Sunday Cardinal Couple

 WNBA Check-in

A moment of editorial, if you will, before we check on results in the WNBA.  While there was some concern about the frequency of games in the WNBA this year, with teams playing every 2nd or 3rd day, compared to the more typical one a week of WNBA scheduling, I must say that I have been thoroughly enjoying the ability to pretty much sit down and turn on an WNBA game any day of the week.  Perhaps, in future seasons, the league could consider more frequent games, even if not at the frenetic pace of this year's schedule.  But, anyway, let's check in on our Cards.

The Washington Mystics looked unbeatable in the opening week of the season but now?  I'm not really sure what has happened.  They won the opening trio of games, but now have dropped the next seven.  The most recent 73-88.  Admittedly, they played the Las Vegas Aces yesterday, who are sitting at 2nd place in the league with a record of 8-2.

This matchup, of course, pits Myisha Hines-Allen vs Angel McCoughtry.

Neither of our alumnae had stellar games in this one, but neither does anything to apologize for on the court.  Hines-Allen may have been the most help for the Mystics on the boards, with seven rebounds, but she did contribute nine points to go along with them.  A near double-double is certainly nothing to sneeze at, but it's not the headline grabbing numbers we saw at the beginning of the year.

McCoughtry got 11 points, but was otherwise not a huge factor on the stats sheet with a trio of rebounds and an assist.

The evening game saw the New York Liberty get...well, thumped is about the only way to put it, by the Minnesota Lynx.  The final in this one 94-64.  Perhaps Muffet McGraw can chime in and help the Liberty figure out how to bounce back from a drubbing like that.  The Liberty, as has been discussed here plenty, have a roster replete with rookies, including Jaz Jones and Kylee Shook.

Kylee Shook put up nine points, three rebounds, and it wouldn't be a Kylee Shook game without a blocked shot.  A couple of clips made the Liberty social media feed, including a trey from beyond the arc with the assist to Jaz Jones.

Speaking of Jaz Jones, she got a highlight reel of her own from the Liberty after getting a team high 13 points, four rebounds and a couple of dimes, including the aforementioned one to Shook.  A coast-to-coast, shooting from range, a spin cycle, a euro-step, the dime to Shook, and finishing with some no-foul contact, all made the clip.

No Cards in action today with all of them on the court yesterday,   Wings and Mercury at 1pm, Storm and Sun at 3pm, and Sky vs Dream at 4pm.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

(Rumors of Paulie's defection to NC State to join cover Wes Moore and Mr & Ms. Wuf have not been confirmed) 

Let's say it was three and a half of us on the show yesterday.  Jared was banking, but a slow day let him listen in and chime in with some comments and quiz answers in our chat feature.  Otherwise, well, let's just say we were all in some sort of mood for this one.

Plenty of Covid-19 related news to digest, WNBA analysis, and a really fun quiz made up the show yesterday.  "Who Am I?" was the theme for the quiz. See if you can do better than us in the rebroadcast below. In a battle to the wire, I managed to eke out perennial winner Jared by a mere 10 points, 70-60. Case "also participated" 

The quiz is always great fun and Paulie threw a very, very tough one at us with the "Who Am I" format.

Check it out!

Furloughs, What We Know -- Muffet Retires -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

What We Know on UofL Furloughs

It was already announced that UofL planned on eliminating positions and having furloughs with other positions.  Yesterday was 'The Day' for those in Athletics to find out.

UofL has kept this one under wraps pretty tight.  They did not release a list of those affected but a few of them posted about it or reached out to one of us.

I can confirm three folks in the photographer/videography area that had their positions completely eliminated.  There is one position with football I can confirm got let go.

Jeff Reinking was the senior photographer.  Fred Reynolds was the senior videographer/multimedia content producer.  Clay "Point" Barnes was a videographer/multimedia content producer.

Assistant director of marketing, Chelsea Bemis was an assistant director of marketing.

Rachel Harris, who was with recruiting for football, was let go.

No coaching staff personnel have been furloughed yet, that we can tell. The furloughs saved UofL Athletics around $5 million dollars, according to reports.

There is also talk that an SID or two may have been let go.  Marketing is also rumored to have taken
a big hit.

There are plenty more people who may have been let go or had their positions furloughed that we will hear about in the upcoming weeks.

I scoured through the GoCards staff directory but it has not been updated.

Some of these people were good friends of mine, Paulie and the Cardinal Couple staff and we will miss them. We hope we can say "further down the road, my friends" instead of "goodbye".

I do know that the money owed to Bobby Petrino played a factor in the decision with budget cuts.

Our hearts go out to all who have been affected by the COVID-19, budget cuts, and layoffs.



Muffet Retires

Muffet McGraw announced on Twitter yesterday that she is retiring.  She had been the head women's basketball coach at Notre Dame for 33 years.

"It has been my great honor to represent the University of Notre Dame these past 33 years, but the time has come for me to step down as your head basketball coach," McGraw said in her Twitter statement.

Many UofL fans, like myself, expressed joy at the news.  Muffet was notorious among UofL fans for several reasons, including not recognizing Asia Durr as the ACC Player of the Year a couple years ago.

Notre Dame was coming off a 13-18 record in the 2019-2020 season and was not going to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

Notre Dame quickly announced the hiring of Nicole Ivey within an hour of Muffet's statement, meaning that this was not a spur of the moment decision, and all parties had known for quite some time.  Ivey is a former player and assistant coach for Notre Dame, and was most recently an assistant coach for the Memphis Grizzlies.


McGraw had a base salary of $1 million, but had the potential to make up to $2 million with bonuses
and incentives.  Budget cuts among athletic departments may have played a part in her departure, as Notre Dame Athletics is most likely trying to find ways to save money.

Or, as I like to think of it, Muffet McGraw couldn't handle a losing season and constantly finishing behind UofL and called it quits.  She is worthy of her Hall of Fame honors based on her accomplishments over her 33 years.

The "new" era for Notre Dame women's basketball has begun.

Below: the three-minute, final interview she did in the KFC YUM! Center back in Feb. after UofL WBB put a 33-point drubbing on them.

MUFFET'S LAST STAND IN THE KFC YUM! CENTER

Continue to do your best to stay safe and healthy.  Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Confident Cards Clobber Notre Dame 82-49 -- Lacrosse Today -- Women's Golf -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

WBB PICKS UP 23rd WIN IN ROMP OVER IRISH

(rounding up the usual suspects)

Confidence problems? They don't exist on Floyd Street for Louisville women's basketball, according to head coach Jeff Walz. That statement was fully backed up Sunday in the Downtown Arena, as Louisville women's basketball steadily pulled away from visiting Notre Dame on Play4Kay Day in front of 12086 fans, mostly dressed in pink. 

A balanced scoring effort and plenty of playing time for all in the 82-49, 33-point blowout of the 10-16 (5-9) Irish. No one played more than 28 minutes, four in double figures and great efforts in reserve roles for Liz Dixon, Yacine Diop and Kasa Robinson. The Cards also found themselves back on top of the ACC standings at the conclusion of play  -- after NC State took their second loss in a row -- getting stunned and stung by visiting Georgia Tech 65-61. 

Notre Dame came in upset-minded and took the fight to the Cards quite well in the first 2:30 of this one. Buckets from Marta Sniezek and Katlyn Gilbert gave the Irish an 8-4 lead over Louisville. A Dana Evans three (the first of four from her on the afternoon) cut the margin to one, but Notre Dame kept pounding the paint on the Cards and kept a 12-10 edge with 5:55 left in the quarter after another Vaughn connection inside. 

that was the last time the Irish would see the lead on the afternoon, though. Walz went to the bench early in this one, and Liz Dixon, Yacine Diop and Kasa Robinson scored six of the final eight points in the quarter to give the Cards a slim 18-16 advantage after ten minutes. 

The return of the "ugly" shoes...

Louisville wasted no time in the second period adding to the lead. Diop and Jazmine Jones accounted for the Cards next seven points and after a Kylee Shook layup in the paint...Louisville had produced a 9-2 run on Muffet McGraw's squad in the first three minutes of the second session and had forged ahead 27-18.

A Notre Dame timeout didn't stop the Cards momentum.

A Diop jumper pushed the lead to 31-21 and an old-fashioned three-point play by Evans had the Cards up 36-21 with 4:15 until half-time. Notre Dame had gone cold from the floor to that point of second quarter (2 for 9). The Cards were getting a huge quarter from Ya-Ya (8 points) and Kasa (four assists). Two Diop free throws with 58 seconds left in the half closed out the scoring and Louisville went to the locker room in charge of a 40-26 lead. 

Even Joe Pesci got in on the act...

Diop ended the half with 10 points and Dana (9 points) and "E" (8 points), were knocking on double-digits' door. The Cards were shooting 48.6% and had forced 13 ND turnovers in 20 minutes. 

The sharks has surrounded the struggling swimmer and begun to attack. It was time for the kill. 

Louisville started the third quarter on a 14-2 run and had built a 54-28 lead after a Evans three with five minutes left in the third. Notre Dame went 1-7 from the floor in that stretch and added three turnovers to their stats. Evans had taken over the game, with eight points in that significant stretch and Shook had added two close-in buckets. 

"I wonder which way we should go?"  

The scoring continued, from a variety of Cardinals, and after a Robinson jumper from outside the paint with 2:29 left in the third, the Cards held a 63-33 lead. Two Dixon free throws with 19 seconds on the clock closed out the third quarter and the Cards were comfortably in control 67-40. The Cards had done the work -- out-rebounding Notre Dame 10-5 in those ten minutes and forced a total of five Irish turnovers -- scoring 10 points off them. Walz had already pulled starters Bionca Dunham, Kylee Shook and Elizabeth Balogun for the night and the only thing left to decide was whether the Cards could top the 32- point margin of victory that they had complied in South Bend back on Jan. 30th. 

"Go that way !!" 

There was no let down from the fourth quarter Cardinal contingent. A Lindsey Duvall  three increased the lead to 74-46 with 4:22 remaining. A bucket from Robinson and a Diop three extended that to 79-46 with three minutes left on the clock. Molly Lockhart got in on the scoring frenzy and the Cards final point came on a Duvall free throw to set the tally at 82-48. Louisville had topped the win total in South Bend by one, a late Irish free throw set the final mark for a 82-49 Cards WBB win. 

And, Muffet did shake Jeff Walz hand, albeit it quickly --  while walking, in the post-game player/coach line up exchange.  

Paulie finds Madeline and "hizzoner fer life" Jerry 

It was all good on an afternoon where Cardinal favorite Robbie Bartlett started things off with the National Anthem, Denny Crum was in attendance and breast cancer survivors were honored at halftime. 

Momentum worries? Erase them. Questioning confidence? Don't. Louisville has returned to the "play like Louisville" mode and that mode is something no one can beat. 



THE FRED REPORT

Freddy the Wonder Mule would have enjoyed
this one yesterday....

FREE THROWS -- Dee Kanter (resplendent with her pink whistle) and her crew didn't call many fouls in this one. 11 on the Cards, 10 on Notre Dame. Louisville went 8-12 from the stripe, Dana going a surprising 2-4. She caught a little post-game, good-natured grief for that, since made free throws get contributions for the Play4Kay, Kay Yow Cancer fund-raising efforts. 66.7% doesn't quite meet our 70% standards, so  we cannot award a letter here. 

REBOUNDS -- The Cards got to play the "two bigs at the same time" lineup a lot against the front line Irish contingent of Brunelle, Vaughn and Cosgrove and won the battle of the boards 37-29. Liz Dixon was very impressive with seven grabs in 13 minutes and only committed one foul. Kylee Shook added seven and Kasa Robinson -- all 5'7" of her -- joined them with seven grabs as well. No problem in assigning a CAPITAL "R" in the rebounding category. 

EFFICIENCY/EXECUTION -- Just 14 turnovers, 24 assists on 33 made baskets and a 33-0 bench scoring shutout stand out here. The Cards went 33-63 in shooting (53.4%) and hit eight threes on 21 attempts (38%). An eye-popping nine assists from Kasa, as well.  Let's hand them a CAPTIAL "E" for the hustle, effort and putting the ball in the bucket.

DEFENSE -- Guarding effectively was a key in the win. Notre dame went 2-13 from the deep, committed 23 turnovers and scored just 49 points. 36.8% shooting overall for Muffet's squad. A well-deserved CAPTIAL "D" earned, for stopping the Irish from scoring and shutting down everyone but Vaughn, who went 8-10 and had 16 points. 

FINAL FRED TALLY:  _-R-E-D


THEY SAID IT: 

"Put your hands in the air, Jess". "I can't!" "How about you
Lindsey?" "I'd rather clap..." "How about you Ya-Ya?"
"No, I'm sitting this one out."  SEGYAN TO THE RESCUE!  

Muffet McGraw was factual,complimentary and even displayed a bit of humor in her short remarks.  Concerning Louisville, she called them the best team on their schedule. 

LINK: POST GAME MUFFET McGRAW

Jeff Walz was back to his sharp wit and seemed happy, after calling me, Dana and the absent Rick Bozich out. 

LINK: POST GAME JEFF WALZ

Dana and "E" were the post-game players at the presser and Dana withstood a little playful teasing. "E" was excited about the Olympic qualifying experience and for the upcoming game against her former school Georgia Tech.  she's recovered from the jet lag. 

LINK: POST GAME DANA EVANS AND ELIZABETH BALOGUN


SO...

"Catch me if you can, Danielle !"

No letdown Sunday against a team the Cards previously romped at their place. Louisville played according to expectations and got huge efforts from Evans, Shook, Balogun, Diop and Robinson in a total, dominating game.

23-3 and 12-2 in the ACC. Alone at the top. No worries here. Georgia Tech will be a rough one in Atlanta Thursday night with a great sidebar in "E' and "Liz" returning to their first college stop. 

You could see the excitement in "E"'s eyes when she was asked about facing her former team. I do think she and Liz will be quite ready for this one. 

IF the Cards can play like they have in the last two, it should be a win.

Tech will be fired up after their win over NC State at Raleigh and Nell Fortner has done a great job down there in her first year. The Cards are the better team and can, hopefully make it two dozen wins for the year...in what could be a close one 

( A SPECIAL THANKS TO JARED ANDERSON FOR TODAY'S PHOTOS AND POST-GAME VIDEO WORK.) 


SOFTBALL FALLS 8-4 TO #22 MICHIGAN


The Cards battled bravely against the 9-0 Wolverines for five innings in Chapel Hill yesterday but lost their final game in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge. 

A sixth-inning UM grand slam off off Taylor Roby prove the difference in this one. 

It's been a rough season-opening stretch for UofL Softball, facing some very excellent teams out of the SEC and the Big 10 while compiling a 2-7 record. 

Roby had three RBI's for Louisville. 

The going doesn't get any easier this weekend for the Cards Softball squad. they head to the Bama Bash and will have to face perennial powerhouse Alabama twice in the three-day affair...plus Penn State and Wichita State in Tuscaloosa. 


WOMEN'S GOLF STARTS SPRING MATCHES

Whitney Wade Young and her 2019-20 women's golf squad begins the Spring season in  Melbourne, FL at the Duran Golf Club...hosting the Moon Golf Invitational. 

Defending champion Central Florida is there also, along with three top-25 schools in what looks to be a challenging two-day event for the "chip-and-putt" Cards. women's golf squad.

The Cards will look to Lauren Hartlage for leadership and are probably close to being on the course as I write this, with today's start scheduled for 8 a.m.

Fifteen teams, plus Louisville, are in action and you can follow the strokes at

www.golfstat.com



LACROSSE TODAY

Scott Teeter's Laxers take to the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium turf to face Marquette today at 1 p.m.

Both squads are 1-1. Louisville began the season with a win at Cincinnati 16-11 before falling to 39 Denver at home 15-6 on Saturday. Marquette started their 2020 campaign with a loss at Notre Dame 18-3 but rebounded for a  17-6 win at Cincinnati. 

The Cards will look to get more stellar goalkeeping work from Rachel Florek. In two games, she has 22 saves and equalled her career high of 13 against Denver. 

The LaxCards will be looking for a bit of payback after falling to the Golden Eagles 15-12 last year at Marquette. That one was a tightly fought contest most of the way, Louisville trailed 12-11 with 12 minutes to play, but the home squad out-scored UofL 3-1 to close out the action. 

Junior forward Ally Hall recorded a hat trick against MU last year and currently leads Louisville in scoring with five goals on the season.

You can follow this one on the ACC Network Extra on-line if you can't attend. Should be an OK day for Lacrosse with "50-ish" temperatures and  no rain in the forecast. Admission is free to all Louisville Lacrosse events. 


Have a marvelous Monday!

paulie
xxxxx





   








  

WBB Cards Crush Irish 86-54 -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

BALANCED SCORING, DOMINANT DEFENSE DO IN NOTRE DAME 86-54

Here's a flash for you. 

Notre Dame doesn't have a very good women's basketball team this year. 

Shocked at this obvious understatement? Let us present the case for you, then. The Cards held the Irish to 29.5% shooting last night in South Bend. Louisville had four in double figure scoring, three others knocking on that double digit door and rested the starters in the fourth quarter. A a 86-54 thumping of Muffet's student-athletes last night in the Purcell Pavilion, in front of 7719 patrons. 

It wasn't that close. 

The Cards WBB squad wasted no time in securing their 21st win of the season. The scoreboard read 9-0 visitors after three minutes. Dana Evans already had five points and the TV announcers were already making excuses for the woefully under talented home team. Evans would total 11 points in a blitzkrieg first ten minutes that gave UofL a 27-11 lead. The homecoming for Dana (she's from Gary, IN) was off to a fine beginning. 

Despite six turnovers, too, by the Cards. Mostly on run-out fast breaks designed to score even more points.  The Cards ended the quarter on a 13-3 run and shot 62.5% from the floor. To prove the balance statement, Bionca Dunham already had six of her nine points and the Irish did not score in the final 2:40 of the first quarter. 

If there was any lapse in the Cards domination, it occurred in the first five minutes of the second quarter. ND managed to find Sam Brunelle for seven points and the Irish used a 12-6 run to cut the Cardinal lead to 33-23. 

The Cards responded with a "enough of this nonsense" reply, though, and took off on a 7-0 run and when the second quarter media timeout at the 4:22 mark, the Cards had pushed the advantage back out to 17 at 40-23. Louisville would continue to outplay Notre Dame in the remainder of the half, their 10-6 run was fueled by four points each from Jazmine Jones and Elizabeth Balogun. A 50-25 lead with 1:21 left in the half was slightly dented by two ND scores, which equaled the number of blocks Kylee Shook had in those final 120 second and the Cards went to the locker room in possession of a 50-29 lead. 

Louisville put up 21-33 (63%) shooting numbers, had 15 assists on those made buckets and "Jonesie" had all eight of her points in a second quarter that the Cards won 23-18. Evans led all scorers with 14 points and Shook (9 pts.) and Balogun ( 9 pts.) weren't far behind. 

The only question remaining was whether the Cards could hit the 100-pt. mark for the game. 

Fortunately, for Notre Dame, the beating subsided somewhat in the final twenty minutes. 

Kasa, Ya-Ya and Liz were getting time on the court, the Cards started the third quarter on a 21-8 run over the first six minutes and the score stood at 65-37, after a Diop three, at the third quarter media timeout.

Katlyn Gilbert and Brunelle were trying to keep it interesting on the other side of the court. They totaled all of Notre Dame's 14 points in the third quarter, but Louisville countered with 24 points, seven different Cards scoring. A Robinson free throw with 35 secconds left set the end-of-third-quarter score at 74-43 Cards. All Louisville's starters were watching from the bench by now and it would be up to Jess Laemmle, Lindsey Duvall, Kasa, Liz Dixon and Ya-Ya to turn off the lights and run a dust mop over the floor. 

Somehow, in the fourth quarter, Lindsey Duvall magically became Molly Lockhart -- thanks to the transformation produced and imagined by the worst play-by-play guy in women's college basketball --  Adam Amin.

It must have been a precipitant for the former Miss Kentucky GBB to do great things with the double identity, she had five points in the fourth quarter, was involved in all of the Cardinal scoring in the first six minutes with an assist as well and the Cards reserves were holding on to the 31-point lead. How many she actually totalled while posing as Molly, we're not sure. 

Molly wasn't even in South Bend, still feeling the effects of the flu and back in Louisville. Network announcers....right?  

Look, I realize the Cards can't get Debbie Antonelli and Pam Ward for each broadcast -- I get it -- there are other great games to cover. Just send "Adam" to call lawn bowing, pickle ball or ants crawling across the sidewalk, not UofL WBB. I can hope, right? 

The pace had slowed down in the fourth period. No points for either squad in the first two minutes. A Dixon free throw, Jess jumper and bucket by Ya-Ya with 2:43 to go closed out the UofL point-production. The Irish weren't exactly "lighting it up", though...after a Brunelle three, Notre Dame went four and a half minutes without a basket, missing nine straight shots. 

While Walz made sure that all ten he had eligible for the game saw at least double-digit minutes, Miss Muffet didn't wave the white flag and empty her bench until just 59 seconds showed on the clock. Reserve Nicole Benz rattled in a three for the Irish with 39 second to play and the Cards walked off the court with a 86-54 win. 

For those who wondered, Walz is still being careful with Norika Konno after her knee procedure, and did not play her. If she's up to it, she might see action Sunday against the USA National squad. 

A good-as-expected effort from the Cards starters, none of them saw more than 26 minutes. Ya-Ya Diop saw 30 minutes and stuffed the stat sheet with a nine points, nine rebounds, seven assists, four rebounds and three blocked shots.

Wow ! 

Kylee added six blocks to go with her 12 points and six rebounds....in just 22 minutes. Dana ended up with a team-leading 17 points, just one turnover and six assists.  

It was a one-sided contest, and the side representing Derby City was that side.


THE FRED REPORT

Would the late, great Freddy Mercury have changed the song
line to "We are the champions, in South Bend' after last night?

FREE THROWS -- The Cards were a less than average 11-16 for 68.8%. The starters, however, were nine for ten from the charity stripe. Dana and Jaz nine for nine. "Fred Rules" dictate, however, to be considered for a letter, the number must be 70% or higher. So, no letter for the performance from the line.

REBOUNDING --  Louisville took a 45-32 advantage on the boards and every Card but Jess was responsible for at least one. The stats folks at South Bend must have been pre-occupied, a total of eight Irish rebounds were credited to "other". I have no problem in awarding a CAPITAL "R" for UofL's domination on the boards. 

EFFICIENCY/EXECUTION -- Louisville scored 34 points-in-the-paint, had 25 assists on 34 baskets and committed 16 turnovers, with six of them coming in the first quarter. The Cards got 24 bench points and 18 points off turnovers. 54% from the floor shooting for the game, after that sizzling first half. Team execution and efficiency was quite outstanding and I can easily assign a CAPITAL "E" in this category.

DEFENSE -- A stoppage of Irish production, indeed. ND shot 29.5%, the Cards forced 16 turnovers and Notre Dame managed just seven second chance points. Kylee's six block were a big part of the 10 total the Cards blocked. Besides Gilbert and Brunelle, the Irish couldn't accomplish much when they had the orb. The Cards had 10 steals and the Irish ended up with just 54 points. Let's close out the FRED report with a CAPITAL "D" for the Louisville defensive effort. 

FINAL FRED TALLY:  _-R-E-D



THEY SAID IT: 

MUFFET MCGRAW POST GAME

KYLEE AND DANA POST GAME

JEFF WALZ POST GAME



SOOOO...

One game at a time, one win at a time and check off another "W" on the Walz refrigerator . A fun one to watch, heightened even more by McGraw's sarcastic and irrelevant comments after the beat-down. She thinks Louisville deserves to be in the top 10. (Sit right there and don't move while I alert as many media outlets as I can)

No one likes a soggy sandwich. Muffet is dining on them nightly now and seeing how the other half of women's college basketball lives.

Spare me any "poor Muffet" dialogue. The "boomerang" has died in mid-flight. Losers out of the last six of her seven, she still talks of winning the ACC Tournament. 

Yeah, sure. 

Some early turnovers got Walz to call a timeout to send a wake-up message and the Cards cruised after that.

Notre Dame is not a good basketball team this year, I'll say it again. In their remaining nine conference games, I'm setting the over/under on Irish wins at two. Pitt, they'll probably beat, they could win at Boston College. After that, it doesn't look good for the blue and gold. 

Louisville impressed me again with the "one-for-all" team concept for the second game in a row. It's much tougher to have to worry about guarding five players than a selected three or four.

Jaz barely missed a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds. Ya-Ya was close with nine points and nine rebounds. Adding to the pleasure, Lindsey and Jess saw plenty of minutes, both scored and...well...this was a fun one to just sit back and enjoy on ESPNEWS without stressing over things and worrying about a late collapse. 

I hope this Cardinal team that I saw last night continues to play like this in their final eight conference games, against the USA National team and in the ACC Tournament. 

("Thanks" to Tom Farmer, of The Crunch Zone, for putting his post-game presser videos on YOU TUBE) 



paulie
xxxxx 

Asia's Awards -- Scheduling -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Asia Wins More Awards

After having a Durr-ific senior season Asia Durr was recognized with more awards.

(picture courtesy of UofLCard Game) 

She was one of 10 players named a WBCA All-American.  Nine different teams were represented with UConn being the only team to have multiple players.  Joining Durr includes:

Kalani Brown- Baylor
Megan Gustafson- Iowa
Bridge Carleton- Iowa State
Teaira McCowan- Mississippi State
Arike Ogunbawale- Notre Dame
Sabrina Ionescu- Oregon
Alanna Smith- Stanford
Katie Lou Samuelson- UConn
Napheesa Collier- UConn

Besides being named to another All-American list 'Nite-Nite' was also won the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award.  Ann Meyers Drysdale is the first collegiate basketball player named to the All-America team for all four seasons of eligibility  The award recognizes the top shooting guard in women's D1 basketball.

(send in another guy from Building and Grounds, UofL, to help with the construction of the trophy case, it going to be bigger than anticipated)

Scheduling

Rowing is enjoying warm, sunny weather down in Sarasota for the Sunshine State Invitational for a
three-day event.

Lacrosse hosts North Carolina on Saturday at noon, right when the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour concludes.  The Tar Heels come in #5 in the country and are coming off a close loss to Notre Dame last out.  Lately, the LaxCards have had some close battles as the players become accustomed to the Teeter system so this could potentially come down to the wire

Paulie caught up with Coach Teeter Thursday for a pre-UNC interview that you'll find a link to below

Softball hosts a three-game series against national champion Florida State.  The Cards and Seminoles play Saturday at 1:00, Sunday at 1:00, and Monday night at 7:00, with that final game being aired on ESPNU.

Volleyball will play several matches Saturday at KIVA  over by the zoo throughout the day.  Worldwide will be on-site and we'll catch up with him via phone on the Cardinal Couple Radio at 11 a.m. Saturday on WCHQ.

Women's tennis has concluded their home schedule, but hits the road to face Virginia Tech on Friday and Virginia on Sunday.

We also attach a great article from Louisville Lacrosse player Shayla Scanlan that was in US Lacrosse magazine recently.

LINK: INTERVIEW WITH SCOTT TEETER/LOUISVILLE LACROSSE 4/4/19

LINK: SCANLAN INTERVIEW WITH US LACROSSE MAGAZINE



Muffet's Comments


Normally I don't have reason to listen to what Muffet McGraw has to say but her comments from yesterday were worth mentioning.

The Notre Dame head coach goes on a several-minute monologue regarding equal rights and the few number of women head coaches, athletic directors, and CEO's.

In terms of women role models in head coaching positions McGraw is one of the few that can hold that title.  So yes, Muffet, I do applaud you for that.

LINK: MUFFET MCGRAW COMMENTS

Finally, a couple of the best comebacks to one of the most stupid questions ever asked at a Final Four presser, we give you Muffet one more time and Geno at the link below:

LINK: WHO COMES UP WITH THESE QUESTIONS, A FOUR-YEAR OLD? .



Happy Friday and Go Cards!

Jared

Louisville WBB vs. Notre Dame tonight -- Let's Play -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

#1 vs #2 TONIGHT

It goes down tonight in South Bend. The University of Louisville women's basketball squad faces #1 Notre Dame. ESPN bringing in the big guns....Adam Amin, Rebecca Lobo, Kara Lawson and Holly Rowe. A sold out crowd of 9149 in the Purcell Pavillion ready for the contest. The biggest game of the season, so far, for the Cards.The sixth top 25 opponent of the season for Notre Dame. Asia vs. Arike. Are you ready? 

Notre Dame plays very well in Purcell. In their last 105 games there, they have lost three times. All to UConn. Louisville last visited there on Feburary 6th, 2017 and took a 85-66 loss. 

So, what about these Irish? They are at 14-1 on the 2018-19 season, the lone loss coming to UConn on December 2nd., a 89-71 defeat. In common opponents, both have played Duke and UND down them 82-64. The Cards took a 73-51 win over the Blue Devils. Both have gone up against WKU. The Cards getting a 102-80 win there to start the season. Notre Dame having the Hilltoppers at Purcell and dismissing them on December 19th 94-53.

The Irish squad has plenty of talent. Arike Ogunbowale leads them in field goal attempts (252) field goals made (123) total points (331), free throw attempts (86), free throws made (66) and points per game (22.1). Look for Jackie Young as the set-up student athlete, her assist to turnover ratio is 2.33. Brianna Turner has 33 blocks this year and has had over 80 in the previous three seasons she has played. On the boards, it's Jessica Shepard -- 9.5 rebounds a game. Add "do-everything" Marina Mabrey, back after an early season quadricep injury to that starting lineup and averaging 14.3 points per game and they look very impressive. All but Young were selected to the pre-season ALL-ACC Coaches Panel and Blue Ribbon panel squads. All but Young are seniors or graduate students. 

The Irish average 52.7 points in the paint so far this year and that's where the Cards will have to be able to contain them. They allow a mere 27.2 points in the paint. 

Louisville is undefeated at 14-0. They have played and defeated two top 25 teams. They are one of two teams undefeated on the season, after Ohio fell to Central Michigan last night 88-70 in Athens, OH. The Cards defeated CMU 72-68 before Christmas break. The other undefeated squad besides the Cards is NC State and the Wolfpack goes up against Pitt tonight in Raleigh. 

This is the Cards first ever participation in a #1 vs. #2 match-up. They have Asia Durr. 

The Cards learned yesterday that "Nite-nite" had been named to the John Wooden mid-season top 25 list. She's one of five ACC players on that list. Ogunbowale, Young and Shepard from Notre Dame are on there. So is Tiana Mangakahia from Syracuse. 

The Cards' talent is deep beside Durr, though. Arica Carter is a dangerous three-point threat. Jazmine Jones is the Cards "do-everything" player.  Sam Fuehring provides the inside muscle, along with Kylee Shook and Bionca Dunham. Dana Evans comes off the bench with speed, quickness, scoring and defensive intensity. Lindsey Duvall is 12-28 from three-point range this season. Hoe big a factor will she and freshman defensive specialist Mykasa Robinson be? Louisville is probably the better team in terms of depth. Louisville is a quicker squad that Notre Dame and they have won the last two contests against pretty much this same Notre Dame lineup. 

Jeff Walz will tell you offensive accuracy and cutting down on turnovers are two keys to this one for the Cards. He expects a game "in the eighties" and he'll probably see that come close to fruition. 

Notre Dame will be fired up, seeking revenge and I fully expect them to come out strong and try to bury the Cards early. Louisville needs to withstand the early attempts at the knockout punch and try to create a big first quarter, like they did against UNC, NKU, Miami and Kentucky. 

We heard from Arica Carter and Jeff Walz yesterday. They previewed the game, the season and other things for the media in about a 1/2 hour press conference. You can see and hear that presser below.

We wonder what our buddy Tom's choice is tonight?

LINK: WALZ AND CARTER 1/9/19

We apologize that you can't hear the questions very well on the feed above. If you want a better quality audio where you can hear the questions but with no video, try the link below: 

LINK: WALZ AND CARTER 1/9/19 (AUDIO ONLY)

I urge you to review the presser. Walz and Carter are loose, engaged and ready to go take care of business. I got the same out of the entire team while watching practice yesterday. A chance to do what every player dreams of, come to school for. A chance to play "in a big-one", under the national spotlight and show what they've got. 

A potentially important factor will be the officiating. No "TV" Dee Kanter for this one. The crew will be Eric Brewton, Kevin Dillard and Karen Preato. They call a lot of ACC contests and the Cards are familiar with their game-management. 

Another sideline is McGraw vs. Walz. The history between those two is well-documented. 

Eric Crawford was at yesterday's presser. He has an interesting take on tonight's match-up. Read it at the link below: 

LINK:  CARDS VS. IRISH

Here we go. The highlight of the Cards WBB season so far. Louisville has been outscoring opponents by  20.0+ game a year this season. They probably don't get that huge a win tonight (in fact, another website has conducted a poll and 95% of the participants predict a Notre Dame win) but I will go in a different direction. UConn gave Coach Walz another blueprint on how to defeat the Irish earlier this season. UofL and Durr "show up" for the big games and the Cards have won 11 straight ACC road games. 

How do I see it? A win for the Red and Black tonight in South Bend is how I see it. Let's say 80-75. Asia has a huge, Asia Durr-type game and the Cards go to 15-0. Jaz thrills the watchers, Arica buries a few threes and Sam "does work" inside against the taller Irish. 

Regardless, though, of the outcome...it's a wonderful thing to see the Cards in the national spotlight. This is what they play for. Let's do it. We'll have a full recap tomorrow here at CARDINAL COUPLE. 

Today is "wear red" day to support our squad in Sound Bend. You know you look good in red, so...do it !! 

Your thoughts on the contest? Let us know in the comments section.   


OFF TOPIC, BUT...


-- Louisville MBB lost a exciting one last night at Pitt. Overtime. Half of Pitt's squad fouled out it seemed. The Cards unable to hit the big buckets in O.T., though.  

-- A player Cardinal fans grew to know over 2018, Maori Davenport, has been ruled ineligible for her senior high school season in Alabama. This seems a bit unfair, if you ask me, but...you decide. It won't affect her eligibility at Rutgers, though, in the 2019-20 season. The article link below: 

LINK: MAORI MISCHIEF?  

-- Yay! For Wilma Rivera ! She's been picked for the Puerto Rican National team. Louisville Volleyball's premier setter is all that...

-- After watching the WBB squad "do work" yesterday, I did wander over to the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium to watch them practice for a few minutes. A lively and spirited session, which was impressive given the cold and windy weather we're experiencing. Go LouLAX !  



paulie
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