Cards WBB takes a tumble at Middle Tennessee -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 BLUE RAIDERS GIVE CARDS THE BLUES 67-49

Louisville women's basketball ran into a MTSU squad that sank 11 threes and took over the contest late in the second quarter with a 8-0 run to build a lead they would never relinquish.

It wasn't the best of shooting nights for Louisville, going just 18-65 (27%) from the floor and 4-21 (19%) from three-point range. MTSU put a tough, in your face and unwavering defense on Louisville and Hailey Van Lith and Morgan Jones were a combined 4-21 from the floor. 

The Cards did start fairly well. They pushed to a 18-15 first quarter lead -- getting nine points from Olivia Cochran. MTSU shut Louisville down offensively in the second quarter, though, as Louisville failed to score in the final three minutes leading to halftime. That allowed the Blue Raiders to gain a 34-25 lead. Threes by MTSU's Whitson and Boldyreva were torpedoes in Louisville's battleship. Seve points in a quarter isn't the recipe for success.

Not having Payton Verhulst didn't help the Cards chances any.. It was revealed during the contest that she has decided to enter the transfer portal. Not seeing her on the bench and (obviously) not enter the game led to internet (and our Cardinal Couple group chat).speculation, discussion and cause-seeking. We finally saw this; 

Payton Verhulst in the portal out of Louisville, source familiar to the situation says. Sophomore should have 3 years of eligibility left. Was the No. 12 recruit in the 2021 class, per ESPN. Kansas native was an All-ACC Freshman Team selection last season

Middle Tennessee expanded on their lead in the third quarter and built their lead to 54-36. Walz was trying a ton of different combinations, we saw Zyanna Walker log her first court time of the season and she responded with four points.

The Cards managed to stay even with MTSU in the fourth quarter -- each team scoring 13 points, but Louisville made just one of their final 11 baskets. 

(great, another group of "downward L posers)

A tough, disappointing loss. The Cards would appear to still have some work to do in the "toughening up" aspects of the game and let's hope they can regain their shooting touch before SIUE comes to town Tuesday. 

THE FRED REPORT

(whaddya mean the Cards shot 27% , Fred?)

FREE THROWS --  9 for 15 is 60% below the 70%we like to see to award a letter.  Only four Cards attempted them, Cochran was 4-7.  NO LETTER

REBOUNDS -- Louisville won the rebounding battle 47-40, but lost it in defensive rebounds 32-29. Only 14 for the Cards four "bigs' Cochran, Dixon, Harris and Williams. I'll award a lower case "r" because they did win the battle of the boards overall. Hailey had 10. 

EFFORT/EXECUTION -- 15 turnovers is a few more than I's like to see and only five points off fast breaks isn't many for a team that prides themselves on them. Eight assists on 18 made basket is a bit low, also. The overall effort didn't win the game, though and UofL's execution against the MTSU defense yielded just 49 points. NO LETTER

DEFENSE -- Holding a foe under 70 points usually results in a UofL win, but the three-point defense allowed almost hlf off MTSU's point tally. I can't award a letter on a loss...those collapses ending the second quarter and starting the third quarter (a 16-2 MTSU run) ultimately did UofL in. NO LETTER

FINAL FRED REPORT:  -_r-_-_

So, a lot of questions out there about this squad right now.  In all fairness, Walz did warn the Cards fans that this wouldn't be another remarkable less-than-five loss season, but I think we're all looking for better performances, solid leadership, consistency and toughness out of this bunch. The talent is there, we'd all like to see it shine. 

As sometimes happens, when a squad starts doing things that are unexpectedly bad on a consistent basis, rumors start to spread. and circulate, We're not going to go there, speculation doesn't equal facts. 

paulie

Sweet Sixteen Bound Volleyball - Sunday Cardinal Couple

Sweet Sixteen Bound

The VolleyCards are Sweet 16 bound.  The Cards defeated Purdue in straight sets (25-19, 25-21, 25-23) to advance from the sub-regionals of the NCAA Volleyball tournament into the regional rounds, or rounds three and four.

By virtue of being the number one seed in the region, UofL will continue to host, but NCAA requires that 3rd and 4th rounds are held in facilities that can seat at least 3,000 people.  Last year, that necessitated last minute negotiations and shuffling of several events between UofL and Bellarmine to accommodate play at Freedom Hall.  This year, UofL was able to secure access to the KFC Yum! Center for the event, simplifying preparations considerably.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves, though, and take a look at last night's match.

It was a straight set sweep affair, and UofL came out of the locker room clearly ready to get the job done.  The Boilermakers, however, were not to be easily swept aside.  A couple of early Amaya Tillman kills and a Purdue attack error got Louisville out to an early 7-3 lead.  Purdue would consistently punch back, but never with the same ferocity.  A pair of Purdue points, were met by a trio of Cards points, a Purdue point, met by a pair of UofL points and the lead was 12-6.

Nine errors by Purdue in the first set would really seal the deal, though.  Contributing to .114 hitting in set one for the engineers.  To be fair, the Cards hit an acceptable, but not stellar .286 in set one.

The second set closed the gap ever so slightly, the lead was 12-7 rather than 12-6, for example, but it similarly wouldn't be enough.  Phekran "PK" Kong made her presence known in this set after closing out the first.  Again, the teams traded punches, with the Cards punching just that little bit harder to slowly but surely open up the lead.  Anna DeBeer continued her return to form with a side out kill to make the score 20-17 which was greeted with great enthusiasm from the heavily red-tinted crowd.

I'm not sure what happened at the set break, but whatever it was, maybe try something different.  The Cards came out looking distracted and just a step slow.  Purdue crafted their first lead of the match with a set-opening run of four points.  The Cards wouldn't tie the set until 6-6, and wouldn't take a lead until 9-8.  Mostly credit the middle hitters for triggering the run with several kills by Amaya Tillman and PK Kong being key.  Purdue would continue to get small leads, at 10-9, 16-13, and even as late as 22-21.  Kills by Claire Chaussee and Anna DeBeer would push the Cards lead to 23-22 before Purdue would claw one back to tie it at 23.  Attacking errors would do the Boilermakers in, though with a pair of them resulting in the set, and match, win for the Cards.  There was a bit of crowd displeasure when Dave Shondell issued a challenge on the last play of the match, but the original call was upheld and the Cards got to celebrate twice.

Claire Chaussee led the Cards with 12 kills for a .205 percentage.  She only had three errors but credit to Purdue's defense digging well on so many of Chaussee's 44 attempts.  She seasoned her stat line with a trio of digs, a pair of assists a solo block and a trio of shares.  Amaya Tillman followed closely behind with 11 kills and a whopping .600 rate.  A pair of blocks is pretty much just another day at the office for Tillman, but the trio of digs, including a big diving one is an impressive add-on for a middle.  DeBeer finished with four kills and 11 digs as she continues to improve her mobility game by game.  Elena Scott was passing dimes all evening with 22 digs and picks up a couple of assists in the process.

Overall the Cards only hit .246 on the evening, a bit lower than usual.  Again, credit to Purdue's defense for that.  The Cards led 4-0 in aces, and 10-3 in blocks, which pretty much make up the difference in scores across the match.

So the Cards win and advance.  The next match will be against Baylor at the KFC Yum! Center on Thursday December 8th.  Times will be set today, but we're expecting earlier in the day as the other three hosting teams are Wisconsin, Texas, and Stanford, meaning we're the only eastern time zone host.  The other teams coming to Louisville are Nebraska, and Oregon.  This is a completely chalk regional with Baylor being the four seed, Nebraska the two, and Oregon the three.  In fact, the only non-chalk team in the Sweet 16 is Houston, the five seed in the Stanford region.  UH advanced over South Dakota in the first round, and then over Auburn in the second.  Auburn was responsible for dispatching the four seed in the region, Creighton, in the first round.

The only teams that beat Louisville this season are both still alive in the tournament, with Ohio State the three seed in the Texas region, and set to play Minnesota; and Pitt set to play Florida.  Kentucky is also still alive as the three seed in the Stanford region, and they will be playing San Diego who gave Louisville a good showing early in the season.

(VOLLEYBALL PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON)

Basketball

Jeff Walz' squad is in Tennessee, set to play Middle Tennessee at 5pm eastern.  The hoopsters will be looking to bounce back after a terrible fourth quarter against Ohio State when an upset win was a real possibility until the wheels fell off.

The Raiders are 4-2 on the season.  They opened with a one point loss to Mercer before obliterating the Southern Illinois Salukis 90-38.  They continued that momentum into a solid win over a common opponent, the Belmont Bruins, 80-62.  Their other loss came to Texas Tech in Las Vegas, and they are now on a two game win streak over Missouri State, and Tennessee Tech.

The top point scorer for the Raiders is Savannah Wheeler averaging 17 points per game, followed closely by Kseniya Malashka, of Belarus, with 15.2 per game.  Jalynn Gregory and Courtney Whitson are the main three point threats with both hitting a third of their attempts or better.

TV for this one is only ESPN+, and if you don't have that, of course you can always listen in with Nick Curran and Cortnee Walton on 93.9FM The Ville.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We had the full crew on the CCRHP call yesterday.  After the usual pleasantries, we dug into a good discussion of what's going on with Basketball before turning to the joy and excitement of Volleyball winning.

You can check out the podcast at it's anchor.fm home at

https://anchor.fm/cardinal-couple/episodes/Volleyball-Advances-in-the-Tournament-e1rmnel

-- JMcA

Cardinals Swimming Success in US Open -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS SWEEP THE 100m FREESTYLE IN INDY

Arthur Albiero, head Louisville Swimming Coach, isn't a man who openly or arrogantly boasts or brags about the successful swimmers he has had the pleasure of coaching at UofL over his time at Louisville. Since August of 2003....you could probably say, in his case, actions speak louder that words -- and the Cards put up some significant results in the 2020 US Open at the IU Natatorium No vember 12-14. 

We put our emphasis on UofL women's sports here at Cardinal Couple, and it gives us a lot of pride and pleasure to report that former UofL standouts performed in excellent fashion at the event. 

Mallory Comerford captured the women's 100m freestyle with an amazing time of 55.21. Former teammate Casey Fanz finished second with a time of 56.18, which would win a lot of meets. Louisville also grabbed the sixth and seventh spots in the event with Christiana Regenauer's 56.76 and Gabi Albiero's 56.85. 

Alena Kraus took second place in the women's 200m butterfly. Fellow Cardinals Tristan Ulett garnered a fourth place finish in that event and Gabi showed her versatilityby ending up sixth in the "fly". 

Morgan Friesen finished sixth in the 200m breaststroke.  \

Albiero's philosophy on coaching: 

"I'm not someone who yells during practice. I do my best coaching when the commitment is 100% on both side -- not 50-50. To be successful, it takes that 100% commitment. When you have that level of commitment, you have understanding. That makes it easy to have fun in the pool. It should always be fun at the core. That's the nature of our sport." 

More fun and success is coming for Cardinal swimmers and they can go forward assured that Coach Albiero will be there to share it with them. 

NINE DAYS TO WBB

It is akin, maybe, to waiting for Christmas morning -- this anticipation of the Cards WBB season. 

We get a lot of questions, comments, speculation and inquiries about the UofL WBB squad here at Cardinal Couple and we, too, can't wait to see the squad in action. As far as the answers to them, let's take a look at four of your most recently asked questions: 

WHO WILL START?  

Let's back-track here a second and remind you of Coach Walz's philosophy that it isn't so much who starts...it is who is in there in the final two minutes of a close contest. That being said...I think you can put Dana Evans in a starting role with no hesitation. If the intent is to have an experienced line=up on the floor to begin a contest -- add Liz (Dixon) and "E" (Balogun) to the starters. Walz has mentioned and toyed with the idea of a four-guard lineup, so let's follow through on that train of thought and add freshman sensation Hailey Van Lith and steady, dependable Kianna Smith to the mix. 

We'll see how close I am on 25th in Murfreesboro. .

WHAT ABOUT MIDDLE TENNESSEE?   

First off, they are the pre-season C-USA Conference favorite to win the title. Secondly, they have a very insightful and wise coach in Rick Insell. 

The Blue Raiders went 21-9 last year and were on a four-game winning streak going into the C-USA Conference Tournament -- but it was cancelled. Heavyweights Kentucky, Gonzaga, Arizona State, WKU were on the Blue Raiders schedule and even though they didn't win any of those, they weren't blown out in any of them. 

WHO THEY GOT? 

Two out of last year's starting five return and it's a sister act with Anastasia and Aislynn Hayes. The sisters were also the two leading scorers on the squad (18.7 and 14.1 ppg) and the 5'7" guards are redshirt juniors and sophomores respectively  There's also another "sister act" on the squad with guards Alexis and Amanda Whittington, who were reserves last season. Insell brought in transfer Deja Cage from Ole Miss and she was the leading scorer and three-point shooter for the Rebs in 2018-19. MTSU has a bit of height as well, 6'4"  Ra'Shika White transfers in from Elon, where she was the CAA's Sixth Player of the Year and they also added freshman center 6'4" Kseviia Kozlova -- a highly sought-after post from Moscow, Russia. 

MTSU has also added two 6'3" freshmen forwards (from Ontario, Canada and Spain) so "tall ball" could very well be an option for Insell, as well. 

WHEN'S THE TIPOFF LUNCHEON?

That traditionally fun event has probably gone the way of so many UofL activities and won't be held because of the pandemic. Maybe the Cards get creative and do some type of on-line event...who knows? Grab a bag of Doritos and listen to Dana would be fun...Hamburgers with Hailey? Waffles with Walz? Pizza with Purcell & Pineda... all have intriguing possibilities,  but we've heard nothing yet.  

Inviting 1200 or so to the Galt House right now to eat would probably get a "we can't be doing that" admonishing from Governor Andy and with the virus reaching new heights...I wouldn't want to be a part of it. 

We'll have much more on the opening matchup for the Cards and the season outlook as game day draws closer. 

last BUT not least...

I don't get out a lot anymore with the COVID and such, so I may have missed any updates on highway safety and traffic regulations. In any event, someone explain this road sign to me...

Have a meaningful Monday! 

paulie 

 

Louisville Women's Basketball -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE -- Raiding Defense

MTSU Raiders Vanquished

The women's basketball squad continued it's dominance over teams from the state of Tennessee with a 80-26...you can't sugar-coat this...absolute beat-down of the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders.  This is a school record for UofL for least points scored by an opponent in a game.

When no one player gets more than 25 minutes, you expect scoring by committee, and that's exactly what we got.  Asia Durr lead with 19 pts, with Bionca Dunham picked up 14.  Dana Evans and and Jazz Jones also reached double-digits with 11 and 10 respectively.  Sam Fuehring had another nice game with 8, Arica Carter got 6, MHA had a bit of an off night with only 5, and Kylee Shook contributed 4.  Shook did have some fun on the defensive end of the court, getting more blocked shots, with 6, than she did points...there's a reason she holds the state of Colorado high school blocks record.

What may be the stat of the night, however, is 26 assists on 27 made shots.

It was Alumnae Night last night. How many do you recognize? 

There's really not too much to analyze on this one.  MTSU came into the KFC Yum! Center, and ran into a buzz saw.  They were clearly an overmatched team,   They struggled to accomplish even the basics in the face of a withering defensive presence.  The frustration showed a bit, too.  I find no joy in watching a team struggle like this against a better opponent, and look for joy in other aspects of the evening.  A win is a win, and it's good to get it in the win column, but I, for one, certainly won't be dwelling on this, or even basking in the glow of a battle won.  I will wish the Blue Raiders the best, applaud them for their win over Vandy, and turn my attention ahead to Tennessee State Tuesday night.  There was joy downtown last night, but it was found in welcoming back a wonderful group of alumnae and honoring what came before...it was found in the entertaining antics of the Pep Band...and it was found for me, personally, in an abnormally large number of personal acquaintances that I got to visit with at the game last night.  (On a side note, it seems the Softball coaching staff is raring to go for this season...play starts in February...and are excited at the schedule they've put together and a deeper pitching staff than we've seen in recent seasons)

We'll see what TSU brings to the table, but I fear the most joy will be found, again, in the Pep Band, and in the annual debate over who has the ugliest Christmas sweater.  Assistant Coach Sam Purcell always sets the bar high and we've heard that he's been searching for the prime specimen for this outing.

Walz did mention it the post-game presser that Purcell would not be involved in any way in Walz's Tuesday night outfit. And our photog and CC writer Jared Anderson has to choose from three different Ugly sweaters. Decisons and choices.

Fred Checks In

How did Fred do?

Fred Savage. "The Wonder Years"

Free Throws - at 18 for 25, that gives us a 72% at the charity stripe.  While that will get you a letter,  a lower-case "f" is what's awarded here. I use 75% for the capital, so...

Rebounding - It's always easier to get defensive rebounds than it is offensive, so a lower opponent shooting percentage usually results in more rebounding because it will inflate the defensive rebounding numbers.  MTSU shot field goals at only a 20.5% clip with UofL hitting 56.3%, so this should be a significant advantage for the Cards, and yet MTSU out rebounded the Cards slightly, 29-28.  We can award no letter, here.

Energy/Execution/Effort - Hard to question this one too much.  Despite maintaining a significant lead from very early in the game, the Cards continued to play hard and didn't let down.  "E" is the result.

Defense - Absolutely withering defense caused a large amount of frustration on the part of MTSU.  Even if the lowered shoulder bull-rush charge into Sam Fuehring didn't draw a charging foul, (it did draw Asia Durr quickly jumping in front of Fuehring, who looked like she was about ready to throw down).    No doubt of a "D", here, holding the opponent to 26 for the game, and single-digit scoring in each quarter.  I'm gonna add an underline to it for a little extra emphasis, so let's make it "D".  Any better and we may have to start playing with font sizes.

f- -E-D is the overall result.

The women are back in action Tuesday night against the aforementioned Tennessee State Tigers to complete the homestand versus all comers from Tennessee.

POST GAME ASIA DURR AND DANA EVANS

WALZ POST-GAME MTSU COMMENTS

RadioHeads

A quick check, and yes, the recording of yesterday's Cardinal Couple Radio Hour broadcast is up and available on the Soundcloud.  If you missed it, you can hear the audio at

 https://soundcloud.com/chradio/cardinal-couple-20171209.

I'd take these six , play the current squad and expect a
close game. The original "Attack Yorkie", C.B.  Megan,
Cortnee, Keisha  and Taylor Johnson.

Three of us knuckleheads were in the studio, Paul, Case, and I; and we were honored to have Jack Grossman from WIUX Sports, the sports home of Indiana University.  We previewed the IU vs UofL Men's game, and talked a bit about IU Soccer's bid for the College Cup which they are playing for today at 1pm.  They play Stanford for the championship in what I expect will be a rather chilly Philadelphia.  Jack is a Louisvillian, graduating from Manual High School, and really did Paulie a solid at the UofL vs IU Women's game in Bloomington last weekend.

Good fun was had, and Jack fit in with the lighthearted banter of the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour, despite definitely not being a knucklehead.  Of course, we also talked about the UofL women's games and the season so far.  A good time was had by all.

We'll be back in the studio next week. That should be sufficient warning to all in the Crescent Hill/Frankfort Ave area.   

--

JMcA

Cards Host MTSU for 'Alumni Night' -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

WBB Seeks to Continue Dominance

Louisville's women's basketball team is off to a great start so far this season. 10-0 is their second best start of all time and this is their first 10 game win streak since a stretch between December and February two years ago, according to the UofL athletics site. Louisville is in a very good position to break that previous run of 15 games as well as have a new best start ever if they can continue to play the way they do when they are playing well. Louisville has been absolutely dominant at times, but they've also been quite plain at others.

Tonight, Louisville welcomes in the Blue Raiders from Middle Tennessee State University. The ladies at MTSU opened their season with a 65-54 victory at Vanderbilt. After Louisville's up and down performance against the Commodores, perhaps it would do the Cards well to not look past these Blue Raiders. MTSU is not receiving votes in the mid-major top 25, but they are 5-2 with the aforementioned victory over Vandy. Their two losses have both come since Thanksgiving, both on the road, and both to Power 5 schools; 56-65 to Ole Miss and then 45-48 to Georgia Tech. Not that either of those teams are world beaters, but it is clear that MTSU has shown a propensity to go into hostile environments against higher quality teams and perform to the best of their ability.

As I mentioned, Louisville has looked rough at times. They trailed by double digits at South Dakota State, and Vandy hung tough for the first third of their game against the Cards. Turnovers, as usual, are a major issue for the Cards. They've shot well from the floor (for the most part) and OK from the free throw line. Giving the opponent extra possessions has not cost Louisville so far, but if they run into a team that is hot and playing with nothing to lose (like MTSU tonight) and they turn the ball over and can't shoot well enough to compensate, the Cardinals could be looking at a December loss. I believe that Coach Jeff Walz will maintain focus for the team and not let them look forward to the rivalry game looming next week. Turnovers are always a focus of his, and this team seems like one that can shake the turnover bug. As long as the team practices well and focuses on the task at hand each game, I believe we may see that turnover number start to fall a bit.

During halftime of tonight's game, Louisville will honor a group of women's basketball alumnae. Why they are calling the game "alumni night" instead of "alumnae night," I have no clue. The honorees tonight will be Von Macklin (1977), Terri Keown (1977), Val Combs (1980), Marilyn Reckelhoff Dippel (1988), Stacy DeGraffenreid Simons (1991), Leatrice Scott (1995), Darnice Cloudy (1996), Kiva Thomas (1996), Misty Smith Albrecht (1998), Kendria Braxton Lockett (1998), Jaime Ludwig (1998), April Goddard (1999), Alison Bass Egan (2000), Roscelle Bullock Griffin (2000), Kim Graham Calhoun (2004), Sara Nord (2004), Jessica Huggins (2006), Connie Neal (2006), Helen Johnson (2007), Patrika Barlow (2008), Candyce Bingham (2009), Keshia Hines (2011), Shelby Harper (2013), Tia Gibbs (2014), Megan Deines (2015), Sara Hammond (2015), Cortnee Walton (2017), Taylor Johnson (2017), according to gocards.com. Perhaps Paulie will be able to grab some former Cardinal Couple favorites for a quick soundbite or two. 

Tipoff for tonight's game is at 7PM. If you can't make it out to the Yum! Center, you can follow along on the ACC Network Extra or on the radio broadcast with Nick Curran and Adrienne Johnson. If you are able to make it to tonight's game, you really should. This Louisville women's team is an exciting one to watch, and they deserve all the support they can get. You might even get home in time to see the important part of the Heisman Ceremony.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

For the first time in awhile, I'm back in the studio. I've been all over these last couple of weeks, but
Paulie and Co. have done a great job, just as they did before I was ever part of the team. As Jeff mentioned yesterday, we'll have a special guest joining the three of us in studio today in lieu of Jared Anderson. We'll have Jack Grossman, student radio man for Indiana University, filling in the fourth chair today. Jack is in town for the UofL v IU men's basketball game and has agreed to take some time to sit down with us. The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour airs at 11AM on 100.9 WCHQ FM. It is also available to stream at wchqfm.com and via the WCHQ app. Tune in, won't you?

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Louisville women's basketball -- Trio leads Cards past MTSU 91-72 -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

MOORE, HINES-ALLEN, DURR COMBINE FOR 66 IN CARDS 19 POINT WIN

The old phrase consists of "Good things come in threes" and three UofL women's basketball players did some very good things last night in Murfreesboro, TN in Louisville's 91-71 win over the Blue Raiders. 

Mariya Moore had her season high scoring output with 27 points, Myisha Hines-Allen did the same with 17 points and Asia Durr stayed hot with 22 points to keep the Cards perfect against the state of Tennessee...and on the season at 3-0. 

The Cards broke out of the gate alertly and rolled to an early 13-2 edge on MTSU after Moore got an old fashioned three point play with 5:53 left in the first period. UofL built on that and took a 22-9 advantage to the end of the first frame when "Lefty" Sam Fuehring sank two free throws at the 1:10 mark. 

Junior Hines-Allen got her 1,000th career point early in the first period on a jumper.  


The home team wasn't quite ready to surrender to the red-clad Cardinals yet and managed to fight back to a 26-21 deficit when Ty Petty dropped a trey on the Cards with 4:39 remaining until halftime. Instead of getting a timeout to talk it over, Jeff Walz decided to let the players on the court figure it out. Louisville responded with a 15-0 run over the next four minutes...started by a Durr jumper and Durr three. Add in a couple of Briahanna Jackson free throws and follow with baskets from Moore, Ciera Johnson, Durr and Fuehring and it was 41-21 Cards with 32 seconds to half.

Petty sank a three to end the run and the first half scoring...she had three threes in the first twenty minutes for MTSU...and Louisville walked into the visitors lockers at the Murphy Center up 41-24.

The Cards came out strong to start the second half when MHA connected on a three and inside...and looked to be in good shape when she sank two free throws to make it 62-42 at the 3:23 mark. The C-USA opponent wasn't willing to allow a blowout, however, and went on a 5-0 run over the next two minutes to get within 15. 

Calling Ms. Durr. Will Ms. Durr report to the basket-scoring queue? The sophomore dropped a trifecta and layup to push the Cards back out by 20 and a B.J. free throw and Moore putback made it 70-49 UofL after three. 

In the "whatever you can do I can do better" scenario...Hines-Allen popped a three and created a steal that led to a layup in the first minute of the fourth quarter. Things looked well-in-hand when three Taylor Johnson free throws gave the Cards a 81-59 advantage and Walz gradually began to replace the starters. 

MTSU made one last plunge...going on a 9-0 run that cut the Cardinal lead to 13 with three minutes left...and Walz summoned four starters back off the bench. Louisville ended the game on a 10-4 run...a Hines-Allen jumper, Durr three and the final five points from Moore to secure a 91-72 win. 

THE FRED REPORT

Free throws -- Louisville went 21-27 from the charity stripe and (77.8%) and that's good enough for us to award a capital "F". Kudos to Mariya (7-8) and B.J. (5-6). 

Rebounding -- UofL had a 44-30 edge over MTSU...Ciera Johnson discovering the backboard for a season-high nine. The M&M girls combined for 16 and Fuehring added five in 10 minutes of play. We'll hand out a capital "R". 

Effort/Execution -- The Cards created 20 turnover and held a 19-12 point's off turnovers advantage. We'll gladly accept 49.2% from the floor and 38.1% from the deep. A couple of lapses led to MTSU runs that made it interesting...concentration for 40 minutes still lacking but we'll go with a small-case "e" here. 


Defense -- Holding the powerful Blue Raiders to 72 points gets a thumbs up but Ty Petty torched the Cards for 27 points and five threes. I'm pretty sure that wasn't in the coaching strategy...11 for 23 by MTSU out deep gives us a question about maybe being too worried about center Alex Johnson (13 points) and we can't award a letter in this category. 

Final Analysis:  F-R-e-_


WHAT WE LIKED

-- The Three Amigos!-- Having three big scorers like this is fantastic for the Cards...it gives opponents more to worry about and opens up a lot for each one of them. When you consider Myisha did her work in just 22 minutes...we have to wonder what she'd be capable of in 30...

-- Spark plug B.J. -- It's becoming more about what Briahanna can do beside score this year and that bodes well for the squad. She only took two shots in 16 minutes but was 5-6 from the foul line...meaning her dribble-drive to the hoop is still very relevant. Like Moore, she does a lot of things that don't show up on the stat sheet. What's even more impressive is that she hasn't been feeling good this week and had practiced very little. Way to respond for B.J.! 

-- Rallying To The Cause -- MTSU is a very good team and should contend for the CUSA title with WKU. They made several runs on the Cards...but Louisville turned then back with runs of 15-0, 8-2 and a game ending 10-4. The fast 13-2 start took the wind out of a fired up 4516 in the Murphy Center. Handling brief adversity and regaining control gets a big "OK!" from us. 


THINGS TO WORK ON

-- Consistency --  We didn't like seeing the Blue Raiders going on runs against the Cards that made nice leads evaporate. Defensive miscues and failure to pick up the open shooter are things that could sink Louisville down the road. It's a 40 minute game and we'd like to see Louisville use all 40 minutes wisely. 

-- Turnovers -- The Cards have committed at least 15 turnovers twice this season and while...admittedly...that isn't totally awful...it is an area that could use some improvement. That, of course, is a stat that gets better with familiarly of your teammates and the offensive patterns. I expect it will improve.


NEXT? 

Louisville WBB plays three in a row at the KFC YUM! Center beginning Saturday...Bowling Green up first...followed by Lafayette Sunday and Chattanooga Monday night. It's the first three rounds of the Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Challenge and these three should give the Cards ample opportunity to get minutes aplenty for all on the roster. 4:30 p.m. for the first two and 7:30 p.m. for the Monday round. 

Two that we'll probably not see for those are Cortnee Walton and Arica Carter. A pair of last year starters are on the rehab from an elbow injury (Walton) and leg (Carter). Walton keeps getting that same 1 to 1 1/2 weeks return prognosis...Carter is less definitive...it's pretty much week to week with her....depending on her pain and mobility levels. 

No sense in bringing them back before they are ready, eight?  

(A special thanks to Mark Humphries for the game photos) 


OH, YEAH...

Louisville Football is in Houston and they're up against the Cougars tonight on ESPN for a 8 p.m. battle. Houston did defeat UofL last year at Papa John's and started out highly ranked until losses to Navy and SMU...plus close calls against Tulsa and UCF dropped them out of the top 25. 

They're still to be very much feared, though...and a win against the Cards would definitely propel them back to the top 25. 

It should be a good one! Case will recap it for you Friday. 


paulie
xxxxx

Louisville women's basketball faces MTSU in Mufreesboro tonight -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS CONTINUE TENNESSEE TIP-OFFS TONIGHT

The #5 University of Louisville women's basketball team travels to Murfreesboro, TN to face Middle Tennessee State University tonight for a 7:30 tipoff. From what we are seeing, there will be audio only for this one, unless you have subscribed to one of the CUSA.tv schools broadcasts. A check of RaiderVision indicates audio only...so...it might be a great chance to catch the excellent broadcast team of Nick Curran and Adrienne Johnson on Cards Radio 790 AM WKRD. 

Louisville (2-0) has knocked of two Tennessee schools already...OVC members UT-Martin and Belmont. Middle Tennessee is 0-1 on the season...with a loss at ACC member Virginia 63-51. The Blue Raiders suffered from a Virginia 22-7 advantage in the second quarter in that one. They did play the Cavaliers evenly in the second half. 

The Blue Raiders are not a team to be taken lightly. Guards Abby Sissom and Ty Petty are skilled three-point shooters. Post Alex Johnson led MTSU with 13 points against UVA and she was the CUSA Freshman of the Year last season. They won CUSA last year...going 24-9 and gave Florida State a brief tussle in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before falling 72-55. Johnson had 22 against the tall FSU front line.

MTSU head coach Rick Insell has a healthy respect for this year's version of the Cards: 

"I've watched a lot of good basketball the last couple of days and Louisville is the best team I've seen. I watched Connecticut, Texas, Stanford -- I think Louisville has a legitimate shot at winning a national championship. They are well coached, they are very athletic, they shoot the ball extremely well, they pass the ball and they change their defenses. I think Jeff knows he has got something special." 

Special would begin with Asia Durr...who is averaging 21 points for the Cards. She's also 11-21 from three-point range and shooting 54% from the floor. Special continues with returning starters Myisha-Hines Allen (8.0 ppg and 9.0 rebounds) and Mariya Moore (11.0 ppg). Add in impressive post Ciera Johnson and point-guards Briahanna Jackson...who have a combined 19 assists in two games and the Cards present a formidable challenge, indeed. 

Insell continues: 

"We are excited. It's a challenge. Can we play with Louisville? We think so...and that's all that matters. It's going to be a great night and a great atmosphere. We have to execute our system and we have to come ready to play." 

What do the Cards need to do to get out of Murfreesboro with a win? Let's look at Paulie's four keys-to-victory:

1) CONTROL THE BOARDS. The Cards out-rebounded UTM by only five. They won by 43. Belmont out-rebounded Louisville by 20. The Cards won by 23. Just imagine what the Cards could do if they won the rebounding battle by 15 or more? 

2) CASH IN ON THE FREE ONES. Make you free throws, Cards. The Cards are cashing in on the unguarded ones at only 62%. That has to get better.

3) COME OUT STRONG. 21-0 against UTM was impressive. 47-25 against Belmont worked as well. I'd like to see the Cards up by 15 after 10 minutes. 

4) LET THREE-DOM RING. Here's hoping Ms. Durr continues the hot hand and that Mariya and company can net a few as well. After all, as Coach Walz taught me last year...3 is better than 2. 

The start of busy week of WBB hoops that has four games in six days. Let's get it rolling with an impressive road win. 


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FOOTBALL GETS A FIVE? 

Twitter was alive last night after the Bowl Boys ranked the Cards fifth in the championship projections. I have no problem with Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson at #1,2 and 3. I have a big problem with Michigan at #4. 

The good thing is....if the Cards can win out (Houston on Thursday and UK on 11/26) they should be ready to move to #4 if Ohio State can knock off Michigan on Nov.26th. 

Is it time for an eight-team playoff? I say yes...but maybe my viewpoint is a bit jaundiced because the Cards haven't cracked the top four yet. 

And...Joey Galloway. Try talking about something you know in the future. 


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NOVEMBER IS DONATION MONTH

"The Cardinals are performing feats of strength...get
out your checkbook George." 

I had a long talk last night with a Cardinal Couple donor. The conversation actually began with UofL WBB discussion...but ended with this person shooting us a generous PayPal boost. 

One statement this person made got to me. Here it is, partially paraphrased: 

"I don't get a lot of news about UofL women's sports from anywhere else but you guys. You're not afraid to go in-depth and length about Field Hockey, Volleyball, Lacrosse, Softball and Soccer. You do it at risk of diminished readership because I know that the rest of the media around here begins and ends their UofL Womens Athletic reports with basketball. I know it is what most people probably want to read about, too. Don't ever change that. Those girls work just as hard, play with the same intensity and have they same hopes and dreams as any athlete, male or female, on campus. Please continue to tell their stories as well." 

And that pretty much sums up what we are. Reporting on the joy and excitement of UofL women's athletics from a fan's perspective. Add in a dash of a few men's sports, some brilliant commentary by our writers Jeff and Case and a radio show that is straight-forward and original and you come up with a concoction that is unique and un-duplicated. 

You can donate to CARDINAL COUPLE via Pay Pal or check. We appreciate you considering and responding. 

Paulie
xxxxx 

Cards WBB advances to Tuesday night with 74-49 win.

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-All's well that ends well in CARDS Four Act Play

-Lacrosse tumbles to Hoyas 14-11

-Pick 'Em Results

You could almost call the UofL women's basketball 25-point win over MTSU Sunday afternoon a play of sorts Just call me Paulie the Playwright and listen to my tale of gladness and woe... we'll call this little tale..

On to 32.

Act I :  The Rise of the Empire

Louisville absolutely roared out of the castle and bounced out to a 20-3 lead in the the first 6:37 of the first half. Beginning with Vails and Hammond pounding the backboard for points inside and ending with Reid, Shoni and Smith hitting a varying array of jumpers and layups, the Cards looked like they were playing Middle School Tennessee instead of MTSU and Reid layup capped a 16-0 run with 13:23 left in the first half.

All cylinders were clicking and the Blue Raiders looked blue and absolutely raided. It was a delight to watch.

Act II : Sailing Along while the Enemy Forces plot Revenge.

The Cards maintained the lead in varying numbers for the rest of the first half...anywhere from seven to sixteen points as the scoring effort remained balanced and Louisville had their way inside when MTSU played defense MTSU did rally to climb within eight with 4:49 on the clock -- a Kortni Jones jumper dong the trick to make it 26-18-- but Louisville looked to be headed into the locker room up by double digits before a Reid shot met rejection from Ebony Rowe and Kortni Jones drilled a three off the rebound to make it 34-27 at the half.

The Cards were still in command..but the countryside was rumbling with a bit of trepidation, worry and wonder. The Empire was showing a few cracks in the armor and the Blue Raiders were narrowing the gap

Act III : The Empires Stumbles 


MTSU came out on fire in the second half and drilled two threes in the first 3:12 to cut the once-safe UofL lead to one at 34-33. Over the next five minutes that narrow UofL advantage would fluctuate from one to five points...a three from reserve Laken Leonard cut the Cardinal lead to 42-40 with 10:23 remaining. It looked like the Cards had been driven into the ropes and pummeled but were refusing to go to the canvas.

MTSU had momentum, a loud and rowdy fan base in the southwest corner of the KFC YUM! Center was roaring and Louisville needed some answers fast.

Act IV : Riding the Redemption Train to Tuesday

The UofL resurgance began quietly enough. Shoni hits a contested jumper at the 10 minute mark and sinks the accompanying free throw as well. A missed MTSU attempt leads to a Smith jumper that tickles the nets and both the Schimmel sisters take the stage after that. Shoni's steal and layup increases the lead to nine and Jude's three-bomb makes it 52-40 in just a 90 second span.

There was fire and determination again in the Lady Cards' eyes and the MTSU fans in sections 101-103 could have avoided additional agony by accessing the exits after Vails' jumper made it 56-42 with 7:01 to go.

The Blue Raiders were vanquished invaders. Reid inside made it 64-44 with 4:30 left and when Rowe finally hit a layup with 3:55 on the clock...the Cards were on a 24-6 run and the only question left was how big would the win margin be.

Rowe added another inside score for the Raiders final tally to cut the Louisville lead to 21 at 70-49 with 2:24 in the game. Free throws from Vails, Shelby Harper and a Jude Schimmel lay-in off a steal with 1:15 left provided the final score of 74-49.

WIth the win, Louisville gets Purdue Tuesday night in the KFC YUM! Center at appox. 7 p.m.

Mo goes for two. Photo by Charlie Springer. See his site
at www.uoflcardgame.com

Shoni had 20 on 9-15 shooting in 36 minutes. Monique Reid added 15 on 7 of 11 attempts. Jude Schimmel (11 points) and Bria Smith (10 points) also finished in double figures.

Hats off to Sherrone Vails also for a strong 21 minutes and nine points. She and Sara Hammond seemed to be favorite whistle stops for Dee Kanter's crew...each seeing bench time with three fouls.

Coach Walz couldn't find too much to complain about in the post game presser. Happy for the win and pleased to be playing Tuesday, he wished free throw shooting and missed layup opportunities would have been better.  For a man on the eve of destruction and tournament elimination, he engineered a remarkable rally and...as he has said before...any win is a good one.

This was a good one. Not great. Frittering away a 13 point lead ito one over a six minute period spanning two halves has to be a bit of cause for concern. This time of year, though...what doesn't kill you means you're alive to fight another day.

Purdue awaits. They shackled Liberty earlier Sunday on Denny Crum's Court. The battle should be a good one.

How's the competition stack up? Sandy Walker (yes, she's still out there, folks) sends this link on Team Performance Index.

UPS Team Performance Index

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While the WBB Cards were heating up the KFC YUM! Center, Louisville lacrosse was in the cold battling BIG EAST opponent Georgetown in Washington, D.C. The results weren't as good for the Cross Gals...losing 14-11 to the # 8 in the nation Hoyas.

Kaylin Morissete had a career high five goals in the loss for Louisville.

Down 3-0 early, UofL battled back to 3-2 with two unassisted scores by Morissette. Georgetown fired back, though, and went up 6-3 before Monica Negron found paydirt to get Louisville to within two with 14:15 remaining in the first half.

Nikki Boltja and Coleen O'Malley followed suit, benefitting from assists from Katie Oliverio over the next two minutes and Louisville tied the match with 12:12 to go.

Georgetown went on a 3-0 run to regain the three goal advantage but the Cards weren't done...Oliverio netted her first score of the game and Morissette went back-to-back with scores...her fourth of the game coming with three seconds on the clock to tie the contest 9-9 for the halftime break.

The Hoyas took their turn at scoring to start the second half. Three GU scores in the first ten minutes had them ahead 12-9. Morissette responded with 15:53 left with a net-finder and Nikki Boltja got her second tally with 12 minutes remaining to draw the Cards within one at 12-11.

Unforutnately, that was the end of the Cardinal scoring and G'Town added two insurance goals to take the 14-11 win.

The long road trip finally ends. Louisville returns home for a pair of BIG EAST matchup. Notre Dame visits after spring break for a Friday, April 5th. match at 5 p.m. The Cards will also host Marquette Sunday April 7th., at noon.

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Whoo, boy! We got us a contest going on over here at the COUPLE in our Bracket Pick 'Em Contest! With 32 games played, we got nine players that are 28-4 OR BETTER!

Here's the honor roll:

30-2 Nell J.

29-3 Jeff McAdams, Jenny O. ( both Cardinal Couple columnists! ) Keith B. and Andy K.

28-4 Curtis F. Matthew M., Steve O. and Kenny S.

Jenny and Jeff in a four-way tie for second

There are also at 27-5 and 26-6...so the game is far from over.

Meanwhile, in 'Loserville' (bracket-wise)...Paul sits at 23-9, Sonja at 24-8 and David Watson is keeping her company there. Worst entry? Once again the Cardinal Staff Chimps have come up with a bracket that is at 4-28. They did get the #1 seeds right in the first round. After that, nada. They've also got three of the #1 seeds going out in the second round. Darn chimps!

Paulie

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