Skylar Jones one of seven transfers on Baylor roster -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 EX UOFL GUARD GOES TO PLAY FOR NIKKI COLLEN

We all remember when Jeff Walz made the announcement that the Cards and Skylar Jones had mutually parted ways right before the 2026 NCAA WBB Tournament. I got tired of answering questions about why she was dropped from the Cards roster. I hadn't a clue. 

Speculation later surfaced that loyalty issues, playing time and selfishness were the cause for the mutual parting of ways. Walz's announcement back then was short and rather matter-of-fact. Jones never released a statement...at least not one I could find.  

Well, the 6'0" guard is now at her third college, She is a part of the huge influx to the Baylor Bears program. 

Seven transfers in... that are still on the roster. Besides Jones, they also have acquired Tatiah Scott (Auburn), Ella Brow (SMU), Lorena Awou (NC State), Reese Ross (Utah), Tianna Thompson (Ole Miss), and Trinity Turner (Georgia). 

The Bears have no incoming freshman on the roster. 

If Jones had been able to keep her cool, play as a teammate and a few other things, maybe she'd still be here. she has the talent, just not the college attitude yet. 

Nikki Collen's approach is one that you rarely see in women's college basketball. There is only one player who has been on the roster for five years...Kyla Abraham...who only averaged around five points last season and was more known for her shot blocking skills. 

First Kim Mulkey, now Nikki Collen....Baylor has had some interesting coaching this decade. I wonder if they are all wearing "Hello, my name is..."tags in the Baylor practices. 

paulie

Softball rubber match tonight -- Baylor the WBB NCAA Champs -- MONDAY CARDINALCOUPLE

CARDS & NOLES FACE OFF AT 7 p.m.

Probably would be pretty good at lawn bowling, too

Louisville Softball faces #3 FSU tonight at 7 p.m. in Ulmer Stadium for the deciding third game in the 2019 series between the two squads. These type of showdown games are sometimes referred to as "rubber" matches. 

So, the question is, how did the term "rubber match" get started? 

Most sports historians and people who research stuff like that trace it back to the quaint, old sport of English lawn bowling.

This bowling is unlike the more popular form of regular bowling -- it takes place on a big lawn instead of an indoor bowling alley -- and the participants throw or "bowl" small wooden balls across the field to see who can get closest to a smaller white ball at the opposite end of the field. Maybe like bocci ball or curling, in a sense.

A "rubber" is bad -- that means the ball you've just thrown has "rubbed up" against another previously thrown ball and usually results in knocking the opponents ball closer to the small white ball and stopping the progress of your ball. 

This sport's matches are usually played in games of three. What any of this has to do with a deciding third game in a series is still pretty nebulous to me -- maybe the term "there were a few rubbers in that third match that cost me" -- helps some, but...I still wonder why we drive on parkways and park on driveways.

Nevertheless, rubber or not, the Cards and Noles hope do to battle despite a Monday weather forecast that looks less than promising. A 60% percent chance in the morning hours, transitioning into cloudy skies tonight. As I look out my front bay window this morning (there's another term that gets me -- I have no bay in front of my house, just taxus bushes) it's overcast but not raining. Maybe I overthink these things...

The Noles sit atop the Atlantic division of the ACC with a 37-4 record and 9-2 in ACC play. The Cards in 4th in the Atlantic at 24-13 and 5-6. 

It'll be interesting to see who gets "the call" to enter the pitching circle for UofL tonight. Danielle Watson tossed a two-hitter at FSU Friday in the 2-0 first game win. She's 8-10 on the season and has an ERA of 2.86. Taylor Roby finished the 4-1 loss in the second game and is 7-1 on the year with a sizzling 1.74 ERA. Senior Megan Hensley tops the Cards with a 9-3 record, her ERA is 2.56. Watson leads Louisville with 100 innings pitched and she also has the most strikeouts of opponents with 106.

ESPN U has the broadcast for this one. Melissa Lee with the play-by-play and former Cardinal associate softball coach Carol Bruggeman with analytic observations and prognostications. 

Let's hope the skies stay dry. Let's hope Cards can get the pitching like they had in the first two and that the bats wake up and do great things for Louisville tonight. 

Play ball!  



BAYLOR BEARS WIN ANOTHER NCAA THRILLER OVER NOTRE DAME 82-81 FOR TITLE

If you're a fan of basketball, this one was fun to watch. The Bears taking control early, getting the lead up to 17 in the second half and then disaster struck when All-American Lauren Cox went down with what looked to be a very bad knee injury with 1:22 left in the third quarter. 

LINK: WARNING THIS LINK SHOWS INJURY AND IS PRETTY HARD TO WATCH

Notre Dame had started to cut into the lead, and without team leader Cox on the court..things went rotten pretty quickly. The Irish, led by Arike Ogunbowale and Marina Mabrey were giving it one last push...and it was paying off. Coming back to take the lead with less than three to go. Baskets traded. Baylor hanging on for dear life but getting big plays from a graduate transfer (Jackson), a freshman (Smith) and a force (Brown). 

Then, the scenario that Ogunbowale seems to thrive in on occasion. Keeping your team from losing. The Irish down by two, 1.9 seconds on the clock and you are at the free throw line after getting fouled with a chance to end it to overtime. 

Piece of cake, right, for the senior who already had 30 points. Who is an 81% free throw shooter on the season.  Your team is 17-20 from the charity stripe for the game. You're five for six in the contest. Overtime ahead...no doubt about.

Nah.

She rimmed the first free throw out. She needed a miss on the second one to give ND a chance to rebound and get up a game tying or winning shot.

She makes it.

Baylor ball and they have fouls to give before free throws.

LINK: Not today, Arike.


I have no doubt that she was trying to miss...but this "fate" stuff can be tricky. The miracle kid just struck out. Arike will go on and make good money in the WNBA, in Europe but that memory is bound to haunt her for a very long time. 

The ball bounces funny ways, sometimes. 

I'm not much for post-game celebrations and such, but I watched a bit of this one and was honestly worried Kim Mulkey was going to drop her grandson. Mulkey, obviously overcome with Cox's injury...a blubbering, hot mess in the post-game.

Like her or despise her, Mulkey was able to get the "bigs", has more on the way for next year, and finally got her third NCAA Championship win. A comeback to remember, tainted by the horrific injury to Cox.

No Griner. No Odyssey Sims. But...two post-players who learned how to work with each other, a couple of guards who could shoot and pass the ball to the post and managed to win despite the antics of their flamboyant coach on the sidelines. What might have been one of the biggest "folds" in the NCAA WBB Championship game history averted. 

Cox will be back, eventually. Maybe not in time for next season, though.  Baylor next year is minus Brown but Mulkey returns good talent. Notre Dame graduates four starters.

Cox... an inspiration to all, playing with a diabetic pump attached to her that provides insulin when it senses she needs a boost. A player that the Cards really went after a couple of years ago. We got Ciera Johnson instead. 

Baylor survives the comeback. Seeded #1 overall in the brackets, and living up to that pre-tournament ranking. They should send a thank-you, or condolence card -- something -- to Arike. 

2019. The year of the Bear. 


paulie
xxxxx

NCAA WBB Selection Committee puts Louisville at #2 --Durr one of 30 -- Farewell to Howie -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

NCAA REVEALS FIRST LOOK

As we get closer to the conference tournaments and the NCAA WBB Tournament, the NCAA gave out a first look into their thinking process so far with regard to rankings, match-ups, who might go where and, basically, who they see the DI WBB powers.  

This "first look" has Louisville as their #2 pick in the nation, behind Baylor. 

A top seed for a regional. Right now, the bracketology boys are saying Chicago is the location the Cards would head to after the first two rounds. For Cardinal fans, a nice choice. Chi-Town is closer than Greensboro, Albany or Portland. 

This is a first look, yes, but I'd be quite happy with Stanford, Iowa State and Marquette as the other three schools heading up to the home of the Cubbies. 

So, here's how it looks: 

#1 SEED LINE

1)   Baylor
2)   Louisville 
3)   Oregon
4)   Mississippi State

#2 SEED LINE has UConn, Notre Dame, Stanford and North Carolina State in the slots. After that, the #3's include Marquette, Iowa, Maryland and Oregon State. The top 16 conclude with #4 seeds South Carolina, Gonzaga, Iowa State and Miami (FL). 


While watching the revealing last night, I heard ESPN analysis Debbie Antonelli (one of my favorite "talking heads" ESPN has) argue for a one site, invite all sixteen teams to one place tournament setting instead of the four regionals. It is an idea I've head before but I'm not sure how I feel about. 

My initial reaction is ' no, it would be crazy for fan travel', -- like Oregon having to go to New York City or Louisville to Hawaii scenarios -- and expensive, since you'd be playing four game over at least a 7-10 day period, if you keep winning. 

I enjoyed having the two-game, UofL's regional in Lexington last year. I'm not so sure I would like having to head to Kansas City, Denver or (fill in your own city). But, I can also see bringing every one into one locale, like the College World Series, and letting them battle it out. 

Hey, how about the YUM! Center? It's big, we got hotel rooms and a basketball crazy populace! The chances of the NCAA ever putting their stamp of approval on that concept, though, roughly equal me suiting up and spelling Sam Fuehring in the paint this year. 

This needs to be about the fans. If you are trying to grow the game, put the teams in the areas where the fans have fairly easy access. 

When I look at these sixteen, current teams on the list...I 'd go groupings of: 

Greensboro:  Louisville, Miami, South Carolina and NC State.

Albany:  Mississippi State, Notre Dame, UConn and Maryland

Chicago: Baylor, Iowa State, Iowa and Marquette 

Portland: Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, Gonzaga


Yes, I hear your arguments already, but this makes sense from a regional grouping process. And, these top 16 will likely change as the weeks go by.  Is there any easy way to match and send? 

What are your "assignment to region" thoughts? Give us an idea in the comments section. And, does it really matter? To be the best, you have to beat the rest. We've seen what road games can do to top teams in the ACC this year. 

After all, when did the NCAA ever make any sense? 


ASIA DURR ON NAISMITH WATCH LIST


"Nite-nite" one of 30 that are on the Naismith Mid-season watch list. This, of course, comes as no surprise to Louisvillians or the rest of the nation. She's the only Cardinal who made it to the top 30. 

Four Notre Dame players still alive on the end-of-season award list. The Huskies have three. Baylor with two and Oregon with two. 

Another honor for the superlative Cardinal senior. 

She is the best player in women's college basketball and that's the end of the story. 


HOWIE LINDSEY LEAVING LOUISVILLE FIRST

Popular morning radio personality Howie Lindsey is leaving his role as the host of LOUISVILLE FIRST on 790 WKRD AM Cards Radio to accept a position as public relations director for Louisville City FC Soccer. 

An opportunity he couldn't pass on. 

He has been kind and gracious to Cardinal Couple. We'll miss not hearing him Mon-Fri mornings. I'll miss not chatting with him on-air Tuesday mornings. 

Best of luck and continued success Howie! 



paulie
xxxxx

A crazy day of hoops...Lacrosse falls at Northwestern -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

(The misery loves company Monday Morning edition of Cardinal Couple...where the Cats join the Cards on the couch to watch the
Men's final four and madness reigns in four games) 

One of the best parts for me during the NCAA Tournaments is that several day stretch when 16 turns into four. No, I'm not introducing another Walzian Theorem to you and it isn't a new version of the Jimi Hendrix classic "If Six Were Nine" but when the Sweet Sixteen becomes a Final Four....it's a pretty special time of year.  

Your Monday morning musical selection here: IF SIX WERE NINE

Sunday was a great day for watching hoops. It started off with seeing if the Brianna Turner-less Irish WBB squad could make the Dallas dance against Stanford. After one half, that answer appeared to be "Why, Certainly!" Notre Dame had a 14 point-lead, Elizabethtown star Erin Boley was getting rave reviews and her Mom national TV exposure and all was well in the Muffet McGraw locker room...seemingly. An 18-0 Irish run and one wondered if the Cardinal was going to end up like the Cardinals. 

Someone forgot to cue the Cardinal in on the script. A 24-12 third quarter from Tara's terrors made this one a ball game again. A wild fourth quarter that ended up, so ironically, with...first... a lob pass into Alanna Smith for the go-ahead basket. a play that Stanford never tries if 6'5" Turner is on the court. Then, the Arike Ogumbowale fake and drive that ends up getting rejected by 6'3" Erika McCall to preserve the win. Why not take the jumper you've been nailing all game long? 

From a 56% shooting first half to a 33% number in the final twenty. The Irish go home and the Trees head to Dallas. 

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Switching over to the men's side. Florida vs. South Carolina. How many of you had those two playing in your office bracket. Yeah, thought so. Two SEC schools, a #4 seed and #7 seed. 

Frank Martin. If you're not familiar with the Cocks' coach...get ready. This guy is a gem. He just might make the Final Four on the guys' side watchable. He's kind of a white collar, subdivision doppelganger of Syracuse's "Q". 

Florida bombing threes in the first half. Seven of them. With the apparent ease of tossing oranges into a gathering basket. Like, the women's game before, though, you play all 40 minutes to determine a winner. 

Florida misses all 14 attempts from beyond the arc in the final twenty. South Carolina goes inside..22 of their 26 buckets in the paint in the final 20. I couldn't help but wondering several things as the Gators sunk into the swamp...What Would Billy Donovan Do?  How crazy would SEC fans would get if the Cats could get by "DadGummit Roy" and how did Duke and Baylor both manage to lose to South Carolina. Once again, that madness of March. 

Two names to remember:  South Carolina's Sindarius Thornwell and Maik Kolsar.  Candidates for Worldwide's All-Name team, or a Tom Clancy action novel and the two main reasons that the South Carolina squad marches on with a 77-70 victory. The Gamecocks sank their final five free throws to secure the win. Florida had beaten USC 81-66 in a game 35 days ago. Ah, the madness of March...


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The Cats were up next in the sequence.  They held a earlier season win over UNC. (Yup, we've heard this one before...) They got a career game out of Issac Humphries . They made three threes in the the last minute. Malik Monk with the three to tie. Pandemonium next door at my neighbor's (who had a Big Blue watch party that I was invited to but politely declined). Then, stunned silence and a few minutes later...a girl staggering out of the front door and puking in my taxus bushes. (No, not at the game...next door, again). Thanks. Probably great fertilizer, right? At least she didn't fall into them...

Luke Maye goes Cool Hand Luke, Luke Skywalker...even Luke Hancock and nails the jumper. Nails the door shut on UK advancing. Nails a berth for the ACC in the Final Four and nails to the wall another example of why they play the game. 

Cats up by five with five to pay. Tar Heels up by five with two to go. CBS is calling it an instant classic. That moniker may vary depending on what part of the country you live in. 

Sit down and grab a seat on the couch, Wildcats. The Big Blue Mist just sunk into the Mississippi River. Oh, wait a sec...not that couch! Lexington news reports that numerous t-shirts, a television and a couch were burned in the streets last night.  Here's a little video below that shows some of the post-game UK fans antics. (I just love the girl dancing about 15 seconds in!) 


LINK HOW BOUT DEM KATS?

"Bring out the couch!"  (Somewhere, a former UK and NFL quarterback by the same name is still hiding in an undisclosed basement...unwilling to emerge). 


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While the silliness is going on in the streets of Lexington...in Oklahoma City there is work being done. Kim Mulkey's Bears and looking to send Mississippi State's Bulldogs to the doghouse. 

We'll be polite and just say that this one was a lot closer than the Cards effort against Baylor. And, hello and we love you, Morgan William! Mississippi St. fighting tooth and nail against Baylor. Leading the Bears by three at the half. Kim Mulkey bringing out all her best dance moves, facial expressions and favorite howls and screams for this one.

A one-point lead for the Bulldogs after three and down to the wire we go! Little mighty-mite Morgan ties it at 75-75 with 25 seconds left in regulation and both teams miss chances to win it. Extra ball! 

And...strictly no contest in those five minutes. Say it again. Morgan William. 

LINK: http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=19012340

41 points from the diminutive guard that had 14 made threes on the season before this game. Add six more to that total. Ten points in the fourth quarter and 12 in O.T. Playing on the day after that...three years ago...her father died. The feel-good story of this women's tournament...by far. 

A 5'5" guard. Qualifies for our "Attack Yorkie" designation and a game from her that all attack Yorkies everywhere can proudly point. School and SEC scoring records for an NCAA Tournament game. 

"Give the little gal a chance!" YES! That one was for you...Shelby Harper, Jessica Laemmle, Dana Evans and Taylor Johnson and all guards 5'6" or shorter.

Baylor goes bye-bye. 

Kim Mulkey may have summed it up best: 

"That one girl kicked our butts. I knew we were in trouble when they started banking in threes at the start of the game." 

Yorkie Power. Expect the unexpected. 

Vic Schaefer and Frank Martin at the same party? Forget about it...way out of control. Invite the dancing UK girl and turn up the radio. 


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LACROSSE FALLS TO NORTHWESTERN

Louisville Lacrosse loses 12-8 to Wildcats

#14 Northwestern scored the final five goals in the contest to erase a 8-7 Louisville lead and take the match in Evanston., IL. Kellie Young explains: 

" This was a tale of two halves. We executed our game plan in the first half and played well as a team. The second half was a different story. We have work to do. " 

Hannah Koloski had four goals in the Cardinals' loss while the Wildcats benefited from five different plays with two goals each. Louisville got goals from Madison Hoover and Meghan Siverson to break a 3-3 tie  in the first half and take a two goal lead to the locker room. 

The Wildcats responded with four goals to open the final session and grab a 7-5 lead. Louisville battled back...Koloski scored twice and Ashley Lynch found the net to put the Cards back in charge 8-7 with 11:36 remaining. The Cards would not score again. 

Five losses in a row to Northwestern...going back to 2012. 

Louisville (9-4) returns to action on April Fools Day for a Saturday 1 p.m. ACC contest at Virginia Tech. 


paulie
xxxxx

Louisville women's basketball -- Baylor runs past Cards 97-63

CARDS SUFFER WORST DEFEAT OF THE SEASON

Louisville women's basketball picked the wrong time to produce a clunker. Shooting 30% from the floor and getting outrebounded by 16, the Cards fall to #1 seed in the region Baylor by 34 points in the contest Friday night in Oklahoma City. 

It was rough to watch this second half, quite frankly. And, that was after a first half where Louisville fell behind 25-9 after the first quarter and could get no closer than 10 point in the first twenty minutes. The Cards were the gang that couldn't shoot straight and couldn't guard the impressive array of talent on the Bears roster. 

That first quarter saw Louisville struggling offensively...with 25% shooting and no made threes. Baylor, on the other hand, shot 58.8% in that time frame and was punishing Louisville inside, mid-range and out. Down by 18, the Cards did put together a brief rally to climb within 10 near the end of the second quarter...and Baylor took a 43-31 lead into the locker room. A feeling of despair began to set in...could Louisville find a way to get the game under their control and stop Nina Davis, Kalani Brown, Kristy Wallace and Alexis Prince? 

The Cards needed to come out with intensity in the second half, sink some shots and find away to slow down the Bears offensive fireworks. Sadly, none of that ever emerged. Baylor dominated the third quarter 29-14...shooting 62% in those ten minutes and the Cards went 5-19 for a less that desirable 26.3%. At the end of thirty minutes, the Bears held a 72-45 advantage and showed no signs of slowing down. 

Baylor maintained in the final session and went deep into their bench as the clock ticked toward zero. Walz began to pull the starters...realizing that it just wasn't the Cards night and, outscoring the Cards 25-18 in the fourth, the Bears won...quite convincingly...97-63. 

I could probably fill up a few more pages on what Louisville failed to do Friday night...but we'll just leave it at this. Poor shooting, ineffective defense and getting dominated on the glass isn't going to give you a "W" this time of year.

Asia Durr finally broke out of her early shooting slump (0-10 at one point) to finish with 21 points in 35 minutes to lead the Cards. Myisha Hines-Allen fought very hard for her 12 points and nine grabs. Mariya Moore rounded out the Cards double-figure scores with 10. Between the three, they got up 48 shots and sank 14 of them. 29%. We'll leave it there. 

HOW DID FRED DO? 

"They scored again? Lily! Where's the remote?

Free Throws -- Louisville was 14-18 for 77.7%. That may be one of the few or only impressive stats for the Cards Friday night. We'll award the capital "F"

Rebounding -- Not one of the Cards better nights. Hines-Allen lead Louisville with nine and Jazmine Jones came off the bench to haul in seven in 18 minutes of play. Baylor had two players in double-figure rebounding and won the board battle 52-36. No letter here. 

Effort/Execution -- Once again, it wasn't a great night in this category either. The Cards came out slow, looked a bit confused and unsure at times and never could seem to get into a consistently good flow in the game. 12 turnover aren't so bad...but Baylor scored 21 points off them. The Cards forced ten Baylor turnovers and could only get 5 points from them. Points in the paints is the telling tale here. 46-16 inside advantage for the Bears. No letter awarded here either.

Defense. 97 points allowed. 50% opponent shooting. THe choice is pretty easy here. No letter.


FRED COUNT: F-_-_-_


WHAT WE LIKED

-- J.J came to play. The freshman from Tallahassee showed a little spunk and drive during her court time. The five fouls weren't a great feat but the six points, seven boards and overall hustle were a bright spot on a cloudy evening.

-- Free Throws. Over 70%. They certainly weren't a factor...but a building point for next season 



NOT SO LIKABLE

-- The Domination. Louisville got a first hand look at what they need to improve on to be considered a top five team. Both teams have excellent athletes...but Baylor's played up to their potential and more....the Cards were not at their best by any means.

-- Really? Lauren Cox getting chippy at the end and throwing what appeared to be a punch at Sam Fuehring. Maybe one of the weakest punch attempts I've seen but...still...why? Boos to the refs for not tossing her. 

-- Technical. Walz is a dramatic and flamboyant coach and he was correct on the blown call by the refs but he took it too far. Four free throws to the Bears at a point of the game when it looked it might still be remotely possible for the Cards to come back. 

SO...

The Cards's season ends with a thud. A good season overall, yes. This loss will give the players, coaches and fans a lot to think about in the off-season. Louisville is a talented team but needs to develop some strengths...especially inside and at the point. Help is on the way and the freshmen will get better...but to be a top five squad, they should just put this game video on a endless loop and play it non-stop so that what happened last night never happens again to the Cards. Domination is never pretty when it's happening to you and the objective now is to become the dominator in big games and not the dominated. 

Motivation. Execution. Following the game plan. Defense. All areas that the Cards should strive to excel in for 2017-18. 


THEY SAID IT

link:  WALZ AND CARDS DISCUSS BAYLOR LOSS


PAULIE
XXXXX

Louisville women's basketball -- Cards vs. Baylor tonight

WBCA All-Region Honorees Durr, Hines-Allen lead Cards into Sweet Sixteen play vs. Bears

Asia Durr and Myisha Hines-Allen are two of the 52 all-region selections for the WBCA All-America Team. They'll be in consideration for the 10-member Division I Coaches' All-America Team, that will be announced during the NCAA Women's Final Four in Dallas. A wonderful honor for these two. Our hopes are that they make that final ten list and are playing in Dallas when the announcement comes.

Kalani Brown and Nina Davis were also selected for the honor. The play for the Baylor Bears...who will play#13 Louisville tonight in the NCAA Regionals. The game will be on ESPN2 around 9:30 p.m. or so tonight. It'll follow the Washington vs. Mississippi St. contest in the Chesapeake Energy Center arena in Oklahoma City, OK. 

The Cards go into the contest a decided underdog against Baylor....according to the so-called "experts, talking heads and analyst gurus".  Baylor was the #1 seed in the Oklahoma City region. The Cards were the #4 seed. So, far...the rankings for this region have held to form...with Mississippi St #2 seeded and Washington at #3. Looking quickly at the other three regions...Bridgeport has the #1 seed UConn facing #4 seed UCLA and #3 seed Maryland against upstart #10 Oregon. In Lexington, the #1 seed Notre Dame gets #5 Ohio State and #2 Stanford battles #3 Texas. Finally, in Stockton...#1 South Carolina has surprising #12 Quinnipiac on their slate and #2 Oregon State will tussle with #3 Florida State. 

What must the Cards do to beat Baylor? 

(Say it in unison with me.....score more points) 

We'll look at (5) key factors in the contest that could determine whether Louisville will play on Sunday or not: 

1) "Durr"ection. Louisville has to have a big night out of the Douglasville, GA sophomore. Lately, that hasn't been a problem...she's averaging 19.2 points per game and has 114 threes on the season. Against a Baylor defense that will probably start guards Alexis Prince and Kristy Wallace...with Wallace being the most likely to draw the assignment on her...she'll need to move efficiently without the ball to get open looks and hope that Mariya Moore, Briahanna Jackson or whoever is running the assists counter is open for business and distributing. 



2) Close the bakery! Simply put, Louisville can not afford to have a turnover number in double-digits. When it comes to creating turnovers, the Bears run a part-time operation. They forced California into 24. Texas Southern coughed up 21. In the Big 12 Tournament, though, West Virginia committed only seven and Kansas St. was guilty of eight. Having Jackson back and available at point should help the Cards limit the miscues. Interestingly, Moore and Hines-Allen have committed the most turnovers on the Cardinal roster this season. It's time for those two to hang up their baking smocks and shut down the oven.

3) Let "Threedom" reign.  It was the turning point and factor in putting away a pesky Tennessee squad. Moore needs another 5-5 performance or better. Durr needs to be on the mark with her trifecta offerings. Anything that the Cards can get from Kylee Shook, Syd Zambrotta or even Jackson would be a benefit. The Bears allowed 5.5 made threes during the season and a .272 average on attempts. Louisville will need to blow those stats out of the Chesapeake bay tonight and have the ref crew raising both hands over their heads similar to when the Cards last played Baylor. 

4) Defense, defense!  It is the factor that Coach Walz stresses with great importance this time of year. Louisville has allowed 60 points per contest this season. Their opponents have averaged 36% shooting success. Defense starts with communication. Talking. Shouting out the switch, covering the outside shooter, making inside play difficult and preventing the dribble-drive and run-outs. Against Baylor, the inside game that the Bears use quite successfully has to be shut down. In the Cards seven losses this season, they allowed the victors an average of 76 points a game. South Carolina and Notre Dame (twice) scored over 80. We'll call the line of success at 70. If the Cards hold the Bears to that and score more than that, they'll win.

5) Free throws. Charity tosses are the 500 lb. Bears in the corner that everyone is certainly tired of talking about but can't be ignored. The Cards are at a 68% success rate on the season. They allow 70%. Louisville averages going to the line 11 times a contest. If that trend holds, we'll need to see the Cards sink at least eight of them. On the season, opponents have gone to the line 35 more times than the Cards and made 34 more. Durr, Hines-Allen, Moore, Taylor Johnson and Zambrotta are all above 72%. BJ and Walton are at 50%. Sam Fuehring at 65%. If it comes down to late fouling by the Bears, the Cards need to make sure they are getting the ball in the hands of the right player(s) and having "makers, not shooters" on the floor.  

I expect a close game tonight. I think the Cards will be able to slow the Baylor offensive juggernaut down and keep this one in the seventies. I don't think the Bears will have much success trying to stop Hines-Allen inside or Durr from outside...but Louisville will need to curtail what Brown, David and even Cox and Cave can do inside. 

Louisville will need production from "the Big Three" and freshmen Shook and Jazmine Jones would really help the win chances if they "are on".  Hopefully BJ is back to her old "flying around the court and making incredible plays" self and if Louisville can get contributions from Fuehring, Taylor Johnson and a few Syd bombs tossed in for good measure...they should be able to pull off the win. 

Walz and the staff have a plan. They are masterminds at getting a scenario together that will bring success. What they need is for the players to follow it and execute it properly. 

Will we see a repeat of the biggest upset in the history of women's college basketball? Will Louisville continue the quest to go dancing in Dallas? We'll know in about 14 hours (from the time of this article submission). Get in a nap if you need to, put on the coffee and hunker down by the TV or radio tonight and get ready for the game. 

If you're in Okla City and reading this, get loud, get crazy and pull the Cardinals through! 

Success is failure turned inside out.

The silver tint of the clouds in doubt.

And you never can tell how close you are.

It may be near when it seems so far.

So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit.

It's when things seem worse that you must not quit.


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THEY SAID IT: 

Walz, Myisha and Asia talk about the game, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant at the link below


twitter.com/VoXPz4vO5z



paulie
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Wisconsin no-hits Softball Cards...more on Baylor -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

MENZ ENDS CARDS WIN STREAK WITH NO-HITTER

Louisville softball faced #21 Wisconsin yesterday afternoon at Ulmer Stadium and the visitors handed the Cards a 10-1, five-inning loss that featured Badger pitcher Kaitlyn Menz tossing a no-hitter against Sandy Pearsall's squad. 

The Cards win streak ends at six. Louisville did manage a run in the bottom of the second to tie the contest. Tiarra Sanabria drew a base on balls and advanced to second on a Lillie Goetz fielders choice. Megan Hensley walked to load the bases for Jamie Soles...whose ground-out brought in Sanabria. 

Other than that, the Cards bats were held at bay. UofL starting pitcher Maryssa Becker was touched for seven runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings...Hensley pitched 2/3 of an inning and allowed three runs and three hits. It was the first no-hitter thrown at UofL since Michigan performed the feat back in 2006

After 12 straight games at Ulmer, the Cards take to the road for a three-game series at Syracuse that starts tomorrow. Louisville is 18-8 overall and 3-0 in the ACC. 


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GOING BEAR HUNTING NO WALK IN THE PARK

When the Louisville women's basketball team faces Baylor late Friday night in Oklahoma City...they better (to borrow an old cliche) come loaded for bear. 

These Texan Bears from Waco have plenty of players who can hang a loss on an opponent and when they are on their game...there may not be a better team in the country...except Geno's dogs in Connecticut. 

Like many bears coming out of hibernation, Baylor started slowly against the Golden Bears from California in their last outing...but finished with a roar. 

 Baylor led just 17-12 after the first quarter, then cranked off a 15-0 run in the second quarter, including back-to-back three-pointers by Natalie Chou, and went into halftime up 40-20. Baylor had three players score in double figures, led by seniors Alexis Prince and Nina Davis with 16 points each. Kristy Wallace added 10 points and nine assists.

Down 20 at halftime is daunting enough...but with all Big-12 and starting center 6'7" Kalani Brown picking up two early fouls and watching 19 minutes of action next to head coach Kim Mulkey in the chairs...realizing that she would be back to add firepower to the Baylor attack had to be of great concern to California head coach Lindsay Gottlieb. 

Quite frankly, California should have been placed in the WNIT instead of the Big Dance. They were 19-11 on Selection Monday, had gone 6-12 in conference play....were seventh in the Pac 12, got knocked out in the first round of the PAC 12 tournament by 22 points against Oregon St. and were 4-8 in their last 12 games. I'll say it again...Virginia got hosed. 

Mulkey presented Gottlieb with a baby-shower type gift during the shoot-around the day of the game...since Lindsay is about seven months into term. She should have given her a couple of aspirin or a fifth of red wine for pain relief. 

The Bears come at you with multiple threats and have complied some pretty impressive numbers. (This is where our Jeff McAdams moans...Paulie is about to start throwing stats out). 

Brown leads a balanced attack with 15.1 ppg. She's has plenty of company in double figure scoring...Alexis Jones is at 13.4, Nina Davis 12.6 and Alexis Prince 12.1. . Prince and Davis are regular starters. Off the bench, Beatrice Mompremier adds 8.3, Lauren Cox 8.0 and Kristy Wallace 7.5. These seven, plus Natalie Chou, average anywhere from 15-28 minutes a game.  

Baylor outscored opponents by an average of 89.4 to 55.0 during the season. They dismantled Winthrop 140-32. They scored over 100 points eight times.  

Height-wise...they are impressive as well. Brown, as we mentioned earlier, is 6'7". Cox and Mompremier are 6'4" and Prince and Chou go 6'2". Out of the top eight...there are two red-shirt seniors, one junior, three sophomores and two freshmen. 

The Bears have lost three games this year. Against UConn in a early season 72-61 loss at Storrs, they trailed by just three at the half. After being tied at 54-54 early in the fourth...Baylor went nearly four minutes without scoring, had five turnovers and missed seven out of eight shots. 

They also fell to Texas...in Waco...during early February by a score of 85-79. Texas came out and "punched them right in the mouth" to start the game...according to Mulkey and led the Bears 47-35 at the half. UT shot 72% in the second quarter. Baylor fought back and tied the contest at 74-74 but the Longhorns hit seven free throws in the final 30 seconds to ice the win. 

West Virginia provided a bit of a surprise to Baylor in the Big 12 conference tournament final with a 77-66 beating of the Bears. Leading 39-30 at the half, the Mountaineers extended that to 65-44 going into the final quarter and hung on for the win. WVU's Tynice Martin had 32 in the win.  

Baylor. They can be beat. Not very often, but it is possible. Are they as good as the 2013 squad Louisville beat in the regionals. I will say "no". There is no Griner on this 2016-17 team...although Kalani Brown is pretty fearsome in the paint. No Odyssey Sims present...even though the Alexis duo does a fine job at the guard sports. Is Louisville as good now as they were in 2013? Another hard question, but I will say "no". There is no Shoni. Asia Durr can put up Shoni-like numbers...but isn't quite the on-the-court leader, driver and force on the court. 

Yet. 

The Cards are close, though. If Hines-Allen, Moore, Shook and Ms. Durr can ignite that fire we saw against Tennessee late and get a solid bench performance....it could be another upset in the making. Taylor, Slaughter, Reid were key factors in 2013. Myisha, Mariya and Kylee have comparable skills...if not better. 

A high scoring affair ahead? The numbers would indicate definitely...but Walzian defenses can...and have...limited some pretty powerful offenses to considerably less points than their season averages. Coach will tell you that defense and scoring more points than the opponent wins games. The Cards allow 60 points a contest. Accomplishing this against the high-powered Baylor attack will be a challenge...but Walz will have had four days to prepare, plan and scout these Bears. I like the Cards chances. 

Or, they could follow the Sylvia Hatchell philosophy. After winning their first game in the ACC Tournament, Hatchell was asked what the Tar Heels needed to do to defeat Syracuse. She responded: 

"I guarantee ya we're gonna be praying a lot"

We'll look more closely at what the Cards need to do to win in our Friday morning article. 


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WNIT and ACC? 

The WNIT has a Sweet Sixteen now and two ACC schools are a part of it Georgia Tech knocked off UCF to get there and will face MTSU next. Virginia Tech downed Navy to advance and gets Penn St. next. Of local interest, Indiana also is a Sweet Sixteen participant .

The engineers move forward! Good job Techies and keep on rolling. 


paulie
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