up by start of NCAA action.  

Leaving the Learning Center, I had a sense of pride about the huge turnout I had just been a part of. It was a fun-packed two hours and I hope the University definitely considers this venue again. A lot of familiar faces and great fans. This program has a lot of love for it out there in our community and beyond and if most of our "media" is too short-sighted to see that on a regular basis, shame on them! Their loss. There were the TV Stations there last night, a few other journalists and website folks there to cover. I hope they stay with this team during their run. I hope many more jump on the bandwagon. Forget about all this "f@#$%&!" men's BB drama and back WBB!!!

Three tournaments of two games each. A simple but revealing way to look at the Cards March march. It's showtime, ladies and gents. Let the games begin. 

It has to be good fortune that ROBBIE BARTLETT has been chosen to sing the National Anthem on Friday....right? 


NCAA WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT "Pick-Em" CONTEST

You know who play who, where and when by now. Download a bracket, make your picks and join us in the Cardinal Couple Women's Basketball NCAA "Pick-Em" Challenge. We've got a $25 Panera Card for the winner and I'm working on a prize for runner-up as well. It's fun and simple. Be the envy of your friends and be a winner! Say you don't know much about WBB? Hey, neither do we! Enter anyway.

With Jared Anderson the analysis director of your picks, you can be assured of a comprehensive scoring reliability and frequent updates. 

1) Make your picks.
2) Enter them in any comments sections here at Cardinal Couple from now until Friday.
3) In case of tie, earliest entry wins, so don't dally. 

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

Here's an example of an entry. The CARDINAL CHIMPS went through a couple of blenders of banana smoothies to come up with their choices. They chose against Central Florida Chimps Aerospace University, since a few of them were indicated on taking fruit kickbacks and payoffs from zoo keepers and  were expelled. 

ROUND 1 PICKS: UConn, Miami, Belmont, Georgia, USF, FSU, California,  So Carolina, Notre Dame, Villanova, Drake, LSU, Ohio St., Green Bay, Oregon, Miss. St, Syracuse, Princeton, NC St., Creighton, UCLA, Ariz. St., Texas, Louisville, Dayton, FGCU, Stanford, WKU, Tenn.,Michigan, Baylor. 

THE SWEET SIXTEEN: UConn, Georgia, FSU, California, Notre Dame, LSU, Ohio St. Oregon, Syracuse, NC St., UCLA, Texas, Louisville, FGCU, Tenn., Michigan.

THE GREAT EIGHT: UConn, California, LSU, Ohio St. Syracuse, Texas, Louisville, Michigan

FINAL FOUR: UConn, Ohio St., Syracuse, Louiville.

THEN THERE WERE TWO:  Ohio st., Louisville

CHAMPS: Louisville.

Come along and join the fun! 


Paulie
xxxxx

Louisville women's basketball -- Champs!

LOUISVILLE DEFEATS NOTRE DAME 74-72 FOR ACC TITLE

Clutch. Accurate. Persistant. Champions. 

Lamont Russell with the shirt and the "L" 

Most that I talked to in the Greensboro Coliseum, especially those in Cardinal colors expected Louisville to win yesterday's title bout against Notre Dame yesterday. Most also thought it would be a lot closer than the 100-67 blowout Louisville put on the Irish back in mid-January.

Most were right. In a game that could most likely fall under the term "chaotic" the Cards survived against the Irish 74-72. It was a bumpy flight at times but the plane landed safely and with all passengers OK. 

" I hope it put a smile on everyone's face." Coach Jeff Walz remarked after the game. It's been a remarkable run, but we're not done yet. We've got bigger fish to fry." 

And, in keeping with the tradition of fish, frying and Lent...the Cards had the fans in the Coliseum and on ESPN most likely clutching rosary beads, mumbling Hail-Mary's and probably saying a few things that would need to be recanted for in the confessional booth.

Sam Williams gets her plaque and a handshake. 

I got into a bit of a Twitter war while attending the event over the referees. We had the best crew in women's college basketball in Dee Kanter, Joe Vazsily and Eric Brewton. They called it tough but fair and the Cards were actually making most of the fouls that were being called on them. Notre Dame simply does not foul unless they have to. They are that well trained and coached to avoid the "silly" ones.

The Irish murder opponents under the basket with their size and strength and a lot of that is brutal but legal. Positioning. And, they took it to the Cards under the paint yesterday. I do not like it when people to continually bash referees. I was a referee. You lose games because your opponent scores more points than you -- not because of a few calls that did not go the way you wanted them to. 

Just survive somehow. It's a phrase I started using when I got to Greensboro. And, the Cards did. Notre Dame had been putting up 80-90 points a game for a considerable stretch of the season. The Cards held them to 72 and no one had done that since Louisville did...back on January 11th. 

65-64 with less than a minute to go. The Cards seeing a seven-point lead vanquish. The irish with the ball. But, the Cardinal defense forced a shot clock violation. Sam Fuehring hit a layup and drew contact. Made the free throw. 68-64. 

Vince Tyra was there and was fired up

Louisville went 6-6 from the charity stripe during the final 18 seconds. Notre Dame
fouling Asia Durr on two possessions down that stretch and the junior responding with the calm, cool demeanor we've seen all year. A different look from her minutes later, tears of joy streaming down her face as she returned to the celebration on the court after going to the stands to celebrate with her family. Smiling broadly through those tears. repeating over and over again.

"I just can't believe it." 

I even got a little teary-eyed myself when I was wandering the floor after the game, taking pictures of random stuff.  Being a victim of two hours sleep in the last 48 hours, I'm finishing this up and hitting the mattress.

Confetti and a championship -- not a bad way to spend a
Sunday afternoon

Believe it, Asia Durr. Believe that your coach believes in you, as well. A rather chppy and chilly post-game handshake between Walz and Muffet McGraw. That same Miss Muffet who jabbingly referred to Durr as "that other girl" who won the ACC M.O.P. of the year... instead of her Arike Ogunbowale. It pissed Walz off. It should have, the cattiness and superiority-intended shrug off and slight that the Notre Dame coach dumped on Ms. Durr.

"I just wanted to make sure she knew who Asia Durr was. Just have the common courtesy to say her name. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I'm going to stand up for my player. Just have the respect to say her name." 

Asia Durr stood up for Louisville yesterday, too. Straight and tall. 

Keep standing up, #25. I think Muffet McGraw will remember your name a long, long time. 

No Fred report as of now. Maybe later when I wake up. Or tomorrow. Just survive somehow. 



LACROSSE FALLS TO NOTRE DAME 14-9 

Louisville did get the big win in the multi-sport double-header Sunday in hoops but the Irish prevailed 14-9 at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium (the Ellis) 

Coach Scott Teeter was proud of his LAX women despite the loss and thought that they played better than they did in a win over Vandy last week. Louisville took a 2-1 lead early in this one but fell behind as the first half developed. The Cards wold rally to get within one but a late flurry of ND goals set the final score as a five-point Irish win. 

Our Jared Anderson was there to capture the sights and also the post-game comments from Teeter and a couple of players. Nice job by "Mr Everything" here at Cardinal Couple and River City Cards. We think he may be twins, because he's everywhere covvering everything.  Listen below. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlvhZ63UWrI&list=PL8CD62AD6CE814E95


SOFTBALL 

At Ulmer stadium, Sandy Pearsall picked up her 700th win of her coaching career with a 6-0 win over Eastern Illinois to close out the Red and Black Classic. 

A strong pitching performance from Danielle Watson "Dan" and Megan Hensley and timely hitting from Madison Cousineau and Kyra Snyder in the first inning helped build a first-inning 5-0 lead and the softball squad kept E.Illinois at bay the rest of the way.

Hit and pitch Cards are 15-4 and return to the diamond on Friday against Bradley. WE'll have more on that later in the week. 

Our Jeff McAdams was there for the post-game wrap up with Coach Sandy Pearsall. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlP5JVzioQY&feature=youtu.be

Paulie
XXXXX

Gameday Thursday - Cardinal Couple

(Editor's note: A slight communication glitch, with Paulie on the go, delayed the posting of this article slightly.  We're getting it all put together here.  -  Worldwide

UPDATE....CARDS WIN 74-71 at Georgia Tech

welcome to the ACC. 

Myisha Hines-Allen scored in the paint with either 1.2 or 1.9 seconds to play in the game (there is debate on what the actual time was) to give the Cards a 73-71 lead and Jasmine Jones added a free throw to give the Cards a hard fought three-point win Thursday night in Atlanta. 

Asia Durr magnificent with 38 points. The Cards led 46-34 at the half after a 33-14 2nd quarter, but GT slowly chipped away at the lead and tied the game at 71-71 on a Zaire O'Neill putback.

Too close for comfort. A nice UofL fan base in the 1473 present. Maybe 500 Card fans. 

Worldwide will have the complete take on it in Friday's Cardinal Couple

Paulie

An Early Start to a Big Weekend

Sitting in for Paulie, I already have 1 prediction wrong. Tuesdays article was not my last of the year.

This is a big weekend for UofL sports.  A heated rivalry game against Kentucky, the Taxslayer Bowl against Mississppi State, but the women get the weekend started early when they visit Georgia Tech tonight at 7 pm.  Holding steady at #3 in the AP rankings, the Cardinals (14-0) are looking to match their best ever start with a win.

When you're on a flight with other passengers and you have extra
pizza, this is what you do.

This road trip hasn't gotten off to the best of starts as the flight to Atlanta was delayed.  Coach Walz made the best of the situation by handing out pizza to fellow passengers during the wait.  The team had been scheduled to have dinner at Asia Durr's family's home, but the flight delay, last I heard, was putting that in doubt.

This will be the first road conference opener since joining the ACC. Leading scorer, Asia Durr, who sat out the Dec 20th game against the Air Force Academy with back spasms is expected to be back in the line up. Arica Carter, out with a foot injury, is also expected to return.

Georgia Tech (11-2) ranks seventh in the nation in points allowed, 52.2, so as Coach Walz's puts it, it will be important to "Value the basketball" and as Paulie puts it "Close the bakery."  The Yellow Jackets' two losses come at the hands of 6th ranked Baylor (80-57) and unranked Georgia (68-55) but remain unbeaten at home this season.  The only opponent UofL and GA Tech have had in common this season is Middle Tennessee State.  The Yellow Jackets beat them (48-45) while the Cardinals dominated them (80-26).

The Jackets' leading scorer is Francesca Pan, a 6'1" sophomore guard, averaging 13.2 ppg.  She is their leading 3 pt shooter and shooting 33%.  Sophomore guard, Chanin Scott, and senior forward, Zaire O'Neil, both average 9.6 ppg.  Red shirt senior, Elo Edeferkoka, leads the team with 6.2 rebounds while adding 8.5 ppg. Cortnee Walton will tell you that they were one of the most physical teams to play, year-in and year out, so expect a little contact tonight. Hopefully, fouls won't become a problem.

This should be a good but very manageable test for the start of ACC play.  A big win is very possible, but playing an away game after a long break can be a challenge.  Let's hope the team kept  up their free throw practice and didn't indulge too much in those wonderful holiday goodies.

Tip-off is at 7 pm with video on the ACC Network (ESPN.com) and radio WKRD 790 am.

Paulie will saunter by later tonight with what he saw, he's on-site and Jeff will provide the recap here on Friday morning.

Julie

Poll results for WBB and Julie Sullivan offers a Christmas poem -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

It seems we may have a second poet-laureate here at Cardinal Couple. First off, the long-standing annual Sonja XMAS poem is rapidly nearing completion and sources tell me that she, the chimps, and Mike the psychedelic-eyed Clemson Tiger should have it out by the weekend. Since Mike isn't much of a proof-reader, I've gotten some glimpses of what my better half has been working on and I like what I'm seeing.  

The poem, a tradition started long ago at Howie Lindsey's fine CARDINAL SPORTS website lives on and it will be posted here and there. (I had wondered why the egg-nog and bourbon levels in the house had been shrinking...) 

Julie Sullivan, our newest writer, is also adept as a wordsmith and offers us poetry today based on a true experience from a couple of years ago. We hope you enjoy this holiday treat and that your holidays (Worldwide refers to this time of year as "Christmahanakwanzika,") are going well.  -- Paulie -- 

Less than a week before Christmas and all thru the website

The games had been covered, I have nothing to write

Paulie wrote the UofL/UK game with such clever flair

That all felt the victory, even those who were not there 

But the readers are clamoring for a new story to read

It's early Tuesday AM and the sweat starts to bead

Then, I remember an incident from two years ago

When a Cat fan and I had a battle to and fro

She put a Christmas tree in a common hallway

And from a bough, a giant Wildcat ribbon did sway

On the tree a Cardinal ornament soon did appear

When I was wrongly accused, I put it in high gear

A tree with blue? It's not the color of the season

Everyone knows Santa wears red for a reason

Her tree was soon adorned with lots of red birds

And an email she did get with the following words: 

Oh, Cardinal tree, oh Cardinal tree

How lovely are thy birdies?

Oh, Cardinal tree, oh Cardinal tree

How lovely are they birdies"

Oh, Cardinal tree, oh Cardinal tree

Such pleasure you do bring me!

Oh, Cardinal tree, oh Cardinal tree

Such pleasure you do bring me! 

And how this former Wildcat tree

Brings us such joy and glee

Oh, Cardinal tree, Oh, Cardinal tree

Such pleasure you do bring me.

Oh, Cardinal tree, oh Cardinal tree

Card/Cat games we'll be winning

A symbol of our pride and love

No other school can ring my bell

Someday Ms. J. will think you're swell. 

Oh, Cardinal tree, Oh, Cardinal tree

You'll never again need changing. 

( This column is a tip of the hat to my grandfather, who wrote each of his ten grand-kids individualized poems that accompanied our Christmas cash each year. The money was welcome but all these years later, I still miss GrandPop's cheesy rhymes. I hope I did him proud.) 

-- JC --   

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USA TODAY, AP POLLS OUT

If it's Tuesday morning during basketball season, and we're relatively sure it is, it's time for the weekly polls for NCAA Women's College basketball. Steady on the horizon, course remains the same for the WBB Cards in the AP, holding at third: 

1)  UConn            800 points

2)  Notre Dame    748 points

3) LOUISVILLE      740 points

4) S. Carolina       686 points

5) Miss. State       672 points

A bit of a head-scratcher, "WTH" result over at the USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll, however, where the Cards are still in fourth behind Mississippi State. 

1) UConn             800 points

2) Notre Dame     745 points

3) Miss. State       720 points

4) LOUISVILLE      719 points

5) S. Carolina       681 points

in the RPI rankings, the Cards are sixth.

Coach Walz and the players will tell you rankings are unimportant, they take each game at a time and I have to agree. I use them primarily to see how an upcoming opponent might be situated coming into a game against UofL. 

Speaking of, the WBB squad is in Colorado and ready for Wednesday night's game against Air Force. I suspect Mr. Anderson Jared will fill us in on more of that tomorrow. FWIW, Air Force is #345 out of #349 in the RPI listings. 0-9 on the season. 

345	345	Air Force	MWC	0-9	0-5	0-0	0-3	0-1
346	346	VCU	Atlantic 10	1-7	0-5	0-1	1-1	0-0
347	347	Charleston So.	Big South	2-5	0-2	0-1	1-2	1-0
348	348	La.-Monroe	Sun Belt	2-5	0-4	0-0	0-1	2-0
349	349	Longwood	Big South	2-6	0-4	0-0	1-2	1-0

Paulie

xxxxx