Cards Falter in South Bend 82-68 -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Notre Dame Tops Louisville at Purcell Pavilion

Little Miss Muffet,
Sat on her tuffet,
Getting the calls to go her way

I'm not one who likes to put the blame on the officiating but you have to be kidding me with how last night's game played out.  Arike Ogunbowale attempted to kick AC in the face and AC was called for the foul.  Brianna Turner flopped and stretched out on the court to get Bionca her fifth foul.  The fouls were 28-15 and the free throw attempts were 39-16. UofL will have plenty of footage to send to the ACC offices for "examples" and review of a job that was less than average.

Granted, there was much more than poor officiating that led to the outcome of Louisville's 82-68 loss at Notre Dame. The Cards were seemingly fouling Notre Dame every time they went into the paint on offense. Rebounding for UofL was not a pretty thing.  The loss, however, ends any hopes of a perfect season for the Cards, now 14-1 with a 2-1 conference record.  Notre Dame is 15-1 with a 3-0 conference mark. Believe it or not, NC State is the lone undefeated team in the nation.

For starters, the Cards lost the rebounding battle badly.  The final numbers were 48-32.  Notre Dame's defensive rebounding numbers (30) nearly matched UofL's total rebounds.  Jessica Shepard was nearly unstoppable on the glass with 15 boards.

Missed lay-ups were a problem for the Cards.  This didn't just happen overnight seeing that this has
been an ongoing issue all season.  A lay-up should be one of the easiest buckets a player can make, but the Cards struggle to make them nonetheless.  In close games that each position can spark or ruin a run, missing the easy bucket can help build momentum for the other team.

Overall, Louisville shot 38.2% from the field.  26-68 is poor and well below the season average.  From three-point range, the Cards were 4-20, 20%, another below-average mark.  The free throws were pretty solid with the 75% of 12-16.

The first quarter resulted mostly in the two team trading baskets.  Both teams saw their lead as high as four points early in the game.  Sam Fuehring and Jaz Jones both found themselves with a pair of fouls before the quarter ended, quickly dwindling the impact they would make on the half.  Notre Dame held a 20-19 lead after the first 10 minutes.

Louisville doubled up the Irish's second quarter points before Notre Dame got the final five points to get to halftime.  Of the Irish's 13 points in the second quarter, nine came from the free throw line.  Six different Notre Dame players made a free throw.  Asia Durr, Arica Carter, and Kylee Shook joined the ranks of Louisville players with multiple fouls.

At halftime, Durr was already up to 19 points and the Cards only had two turnovers.  The 2-11 three-point shooting and the missed layups were holding the Cards back from leading by more than two at the time.  Ogunbowale was held to just four points in the first half.

Things changed in the third quarter.  Notre Dame won the quarter 24-12, holding to Louisville to one of their worst quarters of the season.  Foul trouble became more apparent and Jeff Walz had to be careful not to burn through his players in foul trouble too early in the game.  Turnovers and transition defense became worse and the Irish capitalized on fast break points.


Both teams had their highest scoring quarter in the fourth quarter, although Notre Dame used it to add
a few extra points down the stretch.  Dunham, Carter, and Evans all retired to the bench with their five allotted fouls being used.  Fuehring recorded her fourth foul, but managed to stay in the game for the final seconds.  The highlight of the final quarter was Mykasa Robinson's in-your-face defense on Ogumbowale.  The 2018-19 Finals MVP became frustrated and it allowed the Cards to bring the score within two at the 1:48 mark.  Sadly, things went south the rest of the way.

When you lose the "second chance" stat 19-5...it probably isn't your night. That 14-points differential was also the final margin of defeat for the Cards...82-68.

POST GAME WALZ PRESSER: WALZ TALKS SANDERFORD, LOSS TO ND 1/10/19

F-R-E-D Report

"How many intentional fouls were called on
UofL, Fred?" 

F - free throws: Louisville made 75% of theirs.  Notre Dame made more than double what the Cards did with 29 made free throws on 39 attempts, but we don't give a grade based on comparisons on free throws. Capital "F".

R - rebounds: Losing the rebounding battle by 16 is not good.  Foul trouble limited some of the post players and kept them off the boards. Notre Dame also had a player in double-digit grabs (Shepard) with 15 and that was more than double UofL's best rebounder on the night. No letter.

E - effort/efficiency:  In terms of effort, UofL battled tough in the Purcell Pavilion.  They even roared back to trail by two with under two minutes remaining.  The true ACC Player of the Year totaled 29 points.  Louisville was smart with the ball and only committed eight turnovers.  Getting out-shot 44.6% to 38.2% isn't terrible.  Louisville also scored 25 points off turnovers.  Notre Dame scored 19 second chance points and 23 fast break points.  We can award a lowercase "e".

D - defense: Notre Dame shot 44.6% overall and 37.5% from deep.  The Irish totaled 82 points and scored at least 20 points in three quarters.  Ogunbowale scored 30 points, 26 coming in the second half, and two other Notre Dame players (Brianna Turner 16 and Jackie Young 14) also were in the double-digits.  The Irish scored 23 fast break points.  Some of those were off a turnover, but many of them came on poor transition defense by the Cards.  The one plus side is the Cards forcing 18 turnovers.  Still, the second half defensive struggles and the 82 points prevent the Cards from earning a letter here.

FINAL FRED TOTAL: F-_-e-_

F-_-e-_ is not too good of a report.   Assuming a capital letter is 2/2, a lowercase letter is 1/2, and no letter is 0/2, the Cards get an ugly 3/8 on the score chart.

The women are back in action Sunday at 2:00.  They return to the KFC Yum! Center to host a solid
Georgia Tech squad.  The Yellow Jackets are 12-4 and are 2-1 in the ACC.  They defeated Boston College in Massachusetts, fell at Notre Dame, and beat Duke at home by six last night.  Expect the Cards to come out angry and ready to leave a trail of destruction in their path between now and Jan. 31, and then the same on the path to the ACC Tournament.

The Irish were dancing on January 10th. Louisville needs to put this one behind them and go on, so they can dance in March.

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

- Jared -

Louisville WBB vs. Notre Dame tonight -- Let's Play -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

#1 vs #2 TONIGHT

It goes down tonight in South Bend. The University of Louisville women's basketball squad faces #1 Notre Dame. ESPN bringing in the big guns....Adam Amin, Rebecca Lobo, Kara Lawson and Holly Rowe. A sold out crowd of 9149 in the Purcell Pavillion ready for the contest. The biggest game of the season, so far, for the Cards.The sixth top 25 opponent of the season for Notre Dame. Asia vs. Arike. Are you ready? 

Notre Dame plays very well in Purcell. In their last 105 games there, they have lost three times. All to UConn. Louisville last visited there on Feburary 6th, 2017 and took a 85-66 loss. 

So, what about these Irish? They are at 14-1 on the 2018-19 season, the lone loss coming to UConn on December 2nd., a 89-71 defeat. In common opponents, both have played Duke and UND down them 82-64. The Cards took a 73-51 win over the Blue Devils. Both have gone up against WKU. The Cards getting a 102-80 win there to start the season. Notre Dame having the Hilltoppers at Purcell and dismissing them on December 19th 94-53.

The Irish squad has plenty of talent. Arike Ogunbowale leads them in field goal attempts (252) field goals made (123) total points (331), free throw attempts (86), free throws made (66) and points per game (22.1). Look for Jackie Young as the set-up student athlete, her assist to turnover ratio is 2.33. Brianna Turner has 33 blocks this year and has had over 80 in the previous three seasons she has played. On the boards, it's Jessica Shepard -- 9.5 rebounds a game. Add "do-everything" Marina Mabrey, back after an early season quadricep injury to that starting lineup and averaging 14.3 points per game and they look very impressive. All but Young were selected to the pre-season ALL-ACC Coaches Panel and Blue Ribbon panel squads. All but Young are seniors or graduate students. 

The Irish average 52.7 points in the paint so far this year and that's where the Cards will have to be able to contain them. They allow a mere 27.2 points in the paint. 

Louisville is undefeated at 14-0. They have played and defeated two top 25 teams. They are one of two teams undefeated on the season, after Ohio fell to Central Michigan last night 88-70 in Athens, OH. The Cards defeated CMU 72-68 before Christmas break. The other undefeated squad besides the Cards is NC State and the Wolfpack goes up against Pitt tonight in Raleigh. 

This is the Cards first ever participation in a #1 vs. #2 match-up. They have Asia Durr. 

The Cards learned yesterday that "Nite-nite" had been named to the John Wooden mid-season top 25 list. She's one of five ACC players on that list. Ogunbowale, Young and Shepard from Notre Dame are on there. So is Tiana Mangakahia from Syracuse. 

The Cards' talent is deep beside Durr, though. Arica Carter is a dangerous three-point threat. Jazmine Jones is the Cards "do-everything" player.  Sam Fuehring provides the inside muscle, along with Kylee Shook and Bionca Dunham. Dana Evans comes off the bench with speed, quickness, scoring and defensive intensity. Lindsey Duvall is 12-28 from three-point range this season. Hoe big a factor will she and freshman defensive specialist Mykasa Robinson be? Louisville is probably the better team in terms of depth. Louisville is a quicker squad that Notre Dame and they have won the last two contests against pretty much this same Notre Dame lineup. 

Jeff Walz will tell you offensive accuracy and cutting down on turnovers are two keys to this one for the Cards. He expects a game "in the eighties" and he'll probably see that come close to fruition. 

Notre Dame will be fired up, seeking revenge and I fully expect them to come out strong and try to bury the Cards early. Louisville needs to withstand the early attempts at the knockout punch and try to create a big first quarter, like they did against UNC, NKU, Miami and Kentucky. 

We heard from Arica Carter and Jeff Walz yesterday. They previewed the game, the season and other things for the media in about a 1/2 hour press conference. You can see and hear that presser below.

We wonder what our buddy Tom's choice is tonight?

LINK: WALZ AND CARTER 1/9/19

We apologize that you can't hear the questions very well on the feed above. If you want a better quality audio where you can hear the questions but with no video, try the link below: 

LINK: WALZ AND CARTER 1/9/19 (AUDIO ONLY)

I urge you to review the presser. Walz and Carter are loose, engaged and ready to go take care of business. I got the same out of the entire team while watching practice yesterday. A chance to do what every player dreams of, come to school for. A chance to play "in a big-one", under the national spotlight and show what they've got. 

A potentially important factor will be the officiating. No "TV" Dee Kanter for this one. The crew will be Eric Brewton, Kevin Dillard and Karen Preato. They call a lot of ACC contests and the Cards are familiar with their game-management. 

Another sideline is McGraw vs. Walz. The history between those two is well-documented. 

Eric Crawford was at yesterday's presser. He has an interesting take on tonight's match-up. Read it at the link below: 

LINK:  CARDS VS. IRISH

Here we go. The highlight of the Cards WBB season so far. Louisville has been outscoring opponents by  20.0+ game a year this season. They probably don't get that huge a win tonight (in fact, another website has conducted a poll and 95% of the participants predict a Notre Dame win) but I will go in a different direction. UConn gave Coach Walz another blueprint on how to defeat the Irish earlier this season. UofL and Durr "show up" for the big games and the Cards have won 11 straight ACC road games. 

How do I see it? A win for the Red and Black tonight in South Bend is how I see it. Let's say 80-75. Asia has a huge, Asia Durr-type game and the Cards go to 15-0. Jaz thrills the watchers, Arica buries a few threes and Sam "does work" inside against the taller Irish. 

Regardless, though, of the outcome...it's a wonderful thing to see the Cards in the national spotlight. This is what they play for. Let's do it. We'll have a full recap tomorrow here at CARDINAL COUPLE. 

Today is "wear red" day to support our squad in Sound Bend. You know you look good in red, so...do it !! 

Your thoughts on the contest? Let us know in the comments section.   


OFF TOPIC, BUT...


-- Louisville MBB lost a exciting one last night at Pitt. Overtime. Half of Pitt's squad fouled out it seemed. The Cards unable to hit the big buckets in O.T., though.  

-- A player Cardinal fans grew to know over 2018, Maori Davenport, has been ruled ineligible for her senior high school season in Alabama. This seems a bit unfair, if you ask me, but...you decide. It won't affect her eligibility at Rutgers, though, in the 2019-20 season. The article link below: 

LINK: MAORI MISCHIEF?  

-- Yay! For Wilma Rivera ! She's been picked for the Puerto Rican National team. Louisville Volleyball's premier setter is all that...

-- After watching the WBB squad "do work" yesterday, I did wander over to the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium to watch them practice for a few minutes. A lively and spirited session, which was impressive given the cold and windy weather we're experiencing. Go LouLAX !  



paulie
xxxxx 

Softball, Lacrosse, NAAK all suffer losses -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

.
SOFTBALL SHUTOUT AGAIN BY NOLES

Tough weekend so far for the Softball Cards...falling 8-0 to Florida State yesterday in Tallahassee. 

The Cards were held scoreless with just two hits by FSU pitcher Meghan King in the run-rule, five inning affair. Coupled with Saturday's 4-0 loss, it's the first time that Louisville Softball has gone two games without a run since 2015 against Virginia Tech. 

Danielle Watson went the distance for UofL, giving up six hits and eight walks, to drop to 14-8 on the season. Maddie Newman and Sidney Melton produced the only two Cardinal hits. 

Down 4-0 after two innings, the Cards did manage to hold the Noles scoreless in the third but a two-run homer in the fourth and two more runs in the fifth gave FSU the win. 

They'll try it again tonight at 7 p.m. on ESPNU. 


LACROSSE ENDS REGULAR SEASON WITH 19-8 LOSS AT SYRACUSE. 

A familiar story line for Louisville Lacrosse yesterday in the Carrier Dome against the Orange in lacrosse. The Cards hung tough with Syracuse for 36 minutes....tied at 8-8....before the Orange put up a 11-0 run to win on Senior Day. 

With a smaller than normal roster, Louisville Lacrosse experienced a bit of late-game fatigue against the Orange in the final 24 minutes...head coach Scott Teeter's squad has basically improved each outing this season but in the ultra competitive, talented and experienced ACC...you need a squad that has experience, tons of talent and depth. All things Teeter is developing at UofL -- but the process doesn't happen overnight and, after a 5-1 start to the season, the Cards went 1-9 to end the year...mostly against the powerhouse and nationally ranked ACC gauntlet of seven foes...all who will mostly likely make the NCAA Tournament. 

Seven Cards scored in the loss, Sarah Blalock finding the net twice for Louisville (6-10, 0-7). 

The Cards draw undefeated Boston College in the ACC Tournament, which begins Thursday in Durham, NC on the Duke campus.


N.A.A.K. ELIMINATED IN SEMIS OF USA 3X3 TOURNEY

Asia Durr's USA 3x3 experience comes to an end with a 21-19 semifinal loss to the Bye Felicia foursome in the Colorado Springs Tournament. 

Her squad (with Napheesa Collier, Arike Ogunbowale and Kristen Angiwe) won the play-in games to the final four convincingly with 21-8 consecutive victories to face the veteran Bye Felicia squad, which had (3) players aged 28 and (1) aged 27. Danika Dale (Liberty), Kristen McCarthy, Shaqweda Wallace (both from Temple) and Vershaundra Young (Martin Methodist) engaged N.A.A.K. in a thriller that came down to the final play of the contest. 

The Championship went to the Oregon Ducks in a 21-5 blowout of Bye Felicia. Hodgenville, KY standout Erin Boley teamed with Sabrina Ionescu, Ruthy Hebard and Otiona Gildon for the win. 

Boley was impressive, getting all eight of her points from beyond the arc. The scoring is a bit different in 3x3...with free throws and shots inside the arc counting for one point...while "trey" makes count for two points. Ionescu, who was named MVP of the tournament, had six points in the final game...where the Ducks jumped out to a 7-0 lead en route to the 16-point victory. 

Good experience for Durr...who has plenty of basketball ahead for her this spring and summer. Jeff Walz was in attendance for the shootout weekend (like he needs an excuse to go to Colorado).

Durr's N.A.A.K. sqaud went into the semifinals with a 4-1 record in preliminary action, losing only to the eventual champions 21-17 on opening day.

There was good representation from players around the local area and state with Lakin Roland (Princeton) from Jeffersonville, IN and Alexis Robinson (Colorado) out of Ashland, KY also participating for two of the 12 teams in the tournament. 

Alexis is Cardinal signee Mykasa Robinson's older sister and averaged 12.1 points for the Buffs as a junior, despite sitting out the entire summer of conditioning recovering from an ACL injury and surgery. 

Have a great Monday, I'll either be back on these pages tomorrow or we may get some commentary from our buddy David Watson...you never really know around the topsy-turvy, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants protocol and lineup here at the C.C.  

(Softball photo courtesy of Jared Anderson) 


paulie
xxxxx

Louisville WBB- Notre Dame Comparison, Field Hockey Coaching addition... Wednesday Cardinal Couple

FIELD HOCKEY ADDS ASSISTANT

The sticks have added a new assistant coach for next season. Field hockey alumna Erin Schneidtmiller returns home, but this time as a coach. The former forward spent four seasons from 2010-2013 with the Cards.

After graduating from Louisville, Schneidtmiller went on to coach at Mercy Academy and spent time in Berlin playing professionally. She then went on to spend three seasons as an assistant at American University wearing red and blue (it only makes sense a school called “American” would rep those colors) and helping the Eagles to 39 wins and a conference championship.

Let’s see what Sowry, Schneidtmiller and the Louisville field hockey team have in store for us next season. Long time associate coach Lucas Piccioli remains on the staff. 

WBB PREPARES FOR IRISH BATTLE

Irish pep band from ACC Tournament two years ago.
Not sure what instrument the big head played...

The WBB Cardinals of the court are gearing up for their biggest game of the season thus far. Our third-ranked Cardinals face second-ranked Notre Dame tomorrow night. The game is so big that the lower bowl has sold out and tickets for the upper bowl are going fast. Athletics has marked it as a “RED OUT”.

Julie JC Sullivan gave us some interesting facts about the 18-0 start and a preview of what to expect tomorrow night during her Tuesday write-up. Case and Paulie gave us a VT recap and a small preview of the game during Monday’s write-up.

Instead of previewing the match-up even more we’re going to dive into Notre Dame and what the Irish look like.

UConn’s fourth quarter comeback is the only blemish on the Irish’s record. Their quality wins include victories over ranked opponents South Carolina and Michigan. Syracuse and Marquette are in the receiving votes category and Notre Dame defeated both as well.

The Irish have an average margin of victory of 22 in their 15 wins. Their closest win was by five at Oregon State, or you could argue their six-point victory in overtime against Marquette could be their closest as well. Their largest margin of victory came in the season opener win when they walloped Indiana University at Pennsylvania by 68.

Coming to squat on the Denny Crum Court...Miss Muffet
Not sure if red-headed Ray has any tuffets to sit on
at the YUM! 

Junior guard Arike Ogunbowale leads their team in scoring, averaging 20.8 points per game. She has some help on offense with three other players averaging double figures: Jessica Shepard (14.8), Jackie Young (14.8) and Marina Mabrey (12.5). Compared to Louisville, the Cards have Asia Durr (20.2) and Myisha Hines-Allen (13.4) as the only players in double-digits.

Ogunbowale and Mabrey are their three-point threats, having made 23 and 26 this season, respectively. ‘Night-night’ has made 56 on the year while three other Cards have made at least 11.

Down low, Shepard is hauling in just over eight rebounds per game while Young is pulling in 7.3 each game. ‘DOO-BLAY’ Is averaging 9.7 rebounds per game. No other Cardinals are even at five.

"Aw, jeez...Meathead. You got me and Edith tickets for
the women's game? She'll be screaming all night now." 

What we consider negative aspects of the game Notre Dame has excelled in.  No player averages more than two fouls per game while only one player averages more than two and a half fouls a game. Jaz Jones is on pace with 2.5 turnovers per game, but the rest of Louisville is in the 1.5-2 range currently, still enough to see more than 15 turnovers per game. The Cards have had some trouble with committing nearly 18 fouls per game, an easy way to give the opponent free throws.

This game is a competition between two similar teams. Both squads have the up-tempo pace to put up big numbers and can have a defense that can shut down any team. Will the Cards find an answer to Notre Dame’s recent dominance or will the home court advantage and the hot start be enough to propel Louisville to a win? Get involved tomorrow night to find out- 1 Arena Plaza, Louisville, KY, 40202, or ESPN for those who cannot make it.

Jared Anderson

Louisville women's basketball -- Showdown in South Bend tonight -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

TOP TEN BATTLE BETWEEN CARDS AND IRISH

( Sorry for today's late post....Super Bowl sluggishness. What a game, though!) 

If you are a Louisville basketball fan, tonight's a night to reserve your spot on the couch, have the popcorn, beverages and whatever lucky charm or article of clothing you reserve for the big ones at the ready and prepare for battle. The Cards take over ESPN on Big Monday in two huge road matches against ACC foes.



Not only do the men face a Virginia squad that has had their number lately in Charlottesville (ESPN)...but Jeff Walz's women's squad is on the docket and travels to South Bend for a top ten match up against Muffet McGraw's Notre Dame team. (ESPN 2). Unfortunately, both are at 7 p.m...so split screens and mutiple viewing devices will come into play. 

Louisville has won five out of their last six games and the Irish are on a five-game winning streak.  The Irish are #7 or #8...depending on which poll service you want to consider and the Cards are #9 or #7. Both have 20+ wins on the season. Both have much to gain (or lose) with a win (or loss) tonight. 

Muffet McGraw realizes the importance: 

" It's a huge game for both teams. It's certainly a game where we have to be really ready because they have so many weapons. They have excellent post play. This is going to be a battle."  

A lot of that post play will be hinged on whether Myisha Hines-Allen can go for the Cards. As of this writing, it's a matter of seeing how it goes in warm-ups and how she feels. Thanks for all the e-mails and texts about her status! 

The Irish can come at you from a lot of directions. Brianna Turner is the leading scorer in a balanced attack. The 6'3" junior forward averages 14.8 ppg and also leads with 7.5 rpg. Sophomore guard Arike Ogunbowale produces 14.7 a contest. One cannot overlook 5'11" sophomore guard Marina Mabrey and her 13.5 ppg. 5'8" senior guard Lindsey Allen leads with 185 assists and also averages 5.5 steals a contest. Kathryn Westbeld had 15 points in the last contest...vs. Virginia Tech. Freshmen Erin Boley and Jackie Young come off the bench to provide valuable contributions to the Fighting Irish. 

Where do you point the hose to start putting out the fire? This "magnificent seven" has been largely responsible for the Irish being in the top ten nationally in field goal%, 3-point field goal %, assist per game and assist-to-turnover ratio.

At 21-3 overall and 9-1 in the ACC..the Irish are tied atop the standing but they have had a few tough tests so far. Their ACC lost came to NC State 70-62 in Raleigh. Boston College got within 11 of them when UND visited them. Duke came into South Bend and narrowly lost 62-58. Visiting Virginia fell 82-74 to Muffet's gang. UConn won the early season match-up in the Purcell Pavilion 72-61 and the Irish traveled to Knoxville and fell to the Vols 71-69.  

The Cards are 4-12 in the series with Notre Dame and have lost the last nine meetings. Last year in the KFC YUM! Center the Cards led 35-30 at the half but ended up on the short end of a 66-61 final score. 

To win tonight in South Bend, the Cards must take care of a few things that Walz has been preaching all season. Consistency. Playing for 40 minutes. Making layups. Making free throws. Recognizing who has the hot hand and avoiding slow starts to the quarters are all areas UofL will need to control and manage if they want to leave South Bend with a well-earned
"W" in the luggage. 

It should be a great one to watch and we'll be back tonight with the recap. 


😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎


TOP RANKED MBB TRAVELS TO VIRGINIA

Another top 10 contest on the guys side takes place tonight also with Pitino's players facing Tony Bennett and the Cavs. If you listened to our Saturday morning broadcast of THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR...you got some valuable insight from Case Hoskins on what the Cards would need to do to dismantle the Wahoos. Louisville MBB has been on fire lately and with all the top 10 losses over the weekend and the Cards huge win...Louisville could move up to as high as #3 in the nation. 

Virginia has been a nemesis. Can the Cards find a way to win this one tonight? 



Especially with the late news that Deng Adel and Mangok Mathiang will sit tonight because of a Saturday night curfew rules violation. 

Gonna be one hard row to plow without them, Q and Hicks...



💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣



PAULIE PICKS GO KERPLUNK

Sunday ACC WBB offered a few surprises (at least to me) in the five game schedule. I went 3-2 in the selections. I did hit the Duke win at Virginia, Syracuse over Boston College and Wake Forest against Pitt...but was unsuccessful in choosing UNC against Clemson (nice win Tigers!) and Virginia Tech stumbled against Georgia Tech. 

Hopefully FSU and UofL can salvage a less than stellar week for your fearless prognosticator.  

ACC. Anything Can Culminate. 


paulie
xxxxx

Friday Cardinal Couple -- Rivalries

- ACC: Many long-established rivalries

-  Ogunbowale narrows list.

When we think of rivalries here at Louisville...our annual battles against Kentucky come to mind first. Over the years, the Cards have also established rivalries against Memphis, Cincinnati and Western Kentucky. These tend to transcend into other sports besides football and basketball. We'd also be remiss if we didn't mention the Louisville vs. UConn rivalry that exists in basketball. One that has been pretty much one-sided on the women's side, and pretty heated on the men's side.

Most Cardinal fans will identify with various responses when the names Auriemma, Calhoun, Cronin, Huggins, Dana Kirk, Mitchell or Calipari are brought up in conversation.

As UofL enters the ACC, they join a conference that has many rivalries...both in-conference and OOC. Let's take a look at a few by school:

Boston College. The Eagles and Syracuse have developed a good rivalry over the years and the meetings between BC and Notre Dame are referred to as "The Holy Wars". 

Louisville's chances of establishing a rivalry against BC are slim...distance between schools and talent level the main factors. 

Clemson. The Tigers have a big in-state rivalry with South Carolina and there's no love lost when Clemson and Florida State get together. Events against Furman also draw considerable interest in the Palmetto State. 

Any potential rivalry between the Cards and Tigers would be remote...the football battle this year will be a game of great interest, though, down there...and Clemson WBB does have a former Card in Charmaine Tay. 

Florida State. Miami and Fla. St. are main rivals and the Seminoles don't have a lot of respect for Notre Dame, either. Of particular note in WBB, Louisville had lost 10 consecutive games to the Lady 'Noles before Jeff Walz rolled into town. Sue Semereu hasn't been able to beat him or the Cards since. 

We'll probably never become main rivals with FSU...but any games will draw considerable interest since both schools are usually highly nationally ranked in the sports they participate in. 

Georgia Tech. The Ramblin' Wreck has a decent rivalry

going with in-state foe Georgia...other than that, not much. 

This has potential to be a minor rivalry for the Cards...especially in hoops...where the memory of Bobby Cremins lives on in many Cardinal fans' recollection and the relatively short drive between the two schools. 

Notre Dame. It seems the Fighting Irish are rivals with just about anyone that meet. Michigan State, Michigan, USC, Purdue, Boston College, Pittsburgh, Florida State...the list goes on & on.

The Cards and Irish have also established some fierce competition lines over the years and those will pick right up where they left off now that we're conference foes again. 




Duke. Duke and North Carolina is maybe the largest rivalry in college sports. The Blue Devils are another of those schools that everyone seems to take great delight in beating. 

Kentucky, Louisville, all the Carolina schools, Florida State, Syracuse and the entire Catholic contingent...well, the list goes on and on. Coach K. and Coach Joanne P. are hot button items and Louisville ex-Field Hockey head coach Pam Bustin will raise a little dust when they show up in the 'Ville in October. 

Other rivalries we'll see...

Pitt - Penn St., West Virginia
North Carolina - Duke, NC State, Wake Forest and Virginia
Virginia Tech - Virginia
NC State - Wake Forest, Duke, UNC

Which of these 14 schools in the ACC will become a "rivalry game" for Louisville down the road, years from now? Only time will tell...but the competition frenzy will be just as intense as it was back in the days of the Metro, CUSA and Big East. 

Which rivalries do you see as the biggest in the ACC? Which ACC schools do you see the Cards having a chance to establish a rivalry with? Let us know in the comments section.

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Milwaukee Prep Star considering Louisville WBB

Add another name to the 2015 Louisville WBB wish list.

 

Arike Ogunbowale has two loves...soccer and basketball. There are many colleges and universities that would love to have the 2015 prospect on campus playing either.

 

She has turned her focus directly to hoops, though... and has indicated that Jeff Walz and the Cards are in her top five.

 

Arike is a top-10 prospect in the 2015 class and the 5'9" guard has narrowed it down to Ohio State, UCLA, Wisconsin, Notre Dame and Louisville.

 

She's had a busy and productive summer. A member of the USA U 17 squad that won the FIBA World Championships...she averaged almost 11 points and four rebounds a game in the USA's 7-0 run.

 

Her plans are to visit all five schools if possible and then sit down with family members and narrow the list.

 

On Louisville, she comments:

 

" I can't wait to see what Louisville has to offer. I like Walz as a coach. I like the city of Louisville. They have a great program and great facilities. It'll be a tough decision."

ESPNW says:

Strong, athletic off-guard with a scorer's mentality; physical off the bounce, elevates and finishes with consistency in mid-range game; developing deep threat game.


We at CARDINAL COUPLE say...scoring guards who can jump and hit the three are always welcome on Belknap Campus.

 

 

 

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paulie