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

Strong second half takes WBB Cards past Vermont 72-52 -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

SECOND HALF SURGE, BALANCED SCORING LEADS CARDS TO WIN OVER VERMONT. 

Jeff Walz will tell you. The players will tell you, Vermont is a very good basketball squad. They came into the KFC YUM! Center and had the majority of the nearly 6,000 in attendance wondering if they were going to upset the Cards in the first round of the NCAA WBB Tournament  on their home floor. Finaly, Louisville gotthe wake up call and played like a #3 seed should against a #14 seed. . 

After one quarter, Vermont had a one-point lead at 17-16 and led by four at one time in the first quarter. They had gone on a 7-0 run to go up by four after trailing by three and Keira Hanson was leading an inspired squad. 

Louisville regroupled, though and came back to win the second quarter against the #14 seed in this Ft. Worth region 16-11. The scoret at the half 32-28 at the half...but Louisville was not out of danger yet. Mackenly Randolph had played all twety minutes for the Cards and led then with eight points. The Cards were shooting 36% and were looking sluggish at times. One had to wonder if the dismissial of Skylar Jones from the squad was having a negative effect on the team. Vermont was shooting 11-25 (44%) and looking a lot more formidable that a #14 seed should. 

Whatever Walz said at the half to the squad or whatever the squad decided as a group in the final twenty minutes worked. After seeing Vermont crawl back within two at 32-30, UofL went to work and stretched the lead out to 43-32 with about three minutes ledt in the third quarter after a 11-2 run. Balanced scoring was getting it done for Louisville and the Cards were up 55-38 after a Laura Ziegler three to end the third period. The 23-10 Louisville advantage in the third had a lot of Cardinal fans breathing easier. 

Louiville built the lead up to 24 at 65-41 on a Taj Roberts layup with 7:15 to play in the game and the Cards were looking quite a bit better in the second half. Vermot did outscore the Cards 11-7 the rest of the way but the outcome had been decided with that Louisville huge third quarter run.  

"Yabba Dabba Doo...Cards advance to round two"

THE FRED REPORT  

Free Throws -- The Cards went 6-11 from the line and 54% is lower than the 70% or better we mandate to earn a letter. NO LETTER.

Rebounding --  UofL had a huge edge here with a 40-17 domination on the boards. Randolph led the Cards with 11 . CAPITAL "R".

Execution/Effort -- Louisville shot 42.% for the contest and the 50% shooting in the final twenty minutes was impressive. The Cards had only eight turnovers and acquired 13 assists on 29 made baskets. Since this was a 'going away' win, we'll bestow a CAPITAL "E"

Defense -- The Cards created 14 turnovers, had nine steals and held Vermont to 40% shooting. Good numbers but only worth a small "d". 

FInal Fred Tally -- _-R-E-d

The Cards move on to face Alabama on Monday. Game time is noon and it'll be on ESPN if you cannot attend. . 

POST GAME WALZ, RANDOLPH AND ROBERTS.

NCAA SECOND ROUND MATCHUPS

Yes, over half the teams have already been eliminated. From 68 to 32.. All #1 seed are still dancing and the highest seed remaining is #10 Virginia. 23 states still have teams playing and Texas has the most with three (Texas, Texas Tech and Baylor) 

 Herre they are: 

REGION 1: UConn, Syracuse, Maryland, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio St. ,Illinois, Vandy 

REGION 2: UCLA, Oklahoma.St, Mississippi, Minnesota, Baylor, Duke, Texas Tech, LSU

REGION 3: Texas, Oregon, Kentucky, West Virginia, Alabama, Louisville, North Carolina St, Michigan 

REGION 4: South Carolina, USC, Michigan St. Oklahoma, Washington, TCU, Virginia, Iowa. 

 

paulie

 

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

Cards Crush Panthers -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Elif Scores Career High in 91-38 Win

A three-pointer by Tiny Lewis cut the Eastern Illinois deficit to one at 13-12 with 3:27 remaining in the first quarter. The Panthers had held close to Louisville for the first portion of the opening stanza, but that would be the end of that. Louisville closed the first on an 8-0 run to win the quarter by nine and won each subsequent quarter by no fewer than 13 points. Louisville's offense was largely consistent quarter-to-quarter (21, 26, 22, 22), while the defense held EIU to fewer points each quarter (12, 11, 9, 6). All in all, it was an expected thumping, as the loss moved Eastern Illinois to 0-6 on the season and the win took the Cards to 5-2. 

After the first six minutes or so, Louisville was never really troubled in this one. It might even be fair to say that they weren't particularly troubled at the beginning, despite the surprisingly close score. Once the Cards settled in, they had it fairly well under control. Walz was able to clear the bench and play 12 players, and, for the second time this season, every player that saw the floor scored a point. What's more, every player scored a field goal. The Cards were led by Taj Roberts, who scored 13, while Elif Istanbulluoglu and Mackenly Randolph tied at second with 12. The 12 points were a career high for Elif, who added six rebounds, an assist, two blocks, and two steals. The total was also Randolph's season high, and it missed her career high by one point (13 against Duke last season). 

Reagan Bender also had a nice night. Her career high is also 13, and she only scored eight in last night's game, but she added five rebounds, four assists, and five steals. The phrasing ends up coming off as a bit of a joke, but being halfway to a quadruple-double is nothing to scoff at. Bender did all this in a career-high night in minutes, as she led the team with 24. In addition to minutes, last night set career highs in field goal attempts, makes, rebounds, assists, and steals. Anaya Hardy had another double-double in 21 minutes, putting up 12 rebounds to go along with 11 points. She also had two steals. 

All in all, there isn't a whole lot more to say. Eastern Illinois is not a good team, so winning by 50+ points shouldn't be a great surprise. Getting a solid performance from everyone is quite nice, though, and you look for that in games like last night's. That said, the team wasn't as locked in as they could have been, which we'll cover up next in The FRED Report, but they still had an enjoyable Black Friday and will be set up for another big day today. 

The FRED Report

F-Free Throws: If there was one spot Louisville came up short (other than turnovers), it was free throws. The Cards got to the line quite a bit, earning 25 attempts, but they hit on just 17 of those. Louisville had no perfect quarters, and Taj Roberts went 0-2 at the stripe. Those last two stats are just icing on the bad cake, since a 68% qualifies for no letter all on its own. 

R-Rebounds: Louisville may not have had the tallest player on the floor (EIU had someone at 6'10"), but the Cards were the bigger and more physical team on average. They showed it, cleaning up 46 rebounds, compared to 34 for the Panthers. Louisville had 20 offensive rebounds and scored 19 second chance points. They held EIU to just nine o-boards. Capital 'R'. 

E-Effort/Execution: The final point total is nice. It's hard to score 91 points, though maybe not incredibly difficult when the opponent gives you as many chances as EIU did. Still, Louisville shot 46% from the floor and 35% from three. They assisted on 20 of their 33 makes. The big issue here is the turnovers. Louisville had 15, and I can't give a capital letter for that. Lowercase 'e'. 

D-Defense: Louisville's defense, as I mentioned earlier, got stingier as the game went on. They allowed just 38 points, fewer than ten per quarter, and they picked up 17 steals. They also had three blocks and forced a total of 31 turnovers. Yeah, I'm gonna go with a capital 'D'.

If you're going to have an off night at the free throw line, it's best to do it when you win by a million points, I suppose, but the turnovers were unfortunate. Louisville finishes with a final tally of _-R-e-D. Daryl will love that, since her favorite Louisville chant is "Go Big Red." (Sarcasm very much intended.) The Cards will be back in action today when they take on East Tennessee State. Today's game will be at 3:30, and it will be held in Knights Hall on Bellarmine's campus. Because it's at Bellarmine and not hosted by UofL, this game will be on ESPN+ instead of ACCNX. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Academic Accolades and Softball Final Series -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

WBB Lands 8 on ACC Academic Team

Louisville women's basketball continued a tradition we've grown accustomed to in covering Louisville women's athletics, which is performing well off the court in addition to on it. This trend was kept up with the announcement of the 2025 All-ACC Academic Team by the conference earlier this week. Jeff Walz's squad placed eight on the team. As a unit, Louisville WBB posted a 3.37 GPA as a team in the fall semester. They had 12 team members earn at least a 3.0, 11 with at least a 3.25, and one pick up a perfect 4.0. 

All-ACC Academic Team honorees must post a 3.0 GPA for the previous semester and maintain a 3.0 cumulative GPA over the course of their collegiate career. They must also compete in at least 50% of the team's athletic contests. Louisville had three freshmen on the team, all obviously picking up their first honor: Isla Juffermans, Mackenly Randolph, and Taj Roberts. Three players earned their second honor: Jayda Curry, Elif Istanbulluoglu, and Ja'Leah Williams. And two players earned their All-ACC Academic Team placement: Merissah Russell and Nyla Harris. 

Congratulations to all as commencement is just around the corner for UofL's Spring 2025 graduates.

Softball Takes on Pitt in Regular Season Finale

Louisville softball, as is tradition, is on the road for their final series of the regular season, with the Cards heading to Pittsburgh for a Thursday-Friday-Saturday matchup with the Panthers. Today's series opener will get underway at 6PM and air on ACC Network Extra. With their win over Florida State on Sunday, the Cards did a lot to improve their ACC tournament positioning. That is to say, Louisville is almost guaranteed to make the ACC tournament. 

Louisville sits at 7-14 in conference play, which is good for 10th. As a reminder, 12 teams make the tournament. The Cards need to only be ahead of three opponents to lock up the 12th spot. Two of the teams below them in the standings cannot improve. Notre Dame and NC State have already completed their regular season, with the Irish at 7-17 and the Wolfpack at 6-18. Louisville holds the tiebreaker over Notre Dame. Syracuse and Pittsburgh both have six wins, so a sweep by both of those teams would move them ahead of the Cards. That would leave Boston College. BC has five wins, and Louisville holds the tiebreaker. For BC to jump the Cards, Pitt would have to sweep, but so would BC. The Eagles are taking on Stanford this weekend.

With one win against the Panthers, who are 19-29 overall, Louisville would secure its spot in the tournament. Effectively, they're playing for seeding and a chance to try to make enough noise to land an NCAA berth. I'm sure there is no love lost between Coach Holly Aprile and her former team, though she has been at UofL long enough that no players from her time at Pitt remain on the roster. The Cards are 27-6 all-time against Pittsburgh and 8-2 in their last ten meetings. Unfortunately, five of those six losses have come on the road. Louisville would do well to ride their momentum from Sunday's big win to close out the regular season strong and then see what happens going forward. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cards Fall Flat in ACC Quarters -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Offense Struggles in 61-48 Loss to Duke

Louisville women's basketball played its second consecutive game without Jayda Curry and Merissah Russell last night and let's hope it's the last time they have to do that this season. After surviving in overtime against Clemson on Thursday, Louisville's offense looked lost against a suffocating defense, leading to the worst scoring half of the season when they headed to the locker room with just 18 points. Louisville tried to make a game of it late, but their momentum was halted and they'll now await their fate on Selection Sunday. 

The Cards' shooting woes started early, as they managed just 5-16 from the floor in the first quarter, a mark of 31.3%. Duke shot 50% from the floor in the first, but they turned the ball over a handful of times and Louisville was able to stay close. The Cards trailed just 15-11 at the end of one, and it looked like they might be able to keep the game in hand. Unfortunately, Louisville couldn't make it out of the quarter without Nyla Harris, Ja'Leah Williams, and Olivia Cochran all picking up their first fouls. Even more concerningly, Taj Roberts started the game just 1-6 from the floor. With Curry out, Roberts is Louisville's leading scorer, so the team will go as she does without Curry.

Louisville's hopes of keeping the game close fell apart in the second quarter, as their shooting woes continued. The Cards were 3-10 from the floor in the second, and while Taj Roberts hit her second three of the game, Duke stretched their lead from 4 to 13 at the break. Duke opened the second with a three, and Louisville made their first basket of the quarter with a Mackenly Randolph jumper but failed to score for the next six and a half minutes. Fortunately for the Cards, Duke went on a long scoring drought as well. Unfortunately for the Cards, Duke's ended with a scoring run, rather than a single basket. The Blue Devils finished the quarter on an 11-5 run. Louisville had six turnovers in the quarter. They trailed 31-18 at halftime. 

If you're doing the math on the final score, you know how the second half went, but it started with a third quarter that looked as though Louisville might lose the game by 30. Louisville remained largely unable to score, mustering their first basket over two minutes into the half and sitting on 20 points for four minutes after that. Isla Juffermans made 1-2 free throws to go to the under 5 timeout, pushing Louisville to 21 points with just 14 minutes left in the game. Duke went to the line with 3:31 remaining to extend their lead to its peak at 22 points. At that point, Louisville's offense finally found a bit of rhythm. Louisville closed the third quarter on a 9-2 run to move into the final stanza down by 15 with some momentum. While it isn't great to be optimistic about a 15-point deficit, it was, as I mentioned, threatening to be much worse.

The Cards continued their comeback bid to open the fourth quarter, scoring the first seven points of the fourth to cut the lead to eight at 45-37 and force a Kara Lawson timeout with 8:18 remaining. Briefly, it looked like game on... and then it didn't. Louisville had a chance to cut the lead to six, but a missed jumper in the paint and a missed put-back (both of which had decent shouts for fouls, in my opinion), gave the ball back to Duke, who got a layup and drew the foul to complete the three-point play. A five-point swing meant that instead of 39-47 it was 37-48. After that point, Louisville struggled avoid turnovers, and Duke started to make threes, quelling any further comeback efforts. The Cards didn't see a single-digit deficit for the remainder of the game. A desperate attempt to play the foul game late pushed the lead back to it's final mark at 13 and the Cards' run in the ACC Tournament ended with a 61-48 loss. 

For the second game in a row, Ja'Leah Williams struggled to stay out of foul trouble when she was depended on to be the floor general. After fouling out of the Clemson game, Williams picked up only two fouls in the first half against Duke but got a quick one in the third and was called for her fourth foul just four minutes into the third quarter. Williams was able to avoid fouling out, but she was off the floor for key minutes, and Louisville's offensive fate was in the hands of true freshmen in a hostile environment and a tournament setting. It didn't go great. Roberts, Izela Arenas, and Imari Berry combined for nine of Louisville's 21 turnovers. While a couple of Williams' fouls were suspect (one was whistled while she had both hands on the ball for a jump ball attempt), she will need to find a way to avoid ticky-tack situations if she is going to be depended on to run the floor. 

Despite Louisville's struggles, Mackenly Randolph somewhat quietly had her best game of the season. Randolph played 34 minutes and scored a personal-best (and tied for game-high) 13 points. She was 5-7 from the floor, including 1-1 from three, and made both her free throw attempts (each of which were and-ones). She did commit two fouls and two turnovers, but she had a pair of rebounds and another pair of assists (a lot of twos in the box score). Randolph has shown flashes so far this season, and last night's game (Robert's woeful shooting aside) was another indicator that this could be a very strong core group of players moving forward. 

We have given Olivia Cochran some flak this season, but she played hard in last night's loss. She was only 4-10 from the floor, but she made all three of her free throw attempts and finished with a double-double (11 points, 11 rebounds). She only had two fouls and her three turnovers were unfortunate, but not game-breaking. As Louisville's spiritual leader, her efforts in helping prevent the blowout were considerable, and I hope for a celebratory end to her illustrious UofL career in the NCAA tournament. 

The FRED Report

F-Free Throws: Louisville didn't take their first free throw until well into the third quarter, but they managed to do well at the line, despite the season averages of those that took the shots. The Cards finished 9-11 from the line, just under 82%. I can never quite remember the difference between a capital f and a lowercase f, but I'm crediting Cochran, Randolph, and Juffermans for their 7-8 performance. Capital 'F'.

Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx) models my facial 
expression for much of last night's game.

R-Rebounds: Louisville didn't get run off the boards, despite how it felt at times last night. Each team had 34 total rebounds, and Louisville had 17 each of offensive/defensive rebounds compared to Duke's 16-18. Louisville lost the second-chance points battle, but not by much (12-8). Duke outrebounds opponents by 6.7 per game on average, compared to just 3.3 for the Cards, so I'm going to award a capital 'R'. Again, I'm rewarding an individual effort here, as Cochran was the only player with double-digit rebounds. 

E-Effort/Execution: Ok, here is where my generosity runs a bit thin. Louisville shot just 32% from the floor, which isn't solely down to Duke's defense. They also had 21 turnovers, 11 of which were Duke steals. The Cards had only 9 assists on their 18 made baskets, and had multiple scoring droughts over five minutes. I'd like to reward the fact that they never gave up, but it's hard to ignore their worst offensive output in a single half (18) and their second worst scoring performance of the season. In retrospect, it's kind of crazy that they scored more than 18 in both halves when they managed just 42 points against NC State. No letter. 

D-Defense: Hmm. This one is a bit of a stumper. The Cards forced 18 turnovers, but just three of those were steals. A couple were turnovers in which they gave the ball right back. They were a bit slow on closeouts, and while Duke was just 41.5% from the floor overall, they were 6-18 from three. Louisville gave up 24 points in the paint, 13 fast break points, and it could have been worse if Duke hadn't shot 58% from the free throw line. I don't think Louisville's defense kept them in the game in the second half so much as Duke couldn't quite run away with it. No letter. 

In a weird game like last night's, it's hard to expect much more than the weird final score of F-R-_-_.

Louisville's fate is now in the hands of the committee. With conference tournaments going largely as expected, the Cards' resume won't be dramatically improved or harmed by outcomes across the country, so we just wait and see. After last night, Louisville's NET ranking remains in the mid-30s (35) and Charlie Creme still has them as a 7-seed in the Spokane region. NET rankings and bracketology will go out the window in eight days, but they're all we have for now. 

2025 Cardinal Couple ACC Pick'Em Update

Despite a couple of potential upsets, the day was largely chalky yesterday. After dropping his perfect bracket in the first quarterfinal matchup, Nick O saw his lead slip away in the last QF of the night. Five entries now sit on 9 points (Nick O, Curtis, Karen J, Kenny S, and Case) with three (Thomas, Jeff, and Daryl) close behind at 8. 

Nick O and Karen J will each drop another game having both picked FSU over NC State today, but they join the other six entries with Notre Dame as their champion. Paulie and Blue Lou (both with 7) will be rooting for Duke upset, which would upend the standings. Paulie needs Duke to win the championship for it to come down to tiebreakers, while Blue Lou could win outright with NC State over Duke in the final. 

Softball Soars in ACC Opening 9-2 Win

Louisville very nearly walked off Notre Dame in the sixth inning, but the Irish got one more attempt in the seventh. Sam Booe, who took the win from Alyssa Zabala, closed it out, though, and Louisville opened their ACC season with a big win over a middling Notre Dame squad. The Cards will get the Irish twice more this weekend, including a 1:00 PM matchup today. 

Louisville and Notre Dame each had ten hits in this one, but the Cards were able to do more damage with runners in scoring position, as Louisville pitching and defense stranded 11 on base for the Irish. The Cards left just five on base. Coach Holly Aprile manipulated the lineup slightly again, with Bri Despines batting fifth in this one and Madison Pickens taking the cleanup spot. Pickens made good use of it, sending her first career home-run to right field in the first inning to score Chelsea Mack and give the Cards a 2-0 lead. Pickens had a two-run single in the sixth inning to set up the potential walk-off, giving her four RBI in the game. 

Joining Pickens with two hits in the game were Easton Lotus, Chelsea Mack, and Taylor Monroe, with Lotus and Mack also each scoring two runs. Lotus had a timely RBI triple in the fifth, kicking off a four-run inning after Notre Dame trimmed the lead to 3-2 in the fourth. Louisville's offense, unsurprisingly, wreaked havoc on the base paths, as they had infield singles, a forced error (for runs), and finished with seven steals (two for Mack). A small-ball delight on a team that also has some pop. Can't be mad about it. 

Alyssa Zabala had a bit of trouble in the cool evening weather, but she was serviceable and in line for the victory. Zabala pitched 3.2 innings and gave up seven hits, three walks, and two runs (both earned) while striking out a pair. Sam Booe came on to relieve her in the fourth with the tying run on base. Since Zabala was on the hook for the potential game-tying run upon her departure, the win ultimately went to Booe, who is now 4-1. Booe had another great outing in the circle, as she gave up just three hits and one walk in 3.1 innings and struck out five. She also did well to keep the ball out of danger as just two of her batted balls in play were in the air. All three hits were short outfield singles and she gave up just two fly ball outs. 

Louisville's win moves them to 15-6 and pushes Notre Dame below .500 at 10-11. I would expect Brooke Gray to get the start this afternoon, but Booe and Zabala are both capable on short rest if Gray struggles. The Cards took down the Notre Dame ace yesterday, giving Micaela Kastor just her second loss of the young season. If Louisville's offense can continue to build confidence, especially among the freshmen, this could be a fun year. 

Postgame with Madison Pickens

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have four (with a potential showing from the fifth) in the booth today to recap the past week. There has been some bad, but a lot of good, so we'll do our best not to dwell on the negatives as we advance the mission of bringing you the joy and excitement of UofL women's athletics. You can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Louisville WBB Falls in Season Opener 66-59 -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Fall in Paris to UCLA

Photo by GoCards

Louisville women's basketball opened up the season yesterday in an untraditional way. The Cards traveled all the way to Paris, France to participate in the Aflac Oui-Play, a doubleheader that featured #3 USC vs #20 Ole Miss and #5 UCLA vs #17 Louisville. USC survived the first game 68-63. The Cards fell to the higher-ranked Bruins 66-59.

For Louisville, the question of the starting lineup has been answered... for now. Olivia Cochran, Nyla Harris, Mackenly Randolph, Taj Roberts, and Ja'Leah Williams took the court for the start of the game. Jayda Curry did not play due to injury....a hamstring suffered about a week ago.

Photo by GoCards

1st Quarter: Louisville 18, UCLA 13

We had a weird start to the game as UCLA was late in turning in their lineup and was given a technical foul. The Cards led 1-0 before the tip-off started. They then pushed the lead to 6-0 with a quick spurt following a three by Cochran and a fastbreak layup by Randolph. UCLA settled in from there, forcing the Cards into more contested looks and having good ball movement. UofL held a small 8-6 lead at the first media timeout, but the Bruins answered with a three immediately following the break. It was all Louisville from there the rest of the quarter.

2nd Quarter: UCLA 32, Louisville 29

Offensive rebounding helped UCLA get an early basket before we saw an extended break due to an injury to Merissah Russell. Louisville went ice cold, which allowed UCLA to take a 25-20 advantage early in the second quarter. Taj Roberts had an answer of her own featuring a pair of deep threes at the top of the key. The Bruins took over again from there the rest of the quarter that was highlighted by a buzzer-beating three-pointer to go into halftime.

Third Quarter: UCLA 50, Louisville 46

Nyla Harris made her presence known with a handful of baskets early in the third quarter. It was UCLA, however, who found the most success during the middle portion of the quarter as they went on a 9-0 run. The Cards would temporarily retake the lead at 46-45, but the Bruins would score the final five points of the quarter.

Fourth Quarter: 66-59

The Bruins extended their lead to seven just a couple minutes into the quarter, leading to Jeff Walz to call a timeout. He showed his frustration before the cameras cut to a commercial break. Louisville went ice cold and allowed UCLA to push their lead to 10. Louisville was not able to cut their deficit to less than seven after that.

Roberts led the Cards in scoring with 21 points on 8-19 shooting. Williams was the only other Cardinal in double figures with 11 points. 

FRED Report

Freddy Farm Bureau

Free Throws: Louisville shot 5-8 on the game for 62.5%. Even though the free throw attempt is a low mark, the make percentage is below our threshold, so no letter here.

Rebounds: The Cards were outrebounded 47-43. 13 of UCLA's rebounds came from the 6'7 Betts. No one that saw the court for Louisville was taller than 6'4, giving the Bruins a massive advantage in this. The Cards did have 19 offensive rebounds. Due to the tall task of going up against Betts, I think this sneaks in as a small "r".

Efficiency: Louisville shot 32% from the field and 20.7% from three-point range, both low numbers. However, they had 15 assists on 24 made baskets. Those assist numbers could have been much higher, but the shots weren't falling for the Cards. UofL had plenty of clean and open looks, just with no luck on the shots going in. Sadly, no letter here.

Defense: Louisville allowed 66 points on the game with only six of those coming from the free throw line. With the exception of Olivia Cochran, the rest of the team kept their fouls in check. UofL did force 22 turnovers and allowed just six fast break points. Louisville recorded 12 steals. Despite the loss, a lowercase "d" comes into play here.

FINAL FRED TALLY:  _-r-_-d. 

It could be worse, but there is plenty of room for improvement. Isn't that to be expected at the beginning of the season, though?

Six of the 11 Cardinals to step on the court are freshmen. Add Williams and seven of the Cardinals are brand new to the team. There is going to be an expected time period where the team has to gel and get more comfortable with the system. All in all, running toe-to-toe with a top five team for most of the game and losing by single digits at the beginning of the year is not a bad loss.

This year's team shows a lot of promise and all of their visible issues can be fixed in the gym. This Louisville team may have quite a few growing pains, but I would not be surprised to see them pull off some upsets along the way.

Photo by SI Louisville

Jeff Walz enters his 18th season as head coach of Louisville women's basketball. He closed out last season with an overall coaching record of 464-135 (.775). While his total number of wins does not crack the top 100 in NCAA women's basketball history (most of those coaches were in the game for 30-40 years), his win percentage is good enough to rank in the top 20, which ranks higher than coaches such as Muffet McGraw, Wes Moore, Sylvia Hatchell, C Vivian Stringer, Lisa Bluder, and Kelly Graves.

Louisville comes home for a Friday night game against Southern Indiana. This is their only home game in the first four games of the season.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

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

News on Just About Everyone - Sunday Cardinal Couple

WBB Gameday

Women's Basketball has a noon start today vs Virginia.  An early start with unusual video coverage as The CW has the video for this one.  That's WBKI channel 58 on broadcast here in Louisville.

But of course, we'll all be making the early trek to watch this one in person at the KFC Yum! Center right?  I have to admit that the early start time has put me in a bit of time crunch this morning.  With the huge amount of activity going on this weekend...well, it makes for an interesting morning.

The game against Virginia should give the Cards an opportunity to get a small win streak going, after the win over Georgia Tech on Thursday in Atlanta.  The Cavaliers sport a 13-13 record overall and are 5-10 in conference.  In the non-conference, nothing too remarkable in their record with wins over mid-majors and lower, and losses to teams you would expect.  The only real exception was a loss to Wofford, though it was by only a single point.

In conference things get a bit more chaotic, because, well, ACC.  A pair of losses to NC State, sure, makes sense.  Losses to Georgia Tech, Duke, and North Carolina, and Notre Dame, yeah, sounds like a team that's going to struggle in conference overall.  Then they go and beat Florida State, lose to Pitt, and then beat North Carolina.  They lost to Virginia Tech, which is no shame, then lose to Clemson.  Wins over Boston College and Wake Forest make sense as does a loss to Syracuse.  Finally, they come into the KFC Yum! Center today with a win over Miami in their rear view.

Overall a team that's, not great, but not bottom of the barrel either, but you have to admit there are some surprises in their in conference play.

Kymora Johnson is the scoring threat for UVA, shooting 42% overall, and 30% from beyond the arc.  Camryn Taylor is next, with higher efficiency, but less frequency.  46% shooting overall for her, but a whooping 55+% from beyond the arc.

Let's get to the KFC Yum! Center early and get this one in the books.  We need all the wins we can get in these last few games, and it definitely doesn't get any easier.

Off Court News

I don't tend to follow recruiting news closely, but a big verbal came in last night as Mackenly Randolph, daughter of Zach Mckenley Randolph who had a significant career playing for five different NBA teams.  Definitely a good pickup for coach Walz and the team.

Another piece of big news came in one of the most anti-climactic ways.  In a Facebook comment, Olivia Cochran responded to a WBB fan stating that she wasn't participating in Senior night festivities this year as she will be returning to use her Covid year of eligibility to play next year.  Another year of "Welcome to the Show" sits just fine with me.

Lacrosse Wilts Under the Lights

Lacrosse moved over to the L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium last night, hosting Virginia Tech for their conference opener.

Nicole Perroni continues to consecutive game
scoring streak

Louisville started out well, or well Nicole Perroni did, at least.  Notching her 41st straight game with at least one score, she did so with a hat trick in the first quarter of play leading the Cards out to a 4-2 advantage.

The lead wouldn't last, though, as The Hokies got the next three goals starting out the second quarter before Perroni would again come in with a goal to stop the slide and bring the score to an even 5-5 at halftime.

A bit of a scorefest in the 3rd quarter, but alas, mostly for VT, as they reeled off five straight over the course of the 15 minutes.  Kokoro Nakazawa would stop the run, but would be answered by V Tech.  Rian Adkins put a literal last second shot into the net in the 3rd quarter to claw one back, ending the quarter at 7-11 with the Hokies in the lead.

Sara Addeche guarding the goal well

The 4th quarter ended up being a wash, with each team netting three shots.  UofL scores were a pair by Kokoro Nakazawa, as well as one by Kylea Dobson.  The final score was 10-14 with the victory going to Virginia Tech.

Sara Addeche performed well in goal with eight saves, though credit to VT's goalkeeper for her nine.  VT did take more shots on goal than UofL, but not by a significant margin, 22-19.

UofL will look for their first conference win on Saturday with a trip up to Pittsburgh.

Jared was out there snapping pics and got to talk to coach following the match 

Listen:   Head Coach Scott Teeter post-game vs VA Tech

Softball

Furman

Softball, despite several delays due to weather, did get both of their planned games in yesterday.  The schedule was altered and things got started early.

Furman was the first foe, and it didn't go particularly well for the Cards.  The offense performed up to par, but Furman was just able to outscore the Cards putting up 13 to UofL's 8.

Runs scored for the Cards started in the 3rd inning, where Vanessa Miller singled to right field, scoring Kiley Goff, and Bailee Richardson who were on base thanks to a hit-by-pitch, and a walk.

In the 4th, Gabby Holloway singled, Ally Alexander walked but then was out on Chelsea Mack's fielder's choice, but Goff's walk filled the bases.  Holloway would score on a wild pitch with other runners advancing.  Richardson then grounded out, but Mack would make it home on the play.  Louisville had four runs at this point, but alas, Furman had nine.

Louisville would score a trio in the 6th.  Chelsea Mack reached on a fielder's choice and advanced to 2nd on a Goff groundout.  She promptly stole third...it's not just Daisy Hess out here stealing bases for the Cards.  Richardson doubled, and scored Mack.  Riley Frizell singled, moving Richardson to 3rd.  Both then advanced, with Richardson scoring, on a wild pitch,  Frizell then scored on a Vanessa Miller double.  A nice tally of seven by the Cards, but Furman had made it to 13 by this point.

Finally, the last try, would see Paige Geraghty single, then advance to 3rd on a Holloway single.  Geraghty would then score on an Ally Alexander fielder's choice.  Final score, 13-8.

The Cards would throw half their bullpen into the circle at various times trying to stop Furman, with Holloway, Izzy Harrison, Sam Booe, and Lindsey Mullen all taking their turns.  Only Mullen was able to keep Furman off the scoreboard, but they then the damage had been done.

Coastal Carolina

The second game for the Cards was against Coastal Carolina, after getting the afternoon to recover a bit, this one started at 4:37pm.  Maybe UofL just isn't a morning team as they took the win in this one 6-2.

Freshman Katie Thatcher got on the scoreboard first.  Starting off the 3rd inning with a single up the middle, she decided to make her mark in the steals column as well, taking 2nd.  She advanced to 3rd on Ally Alexander's groundout and scored on Paige Geraghty's single.  Mack sacrificed to move Geraghty to 2nd, and then Geraghty scored on a Frizell single.  Score after three, 2-0.

Nothing else happened until the 7th inning and with two outs already up on the board.  Frizell singled, and scored on a Vanessa Miller "Grass, Track, Fence".  The Cards kept going, however.  Richardson singled, Goff got hit by a pitch, and Holloway, pinch hitting for Madi Grant, filled the bases with a single.  Grant returned for the running.  Another freshman stepped up as Ava Venturelli pinch hit for Thatcher and got a single, scoring Richardson and Goff.  That would get the Cards to their final score of six, though Coastal Carolina, scoreless through this point in the game, would get a pair across in the bottom of the 7th, it wouldn't be enough.

At the time of this writing, the Cards are just underway with their next game, against Bowling Green at the Battle of the Beach.

Swim and Dive

The Cardinal women came in 2nd overall in the ACC Swimming and Diving Championship.  The Cards appeared to accomplish this through mostly scoring well in nearly all events, with the only podium finish for the team being a silver in the final event of the day, the 400 freestyle relay.   Lucy Mehraban, Gabi Albiero, Christiana Regenauer, and Julia Dennis turned in the 3rd fastest time in school history in the event.

Track and Field

The Indoor Track and Field teams were also competing in the ACC Championships.  Overall team finishes were nothing spectacular, but we did want to highlight a couple of competitors.

Following in a long history of good Cardinal throwers, Jayden Ulrich won the shot put event.  Natalie Lark placed second in the pole vault.  and Alba Cuns Iglesias placed third in the triple jump.

The team now waits to see who will be advancing to the NCAA Indoor Championships in Boston before they turn their attention to the out of doors.

Technical Difficulties for the CCRHP

Technical Difficulties have thus far prevented yesterday's CCRHP from being posted in podcast form.  I'll be taking another stab at it later this afternoon to try to get it posted.  We had a good discussion with Daryl, Jared, Paulie and myself about basketball, lacrosse, and softball.

-- 

JMcA