Softball Splits and Selection - Sunday Cardinal Couple

 Selection Sunday Is Here

It's time to put on your dancing shoes, because Selection Sunday is here, and later this evening, the dance floor will be revealed.

ESPN is hosting and gets the primetime slot at 8pm.  It will be an hour long show, so we'll get some pontificating and interviews, but it should be relatively straightforward.

A quick look at the most recent Bracketology update, from last night, has Louisville as a five seed playing in Austin Texas.  Texas, as the four seed host, is expected to play Belmont.  A Belmont upset over Texas could set up an interesting rematch from the early season where Louisville struggled against the Bruins in Nashville in a 75-70 win.  This sub-regional is part of the Seattle 4 region with one seed Iowa, in Charlie Creme's picks.

Creme has the ACC getting eight teams into the dance, with Syracuse being in the "next four out".  Other bubble observations of interest to Cards fans has a downfall of a giant with Oregon not making the dance after several years of superstar players and great seedings.  Meanwhile, former Cards assistant Sam Purcell's Mississippi State team has flourished with Purcell's tutelage and are included in the "final four byes".  A great job being done in Starkville by one of our faves of past UofL coaching staff.

On the CCRHP yesterday, we were in general agreement that a five seed seems about right for the Cards, lets here what you think.

Softball Splits in Durham

Anticipating unpleasant weather today, the Duke and Louisville softball teams decided to play the 3rd game of the weekend series as part of a double-header yesterday.  Perhaps the Blue Devils came to regret that decision after the Cards took advantage of the long day to get a 15-8 win in the second game, after a 5-3 loss in the first.

Taylor Roby started in the circle in the first game, and, well, it wasn't the greatest start for her.  Duke managed to get the bases loaded, though had taken a couple of sacrifices to get there, but a double to right center scored three before Roby was able to end the inning.

Her lead-off at-bat wasn't anything to write home about either.  Daisy Hess, 2nd in the lineup, did single and was able circle the rest of the base paths thanks to a Makayla Hurst single.

Duke put a run across again in the 2nd inning, making the score 4-1 before Roby would get some mojo back with a lead-off solo shot.  Unfortunately, that wasn't able to trigger any real momentum, and Duke would answer in the bottom of the 5th.

One more for the Cards in the top of the 6th, when Daisy Hess legged out a triple and tagged up and scored when Pickle Winkler flew out to centerfield.

UofL couldn't get anything across in the last chance top of the 7th and Duke secured the series win.  With the 2pm start, and a game time that clocked in a just a few minutes over two hours, the second game start time was set for 4:35pm.

Roby took the loss with three innings and the start, with Alyssa Zabala coming in for the other three innings of pitching.

After the somewhat low scoring first game, the nightcap proved to be offense heavy.  Perhaps credit to pitcher familiarity, giving batters a bit more of an edge.

Roby again got the start in the circle, got some relief from Zabala after three innings.  She pitched 1.2, with Sam Booe finishing out the other 2.1 of the game.

No scores for either team through two innings.  Korbe Otis would get things started, hitting a one-out single up the middle and then stealing 2nd.  Sarah Gordon struck out, but was able to take first as the pitch got past the catcher, not a play to see too often.  Otis got to 3rd after tagging on a caught fly foul ball, and then with the order back up to the top Roby got a nice double to score Otis and Gordon.  Mia Forsyth entered to pinch run for Roby and scored on a Hess single to left center.  Hess did make it to 3rd on a stolen base and a wild pitch, but would be stranded there.

In the beginning of a pattern, Duke answered with a trio of runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning.  They would then tack on another in the 4th to take the lead.

On to the 5th, and Hannah File would take a plunk to get on base, and again back at the top of the order, Roby took a five pitch walk.  Hess reached on a fielder's choice, and that choice was to get the slower running, Roby, out at 2nd.  No pinch runner was available for Roby after she re-entered after the 3rd inning.  After an odd field-only mid-inning substitution for Duke involving their right fielders, catcher, and designated player, Hess stole second on the Winkler strike out.  Elana Ornelas walked, loading up the bases, which Easton Lotus took advantage of with a three RBI double.

Unfortunately, the pattern continued with Duke getting four across in the bottom half of the inning to take the lead back, this time by two.

The Cards said, "OK, let's go around again."  Korbe Otis drew a walk, and Gordon singled, which was enough to chase the Duke pitcher.  File singled, scoring Otis and advancing Gordon to 3rd.  Hess drew a walk.  Winkler hit into a fielder's choice, and advanced to 2nd as Duke was, with the bases loaded, trying to get the out at the plate and throw was missed by the catcher.  That allowed Gordon and File to score for another three spot in the inning.  For the first time in the game, Duke didn't have an answer.

Leading 9-8, the Cards were looking for some insurance runs in the 7th, as no 1-run lead was safe in this whole series.  Starting the 7th, Paige Geraghty singled on a close play at 1st that was initially called out, but overturned on review, Otis reached on an error as her hit manages to find its way between the legs of the Blue Devil's shortstop.  Perhaps showing some fatigue, Gordon was able to reach on fly ball dropped by the right fielder, allowing Otis and Geraghty to score.  File reached on a fielder's choice where Duke chose to get Gordon out at home with the tag.  And, oh look, we're at the top of the order with our big hitter, Taylor Roby.  Sure enough, she takes it yard for the 2-run homer, pushing the Cards lead out to 13-8.

Duke would get one back in the bottom of the 7th, but it wasn't nearly enough, and UofL gets out of Durham with a 1-2 record on the weekend against the number 15 team in the country.  Not bad, really.

An epic battle, this game was, weighing in at three hours and seven minutes long.

The Cards will stick around the area with a Tuesday game at Charlotte at 3pm, and then they'll come home to welcome in Pitt for a three game series at Ulmer.

Lacrosse

Scott Teeter's Lacrosse squad visited Chestnut Hill and the number 5 Boston College Lax team.

The Cards played this one close...in the first half, going into the break with only a one goal deficit at 8-9.  And midway through the 2nd quarter, UofL had the lead at 8-7.  Unfortunately, that would be the last goal from the Cards in the game as the Eagles got the last two goals of the first half, and then continued that run out to 12-0 through the whole second half of the game.

Nicole Perroni got a hat trick, Kokoro Nakazawa and Kylea Dobson each got a pair, and Hannah Morris got one for UofL.

Kokoro got on the board early, only four minutes in, followed by Hannah Morris's goal.  Kokoro got her second, with the assist from little sis Negai Nakazawa with about eight minutes left in the 1st to get the Cards out to an early 3-0 lead.  Kylea Dobson got on the board with about four minutes left, and Perroni got her first with about two left for a 5-1 Louisville lead.  BC scored a pair before the end of the quarter, but UofL did have the 5-3 lead at the end of one.

Perroni got her second with less than a minute gone in the 2nd quarter with an assist from Kokoro, but BC would run off three to tie it at six apiece.  Perroni finished the hit trick with about 10 minutes to go in the half to get the lead again, but BC would answer.  Kylea Dobson would put her shot in with about 8 minutes to go in the first half to once again, and for the last time, get the lead.  The Eagles got the last two of the first half, and blanked the Cards 10-0 in second half to win 19-8.

It was a great 30 minutes of play for the Cards against one of the top programs in the country, but alas the game is 60 minutes long.

Lacrosse will be back in action Thursday at 1pm, back here in Louisville, playing UNC.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Keeping busy with spring sports, and down a couple of contributors thanks to spring storms and spring jobs; Case, Paulie, and myself spent a romping hour talking about Softball, Lacrosse, and women's basketball tournament brackets.

The CCRHP is available at it's anchor.fm home....  Oh wait, anchor.fm got bought by Spotify, so the URL has changed a bit (and likely broke all of the old links in the CC archives...lovely).  It's available at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/pod/show/cardinal-couple/episodes/Spring-Sports-Busy-NCAA-Tourney-on-the-Horizon-e2084vr and any quality podcast directory.

Selection Sunday

The men's and women's selection shows are on tonight, the men at 6 pm and women at 8 pm . CBS will have the feed. 

We'll wait and see, on the Cards. We'd love to see them open somewhere close, obviously, so we and the Cardinals WBB fans can attend. 

We'll also start taking entries for the Cardinal Couple NCAA WBB Pick 'Em once the bracket is released. You know the routine. Leave your picks in the comments section before the first round games get under way. Don't forget your tiebreaker for total points in championship game. Yep, we got gift cards again, your choice of a $25 Cracker Barrel or $25 Starbucks Gift Card. 

Good luck and let the madness reign

-- JMcA

Sunday Cardinal Couple - The Empty Schedule Edition

The GoCards calendar is empty today.

This is the first time, on a Sunday, that this has happened in quite a while.  It's just the latest piece of evidence that fall sports are wrapping up (even if fall weather decided to finally pay a visit here in Kentuckiana...65 degrees today?  I'll take it!).

There is news past, present and future, though, to discuss and here it is.

Volleyball Selection on Tap

As Jared was sure to point out yesterday, there is one thing of import that is happening today for
Cardinals sports, and that's the Volleyball Selection Show.  At 8:30 on ESPNU, the general consensus is that Louisville will have our name called to be a participant.  The big questions are who the matchups will be and where.  In NCAA Volleyball, the top 16 teams are seeded and have the opportunity to host 1st and 2nd matches, while the rest of the teams get placed in those 16 sites, generally, regionally.

So let's take a look at teams that will likely be hosting in the region.

Closest to home would be Kentucky.  Ranked 11th, it would be a shock if Memorial didn't get to host 1st and 2nd rounds.  Purdue is ranked 12th, so they'll almost certainly host as well.  Louisville has played a number of 1st and 2nd round matches at Purdue over the years.  Approximately a 3 hour drive, Purdue is an easy road trip to watch some matches.  A little farther afield, you get Illinois and Pitt, 4th and 10th ranked, respectively.  Both still in relatively easy road trip distances, about 6 hours to each.  UofL has played NCAA matches in Illinois, but to my knowledge, never in Pittsburgh.  Of course, UofL is no stranger to Pittsburgh, having been conference-mates for a number of years and played in Fitzgerald Field House a number of times, including earlier this season.  Marquette, in Milwaukee, is also about a 6 hour drive, but at 16th ranked, they're questionable for a hosting gig.

If Louisville gets disrespected (again) by the NCAA, we could find ourselves in Madison, Wisconsin, or State College, PA (Penn State) at about 8 hours each, or like last year, Minnesota, which is about 10-11 hours.

Regardless, we'll be watching the selection show this evening with anticipation.  I hope you'll consider a road trip to cheer on this team, it's always great fun.

Football

I think they passed a law that every UofL sports site has to mention Football and Jeff Brohm this
week.

So, with that obligation out of the way...

Women's Basketball Home Opener Monday

Women's Basketball started the season as road warriors, reminiscent of the days of playing in Freedom Hall when they had to be on the road for the first couple of weeks of the season because it always conflicted with a rodeo event.  They're opening their home season tomorrow evening at the KFC Yum! Center against Miami (Ohio).  Tip-off time is a typical 7p.m., but if you can't make it out for some reason (still shopping online?), you can catch this one at the ACC Network Extra.

The Redhawks are undefeated, but they haven't played much real competition, yet, either.  Their biggest margins of victory are by 19 over Detroit Mercy (78-59), and 16 over EKU (60-44).  They squeaked out a come from behind win over the Canisius Golden Eagles (62-59), and got a solid 13 point margin over High Point (68-55).  Miami will be looking at this game as their first real test to find out what their team is really made of.  Louisville will be getting re-acquainted with their home arena, and their home crowd.

Louisville WBB downs Hartford

Fred G. Sanford. The "G" stands for "game". 

Louisville WBB did win on Saturday, an 86-69 triumph over the Hartford Hawks. The Cards
overcame a slow start where they trailed early and were led by Asia "Nite-nite" Durr's 20 pts and Sam "I am" Fuehring's 19.

They started this one early, so I'm guessing the majority of on-line viewers missed that less-than auspicious start. That's probably good, considering the way Louisville played early. Listless, un-motivated and with little emotion.

Fortunately, they woke up and out-scored the Hawks 37-18 in the second quarter. And, cruised in with the win.

THE PAULIE "FRED" REPORT:

F- Free throws. 24-31 is 77.4% Asia was 8-9 and Sam 8-8. Worth a capital "F" 
R- Rebounding. 32-25 Cards favor. Pretty evenly distributed. Worth a capital "R"
E- Effort/Execution. A nice second half in effort and execution. Not so much in first. Small case "e".
D- Defense. Forcing 18 turnovers good. Allowing 46.3% shooting is bad. I award no letter

FINAL FRED TALLY  F-R-e-_

We'll be looking for an excellent preview of the Redhawks in tomorrow's article.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We had a full house, with jokers high (what?  that's not really a poker hand?  There were lots of jokers in the house, though), at the magnificent, media mansion on Mellwood that is WCHQ FM.

We had great discussion about volleyball, and selection possibilities (I'm less confident than most, it seems), a run down of the Women's Basketball against Hartford and Arizona State, and evaluated some quality snark, for all of your snark needs.

You can check out the Facebook Live replay, including a checkin comment from Daryl in Missouri (she has safely returned home to the 'Ville as of this writing) at:

https://www.facebook.com/WCHQfm/videos/2350053011734510/

Keep Cardinal Couple Functioning

We appreciate our Clemson and other ACC readers! 

This will be my last article of Cardinal Couple donation month this year.  I want to thank our community that we've got here.  We've got what appears to be an almost unique site and community, and it's all built on a niche of sports media that's almost completely un-served.  It's such a rare type of community that we've managed to attract and get regular readers and listeners from supporters of other schools.  I think that's wonderful, and if you're one of those, thank you so much for adding to the richness and color of our community.  Thank you to all of you for your roles in building a positive and supportive community for supporting women's athletics.  So many corners of the Internet become toxic and hurtful, and it takes a strong community to resist that.  I'm hopeful that we can keep this up and grow this in a healthy way for years to come.

This is a hobby for us, We do what we do for love of sport and program and do not get paid...but there are costs involved.  Hosting, domain name registrations, on-line security protection, mailings, parking for events, travel to away games for coverage, fees for broadcasts, subscription to SoundCloud and other media relay and recording on-line sites...and so very much more.

All of that costs money.  None of the costs are huge, Paulie has done a great job of finding a sustainable way to run the site while keeping costs extremely low, but there are some expenses.  Your contribution helps make this more viable and sustainable going forward.

Thank you.

-- 

JMcA

Lax Wins, Selection Season -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Lacrosse Handles Duke in ACC Home Opener

After falling to Notre Dame in South Bend last Saturday in the conference opener, the Louisville lacrosse team evened their conference record with a win over Duke yesterday afternoon. It was considered an upset, with Duke being ranked 15/17 and Louisville falling into the "receiving votes" category. The 11-8 loss pushed Duke to 0-3 in conference, and they'll certainly be looking to right the ship.

The game opened with a flurry of goals, as the Cards and Blue Devils traded two goals apiece before Louisville picked up the fifth overall goal of the game in the first nine minutes. Action was a bit more stagnant for the next 15 minutes as Louisville clung onto a 3-2 lead. The Cards extended that lead to 4-2 but Duke was able to pull it back within one. Starting with a Meghan Siverson goal with 1:26 remaining in the first half, Louisville scored four straight spanning into the second half to go up 8-3 and effectively put the game out of reach. Duke scored three of the next four goals to bring the tally to 9-6, but Louisville went up 11-6 with four and a half minutes remaining. Duke could only score two more to set the final score. 

It was an eventful second half when, after only one yellow card in the first, five yellow cards were awarded. Three went to Louisville and the other two to Duke. After a big scoring game, Hannah Koloski picked up her 33rd goal of the season to lead the team. Meghan Siverson is hot on her tail with 32. It was also a great game for Louisville goalkeeper, Brittany Read, who picked up ten saves in the win. Louisville is still struggling to replace the reliable draw control from years past. Duke handled Louisville in that category with a whopping 16-5 deficit. Like the rebounding battle in basketball, you can win the game without winning the draw control battle, but you make it a lot harder on yourself. 

Louisville, who looks to climb back into the rankings in the next poll, travels to Coastal Carolina on Wednesday.

KELLIE YOUNG POST GAME COMMENTS

MEGHAN SIVERSON POST GAME INTERVIEW

Softball Set to Brave "Inclement Weather"

After cancelling yesterday's games of the Louisville Softball Classic due to what was announced as "inclement weather," the tournament will conclude today on an even colder day. The Cards will play the middle game on this final day against Northern Iowa. The game is set to begin at 2, an hour and a half after the originally scheduled time.

March Madness is Officially Here

As Championship Week concludes today (which I still think is obnoxious), the Selection Committee will lock themselves away to determine the fate of the 68 teams who will vie for the title. The men's team looks well in line for a three seed, with talk of a potential two. However, we've seen crazier things happen in the past. Whatever happens, being in the tournament again will be step up from last year's heartbreak.

Similarly, a committee will convene tomorrow night to select the 64 women's teams that will battle it out. Louisville is hoping to grab a top four seed and play host at the Yum! Center. We've mentioned it before, but the selection show watch party will be tomorrow night at Sports & Social Club on 4th Street Live. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Everyone's favorite hour (ish) of local radio aired yesterday and saw the triumphant return of its fearless leader, Paulie. We were also joined by Cards superfan, Julie "JC" Sullivan. The show centered mostly around basketball, which seems appropriate for this town around this time of year, but we also squeezed in a bit more as time allowed. Check out this link to hear yesterday's show and tune in to WCHQ next week for more wild antics.

Until next time, Go Cards.

-CH-

Louisville Women's Basketball -- Three Named to ACC All-Academic Team....WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

JACKSON, HINES-ALLEN, WALTON ALL-ACC ACADEMIC SELECTIONS

So often, when we think of the term "student-athlete"...our thoughts are centered around points scored, runs batted in, kills, draw controls and stops. The "student" part, though...is just as essential to the makeup and daily routine of the young men and women's who are on the Belknap Campus. Term papers, final exams, independent research and class participation. Those items don't scream across the headlines of articles or get fans engaged in spirited debates. 

The Louisville women's basketball squad had three players named to the All-ACC Academic squad...Briahanna Jackson, Myisha Hines-Allen and Cortnee Walton. For Jackson, it is the second-straight season for the accolade. 

To be eligible for the award consideration, a student-athlete must have earned a 3.0 grade point average for the previous semester and a 3.0 cumulative average during one's academic career. Athletic achievements during the most recent season are also considered in selecting the All-ACC Academic team.

Professor Myisha quizzes Mariya

Hines-Allen, a sport administration major, earned Dean's list and athletic director's honor roll awards in the fall. She was also on the all-academic team her freshman year. 

Jackson, who will graduate in May with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice, earned the all-academic award in 2015-16. She was also on the Dena's list and athletic director's honor roll in the fall. 

Walton will finish her master's degree in sport administration this spring. She received her bachelor's degree in communication in the spring of 2015. She earned ACC honor roll recognition in 2014-15 and 2015-16. 

Congratualtions to those these three shining examples of the future and all the hard-working student-athletes at UofL. Be diligent in your future role as community and business leaders and use perseverance in your quest to be the best! 



  *          *          *          *         * 

SOFTBALL IN FOR SOME TOUGH SLEDDING IN LOUISVILLE TOURNAMENT? 

The Softball Cards (12-7) get ready for another tournament weekend at Ulmer in the Louisville Tournament with the possibility of some dicey weather to deal with. 

The Cards will play in five games beginning Friday with the forecasts not so pleasing. Friday a high of 49 is currently expected with 15-20 mph winds. Saturday a high of 33 with a 40% chance of snow arriving in the evening. Sunday the high reaches 43. 

Louisville is scheduled to face Ohio at 12:30 Friday and IUPUI at 3 p.m. On Saturday, the Cards bat against N. Iowa at 12:30 and Wright St. at 3 p.m. Sunday's action has Louisville playing N. Iowa at 12:30. 

How and if these times will be adjusted is not known yet but we'll keep you updated. Louisville Baseball also scheduled for home games at Ulmer...so let's hope Mother Nature is a diamond fan and spares Louisville any rough stuff. 


  *          *          *          *          *

WBB SEASON TICKETS HOLDERS GET A BREAK

In all probability, Louisville will be one of 16 hosts for 1st and 2nd round NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament games. Last year, there was quite the furor that season-ticket holders did not get right of first refusal for tickets. 

That has been changed for 2017. Season ticket holders now will have that right for the expected games at the KFC YUM! Center. 

We can't say with 100% accuracy that Coach Jeff Walz was the driving force behind this, but we'd bet that the Mad Scientist rattled a few test tubes and had a few theorems lined up for presentation to make this happen. 

This makes sense. You support a team all year along and get the season ticket package and should have the option to decide whether you want to continue that support before tickets are released to the general public and visiting teams. 

SO...

As to when the events and venues will be determined, you'll have to wait for Selection Monday, March 13th. We've never quite understood why there is such a delay between the final conference tournament games and the actual selections. Is it really that much harder to design a women's bracket than a men's? Do the women need the extra seven days rest? We think not. 

Nevertheless, the wrong done to Cardinal fans last year has been righted and it should ensure a large Cardinal contingent at the YUM! 

As to what seed the Cards will receive...that's a debatable item. The USA Today Coaches poll has Louisville #12 in the nation. The Cards are #13 with the AP. Charlie Creme's Bracketology has Louisville a #4 seed in the Oklahoma City Region. The Cards are #11 in the RPI. The Top 16 Committee has Louisville at #14 (as of Feb. 20th). Paulie's Highly Unofficial and Totally Subjective Rankings have the Cards as a #3 seed. 

Where's my dartboard? 

We'll see...four more shopping days until the broadcast. 


paulie
xxxxx

Louisville women's basketball...All-ACC accolades and Bracket Watch Party! -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

DURR, HINES-ALLEN and MOORE RECEIVE ACC COACHES AWARDS

This from the ACC league offices yesterday...Asia Durr, Myisha Hines-Allen and Mariya Moore have been selected for the Atlantic Coast Conference coaches' honors. 

Durr making the first team. She also got that mysterious Blue Ribbon Panel's first team accolades last week. Hines-Allen and Moore selected to the second team by the league's 15 head coaches.

Durr's achievements this season have been nothing short of spectacular: 

- 18.8 ppg
- 209 total field goals
- 621 points
- 108 3-pointers
- 60 assists


As for Myisha, a very solid season that any team would gladly point to: 


- 13.8 ppg

- A league-leading 15 double-doubles
- 50% shooting percentage
- 302 rebounds
- 32 steals

The third member of the "big three"...Moore's numbers are noteworthy: 

- 12.1 ppg
- 5 rpg
- 160 assists
- 4.8 assist per game
- 20 double figure scoring performances. 

Joining Durr on the Coaches first team are Lindsay Allen and Brianna Turner (Notre Dame), Alexis Peterson and Brittney Sykes (Syracuse), Becca Greenwell and Lexie Brown (Duke), Miah Spencer and Dominique Wilson (NC State) and Shaq Thomas (FSU), ACC Coach of the Year is Wes Moore (NC State) and the Freshman of the Year went to Francesca Pan (Georgia Tech). 

#13 Louisville (27-7) awaits their assignment for the NCAA Tournament. The Cards are hosting a Tournament Selection Watch party at the Sports and Social Club for the second year in a row. More on that below: 


LOUISVILLE WBB NCAA SELECTION WATCH SHOW TO BE DOWNTOWN AGAIN. 

The Cards invite you to join them at The Sports and Social Club again this March to watch the Selection Show with the team. The show is on Monday, March 13th. and begins at 7 p.m.  The club is located in the 4th Street Live complex in downtown Louisville. 

Those wishing to attend are requested to make reservations with the venue (you can e-mail Tobi Hammond at:  tobi@4thstedc.com ) Admission to the venue is free and the doors open at 6 p.m. Food and drink will be available for purchase. You can also park free at the 4th Street Live!! garage (access from 5th street). 

Last year's party was a fine affair. I found out that both Sam Purcell and Howie Lindsey were expectant fathers any day and that two double Makers on the rocks were pretty darn expensive downtown. 

Louie the Cardinal Bird and the cheerleaders made visits last year and the coaches said a few words to the crowd before the event was televised. 

We expect the Cards to receive a top four seed and to open at home. Who will be there to face Louisville and which region the Cards will be in are the big questions. 

Cardinal Couple will also be on hand to report on the activities, get audio for the site and engage in a raucous round of bare-knuckled, shirts-off fisticuffs with members of Howie Lindsey's Louisville First morning radio show on Cards Radio 790 WKRD. (Pending boxing commission authorization...)   

paulie
xxxxx 

Selection Monday -- WBB Cards dealt lousy hand in NCAA Tournament...Tuesday Cardinal Couple

NCAA TOURNAMENT A ROUGH FLIGHT FOR CARDINALS

Autograph signing at Selection Show

To get to Tampa this year for the NCAA WBB Final Four you must start in Tampa. If the statement sounds a little quixotic, the Louisville women's basketball team will start their 2015 NCAA Tournament in the same city where the finals will be played...sunny Tampa Bay, FL....with a 4 p.m. Saturday game against BYU. Against some huge windmills. 


As Jeff Walz said, at least it's warm there. And if you're going to get screwed by the NCAA, a pleasant atmosphere and sunny skies makes the experience at least a little bearable.

The Selection Show at Cardinal Arena was attended well and the fans didn't have to wait long to find out that Louisville was headed south to start the quest. Walz and Matt Andrews handled the commercial breaks with speculation on the seedings. 

The Cards, a #3 seed in the Albany region, were done no favors at all...starting out against the  Cougars...who won the WCC Conference Tournament over San Francisco and posted a 23-9 record. 

If anyone could be more dismayed about the choice, it would probably be BYU head coach Jeff Judkins, who will be travelling 2300+ miles to probably be one and done. The Cougars were the #5 seed going into conference play. We'll dissect them a little more as the week goes on. 

Where diabolical plots and insane theories are hatched...the
NCAA women's selection committee room. They must be stopped. 

Awaiting the BYU vs. Louisville game will be the winner of the South Florida vs. LSU contest. USF and Jose Fernandez are never an easy "W" for Louisville and the Cards escaped with a 60-56 nail-biter win last year when they went running with the Bulls in the AAC Tournament. They did defeat USF by 20 at the KFC YUM! Center in the regular season.

This isn't the KFC YUM! Center and Jose's gals were 26-7, 15-3 in the AAC and 12-2 at home. They played UConn to a 70-56 loss in the AAC Tournament.

  

I asked "E" to smile like she had just grabbed a rebound

Should Louisville survive that gauntlet, it's off to Albany, NY to likely face Matthew Mitchell and the #2 UK Wildcats.

We all know about the Cats.

Waiting in the wings to challenged Louisville's quest to return to Tampa is no other than the UConn Huskies. The NCAA must have thought the games were being played in New Albany, IN...since they also stuck WKU in the region. 

Coach Walz was as upbeat as he could be with the media after the Selection Show. He deserves an Oscar for that performance...because the Cards were stuck in the most difficult region in the tournament and quite possibly the toughest opening four-team pod. He did not speculate on what was beyond Saturday, the prime objective this time of year is one-at-a-time, survive and advance.

We'll have his, Jude Schimmel, Al Greener and Coach Sam P.'s comments on Selection Monday on our Saturday radio show. 

It takes six wins to take the title. Louisville did put two six or more win streaks to together during the regular season. The task of getting back to Tampa after starting in Tampa is odds-prohibitive for the Cards...but so was beating Baylor a couple of years ago. WE all know what happened in that one...

Trust in the mad scientist to have the girls ready. Get ready for some fun basketball. And forget that the NCAA hammered the Cards again in the post-season selection brackets. If the Cards are good enough, they'll win. There are no easy wins this time of year. Especially if your team has a bird as a mascot and wears red. 

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

TOURNAMENT TIME

Thus begins our second March Contest...the NCAA Women's

Tournament selection here at CARDINAL COUPLE. 

Easy stuff. Pick the winners of all 63 games, total the most wins and you win!. 

A format many have found easy to submit to us is just listing the winners for each round. We actually have an entry that was sent at 9 p.m. last night from Blue Lou that we'll share with you as an example:

UCONN, RUTGERS, TEXAS, CALIFORNIA, LSU, LOUISVILLE, IOWA STATE, KENTUCKY, SOUTH CAROLINA, SYRACUSE, OHIO STATE, NORTH CAROLINA, ARKANSAS-LITTLE ROCK, ARIZONA ST,. OKLAHOMA ST., FLORIDA ST., NOTRE DAME, DEPAUL, OKLAHOMA, STANFORD, MIAMI, IOWA, ARKANSAS, NORTHWESTERN ST., MARYLAND, GREEN BAY, MISSISSIPPI ST., DUKE, GONZAGA, OREGON ST., PITTSBURGH, TENNESSEE

UCONN, CALIFORNIA, LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, SOUTH CAROLINA, NORTH CAROLINA, ARIZONA ST., FLORIDA ST., NOTRE DAME, STANFORD, MIAMI, NORTHWESTERN ST.,MARYLAND, DUKE, OREGON ST., TENNESSEE

UCONN, LOUISVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA, FLORIDA ST., NOTRE DAME, MIAMI, DUKE, OREGON ST.

LOUISVILLE, FLORIDA ST., NOTRE DAME, OREGON ST., 

LOUISVILLE, NOTRE DAME

NOTRE DAME

Easy, peasy...right? 

You can leave your picks in the comments sections or e-mail them to us at:

cardinalcouple@twc.com  


Make sure you picks are in by start of tournament play Friday. Good luck in winning the $25 gift card for first or an absolutely fabulous CARDINAL COUPLE T-Shirt for second.

Game(s) on !!!


paulie





  

SOFTBALL GETS THE SWEEP OVER VIRGINIA...SELECTION MONDAY TONIGHT...MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS DOWN VIRGINIA 7-5

Sometimes in order to get the job done, you have to finish it yourself. Sophomore Maryssa Becker stepped up yesterday to keep the Cards perfect in the ACC. 

Louisville Softball is now 6-0 in the ACC with a 7-5 win over the Virginia Cavaliers Sunday afternoon at Ulmer Stadium.

Becker delivered the go-ahead runs with a two-RBI, one out single in the bottom of the sixth inning and then took to the circle to retire the Wahoos in order in the top of the seventh to push Louisville to the three game sweep.



This was a see-saw affair...the Cards exchanging runs with the visitors early, tying the contest up twice and not taking the lead until the bottom of the fifth when Whitney Arion smashed a two-rum homer to go up 5-3. Louisville had trailed earlier 3-1 before a solo shot by Kayla Soles drew them within one. 

Louisville tied the contest in the fourth...Soles reaching on a single and pinch-runner Morgan Meyer replacing her and scoring with two outs. 

Virginia tied the contest back up in the top of the sixth but Louisville filled the bases in the bottom of the inning...setting up Becker's single to left that put UofL ahead to stay. 

Becker gets the win to go to 5-4 on the year. She started the contest but gave way to Madi Norman in the top of the third. After four innings from the freshman, Becker returned to the circle to seal the deal in the top of the seventh. 

Both Kelsi Jones and Kayla Soles went 3-3 for Louisville (13-7) who will travel to Columbus, OH next for a mid-week doubleheader against Ohio State. 

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

WHERE YA GOING, LOUIE?



The NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament Selection Show will air tonight on ESPN at 7 p.m. and Louisville will learn their fate for first and second round action and where they are seeded. 

Cardinal Arena on campus is the place to be if you want to watch the selections with the University of Louisville women's basketball team and coaches. The doors open at 6 p.m. and the girls will sign autographs until 6:45. 

Speculation abounds about where the Cards will be seeded and where they will travel to begin Jeff Walz's seventh tournament appearance in eight years as the Cards head coach. Louisville is projected anywhere from the last two seed to a high fourth seed according to the various pundits and bracketologist out there...the NCAA will use its own pretzel logic to determine where the Cards will start their path on the road to Tampa. Paulie has been saying a #4 seed. Let's hope that is an underestimate...a #2 is what they deserve. 

CARDINAL COUPLE will be in attendance and we'll gather the facts and a few interviews for Worldwide's Tuesday article.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

GO WEST...YOUNG MEN

Let's hope last night's NCAA Men's Bracket Selections aren't a foreshadowing of what is to come for the ladies. Pitino's bunch got a #4 seed and is being shipped off to play their first two in Seattle...opening against the Cal-Irvine Anteaters. Yep...T-Will's and Peyton's hometown. 

I wonder if the NCAA would let them step back out on the court for a few drives and dunks? 

paulie
xxxxx