Cards complete comeback on the Wolfpack in OT -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

Good morning and happy Martin Luther King Jr Day.  

The University of Louisville recognizes the federal holiday in observance of the late Dr King. 

WBB

Louisville 88 - NC State 80 

The Cards are toppling the big dawgs in a pretty convincing fashion with Louisville on an 11 game win streak and have now evened the series with the Wolfpack 9 each.

The two previous conference road wins vs rivals are big ones and now Louisville gets a 7 day break before welcoming Boston College to the Yum Center next weekend. 

Imari Berry had a career day with 33 points and 12 rebounds (her career rebounds is 13 vs Tennessee a few weeks ago).  

NC State dominated the first quarter before the Louisville defense put a stop to the bleeding.  Louisville gave up 23 points to NC State in the quarter before pulling it within 5 at the halftime break.  Zamareya Jones for NC State had 11 points in the opening frame while Louisville could only put 14 on the board.   

Wolfpack extended their lead again by as many as 13 in the 3rd quarter but not to be discouraged, Berry closed out the quarter scoring 8 points in the final minute to make it a 3 point game heading into the final frame of regulation. 

Cardinals forced OT when Imari Berry scored the final 5 points in regulation, a three pointer out of a timeout with 41 seconds and then swishing her 2 free throw attempts with 10 seconds left.  

Mackenley Randolph scored 5 for the Cards in the extra 5 minutes to secure the 88-80 win.

UP NEXT

Louisville vs Boston College 

Sunday 1/25/26 

2p.m. ACCNX

Louisville and Duke are the lone undefeated teams in the ACC with the next group 2 games back.  


FRED REPORT

Frederick Douglass 

FREE THROWS -- Louisville  13-17 at the line (76.5%) none bigger than the 2 made by Imari Berry in the final 10 seconds of regulation.  NC State went 18-24 from the charity stripe.  CAPITAL F 

REBOUNDING -- The Cardinals outrebounded the Wolfpack 44-35 lead by who else?  Imari Berry pulled down 12, 6 offensively and defensively each.  CAPITAL R

EFFORT/EXECUTION -- UofL was 0-7 from three point land in the first half and only hit 4-10 in the second half but none bigger than Berry's 3 pointer out of the Cards timeout with 41 seconds left. Berry's career efforts secured this one. Elif, Laura and Taj combined for only 13 points.   CAPITAL E

DEFENSE -- The Cards defense let NC St shoot 48% in the game, 53.8% in the first quarter where they let the Wolfpack get quite the leg up.  The Cards then went on and won 3.5 quarters offensively.  UofL scored 24 points off turnovers and had 10 steals.  no letter



FINAL FRED TALLY: F_R_E_

Imari Berry and Jeff Walz Postgame

As Always, 

Go Cards 

~Daryl 

MLK Day -- CARDS DEFEAT BOSTON COLLEGE 63-53

 

MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY HOLIDAY

A day today where we remember the works and efforts of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr and his works and efforts to battle racial discrimination and injustice in our nation. One of the early pioneers in the civil rights movement, King strove to make America an equal land of opportunity for all. Besides looking at today a just a national holiday, let us never forget his efforts to battle injustice. 

SMITH, VAN LITH LEAD LOUISVILLE PAST BOSTON COLLEGE

What a difference a quarter can make. 

Louisville women's basketball stumbled out of the gate in the first quarter Sunday afternoon against Boston College as if they'd had one too many at Roxanne's on Beacon Street Saturday night. I'll call it the worst quarter of the season for the #2/3 team in NCAA DI WBB, and I'd dare you over a shot of Jameson's to find one worse. The Cards trailed the Eagles 20-10 and were allowing way too many Boston easy baskets and shooting just 33% from the floor. 

If the Cards are known as one of the best defensive teams in the country, it was way overdue in displaying that in the Conte Forum. So, Jeff Walz decided to go "small" (without Olivia Cochran or Liz Dixon on the court and try to convince his troops to pick up the man-to-man defensive pressure. 

And, the strategy worked.  The Cards went on a 11-1 run in the first four minutes of the second session, and a Hailey Van Lith jumper tied the contest at 21-21. The Cards were not through yet, either. They soared to a 30-23 lead after another Van Lith jumper, and had pulled off a 20-3 run on their hosts, forcing nine Eagles turnovers in the quarter and just 20%.shooting.  When the halftime buzzer sounded, it was 32-25 Louisville and the Eagles players were probably wondering if anyone caught the license plate number of the truck that has just hit them. A 22-5 Cardinals quarter. 

A quarter where Hailey Van Lith had six points and Ahlana Smith came off the bench for five of her seven points. 

Credit the Eagles for going in at halftime and gathering their wits somewhat. And credit Louisville for not relapsing into their first quarter ways. The Cards would build their lead to 12 in the quarter, and see it shrink to four. A strange turn-of-events with two seconds left in the third, when a technical foul was called on BC's Jaelyn Batts for running out onto the court from the bench in celebration after the Eagles came up with a loose ball. Van Lith sank the ensuing two free throws and the Cards held a 48-39 lead after three quarters. 

Boston College would never get closer than nine points in the final quarter and Louisville led by 15 at 62-47 with 1:04 to play after a Kianna Smith jumper. A 63-53 win for Louisville, one where they outscored BC 53-33 in the final 30 minutes of the game, 

An unexpected 21 turnovers for the Cards and Boston College did get 10 steals. But, BC shot just 38% from the floor, despite Taylor Soule's heroics with 17 points. 34 combined points from Kianna Smith and Hailey Van Lith sends Louisville to 15-1 overall and 5-0 in the ACC. Van Lith and Smith got scoring support from Cochran (8 points), Ahlana Smith (7 points) and Kasa Robinson (6 points). Emily Engstler was limited to four points but had six steals and seven rebounds.

It wasn't a classic nor very pretty at times. but Louisville did overcome the sluggish, staggering start and remains tied for the lead in the ACC with NC State, who rolled Duke 84-60 on Sunday.

THE FRED REPORT

The late Sen. Fred Thompson's expression
probably mirrors how most Cardinal fans felt
after the first quarter of this one... 

Free Throws --  7 for 11 from the line for Louisville, a 63.8% effort for Louisville which doesn't quite meet our 70% standard to earn a letter. only four Cards attempted them, and only Olivia Cochran was perfect from the stripe. NO LETTER HERE. 

Rebounding -- Louisville won the battle of the boards 38-36. Engstler led the Cards with seven in 24 minutes, An interesting stat where 11 Cards rebounds were credited to "TEAM".and I'm not sure why so many went undesignated to a player.  BC had nine team rebounds.  But,, not bad for Louisville, in a game where the Cards played "small ball" quite a bit and Cochran and Dixon played just 26 of the 200 total minutes. CAPITAL "R" HERE.

Effort/Execution -- The Cards had 13 assists on 26 made baskets (Kasa Robinson 4 but she lead Louisville in turnovers with five) and did a much better job moving and throwing the ball accurately after that horrendous first 10 minutes. But, those first ten minutes would have sunk a lesser team for the game. I liked the way the Cards battled back, but 22 fouls are a bit too high, so I can only award a lowercase "e" here. 

Defense  -- Defense got Louisville back into this one and ultimately helped them win the game. BC was 2-15 from three-point range and had 24 turnovers. The Cards got 10 steals and had four blocks. I'll award the CAPITAL D" -- they did hold Boston College to 53 points and just five second chance points.  

FINAL FRED TALLY: _-R-e-D 

I've said it before and I'll say it again, road wins in the ACC are worth their weight in gold and this was a much improved Boston College team from the one Louisville played on Dec 30th. But, if the Cards start out this poorly at NC State on Thursday, they'll lose by double digits. Louisville didn't panic, slowly and methodically worked their way back into this one and pulled away. What is sad is that barely over a 1000 attended this one?. Maybe the city was still in a post-game New England Patriots depression and hangover after they got throttled by the Bills, but the Eagles are only drawing in and averaging a little short of 800 per game this year. 

Nevertheless, the Cards roll on and let's hope they got home without too many problems, based on the wicked weather headed Massachusetts way Sunday evening. The big one awaits Thursday, in Raleigh, a battle of two top-five teams. Cards and Wolfpack.

paulie  

Louisville women's basketball shakes Wake 73-49 -- MONDAY CARINAL COUPLE

CARDS RAKE WAKE FOREST 

Using a balanced attack and stifling defense, the University of Louisville women's basketball team won every quarter in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and kept Wake Forest winless in the ACC with a 73-49, 24-point win Sunday afternoon. 

The Cards (17-1, 5-1) went on a 12-0 first quarter run to jump out to a 17-5 lead and never looked back against the Demon Deacons...getting early production from Arica Carter, who knocked down three straight three-pointers in the first quarter and ended up as the Cards leading scorer with 12-points. 19-9 after one, and it looked like the Cards might be on their way to a big blowout of the Jen Hoover coached home team. 

Wake Forest (9-9, 0-5) wasn't willing, though, to go away easily. The Deacs battled the Cards closely in the second session. They narrowly lost the quarter 16-15 and did what a lot of schools wish they could duplicate -- keeping All-American Asia Durr scoreless in the first half and limiting Sam Fuehring to just two first half points. Louisville led 35-25 at the halftime break, thanks to Carter's early start and strong play from Bionca Dunham (10 first half points) and Jaz Jones (six points in the first two quarters). 

Neither team was exactly lighting up the scoreboard and Wake held the edge on rebounds 19-15. The Cards were getting it done on the turnover side...forcing 12 while committing just four in the second quarter... and made the most of them, in getting 12 points off the turnovers. The Cards were maintaining the lead with two of their prolific point-scorers strangely silent but you had to wonder if Asia's time was coming after the break. 

Durr did deliver in the third.

She totaled all of her eight points in the ten minutes following halftime and the Cards pulled out another quarter 18-15 to lead 53-39 as the teams headed to the final ten minutes. With two threes and a nice two-point jumper, Durr also had three assists and two steals. 

The Cards have been guilty of less than perfect fourth quarters at times this season but that wasn't the case in the state of North Carolina yesterday. Louisville got a strong effort off the bench and a 7-0 run late in the quarter helped push the lead to 28 before the Cards finished with the win. The Cards held a 20-10 points advantage in the final session and got threes from Seygan Robins, Lindsey Duvall and Dana Evans. Kylee Shook sank a couple of free throws to reach that 28-point edge with about a minute left and the Cards got 18 of their 20 points from the reserves in the fourth quarter against the tired and a bit disillusioned Demons. 

I continue to be pleasantly surprised by the hustle, effort, toughness and grit of freshman Mykasa "Kasa" Robinson. In 20 minutes yesterday, she added three steals and two rebounds to her seven points. Free throws still need work (maybe they'd let her shoot them while running?) but she is a valuable "off the bench" spark for the Cards. Your car won't start this morning? Call "Kasa" she'll provide the spark and jump needed to get it rolling. Vehicle doors frozen and won't open? Have her run around it a few times, that'll heat it up.

Wake was with out their leading scorer and star Elisa Penna, who is out with a knee injury. Without her, guards Ivana Raca and Gina Conti combined for 20-points to lead WFU. Former Card recruiting target Christina Morra played for Wake and the "Canadian sensation" totaled six points and six rebounds in a reserve role in the paint. 

For Louisville, the scoring was nicely distributed. Carter (12) and Dunham (10) were the double figure scorers. Durr and Jones were good for eight points each and Fuehring, Evans and Robinson added seven each. Shook finished with six points, Robins contributed five and Duvall nailed a three for her only points. Our favorite "Attack Yorkie" Jess Laemmle got three minutes in at the end but never got a shot off. 


Cards win, the Cardinals win 73-49. They are 3-0 against the ACC schools in North Carolina this season and have held their last three ACC opponents to less that 50 points  



THE FRED REPORT

Free Throws - Louisville went just 11-18 in the foul stripe efforts yesterday. That just 61% and is undeserving of a letter. 

Rebounds - Ouch. Wake was the lead dog in the sled here, gathering a 45-25 advantage over the visitors. Kylee Shook led the way with five. We cannot award a letter here. 

Effort/Execution - The Cards forced (or were handed) 25 turnovers and committed just six. The Cards pilfered 11 steals to Wake's six. 26-22 points in the paint went Louisville's way and 14-4 on fast break points to the visitors as well. That's hustle and a capital "E".

Defense - Wake shot 40% against the Cards and that's borderline for Louisville defensive efficiency. Despite the huge rebound edge for Wake, the Cards took the second chance battle 9-8. The dominating first and fourth quarters, where Wake totaled a mere 19 points, plus the overall total of under "50" points (49) warrant a capital "D". 

FRED TOTAL -- -_-_E-D


CAPTION THIS PICTURE

You know this works. Take a look and create a caption for the picture below. 

Stay warm today. Although the roads are fine in Louisville (except for some driveways) the temperatures are still brutal. We recommend hanging around the house and binge-watching something and making a pot of soup or chili.  


MLK JR DAY

It is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so the schools are closed and some of you have the day off. As we reflect on the life and works of Martin Luther King, remember and try to follow the example, please, of these words of King: 

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that." 



paulie
xxxxx

Louisville women's basketball -- 24 for Moore as Cards WBB holds off Hurricanes 63-59...MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS GO TO 16-4 WITH WIN OVER MIAMI

Mariya Moore recorded her sixth straight game in double figures and second-highest point total of the season with 24 points...helping the Cards WBB squad hold off a pesky and determined Miami squad in the KFC YUM! Center 63-59 Sunday afternoon. 




Moore was joined in double figures by Briahanna Jackson with 11 points and Myisha Hines-Allen's 10 in a contest where Miami never had the lead but never trailed by more than nine. 

It looked early on that the Cards weren't going to have much trouble with the big wind out of south Florida...jumping out to a 11-4 lead halfway through the first session after a Jackson layup plus one. A Moore three had the Cards up 14-6 with 3:40 left in the quarter...but there was some cause for concern when Hines-Allen took a "inadvertent" elbow to the face sixty seconds later...after a Jessica Thomas layup. Myisha lay motionless on the floor for a scary minute before leaving the court with light assistance. The Cards got a BJ jumper with 1:16 remaining to build a 18-11 first period lead and that held to the end of the quarter. 

Miami was cold from the hardwood...shooting just 4-16 (25%) in those first ten minutes. Stellar guard Adrienne Motley had seven of the Canes' points...Louisville had seven from Moore and a Jackson five to lead the way.


The "U" heated up to begin the second frame. A 5-0 opening run, capped by Nigla Greene's 3-ball pulled the visitors within two. UofL responded with buckets from Asia Durr, a plus 1 from Moore and Hines-Allen jumper...who returned to the contest shortly after the quarter started...to climb to a 25-18 advantage with four minutes until half. Miami wasn't ready to see an "L" next to their name yet, though and battled back. Motley's three with a minute to play closed out a 7-2 Hurricane run to make it 27-25. The Cards swung it back in their direction to close the half...MHA powering one through in the paint and Moore providing first-half highlight reel...screaming for the ball from Durr and then hitting a deep trifecta with four ticks left on the scoreboard to give Louisville a 32-25 halftime lead. 

The Cards were getting it done on the boards with a commanding 28-15 rebounding edge and had 22 points in the paint. The M&M girls had 10 of the Cards 14 points in the period and Mariya led all scorers with 13 points in 19 minutes of play. 

Moore knocked down another three to begin the final half but Miami controlled the next 150 seconds with a 6-0 run that had them within two at 35-33 after Jessica Thomas connected on a jumper. It was Louisville's turn to go on a run...and they responded with a 6-0 Durr spurt...the sophomore nailing a three and then getting fouled on a three attempt and sinking all three charity tosses. The Cards would push the lead to 45-36 when Jazmine Jones hit one of those pretty mid-range jumpers at the 3:26 mark. Emese Hof entered the game for the Canes right around that time, though, and started gaining control of the paint...the 6'3" sophomore from the Netherlands hit two shots and grabbed two boards to cut the Cards margin to 47-43 after three. 

The Cards tried a variety of combinations on Hof ...Cortnee Walton, Sam Fuehring, Bionca Dunham, Ciera Johnson and Kylee Shook earlier in the contest...but Walz stayed with his starting five (Myisha, Mariya, BJ, Cortnee and Asia) the entire fourth quarter. The opening scenario seemed familiar...Louisville starting the quarter hot with a basket each for the M&M girls and Miami charging back. Hof scored inside to get the Canes within three at 51-48 with 6:36 to play. A Hines-Allen basket was reversed by the Joe Vaszily-led referee crew with four minutes left and 10 seconds later Motley knocked back a three to cut it to a 55-53 Cards. 

(Credit to Joe the Ref again tonight. At the end of the third quarter he gave the game ball to a little girl seated by me on media row and she was able to pose for an adoring grand-dad's photos with it. She was reluctant to return it to start the fourth...if it had been me, I would have tossed it into the stands along with the peanuts the cheerleaders were throwing)


Louisville needed an answer and Mariya offered one. Her fourth three of the game made it 58-53. BJ claimed the "circus shot" of the game prize 80 seconds later with a falling-down, turn-around desperation jumper (which, in the post-game presser, she claimed she practices) to set the tally at 60-55 UofL. Miami coolly responded with scores by Hof and Keyona Hayes to climb back within one with 1:21 on the clock. 

The "U" would not score the rest of the way. A 30-second Cardinal time-out produced a jumper which Moore missed. She grabbed but also missed the put-back. Hines-Allen was there to grab that miss, fortunately, and got fouled. The Montclair, NJ junior rolled in both unguarded ones and it was 62-59 UofL. After UM's Thomas couldn't get loose for a three to tie with 10 seconds left and settled for a jumper...Moore grabbed the miss and was fouled. She added a free throw, missed the second, but got her own rebound and the Cards got the win 63-59.

Louisville had defended the home-court against a very talented and definite NCAA Tournament participant later this year in Miami. Another great guard combination (Motley and Thomas) defeated. The Canes got double digit efforts from Motley (13), Thomas (11) Hayes (10) and Hof (10)....in going to 14-4 on the season and 3-3 in conference.

Just another day in the ACC...right? 


HOW DID FRED DO? 

Early '60's rock n roller Freddy Cannon

Free throws -- A decent 10-14 from the charity stripe for the Cards. Only four Cards attempted them...The M&M girls were a combined 6 of 7, Asia went 3-5 and BJ 1-2. That's 71.4% and that's better than our mandated 70% judging platform. We'll offer the small case "f" for the effort. 

Rebounds -- Winning the rebound battle was a pre-game objective and Louisville did control the backboards in Sunday's game with a 46-31 advantage. 11 for MHA, an impressive eight for Asia...Mariya and Cortnee combined for 13. The 20-6 difference in offensive boards was good to see...UM's starters only had 15 grabs. A capital "R" is the designation here.

Effort/Execution. Walz went with the starters exclusively in the final ten and Jazmine Jones saw 16 total-game minutes. 36.9% shooting isn't exactly great...but the Cards got 16 second-chance points and out-scored the Canes 32-22 in the paint. Louisville had 14 turnovers while forcing just 11...so The Five Second Turnover Bakery was open Sunday. After much deliberation, we can see a small case "e" here...Louisville did win and never trailed. 

Defense. Stopping Hof was a task for the Cards and Miami regrouped to end up shooting 41.4% for the game after an atrocious start. Holding Motley...easily one of the best three players in the ACC... to 13 points (her season average) was a key. Holding the Canes to 31.6% from three-ball range (they were second in the ACC at .378) and 15 points less than their season average of 74 will allow us to offer a small case "d" in the final category

FINAL FRED COUNT: f-R-e-d


SO...

It was nice to see Mariya continue to stay hot from the floor and do all the other things that make her one of the best all-around players on the team. Good to see Myisha return with a double-double after the Florida State disappearance. BJ with her usual non-stop energy, hustle and effort. The circus-shot was icing on the cake...

The Cards did not fold in the final and crucial three minutes on Sunday...which was a relief....doing so with the starters. Beside Jazmine, the Cards bench saw only 20 of the 200 minutes available...which makes us wonder if Walz is paring the participation down to those he can somewhat depend on. Quality minutes from seldom-used Bionca Dunham aside...who did grab three boards, hit two shots and get a block in six minutes...not much out of Taylor Johnson (3 minutes) Kylee Shook (1 minute) and Ciera Johnson (3 minutes).


We won't quibble too much about wins in the ACC. Especially against top 15 teams. It just makes one wonder if a pattern has started here in playing time distribution. I suppose we'll find out more against a very talented Georgia Tech squad which will ramble into the YUM! Center on Wednesday fresh off a nine-point win over visiting Syracuse yesterday. At 13-4...the Atlanta invaders can not be overlooked. 

No one can in this league...it seems. 


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THEY SAID IT

Links to the post-game chatter below. 

BJ AND MARIYA POST GAME

WALZ EXPLAINS THE ACC TO PAULIE



😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓



PAULIE PICKS

Results for Sunday and Monday. I went 5-3.

My losses:

-- Georgia Tech puling off a slight surprise with a 75-66 win over Syracuse.

-- Pitt shellacking UNC 68-48

-- Tennessee coming back against Notre Dame 71-69

My wins:

-- FSU demolishing Clemson 86-27. No, not a mis-type. 86-27

-- Cards beat Canes 63-59

-- Virginia over Boston College 62-55

-- NC State squeaks by Duke 57-55

-- Virginia Tech holding on against Wake Forest 72-70

I'm 27-8 so far (77.1%). Maybe I should be picking UConn games to boost my win percentage...


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MLK DAY.

We celebrate the life and achievements of Martin Luther King, Jr on this Monday. There's a brief video below about the man who stood up for what he believed in and what was right.

I remember where I was on the day Martin Luther King was assassinated. Home...sick in bed...and my mother waking me up and watching the TV coverage with me. Wondering if all this senseless killing would ever end.

I still wonder that today.  

video -- MARTIN LUTHER KING JR


Early morning, April 4. Shots rang out int the Memphis sky. Free at last, they took your life. They could not take your pride.  --  song by U2 -- ( Pride)   LINK: U2 Pride on You Tube
paulie
xxxxx

Martin Luther King Jr - I Have a Dream

MONDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE:
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We take a day away from the joy and excitement of University of Louisville womens athletics to celebrate the holiday of a man whose efforts dramatically changed the landscape of the world as we know it. His efforts to acheive equality, fairness and human rights for all God's children during a time of uncertainy and strife in our society sadly ended in the ultimate sacrifice...his death for his cause.
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Please take the time to recall some important words from Martin Luther King, Jr. on this day of his celebration and rememberance. And try to live the tone and theme of what he taught us...if you can dream it, you can acheive it.
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Tomorrow, we'll return with an exclusive interview with one of the finest to ever don a jersey for the University of Louisville's women's basketball team. Today, we ask you to join us in celebrating the freedoms we have here in America that we sometimes take for granted...freedoms not available for some human beings here on earth below. We also ask you to join us in prayer for those who still search, still strive and fight for the basic rights and freedoms denied them...in hopes that someday soon, they'll also be free at last.
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