Louisville WBB -- Know the Foe: Boise St...Softball crushes NIU, Lacrosse wins -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

BRONCOS FIRST FOR WBB IN NCAA

Another Thursday, another jam-packed results day and future events preview to get to. I do believe this is one of the busiest times of the year (March) for us at CARDINAL COUPLE, but we're ready for the challenge. Let's hit the gym, diamond, turf, brackets, etc. and do this! 

Will Coach bring out the yellow
gear to upstage what will surely
be another Sam Purcell clothing
statement? 

The WBB Cards got what they wanted in NCAA bracketing. Two in Louisville, which we all knew was guaranteed, two in Lexington...a little more speculation on whether that would happen or not, and Louisville MUST win the KFC YUM! Center games to travel to Lexington. Then...if all goes according to plan, the NCAA Final Four in Columbus. The Lexington region looks tough, thanks to Jared for dissecting that and more yesterday, today let us look at "first up" for Walz and crew.

Sam Purcell calls it three two-game tournaments. That's a very interesting way of viewing it.  

The Boise State Broncos gallop in from Potato-land to run by the river on Friday at noon. It's one of four NCAA opening day games at noon for the WBB side and certainly the one we'll be focusing on. Friday is a busy day at the YUM! with two games and the men continue their NIT pursuits on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. against MTSU. No game time has been announced yet for round two of the NCAA WBB Tournament on Sunday. My guess is around 1 p.m.? We'll see what happens and let you know. Maybe the women will play the first half against MTSU and let the guys finish the game. They could probably do better in the first half then the men did against NKU...

This "fake state" school (last time I checked...Boise hadn't seceded from Idaho and formed their own state) comes to the YUM! with a 23-9 record. They were 14-4 in the Mountain West Conference and won the regular season, plus conference titles...like Louisville. They took the  MWC Tourney with wins over Air Force (60-46), Colorado St. (76-51) and a thriller in the finals...62-60 over Nevada. It took a buzzer-beating shot from A'Shanti Coleman to get the Broncos their second consecutive MVC Tourney title. 

BSU is no stranger to the "dance"...having been four previous times and 2018 marks their third visit in the last four years. 

BSU is on a roll, winning their last 10 games and 15 out of their last 17. Their last loss was delivered to them by UNLV on Feb. 3rd in Las Vegas. They had a bit of trouble getting the horses out of the gate in the non-conference slate...with losses to CSU-Bakersfield, St. Mary's, Northern Arizona and San Diego....all non-NCAA Tournament bound schools. 

Similar opponents? We've seen they have faced the Air Force Academy, like the Cards. Three times, as a matter of fact, and won all three. 

They also played both San Diego and San Diego State this year. That's got to be confusing:

"Who ya got tonight?"

"San Diego."

"San Diego State?"

"San Diego isn't a state, they're a part of California." 

"No, the school. San Diego State."

"The school left the state and formed their own state?" 

Riley Lupfer leads the Broncos in scoring with 16.4 ppg and shoots 47.1% from the court. 

She's also the one who questioned whether the Cardinal players knew where Boise State was. 

Wouldn't it be great to see Asia or someone stop her in the post-game handshake line and say. "Idaho. Your school is in Idaho. Go back there, now. Your season is over." 

Martin Hermida, a Spanish import, is good for 10.8 points a night and leads the Broncs with 4.8 assists. Shalen Shaw, kinda of a neat name...I think, is the top board-grabber with seven a contest. 

We'll find out how Coach Walz plans to corral these Broncos later this morning...they have a 10:50 a.m. press conference scheduled at the Media Room in the KFC YUM! Center. Maybe we'll learn more. Pressers like this are sometimes are unfortunately plagued by some media moron who knows nothing about UofL WBB and uses it as a briefing. Read your facts sheet before you sit down in the room, first timers! 

These two have never met. The game will be shown on the "deuce"...ESPN 2. We got Beth Mowins and Nell Fortner on the call. That sounds like turn down the TV volume and listen to Nick and A.J. call it on 790 WKRD to me. Opinions may vary.

Interesting Sidebar:  The Broncos play their home games in Taco Bell Arena. From nacho fries to original recipe chicken for them, it looks like. I wonder what BSU gives away if the team scores 80+ points a night. Free tacos? A chalupa?  Can a guy get a couple of burritos and a beverage here? 

I see Louisville by 27. Whatcha think? 



Tournament time. It's the most wonderful time of the year. 



SOFTBALL SLUGS BY NIU 9-4

Hello, Megan Hensley! The junior slugged a grand slam homer in the bottom of the sixth inning and came to the circle in relief to pick up a win in Louisville Softball's five-run win yesterday at chilly Ulmer Stadium. 

Her blast broke a 4-4 tie game wide open as the Cards get their 20th win of the season against just five losses. She also pitched 4.2 innings of shutout softball against the Huskies after relieving Darrianne Hale, who relieved Kyra Snyder. (What a relief...) 

Funky Funke, Mike and Maddy Newman all had two hits in the win for the Cards. Hensley goes to 7-2 on the season. 

Louisville opens ACC play on Friday with a 4 p.m. game at Ulmer Stadium against Notre Dame. 


LACROSSE DOWNS MERCER 21-14

It was a slow start yesterday for Louisville Lacrosse at Mercer yesterday, trailing 7-1 after the first ten minutes.  It was time for a Teeter time-out and whatever the Louisville head coach said to the squad should be framed and kept for future reference. The Cards proceeded to score the final 11 goals of the half, two by Tessa Chad in less than a minute and go into the break up 12-7. 

"We didn't come out of the gate like we need to." Scott Teeter commented after the contest. "But they responded after we challenged them in the timeout. We went on a pretty good run there after that and scored some goals, but it shouldn't take that."

The LAX Cards also had the first three goals of the second half, blowing out to a 15-7 advantage and went on to take their sixth win of the season. Louisville is 4-1 on the road this year. 

Chad scored her team-high six goals all in the first half.  

"That was just Tessa leading by example, just taking the game over by herself," added Teeter. "I thought there were quite a few of the seniors that stepped up, as well. Their play, their ability to demand the ball really elevated our team during that stretch, which was great." 

"Sweet" Caroline Blalock and Ally Hall added four scores each for Louisville and Madison "Upright" Hoover got a hat-trick with three goals in the win. 

Louisville comes home to face Boston College, in a return to ACC action, with a Saturday noon start. 


GET YOUR PICKS IN

Do you have your NCAA WBB Tournament picks lined up? What double-digit seeded teams will make the Sweet Sixteen? Can anyone keep UConn out of Columbus? 

You are cordially invited to provide an entry to The Cardinal Couple "Pick 'Em" Challenge for the Women's NCAA Basketball Tournament. It doesn't cost a penny and you could win a $25 Panera Card if you are the best. We've also got a $15 Cracker Barrel card for second place. 

Check the comments section on Tuesday and Wednesday for examples and leave your selections in today's comments section. One point for a win, most points wins. Earliest entry breaks any ties. 

Our bracket czar Jared Anderson has his war-room set up with all entries laminated, posted in strategic locations and he has a variety of colored markers and trend analysis scenarios lined up for the judging and scoring. A report from the mothership indicates he has 15 entries as of midnight last night and will be prepared for the last second rush of contestants. Remember, Jared...USF and FSU are two different schools...I hope he isn't dyslexic.

You need to have your picks in by Friday noon. A highly trained chimp-infused bracket staff is in Bracket Central closely monitoring the comments section, mixing up blenders of Banana Smoothies and Daiquiris and hotly debating scenarios, strengths and which pizza place to call for delivery. Pineapple and ham seems to be the favorite of the crew and Bill the Goat has been banished to the "Back 40" to consume empty pizza boxes and brackets that the chimps feel have no chance whatsoever. 

Play ball! Men's Tournament starts today. Get ready with the Visine and remote control. Gonna be a crazy week. 

Paulie
xxxxx

Louisville WBB Bracket Time -- Softball Changes Time -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

BASKETBALL BOUNCING OUR WAY

We are only two days away from the first round of the tournament.  Our women’s basketball team prepares to host Boise State Friday at noon.  It’s a tough time for people to try and take a half day or sneak out of work early so you can catch the event on ESPN.  Assuming the Cards win they will face the winner of Marquette and Dayton in the second round at the KFC Yum! Center on Sunday. Game time not set in stone yet.

The road to the championship is never a stroll in the park.  Louisville has the potential to face some tough opposition along the way and here are a few of those potential match-ups:

1 Louisville vs 5 Missouri (Sweet 16)

Missouri has had a mild rate of success against ranked opponents.  They downed the likes of South Carolina and Tennessee while falling to Mississippi State by four.  Junior Sophie Cunningham is averaging 18 points per game, but her assist-turnover ratio is almost dead even.  Turnovers has been the weakness for the Tigers.  Missouri’s strength has been rebounds, dominating the glass all year.

1 Louisville vs 2 Texas (Final Four)

If you take away the three losses to Baylor and the loss to UConn the Longhorns haven’t had a loss against a non-elite opponent since when January when they fell by two at TCU.  Texas got upset in overtime by two to start the season but has not fallen to a non-ranked opponent since.  The Longhorns’ offense has had a roller coaster year.  Texas does not have a standout player this season, but instead relies on a well-rounded starting five.

1 Louisville vs 3 Tennessee (Elite Eight)

The Vols cruised for most of the season until the ran into a long stretch of high caliber teams, falling to Texas A&M, Notre Dame, and Mississippi State.  Tennessee faces South Carolina three times with their only loss coming in the SEC tournament.  The assist-turnover ratio is ugly for the team from Rocky Top.  Their free throw shooting sits just a half over .700.  Tennessee has one of the tallest rosters in the country and is no stranger to rebounds and blocks.

1 Louisville vs 2 Baylor (Elite Eight)

The Bears might not have Brittney Griner anymore, but we don’t have Shoni Schimmel.  Instead we have Asia Durr and an entire roster of players who are capable of putting up big numbers.  The high-powered offense has put up 90 or more points a dozen times on the season.  An early season (mid-November) loss at UCLA is the only blemish to a near perfect record.  Kalani Brown is one of the top players in the country.  She puts up 20 points per game and 10 rebounds per game and could give our forwards a challenge.  She’s one of four players averaging double figures in points for the Bears.

1 Louisville vs 1 Mississippi State

The Bulldogs sent UConn home in last year’s tournament and they come in with the confidence of doing it again, or at least taking out another top dog.  Mississippi State was perfect until the SEC Championship, where South Carolina defeated them by 11 in a regular season rematch.  They have wins over Tennessee, South Carolina, Oregon, Missouri, and Texas A&M.  Mississippi State is not afraid of playing several guards, but why worry when you have a 6-7 player clogging the lane.  They will use speed and agility to overwhelm opponents.

1 Louisville vs 1 Notre Dame (National Championship)

The Cards have beaten the Irish twice, once by 33 and once by two.  Notre Dame has not had a healthy roster all season due to ACL injuries, but they are still tough.  Notre Dame’s only other loss fame to UConn.  The Huskies used a 26-9 fourth quarter to win.  The Irish have a whole roster of star players.  Their biggest weakness is the small roster size.  Foul trouble or a poor shooting day by a couple of players will be their downfall.

1 Louisville vs 1 UConn (National Championship)

This is a rematch fans are craving for.  Had a first quarter not doomed the Cards in the original match-up things could be different. Geno and the Huskies seem to have Louisville’s number and the two teams always find a way to meet in some type of championship game.  In terms of national championships, the third try is the charm, right?  Of all of Jeff Walz’s teams this one has the best shot at taking down the giant.

NCAA Women's Tournament "Pick 'Em" Contest

GO, YOU TOPPERS, GO. 

Have you filled out your bracket year?  Make sure to submit your entries here!  I hope to stay organized enough to have everyone's brackets marked down and stay up-to-date with them.

Hey, if Sonya can run this thing for years without any trouble except Paulie wanting her to rig it in his favor, I should be fine.

MAKE SURE YOUR PICKS ARE PUT IN THE COMMENTS SECTION OF TODAY'S OR TOMORROW'S COLUMNS. PICKS NEED TO BE IN BY NOON!

ANY E-MAIL ATTEMPTS OF PICKS WILL BE FED TO THE CARDINAL CHIMP STAFF COATED IN BANANA PUDDING.

Here is the submission example Paul gave us:

ROUND 1 PICKS: UConn, Miami, Belmont, Georgia, USF, FSU, California, South Carolina, Notre Dame, Villanova, Drake, LSU, Ohio St., Green Bay, Oregon, Miss. St, Syracuse, Princeton, NC St., Creighton, UCLA, Ariz. St., Texas, Louisville, Dayton, FGCU, Stanford, WKU, Tenn., Michigan, Baylor.

THE SWEET SIXTEEN: UConn, Georgia, FSU, California, Notre Dame, Ohio St. Oregon, Syracuse, NC St., UCLA, Texas, Louisville, FGCU, Tenn., Michigan.

THE GREAT EIGHT: UConn, California, LSU, Ohio St. Syracuse, Texas, Louisville, Michigan

FINAL FOUR: UConn, Ohio St., Syracuse, Louisville.

THEN THERE WERE TWO:  Ohio State, Louisville

CHAMPS: Louisville.

COMMENTS SECTIONS FOR PICKS AND BY NOON FRIDAY!

SOFTBALL GAME TIME CHANGE

The original time of 5:00 has been set to 3:00 to help account for cold temperatures.  The softball team hosts a midweek game at Ulmer Stadium, where they are 9-1.  Northern Illinois visits but is 0-4 all-time against the Cards. Snow on the ground this morning but they cover the infield, so Play Ball!

Pitcher Danielle Watson is tied for first in the country in number of wins.  With such a large bullpen and Coach Pearsall starting to give some of them a chance she may not have a chance to add another win.

On offense, things are getting better.  Caitlin Ferguson is three-thousandths off from batting .400.  Celene Funke and Sidney Melton are a combined 12-for-12 on stolen bases.

Sandy Pearsall and UofL Softball aim to get their 705th victory.

Enjoy your Wednesday and the stress of selecting a perfect bracket and Go Cards!

Jared

Soccer #24 in final poll...BIG EAST WBB kicks into action...BIG EAST Welcomes five...

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CARDINAL COUPLE THURSDAY REPORT

-Women's Soccer one of three BIG EAST in final top 25

-Five games kick off BIG EAST WBB Conference Play

-Boise State, Houston, SMU, San Diego State and UCF join BIG EAST

Christine Exeter led the
women's soccer team
in scoring.

The University of Louisville women's soccer team was ranked 24th. in the final poll for NCAA Women's College Soccer. They were the only BIG EAST women's soccer team to advance to the Sweet Sixteen this season and finished runner-up in the BIG EAST Tournament to West Virginia. The Mountaineers were ranked 18th. and Marquette finished 15th. in the final rankings.

The #24 ranking is the highest finish ever for Louisville women's soccer.

Louisville defeated Dayton and Memphis by identical 2-0 scores in NCAA Tournament play before falling to #9 Florida State 2-0 in the Sweet Sixteen.

Leading scorer Christine Exeter returns for her junior season next year for head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes, along with several other key components for the squad.

Hats off to the Women's Soccer Cards for their huge accomplishments this year and Coach Ferguson-Dayes' efforts!

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

The BIG EAST Conference's women's basketball regular season play kicked off last night with five games. No real surprises here...the recaps below.

-- DePaul defended the home court with a 69-52 win over visiting St. John. Keisha Hampton led the way for the Blue Demons with 21 points...Lexington, KY. native Anna Martin added 13 and Jasmine Penny contributed 12. For St. John, Eugenia McPherson tallied 18, Nadirah McKenith tossed in 13 and Amber Thompson hit double figures with 10. St. John's Shennika Smith was held to just four points...

Sugar was sweet for the Hoyas
last night

-- Georgetown romped Pittsburgh 82-54. The visitors got 28 from guard Sugar Rodgers, Tia MaGee and Taylor Brown added 12 each for the Hoyas...who shot 47.5%. Pitt managed only 26.7% from the floor. They were led by Asia Logan's 15. Bria Kesel (11) and Leeza Burdgess (10) hit double figures for the Panthers as well.

-- Notre Dame had no trouble with Marquette...winning 95-42 in the Joyce Center. Four in double figures for the Irish...Kayla McBride 19, Skylar Diggins 17. Lexington's Natalie Novosel hit for 11, as did Brittany Mallory. The visiting Golden Eagles were paced by Sarina Simmons 14...Katherine Plouffe added 9.

Laura Sweeney cooked the Friars
with 25 points last night

-- Villanova bested home standing Providence 69-42. For the Wildcats, Laura Sweeny had a game high 25 and the Friars got 17 from Teya Wright. Villanova hit 9-23 three point attempts in the win.

--West Virginia travelled to Syracuse and escaped with a 76-72 win. The Mountaineers had four players reach double figures...led by Ayana Dunning and Asya Bussie with 19 each. The 'Cuse also had four double figure scorers...Carmen Tyson-Thomas was good for 17.

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

It's official...five teams have been added to the BIG EAST. Hardly an eastern influence here, though with San Diego State and Boise State joining for football only and Houston, SMU and UCF coming aboard for all sports. Two of the schools, Houston and SMU have lost their head football coaches recently and San Diego State is over 3000 miles from BIG EAST corporate offices in Providence. No running over to the offices to drop off documents for the Aztecs...

Whether or not this will save the BIG EAST's automatic qualifier for BCS football remains to be seen. The Aztecs did go 8-4 this year and are bowl bound...against La.-Lafayette on Dec. 17th. Houston was unblemished until Southern Miss romped them in the C-USA Championship game. Boise State went 11-1 this year. One would hope they'll continue the impressive play over the next few years. One thing is for sure...none of the five are legitimate women's basketball powers...more cupcakes for Jeff's Walz's buffet...
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