WBB Cards Soar Past Oklahoma State -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Evans, Cards Soar Past Oklahoma State

In their second game in as many days in the US Virgin Islands Paradise Jam Louisville women's basketball defeated Oklahoma State 69-48.

Dana Evans led all scorers with a career-high 28 points.  Elizabeth Balogun posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

The Cards had a strong defense in the first half and won the quarters 19-13 and 18-12, respectively.  However, 12 turnovers in the half were plenty to keep the Pokes within striking distance.

A 14-5 run for much of the second quarter pushed the Louisville lead to 15 right before the half.

Louisville's defense turned on the jets even more, slowing down the Oklahoma State offense and surrendering just 23 second half points.

The Cards managed to get the lead to as high as 24 points late in the third quarter.  After that, the lead
never faltered and remained above 16 the remainder of the game.

Evans, who decided to knock out one of my bold predictions by just one point, shot 6-9 from three-point range and added five assists.  Overall, the Cards shot 9-14 (64.3%) from deep.

From the field, Louisville went 28-59 (47.5%) as the short range accuracy continued to be a hassle.

Trips to the free throw line were slim- Louisville shot just 4-5.  The Poke didn't get to the line much either, going 7-11.

Eight of 11 Cards to see the floor saw double-digit minutes with the other three all recording below three minutes.

Louisville (7-0) will have a tall task today as they face #1 Oregon.  The 6-0 Ducks defeated Oklahoma State 89-72 and UT Arlington 91-54.

Another lights out performance from three-point range and cleaning up the turnovers will give the Cards their best opportunity to win, and a chance to prove me wrong on a second bold prediction.

The two foes will tip off at 3:15 on the silly $29.99/month website.  Or just listen to Nick and AJ give you detailed play calling on air. They'll move to either 970 WGTK AM today or  1080 WKJK AM since Louisville Football will be on the usual channel 790.  I'd check both, the UofL Sports information site listed 1080  WGTK, which doesn't match up on call letters and radio dial number. You can always go to the live stream on the UofL website and we've linked it up for you below.

 LINK: LOUISVILLE WBB VS OREGON


THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR

Speaking of on air, it appears Paulie and Worldwide will be on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour alone.  I will be battling the elements on the field as Louisville football has a showdown with rival Kentucky for the Governor's Cup. Case is down on the farm and Daryl is throwing a party at her place for the Football game.

Sonya will join the guys in the studio to observe, she doesn't like to "mic up" We're also on Facebook Live !  LINK:  THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR


OTHER

On a quick side note, congrats to Chris Mack and the men's team for defeating WKU and moving up to #1 in the country.  Walz will get his squad up there soon, and we could see the first school to have the women's and men's teams win the national championship in the same year since UConn in 2014.

We usually don't do anything here about non-women's sports here at Cardinal Couple, but a lot of you will be tuned in to Louisville vs. Kentucky Football in Lexington today at noon, so GO CARDS, BEAT UK.

Since Paulie edits most of the articles here at Cardinal Couple, I'll leave the FRED report to him as an add-on.


THE FRED REPORT

Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst says "Scream for those Cards!" 

FREE THROWS -- Hardly anything to mention here, as Dee Kanter and her crew swallowed the whistle and let them play. Louisville attempted five and made four. Kylee and Dana tried two each and made them. "E" got one and missed it. Still. 80% is 80% and we'll award a Capital "F" for the limited but productive marksmanship. 

REBOUNDS -- Louisville won the battle of the boards 47 to 39 and it was Bionca Dunham and Elizabeth Balogun leading the way with 10 each. Louisville only managed seven on the offensive boards, a quite low number, but overall the "grabs" effort was enough to earn them another Capital "R" for running down missed shots. 

EFFORT/EXECUTION -- No slow start Friday for the Cards, leading by six after the first quarter and increasing that lead as the game went on. Turnovers, though, another bugaboo with 21. Walz likes to tease that if you throw the ball to someone in the same colors as yours, those turnovers will drop. The Cards did win the points-in-paint battle, fast break points and second chance points stats, though, so...based on that, I'll offer a lower case "e" for hustle. 

DEFENSE -- Louisville WBB held OK State to 25.4% shooting. The Cards had eight blocks. They forced 14 OK ST turnovers and scored 14 points off them. They allowed just 48 points. All that leads to a Capital "D" for their defensive efforts. 

FINAL FRED TALLY:  F-R-e-D


Happy Saturday and Go Cards!

Jared

WBB Cards survive in Paradise 76-67 -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

JONES, EVANS COMBINE FOR 43 IN WIN OVER UTA

UofL Women's basketball survived a shaky first quarter, blew out to a 16-point lead in the final quarter and managed to hang on against a pesky UT-Arlington squad in the Virgin Islands yesterday. 

It was the Cards first away game of the season and the squad appeared to miss the friendly confines of the KFC YUM! Center, trailing 21-20 after the first quarter. 

Jeff Walz explained the shaky start this way: 

" I expected this. I told the kids that before we came down here, I was very impressed with watching UTA in film study. They play a physical brand of basketball." 

Nothing wrong with coach's eyesight or evaluation skills...it turns out.


The Cards were depending on their on-court leaders, Jazmine Jones and Dana Evans to carry the load, but the dangerous mid-major from the Lone Star state was intent on an upset. They were still threatening the Cards early into the second quarter -- leading 26-25 -- when Louisville finally got comfortable and played their style of basketball...going on a 8-0 run in two minutes to assume a 33-26 lead. 

Two Evans made free throws started the run. After a UTA failed possession, the Cards took off running and Kylee Shook took a fast-break pass from Elizabeth Balogun, made the bucket, got fouled and sank a free throw. Jaz hit one of two from the stripe and UTA took a timeout to slow the run. After the stoppage, Jaz nailed a jumper to give Louisville the eight-point lead. 

The half ended 43-36 Cards. Jaz had 10 and Evans 12 of the Cards points. 

UTC was not done, though.



The Cards were able to win a close third quarter and held a 60-50 lead with 10 minutes to play. That grew to 16 after back-to-back threes from Jaz and Dana, to build what looked like a comfortable 70-54 edge with 6:29 left.

The Mavericks, though,were unwilling to secede, mounted one last charge and went on a 13-2 run over the next five minutes to cut that lead to 72-67 with 1:33 to go. 

UTC employed the foul theory the rest of the way but Jones and Evans nailed four free throws and UofL was able to keep UTC scoreless to gain their sixth win of the season. 

UTC head coach Krista Gerlich commented after the contest: 


"We knew coming in everybody would probably overlook us. We just wanted to give it out best shot and try to punch them in the mouth first. We talk all the time about the upsets going on in men's basketball. We want to see some of those in women's basketball as well". 

And, credit the UTA squad. They never gave up and made things a bit nervous for us listening to the radio feed back here in Louisville.  A couple of threes by UTC guard Claire Chastain and two steals had the momentum in the Mavericks favor during that nerve-wracking final stretch. Four missed shots by the Cards in that five minutes stretch were painful to hear. And, UTC had a chance to cut it to three with a minute to go, but a huge block and ball recovery by Balogun, stemmed the UTA charge. 


Louisville goes on to second-day action against Oklahoma St. today at 1 p.m. The Cowgirls got bucked by #1 Oregon on Thursday. A 34-13 first quarter pasting from the Ducks showed that Louisville wasn't the only team in St. Thomas that was struggling early.  As for UTA, they get Oregon today. We'll see how the "punch in the mouth" philosophy works against Ruthy Hebard, Sabrina Ionescue and Minyon Moore...


THE FRED REPORT

"A beautiful day from the free throw
line".. 

FREE THROWS -- No complaints about the Cards 19-25 foul line performance. Dana was 10-10 and Jaz 5-8. All makes came from the Cards starters (Dana, Jaz, "E", Kylee and "B". Clutch shooting at the end preserved the win. We'll award the Capital "F" here. 

REBOUNDING -- Louisville barely takes the "grabs" stat 34-31. Shook, as you might expect, led the way with seven in 23 minutes. UofL had trouble keeping UTA star Marie Benson away from the ball, though, she totaled eight for the Mavericks. In a contest where both teams shot over 45%, there aren't going to be a lot of rebounds, so I'll assign a lower case "r" for Louisville's effort. The non-starters had nine of the boards, "E" getting three. 

EFFICIENCY/EXECUTION -- I surmised it at the start of the season that Jaz and Dana would be the engineers of this Cardinal Cannonball Express and they did not disappoint, with 43 points, nine assists and 15-18 free throw accuracy. 20 turnovers are way too many, though, and the Cards late collapse force me to withhold a letter award here. 

DEFENSE -- Good at times but the Cards were allowing too many points-off-turnovers (23). Louisville also allowed 30 points in the paint, which doesn't bode well either in terms of guarding inside. The lack of a strong shutout late in the contest could be hazardous against both OK State and Oregon. No letter here. 

FINAL FRED TALLY:  F-r-_-_


FINALLY...

"Repeat that final score again?" 

So, the Cards survived the brawling Mavericks and maybe learned a thing or two about preparation on the road against someone who is intent in getting a season-highlight upset.  It's said the first road game is always the toughest and that old adage bore fruit yesterday. 

Maybe a nice Thanksgiving meal and evening activities will make the Cards feel a bit more "at home" and ready to tangle with another team today that employs the "knock 'em around" style of hoops. 

The "jelling" continues. Louisville needs more out of the Georgia Tech transfer duo of "Liz" and "E" and I have to believe Yacine Diop is capable of much more than what Louisville is getting from her.

(A huge "Thank You!" to Nick and AJ on the radio for verbally describing the action. Yes, a picture is worth a 1000 words, but their call made me feel like I was there during this one and their insight, commentary and descriptions are why they're the best at what they do.)

"Who took the last drumstick?!?" 

It's still quite early in the season, of course, and I refer you back to Walz's continuous litany about how it will take this team awhile to get on the same page and perform as a effective unit. Let's just accept this "W", shower some well-deserved praise on the "terrific two" for holding the train together and anticipate the jello finally being removed from the freezer and getting served. 

The lessons learned in early battles help you win the war. 

The key, here, I guess is that Louisville faced a tough test on the road, overcame a couple of tough stretches of action and that the ones you expect to shine did. 

Have a fun "black Friday" ! I hope you find what you're looking for and no one gets injured in the running-of-the-bulls when the store doors open. 


RADIO, RADIO

We'll have THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR Saturday at 11.am. as we go a bit further down that "green mile" toward the cessation of the station. I'm not sure who will join me and Jeff in the WCHQ 100.9 FM studios yet, but it'll be an entertaining hour in the magnificent, majestic mansion of Mellwood, that we can guarantee you.

Watch on Facebook Live, or listen on whatever device you choose. Maybe we'll have two Louisville wins to celebrate and discuss and I might bring a duck into the studio to help us preview the Saturday game vs. Oregon down in St. Thomas.

It's often been said that we're "quacks" ....tune in and waddle along with us. 

LINK UP HERE: www.wchqfm.com 


paulie
xxxxx 

Cardinal Softball Video from Tuesday -- WBB November Tournament -- Wednesday Cardinal Couple

CARDS PREPARE FOR EVANSTON

Paulie and our Cardinal Couple Radio Hour friend and associate Daryl Foust, from Kentucky Women Talk Sports and The Crunch Zone joined other members of the media at Ulmer Stadium yesterday to talk with Louisville Softball head coach Holly Aprile and a few of the Louisville Softball players after a practice to prepare them for the Evanston Regional of the NCAA Softball Tournament. 



Paulie attached audio clips in yesterday's Cardinal Couple Column featuring Aprile, Danielle Watson, Madison Cousineau and Celene Funke. Today, thanks to Daryl, we have video clips of all but Funke. Just a note, the Funke interview was a Cardinal Couple exclusive and Daryl did not catch this one on video. It was more or less an impromptu chat with the center-fielder. 


Thanks to Daryl for the video feeds! 

Coach Aprile went first and talked about how their placement in the Evanston region of the #16 seed tournament was not so surprising. She claimed she was not nervous leading up to when the Cards were the second-to-last team called. She did mention that she was happy to have a few days off from games so they could practice and get back to the basics. 

LINK:  HOLLY APRILE VIDEO

Next was pitcher Danielle Watson. She was confident that her team would go dancing in the tournament. The sophomore pitcher was happy for her teammates Sidney Melton and Megan Hensley being able to play in the tournament in their final year. 




LINK:  DANIELLE WATSON VIDEO





Madison Cousineau spoke next. The senior catcher has been to the NCAA Tournament one other time, when she was a freshman at Mississippi State. "Cousin" talked about how she has been helping younger players along through her own experiences. She also mentioned some of the ways the team was staying loose, including the fun outing of the "slip 'n slide" at Ulmer Stadium. 

LINK:  MADISON COUSINEAU VIDEO

As Paulie and Daryl were leaving they walked by the batting cages and were greeted by Sidney Melton and Celene Funke. The chance to do a quick, impromptu chat with "Trip" Funke presented itself and the selection show, a look ahead to Northwestern and her success in hitting triples was discussed.

Funke leads DI College Softball in triples and we appreciate her taking a moment to chat with us during hitting practice.

Her advice to aspiring young softballers? Run, run, run. 

 Here's the audio for that one: 



LINK:  CELENE FUNKE AUDIO WITH PAULIE


Louisville begins their quest in the NCAA Tournament on Friday at 1 p.m. against Southern Illinois on the Northwestern diamond. 



WBB ANNOUNCES TOURNAMENT IN NOVEMBER

Although it shouldn't be too cold yet here in the Derby City, the Louisville Cardinals Women's Basketball team will be flying south around Thanksgiving for some early season games. The Cards will travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands to compete in the 2019 Paradise Jam. We'll call this one the "Turkey in the Tropics Tournament". 

Louisville will be joined by Baylor, Indiana, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington State, Oklahoma State and UT-Arlington for the tournament, held November 28-30. The concept is two four-team brackets competing in round-robin play for two separate championships, 

Louisville is in their bracket with Oregon, Oklahoma State and UT-Arlington. Their bracket is known as the Island division. Daily tip-off are planned for 2:00 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. EST. 

Ticket and travel information can be accessed at  paradisejam.com  beginning in June. 

Have a wonderful Wednesday and Go Cards! 

Jared.