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 

Basketball Hosts Bellarmine -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards and Knights Face in the Battle of Eastern Parkway

(Jared Anderrson photo)

Louisville women's basketball is back in action tonight with a 7 p.m. tip when they host cross-town foe Bellarmine in the Cardinal Couple named "Battle of Eastern Parkway". The Cards are 2-0 with wins against Cincinnati and DePaul while the Knights are 0-2 after losing to San Jose State and UCLA.

This is the second straight season that Louisville has started 2-0. Besides the 2021-2022 season, when the Cards opened the season in an overtime loss to Arizona and would later go onto the Final Four, the last time prior to that in which UofL was not 2-0 dates all the way back to the 2015-2016 season. They finished that season 26-8 after a 1-4 start.

(Jared Anderson photo)

In their two wins, the Cards are averaging 79 points per game while allowing 66.5 points per game. They've outscored opponents in five of eight quarters this season, tied in one quarter, and were outscored in the other two quarters by a combined three points.

Last season, Bellarmine went 9-22. Louisville won last year's match-up in Freedom Hall 73-43. The Knights finished 12th of 14 teams in the ASUN Conference and did not qualify for the conference's 10-team tournament.

(Jared Anderson photo)

Bellarmine is averaging 64.5 points per game while shooting .351 from the field. They've been outrebounded 101-58 in two games. Claire Knies (17,5 points per game) and Hayley Harrison 15,51 points per game) have led the offense so far. 

Local high school talent is present on Bellarmine's roster with Mercy, Sacred Heart, Male, and Bullitt East all represented. And, Cardinals great Monique Reid is a first-year assistant coah for the Knighs and Chance Dugan. 

Tip-off is set for 7:00pm ET and will be aired on ACCNX. Jody Demling and Jessica Laemmle McDaniel will be on call. It will also be on 93.9-FM with Nick Curran and Cortnee Walton.

Paulie, Daryl and I plan to be in attendance.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

VolleyCARDS in Final Four -- WBB wins 73-43 vs Bellarmine -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Hello readers! 

Daryl checking in.. It's not Friday but it feels like it is for me.  UofL closes for the winter break and I am so looking forward to it.  

I'm also looking forward to a big Volleyball match tonight!  Louisville gets a rematch with the Panthers in Omaha, NE.   

As Doja Cat says, lets Get into it (Yuh) LINK: Let's Get Into It, Yuh.

Volleyball

The #1 seeded Louisville Cardinals are set to face the #2 seeded Pitt Panthers for the third time this season.  The two programs are ACC Co-Champions with the Cards sporting a 30-2 overall record and 17-1 in the ACC while Pitt is 31-3 and also 17-1 in the ACC.

Both Louisville and Pittsburgh had 4 players named in the AVCA All-American conversation yesterday.

Claire Chaussee was named an AVCA First Team All-American. Elena Scott earned Second Team honors, Amaya Tillman earned Third Team honors, and Raquel Lazaro earned Honorable Mention honors.

For Pitt, Courtney Buzzerio and Serena Gray had been named 1st Team All-American, Valeria Vazquez Gomez was named 2nd Team All-America with Rachel Fairbanks earning 3rd Team All-American honors.

The two split the regular season meetings,  UofL losing the first matchup in five (15-25 13-25, 27-25, 25-20, 12-15) and sweeping the second matchup (25-15, 25-21, 25-18).

Pittsburgh has four players with 200+ kills this season, led by Courtney Buzzerio with 448 kills hitting .329, who was also named NCAA Madison Regional MVP.  The right side hitter added 33 aces, 10 digs, and 82 blocks to the stat sheet this season.  Valeria Vazquez Gomez recorded 351 kills hitting .245, 23 aces, 279 digs, and 38 blocks. Serena Gray led the team in blocks with 127 and added 238 kills hitting .404, 24 aces, and 77 digs. Rachel Fairbanks, who led the team in double-doubles (15), had 136 kills, 851 assists, 39 aces, 282 digs, and 48 blocks.

Louisville is holding opponents to just .152 hitting through the first four rounds, the second lowest of the Final Four teams, behind Texas (.108). This will be the 33rd all-time meeting between the two schools with UofL leading the series, 14-18.  The series is split, 5-5, in the Fisher/Busboom Kelly era (since 2017).

It's a ESPN game, and the second part of the doubleheader. It'll start (appox) 9:30 p.m. unless the first match (San Diego vs. Texas) runs long. We have Jeff McAdams on site for the matches, we'll see if he offers any commentary or thoughts. 

The winner will play for the National Championship on Saturday, Dec. 17 at 8 p.m.

Basketball

UofL has now won 3 in row before opening up ACC play this weekend with a 73-43 win over the neighboring Bellarmine Knights Wednesday night at the former home venue, Freedom Hall.   Hailey Van Lith and Chrislyn Carr lead Louisville with 19 points, 6 rebounds and 13 points, 7 assists and 4 steals respectively.  

End of 1Q  15-6 Cards

FG %
6-15 40% Cards
3-10 30% Knights
Reb. 7-9 Knights
3-pt %
1-3 33.3% Cards
0-3 0%  Knights

Louisville got out to a 13-2 lead before Bellarmine calls a timeout with 2:43 left on the clock in the 1Q. Carr lead the offensive charge in the quarter with 7 points on 3-of-3 shooting and two steals in the quarter.

End of 2Q  19-2 Cards

FG %
9-18 50% Cards
1-10 10% Knights
Reb. 10 all 
3-pt %
1-1 100% Cards
0-4 0% Knights 

Cards open the 2Q with a 11-0 run in the first two minutes of play.   Bellarmine had committed 12 TO with 7 min left in the 2Q and 16 turnovers in the first half all together.  According to WBB SID Matt Paras, the 2 points allowed in the quarter ties the program record and the 8 Bellarmine half-time points sets a new record. 

HALF  Cards up 34-8

(caption this pic...)

End of 3Q  Cards 21-20

FG %
9-15 60% Cards
7-15 46.7%
Reb. 9-4 Cards 
3-pt %
2-4 50% Cards
1-1 100% Knights

End of 4Q  18-15 Cards 

FG %
8-19 42.1% Cards
5-19 26.3%
Reb. 14-11 Cards
3-pt %
1-5 20% Cards
1-3 33.3% Knights

The second half was about maintaining the lead and getting the bench some playing time.  11 players saw the floor with 9 players getting on the stat sheet. 

Bellarmine shook their shooting woes and almost took the second half.  

POST-GAME WALZ:  POST GAME JEFF WALZ REMARKS

(No players were made available for post-game remarks.) 

POST GAME CHANCELLOR DUGAN RADIO:  (audio only)  POST GAME CHANCELLOR DUGAN REMARKS

POST GAME DUGAN PRESER:  DUGAN POST GAME PRESSER

UP NEXT

Louisville at Pittsburgh

Sunday 2 P.M. 

ACCN

FRED REPORT

(Cards danced past Bellarmine like Fred Astaire...)

FREE THROWS --  There weren't a lot of opportunities here, as Louisville went 4-5 at the line on the night good for 80%.  HVL was perfect in her only 3 attempts at the line but she asked for the Oprah treatment for anyone in red.  Capital F for the category

REBOUNDING --  The Cards outrebounded Bellarmine 40-34 with Olivia Cochran leading Louisville with 8.   The Knights were pretty outsized in this one with the exception of freshman center Gracie Merkle who also pulled down 8 rebounds.    I give it a small case  'r' 

EFFORT/EXECUTION --  UofL's defense in the first half made it look alot like we were headed for a repeat of last years meeting between the two squads where the Knights only scored 25 points.   After scoring only 8 points and committing 16 turnovers in the first half, the Knights came out of the halftime break looking like a whole new squad scoring 35 points and only committing 3 turnovers in the second half.    Olivia's shots struggled to fall but the team shot better than 47% from the field and converted 20 assists on 32 made buckets, 42 points in the paint and 15 second chance points.  Capital E 

DEFENSE --  A large halftime lead kept this one without doubt for Louisville but the Cards squeaked by the Knights 39-35 in the second half.  Walz used the large lead to give the bench players some playing time while Bellarmine tried to find something positive to take away from the blowout. The Cards totaled 13 steals and 7 blocks. The Cardinals turn those steals into 24 points off turnovers, their ninth game this season with 20 or more points off turnovers.  Capital D 

FINAL FRED TALLY: F-r-E-D

Friendly reminder, we have 10 days till Christmas!  Don't forget to tell those you love how much you care about them and enjoy your time while you have it.  

(VOLLEYBALL AND BASKETBALL PHOTOS FROM: (choose one)

A)  Cortnee Walton

B)  Chancellor Dugan

C)  Jared Anderson

D)  Anderson Cooper

As Always, 

Go Cards! 

~Daryl 

(uh, "C" is the correct answer.to 'who took the photos'?..we're pretty sure, but, the lack of selfies is a bit distressing...)

LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL FACES BELLARMINE TODAY -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

KNIGHTS SECOND IN-STATE FOE FOR UOFL WBB IN FOUR DAYS

Louisville women's basketball makes the trek across Crittenden Drive tonight to face the Bellarmine Knights in Freedom Hall. A 6:30 start planned for this one.

Bellarmine comes into the contest 4-6 on the season, with wins over St. Bonaventure, Simmons College, University of Evansville ...and most recently...Franklin College. The Knights have taken losses to LSU, Purdue-Fi. Wayne, Kentucky, Cleveland State, Georgia State and Morehead.

The Knights have been playing DI WBB for a little over two years now, making the step up in July, 2020.  Chancellor (Chance) Dugan has been the head women's coach at Bellarmine for 11 years, beginning with the Knights back in 2012. Dugan, who graduated from Louisville Sacred Heart in 1978, was previously head coach at Southern Indiana and FAU. 

The Cards and Knights have met 15 times since 1975 and UofL holds a 12-2 edge over Bellarmine. The Knights won the first two meetings, back in 1975, and were regular opponents through the 1985 season. The schools met again in 1999 and then did not face until the 2020-21 season. They last met in November 2021 and UofL took a 82-25 decision at the KFC YUM! Center. If you remember back to that one, Emily Engstler had a double-double for the Cards in the win

Bellarmine is led in scoring by 6'6" freshman center Gracie Merkle. who averages 14.4 pp and 10.3 rebounds. Merkle played her high school ball at Bullitt East. The Knights have seven players on their roster from the commonwealth of Kentucky. Hayley Harrison is BU's other double-digit scorer at 10.9 a contest and Cam Browning averages 9.4 a game. 

The Knights are members of the A-SUN Conference and join Austin Peay and EKU as Kentucky members in the 14 school conference. Florida Gulf Coast won the league with a 15-1 record last year, Bellarmine was 1-15 in conference play and went 4-24 overall in their second season in the league

As for the Cards, they come off the win at UK in Rupp Arena. The "W" improved UofL's record to  7-4 on the season. It was good to see that Liz Dixon turned in some very quality minutes in the game, many figured she would play an essential role on this year's Cardinals squad and Sunday was certainly a game where she did that. We're also glad Merissah Russell appears to be OK from the elbow to the throat that UK's Blair Green administered to her. It was a cheap shot and I'm surprised Green wasn't tossed from the game for it. 

Hailey Van Lith leads the Cards with 20.1 ppg, followed by Chrislyn Carr at 10.6 and Morgan Jones at 10.5. Olivia Cochran checks in a 9,3 ppg. 

So. we hope the Cards cruise tonight and they get to continue to improve on rebounds and maybe find the elusive three-point shot that escaped them in Lexington (1-15). It's a ESPN+ game but, hey, aren't you interested to see what Freedom Hall looks like these days? Let's hope a big contingent of Cardinals fans show up, tickets are just $15.,,from what I saw on Ticketmaster 

(PHOTOS FROM JARED ANDERSON) 

paulie

WBB Downs Bellarmine 82-25 -- UTM vs. Cards tonight -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

LOUISVILLE WBB ROLLS PAST KNIGHTS BY 57

It was a fun, feel-good evening in the KFC YUM Center Tuesday night, as the Louisville Cardinals rolled by Bellarmine University in the Cards regular season home opener in front of a crowd of 7014. 

Walz played all 13 on the roster at least five minutes and 12 scored in the romp. Louisville had four in double figures, getting a 12 point, 14 rebound night out of senior transfer Emily Engstler. Emily did her all her scoring in the first half, and had 10 rebounds at the break. 

The Cards jumped out to an early 20-7 lead in the first quarter and were getting it done offensively and defensively against the Knights. Walz had already gone ten deep in the roster on the court in the first ten minutes against the overmatched Knights The Cards shot 50% in the first ten minutes (12-24) while holding Bellarmine to 3-10 shooting. UofL held a comfortable 28-10 lead after the first quarter, and held an 18-2 points-in-the-paint edge. 

The Cards used their quickness to build that lead in the second quarter and Bellarmine's shooting woes continued. Engstler, Chelsie Hall and Norika Konno kept the defensive pressure on Bellarmine's guards and the Cards turned in a sparkling 20-4 second quarter effort to coast into halftime up 48-14. It was rebound missed shots or deflect BU passes, run and score in the paint for UofL. The Knights had committed 16 turnovers and head coach Chancellor Dugan had gone deep into her bench by halftime,  getting her reserves some valuable, on-court playing time and learning experience against a top 10 foe. 

The third quarter saw a continuance of UofL defensive pressure and working the offense. A slow start to the third, the squads combined for just six points in the first 5:24 of the third, but UofL held a 64-18 lead by the end of the quarter. A 16-4 quarter advantage for UofL and the only real question left was how many minutes reserves Payton Verhulst, Sydni Schetnan, Ramani Parker, Merissah Russell and Ahlana Smith would see in the final ten minutes. The starters were done for the night and had done their work. 

(Hailey Van Lith made an impromptu visit to see me last night...) 

The Cards held a reserve Bellarmine squad to just seven fourth quarter points and Ahlana Smith wowed the crowd with her skills on offense, getting eight of her10 points in the final eight minutes. Walz had Kasa Robinson (who came in for Norika Konno), Schetnan, Verhulst, Parker and Russell on the floor for the final two minutes and a Parker basket in the paint closed out the 82-25 final score.

(We feature Fred Flintstone as today's Fred. Yabba Dabba Cards ! )

THE FRED REPORT 

Free Throws -- The_ Cards only went to the line seven times in a lightly-whistled contest and Verhulst went 3-4 in her attempts. She was the only Card to make a free throw. 3-7 is 42.9% and may be the only thing one could point out as a Cards defect in the contest. No letter. 

Rebounds -- A  huge 54-24 edge for Louisville, that featured a 32-14 defensive edge. Engstler's 14 led the way, everyone who played for Louisville had at least one and Robinson showed again that she likes to go to the boards with six. She's 5'7", folks -- providing that positioning and hustle is a major key in coming up with missed shots. I award the CAPITAL "R" FOR REBOUNDING. 

Effort/Execution -- A 21 assist but 20 turnover night for the Cards, Louisville did come up with 15 steals, though, and totally dominated the fast break points (20-0), 2nd chance points (24-2) and points in the paint (52-10). Nothing but defense and run on the fast break for the Cards... I'LL GO WITH A CAPITAL "E" HERE. 

Defense -- Bellarmine shot just 7-47 for the night (14,9%) and committed 29 turnovers. Engstler had three of the Cards five blocked shots and four of the Cards 15 steals. The effort defensively was there, the Knights just made two baskets in the final 20 minutes. LET'S CLOSE IT OUT WITH A CAPITAL "D" FOR THE DEFENSIVE EFFORT. 

FINAL FRED TALLY:  _-R-E-D

(Hailey and I pleased to be one of Jared's photos !) 

Louisville was, no doubt, still hurting a bit from the Arizona loss, and Bellarmine was unfortunate enough to be "next up" for the Cards. I do believe this BU squad has some high points, and talented personnel. Guards Claire Knies, Kathleen Scott and forward Lauren Deel will prove to be a handful for the rest of the opponents on the BU schedule.

They just ran into a Cardinals squad that wanted to perform well after the Arizona loss. 

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

(YORKIE SIGHTING !)

Jess Laemmle was on the ACCNX broadcast and, from all accounts I've heard, did a great job. I enjoyed catching up with her before the game. If anyone knows Walz or Cardinals women's basketball, it would be Jess. 

THEY SAID IT: 

POST GAME JEFF WALZ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkji7A81oEU

POST GAME: EMILY ENGSTLER/KIANNA SMITH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz4kAw12enM 

(My media placard from my last trip to Martin...) 

NEXT: 

The Cards return to the court tonight to face UT-Martin in the KFC YUM! CENTER. The Skyhawks are 2-1 on the season, falling to Kansas State 44-30 and defeating North Carolina A&T 58-40 and WKU 63-57. 

All their results come from the WNIT Preseason Classic, held at Kansas State in Manhattan KS. Ex-Card Seygan Robins is still on the UTM roster and the Skyhawks are led in scoring by Holly Forbes (14.0 ppg) and Hayley Harrison (10.0 ppg).  

(PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON TODAY) 

Have a Wonderful Wednesday !

paulie

More Conference Realignment -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

EKU Gets Call-Up to ASUN

A brief basketball lull between the three game set from last week and the big Monday game and a surprising lack of events from yesterday leads to an open Saturday. Swimming will be taking on Cincinnati a little later and Tennis will play host to Miami (OH) this afternoon, but Jeff will talk more about that tomorrow. We're due for an update on the basketball comparison, which I'll get to another time. 

Today, though, there is exciting news to report about a Louisville-adjacent program, though it doesn't directly affect the Cards. Like last year, a Kentucky school has announced their advancement to Division-I's Atlantic Sun Conference. The Colonels of Eastern Kentucky University announced (accidentally at first, but officially yesterday) that they'd be leaving the Ohio Valley Conference to join the ASUN beginning in July of 2021. Interestingly, their football team will temporarily join the WAC for the 2021 season before returning to ASUN play in 2022. All other sports will participate in ASUN competition in the 2021-22 seasons.

Interestingly, this appears to be a lateral move for the schools--Jacksonville State is making the same move--as the conferences are both Division I in all sports and compete at the FCS level in football (ASUN will when it begins sponsoring football anyway). The ASUN does bring a bit more prestige to the table, especially when considered as a basketball conference, but that is about it. That said, more prestige usually means more money, and universities are always looking for that. 

A side effect of this move is that the Ohio Valley Conference could be in trouble. EKU's departure leaves Morehead State and Murray State as the sole remaining founding members, and gives the conference just seven football competing members. Morehead State offers football, but does not offer scholarships, so it competes in a separate conference for that sport. The OVC has been around for quite a long time and has had a lot of history in the state of Kentucky especially. It would be a shame to see something happen to it.

Positively, though, this move the ASUN means more competition between EKU and Bellarmine, and we here at Cardinal Couple are big fans of both schools, particularly in women's basketball. The step up in conference prestige and competition will mean more opportunities for success for Sam Williams at EKU, and who doesn't want to see a local school like Bellarmine get to compete against more regional programs around the state for more than just a "buy" game?

We're looking forward to seeing EKU continue to give Louisville quality local competition in all sports, just with a different patch on the chest from now on.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Once again, it was a busy week in basketball, so we have plenty to keep us occupied for this week's show. It'll be a full house again, so be sure to tune in to hear how wrong we were about our predictions for this week and join us in getting our predictions wildly wrong for next week's matchup against NC State. The show begins at 11AM EST and you can join us live on the Cardinal Couple YouTube Channel or check out the recorded version following the end of the live stream. As always, you can subscribe to the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour by searching for it in your favorite podcast player to hear the weekly episodes as soon as they're posted. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Sunday Cardinal Couple - Cards over Knights

 Cardinals Beat Bellarmine

The Bellarmine Knights continued their inaugural season at the Division I level with a rescheduled game against UofL yesterday.

The move up from Division II to Division I typically takes a few years for the team to adjust, begin recruiting at a higher level, and develop into a competitive team.  Alas, that's what we saw with Bellarmine yesterday, with UofL easily winning the contest 97-46.

The Cards got the job done largely with their size and strength.  Six players scored double figures, including nearly all of the bigs.  Olivia Cochran lead with 15, Liz Dixon was just behind with 14, Kianna Smith, Dana Evans, and Noriko Konno each came up with 11, and Ramani Parker scored 8.  Most of the score differential can be found in the "Points in the Paint" stat, where UofL outscored Bellarmine 64-24.

I would normally be tempted to use second change points as another stat to bolster the argument that the bigs were the difference, and indeed, that stat does account for the rest of the score differential with a 22-4 advantage to the Cards.  That argument is weakened somewhat when you look at the offensive rebound stats, though.  Of the 17 Cardinal offensive rebounds, only three were collected by the crew we typically think of as the bigs of this squad, Cochran, Dixon, Parker, and Williams.  The leading rebounders, as seems to be the way of this team, were guards, Hailey van Lith and Merissah Russell with eight and seven.

The shooting in the game felt a bit rough still, though the stats don't really back that up when you look at 60.9% from the field for the Cards.  From beyond the arc, things don't look quite as rosey.  The total percentage isn't terribly, 18.8%, but the volume of shots was a little lower than normal, only 16.  The ugly part of it was the three point shooting in quarters divisible by two, where the Cards made exactly zero three point shots.

The general takeaway from this one is that Bellarmine was just outplayed by a better team.  That, however, is what was really expected here, and cannot, in any sane approach to the game, be considered an insult to Bellarmine.  UofL is sitting in the number two position in the national polls, and Bellarmine is brand new to Division I play.  This game was a nod of respect within a new cross-town, and at least so far, very friendly, rivalry.

Both teams are dealing with game postponements and cancellations, as are most college basketball teams, the stars and calendars aligned, and they made a game happen.  It was, hopefully, fun and helpful for both teams and everyone seemed to go away with smiles on their faces and talk of making this a yearly tradition...maybe even a "home and home" between the KFC Yum! Center and Freedom Hall.

Credit goes to Bellarmine's team for not ever giving up in this game.  They were getting easily outscored, but they kept their head's up and continued throwing everything they could at the Cards, and you could see where they gave the Cardinal's vaunted backcourt some challenges, at least at times.

Seeing the Louisville frontcourt come out and have a good game and be, really, the biggest deciding factor was great as well.  The guards for UofL get a lot of attention, including from us here at Cardinal Couple, and with some good reason as there are a lot of them, and they're all very good players, but sometimes our frontcourt gets a bit overlooked in the Guardapalooza.  Olivia Cochran continues to develop and improve game over game.  Liz Dixon came out and had a good game.  Ramani Parker contributed a lot in her 10 minutes of playing time, and we even got to see Malea Williams on the floor for five minutes.

The Cardinals and the Knights both have a postponed game listed on the calendar next - Virginia for the Cards, and Morehead State for the Knights.  The next game still expected to go forward for the Cards will be UNC at 2:30pm on Tuesday to get back into conference play.  The Knights will start their conference play in the Atlantic Sun conference with a two day double-header against Lipscomb in Nashville next weekend.  Game times are 2pm on Saturday and Sunday the 9th and 10th.

A BIG Thank you to Jared Anderson for today's photos of the game! 

Fred Report

We give you Freddy Krueger for today's massacre. 

FREE THROWS --  The Cards went 16-24 from the line. Yes, they played 12 players and no one took more than five, but the 66% falls below our preferred 70% for a letter, so...no letter

REBOUNDS -- Cards were dominant and held a 48-18 edge in rebounding. That's quite impressive and we'll award a CAPITAL "R" here.

EFFORT/EXECUTION -- Dominance prevailed here, with the Cards getting 64 points in the paint, 54 bench points and only eight turnovers. CAPITAL "E"...no problem. 

DEFENSE -- The Cards held BU to 32 % shooting and 17% three-point shoots. BU had only four second-chance points. No doubt about it -- A CAPITAL "D". 

FINAL FRED TALLY:  _-R-E-D 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Daryl, Case, and I were the main contributors to the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour yesterday as Jared and Paulie were arriving at the KFC Yum! Center for the game right after the show.  Jared managed to find a quiet location within the arena, apparently the pool photographer's room in the media area, and was able to call in and contribute some good thoughts.  Paulie also called in from out in the main arena area.

Topics of discussion obviously included analysis of the NKU game, previewing the Bellarmine game, and ongoing scheduling juggling.  As always, you can catch the replay below, or Case's podcast version of it (slightly edited) wherever you get your podcasts.

JMCA