Cards On The Table a fresh look at player interviews -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 EPISODE ONE of CARDS ON THE TABLE AN IN DEPTH DISCUSSION BETWEEN "E", IMARI and TAJIANNA AND MACKENLY

Cards On The Table isn't a new campus game of cards or hijinks in the team's dining area.

What it is..is an nicely moderated discussion with moderator Mackenly Randolph.and three current Cardinals Women's basketball players. Episode One features Elif Istanbulluoglu , Tajianna Roberts,MacKenly  Randolph and Imarr Berry.

Randolph asks the other three players questions and they respond to her. She is a natural for the moderator's role and the players respond well to her and also seem to be having a lot of fun taping the segment. 

It is a unique and well-designed format, where the discussion is free flowing and pretty funny at times...but the over 30 minute production is fast paced and informative. Walz is one of the topics that they discuss. 

One area they talk a lot about is the Versa. To explain it, the Versa is not the phrase "Vice versa" but a piece of equipment workout that involves upper and lower body vertical climbing movements. The low-impact training build high aerobic endurance and muscular strength without heavy joint stress from running. 

Click HERE. for a clip of the Versa Climber. 

This is supposed to be a regular feature that UofL WBB will be doing, and we look forward to the next one. 

paulie 

Hearing from the probable Cards WBB starters -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 RANDOLPH, ISTANBULLUOGLU, ROBERTS AND BERRY SPEAK 

In case you missed them, last week the four girls that are are front runners to be starters for Louisville women's basketball spoke to a collection of media. I no longer attend these, partly due to health concerns and partly because UofL doesn't want me there. But, they are good discourses on a wide variety of subjects, I have them for you below .

https://youtu.be/WiVihv4FTx0?si=f9Eeqkm8S-bZNDVf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQG26IjaczE

If anything, the two clips..about 30 minutes in all, teach us valuable lesson...passing the torch is an important thing to all four. Leading by example and taking time to talk with the younger, inexperienced players is important to them and they look forward to the season ahead. 

The rest of the ACC will look at this 2026-27 squad and realize that there isn't just one athlete to shut down in order to stymie this team, there are at least four that have the skills, ability and talent to take over a game and make you pay 

There is a potential powder keg sitting on campus right now, let's see if the fuse gets lit ad it blows up the ACC and Di women's basketball. 

paulie

For Cards, Victory is Sweet -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Defeats Alabama 69-68

via UofL Athletics

It was vindication for Imari Berry Monday afternoon, as she stepped to the free throw line in a two-point game with 8 seconds remaining against Alabama. Similar situations have seen Berry step to the line for critical late-game foul shots twice in the last two months, both against Duke. In early February, Berry made one of two at the line with one second remaining for the Cards to lose by a single point. In the ACC Championship game, Berry again made one of two with 14 seconds left to give the Cards just a two point lead instead of three. Duke made a tying layup and went on to win in overtime. Those situations were top of mind for everyone in the Yum! Center, and if they weren't for people watching the game on ESPN, the announcing crew made sure to remind everyone of them. Whether Berry thought of them at all will forever be a mystery, but she calmly sank both free throws to give the Cards a two-possession lead. Alabama's banked prayer, as a result, made it a one-point game rather than tying, and Louisville survived a buzzer-beating attempt to win by just one point. 

It was an up-and-down affair, with each team trading haymakers during the game. The teams alternated quarter victories, with Louisville losing the final stanza but holding on just enough to win the game outright. Alabama refused to yield, multiple times needing sparks that brought them back into contention when Louisville looked poised to break the game open. The first of those came in the opening quarter. After Louisville turned a 4-6 deficit into a 13-6 lead with two minutes remaining, the Crimson Tide showed the danger of relaxing for just a moment. The Tide ran the shot clock down and Ace Austin nailed a three to make it 13-9. On the ensuing possession, Louisville turned the ball over just beyond mid-court and Laura Ziegler found herself trapped in a 2-on-1 situation. Normally, choosing to defend the easy layup is preferable to stepping out to guard the three-point shooter. When that shooter has just made a clutch three, though, preferences may go out the window. Austin sank her second three in ten seconds and Louisville's lead evaporated. The teams traded baskets and Louisville led 15-14 at the break. 

A frenetic second quarter saw the two teams shoot a combined 16/31 from the floor and 8/16 from three-point land. Unfortunately for Louisville, they were on the losing end of the percentage battle in both categories. Alabama rode a 5/9 performance from beyond the arc to a 21-19 second quarter win and a one-point halftime lead. 

Coach Jeff Walz put some fear into the Cards at halftime, as they were in danger of being upset at home. Louisville responded well. Both teams shot just 2/6 from distance in the third quarter, but Louisville was much more effective inside. The Cards were 9/16 from the floor overall and won the third by six points. Both teams took their first free throws in the third quarter, though Louisville's served as an omen for the remainder of the game. Alabama went 2-2 from the stripe while the Cards missed a pair. Those missed free throws came off the hands of Elif Istanbulluoglu, who entered as 70% foul shooter. Louisville went on to finish 8/16 from the stripe, dropping their season average by an entire percentage point and moving them down 30 spots in that stat category. 

Holly Rowe selfie from 2024-25

The Cards opened the fourth quarter with a 54-49 lead and extended it on an Imari Berry jumper just 15 seconds into the fourth. That pushed Louisville's lead to 56-49 and the crowd was feeling it. The Cards were poised to break the game open, but they failed to capitalize. Louisville had three possessions over the next minute and a half where Alabama remained scoreless, but they failed to extend their lead. That's when the Tide swept through. Alabama went on a 10-1 run, led by a pair of threes from Karly Weathers, to take a 59-57 lead. The crowd was stunned, but Walz let his team play through it. Another missed three late in the shot clock looked like it would give Bama another big momentum builder, but Mackenly Randolph pulled down the offensive rebound and kicked it back out. The ball worked around to Elif, who nailed a three and put Louisville back on top.

Louisville holding their ground despite the big burst from Alabama proved to be the difference. Free throws would have salted the game away, but I already noted that the Cards struggled in that regard. Their next three trips to the line saw them go 1/2 each time, but Alabama continued to miss shots after their big run. With 1:57 remaining, Randolph was sent to the line in a huge spot and knocked down a pair to extend Louisville's lead to 65-61. Louisville's defense stepped up, and a steal in the corner led to a timeout. With 27 seconds on the shot clock, Louisville went to work, using every second they could. Reyna Scott drove with five left, but she was blocked. The ball came back to her and she buried a jumper from just inside the free throw line as the shot clock ran out. 

Michael Hickey | Getty

Louisville looked like they'd put the game away when a jumper was missed by Alabama with 52 seconds left, but the ball bounced around until it was rebounded by the offense. A foul on the attempt gave Essence Cody a pair of free throws, which she sank to keep the lead at just four. Louisville burned the clock down again, but this time Taj Roberts' shot late in the clock failed to reach the rim. The fans erupted when another shot went in as the shot clock horn sounded, but it was ruled a shot clock violation and confirmed on review. Alabama took their final timeout with 19 seconds left, trailing by four. Randolph came up with a huge block on a layup, but Weathers recollected the ball and tipped it in with ten seconds remaining. That set up Berry's redemption story, but the game wasn't quite over. Weathers, who else, made the 30-foot bank shot to keep the Tide alive. Louisville tried to catch Alabama off guard with a quick inbounds to Scott so she could sprint away from defenders, but the plan didn't work. Scott went to the line with 2.3 seconds left and a chance to put the Cards up a full possession. She missed the first. 

The conventional wisdom says you should miss the second to run the clock. Missing a free throw intentionally is difficult. It's also risky. A shot that fails to hit the rim doesn't count, and a shot that hits the rim too hard could lead to a breakaway for the defense. Scott executed the intentional miss well, and the ball bounced down toward the block. Alabama took off down the court and the Cards defended, in my opinion, dangerously closely. You know a desperation heave is coming. A foul on that heave basically loses you the game. Nevertheless, Louisville harassed the ballcarrier just enough for the shot to miss wide of the rim. The play-by-play actually doesn't even indicate the shot, so it may have been waved off. Whatever the decision, the outcome was the same. Louisville survived and advanced. 

The FRED Report

F - Free Throws: Eight of sixteen. It was bad. It was bad before the intentional miss, because 8/15 is still barely over 50%. No letter. 

R - Rebounding: The Cards dominated the boards 41-24. Louisville had two players with double-digit boards as Randolph had 13 and Elif had 11 (double-double with 18 points). Ziegler added eight, while Weathers was the top rebounder for Alabama with just five. The Cards used that advantage to double up on the Tide in second chance points, which was critical. Capital 'R'. 

E - Effort/Execution: Louisville shot just 45% from the floor and 27% from three. However, they didn't yield. Even when minor lapses saw Alabama erase big leads, the Cards stayed focused on the goal, and they did just enough to get the win. Louisville did lose the turnover battle 15-13 and the points off turnovers battle 15-10, though, so I can only give a lowercase 'e'.

D - Defense: The Cards had just seven steals and Alabama shot 45.6% from the floor and 46.2% from three. You might think that's an easy knock on the defense, but Louisville held the Tide to under 50% from two and just 24 points in the paint. They sent Alabama to the line only twice, making the 100% free-throw shooting virtually useless. They also held the Tide below their scoring average, so I'm going to grant a lowercase 'd'. 

A final tally of _-R-e-d won't win many awards, but it did the all important thing of winning this game. 

Louisville advances to the Sweet Sixteen for the 13th time under Coach Jeff Walz. Those 13 appearances under Walz represent every appearance in program history. The Cards will now travel to Fort Worth for the next round (or two) of the NCAA Tournament. Louisville will face the two-seed, Michigan, who dispatched NC State by a whopping 29 points on Sunday. The Cards have won the last five matchups against the Wolverines, but the two teams last met in 2022. The Sweet Sixteen game will be played at 12:30 on ABC.

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cards Crush Orange -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville to Face UNC in Semis

photo by Taris Smith | Louisville Athletics

Led by 17 points from Taj Roberts, Louisville had a balanced attack that saw six player finish in double figures to propel the Cards to a relatively straightforward 26-point victory. Louisville jumped ahead to a 25-12 lead after the first quarter and used a 25-14 fourth quarter to put the game away. Joining Roberts in double figures were Reyna Scott (15), Mackenly Randolph (12), Skylar Jones (12), Imari Berry (11), and Laura Ziegler (11). Syracuse got 22 points out of Uche Izoje, but it wasn't enough to keep pace with the Louisville offense. 

The Cards got off to a strong start in the first, hitting 11 of their 16 shots. They went 2-3 from beyond the arc, which was a mark they would go on to match in the fourth. Louisville's ability to score inside was evident, and they went on to outscore Syracuse 46-30 over the course of the game. Although it took three minutes for either team to score to open the game, Louisville scored the first eight points and led 13-2 with 4:39 remaining in the quarter. The Cards stretched their lead to 15 points at 21-6 and again at 25-10 before the Orange made a tip-in to close the quarter at the 25-12 score. 

The middle portion of the game was quite close, with the teams only separated in the second and third quarters by a combined two points. Syracuse used 53.3% shooting from the floor and a 4-4 effort from the free-throw line to win the second quarter 21-20. Louisville, meanwhile, failed to reach the free throw line in the second and went 0-4 from three point land as part of a 10-22 second quarter. Louisville came out of the locker room with a 12-point lead and managed to scrape together a 17-14 third quarter victory that didn't get the best of either team. Louisville made just six shots, though three were from beyond the arc, and they went 2-3 from the stripe. Syracuse managed to be worse, making just five shots with two of them being threes. 

photo by Taris Smith | Louisville Athletics

The fourth quarter sealed the deal, with Louisville eerily matching its output from the first, hitting 11 of 16 shots and going 2-3 from three. It wasn't a carbon copy, as Louisville only scored the first seven points of the quarter, but by that point the game was out of reach. The Cards salted the game away, getting exciting ACC tournament minutes for some of the bench players, and took their rest to prepare for their game today. 

Mackenly Randolph finished with a double-double for the Cards, adding 10 rebounds to her 12 points. Imari Berry and Skylar Jones were very productive, with both tallying five assists, at least five rebounds, and a block. Leading scorer Taj Roberts added four assists, three rebounds, and three steals. She and Jones tied for the team lead with 70% shooting on the day.

The FRED Report

F - Free Throws: This one was bad. Louisville didn't get to the line much, and they usually missed when they did. 4-10 from the stripe won't get it done in a close game, and it earns no letter.

R - Rebounding: Like points, Louisville spread their rebounds around. Randolph had ten, but four other players had at least four. The Cards won the rebounding battle 43-34, and while I want to knock them for allowing Syracuse to pull down more offensive rebounds, Louisville shot 56% from the floor, so they didn't have a ton of O-boards to get. From an offensive rebounding rate standpoint, Louisville was actually better than Syracuse, as they pulled down 30.3% of their missed shots while Syracuse had just 25%. Capital 'R'.

E - Effort/Execution: It's hard to knock a 26-point win over a team that finished with fewer than double-digit losses, but Louisville didn't play their cleanest game. They had 14 turnovers, which was more than Syracuse, and the free throws were abysmal. That said, they did shoot well overall and they closed the game as strong as they opened it. 14 turnovers isn't great, but it didn't bite them in this one. Louisville also remains relatively rested going into their second game, so I'll grant a Capital 'E'. 

D - Defense: Nine steals and two blocks is pretty nice. The Cards forced just one other turnover, though, which is less nice. That said, they allowed just 34.3% shooting and never trailed. In fact, by the time Syracuse finally scored their first basket, Louisville would never lead by fewer than they did at that moment (six). The Cards faced a seven-point deficit at the free throw line, but they only gave up four more attempts. They allowed just 61 points, in the end, so I'm going to have to say Capital 'D'. 

photo by Taris Smith | Louisville Athletics

Was I feeling generous? Maybe. But that's a final tally of _-R-E-D. That's a fun cheer for the Cards going into a semifinal gameday as the only red team remaining. That said, Louisville will likely need to be better today (and tomorrow) from the free throw line if they want to leave Atlanta with hardware. 

The ACC quarterfinals were a bloodbath. Top-seeded Duke actually had the smallest margin of victory, and that was still 14 points. The Blue Devils topped Clemson 60-46. Notre Dame completed a minor upset of NC State in a major way. The Irish won 81-63 and will face Duke at noon on ESPN2. Louisville's win was the largest of the day and the largest of the tournament so far. They'll face UNC following the conclusion of game one. UNC beat VT 85-68. 

The Cards and Tar Heels are scheduled to tip at 2:30 on ESPN2. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Berry Named ACC POTW -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Imari Berry's Big Day Draws Accolade

Louisville women's basketball had a huge win on Sunday, as Daryl wrote up in her column yesterday, and the big road week for the Cards saw them regain some national attention. Louisville had a pair of tough road tests last week against Notre Dame and NC State and came away with wins in two of the toughest places to play in the conference. Those victories moved Louisville to 5-0 on the road this season and pushed them to 8-0 in conference play. Louisville stands tied atop the league with just one other undefeated team: Duke. The Cards and Blue Devils will face off just once this season, with Kara Lawson's squad coming to the KFC Yum! Center on Thursday, February 5th. The game is already announced as an ESPN matchup. 

Louisville's victories did more than keep them atop the ACC; they propelled the Cards squarely back into the top-ten in the country and resurfaced Louisville amongst teams to watch as the season rolls on. The Cards moved up to 8th in both the NET rankings and the Associated Press poll, and will likely see themselves on the rise when the USA Today Coaches Poll is released today. The Cards are the highest rated three-loss team, sitting three spots ahead of Kentucky, who stand at 11th in the NET and AP polls. 

Along with the team recognition, a Louisville player found herself in the spotlight as well, with Imari Berry being named the ACC WBB Player of the Week. Berry had a huge game on Sunday, pouring in a career-high 33 points and adding 12 assists for the second double-double in her career. Berry's game on Sunday included back-breaking shot after back-breaking shot as the Wolfpack tried to distance themselves, and she made two free throws to send the game to overtime. Berry also added three steals and a pair of assists. 

graphic via gocards.com

Berry was critical in a game that saw Taj Roberts struggle from the floor and be limited to just four points. Roberts was coming off of a big game of her own against Notre Dame, in which she scored 19 points on 4-5 shooting from three and went 5-5 from the line in 36 minutes, so it would be understandable if her legs weren't quite there on the back-end of two huge away games. Berry, to her credit, was good for the Cards in South Bend as well, scoring seven points to go along with five rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a block. Berry has shown that she can shoot the lights out in limited quantities in the past. Sunday's game was the first time where she went completely unconscious and took the game over. If she and Roberts can come together for big games at the same time against some of Louisville's key opponents down the stretch, the ceiling for this team gets a lot higher. 

After the tough road trip, Louisville gets a minor reprieve with a mid-week ACC bye. They'll have Thursday off before hosting Boston College on Sunday, January 25th. Louisville will need to get every bit of rest they can this week, as they have a tough stretch before their next midweek bye. After BC, Louisville will go on the road for the West Coast swing against Stanford and Cal before returning home for that game against Duke. Then they'll make a weekend trip to Syracuse before coming back home to face Wake Forest and Florida State. That's a lot of air miles and a lot of difficult matchups. Going 7-0 in this stretch would be a dream. Getting out of it with one or two losses would be commendable. We'll see what the Cards can do as the season heats up. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

WBB Beats EKU 76-51 -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Roberts Leads Four Cards in Double Figures

Louisville women's basketball looked headed for a major letdown game after their big win against UNC on Sunday when the Colonels of EKU took a 19-14 lead through one quarter. The halftime score still didn't look super favorable for the Cards (30-27), but flipping a five-point deficit to a three-point lead means you had a pretty strong second quarter. The final score indicates the continued domination that took place after the rocky first quarter. Louisville won the third 24-10 and the fourth 22-14 to ultimately cruise to a 24-point victory. 

Louisville got out to a slow start, shooting just 6-16 from the floor in the first quarter. They were 1-6 from beyond the arc, though that area never really improved last night. Worst of all, Louisville didn't do much with their trips to the free throw line, going just 1-4 from the stripe in the first quarter. It's a bit difficult to say what exactly went wrong for Louisville in the first, other than they just weren't effective. Five turnovers (out of 16 total) in that first quarter weren't helpful, but they weren't overly crushing either. Regardless, the Cards turned it around after that. 

Surprisingly, Louisville actually shot worse from the field overall in the second quarter, going 6-18 from the floor (0-4 from three), but they were 4-6 from the line to help buoy the offense. They also turned around their defensive effort, which was helped out tremendously by EKU going cold from three-point land. After shooting 4-7 from distance in the first as part of a 7-14 overall effort, the Colonels were just 3-14 from the floor in the second quarter and missed all six of their three-point attempts. EKU went 50% from the floor and 57.1% from three in the first quarter and they would go on to finish 35.1% from the floor and 26.1% from three. Both of those numbers were helped out by an improved fourth quarter during garbage time. 

As I mentioned, Louisville never quite got things going from beyond the arc. The Cards finished just 3-22 from distance, a dreadful 13.6%. They eventually realized that they could have great success inside, though, and they finished 40.3% from the floor overall, shooting 28-55 from two and scoring 44 points in the paint. Part of that came from a strong effort on the boards, as Louisville scored 18 second chance points. They managed 23 points off of turnovers, but only two of those came on fast breaks. 

Taj Roberts led all scorers with 12 points, and she was one of four Cardinals to finish with double-digit points. Laura Ziegler had 11 while Skylar Jones and Yevheniia Putra both scored 10. Elif Istanbulluoglu was also effective, as she tallied nine points to go along with seven rebounds. There were two larger stories on the night, though. 

One of those was Grace Mbugua getting her first game action of the season. While Mbugua struggled a bit offensively (she was just 1-9 from the floor and had two turnovers), it's easy to see that she could be a major force for this team in the future. Mbugua led the game with ten rebounds, and she also added two blocks and a steal. The college game speed will come to her, hopefully sooner rather than later. 

The other big story was Imari Berry, who stuffed the stat sheet. Berry would have loved to have seen a couple of more shots fall (she was just 2-8) so that she could have joined the club of double-digit scorers, but she was involved everywhere else. With the shot not falling, she did a good job distributing, finishing with seven assists (of Louisville's 18 total). She also grabbed eight rebounds and was a menace defensively with a block and four steals. She had just one foul and one turnover. Add in that she was the only player to maximize her points at the free throw line (albeit on just one trip), and it's more than ok that she scored only six points. 

Louisville's recovery after a hot first quarter by a visiting opponent was good to see. The Cards clamped down on the shooting and played well defensively overall. They also kept their heads down and corrected on offense, not resorting to jacking up threes when they weren't falling. After the 1-6 first quarter, Louisville took a total of just eight three point attempts in the second and third before the bench tried to get things going again from outside in the fourth. There is plenty to follow-up on in the film room, but the Cards can't be too disappointed in a 24-point win, even if they didn't cover the spread. 

The FRED Report

Ballplayer extraordinaire...Fred McGriff

F - Free Throws: This one was ugly. 11-19 from the stripe and Imari Berry was the only player to make all (two) of her attempts. 57.9% is worth no letter.

R - Rebounding: Louisville would be expected to win this battle pretty handily, and they did so. The Cards finished with 60 total rebounds and a +28 margin on the glass. They limited EKU to just four offensive rebounds, though those did turn into six second chance points. Louisville's 24 offensive rebounds nearly matched EKU's defensive total. Capital 'R'.

E - Effort/Execution: The Cards had 16 turnovers, which is an average of four per quarter, but they limited that number to just 11 after a rough first quarter. Taj Roberts and Reyna Scott combined for ten of those 16 turnovers, which isn't great, but only five of the turnovers were EKU steals. The Cards, as I mentioned, turned things around on offense and went >50% from the floor from two-point land. A stronger start in the first would have been nice, but they didn't get rattled and got it sorted out for a big win in the end. I'll give a lowercase 'e'. 

D - Defense: Again, this was a tale of the first quarter vs the rest of the game. Louisville forced EKU into 21 turnovers and they had ten steals and five blocks. Once EKU cooled off, they ended up shooting just 330.2% from the floor in the final three quarters and 12.5% from beyond the arc. The Cards sent them to the line for just nine shots. It's tempting to dock them for that first quarter, but sometimes underdogs just come into a game loose and find their range. Louisville weathered that storm and played much better after the first ten minutes. Capital 'D'.

That's a final tally of _-R-e-D, which is fitting for the season as we approach the holiday. This isn't the first clunker at the free throw line for the Cards, so I suspect Coach Walz will have them taking a few more shots at the end of practices. 

Louisville has a short turnaround before they face a good Tennessee team Saturday morning. The Cards will hit the road to New York to take on the Volunteers in the Women's Champions Classic in the Barclays Center for their final game of 2025. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cards Fall in Round of 32 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Curry's Career High Not Enough in 85-70 Loss

Jayda Curry did her best to will the Cards to a victory over TCU in the second round of the NCAA tournament, scoring a career high 41 points, but Louisville wasn't able to recover from a nightmare run by the Horned Frogs in the second quarter. In the end, Louisville outscored TCU by six in the second half, but a 21-point halftime deficit was too much to overcome. TCU advanced to their first Sweet Sixteen in program history (men's and women's), while Louisville missed out on its chance for a 13th under Jeff Walz. 

Curry scored the first basket of the game, which was an auspicious start to her day. She would go on to score 15 of Louisville's 17 first quarter points, which was incredible, while also becoming incredibly alarming as the game wore on. Louisville held TCU at bay for much of the first quarter, and a Curry three with 4:34 to go in the quarter gave Louisville its largest lead of the game at 13-7. TCU answered with a three of their own (far from the last) and hit another after a Louisville layup to make it 15-13. The Cards responded with another basket with 2:57 remaining in the first to go up 17-13, but then the wheels fell off. TCU went on a 7-0 run to close the quarter up 20-17. 

The quarter break didn't help Louisville at all. They continued to be unable to score, not making a basket in the second quarter until there was only 4:10 remaining in the quarter. That's almost a full quarter's worth of scoreless basketball. In that time, TCU had scored ten points to stretch their lead to 30-19. Louisville's shooting woes continued, while TCU kept taking shots on a kiddie goal. When all was said and done, the second quarter was a 27-9 bloodbath, TCU was on a 34-9 extended run, and it looked like it might all be over but the crying. 

This was a matchup long awaited by those that created the packages about Hailey Van Lith taking on her former school and coach, and the former Louisville guard didn't disappoint. Van Lith played all 40 minutes and finished with a double-double, totaling 16 points and 10 assists. She was a big part of that second quarter. While she only scored four points in the quarter, she tallied four of her assists (for 11 points), three of her five rebounds, and her only steal and block each in the second. When Louisville was on the mat, HVL and TCU didn't let up. 

If the first quarter was bad for Louisville from a defensive perspective, the second was a disaster. TCU went 8-13 in the first, with a 4-6 effort from beyond the arc. In the second, they improved, shooting 11-14 overall and 5-7 from three. The Horned Frogs were shooting 70.4% overall and 69.2% from deep. As the Cards watched them run away, they managed to find the bottom of the net on just 9 of 35 shots, going 2-7 from three. That's 25.7%. With a -44.7% disadvantage in shooting, almost no other stats matter. 

Jeff Walz must have lit a fire under Louisville at half time, or at least stirred some embers, because the Cards didn't fold coming out of the locker room. Olivia Cochran scored the first points of the half on a couple of free throws, and Louisville cut the lead to 15 with 7:28 to go. Unfortunately, the third quarter was a lot of "Louisville might get some momentum... oh never mind." The Cards were unable to claw back much closer, and the lead stretched back to 20 on two occasions. Even when Imari Berry hit threes on back-to-back possessions, TCU was able to respond with an and-1 on a layup to halt any progress. With 31 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Louisville's luck in the game was summarized pretty well by the final sequence. Berry drew a foul and responded by missing a pair of free throws. On the ensuing possession, Curry forced the ball away from Van Lith, again giving the Cards a chance at the last shot. Louisville worked the ball around to find an open Elif Istanbulluoglu, who missed a three as time ran out. 

Trailing by 18 entering the fourth, things weren't looking good. The Cards opened with a quick score by Elif, though, and TCU missed a three on their first possession. A Cochran three probably isn't what I'd recommend to get back into the game, and it missed, but Louisville weathered another offensive possession by forcing a miss from HVL. Curry was fouled on a three attempt and hit all three free throws to make it a 13-point game with 8:37 remaining. Another miss meant Louisville finding Berry for a three would have made it a 10-point game, but the shot was off the mark, as was the follow-up layup (not for lack of help by some contact, but the game was pretty loosely called). 

A couple of TCU free throws pushed the lead back to 15, but Curry dropped in a three to make it 12. Right on cue, the momentum killer came on a free layup and a Louisville miss. Another turnover meant that the Cards weren't out just yet, and a nice jumper by Cochran kept it at 12. A missed three fell to Curry, who brought it up court, kept it herself, and fired up a wild three that managed to hit almost all of the rim and the backboard before falling in. Louisville was down by just nine points with 5:26 to go. Consider by eyebrows raised. 

It wasn't meant to be, though. The Cards weren't able to keep up the pressure or go on a sustained run, and they never got closer than eight points with 2:47 remaining. TCU pushed it back to a 15-point deficit in the end, even without Louisville playing the foul game. Curry continued to do everything in her power to get Louisville across the finish line but she needed help. She got some from Cochran and Berry, who scored 15 and 8, respectively, but if you do the math on that, you're going to be disappointed. Allow me to help. 41+15+8=64 from three players. Louisville scored 70 total. Curry made 13 of Louisville's 24 baskets. She was 6-12 from 3 and Berry was 2-4. Louisville attempted 8 others and made none. The Cards got six points out of 113 player minutes. If you take Curry's 13-28 away, Louisville went 11-43 (25.6%) from the floor. The offense just wasn't there.

The FRED Report

Free Throws: The Cards had a good day at the line, making the most of their chances by going 14-16 from the stripe. Curry was her typical 9-9, but Cochran added a surprising 5-5. The super senior gave it a good run in her final game for Louisville, adding six rebounds, one assist, and three steals to her 15 points without turning the ball over. That was a bit beside the point, though. 87.5% is a capital 'F'.

Rebounds: There isn't a much more stark indication of Louisville's shooting woes (and TCU's hot hand) than the rebounding stats. The Cards and Frogs tied with 31 rebounds apiece. Louisville had 15 offensive boards. TCU had 29 defensive. That's right - 44 of the 62 rebounds came at Louisville's end of the floor. Woof. TCU scored on both of its offensive rebounds. Louisville managed fewer second-chance points than they had offensive rebounds. TCU was a decent rebounding team, averaging a margin of +7.8 this season. I'll go lowercase 'r' but I'm reluctant about it. 

Effort/Execution: I was ready to throw in the towel at the half, but I'll go ahead and tell you I'm awarding a capital 'E'. I know Louisville lost by 15, but they never gave up. Maybe there was a stretch in the second where they looked a little defeated, but they could have lost this game by 40 and they chose to fight back, cutting it to single digits. They also only had seven turnovers. Their problem was that they couldn't hit the broadside of a barn. Sometimes that's the way it goes. 

Defense: This one is a bit of an enigma. The Cards forced 14 turnovers, six from HVL, and they had a good strategy to keep her off balance. They came away with 10 steals and picked up a block. They only gave up nine fast break points. All that said, they gave up 85 points overall on 63% shooting. TCU was better than 50% in every quarter. Their worst shooting quarter was the third, where they went just 4-8, but they made up for it by going 13-15 from the line in that period. Louisville was a bit late on help defense, and they overcommitted on traps on a few occasions. It is what it is. No letter.

That's a final score of F-r-E-_. A bit of a surprising score, given the way the game turned out, but stats don't always tell the story. We'll have plenty more to say on this team, but for now, let's be proud of the fact that the Cards made it to the NCAA tournament, despite some shakiness during the season, and they managed to get back into the second round. It was a tough loss to end the season, but we got a pair of pretty nice swan songs from Cochran and Curry, who I feel like I couldn't have given enough words to in this column. 

Walz showed that he could win games with the transfer portal last season, but he showed he still knew how to run a program this year. The Cards are set up for the future with the players set to return, so we'll see what there is to come. Louisville won't be dancing any more this season, but you can be sure that there are plenty of tournament wins yet to come for the program. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

WBB Named 6th Ranked Recruiting Class -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville has 6th Ranked Recruiting Class

Imari Berry, photo courtesy of GoCards

Jeff Walz is working his magic again. While we already knew most of the freshmen planning to join Louisville women's basketball next season, the ESPN recruiting rankings put the Cards as the sixth-best in the country.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Walz and Co have focused more on the transfer portal with players such as Kianna Smith, Emily Engstler, Morgan Jones, Chrislyn "CC" Carr, Kiki Jefferson, and many more. The 2021-2022 season saw transfer Engstler and Chelsie Hall play a key role in helping Louisville get to its fourth Final Four in program history. As the game has changed, so has Walz.

Mackenly Randolph, photo courtesy of GoCards

But Jeff Walz is also known for his ability to recruit talented freshmen and develop them into top-tier players that make a name for themselves in the pros. Some of the four-year players recruited by Walzz that we have seen have major success at Louisville and beyond include Becky Burke, Mo Reid, Asia Taylor, Sara Hammond, Myisha Hines-Allen, AD Durr, Sam Fuehring, Jazmine Jones, and Dana Evans. This doesn't include players at Louisville prior to the Walz Era or players who either transferred in or out. See where I'm going with this?

The bulk of Walz's success has come with the recruitment and development of players. Adding a transfer or two can certainly help round out a roster, but his bread and butter has always been the long term players. It comes as no surprise that Walz has scratched the idea of stocking up on as many talented transfers as possible to go back to what has been successful for him, especially after a first round loss in the NCAA Tournament this past season.

Taj Avant-Roberts, photo courtesy of GoCards

The incoming freshmen class for the 2024-2025 season is arguably one of his best ever. The confirmed incoming players include:

Imari Berry, guard (ESPN #19)- Berry is a do-it-all guard that withdrew her commitment from Clemson following the coaching change and switched to Louisville,

Mackenly Randolph, forward (ESPN #23)- Randolph is the daughter of former NBA player Zach Randolph and a small forward that has shown signs of strong rebounding skills.

Reagan Bender, photo courtesy of Go Cards

Taj Avant-Roberts, guard (ESPN #24)- Avant-Roberts was a point guard for much of her high school career, but has recently developed her three-point shooting to make her a dual-threat scorer.

Izela Arenas, guard (ESPN #88). Arenas is the daughter of former NBA player Gilbert Arenas. She was named "Queen of the Court" after winning a one-on-one showcase held in Atlanta last summer.

Anaya Hardy,photo courtesy of X.com

Reagan Bender, guard. Bender is a guard from the local Sacred Heart Academy (high school) known for her three-point shooting and helped the Valkyries to four straight state titles.

Isla Juffermans, forward- Juffermans is a bit more unknown compared to the others, due to her being the only international player on this list. The Aussie native is a true post player that can step into the role of either a forward or a center.

Izela Arenas, photo courtesy of Louisville Report

Anaya Hardy, forward- Hardy was a walking double-double in her high school days and showed improvements with her blocking during her summer stint in the Under Armour Association circuit.

Adding this star-studded lineup to an experienced crew of Oliva Cochran (fifth year), Merissah Russell (fifth year), Jayda Curry (senior), and Nyla Harris (junior) puts Louisville into an immediate position for success. We can't wait to see how the Cards fare next season.

Isla Juffermans, photo courtesy of Instagram

Happy Monday and Go Cards!

Jared

LAX to face Syracuse in Quarters --WBB gets "Berry" good commitment -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 LACROSSE GOES AGAINST #1 SEED SYRACUSE TODAY

Louisville Lacrosse moves forward in their journey to advance in the 2024 ACC WLAX Tournament with a 11 a.m. Wednsday quarterfinal match against #1 seed Syracuse. The contest will be shown on the ACC Network, the earliest of four games on the day in Charlotte. 

The #9 seeded Cards advanced to the quarters by going to Blacksburg, VA Monday and knocking off Va. Tech 13-11. 

Syracuse holds a commanding 14-1 record in all-time matchups against the Cards, and handled Lousivville pretty easily earlier this season...22-12...in Syracuse. The Orange have tons of talent and are currently ranked #3 in the latest DI WLAX rankings. At 12-4 on the season, the majority of the Orange's losses came early in the season. They fell to Nortwestern, Maryland, Stony Brook and Boston College. Their conference mark was 8-1, losing only at Boston College, on the final regular season game of the season ...in overtime. 10-11.

 Leading scorers for Syracuse are Emma Tyrrell (50 goals) and Olivia Adamson (44 goals), They outscored opponents 250-157. Eight times, Syracuse held  opponents under 10 goals scored.

Obviously, the Cards have their work cut out for them, if they hope to advance to the semifnals...but Sara Addeche has proven to be a capable and dependale goalkeeper and the Cards can get flurries of offensive scoring from Kokoro Nakazawa (60 goals) and Nicole Perroni  (45 goals), Both were recently named to the All-ACC team. 

We wish out WLAXers the best in Charlotte today and  hope they pull off a  huge upset with a win. 

IMARI BERRY COMMITS TO CARDS WBB

A FIVE STAR PROSPECT AND RANKED #19 with the 2024 recruits, Imari Berry is a huge coup for Jeff Walz and the Louisville WBB squad. Imari (out of Clarksville, TN) had originally commited to Clemson, but, when the Tigers let Amanda Butler go...Berry was released from her commitment  and narrowed it down to Louisville, after eliminating Kentucky and North Carolina. 

Note, it is Clarksville, TN and NOT clarksville, Indiana. I had a reader call me last all excited that a "local" girl was headed to the Cards. i I thugh he was refferring to JordanBender,  but he had thought Berry was aross the river in Indiana's Clarksville. 

Berry and Mackenly Randolph played in the Mcdonald's All-American game back n January and are the 17th and 18th All-Americans signed by Walz in his time at Lousiville. 

As a senior in Clarksville, TN, Berry averaged 23.8 poitns per game a game and eighover six rebounds. her squad went undefeated and was named Tennesee's Gatorade Player of the Year.

She is one of six incomng freshmen to the program.

This is an impressive class for Walz and hopefully one that can make some very important contributions to a returning roster that includes Cochran, Russell, Harris, von Schaik, Curry and Istanbulluoglu...plus redshirt Imafidon.

FINALLY...

Just in case you were having HVL News withdrawls, here' sthe latest on PigTails: 

Hailey Van Lith is focused on making the USA Basketball 3x3 Olympic team this summer and appears to be unworried about where she’ll end up at college next year.

Van Lith is currently taking part in a training camp in Springfield, Massachusetts, and will play in a 3x3 tournament early next week at The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

The 22-year-old guard, who played at Louisville and LSU, has experienced success in 3x3 for the U.S. She won a gold medal on the U18 team in 2019 and helped win gold at the FIBA 3x3 World Cup last year. The Paris Games is the second Olympics offering 3x3, after the event debuted in Tokyo in the 2021 Games.

(If the school name doesnt have three initials, I'm not interested)

This might be the photo of the month...

paulie