Louisville women's basketball: Cards Square Off Against Oregon State -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Square Off Against Oregon State

Louisville will take on Oregon State tonight in a Sweet Sixteen match-up.  Last year the two teams met in the Elite Eight, where the Cards won big after a close first half to advance to the Final Four.

The Cards advanced to their ninth Sweet Sixteen in school history after defeating Michigan last weekend, all appearances happening in the last 11 years.  Louisville hopes to earn their second straight trip to the Elite Eight.

The match-up is in Albany, NY and will take place around 9:30 p.m. on ESPN. You can also listen to the excellent commentary of Nick Curran and A.J. on Cards Radio 790 AM WKRD

Asia Durr leads the Cards in scoring.  The Wade Trophy finalist is averaging 21.3 points per game this year and second all-time in scoring at UofL.  She is third in program history with 224 points scored in the NCAA Tournament during her career, 19 points shy of tying Angel McCoughtry.

The three seniors (Arica Carter, Sam Fuehring, and Durr) are playing in their third Sweet Sixteen and are 9-3 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.  The group is the winningest class in program history.



Oregon State (26-7, 14-4 Pac-12) is in the Sweet Sixteen for the fourth straight time.  They held off Gonzaga 76-70 last weekend.  Prior to that, the Beavers took down Boise State in overtime 80-75.

The Beavers have a dynamic duo in offensive threats.  Redshirt sophomore Destiny Slocum is averaging 15.7 points this year and junior Mikayla Pivec is averaging 15.2 points.  Pivec is also averaging 9.2 rebounds per game, putting her just shy of a double-double.

OSU has some high-caliber wins against UCLA, Oregon, South Carolina, and Cal.  They had close losses in the regular season to Notre Dame and Arizona State.

The 1-seed vs 4-seed match-up is scheduled to tip-off at 9:00 p.m.  However, with UConn and UCLA
set to tip-off at 7:00 p.m., UofL and Oregon State will be more likely to start between 9:30 and 9:45, so yes, we are hoping for NO overtime for the first game.

The UofL senior players were loose, happy and telling jokes at the presser yesterday in Albany. We learned that Arica Carter is an ice-thief. . Asia is auditioning for a stand-up comedian gig. Sam is focused on the game ahead. Jeff Walz is trying to convince Geno to take the Tennessee job.

(I was happy to get to go back in my photo archives to pull up some UofL vs Oregon State pictures from last year..  Let's hope for the same result this year!)


Weekend Happenings

It appears Mother Nature is bringing us lots of rain today and tomorrow, altering some schedules.  Outdoor sports are subject to change so keep an eye on social media and GoCards.com for last minute changes.

Women's Basketball is the big sport happening with their 9:00-ish game tonight.  Hopefully we will see a victory so they can play again Sunday against the winner of UConn and UCLA.

Volleyball has a spring scrimmage against Kentucky at Cardinal Arena tonight at 6:00.  You can see the returners in action although not all of the new Cardinals will be joining us until the actual season in the fall.  Admission is listed as FREE for the scrimmage.

Lacrosse is back home at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium on Sunday at noon.  Rain won't stop these sticks and nets from playing.  Lightning, though, is a different story.  Admission is free and this game against Delaware should be a good one. The Blue Hens are 5-5 this year.


Softball is on the road in Blacksburg, VA., for a three-game series against a ranked Virginia Tech team.  The Cards are fresh off taking over the NCAA Softball Instagram story yesterday, headed by Celene Funke.  Crazy, travel socks, homework, and hidden 'talents' were some of the video clips posted.


Women's tennis has Senior Day on Sunday at 10:00 a.m.  Seniors Aleksandra 'Ola' Mally and Sena Suswam are the two Cards that will be recognized before they face Boston College.
The  Bass-Rudd Tennis Center is another location that has free admission.


THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR

Paulie (far right) surveys the Radio Hour crew.

Emanating from the magnificent media mansion on Mellwood, the Madness returns to the WCHQ
100.9 FM studios for another milestone in radio transmissions. Yep, the knuckleheads figured out the security code on the door and will hit the airwaves at Saturday 11:00 a.m. for 60 minutes of mayhem.

It should be a full house tomorrow in the studio as Paulie, Worldwide, Case, Daryl, and myself will be on air.  We will talk all sorts of sports with a primary focus on women's basketball. What? You expected bowling results and dart league scores?


Happy Friday and Go Cards!

Jared

Down to Sixteen -- Louisville Softball today -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

NCAA WBB TOURNAMENT DOWN TO SIXTEEN TEAMS

The Madness continues. 

After last night's second round NCAA WBB games, we now know the Sweet Sixteen. Surprises? Yes, maybe a few. All four #1 seeds are still alive, though, as well as all #2 seeds. Out of the #3 seeds, Syracuse has left the dance, upended by #6 South Dakota St.#3 Iowa State had their season ended at the hands of #11 seed Missouri St. and #3 Maryland won't go to Albany, a victim of #6 UCLA. 

For those of you playing at home, the final dancers are: 




GREENSBORO REGION

#1 Baylor vs. #4 South Carolina
#3 NC State vs. #2 Iowa

PORTLAND REGION

#1 Mississippi State vs #5 Arizona At.
#2 Oregon vs. #6 South Dakota St. 

CHICAGO REGION

#1 Notre Dame vs. #Texas A&M
#2 Stanford vs. #7 BYU

ALBANY REGION

#1 LOUISVILLE vs. #4 Oregon State
#2 Connecticut vs. #5 UCLA 


The PAC 12 has had a good showing in the 2019 NCAA WBB Tournament so far with five teams in the Sweet Sixteen. After that, the ACC and SEC have three representatives. With one school each we have the AAC, Big 10, Big 12, Missouri Valley and the Mountain West. 

If you're scratching your head over your bracket picks, don't feel like you are the only one. Here at the Cardinal Couple Pick 'Em, no one had Missouri State and South Dakota St. wasn't a very popular pick either.

Syracuse, DePaul and Kentucky were popular picks that failed to advance. We have no "perfect" brackets, by any means, and the best score so far, as reported to me by our Bracket Chairman Jared Anderson, is 39 out of 48 possible correct picks. A couple of contestant have that 39 number, but it is still quite the close race with 15 games to go.

How does it play out for Louisville? Headed to Albany for 3rd round action against Oregon St., the Cards will play at either 7 PM or 9:30 p.m. on Friday, March 29th. An official confirmation of which slot Louisville gets hasn't been released yet...but I'll bet you that the NCAA and ESPN give their darlings UCONN the early slot and put the Cards at 9:30.

God forbid the Huskies have to play past Geno's bedtime...or be denied the prime time slot of the two games. 

It would be the latest start time of the season for Louisville. For Oregon. St...body wise...it'll feel like it's 6:30 p.m. their time (PDT). The Albany Times-Union Center can hold 15,500 for a sporting event. That most likely means 14,000 Huskies fans, about 500 Louisville fans and two west coast teams in UCLA and Oregon St. plus media and such making up the rest. 

Purists will tell you that it only makes sense that the lower of the top two seeds should play first. I'll look with interest when the times of the other seven games are listed. Conspiracy theorist, here's your bologna sandwich...chew on that awhile. 


I will not be making the trip to Albany. I'm saving up for a hopeful run to Tampa. I did look at the drive (over 800 miles  one way) and the cheapest round-trip airfare (slightly over $600) to Albany and had to make a financial decision. Add in lodging for three or four days and the numbers just didn't come out in Paulie's favor.

Maybe someone will leave a bag of money on the front porch of the Sykes estate. 

Until that money tree I've got planted in the back yard starts shedding $20's and $50's...I have to play it pretty close to vest. Cardinal Couple is doing OK financially but the ACC Tournament took a big bite out of the budget and there is something appealing about three or four days in sunny Tampa in early April. 

Louisville is 2-0 lifetime against the Beavers. The Cards rolled past them last year in Lexington 76-43 in the NCAA Lexington regional final to advance to Columbus. We'll have more on the breakdown and comparative analysis later in the week. 

Out of the sixteen teams, Louisville has played four of them this season (NC State, Arizona St., Notre Dame and UConn) and is 4-2 against them. The probable path for the Cards in the three potential games after OSU is UConn, Notre Dame and Baylor....unless the Madness continues. That's a tough task for anyone. 

Louisville has shown that they can play defense as well as anyone in the nation, though, and when you have Asia, Arica, Sam, B, Jaz, Kylee, Dana. Kasa, Lindsey, Seygan and the Attack Yorkie Jess...all things are possible.



Two down, four to go.


GO VOTE FOR ASIA! 

You can cast your fan vote for Asia Durr as the Naismith WBB Player of the Year at the link below.

LINK: VOTE FOR ASIA DURR

There are a few other things to vote on as well once you get there. I voted for "Ja" from Murray State as the men's player of the year, Wes Moore for women's coach of the year and Rick Barnes for men's coach of the year. 

If you don't vote, then don't complain about the results, OK? You can vote each day, by the way.

What are you doing still reading this? GO VOTE!  



SOFTBALL STEPS OUT OF CONFERENCE TO HOST INDIANA TODAY


At 20-10 and 3-3 in the ACC, Louisville Softball steps out of conference play to face the Indiana Hoosiers at 5 p.m. today at Ulmer. 

IU is 25-9 and ranked #20 or #22 in D1 College softball. They cross the Ohio River after an opening Big 10 weekend against Ohio State and got swept in three games by the Buckeyes in Columbus. 

The Cards hold a 17-3 all-time record advantage over the Hoosiers and traveled to Bloomington last year for a 11-7 win. Louisville took an early lead against IU and benefited from a seven run seventh inning back on April 18, 2018 for the "W". 

"Maybe Louisville will stop by Mouseville on their way to Tampa."

A clear, mid 50's temperature day should greet the two squads when they line up on the base paths for the National Anthem. Come on out after work, leave early or arrive a bit late if you have to...catch exciting UofL Softball action today. Several of the Cardinal Couple crew and associates will be haunting the press box, give us a prom wave or throw a foul ball at us if you wish. 

If you can't make the affair, it'll be shown on the ACCNE with our buddy Don Russell and Suzanne Bush handling the microphone duties. 



A tremendous Tuesday to you! 


paulie
xxxxx

Louisville Women's Basketball -- Beavers Beatern, Tyra today? -- Monday Cardinal Couple

DEFENSE AND DOUBLE FIGURES DOES IN BEAVERS

Before you call the ASPCA or any animal rights advocacy groups, please realize that it wasn't the dam-building, big-tailed aquatic beavers that were beaten yesterday. Instead, it was a feisty bunch of basketball-Beavers from the PAC-12 that took their lumps Sunday in Rupp Arena from a Louisville women's basketball team 76-43 in front of 6268 (mostly) frenzied fans in the NCAA Women's basketball tournament, Lexington Regional Final game. I do believe there were more than that in there, honestly, but I won't dispute too loudly the counting procedures in Rupp Arena. (Wink, wink). 

Defense did in the visitors coming in from Corvalis. Four Cardinals in double-figures dammed up any hopes of the Scott Rueck coached-club cavorting to Columbus. It was a beat-down, propelled by a 28-12 third quarter that erased any doubt of an upset and secured UofL WBB's spot in the Final Four. More on Scott Rueck later, let's get to the dismantling details. 

It was a defensive battle early, both team managing only 22 points between them in a first quarter that Louisville won 14-8. If scoring is your thing, there wasn't much to get fired up about for you. The Cards matched OSU's points-in-the-paint at 4-4, did get three points off turnovers, equaled 2nd chance points with the Beavers at 3-3 and got two bench points (Kylee Shook). Oregon St. never got the lead but Cardinal fans were waiting and anticipating a Louisville explosion on points that didn't happen in the first two minutes.

You got the sense a run, a breakaway was right around the corner, but these pesky water-lovers wouldn't go away and kept hitting a shot or two to keep them in the fight. 

The scoring did pick up in the second quarter and Asia Durr started to put her stamp on the contest. She would go on to be named MVP of the regional, and the Cards shot the ball a little better in the session before half-time (53.8%). Louisville was forcing turnovers (9) and capitalizing off them (8 points). Credit Durr with three threes in the first 20 minutes and the inside 1-2 punch of Sam and Myisha was holding their own, despite the Cards being out-rebounded 18-12 in the first hal.

OSU never got closer than seven in the second 10-minute session but the Cards weren't blowing past them, either. The 24 Beaver points sent me searching for Oregon State's lowest point total of the season (49 - against UCLA). The foe wasn't shooting the ball all that bad (9-21 42.9%), they just weren't getting many shots and turning it over way too often ( 9 in the first half). Marie Gulich was pacing the Pac 12 school with eight points and seven rebound and Taya Corosdale was an efficient 3-5 from three-point range. 31-24 and it was a Louisville edge -- but it was still anyone's game.

One had to wonder how would the second half go. Would we see another triumphant third-quarter blowout from the Louisville bunch (reminiscent of the Stanford game) or were we in for a Beaver battle?   

I'm proud to report that whatever halftime adjustments or changes that Walz and the coaches discussed during the break with the squad succeeded superbly. A 17-6 start to the quarter, fueled by all five Cards on the floor changed the scoreboard to 48-30 with 3:47 remaining. UofL was making steals, getting layups, grabbing rebounds and the Cardinal contingent that turned Rupp red was roaring in approval. Jazmine Jones sprinting by beaten Beavers, a 12-0 points-off turnover third quarter and 28-12 advantage had turned this one into the track meet, Cardinal romp we were hoping for. 

59-36 with ten minutes to play. The five UofL starters were feeling it. The sea of red was dancing in the aisles and Columbus was right on the horizon. My texts were blowing up and all was well in Cardinal Country. 

Louisville continued the mastery in the final ten minutes, outscoring OSU 17-7. One by one, Walz began to replace the starters as the clock ticked toward completion. We got a "Syd" three, Sam three and when Gulich fouled out just 35 seconds into the final quarter, Louisville pushed the advantage to 25, then 30 and ended up with the 33-point win. 

The floor was transferred into a Cardinal celebration. All taking turns trimming the net. Four Cardinals (Hines-Allen, Fuehring, Carter and Durr were named to the All-Regional team and Asia was your MVP of the two-game stretch. I spent some time on the floor with Jared Anderson, Paige Sherrard and Daryl Foust --watching the party, walking through the confetti and reveling in the moment. A proud fan, impressedjournalist and happy viewer.



Durr led all with 18 points, followed by Hines-Allen's 16, Sam Fuehring's 14 and Arica Carter's 10 points. A team win. Holding Oregon State to their lowest offensive output of the season. A 24-0 points-off-turnover edge. A nice post-game meal and confab with readers Joe and Deloris Hill. A few celebratory beverages and then a content and peaceful drive back to the "Ville" .

Two to go. Capturing Columbus won't be easy, Mississippi State the first roadblock. But, Louisville has peaked at the right time and can hopefully keep that momentum and conquer the capitol of Ohio with two more wins. 

#playedlikelousiville




THE FRED REPORT

It's a beautiful day in the Cardinal
neighborhood...right, Fred "Mr" Rogers? 

F - Free Throws. Another game where the refs, the Dee Kanter crew, let the players play. The Cards got 10 free throw attempts and made seven. We go with a 70% success rate for capital lettering and that's what Louisville shot. Here's your capital "F". 

R - Rebounding. Louisville lost the rebounding battle 32-28 in a game where Jazzy led the way with six. Neither squad was prominent on the offensive boards but rebounding just didn't seem to matter today. The Cards did get 15 second chance points off seven offensive grabs...impressive, but I can't award a letter for this category. 

E- Effort/execution. All the hustle stats went in favor of the red and black. 32-18 advantage with point-in-the-paint. 24-0 on points-off-turnovers (WOW!) 15-7 on second chance points and 8-0 on the fast break scoring. Gladly, a capital "E" here. 

D- Defense. OSU managed 34.9% from the floor. They were held to their season low point total and committed 17 turnovers. The Cards had seven steals. I won't belabor this. A well-earned capital "D" for the effort without the ball.

FRED RECAP F-_-E-D

Four down, two to go. The Cardinal Caravan continues to Columbus. Full speed ahead!



TYRA TODAY? 

The permanent athletic director job at the University of Louisville will be filled this morning at a 10:15 board meeting. It's virtually assured that Vince Tyra will be named to this position and I couldn't be happier. I've known Vince a very long time. There is no question whatsoever about his love for this university, athletic program and city. 

He has performed exemplary as the interim A.D. and earned the right to be "the guy". The Jurich predecessor. The full-time A.D. 

We extend our, a bit premature, congratulations to Vince and feel he is very capable and the right choice for the job. 


MORE ON SCOTT RUECK 

After I left the floor in Lexington, I went to the post-game interviews. Oregon State's presser had just started and I grabbed the first available seat. Turns out I was sitting next to OSU's head coach's wife Kerry, his children and parents.

I've always thought that doing post-game interviews after a loss have to be one of the hardest things in a coach (and players) job description. Especially the further you go in the post-season before being eliminated. 

I listed to the words of Scott Rueck. I was very impressed. A coach who believes in his program, his players, their future and the school. His teams are 179-89 in his eight years in Corvalis. He's received a contract extension through 2026-27. 

I like this guy. A lot. Consider me a Beaver fan. I will wish them the best next year in the PAC 12 and keep an eye on them. He handles things, even the toughest things, with a optimistic outlook and doesn't assign blame or belittle officiating, opponents or his own players. The man took adversity, acknowledged it but didn't dwell on it. He spoke of gratitude for what he had had the chance to experience and his hopes and dreams for the future. 

I told his wife and his dad that I was a fan as he left the podium. I shook their hands. They were appreciative. I told his Dad he'd raised quite a fine son. That he'd built quite the program there. Dad's eyes brimmed a bit, he stopped to reflect on that and he thanked me. I asked him to tell his son that he has won over a Cardinal fan and that I would be watching and cheering for the Beavers as my favorite west coach team. He promised he would. 

OSU will be back. They'll dance again. They will be a team to be feared out west. They've got the right guy blowing the whistle and coaching them up. You won this Cardinal over, sir. 

Photos today from Jared Anderson, Paulie and Syd Zambrotta's Instagram account. 
Paulie
xxxxx

.
FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Cards win Hardwood of Hope Tournament with 61-43 triumph over Oregon State

Louisville got 17 points from Sara Hammond and 15 from Shoni Schimmel in a 18 point win over the Oregon State Beavers Thanksgiving night in Puerto Vallerta, Mexico. Louisville used a 16-2 run over a five minute stretch in the second half to put OSU away.

Starters for Louisville were the same they've been all season -- Hammond, Shoni, Smith, Dyer and Deines. The teams played evenly for the first four minutes and were tied at 5-5 before a Shoni three gave the Cards the lead. A Nita Slaughter three put UofL put 11-7 and a Shoni three made it 14-9 Louisville with 12 minutes to go.

It was 17-14 Cards with 9:02 to go. Louisville took off on a 8-0 run, though...over the next five minutes. A Jude Schimmel layup started the run, Slaughter connected on a jumper and Sara Hammond had back-to-back scores and Louisville led 25-14.

OSU would record three three-point plays in the next three minutes and close it to 27-23, but a Hammond putback and free throw with 1:25 left gave Louisville a seven point lead at 30-23 and the first half ended that way. Hammond led Louisville with 11 points, Slaughter added eight, Shoni with six, Dyer and Jude with two each and Bria Smith one. All eleven Cards played...Hammond had Louisville's last nine points. 

The Cards got a basket from Shawnta Dyer to start the second half and after two Slaughter free throws...led 35-28 with 15:10 to go. A Hammond jumper made it 37-28 but two OSU scores had it 37-32 with 13 minutes left. The Cards were having trouble putting the Beavers away, but that was about to change.

Hammond hit two free throws to give the Cards a seven-point advantage. Monique Reid finally got on the scoreboard with two free throws at the 11:43 mark and it was 41-32 Louisville. Shoni drained back-to-back threes and a Hammond jumper gave Louisville a 49-34 advantage. Smith's layup with 8:54 left put the Cards up by 17 and Reid's layup made it 53-34. The Cards had gone a 16-2 run over the past five minutes and for all intents and purposes...this one was over.

Smith's jumper gave UofL a 55-37 advantage at the six minute mark. Shoni scored her final three of the night with 4:29 to go and Shelby Harper closed out the Cards scoring...hitting a deep three with 37 seconds left for the final 61-43 score.

Hammond's 17 points led all scorers and Shoni finished with 15...all from beyond the three-point arc. Slaughter was also a double figure scorer with 10. Smith and Dyer added five each, Reid with four, Harper three and Jude two. Deines, Vails and Walton played but did not score.

THINGS WE LIKED

1) Jammin' Hammond. Strong effort by sophomore Sara Hammond tonight with 17 points and seven rebounds. She is becoming a major force on the boards for Louisville and her 11 first-half points included a Sara 9 - Oregon State 9 end to the first half.

2) Let "Threedom" rain!. Cards hit 8 out of 18 trifectas tonight for 44%. Shoni and Nita with seven of them. Despite a 0 for game shooting performance from Deines, the Cards look to have three legitimate threats from the deep this year.

3) Building With Boards. Despite having a smaller front line, UofL out-rebounded OSU 41-30. Blocking out and positioning works...

4) Assistance provided. Birthday girl Jude Schimmel with seven of the 15 Louisville assists for the night. She also had several steals and is proving to be a strong asset to the Cards in her sophomore year.

5) Defense! Defense! Louisville closing the lid to the opponent's basket tonight with another sub-50 point opponent effort and allowing OSU just 20 points in the final 20 minutes. Offense grabs headlines...but defense wins games and the Cards are now 6-0.

THINGS TO WORK ON

1) Stick it in the cylinder. Louisville shot 37% for the game (22-60) which may not win a lot of contests in BIG EAST play. Reid just couldn't seem to find the basket tonight and neither could Deines...after big games against Gonzaga the night before.

2) Zoned Out. OSU had success with the 2-3 zone they employed for the entire game. Even though Louisville hit eight threes, recognition and passing need to improve...several times the shot clock whittled down to zero without the Cards getting a good look.

3) Free Throws. We'll harp on this one until the Cards shoot over 70% from the line. They were 9-16 tonight for 56%, although they did go 7-9 in the second half. Can't leave money on the table when no one's guarding you.

With the win, Louisville goes to 6-0 on the season. They'll leave early Friday morning to return to the states and go up against Tennessee-Martin on the road next on Monday. OVC-TV will show it live. Game time is 8 p.m.

A good win against a Oregon State team that could give opponents in PAC-12 conference fits this year. A taller team than Louisville but a squad that couldn't shoot very well (36% for the game and 5-18 from deep).

Mission accomplish in Mexico. Shoni and Sara named to the All-Tournament team. Shoni the MVP of the tournament. Guacamole and Margaritas finished, it's time for these Birds to fly back north and continue to fly past opponents.

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Junior wing Sydney Brackemyre (Clinton-Massie, OH) is considering the University of Louisville as one of her final three choices for college. She's a pretty incredible young lady, as the article below points out. Louisville, Michigan and Dayton are in the running for her services.

She'd be a great addition to the Louisville squad. Her drive, desire and dedication to hard work is a remarkable thing. Link below:

Sydney Brackemyre


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