SHOWDOWN IN RALEIGH
The University of Louisville women's basketball squad is in Raleigh, NC and will take on the Wolfpack at 8 p.m. this evening in a game that could either propel the Cards into a share of the ACC lead or drop them to two games behind NC State.
No easy task ahead for Jeff Walz's Cards.
NC State is 22-1 overall and 11-1 in ACC conference games. They are ranked #4 in the nation now and on a eight-game winning streak. Only UNC has blemished the Wolfpack's record. NC St. handled Virginia Tech 71-59 last time out.
Ms. Wuf's school has some put some very impressive numbers to date. They only commit an average of 12 fouls a night and are a strong defensive rebounding team at 31 a contest. They average a +19.1 scoring margin over opponents and allow just 54.9 points per game.
Leading the way for NC State offensively in sophomore center Elisa Cunane. Averaging 17 points a night, she's considered one of the front runners for ACC Player of the Year and is one of three Wes Moore-coached players in double figures. Senior Aislinn "Ace" Konig contributes 11.1 ppg and junior Kayla Jones produces 10 ppg.
The Cards get back Elizabeth Balogun for this one, having returned from Serbia, where she played for the Nigeria National Team during their Olympic qualifying action. A healthy Yacine Diop could also bolster the Cards chances in Carolina tonight.
Jeff Walz points out that when one of the two mentioned here play well, the other usually doesn't. It's time to break that trend and get hue games out of both tonight.
Louisville will need to be aggressive and find a way to take advantage of the fact that NC State commits more turnovers than they force other teams into. The scoring woes of sub-60 point performances in the last two outings for Louisville need to end. The Cards need to be bolstered by Jaz Jones and Dana Evans, hopefully they'll be a huge, positive factor if they can get her shot to fall. Kylee will have her work cut out for her with Cunane, but we hope the all-time blocks leader in Louisville WBB history can gather a few swats and keep Cunane away from the basket.
Evans picked up two more national honors this week, being named to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Watch list and the Citizen Naismith Trophy Mid-Season team.
The Cards have been the "hunted" most of this season and find themselves in the role of the "hunter" tonight. Louisville has had a modicum of success in previous outing against North Carolina State, They hold a 7-3 all time record against the Wolfpack, are 2-0 in Raleigh since joining the ACC and have won five in a row against the Raleigh squad. Last time out, in the ACC semifinals last year, the Cards beat NC State 78-68 in Greensboro. It was a back-and-forth game, both teams actually had double-digit leads in this one.
It's a ACC Network televised event and Pam Ward has the call with Deb Antonelli providing analyst work. Nick Curran and Adrienne Johnson will handle radio duties on 790 AM (WKRD) Cards Radio. The toughest conference test of the season awaits the two squads in a sold-out Reynolds Coliseum and we'll have the results for you here tomorrow morning.
WALZ PRESSER
Jeff Walz met with the media yesterday morning to discuss tonight's game and I was there to offer questions and capture the words. A link to the audio of his weekly presser is below for your listening pleasure.
LINK: WALZ PRESSER 2/12/20
If you'd like to view as well as listen, the UofL link is below. Walz is resplendent in his black Adidas pullover and if you're wondering what to get Paulie for his birthday this year, I won't say no to one of those...
LINK: WALZ 2-12-20 PRESSER (VIDEO VERSION)
LACROSSE INTERVIEW
My day on the Belknap campus yesterday concluded with my weekly interview with Louisville Lacrosse head coach Scott Teeter and student-athlete, junior attacker Ally Hall.
Coach and Ally discussed the season opening win over Cincinnati and Saturday's upcoming match against #9 Denver. The Denver game is Louisville's home opener and will take place at noon at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium. Admission is free.
We also got to know a little more about Ally, who is from Maryland andd led Louisville on Sunday with four goals.
Just audio on this one, but it's a fun, lively and informative chat that is definitely worth a listen !
LINK: LACROSSE INTERVIEW WITH SCOTT TEETER and ALLY HALL
We'll be doing these "talks with Teeter" and a player throughout the Lacrosse season when scheduling allows and hope you find this look into the action, players and philosophy of what makes Louisville Lacrosse enjoyable !!
We invite you to give Lacrosse a try, if you're new to the sport. It has been described as "basketball with sticks" and you'll find a lot of the same terminology and movements, like fast breaks, zones, blocks, feeds and sets, that you find in basketball. Lacrosse offers a bit more scoring than Field Hockey or Soccer and the action is exciting!
Have a Terrific Thursday !
paulie
xxxxx
LACROSSE GOES TO 3-0
One of Louisville Lacrosse head coach Kellie Young's objectives this season was to create a more balanced scoring attack. Objective met as eight Cards scored in a 14-3 win Saturday over Denver at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium.
Louisville went on a 7-0 run to finish the first half after falling behind to Denver 2-1 eight minutes into the contest.
Kellie Young explains what the Cards did to erase the deficit.
"We were just following the scout. We got a little bit anxious to start the game...too nonchalant about a team that was very feisty, so the adjustment was to get back to the scout. We called the time out, reminded them of what the plays were supposed to be and the goals started to come."
Hannah Kolowski and Kaylin Morissette scored twice on the run and Louisville had a 8-2 lead at the half. The Cards out-shot Denver 14-8 in the first thirty and held a huge 10-1 advantage in draw controls thanks to Morissette.
The Cards pushed the lead to 10-2 when Morissette and Cortnee Daley connect to open the final stanza.
Daley knew the challenge ahead:
"They're a good team and we knew the challenge was to take it to them for 60 minutes. Defensively we had some huge stops and going into attack we were able to capitalize on those stops."
Morissette took a hard body hit early in the second half and was down for several minutes before being assisted to the sidelines. She did return to action later in the game and appears to be OK.
Brittany Read had eight saves in goal in the win. The Cards pushed the lead to 13-3 after Julia Wood picked up her second goal with 8:55 remaining and the rest of the contest was played with a continuous running clock.
UofL travels to Nashville next for a Tuesday afternoon matchup against Vandy.
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SOFTBALL SPLITS IN ACC/BIG 10 CHALLENGE
Louisville got great pitching performances from Maryssa Becker and Megan Hensley Saturday in Raleigh, NC...losing 4-3 to Nebraska and downing Wisconsin for the second day in a row 5-0.
NEBRASKA VS LOUISVILLE
In the opener, the teams were locked in a scoreless battle for three innings before Becker went fence in the top of the fourth to put the Cards up 1-0. Nebraska would counter with three runs in the bottom half of the inning.
Morgan Meyer scored on a wild pitch in the fifth and the Cards tied the contest in the top of the seventh when Morgan Hart hit her first home run of the season with two outs. Nebraska would touch Becker for a double and two singles, though in the bottom of the seventh to walk off with the win.
WISCONSIN VS LOUISVILLE
Megan Hensley pitched six innings of no-hit softball in the afternoon game and Becker drove in three runs to lead the Cards to the shutout win.
Louisville scored runs in the first and third to grab a 2-0 lead and in the fifth inning, Becker knocked a two-RBI double on a attempted intentional walk where the pitch got within her swinging range.
Hailey Smith scored on a wild pitch to complete the scoring in the sixth.
Hensley gave up a single in the seventh for the Badgers only hit...Wisconsin did load the bases with two outs but Hensley delivered her only strikeout of the game to end the threat.
The Cards will face Nebraska again at 10 a.m. today to complete the challenge.
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WOMEN'S HOOPS VS B.C.
The Louisville women's basketball team looks for their 22nd win of the season when they face Boston College today at 1 p.m. The broadcast will be shown on BCEagles TV, which is available at the Boston College website. It is premium content, so be prepared to shell out a few bucks for the feed.
BC got their second ACC win of the season on the road Thursday by knocking off win-less Clemson 67-50.
It's a tough end of regular season stretch for the Eagles, who will face Syracuse and Notre Dame after the Cardinals leave town.
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RADIO REPLAY
The latest edition of The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour should be available for replay listening sometime today on the Crescent Hill website.
LINK: https://soundcloud.com/chradio/cardinal-couple-20160220
Another fast paced, action packed show that we're sure you'll enjoy.
paulie
xxxxx
CARDS JUMP ON BADGERS EARLY IN ACC/BIG 10 CHALLENGE
Sandy Pearsall will tell you she is a big fan of the offensive part of softball. She also values the strong arm of pitcher Maryssa Becker. Coach P got the best of both worlds yesterday in Raleigh, NC as the Cards bombarded Wisconsin 7-1.
Becker turned in a strong performance in the circle, going the distance and allowing an unearned run while punishing the Badgers at the plate with a double, home run and three RBI's.
Louisville (5-1) put up a three run first inning...starting out when Sidney Melton and Jordan McNary reached safely and scored on a Becker double down the left field line. Becker scored the Cards third run of the inning when sophomore Nicole Pufahl singled her home.
Becker kept the Badgers at bay until the top of the sixth...a throwing error allowed Wisconsin a run after a walk and fielders choice.
Louisville responded in the bottom half of the inning in big fashion. Becker led off with a home run to right-center, Megan Hensley took Mr. Spalding for a ride to left-center and Pufahl smashed the Cards third consecutive "touch em all" with a blast over the center-field fence. Louisville would add a fourth run to make it 7-1 when Hailey Smith reached home on a Brittany Sims single.
The Cards are showing the bats early this season...scoring at least six runs in their five wins. Pufahl has three home runs so far and Hensley has cleared the fence twice.
Louisville plays twice today....facing Nebraska at noon and going against Wisconsin again at 2:30.
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LACROSSE HOSTS DENVER TODAY
Cards LAX puts their 2-0 record on the line today at 1 p.m. against DENVER at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium.
UofL comes into the contest after a win last week at Temple. Cortnee Daley leads the Cards with five goals in the two games...Kaylin Morissette has four scores and three assists. Sophomore goalkeeper Brittany Read has allowed just 11 goals on the season and has racked up an impressive 16 saves so far.
Balanced scoring has been a key for Kellie Young's squad this year...seven Cards have scored this season. Read is coming off ACC Goalkeeper of the Week honors.
Denver (1-1) took down Fresno State in their opener and fell to Colorado last time out. The Cards are 2-1 lifetime against the Pioneers...defeating them last year in Denver 14-9.
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THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR
We'll be in-studio for another action-packed hour of THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR this morning at 11 a.m. to bring you the joy and excitement of Louisville women's athletics. We have a busy docket today...reviewing and previewing hoops, softball, lacrosse and swimming. We've also got audio from Jeff Walz, Sandy Pearsall, Mariya Moore, Myisha Hines-Allen, Arica Carter and Jose Fernandez.
Join Worldwide and me in the fun at WCHQ 100.9 and on the Internet at www.crescenthillradio.com
LINK: NO TURNTABLES AND TWO MICROPHONES
paulie
xxxxx
REGULAR SEASON FINALE VS. CAVS
Jeff Walz's UofL WBB squad looks for their 25th win of the season with a 1 p.m. tip against the Virginia Cavaliers in Charlottesville, VA. The Cards have cinched a 3rd place finish in the ACC regular-season standings but look to build momentum for the ACC Tournament that begins Wednesday
Where better to keep the momentum building than in the gym of an opponent celebrating Senior Day that you beat by 12 earlier in the season?
The Cavs have lost their mojo, losing five out of their last six...including a heartbreaking 72-70 fall at UNC Thursday night. Virginia (16-12, 6-9) has secured a spot safe from having to play on opening day of the ACC Tourney but will try to send seniors Sarah Imovbioh and Sara Beth Barnette successfully into home court retirement with a "W".
This one is on RSN and Fox Sports South (Deb Antonelli) for viewing and Matt and AJ jump back to WKRD 790 AM for the radio feed. We'll recap it later tonight.
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SOFTBALL SWEEPS YELLOW JACKETS
Louisville Softball got the ACC season off to a successful start by swatting the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 6-1 and 5-4 in Atlanta yesterday.
LOUISVILLE 6 - GA TECH 1
Maryssa Becker was the story in the first game...tossing a two-hitter at GT and going to 2-0 in the season. The Cards were deadlocked at 1-1 going into the top of the fourth with Ga. Tech but a Kelsi Jones walk and Hailey Smith
homer to left (a booming blast OVER the scoreboard) set the tally at 3-1.
The Cards would push that to 6-1 in the sixth. Smith walked, stole second and scored on a Nicole Puhafl single. Brittany Sims sent a two-run blast out of the park to complete the scoring.
LOUISVILLE 5 - GA TECH 4
The Cards rallied from a 3-1 deficit to take the nightcap...Louisville getting six strong innings of relief from Shelby McCombs (3-1) to get the "W".
Becker began the scoring with a solo fence clearer in the first but Madi Norman was touched for three runs in the bottom of the inning. Jones scored on a Smith single in the 3rd to get within one and regained the lead in the sixth when Whitney Arion notched her third "see ya later" of the year with two on.
The two squads close out the series today with a noon start
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LACROSSE DOWNS DENVER 14-9
Kaylin Morissette led a balanced Louisville LAX scoring attack to take Kellie Young's squad to 3-0 on the season. The Cards get the 14-9 win behinds Morissette's four goals and nine draw controls on the road. All the way, Kay!
The Cards held a 2-0 lead after seven minutes with goals from Faye Brust and Cortnee Daley. Brust and Heidi Smith scored in a ninety second stretch to give the Cards a 4-1 edge. Morissette went back-to-back in the net and Daley tossed one in to build the Cardinal advantage to 7-2 with nine minutes before halftime...but Denver put two goals on the board to send the Cards to the locker room up 7-4.
A strong second half start salted this one away for UofL.
Four straight Uof L goals... beginning with a Brust score just 45 seconds into play and net-finders by Hannah Koloski, Carlissa Corbett and Morissette pumped the Cards lead to 11-4.
Denver cut the lead to 11-6 before the Cards could counter with Koloski's third score of the afternoon. The Pioneers placed two more in the net to make it 12-8 with ten minutes left.
Koloski stepped up with her third goal a minute later and Morissette concluded the Louisville scoring to set the final 14-9. Goalkeeper Ashley Peacock had six saves on the day.
The LAX Cards return home for a Wednesday 3 p.m. tilt against Duquesne.
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10 SECOND DRILL
- We expect the archived version of the CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR to be up and available for listening at Crescent Hill Radio later today. In case you missed it, Worldwide Jeff McAdams made his triumphant return to the microphone and filled us in on his Notre Dame excursion. We also reviewed the WBB Senior Night festivities and played senior audio from the post-game presser that you won't want to miss. Jeff took the WORLDWIDE Quiz and got a "B". See if you can beat him. The topic was ACC WBB.
It's radio that is unrehearsed, live, impromptu and the hour just seems to fly by. Link below:
A LAPTOP, TWO MICROPHONES AND TWO STOOGES
- Hats off to our February CARDINAL COUPLE contest winner Doug Anderson.
Sonja says: Louisville beats Notre Dame and 123 total points are scored.
Leave your picks in the comments sections leading up to Wednesday or e-mail them to cardinalcouple@twc.com
WE got a CC T-Shirt and a $25 gift card from Cracker Barrel waiting for the winner.
paulie
xxxxx
The Cards get back Elizabeth Balogun for this one, having returned from Serbia, where she played for the Nigeria National Team during their Olympic qualifying action. A healthy Yacine Diop could also bolster the Cards chances in Carolina tonight.
Jeff Walz met with the media yesterday morning to discuss tonight's game and I was there to offer questions and capture the words. A link to the audio of his weekly presser is below for your listening pleasure. 
We'll be doing these "talks with Teeter" and a player throughout the Lacrosse season when scheduling allows and hope you find this look into the action, players and philosophy of what makes Louisville Lacrosse enjoyable !! 
