LAX wins 15-7 over Xavier -- WBB transfers --- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Hey there

Daryl here checking in for Thursday... Jared and I made this switch this week.  He was out at the Lacrosse match over at Cardinal Stadium last night taking pics and talking to the victors following the match and we really appreciate those shots to share here daily.

Lacrosse

The UofL LAX squad got the 15-7 victory over Xavier at L&N stadium.

   

The Cards got out to the 3-0 lead, scoring in the first 45 seconds of the match. Kylea Dobson and Kokoro Nakazawa had 2 goals each in the quarter where the Cards managed the 6-1 lead.   Dobson got the scoring going early again for the Cards to start the second quarter and UofL scored 6 more goals, giving up 2 to take the 12-3 lead into the halftime break. 

 

UofL scored only 3 goals in the second half after posting an insurmountable lead.  Nakazawa lead in goals scored for the Cards with 4 on 7 shots, Dobson had 3 and Perroni with 2. 

 

Sara Addeche and J Pleck split the goal keeping duties with Addeche picking up the win with 6 saves and 3 goals allowed.  

LAX PHOYOS BY JARED ANDERSON

They said it 

Post  Xavier match comments 

 

----   Kylea Dobson and Coach Scott Teeter 

Up Next

The Cards hit the road to top ranked Syracuse for an afternoon tilt Saturday 3/30 on the ACCNX.  

WBB News

Basketball transitions have been happening this 'march madness' for the commonwealth.  

For UofL WBB,  redshirt sophomore Alexia Mobley announced via her Instagram she would be transferring.  The 6-2 forward averaged 1.6 ppg.  

Photo: Jared Anderson

It was also reported earlier this week that Hennie van Schaik would be transferring from the program. She played in 15 games for the Cards in 2023-24

Photo: Jared Anderson

We at Cardinal Couple wish both of them much success on their journeys. 

Photo: Jared Anderson

Let's finish this week strong.  

As always, 

Go Cards

Daryl 

WBB demolishes Bellarmine 111-33 -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL

Gooooood morning readers! We are through the last full work week before the winter holidays! I hope you all have a happy and safe Thanksgiving next week. My favorite thing about the holiday is the leftovers!! Make sure you hug those you love extra tight before they go too.

WBB

Louisville wins 111-33 over Bellarmine

End of 1Q 24-6 Cards
FG %
11-17 64.7% Cards
3-17 17.6% Bellarmine
Reb. 14-7 Cards
3-pt %
2-6 33.3% Cards
0-6 0% Bellarmine

In front of a crowd of about 7,500 fans from the Louisville area, the Cardinals demolished the neighboring Bellarmine Knights.

The offense started flowing early for UofL and UofL only in this one. The scoring was a balanced effort by almost every Cardinal in the arena... I think even Jared scored a time or two.

Olivia came out just a minute or so into the game after committing a travel. She had tears in her eyes after she collided with a Bellarmine player for a loose ball so Elif Istanbulluoglu got an early opportunity to see some minutes.

The Cardinals started the game 2-2 but then cooled off some when they took a couple 3 point attempts. The Knights started the game 0-7 and then committed a foul. The first score for Bellarmine came with about 6:15 left on the clock in the 1Q.

UofL stormed to a 22-6 lead when they went on a 9-0 run over a 3+ minute period and 14-2 run over 4:30 minutes where the Cards were 5 of 7 and Bellarmine committed 3 turnovers and went 0-4.

After Eylia Love missed her two free throws, Elif cleaned it up off the glass and secured her 7th rebound and put it back up and in and the Cards were up 24-6 at the end of the quarter.

End of 2Q 24-3 Cards

FG %
9-16 56.3% Cards
1-12 8.3% Bellarmine
Reb. 10-8 Cards
3-pt %
0-3 0% Cards
0-3 0% Bellarmine

There's not much to say about this quarter as the Cards dominated and went on a 20-0 run over a 7 minute period to make it 46-9 with 2 min left in the half.  The Knights continued to struggle to find any offense after going 1-12 and scoring just 3 points. Bellarmine committed 10 turnovers during that span.   

HALF 48-9

End of 3Q 30-12 Cards

FG %
11-19 57.9% Cards
4-17 23.5% Bellarmine
Reb. 16-5 Cards
3-pt %
0-3 0% Cards
2-8 25% Bellarmine

After the Cards came out to open the second half with an 8-0 run and the Knights looking alot like they did in the first half going 0-4, Bellarmine called a timeout. Louisville had officially swallowed this Bellarmine team whole.

With 7 min on the clock, Bellarmine was able to find a bucket for the first time since the 7:35 min mark of the second quarter.

With 4:39 left on the clock in the third quarter, the UofL lead was 64-14.  50 points... 

End of 4Q 33-12  Cards

FG %
10-14 71.4% Cards
4-11 36.4%
Reb. 9-2 Cards
3-pt %
4-6 66.7 % Cards
2-4 50% Bellarmine

The fourth quarter for the Cardinals was spent trying see if they could break 100 while I would imagine Bellarmine's objective was to get back over to the Highlands and forget this thing ever happened. The Cards were 2 points shy of 100 points with 5 min left in the ballgame. At this point, Hennie Van Schaik was out there taking 3 point attempts. It was Merissah Russell's two free throws that put the Cards in triple digits.

Louisville found themselves on another run when they went 8-0 over a 3 min period to close out the game. Russell and Love both hit a 3 pointer to put the Cards total points to 31 in the quarter. The most points scored in a quarter in the game.

The Knights could have used assistant coach and Cardinal great Monique Reid (pictured above) and still probably not gotten within 40 of the Cards. 

Post game comments with the Players

Nyla Harris and Alexia Mobley joined us for the post-game

Harris finished 5-5 from the field and 4-4 at the FT line for 14 points and 3 rebounds in 16 minutes.  

Mobley finished 4-4 from the field and 4-4 at the FT line with 4 rebounds and an assist for 12 total points in 13 minutes.  

Harris said "Todays game was about working on the things that we need to work on moving forward in the season.

The players said that Walz said this is a game we should win but we are preparing for the next opponents and what we can still improve on.   

Mobley talking about Elif:  "Came in two months ago and blends right in and has a lot of experience. She's a smart player and we needed someone with as high of an IQ as hers."   Nyla says she looks up to her game.

MOBLEY AND HARRIS POST GAME BELLARMINE

WALZ POST GAME BELLARMINE

UP NEXT

Louisville vs Bucknell

Sunday 11/19 at 4pm

ACCN

(Cards dance by Bellarmine like Fred Astaire)

FRED REPORT


FREE THROWS -- The Cards went 23-26 from the line which is good for 88.5% a stellar night at the line.  They also only put Bellarmine at the line for 5 FT attempts for the evening.   This is a CAPITAL F category

REBOUNDING -- 49-22 The Cards significantly outrebounded the Knights.  Elif lead for the Cardinals with 12.   She had 7 in the first quarter where she played 8 minutes.  CAPITAL R 

EFFORT/EXECUTION --  This balanced scoring effort from start to finish by the Cards and the energy they displayed earned them another CAPITAL letter E.  This team looked like they were having F U N.  

DEFENSE -- UofL forced the Knights into 29 turnovers in the game, closing out the first half with 10 of them.   Bellarmine struggled to establish any territory at the Yum! Center Thursday evening.   CAPITAL D

FINAL FRED TALLY:   F_R_E_D

(PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON)  

As always
Go Cards!

~Daryl 

WBB's Alexia Mobley Reclassifies -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 MOBLEY NOW PART OF 2021 CLASS, WILL REDSHIRT

The news broke yesterday, via Twitter, that former 2022 UofL women's basketball recruit Alexia Mobley has reclassified her status, is now part of the 2021 class and will come to campus as a red-shirt freshman this year. 

She will be on campus for the first day of classes and will join the program for practice later this month. 

Mobley, who graduated from high school a year early a couple of months ago, had originally planned to undergo individual instruction and training in between her last year of high school and first year of college.  Considered firmly in the Cardinals camp, she left no doubt about that with her signing yesterday. 

Alexia is a 6'2" wing that was ranked as the 31st. best prospect in ESPN's ranking of 2022 prospects. She is now the 14th student-athlete on the roster, a roster that doesn't list "wings" but players as either guard or forwards. She joins Payton Verhulst (listed as a 6'1" guard) and Sydney Schetnan (6'5 forward) as the third member of the 2021 class.

Alexia become the sixth "forward" on Walz's squad. Height wise, the Cards have 6'5" Schetnan, 6'5"Liz Dixon, 6'4" Ramani Parker, 6'3" Olivia Cochran and 6'1" Emily Engstler on the roster as well. Dixon and Engstler are listed as seniors, Parker a red-shirt sophomore, Cochran a sophomore and Schetnan a freshman. 

The eight "guards" are: Ahlana Smith, Kianna Smith, Mykasa Robinson, Hailey Van Lith, Norika Konno, Payton Verhulst, Merissah Russell and Chelsie Hall.  

Mobley is one of five "first year Cardinals", along with Hall, Verhulst, Engstler and Schtenan. Hall comes in as a transfer from Vanderbilt and Engstler from Syracuse. 

The move seems to be a wise one for Mobley. A chance for her to practice with the team, learn the system, gain college credit hours and not lose any eligibility. We''ve seen in other schools (Wake Forest, for example) that freshmen originally thought to be "redshirts" or "next year prospects" have been pressed into collegiate action. This doesn't appear to be the planned scenario with Mobley, but the collegiate season is a long one and injuries and such can force a coach to make decisions originally un-planned at times.   

The move drops the 2022 class for Louisville to three players who have verballed. Zyanna Walker, Imani Lester and Nyla Harris. With six Cards due to graduate after this upcoming season, it opens up the door for Louisville to possibly get an additional incoming player, as well,  for next year, via high school or the transfer portal.

All we can say is welcome Alexia!  In our interview with her earlier this year, we found her to be a delightful, well-rounded, driven individual who definitely loves the city of Louisville and the game of basketball.  That sounds like a great fit for the program to us. 

If you'd like to hear that April interview again: the link is below: 

Alexia Mobley with Cardinal Couple's Paulie

Jared will get you ready for Louisville women's soccer (as far as I know) and the Western Michigan match in tomorrow's column.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

paulie

WNBA Update -- Alexia Mobley In Town -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDINALS COMPETING WELL IN WNBA EASTERN DIVISION

Depending on the squad, the WNBA teams are 16-20 game into their 2021 schedule.  For our interests here at Cardinal Couple, we're keeping an eye on those former Cards great that are active currently in the league. Right now, that's currently Dana Evans, Myisha Hines-Allen, Jazmine Jones and Kylee Shook. 

Dana Evans is shining along with the Chicago Sky and the Sky have the fourth best record in the league at 10-9, along with the New York Liberty. Her playing time isn't significant so far, but, she is averaging 2.3 points a game (in 18 games) 0.8 assists a contest and is shooting 94% from the free throw line.  She saw three minutes in the Sky's last outing -- a 100-91 loss to her old team, the Dallas Wings. Dana had no points, assists or rebounds. 

Myisha Hines-Hines is currently out resting a patella tendon for the Washington Mystics and did not play in their last game -- a 82-79 loss to the Liberty on Saturday.. She's logged eight games for the Mystics this 2020-21 season, and had averaged 14.0 points-per-game, 2.3 assists and 7.1 rebounds for D.C. The Mystics are 7-10 in the league, which is fourth in the Eastern Division and would not make the WNBA Playoffs as of now.  They have been banged-up pretty badly with injuries, in their defense, using only six players in a few of their most recent games. They play against Saturday, at Chicago 

Kylee Shook has been a regular starter for the New York Liberty and is averaging 6.1 pts. in 19 games. She's averaging 5.3 rebounds a game, second best on the Liberty. Kylee sees about 22 minutes a contest for the 10-9 Liberty.  In a 99-96 win over Dallas on Monday she had eight rebounds, five points and one assist. 

Jazmine Jones also plays for the Libs and averages 7.1 ppg and 2.8 rpg. She sees about 18 minutes an affair and had 16 points and two rebounds against Dallas. It was a good weekend for Jaz, she also had 17 points Saturday in a win over the Mystics and had some pretty dramatic actions and antics in that game, as Jeff highlighted in his Sunday article. 

We hope to see our Cardinals continue the good work and, in Myisha's case, get back on the court soon. It would be great to see all three teams mentioned here with Cardinals on them make the WNBA Playoffs!  We also hope that a fifth Cardinal (in Angel McCoughtry) is recovering nicely from her knee injury earlier this season -- and is able to return next season. Her Aces are 14-4 in the league, which is tied with the Seattle Storm for the best record in the WNBA. 

ALEXIA MOBLEY IN TOWN FOR TFN RUN FOR THE ROSES

I get a lot of inquires about 2022 Cardinals commit Alexia Mobley and can tell you that she is in Louisville for the July 5-8 Run for the Roses Classic with her Cincinnati Angels squad. 

I was able to find a Twitter clip of her in action at the event (being held at the KEC in Louisville) and the word is she's looking good and the Angels are a very impressive and talented squad. 

Alexia's Clip:  

Mobley at Run For Roses

The event obviously draws a ton of college coaches and i did notice that there were media passes, so I thought I'd see if I could get one for Thursday. We'll see how that goes. 

Still no definitive work on whether she'll be on campus for any portion of the 2021-22 season, as far as I know. Try as I might, I was unable to find any stats on how and the Cincinnati Angels were doing here during their stays. I'll see if the media request brings about any type of numbers. Truth be told, I didn't realize the Tournament was taking place until yesterday. 

Here's hoping she plays well while here. She's fun to follow on Twitter, You might check her out at @AlexiaMobley23  

have a wonderful wednesday

paulie