WBB dominates the Seminoles 70-55 -- Softball plays in USF tourney -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Gooood Friday morning and HELLO March???!

Theres a little bit of madness in the Ville this year...we are hoping for another long post season run for WBB this year!  

We've got some basketball from last night to cover, some Softball today!

WBB

The Cards had 4 starters finish scoring in double figures with Nyla Harris and Olivia Cochran finishing with double doubles,  Olivia's 4th and Nyla's 6th time this season.  Louisville was able to pull away from FSU after a dominant 2nd quarter where they outscored the Noles 25-10.   It was a night where the 3 pointer wasn't exactly falling and the only 3's were made by Sydney Taylor and they came in that 2nd quarter.  

It was also senior night for some newer Cards!  The program recognized Nina Rickards, Kiki Jefferson and Sydney Taylor and their families for their efforts this season for the Louisville program. 

Pictures: Jared Anderson

End of 1Q 18-16 Cards
FG %
8-18 44.4% Cards
8-19 42.1% FSU
Reb. 10 all
3-pt %
0-3 0% Cards
0-4 0% FSU


Cards won the tip and Olivia hit the jumper after getting two defenders off their feet to start the game.  Cards started the game 4-4 from the field.  Cochran, Taylor and Nyla Harris all put up strong shots under the basket and started the game on an 8-0 run...just 75 seconds into the game, FSU caled a timeout.  The Cards then went on a 2 min scoring drought.   FSU tied it up at 12 with 3:30 to go in the 1st quarter.   Nina Rickards then blew by the defense a couple times to put the Cards ahead but the Seminoles kept responding.  There was under 2 min left in the quarter before a foul was called.  Jayda Curry took a shot in the chest/neck area from FSUs #2 Tucker. The refs called it intentional and Walz put Kiki Jefferson at the line.  



End of 2Q 25-10 Cards

FG %
10-20 50% Cards
4-15 26.7% FSU
Reb. 18-5 Cards
3-pt %
3-7 42.9% Cards
1-6 16.7% FSU


Cards started the quarter with a turnover...   FSU started the second quarter hitting a 3 and then another bucket under the basket and got fouled so they converted the 3 point play and made it 22-18 FSU before Olivia and Kiki took over to put the Cards back on top with a 6-0 run.  With 5 min left in the half, the Cards were up 29-24 at the media timeout.  Sydney Taylor hit the first 3 of the game for the Cards out of the TO.  Then she hit another three to put the Cards ahead 35-24.  Then she hit another.... UofL on 19-2 run over the final 6 min of the half.


HALF 43-26 Cards

End of 3Q 16-11 Cards

FG %
7-18 38.9% Cards
3-17 17.6% FSU
Reb. 17-8 Cards
3-pt %
0-3 0% Cards
0-6 0% FSU

Cards started the half with a turnover and a blocking foul called on them.  But FSU went on a scoring drought themselves for about 3 minutes. Jefferson hit her 10th point of the game on a wild chuck up at the basket with about 5 min on the clock to make it 51-30. The defense did not collapse and they outscored the Seminoles by 5 in the quarter.

End of 4Q 18-11 FSU

FG %
3-12 25% Cards
7-17 41.2% FSU
Reb. 12-9 Cards
3-pt %
0-1 0% Cards
1-4 25% FSU


FSU opened the 4th quarter 11-4 as the Cards went scoreless from the field for about 3 minutes and had 3 turnovers in the quarter.  FSU struggled for a period of time too, not scoring a FG for almost 4 minutes will make it difficult to come back on a team that's up by 20 even if they aren't scoring either. With 1 min left in the game, Olivia, Nyla, Sydney, Rickards and Jefferson were on the floor before getting an standing O as they went to the bench and the Cards dribbled it out.

Curry, HVS, Mobley, Russell and Love finished out the final minute on the floor.


FINAL 70-55

Nyla Harris (And myself and Paulie)

UP NEXT

Louisville vs Notre Dame

Sunday 3/3

2 p.m. on ESPN

FRED REPORT

(Fred Jones....from ScoobyDoo seems happy about the Cards win)

FREE THROWS -- This game was not a free throw heavy game... which is nice sometimes as long as it's called the same both ways. The team went 11-15 which is good for 73.3% with Sydney Taylor leading going 5-6.  CAPITAL F

REBOUNDING -- Louisville outrebounded the Seminoles 57-36. You read that correctly.... 57 rebounds against a top tier ACC squad. 18 & 17 in the 2nd and 3rd quarter respectively.   Harris had 15 of them.  CAPITAL R 

EFFORT/EXECUTION -- The effort on Thursday evening was night and day from Sunday against Virginia. Walz complimented that the squad played well for 37 minutes in the game.  The first couple minutes of the 4th quarter were suspect but they put several stops together to end all hopes for the Seminoles.  CAPITAL E

DEFENSE --  Florida State came into this one averaging almost 80 points per game.   The Cardinals held FSU to 52 points for the majority of the game before they hit a 3 to close the game.  They also started the game on an 8-0 run.  FSU went 2-20 from 3 point land.  CAPITAL D

FINAL FRED TALLY: F-R-E-D


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

Around the ACC - WBB


Boston College upsets UNC  78-74

Clemson beat Wake Forest 68-64

Notre Dame dominated VT  71-58

NC state beat Syracuse  75-71

THEY SAID IT:  

COCHRAN AND HARRIS POST GAME

WALZ POST GAMR

Softball

The Cardinals have a pair of games today, starting with a 10:30am first pitch against the Villanova Wildcats and a 3:30pm start against the hosting USF Bulls. The Cards are coming off a win over WKU and looking to continue the best start in program history since 2012.

Louisville vs Villanova 10:30am

Louisville vs USF 3:30pm ESPN+



Opponent: Wildcats

Villanova is struggling to find some victories as they sport a 4-9 record, going 1-4 last weekend in the Duke Invitational where the only win came against Michigan State, 2-1. In their last outing, the Blue Devils got the win in 6 innings 11-5. Tess Cites and Ava Franz both went yard in the game for Villanova. Kelsey White received the loss after surrendering four earned runs in four innings, while Kat Gallant tossed one-plus stanzas in the circle for VU. Alyssa Seidler leads the team in strikeouts at 25 and pitched a complete game in their only win last weekend vs the Spartans.

Louisville leads 16-2. Many of these matchups came from Louisville's time in the Big East conference (2006-13).

The last time the two met was 2/20/2022.  The Cardinals scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to beat Villanova 3-2 in the final game of the T-Mobile Classic in Gainesville, Fla.





Opponent: Bulls

The South Florida Bulls are on a 5 game winning streak coming off a pair of victories over Stetson in a double header on Wednesday evening, 4-0 and 7-2. Payton Dixon set a new career-high of 13 strikeouts in the first game of the double header.  USF scored 5 runs in the 3rd inning of the second game.

USF is coming into their home tournament with a 10-5 record and are coming off a 3-2 showing last weekend. Alexa Galligani leads the Bulls in hits at 14 and is currently batting .359. Payton Dixon leads the team with a .095 ERA and has only allowed 5 runs this season.

Louisville leads the series 27-17. The majority of these matchups also came from Louisville's days in the Big East, but last matchup came from when Louisville was a member of the American conference. May 9, 2014. Louisville defeated USF 8-0 in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament.

Once the temperatures start to warm up, I will be out at some softball games to catch the Cards in action!!  Also looking forward to another season down at the Bats this year.  My 10TH season down there.   

It was great to be back out on press row with Paulie for the Senior night finale!!! We got to catch a big Cards win to close out the 2023/24 season. 

As Always,

Go Cards

~Daryl 

Strong Fourth Quarter leads Cards past FSU 82-75 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

MORGAN JONES PUTS 25 ON FORMER TEAM IN UofL WIN

(Hailey Van Lith fan in Tallahassee)

It's said you can never really go home again, but, Morgan Jones looked to be in her element against FSU...making nine of her ten shots from the floor seven of he eight free throws and grabbing 1o rebounds. The former FSU star just needed a welcome mat, batch of chocolate chip cookies and friendly puppy to greet her at the visitors locker room door in the on-campus Donald L. Tucker Center. 

Oh, and just who was Donald L. Tucker? Why, he was the leader of the Florida House of Representatives from 1974-78 and a special ambassador to  The Dominican Republic for the U.S.  So, if this guy can get a facility named after home, what can we do for our beloved ex "mayor-for-life" Jerry Abramson?

For 3/4th of this contest Sunday afternoon in the Donald L. Tucker Center, the scenario seemed to be the the story of "close, but not close enough". The Cards WBB squad would make runs at the FSU lead, even grab it away a couple of times, but...from the early beginnings of the contest to the end of the third quarter...the story was the same. FSU had scored more overall points,

20-14 Noles after the first 10 minutes, in a quarter that was slow in developing. Almost 2-1.2 minutes passed before either team scored, and Louisville trailed 20-14 despite shooting 40%. The encouragement of seeing Liz Dixon and Hailey Van Lith off to good starts was maybe overshadowed by five Cardinals turnovers.

Louisville would draw even closer, at the start of the next 10 minutes, knocking the lead down to three a couple of times and leading by one at 25-24 after a couple of Jones buckets, but FSU went on a half-ending 9-4 run to secure a 33-29 halftime lead.

If the FSU pep band had broken into Little Richard's "You Keep a Knocking But You Can't Come In".( Little Richard song link) one couldn't have blamed them...

(You could even take the song "Along Came Jones" and match it up with this game). LINK to "ALONG CAME JONES" SONG

So, at the half, the score stood at 33.29 and the usual suspects were showing up, with Jones, on the scoresheet -- with Van Lith at six points and some quality minutes from Norika Konno. Van Lith had an unaccustomed-to six turnovers, though, and UofL had only two points off turnovers to trail 33-29. Latson was 1-8 from the floor. 

FSU won the third quarter 24-22 and, although the Cards were keeping league-leading scorer Ta'Niya Latson relatively quiet for the game (seven points),  Sara Bedeji was another of the several, talented FSU scorers and she had picked up the pace for Brooke Wyckoff's Garnet and Gold. FSU had a 57-51 lead with ten minutes to go and you had to wonder if the Cards had one last charge in them. 

And...as it turned out...they most certainly did. 

In the end, it was the Olivia Cochran and Van Lith duo who exploded for the Cards and salted this one away. Louisville started the quarter on a 11-4 run and they grabbed the lead on a Van Lith jumper with seven minutes to go. The Cards were ahead  62-61 and never relinquished the lead again.  Cochran's 10 point fourth quarter gave the Noles another inside scorer to  worry about and Louisville led 68-63 with 4:42 to go and 79-75 with 27 seconds to play. The Noles never gave up, but it was their turn to hear Louisville perform "Keep a Knocking" to describe the gme flow.. 

The Cards put a 82-75 win on the board and, besides Jones' 25 points...Van Lith had 20, Cochran had 13 and Carr had 11. With the win, the Cards go to 14-6 and 5-2 in the ACC...FSU goes to 16-4 and 5-2.

And, the shot of the day...maybe of the year came from HVL, as the Cards were protecting a 77-75 lead late. Watch the link and marvel:  LINK

THE FRED REPORT

(Cards danced away at the very end like Fred Astaire ending a movie) 

FREE THROWS --  14 for 19 is 73% and that's enough to earn the Cards a Capital "F" Walz probably would have rather had FSU's 18 for 20...but after 21 attempts for the teams in the third quarter, they only tried nine in the fourth quarter. Nice consistency, ref crew.

REBOUNDS -- Louisville dominated here 42-28 and Jones had 10, Cochran and Van Lith eight. A capital "R" works here...

EFFORT/EXECUTION -- 18 turnovers is too many, but 54% SHOOTING is very nice. 19 assists on 32 made baskets isn't too bad either. The 31 fourth-quarter points was two more than the Cards had in the entire first half, and despite claims by some that too much attention is paid to scoring, I'm pretty sure you still need to have at least one more point than an opponent to win. I'll offer a small case "e" for that revved up fourth quarter effort. 

DEFENSE --  Louisville held the league's leading scorer (Latson) to just 11 points and the Cards had six blocks and six steals. 37.9% shooting and just 75 points out of the league's highest scoring team is a nice stat, too. And, in the end, the Cards held FSU to just four points in a crucial four-minute part of the final quarter, and that ultimately led to victory. Capital "D"

FINAL FRED REPORT:  F-R-e-D

THEY SAID IT:   

Jeff Walz post game

FSU Post Game

The Cards return home for two next week.  Thursday (Boston College) and Sunday (NC State) games. The fun continues, make sure you're a past of it.  

paulie

 

Gameday Full of Question Marks - Sunday Cardinal Couple

Florida State Brings Question Marks

Let's start with what we know.  The UofL Women's Basketball team is scheduled to play Florida State at 3pm in the KFC Yum! Center.  I saw "scheduled to" because as we saw last week, in this topsy turvy year, even if a game gets played, times can get adjusted due to last minute uncertainty.

Florida State has been on pause due to a Covid-19 test and tracing within the program.  The last game they played was against Virginia Tech on New Years Eve.  With their own pause, Duke opting out of the the rest of the season, and several other teams also triggering schedule reshuffling, it has been two and a half weeks since FSU's last game.

No Sue for you, FSU...

FSU Head Coach Sue Semrau is taking a leave of absence for the season to help care for her mother recovering from ovarian cancer.  FSU is led this year by Interim Head Coach Brooke Wyckoff, joined by Associate Head Coach Joy McCorvey and Assistant Coach Morgan Toles.

So what are the question marks?  The biggest is the two and a half week break.  We saw Louisville take a couple of games to get back into the swing of things after our pause in December, will FSU have the same sort of game rustiness that they'll need to knock off?

Working with an Interim Head Coach puts a bit of a question mark over the whole season for FSU.  Give full marks to the program and squad, as indications are that they are doing well with that little bit of uncertainty.  It helps that Wycoff has been by Semrau's side for nine seasons, helping to provide some continuity and a smoother transition.

Another question mark comes from the games that FSU has gotten to play this year.  They only succeeded in getting one non-conference game played, against a Florida team that now has a record of 7-6, 0-5 in conference.  To give Florida a little bit of credit, though, four of the five games they've played in conference have been against ranked teams, so maybe let's cut them some slack.

Otherwise, FSU has a win over Virginia which doesn't say much, a barn-burner loss against Clemson, and wins over Pitt and Virginia Tech.

Lot's of question marks, for sure.

Kourtney Weber, a 5'10" guard, is the points leader for FSU, with Morgan Jones, listed as a 6'2" guard close behind.  Both have hit an even 50% of their three point shots on the year, but to be fair, Jones has only attempted two, which suggests that maybe she should be listed as a forward instead.  Weber takes roughly a third of her shots from beyond the arc.  The three points leader is 6'1" guard Sammie Puisis, and that guard listing probably is accurate, with 3/4 of her shots coming from beyond the arc, and about a third of them going in.

Other scoring threats are Bianca Jackson, a 5'11" guard, and Valencia Myers, a 6'3" forward.  Also watch out for Myers as a shot blocking threat.  She has 13 in the five games the team has played this season.

FSU has outrebounded opponents this season by a margin of about 4 to 3, they also get to the line more than their opponents, by about the same margin.  A word of advice: don't put Weber or Jackson on the line.  They both do get to the free throw line quite a bit, and they are nearly automatic when they get there.  Both have shot more than 20 in the 5 games so far, each with only a single miss, for percentages in the 95% range.

What will we see today?  Your guess is as good as mine.  With so many question marks, any predictions need to be taken with a grain of salt.  Despite that, I like the prospects for UofL.  FSU hasn't been blowing anyone out, with their largest margin of victory over a not-great-and-now-cancelled-season Virginia by 18.

This one is at the KFC Yum! Center at 3pm with television on ESPN2, which means we get Ryan Ruocco and Rebecca Lobo on the call for this one.  Of course, Nick Curran on 790am is always a great options as well.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

The whole crew was on the call yesterday, Jared, Daryl, Case, Paulie and myself all found our way to Skype connection and to you by way of YouTube.

We had lots of basketball to talk about.  Despite craziness and a big pause in December, games are coming hot and heavy now.  We recapped several, and previewed a bit of the FSU game today.  Emina Ekic did get a little bit of discussion and next stage of her career here in Louisville.  Plus another tidbit or two at the end.  A long show this week with lots to talk about.

Check it out below or in your favorite podcast player.

JMcA

Friday Match-Ups -- ACC Pick Em --North CAROLINA Weekend Schedule -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

ACC Tournament

Tournament Update

So, four games on Day Two of the ACC Tournament. All the better seeds prevailed.

VIRGINIA 57 vs. SYRACUSE 67

The Orange grabbed the early lead and it never faltered, despite a heroic effort from the Cavaliers. Willoughby and Toussaint combined for 32 of UVA's points, but couldn't overcome a 40-29 Orange halftime lead. Q was up to his dramatics in the second half, finally wiping his head off with a towel at the buzzer in the 67-57 Syracuse win. #5 seed takes the win over the #12 seed. 

Four in double figures for the New York school. Strautmane (14) Mangakahia (13) Lewis (12) and Drummond (11). Aiding them, the Orange shot 50% for the game. VA only 37%. Otto the Orange's gals also won the paint scoring battle as well...30-20


GEORGIA TECH 73 vs. NORTH CAROLINA 80

#9 vs. #8 seeds in the second game and UNC rolled out like they were going to romp the Heels. 9-0 early on three straight Leah Church threes but Georgia Tech ended up with the 24-16 lead after one. UNC kept chipping away, though...40-35 was the Tech halftime lead and a 57 tie after three. Without Janelle Bailey, suspended for this one, the UNC squad found their way to a 23-16 fourth quarter and takes this one 80-73.

Church ended with 20, Paris Kea added 19 and Shayla Bennett was good for 18. Points off turnovers (15-6) and second chance points (19-11) the two key numbers in favor of the Chapel Hill school here in the seven-point UNC victory.

CLEMSON 80 - VIRGINIA TECH 79

This was the contest to watch. Back and forth, Tech leading early,,,Clemson catching up and passing them in the third quarter...and a all out fourth quarter that ended in a 71-71 tie. Clemson getting up early in the O.T. and seemingly winning by four but a buzzer-beater by Va. Tech cutting it to one at the end.

So many heroes. Aliyah Collier going for 28 (off the bench) for the Tigers. Taylor Emery 35 in a spectacular effort in defeat. 22 Tiger turnovers and they manage to pull it out. The CU school won the points-in-paint 30-20 and second chance points 11-7, and that helped them win the contest.

FSU  51 - DUKE 41

If the third game was, as most agreed, exciting, stimulating and fun to watch, this one was like getting a root canal, while heavily sedated and it taking forever.

Someone had to win and Florida State never trailed in methodically duking out the Dookies. Heck, it's putting me to sleep just typing about it. What you need to know...Haley Gorecki is a stud for the Blue Devils, Neither team could sink a three if their lives depended on it and Kiah Gillespie had a double-double for FSU (15 and 12). Thank goodness I was sitting next to the FSU play-by-play guy. His fevered pitch over something that wasn't exciting at all kept me awake.

FSU advances, so the better seed theory stayed alive, but, honestly...the ACC should have just said that neither team advances and they'd move Clemson and Va. Tech move to Friday instead. .


ON TAP TODAY

Live from Greensboro

With Paulie present at the ACC Tournament I will leave recapping the games to him, but wanted to point out the four match-ups we'll see today.

#5 Syracuse vs #4 Miami, 11:00 a.m.

Cuse is coming off a 10-point victory in the first game yesterday and the U is set to play their first game of the tournament.  These two teams met in New York in late January where the Hurricanes won 84-71.

#8 North Carolina vs #1 Notre Dame, 2:00 p.m.

Live from Greensboro...Mr. Arthur and Bea.

The Heels held on down the stretch in their first game of the tournament in the first half of yesterday's events while the top-seeded Irish have come off a double-bye.  Notre Dame went to Chapel Hill in late January and got upset by UNC 78-73.

#7 Clemson vs #2 Louisville, 6:00 p.m.

The Tigers held on to win by one in overtime in their opening game of the tournament yesterday while the Cards are fresh off a double-bye.  UofL blew out Clemson 76-44 in the KFC Yum Center at the beginning of February.

#6 Florida State vs #3 NC State, 8:00 p.m.

FSU was sluggish in a low-scoring game for their first appearance in the tournament yesterday while the Wolfpack is the final team of the tournament to see the floor.  The Seminoles took down NC State during the Wolfpack's stretch of losing three of four in early February 75-70 down in Tallahassee.

ACC Pick Em

Some brackets are looking pretty ugly for the folks who picked lots of upsets.  As of this point in the tournament the higher seeds have won every game.

Going into the final game last night there 5 remaining perfect brackets of the 23 entries.  Two of those were ruined when FSU defeated Duke.

Here is a list of everyone's record going seven games in with seven remaining:

7-0

Paul Sykes

Case Hoskins

Jeremy Wilkerson

6-1

Curtis Franklin

Nick O

K Stark Sr

Arthur

Seminole Sue

Jared Anderson

Thomas Irwin

Charlie McAdams

"#1"

Sandy W

5-2

Sonya Sykes

Joe Hill

Douglas Anderson

Jason Wyrick

Daryl Foust

Jeff McAdams

4-3

David Watson

Spanky

Vivian McAdams

3-4

Cardinal Chimps (has 3 guaranteed losses between Friday and Saturday, not yet included in record)

Weekend Schedule

Women's basketball will hopefully have three games this weekend.  The only guaranteed one is today at 6:00 against Clemson.  They could also play on Saturday at 2:30 and Sunday at noon.

Softball is down in Auburn for the War Eagle Challenge and some of the games have been slightly altered.  They will play Radford at 10:00 and Michigan State at 12:30 on Friday.  There will be two more games on Saturday when the Cards play at 10:00 against Radford and 3:00 against Auburn.  The Cards will wrap up play on Sunday with a game against Mercer at 11:00.

Lacrosse will host Duke on Saturday at noon.  With Paulie in Greensboro I may be the only representative present, pending Worldwide's schedule.  I typically do not tweet during games as I have a camera attached to my face so check out the UofL Twitter (@louisvillelax).

Women's tennis has two games, one on the road and one at home.  The Cards will visit Notre Dame on Friday at 3:30 before returning home to the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center to face Georgia Tech at 10:00.

Baseball has their ACC opener, hosting Boston College for a three-game series.  They'll play Friday at 5:00, Saturday at 1:00, and Sunday at noon.  UofL does charge for ACC games at Jim Patterson Stadium.

Track and field will be in Birmingham for the Indoor Championships all weekend.

Men's basketball will play at Virginia on Saturday afternoon.

Men's tennis will have two home matches on Sunday, facing Notre Dame and Wright State.

You can catch Worldwide, Case, Daryl, and myself will be in the studio on Saturday.  If our engineers can get everything working as we hope then we should have a phone call with our fearless leader from Greensboro about halfway through the show.

Whether he answers or not, who knows?

It's how he rolls.

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

Jared