Cards Advance to Elite Eight -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Win Over Ole Miss is Louisville's 5th Straight in Sweet Sixteen

In a season in which Louisville's offense has looked suspect at times, the Cards faced an immense challenge in the defensive-minded Ole Miss Rebels. Mississippi was likely underseeded, with five of their nine losses coming against ranked opponents. To prove it, they had shut down Gonzaga, one of the top three point shooting teams in the country, in the first round. Still not quite convincing people, Ole Miss then took down the Stanford Cardinal at home, holding the number one seed to just 49 points. That mark was Stanford's second fewest points scored this season and only the third time they had been held to fewer than 60 points. The other two were against USC, games which the Cardinal and Trojans split. In the first two games of the tournament, Mississippi held their opponents to just 3-24 shooting from beyond the arc.

Knowing all of this, Louisville came out determined to play their own game. There were hiccups, of course, but Louisville largely did what they wanted to do offensively, weathering multiple hot and cold streaks from both teams and putting four Cards in double figures. Despite stretches in which the Cards went without scoring for far more minutes than were comfortable, Louisville last lost the lead with 3:41 remaining in the first half. Myah Taylor hit a second straight three to cap a 14-3 run and give Ole Miss a 29-27 lead.

After scoring seven points in the first quarter (originally scored eight but a three-pointer was overturned), Hailey Van Lith had gone cold in the second. It would be a trend that would repeat itself a bit later, but, for a critical moment, Van Lith found her shot. Her second (third) three of the game put Louisville back in front by one. Myah Taylor missed a three on the third time of asking and Louisville was fouled on the rebound. Taking advantage, the Cards scored on the ensuing possession to move their lead back to a full basket. Both teams struggled a bit in the final two minutes, but Louisville came out ahead, scoring the only points of the stretch with an Olivia Cochran jumper to put the Cards up five. After holding a 20-15 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Cards kept a five point advantage at the end of the second: 34-29. There certainly wasn't any weirdness like Louisville stretching their lead to nine points before going on a 4+ minute scoring drought.

HVL was interviewed on her way off the floor at halftime and said it felt great to play in front of her family but that they still had work to do and they were going to come out better in the second half. The third quarter started very evenly. Both teams were able to find the bottom of the net, with Louisville's five-point advantage remaining steady for the first six minutes of the quarter. Over that time, Louisville never stretched that lead beyond five and Ole Miss never reduced it to fewer than three. Two-point shots and free throws ruled the day. When the media timeout finally came at 3:40, Louisville seemed to flip a switch. Unable to widen the gap for so long, the Cards suddenly found a way, closing down on defense and making the offense work. Louisville pushed their advantage to nine in the final minute of the quarter before Ole Miss scored for just the second time over the stretch to bring the lead back down to seven. Right on cue, Merissah Russell hit one of the critical threes she's been wont to do recently to give Louisville a double-digit lead, prompting me to message our Cardinal Couple group, "Don't look back."

Holding a 52-42 lead opening the fourth, Louisville, at first, looked like they would heed my advice. Both teams went fairly cold to open the quarter, meaning Louisville wasn't able to ride the momentum they had to close the third and put the game out of reach. They moved the lead to 12 twice, but never got any farther ahead. After scoring seven points in that first quarter, Van Lith's shot continued to evade her, as she had scored just four points in the next two periods. The basket seemed to be mocking her at times, with mid range jumpers rattling inside the rim before coming back out. When Ole Miss cut the lead to eight with 4:06 remaining, Van Lith finally found the bottom of the basket again, moving the lead back to ten. After an offensive rebound, one of eleven pulled down by the Rebels, they found Angel Baker at the top of the key. The defense was slow to step out, and Baker (whose shot is not at all pretty, by the way) nailed a three to bring the lead down to seven. 

More important than the basket itself was that it allowed Ole Miss to set up their full court pressure. Louisville had managed it okay to this point, but as the Cards became passive, trying to run clock in a game that was much too close for that, the pressure started to creep in. Louisville continually inbounded the ball directly into the pressure and dribbled right into trap situations. It was a bit like they hadn't seen a full-court press before, and it got concerning rather quickly. It didn't really help that "Coach Yo" was allowed to be on the court, in many cases contributing to two- and three-man traps in the corner, but Louisville put themselves in the positions. Holding onto their seven point lead, it wasn't really the full-court press that broke through, rather the passivity yielding to Ole Miss's urgency. As soon as she got the ball across mid-court, HVL raised it above her head expecting to run clock. Taylor promptly swatted the ball up, out jumped Van Lith for the secondary tip, and sprinted down court for the fast break jumper. To her credit, Van Lith worked very hard to influence the shot, even providing a body bump to try to put Taylor off-balance. It would be easy to criticize that she didn't do more or get her hands up, but she was playing with three fouls and the two points would be more recoverable than losing HVL completely.

Hailey showed just how recoverable those two points were when she charged down the court and hit a jumper in the paint (very similar to the few that she had missed; shooters shoot) to push Louisville's lead back to 60-53. A foul sent Taylor to the line, where she missed the second. Liz Dixon secured the rebound, and, on the other end, Olivia Cochran powered through two defenders to make a layup and draw a foul on Tyia Singleton, ending her night. The free throw put Louisville up nine, which didn't last long. Ole Miss hit a jumper to move the lead back down to seven, but, just as Van Lith had before, Mykasa Robinson quickly got the points back. Growing tired of getting pinned down in half court traps and Louisville being out of rhythm, Kasa calmly worked the offense and navigated the defense deftly to get Louisville an open look. I'm just kidding. Kasa put her head down like a raging bull and sprinted through the pressing defenders on a bee-line for the basket. Her path was suddenly impeded by Angel Baker, so she stopped and put up the floater while crashing into the defender. The whistle blew and the ball fell through the hoop, while everyone watched the refs convene. Ultimately, they ruled a block and set Kasa to the line to try to convert Louisville's second straight three-point play. While it was a very close call that could have gone either way, replay proved the call correct. Baker was not in the circle, which seemed to be the point of issue for many on the floor, but an overhead view showed she was never set and slid/leaned into the contact as Kasa arrived.

As it stood, the free throw gave Louisville a 66-56 lead with 1:40 remaining in the game, and it began to feel a bit more like you could breathe. A pair of Rebel free throws were answered by another Robinson layup and a missed three set Ole Miss back to the line after a foul on the rebound. The free throws cut the lead to eight again, but time was heavily in favor of the Cards. Louisville was able to tick 17 seconds off before Ole Miss fouled to send Van Lith to the line. Having missed a free throw earlier in the game, HVL was determined to close this one out in front of her home fans. She calmly sunk the pair. Taylor scored quickly for Ole Miss and they wisely fouled immediately after the basket, but Van Lith, again, was clutch at the free throw line, moving Louisville's lead back to 72-62 with 33 seconds remaining. 

Ole Miss called their last timeout to discuss their options and to advance the ball, they worked a quick layup to Maddie Scott under the basket, but Morgan Jones was on hand for a block. In the shuffle for the ball, Ole Miss came out with it, but it took another nine seconds to get a shot off. When the three-pointer was off the mark and Merissah Russell came down with the rebound with just 19 seconds remaining, Ole Miss tipped their caps and let the clock run out. Louisville held on to win their fifth straight Sweet Sixteen game, advancing to face Iowa in the Elite Eight on Sunday.

As I mentioned earlier, and as they mentioned repeatedly on the broadcast, Hailey Van Lith was playing in front of what was effectively a home crowd. Dozens of family members had turned out for the game and HVL delivered. The hot 3-4 start from the floor cooled significantly, as she finished with just 7-18 shooting, but she kept her head in the game to finish with 21 points, five rebounds, four assists, and a steal compared to just three turnovers. One of those turnovers was an offensive foul and another was when she had her pocket picked clean, so it was a very strong outing for Louisville's star. She was 5-6 from the line, making all four of her free throws down the stretch, and she did it all without a break, playing all 40 minutes. 

Mykasa Robinson was Van Lith's running mate for all but two minutes on the floor. She shot 5-8 from the floor and, after missing a pair of free throws early, hit a big one to finish a three-point play late in the game. Kasa finished with 11 points, seven rebounds, five assists and just two turnovers and one foul. Her defensive impact doesn't stand out on the stat sheet, but at one point in the fourth quarter, Louisville had contested 74% of Ole Miss's field goal attempts in the half. Kasa's presence makes a difference there. Her other critical contribution came as the primary ball handler against a stifling full-court press. To play 38 minutes against that pressure and finish with just two turnovers was masterclass. 

Joining those two in double figures Olivia Cochran and Morgan Jones. Cochran finished with ten points and six rebounds, adding a block, a steal, and an assist. She made 4-5 free throw attempts and turned the ball over just twice. Like Van Lith, one of those came on an offensive foul. Cochran kept her head in this one, playing through frustrations and keeping herself in the game both mentally and physically. She committed just three fouls, with one of those coming very late. 

Morgan Jones had her best game since Louisville made the starting lineup change. Jones was a starter through January, scoring 13 in the loss to NC State and 15 in the loss at Wake Forest. Her average was buoyed by back-to-back 19 and 25 point performances against Virginia Tech and FSU. Unfortunately, the team was losing during that time. Since the lineup change, Jones has seen her minutes drop significantly, and her offense has suffered as a result. After breaking double-digits off the bench for the first time last week against Texas, she did it again with 11 last night. Jones was 4-8 from the floor, 3-3 from the line, and added seven rebounds, an assist, two blocks and two steals. She made a significant case for her role as a key player, and it will be interesting to see what Jeff Walz does moving forward.

In this game, Louisville played a short bench, with only three players subbing in for Louisville. With Nyla Harris playing just five minutes in her start, that position may be up for grabs. Jones had 25 minutes and Merissah Russell played 23. Russell and Dixon didn't score double digits, but both were danger-close with eight each. The three bench players totaled 27 points, outscoring Ole Miss's bench by 21. Though she struggled, Chrislyn Carr stayed engaged throughout the game. She finished with just one made basket for three points, but had an assist and just one turnover in her 21 minutes. CC was a threat on the floor and forced Ole Miss to account for her, even if the shot wasn't falling. Her presence forces the defense to open things up for Louisville's other offensive threats to punish. Plus, when she's hitting her shots, she's a force all on her own.

Ole Miss got 49 of their 62 points from three players, with Myah Taylor and Marquesha Davis dropping 19 apiece. Angel Baker added 11. Louisville did a good job forcing Maddie Scott to the bench early with foul trouble. Scott finished with just four points and five rebounds in 24 minutes and had to play passively to avoid fouling out. All six of Mississippi's bench points came from Snudda Collins. As was pointed out in the halftime show, Ole Miss was not a three-point shooting team. They shot below 30% from beyond the arc during the season, but they were content to attempt them against Louisville. Despite making a few in big spots, those big spot threes were the only ones they made. Keeping about on their average, the Rebels shot 4-15 from range, good for just 26.7%.

Louisville, on the other hand, took what the defense gave them. Making just one more three-pointer than Ole Miss, their advantage came in shooting three fewer. After allowing just 3-24 in the first two games, Ole Miss gave up 5-12 shooting from three to Louisville, part of what made the Cards outscore the Rebels' tournament defensive average by 22 points. 

The FRED and CASE Reports

Things are getting tight, as every game is win or go home. The little things matter even more, so let's see how the Cards handled our major categories. 

F-Free Throws: Robinson's 1-3 was really the low point of Louisville's effort from the line, as the Cards shot 13-17 overall. One miss each from HVL and Cochran and Jones 3-3 mark lifted the misses by Kasa. 76.5% is good for a lowercase 'f'.

R-Rebounding: This one is tough. Louisville won the rebounding battle 38-35. However, they had only nine offensive rebounds, giving up 11 to Ole Miss. Along with that, the Cards scored just one second chance point, a mark that they also lost to Ole Miss, who had 11. Both teams cleared about 72% of their rebounding opportunities on the defensive end, so it was very evenly matched. With Louisville having a size disadvantage at the guard spot and an advantage in the front-court, I am ultimately going to go with the big number winning out. Louisville gets a lowercase 'r', but just barely.

E-Effort/Execution: Louisville deserves heaping credit for their offensive performance against a very strong defensive team. The Cards committed just 12 turnovers, scattered throughout, and they scored 72 points on a team giving up 49.5 through two tournament games. They also kept their heads in the game, responding to scoring droughts and Ole Miss runs with poise. Louisville was outscored 9-5 in points off turnovers, 11-1 in second chance points, and 14-6 in fast break points. That said, they won the points in the paint battle and got far more bench production. Plus, they didn't lose any quarter scores, held the lead at the end of each period, and, most importantly, won the game. I grant a capital 'E' because I'm the one writing and I can do what I want.

D-Defense: Ole Miss scored 68.6 points per game this season, impressive for shooting just 29% from three and 67% from the free throw line. In addition to outscoring Ole Miss's defensive average by 16, the Cards held the Rebels below their season scoring average and below the scoring average of Louisville's opponents. The teams matched in turnovers, but Louisville had fewer fouls, more blocks, and more steals. They also forced Ole Miss to play outside of their system, with the 4-15 three-point shooting contributing to an overall 37% field goal percentage. Capital 'D'.

C-Care: Louisville turned the ball over 12 times. That's not great, but it's the same number as Ole Miss, and it's less than 75% of Ole Miss's season average of 16.4%. I can't give half a letter for tying in turnovers, so it must be a lowercase 'c'.

A-Assists: While their assist-to-turnover ratio was positive, it wasn't quite 1.5. Louisville finished with 13 assists on 27 made shots. It seems overly harsh to not get any letter here as the defense definitely played a part in Louisville's offense, resulting in a number of dribble drives. I'm going to be generous (I'm tired and happy Louisville won, ok? It's my metric) and award a lowercase 'a'.

S-Steals: Much more cut and dry with this stat. Louisville had more than Ole Miss, which is good, but fewer than our expected 7.5, which is less good. Lowercase 'e'.

E-Efficiency: Ah yes, an unexpected capital letter here. Louisville just managed to sneak 45.8% shooting, which is above our 45% expectation for field goal percentage. When they went cold a few times, it looked suspect, but the Cards actually shot consistently throughout the game. They were 7-15 in the first and third quarters, 6-13 in the second, and 7-16 in the fourth. As I mentioned earlier, HVL had a few shots in the fourth that were all the way down before coming back out. Louisville also shot over 75% from the free throw line, so that's a capital 'E'.

Overall, that's scores of f-r-E-D and c-a-s-E. No missing letters is representative of a strong showing from the Cards. At this stage of the tournament, strong showings will be needed to keep playing. Louisville already has their assignment for the next game. While it's easier said than done, the defensive scout is to shut down Caitlin Clark. If the Cards are going to make it to the Final Four, they can't let Clark go for 30. She might go for 20, and there might be nothing you can do about that, but a well-rounded offensive performance can see Louisville advance as long as they make someone else try to beat them instead of Clark. Make sure you get your nap in: Louisville's Elite 8 matchup is set for 9PM Sunday night.

Cardinal Couple Pick 'Em Challenge Update

We've got a couple of discrepancies, but they should be sorted out once the sweet sixteen has been played in full. I'm hoping for myself to be out of contention, as I have Iowa knocking off Stanford Sunday on their way to the championship. I'll gladly be wrong with the Hawkeyes facing multiple Cardinals instead of just one. I also lost a final four team when LSU beat Utah. My Greenville 2 bracket was one to forget, with Utah being my only correctly selected regional team there. 

As it stands the current order is below. Disputed scores are marked with an asterisk, and should be clarified later this weekend as I mentioned.

40-12: Jason, Karen J, Jared

39-13: Kenny S*, Katy, KStark Sr, Jeff, WahooCard, Daryl, Farris*

38-14: Arthur, Paulie, Joe Hill, Sonja*

37-15: David Watson, Thomas

36-16: Case, Vivian*

35-17: Blue Lou, Cindy, Curtis, Mike D

34-18: Becky

32-20: Bea, Chimps

30-22: Nick O*

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We should have a full house this week with plenty to discuss. Softball was postponed yesterday, but they played earlier in the week. Lacrosse is in action again today, and volleyball kicked off spring ball last night. More on both of those from Jeff tomorrow. Basketball will surely be the primary focus this morning, though, so be sure to tune in to this week's episode.  As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Softball Sweeps Double Header; NCAA Tourney Underway -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Secures Series Win Over Pitt

With a weather altered weekend schedule, Louisville softball hosted the first two games of their weekend series against Pitt yesterday. Though the schedule was changed for incoming cold weather, it was already cold enough in the area to impact it further. Originally scheduled to start at 3PM, the start of yesterday's double-header was delayed, and the entire series potentially in jeopardy, as the temperature of the field turf had not climbed above the required 30 degrees. The games finally got underway at 4:30, and Louisville made sure it wouldn't matter if the teams could play today by winning both games to claim the series.

The Cards didn't let the cold get to them as they opened the first game hot. After Alyssa Zabala got a 1-2-3 inning in the top half, Korbe Otis walked, Sarah Gordon doubled her in, and Hannah File scored a pair with a home run to straightaway center. Louisville would load the bases and score one more run in the inning to make it 4-0 after one. Not content with such a lead, Zabala put the Panthers down in order again (kind of; she hit the third batter but a groundout ended the inning), and Louisville went back to work on offense. This time it was Gordon who opened the inning with a walk, but File's shot to left field was caught. Taylor Roby, third up in the inning, matched File's first inning performance with a shot to the berm. Daisy Hess doubled and Easton Lotus reached and advanced Hess by forcing an error on the pitcher. Having both players on base proved important, as they executed a double-steal to score Hess. Rounding out the scoring in the second inning, Ally Alexander singled through the gap to right field and a throwing error allowed Lotus to come all around to score. Louisville led 8-0 after two.

Pitt would put another runner on base in the third inning. This time it was, again, the third batter of the inning, and it was still not a hit. After a pair of outs, a walk put a runner on first before a pop up right to Zabala ended the inning. The bottom of the third brought the top of the order back up, and it picked up where it left off for the third time. Otis singled, as did Gordon, and the pair stood at second and third after an errant throw from left field. File popped out, but Roby sent one down the left field line to score both runners. Holly Aprile replaced Roby with a pinch runner, as she often does, but it turned out to be moot, as Roby could have walked the bases after Hess's homerun ball joined the previous two. 12-0 Louisville after three.

Facing the end of the game if their offense couldn't do something, Pitt finally got to Alyssa Zabala. A strikeout opened the inning, but it was followed by a walk and a single. Louisville nearly got out of the inning on a ground ball double-play, but the connecting throw was too slow. They got the runner at second but put runners on the corners with two outs. A single scored the first Pittsburgh run of the game, and a passed ball put two runners in scoring position to extend the threat. A ground ball ended things there. After three straight innings of nearly batting around, Louisville finally cooled off in the fourth, with the 8-9-1 hitters going down in order. 

The fifth inning saw Sam Booe come in to close things out for Zabala, if only to give her some rest and ensure the run-rule. Booe, perhaps, could have used a bit longer to warm up, as she didn't miss any bats in the inning. She got a foul out to open things before a single, double, and walk loaded the bases. A sacrifice fly made the score 12-2 and a pop-out made that the final score. Cards didn't bat in the bottom half. Final game time was 1:50, and the second game was scheduled to start at 7PM, giving the teams about a 30-minute break.

Taylor Roby got the start in game two, and she was aces for five innings. Roby scattered one hit and one walk over those five innings, with the hit not coming until the fifth. In the meantime, Louisville's offense was back in action, scoring four runs in four innings. It's not quite 12 runs over three, but it was sufficient for the most part. Louisville took the lead in the first with a sacrifice fly, were quiet in the second, and saw Sarah Gordon add to the list of home run hitters on the evening in the third. The fourth homer of the evening was also a two-run shot, which was quite the coincidence. Gordon also picked up a two-out double to score the Cards' fourth run in the fourth inning, giving her quite the day between the two games.

The fifth inning saw Pittsburgh's first hit come at the expense of Taylor Roby. A line shot went right back at the circle and hit Roby directly on the hand before skittering toward third. There was a brief delay for medical before Roby elected to stay in the game. She seemed as though she was ok, forcing what could have been a double play immediately after the hit and then getting a grounder to end the inning one batter later. She also seemed to have fine control of the bat, flying out to center in the bottom half. All of that is to say that there was no real indication that Aprile should have pulled her. That notice came too late. 

Every batter in the Pittsburgh 6th made contact. There were eight of them. Two singles opened the inning and a flyout advanced the lead runner to third. A single to left put runners on first and second and made the score 4-1. A foul out to the catcher gave the Cards two outs and it seemed like they would be able to wrap things up. Back-to-back doubles slashed that thought before a pop-up mercifully ended the inning. Louisville's 4-0 lead was erased, and the game was all square. 

Despite their offensive effort on the day, the Cards had no answer to the big inning, as they went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the sixth. Having been pulled for rest in game one, Alyssa Zabala was called on to start the new game in the seventh inning. She picked up a ground out to open the inning but a single threatened to give Pitt life. Fortunately for the Cards, the defense was ready to react. The next batter flew to left, and Pitt decided to try to advance the runner on the out. Why? Your guess is as good as mine, but the throw into second was in time and the Pittsburgh runner was tagged off the bag to end the inning. With the Cards needing just one run to end it and the heart of the order up, they promptly gave themselves a pair of outs with a strikeout and a ground out. Small ball prevailed. Daisy Hess singled, and Vanessa Miller reached on a fielding error to keep the inning alive. The error proved costly, as Easton Lotus singled up the middle and Hess rounded third to score, unearned, and give the Cards the walk-off win. 

The two teams will be back in action this afternoon with a scheduled start of 1PM. After an overnight freeze, we'll see if they can get the game going on time. Regardless, coverage will be on ACC Network Extra, and Louisville will look to finish the sweep and extend their winning percentage to .667. Zabala is unlikely to get the start today, but, if she does, be on the lookout for the same pitcher to earn three wins in two days. UPDATE: Today's game has been postponed to tomorrow at 2PM in an effort to find warmer weather. It will still be streamed on ACC Network Extra.

Louisville Set to Face Drake in NCAA Round 1

Louisville pulled a five seed in this year's tournament, and, as a result, will play the first (and potentially second) round outside of the friendly confines of the Yum! Center for the first time since 2015. Nevertheless, that five seed is higher than many thought the Cards would get with some of the performances they had this season, so it could certainly be worse. Louisville drew Drake in the opening round, and it will be the first ever meeting between the Cards and Bulldogs. Drake was an automatic qualifier, winning the Missouri Valley Conference Championship after finishing fourth in the league. 

The winningest player in ACC
history looks to extend her lead.

Louisville's defense will be put to the test in this one, as the Bulldogs (22-9 overall) average 79.1 points per game. Their average scoring margin is 13.6. If you're doing the math on that one, it means they've won a bunch of games by a lot, and their losses have been close. One of those losses came in overtime to then fourth-ranked Iowa in their third game of the season. Iowa ended up being victorious 92-86. Drake followed that game  up with an 18-point victory over then 22nd-ranked Nebraska. To continue the odd series of results, Drake's fifth game was an 83-100 loss (in overtime!!) to UMass before they beat Howard by 37 two days later. The Bulldogs played just one more game against a ranked team, a 75-71 loss at Creighton on December 10th. They were scheduled to play Iowa State on the 22nd, but that game was canceled. 

Drake played just three games in which they scored fewer than 63 points. Those three all came in a two week span in the middle of conference play, and they were all road losses. Louisville will look to get that team instead of the one that averaged 82 ppg in their other 28 games. The Cards will have to force some of that themselves if they want to keep their 13-0 first round record under Jeff Walz intact. Tonight's game is at 7:30PM and will air on ESPN2.

Cardinal Couple NCAA Pick 'Em Update

Jeff will have more tomorrow after the first round has wrapped up, but the opening day of games was unfriendly to most of our entrants. The final tally of participants this season is 26, and Daryl leads the pack at 14-2. She was nearly undefeated on the day, but the SDSU upset gave her one loss and jinxed her for the rest of the evening. After Daryl come David, Karen J, Thomas, Jared, Vivian, Curtis, and Mike D at 13-3. Eleven brackets are tied at 12-4, and it seems we may be in for a close battle as the tournament continues.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll be back this week with what should be a full house after the thinner broadcast last week. There's plenty to discuss, as lacrosse and softball have had busy weeks and, of course, basketball looks to get underway. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

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Apple Podcasts: Link

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Overcast (free account required): Link

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cards WBB Advance to ACC Semis -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

With the weather that rolled into the region yesterday, lacrosse canceled their previously rescheduled game against Cincinnati last night. The cancellation notification was brief and didn't include any information about a second rescheduling, so it seems fair to say that this one just won't happen. Another impact of the weather and the resulting power outages is that we will not record the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast this week. We'll be back next week to discuss the upcoming week in Louisville women's athletics and take a look at the WBB tournament prospects after the conclusion of conference tournaments.

HVL Outshines Jewel; Cards Thump Wake 74-48

Louisville used a hot first quarter from Hailey Van Lith to jump out to a large lead yesterday before the Demon Deacons clawed their way back into the game late in the first half. Despite the 8-0 scoring run, Louisville held a 10-point lead at halftime. After Jeff Walz ripped the team in the halftime interview, he presumably did so in the locker room as well, as the Cards opened the second half with a 13-2 run to effectively put the game away. The Cards would stretch the lead to 25 in the third quarter before Wake brought it back to an 18-point deficit at the end of the quarter, but an 18-point quarter deficit is very different from a 20-point halftime deficit. That, along with the fact that Louisville was playing fresh and Wake was entering their 12th quarter of basketball in 50ish hours, was proven by Louisville extending their lead in the fourth quarter up to 30 before the game ultimately ended with the 26-point difference, Louisville's largest margin of victory in an ACC Tournament game.

Louisville's leader on the floor in this one was none other than Hailey Van Lith. After scoring just eight points against Wake Forest on January 26th, HVL doubled that output in the first quarter of yesterday's game when she tallied 17. It was an inauspicious start for Louisville, with Olivia Cochran committing a shooting foul on the game's first possession. Fortunately for the Cards, Demeara Hinds missed both free throws on the only foul she would draw in the game. It wasn't the cleanest start offensively, either. HVL missed a mid-range jumper, but Cochran was fouled on the rebound. On the ensuing play, Cochran had a driving attempt in the lane miss, but Nyla Harris (part of a brand new starting lineup of HVL / Cochran / Harris / Carr / Robinson) got the offensive rebound. Harris's putback was also off the mark, but a team rebound bounced to Van Lith, who finally hit a pull-up jumper to score the game's first points. After a block by Harris on the other end, CC Carr hit a spot-up three to give the Cards a quick 5-0 lead and Wake called their first timeout. 

The timeout broke up the momentum greatly, and the game stuttered. Wake hit a three in their first possession before covers magically appeared on the baskets. The next five possessions saw seven missed shots before a jump ball stopped play. Liz Dixon entered and must have given HVL some of "Michael's Secret Stuff" from Space Jam. HVL scored all of Louisville's next 15 points, giving her a lead over Wake Forest of 17-8 at the end of the quarter. The team led 20-8. Van Lith was 6-8 from the floor, 4-4 from beyond the arc, and 1-1 from the free throw line. Not to be outdone in the quarter statistically, Nyla Harris matched the entire Wake Forest team with seven rebounds. She was 0-5, but shooting can practiced in the gym. The intensity with which Harris played in yesterday's game is something innate.

As the second quarter started, the announcers were ready to discuss the Wake Forest comeback against FSU and HVL's performance. Louisville's best scoring performance in an ACC Tournament game belongs to Asia Durr with 28 points. With 17 in one quarter and showing no signs of slowing down, everyone was quite confident HVL had the record in her sights. There was even some discussion of the overall ACC single game record. Well pump the brakes, folks. Van Lith scored just four in the second quarter as Louisville's lead began to evaporate due to cooled off shooting and boneheaded mistakes. On his way to the locker room, Walz made it clear that the team needed to remove their heads from their rear ends in order to win the game. 

The quarter began as if things would continue swimmingly for Louisville. Wake made a few baskets but Louisville matched pace to maintain their advantage. A three pointer cut the Louisville lead to nine with seven minutes left, but two offensive rebounds saw the next possession result in two points to get it back to 11. The next sequence prompted me to tweet "If Kasa is doing that, WF can just hang it up." The "that" in question was leaping for a one-handed snag that looked like it belonged at an NFL skills challenge before calmly hitting the mid-range jumper like it was automatic for her. Was I a little nervous about jinxing things when I tweeted it? Sure, but Louisville had given me many more reasons to be confident than reasons to be nervous. The Cards even backed up that confidence after the media timeout. A pair of HVL free-throws extended the lead to 15, and two Cardinal baskets were split by a free throw from Wake moved the score to 34-16. 

Then things unraveled a bit. A missed three was collected for an offensive rebound and Josie Williams went to the line on the put back. She missed both free throws. Louisville recovered another offensive rebound to try to salvage the possession, but HVL missed the ensuing three. No matter, a Wake layup meant Louisville still held a 16-point advantage. Then Mykasa Robinson had an extremely uncharacteristic lazy pass across the top of the key. As lazy passes across the top of the key are wont to do, it was stolen for a breakaway. Merissah Russell hustled back to impact the layup and it was missed. Unfortunately for the Cards, she was the only one in the area. As Jeff Walz put it, "The rest of the team was on a Sunday stroll; too bad it's Friday." Wake was there for the offensive rebound and it was a 14-point game. You might think that the result of that play would make an impact on Louisville's mindset. I certainly would have. Walz apparently thought it would have, because he didn't call a timeout to make sure they understood. Naturally, they did the exact same thing. 

This time it was Carr with the lazy pass across the top, but it was Alyssa Andrews jumping into the passing lane again. Once more, Russell sprinted back to cover the layup, and, once more, she was the only white jersey in the general vicinity of the play. This time, Andrews couldn't quite make a layup happen, so she kicked it out to Jewel Spear (quiet so far) who buried a three. Walz called a timeout. The Cards would miss four shots over the final 1:44 of the half but they would give up just one attempt to the Demon Deacons, a missed 3-pointer from Spear as time wound down. A single free throw cut the halftime lead to ten, and Louisville headed to the locker room, surely prepared to hear it from Walz for the clunker of an end to the quarter. However, while Louisville has struggled with collapses like that in quarters throughout the season, they are usually isolated, and they are usually more damaging. For the Cards to still hold a 34-24 lead at halftime was encouraging. 

Out of the break, Louisville went big. They subbed out Merissah Russell and Morgan Jones to bring in Liz Dixon and Olivia Cochran. After the Hailey show in the first half (she finished it with 21), O was ready to remind people that if your game plan is "everyone cover HVL," you might have other problems. Cochran scored the first six points of the quarter on Louisville's first three possessions. The Cards forced two turnovers from Wake to quickly turn a 10-point lead into 16, and Wake head coach Megan Gebbia wanted another early timeout. While the Deacs were able to draw up another play to get Spear a look at a three, she was unable to convert. Louisville finally missed on their fourth possession, but their momentum was not so easily derailed this time around. Another Wake miss gave the Cards a look at extending the lead once more, so they took it. Again, it was Carr with a big basket (she had Louisville's only other first quarter points, remember, on the first three of the game), as she pushed Louisville's lead to 19. She then matched Spear's driving layup with one of her own to maintain the lead. After a pair of missed baskets, Robinson grabbed a steal and made the fast-break layup herself to make it 47-26 Cards.

The next minute and a half saw three jump balls before the media timeout, which was more than made baskets. Two Carr free throws answered the Wake jumper to keep the lead at 21. Three minutes of back and forth missed baskets were followed by a flurry of scoring. Louisville came out the worse, scoring three points for Wake's seven, but still held on to the 18-point lead at 53-35.

The fourth opened with the same familiar characters pulling the hands of the clock toward midnight on Wake's small Cinderella run. Cochran opened with a layup, HVL hit a three, and a Carr layup capped the quick 7-0 run. Down 25 with just eight minutes left, the Deacs wilted. While they would score 13 more points over the remainder of the game, much of it would come against Louisville's bench, as Walz pulled the starters to rest for today's game. Louisville, for their part, scored 14 over those last eight minutes, including a Norika Konno catch and shoot three, to close out the 74-48 victory.

Van Lith finished the game with 26 points. She needed one more made basket to tie or break AD Durr's record, but I think she's probably happy just to come away with the victory. While the record seemed assured after the first quarter, it was good to see her able to keep her head in the game when the going got a little tougher as Wake clamped down the defense on her. She had just two turnovers in 33+ minutes and added three rebounds, an assist, and a steal. She committed no fouls and drew two, though going 4-12 from inside the three-point line may suggest she didn't get a couple of calls she would have liked. 

Mykasa Robinson was everywhere. In just under 33 minutes (second most on the team, 35 seconds shy of HVL), Kasa had ten assists, eight rebounds, and three steals. She had an uncharacteristic four turnovers, including the rough first half pass we discussed, but also added four points. Importantly, she was decisive on offense. She took four shots, making two, which is pretty much on average for her, but the ten assists show that she was passing on opportunities to shoot because they were better team chances to score, not just because she was being hesitant. More of that from Kasa and Louisville will continue to be dangerous.  

Louisville's biggest +/- came from Liz Dixon. Despite just one point and two rebounds, her presence on the floor was felt, as the team was +34 in her 27:40 of floor time. Dixon added an assist and three blocks, while committing no turnovers. Cochran was limited by early foul trouble, picking up a pair in the first quarter. She ultimately played just nine more minutes after that first quarter, but she was 5-5 from the floor with a rebound, just one turnover, and two fouls drawn in those nine minutes. Critically, she committed no more fouls. Her time was more limited by Louisville's smaller lineups in response to Wake's foul trouble and lack of depth at the post positions. She finished with 11 points.

 

Chrislyn Carr was the second leading scorer on the team, adding 16 points for the Cards. She was 2-6 from three, but both makes were clutch, and she was 5-6 from inside the arc. Five rebounds, a steal, and two assists rounded out CC's stat line, while she committed just two fouls and one turnover. Morgan Jones and Merissah Russell were the only two other players to earn double digit minutes, and both put in decent stints. Jones had five points, two rebounds, and an assist. She turned the ball over once but drew three fouls while committing just one. Russell had four rebounds to go with her four points, and was the only player with more than ten minutes to commit no fouls or turnovers. Her hustle prevented two fast breaks from scoring, though the stat sheet doesn't reflect it as the rest of the team was lagging on those plays. 

Josie Williams struggled a bit under the lights, missing three free throws on her two drawn fouls, but her -9 in 6:45 was more a reflection of when she was on the floor than of her play. She was quiet, with just two points on 1-2 shooting and no other stats, but with no fouls and no turnovers, you can't be too mad at the effort from what was effectively the fourth forward up. When all was said and done, all but one player for Louisville ended with points. That player was a starter (Harris) who still contributed with nine rebounds and a block and finished with a +/- of +8 in 15:36 on the floor.

Louisville held up defensively, fearing no Spear in this one. Jewel finished with 15 points, but shot just 5-16 from the floor and 4-10 from three. While she drew three fouls, she took just two free throws. Elise Williams was big for Wake as well, scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, but she committed seven of the Demon Deacons' 15 turnovers. The Cards effectively neutralized the bigs for Wake Forest with early foul trouble. Olivia Summiel and Demeara Hinds both had four fouls and both played about 23 minutes. The pair combined for four points, quite a bit fewer than their average of 12. Critically, their non-presence on the floor opened things up for Louisville to win the rebounding battle and avoid the major blockers.

The FRED and CASE Reports

F-Free Throws: 8-12 is just 66.7% for the Cards, which isn't winning any awards. Critically, three of those four misses came from Williams around the big Wake Forest run. The starters were 6-6, but drawing 16 fouls, you'd like to see a few more free throws. Wake, for comparison, shot 14 free throws on 13 fouls. No letter.

R-Rebounding: I award a capital R for this one. It's not cut and dry as free throws, but Louisville won the battle 40-29. They doubled up Wake on offensive rebounds, and, while they could only turn that into a 7-4 second chance advantage, it's still important to keep the opposing team off the glass. 

E-Effort/Execution: It's tempting to see just the big run by Wake and think that Louisville could be docked, but I can't ignore the rest of the game and the response directly to that run out of the half. Plus, the Cards won by almost 30 against a team that beat them up the road from this gym just over a month ago. Eleven turnovers isn't ideal, but it's fewer than the opponent. Outside of the blip in the second quarter, Louisville never appeared to let off the gas, and the Cards never trailed. Capital E.

D-Defense: The Cards had just seven steals in this one, though they forced a total of 15 turnovers. A couple of those were shot clock violations caused by actual lockdown defense and not lack of awareness. Adding four blocks and holding Wake to 35.4% shooting isn't bad either. Add all that into the fact that Wake's 48 points is the fewest allowed to an ACC opponent this season and I have to credit that with a Capital D.

_-R-E-D

C-Care: Louisville committed 11 turnovers in this one, like I mentioned, which is not great but is actually 4.6 fewer than their per game average. It's also fewer than Wake's 15. Wake turns opponents over at a clip of 14.25 per game (good for just 279th in the country) and 11 is more than 75% of that. Lowercase c.

A-Assists: Again, those 11 turnovers will hurt this category. While it's low, Louisville didn't have that many assists, despite 10 from Kasa. The Cards finished with 17 on 29 made baskets, giving them a 59% assist rate, which is pretty good. It's not an ATO of 2, though (just 1.54), and perhaps I should tune that number down. I'm not doing so today, though, so it's a lowercase a.

S-Steals: Sadly, seven is below 7.5 (obviously), but it is above the five that Wake snagged. Short and simple stat. Lowercase s.

E-Efficiency: With no letter in the F of the FRED report, we're starting at a lowercase e here. The Cards were just one made free throw away, but one free throw can make the difference in a game. They shot 43.3% from the floor, about on pace with their 42.1% from three, and that's not quite the 45% we're looking for. So no letter.

c-a-s-_

The slightly more subjective FRED report was friendlier than the CASE report, but both are decent showings in the tournament opener for the Cards. They'll get Notre Dame for the third time today at noon, and they'll have their work cut out for them. The Irish were still without Olivia Myles yesterday against NC State but held on to defeat the Diamond Johnson-less Wolfpack 66-60. Coverage for this one is on ACC Network, with the winner advancing to tomorrow's ACC Championship game.

Tournament Recap and Bracket Update

Hiya. Paulie here with yesterday's quarterfinal recaps and our contest (and ACC bracket) updates. 

The day started, as you'd no doubt read, with our Cards shaking Wake all the way back to Winston Salem.  Jewel Spear returns for them next year, and that's about all I'm going to say about that one. I also like the Hailey Van "Lethal" tag that folks are using when talking about our blonde bomber. Let's go out and beat ND, now. 

Notre Dame 66 - NCST 60

Apologies here, to my wife Sonja, who was getting confused every time I'd shout out something about ND's Sonia Citron yesterday, while I was watching this game.

 "Sonia, quit fouling her!" 

"What did you need, hon?" 

 The Irish managed to shut down an NCST squad that didn't have Diamond Johnson. Notre Dame was missing "Miles of Smiles" and "Lil Cindy Boo Hoo" -- who were nursing knees. Inconsistency is thy name, NCST -- I guess it does matter if you lose four starters from last year, Wes? 14-point leads are tough to overcome, and compliments for cutting it to six late...but YOURE GOING HOME, Used Car salesman. I-40 should be fairly clear for travel this morning.  

Duke 44 - UNC 40

That horrible sound on your TV was Deb Antonelli growling about lack of offense (again) in the rematch between these two. I think they were playing "first to 50 wins" and neither squad could get there, so they just let the clock decide.  We did see that former Card Elizabeth Balogun is continuing to fit in pretty well with Kara Lawson's bunch and she can still drill the three. UNC's Deja Kelly went, like 4-30, or some ridiculous number from the floor and that probably hurt the Heels. Yes, shooters are great...but coaches (and people watching the game) prefer makers. And, you probably needed Makers, if you watched all of this one. Duke moves on to get VT. TV worth watching today after the Cards game, I hope. This one wasn't.  I guess both squads were just resting up for the NCAA Tournament. 

. 

Virginia Tech 68 - Miami 42

A 20-5 lead in the first quarter pretty much describes it all....VT came ready to play and Miami stayed on the bus. Cavinder Magic and Ktie Meyer Mastery were not to be found and the Canes will fly back south. When you get a bird battle between a Gobbler and an Ibus, go with the land animal if it's a turf war. The fact is, VT hed coach Kenny Brooks has a helluva arsenal assembled, including two-time ACC Player of the Year Liz Kitley, and some very good players to compliment her.  They just might send Duke home today. 

CARDINAL COUPLE ACC PICK 'EM UPDATE

With three games to go, Case holds a tenacious 10-1 success mark and is ahead  of six participants at 9-2 (Paulie, Jared, Thomas I, Karen J, Jeff McA and Daryl. 

At 8-3:

Katy, Vivian, BJ, Nick O. K.Stark, David Watson, Jo. Spivey

At 7-4

Joe Hill, Sonja, JA. Spivey, Jason, Lilli D.

We also have two at 6-5, three at 5-6, two at 4-7 and the Cardinal Couple Chimps can see 'em all at 2-9. Thanks for playing and better luck next time  I expect I'll do a final and complete listing in my Monday column. 

We cannot allow Case to win, y'all. His ego is way too big already. He has Louisville beating Notre Dame today and Duke beating VT. He has Duke as champion. We shall see...

paulie

CASE TOSSED IN THESE PICTURES FROM JARED FROM FRIDAY GAMES

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Louisville Set to Face Duke Sunday -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Celebrate New Year's with Games

Unlike the winter break that collegiate athletics teams usually get over the Christmas holiday (unless there's a bowl game in that time frame), New Year's Eve and Day are just more days on the calendar. Louisville men's basketball will face Kentucky today in a game that opened with a 22.5 spread and has already been bet up to UK -23.5. We don't need to talk about that one at all. Maybe Louisville will manage to cover.

Louisville women's basketball will have a challenge of their own tomorrow when they face Duke on the road. The Blue Devils are 12-1 this year with the lone loss coming on a neutral court against Connecticut. Their wins aren't necessarily stunning, but they have beaten three teams from Big 6 conferences in out of conference play and their last game was a 14-point road win over 6th-ranked NC State on Thursday . Kara Lawson has the team playing well on both ends, as they're averaging 71.8 ppg and allowing just 49.8. While there have been a few games swinging those averages a bit, they didn't score fewer than 66 points in December and haven't allowed more than 58, which came against NC State. 

The Cards will have the tough task of facing the unfriendly confines of Cameron Indoor Stadium for this one, where Duke is undefeated this season. With both teams playing their last game on Thursday and having the same amount of rest, this one will be a straight-up matchup. Louisville is quite familiar with one key contributor on the team, as Elizabeth Balogun is second on the team in scoring despite just seven starts. She has played in all 13 games and has the fourth most minutes, though, so it's clear she is the first player off the bench. Balogun is one of eleven transfers on the Duke roster, which is almost double the number of players that originally started in Durham. With six grad transfers and two seniors, Duke is looking to make the most of this season. Louisville will have their hands full as they try to rain on the Blue Devils' parade.

The game is set to air on ACC Network Extra and tips off at noon eastern. 

No Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

As we discussed last week, we won't have a podcast this week as we take off the last day of the year. If you haven't had the chance to listen to last week's episode yet, it was an annual retrospective, so it's still plenty relevant. We should be back next week with more in the joy and excitement of UofL Women's Athletics.

Have a safe and happy New Year!

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

(PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON)