Cards WBB falls to Sooners 78-72 -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Happy Thursday yall 

It's Daryl recapping the Cardinals WBB loss to Oklahoma yesterday afternoon.   Cardinal Couple was out there representing for a relatively small crowd (7466) for a Cards game. Let's blame the 5 p.m. start time and ESPN2 for that.  Those who were watching saw the Uofl lead disappear in a disaasterous fourth quarter and a potential victory dissolve.  

WBB

Cardinals 72 - Sooners 78

Photos: Jared Anderson

UofL let one slip from their grasp when the #11 Sooners came into the Yum Center and stole another "W" for the SEC in the ACC/SEC Conference challenge.  Olivia Cochran scored 17 on 50% shooting from the field, 9 rebounds and 5-6 at the FT line.  Merissah Russell scored 14 shooting 50% from 3 point range.   

Former Card Payton Verhulst led for OU with 21 points and 7 rebounds. 

The Cardinals are 5-3 on the season... with another top ranked matchup on the schedule for this weekend, so they will have to move on pretty quickly.  


Recap

End of 1Q 21-14 Cards
FG %
8-21 38% Cards
4-15 26.7% Sooners
Reb. 15-12 Cards
3-pt %
2-5 40% Cards
3-8 37.5% Sooners


No changes to the starting lineup Walz has been utilizing recently.

Who else would hit the first shot other than Payton Verhulst, a three of course.

The Cardinals started 0-4 from the field before a strange timeout called by the refs when Ja'Leah Williams was about to shoot her second FT. It's rare to see the refs "ice" a player, and do it so early in a game, but it worked, Ja'Leah clanked the second one. 

UofL first scored when Olivia Cochran made a jumper assisted by Merissah Russell. Then Russell followed up with a three to tie it up 5-all with 6:30 left in the first quarter.

Then, the Sooners went cold, scoreless for more than 3 minutes while the Cards took their first lead when Elif Istanbulluoglu headed to the FT line and goes 1-2 Nyla Harris gets the rebound to put it back up and in to make it 8-5 Cards.

It was a back and forth quarter.  Olivia went to the line and missed the shot but who's there to clean it up again? Nyla Harris , as she corrals it and goes up. She gets fouled. The Cards were 1-5 at the FT line at this point, Nyla hit them both to put the Cards up 17-14.

Cards started to find their strength in the paint as Mackenly Randolph powered by the OU defense to put the Cards ahead 21-14.



End of 2Q 20-15 Cards


FG %
6-18 33.3% Cards
4-8 50% Sooners
Reb. 9-6 Cards
3-pt %
1-6 16.7% Cards
3-5 60% Sooners


The Cards struggled to score in the opening minutes of the second quarter before Roberts stole the ball from Verhulst and scores on the next two possessions. Another 2 min scoring drought for the Sooners gives the Cards some room to extend the lead before going scoreless themselves for a couple minutes before the media timeout...where the score was 27-20

Roberts hits the 3 with 3 min left in the half to put the Cards up 36-24. A Curry steal and Russell layup forces the Sooners to call a timeout.




HALF 41-29



End of 3Q 20-19 Sooners

FG %
7-17 41.2% Cards
7-14 50% Sooners
Reb. 12-6 Sooners
3-pt %
3-8 37.5% Cards
1-5 20% Sooners


Once again the Cards slowly start a quarter...and allow the Sooners to cut the Louisville lead to 43-38 in the first 3 minutes. OU went on a 9-4 run to open the second half. The Cards led the Sooners 45-40 before the Cards went on another run to push the lead back to 10 with less than 4:30 left in the third quarter.

Jayda Curry hits her first three with 3:33 left in the third to put the Cards up 55-42.

But a 2:30 scoring drought for the Cards allows the Sooners to get it within single digits before Russell says..."Hold my beers" and drains her 4th three of the game to put the Cards up 60-49 at the end of the third quarter


End of 4Q 29-12 Sooners

FG %
4-16 25% Cards
9-16 56.3% Sooners
Reb. 13-7 Sooners
3-pt %
0-7 0% Cards
2-6 33.3% Sooners


The Sooners would not go away that easily. Every time the Cards went cold, OU inched close,r but the Cards maintained about a 5 point lead throughout the 4th quarter until OU was able to pull it to 68-66 with 3:30 left in the game. Merissah pulled up for another 3 but this one did not fall. The Cards come out of the timeout and turn the ball over... allowing the Sooners to tie it up at 68-all on the next possession.

Olivia Cochran fouled out when she was called for one against Verhulst that put Payton at the line. She put the Sooners ahead for the first time since the first quarter.

jayda Curry tied it up on the jumper with 1 minute left but OU responds with the jumper of their own and then 2 FTs put them up 74-70. Walz calls the timeout. It was a fouling match the last minute of the game but the Cards could not overcome the deficit.   

UP NEXT

Louisville vs UCONN

Saturday 12/7

9pm tip-off

FOX

FRED REPORT (Freddy Mercury) 

FREE THROWS --  Olivia Cochran leading the way 5-6 at the charity stripe.  The Cardinals went 16-20 at the FT line after starting 1-5.  80%. I'll give it a Capital F 

REBOUNDING -- UofL lost the rebounding battle 43-37 with Olivia Cochran once again leading the efforts for the Cards with 9.  It was a great game for Olivia, I think she needed a big night against a big team on a big stage.  It just sucks the Cards couldn't get the W along with it.   No letter 

EFFORT/EXECUTION --  The Sooners are the #11 ranked team in the country, They are a veteran squad that scores a lot of points... if the Cards hadn't been up by 17 points on them and just let this one slip out of their grasp, I wouldn't have been shocked to lose to OU... But they did have major control and looked like they were going to pull away big.  I do think some things were learned by the squad and coaching staff and this one stung a little bit extra, however the Cards shooting took a vacation at the end of the game...going 1-9 from the field.  No letter.  

DEFENSE -- After holding them to 35% shooting in the first half, the Sooners shot 53% in the final 20 minutes.  Olivia and Nyla both fouled out with a couple minutes left in the game.  no letter


FINAL FRED TALLY: F_  _  _

POST GAME COCHRAN AND RUSSELL

POST GAME JEFF WALZ


As always
Go Cards!
~Daryl 

WBB announces ACC/SEC matchups -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Good morning readers, its Daryl here a day early this week. Appreciate Jared once again for switching it up to accommodate me.  

UofL had a staff appreciation lunch this week and i won this sweet Lamar Jackson tshirt in a raffle after playing a bunch of yard games around the SAC.   It was a nice gesture for the university to gather new and tenured employees from administrators, to physical plant, to deans and even some new faces around athletics.  

Women's Basketball


Louisville women's basketball program announced Wednesday afternoon that they will face the Oklahoma Sooners in the ACC/SEC Challenge this winter at the KFC Yum! Center on December 4, 2024.   Tip off time and channel are still TBD.
This will be the third all-time matchup between Louisville and Oklahoma and the Cardinals hold a 2-0 advantage in the series history.    The first matchup is when the two teams faced off in the 2009 Final Four in St. Louis. Louisville overcame a halftime deficit to defeat the Sooners and reach their first national championship game in program history. The second matchup came in the 2013 Preseason WNIT Final and the Cardinals came away with an overtime win in Norman.

Most Cardinal fans will look at this matchup and immediately see the draw... a highly anticipated player suddenly decided to transfer midseason a few years back unfortunately for the Louisville program.  I know many of us at Cardinal Couple were excited to have Payton Verhulst in a Cardinals uniform and we got a glimpse of some potential greatness for us and we were really sad to see her go but of course we wished her well in her endeavors.   

In last year's ACC/SEC matchup against the Ole Miss Rebels, UofL won on the road 64-58. the Cards were powered by a 22 points third quarter and got the win for the ACC on the road, 1 of 4 teams to win on the road.   The first year of the challenge finished with an even split as both conferences came away with seven wins.

Wednesday, Dec. 4
Florida State at Tennessee
Mississippi State at Georgia Tech
Oklahoma at Louisville
Vanderbilt at Miami
Syracuse at Texas A&M
Virginia Tech at Georgia

Thursday, Dec. 5

Boston College at Arkansas
Alabama at Cal
Florida at Clemson
Duke at South Carolina
Kentucky at North Carolina
Ole Miss at NC State
Texas at Notre Dame
SMU at Missouri
Stanford at LSU
Auburn at Virginia

It looks pretty weird to see Oklahoma, Cal and Stanford on the slate but i am really looking forward to this matchup next season.  We are excited to welcome Payton back to the Yum Center, I hope she plays well but if I still want the Cards to win!     

As Always, 
Go Cards!

~Daryl

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

 BLUE RAIDERS GIVE CARDS THE BLUES 67-49

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(great, another group of "downward L posers)

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

THE FRED REPORT

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

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

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

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

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

FINAL FRED REPORT:  -_r-_-_

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

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

paulie

Another Busy News Day -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Verhulst Invited to USA Trials

After the Cards moved into the new Denny Crum Hall earlier this week to get back on campus, Payton Verhulst was packing her bags again right away. Verhulst was invited to the national team trials in Miami this weekend in what is effectively a tryout for the FIBA 3x3 U23 Nations League. The tournament will be played in the Americas conference from August 13th through the 19th. The trials are the 5th through the 8th with training camp beginning on the 9th. It's a a very compressed schedule, but that is why the field is being kept so small. Only 11 players were invited to the trials and only six will make the team. 

This isn't Verhulst's first experience with Team USA, as she was a part of the 2021 U19 World Cup team that won gold and a part of the 2019 U16 team that won gold in the Americas Cup. Verhulst also has 3x3 experience, having played with the Louisville team in last year's Red Bull USA Basketball 3x3 Nationals. In that event, Verhulst joined forces with Liz Dixon, Mykasa Robinson, and Kianna Smith to finish 3rd after being knocked out by the championship winning Force 10 in the semifinals.

As always, we wish all Louisville athletes the absolute best when it comes to getting national team opportunities, as the experience--both on the floor and in life--is unmatched. 

Brooke Gray Commits to Louisville Softball

Image from @brookegray2023

Thursday afternoon saw a big get for Holly Aprile and company when Ballard's Brooke Gray announced her commitment to play for the Cards in 2023. Gray is a pitcher in the class of 2022 and is a key part of the defending state champion Bruins. Ballard went 39-0 last season, and Gray started and earned the victory in 28 of those games. In 29 appearances, Gray was 28-0 with a 0.85 ERA. She threw 15 full complete games, including one that went to 9 innings, and she added five complete games shortened by mercy rule. Gray amassed 350 strikeouts in 165.1 innings last season, good for a K/7 of 14.8. Yes, you read that right. Gray struck out an average of five full innings per game on average. Her best performance came against New Albany, when she pitched a perfect game with 19 strikeouts. She threw three other complete game no hitters and three run-ruled no hitters. 

MaxPreps hasn't listed batting stats for Gray since her eighth grade year in 2018-19, so it is unlikely that she will be a two-way player for the Cards. In that way, she will not be a direct replacement for Taylor Roby. However, we've discussed frequently how much of a strain it puts on a player to be a star at both positions. Tons of the best teams in the country do it without having a star two-way player, so if Gray can continue her success at the collegiate level and Aprile can continue to recruit offense, Louisville may be on to something. We wish Brooke the best of luck in her upcoming senior year.

Will Holt Returns to Louisville

After a brief stint with Indiana, Will Holt has returned to his alma mater to stand by Justine Sowry's side on the bench at Trager. Hot returns as an assistant coach after having served as a student volunteer assistant from 2012-2015. Holt began coaching in 2010 in Europe and returned after graduating to continue his coaching and playing career. He also earned 146 caps with the USMNT from 2014-2017 and scored 85 goals in that time. Coach Sowry calls Holt "a tireless worker" and says he is "the perfect addition" to the staff. 

Cards Face Off in NWSL 

Gaby Vincent returned to Louisville yesterday as a part of the Washington Spirit when they took on the hometown Racing Louisville. After a hot start and a brief stint near the top of the table, Racing has cooled off quite a bit and last night's match was between the 9th and 10th placed teams in the league. The two played to a draw last night, with Louisville taking the lead shortly into the second half and Washington scoring the equalizer 10 minutes later. A draw is the same result the teams played to in June, though they scored a pair of goals each in that one rather than just one apiece. Ekic came on in the 90th minute of last night's match in an effort to provide a spark in the five minutes of stoppage time, but Racing was unable to find a go-ahead goal. Vincent was available as a substitute for the Spirit but did not make an appearance in the game. 

Embed from Getty Images

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll be without Daryl this week, but I'm finally back after my time away. We'll have plenty to talk about after taking last week off, so we'll do our best to bring you a great show. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Anchor (podcast host): Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Spotify: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

WBB Stats Tidbits -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Not a Gameday

As has been covered here in Cardinal Couple already, UofL Women's Basketball has entered a Covid pause, so there will be no gameday today.  The Cards were slated to play Miami, in Miami, but Covid spread within the program put a stop to that.

Incidentally, Notre Dame was set to play NC State today and Notre Dame has also started a Covid pause.  As a result, NC State will travel to Miami and play Miami instead.  Well done by the ACC to at get a game set up for NC State and Miami so that those two teams are not, or are at least only minimally, impacted by these situations.

With these pauses and rescheduling of games, it does make one wonder what that will do with the previously scheduled Miami vs NC State game and how it will otherwise affect scheduling later on.  I was not familiar with the Wolfpack's or Hurricane's scheduling before now, but apparently they were slated to play on January 27th and that game is the one that is moved to today.  That will leave an open Thursday for those two teams, but there are still questions about when will games be scheduled to make up the lost games for UofL and Notre Dame.  I don't envy the ACC in having to juggle dates like this.

WBB Stats Digging

So, while we've got a break, let's take a bit of a dig through the Louisville stats so far this season.

Starting with the basics, if you had asked me who I thought was the scoring leader for the Cards this year, I would've said Emily Engstler.  Not so, in fact, she's third behind Kianna Smith and Hailey Van Lith.  And here I was commenting about how HVL made changes to her shooting stroke in the off-season and really hadn't gotten back to form, yet.  The three are neck and neck, though, 157 for Smith, 155 for HVL, and 149 for Engstler.

Most rebounds?  Olivia Cochran, right?  Nope, Emily Engstler leads in this category, and by a sizable margin.  118 to 70.  A cohort comes in all really close after that, with Liz Dixon, Kianna Smith, Chelsie Hall, Mykasa Robinson, and Hailey Van Lith pulling down between 52 and 46 rebounds.  Give Cochran some credit on the offensive boards specifically, though.  She's gotten 35 second chances for the Cards vs 29 for Engstler.

With the Cards stout offense, how about the steals category?  Yeah, Engstler, I don't think there was much doubt there, again by a significant margin, 39 with Chelsie Hall in second with 22.

We just came out of a giving season with Christmas, so who's the most generous?  Chelsie Hall takes the top spot in the assist category, but not by much, here.  Hall's 32 are followed by Kianna Smith's 30, and Mykasa Robinson's 28.

How about some offense?  Most 3 pointers probably won't surprise too many people with Kianna Smith dropping 27 from range.  Second place may surprise some though, Emily Engstler has 17.  This may be where HVL still needs to get her shooting form put back together with only 11, and about halfway down the list on the team for 3pt shooting percentage.

Playing around with the stats a bit more, one thing I did notice that I want to bring out, here.  Payton Verhulst, may not be getting the playing time she deserves.  She has played 167 minutes, while HVL tops this category at 383, with Kianna Smith at 367.  But when you sort the stats by just about any other category, Verhulst jumps up the list (unfortunately that also includes for personal fouls and turnovers).  But in field goals made, 3pt shots made, free throws made, total points, rebounds (both offensive and defensive as well as total), assists, steals, and rebounds Payton has out-stat'ed her playing time.  You can't say she's only seen the court against "bunny" teams as a reason that her stats are so much better than minutes played as she's played in 13 of the 14 games the Cards have played this year.  Maybe she should be playing more minutes?

Some interesting data to be found in the stats, got any that you think are intriguing?

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Jared orders four more sloppy Joe's 

After a couple of weeks off due to holiday scheduling, the crew was back at it again.  We had a late scratch as Case has been having Internet outages at his place, so he wasn't able to join the call, but Jared, Paulie, and myself got on the line to record the first CCRHP of 2022.

Lots of basketball talk, as you would expect, including obviously the announced Covid pause and some discussion of the impacts that will have.  We also recapped the Pitt and Georgia Tech games.  And finally we talked a little bit about Elle Glock, a transfer from USC (Southern California) joining the Cards volleyball squad for the sprint semester and beyond.

Jeff interviewing a potential new CCRHP panel guest/

At the moment the recording is only available on Youtube as Case does the light editing and addition to the podcast feeds, which has been disrupted by his Internet access troubles.  So you can check out the Youtube stream at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CCrNuTpLEM

USA WBB takes U19's 70-52 over Australia -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

BALANCED TEAM EFFORT GIVES USA THEIR NINTH TITLE

For the second time in two years, USA U19 has won their title game in the FIBA U19 Tournament over Australia. 

USA got a balanced scoring effort in the win, North Carolina State's Diamond John son led the way with 15 points, Caitin Clark had nine points, eight rebounds and eight assists and Lauren Betts added 14 rebounds. 

Louisville signee Payton Verhulst had three points, six rebounds and three assists in 19:52 for USA in a game that was the toughest one of the tournament for USA.. The Cori Close squad held a 18-14 lead after one quarter and won thee second quarter by the same 18-14 margin to hold a 36-28 halftime lead. USA would slowly continue to increase that lead as the second half progressed, up 54 to 38 after three quarters and getting the 18-point win. 

Nine of the 11 Americans on the squad played in the final and all scored. Te-Hina Paopao, the sophomore guard out of Oregon also finished in double figures for USA with 10 points and Sonja Citron -- headed to Notre Dame in the fall, added 10 points as well. 

USA went 17 for 47 from the floor (36.2%) and sank nine of their 26 three-point attempts (led by Johnson's three). It wasn't a particularly good free throw line outing for USA (9 of 15 for 60%) but it's a win for them and one of the keys to victory was USA's 53-34 edge on the boards. 

Australia came to contend to the title and, to their credit,  didn't let USA go on any huge runs to gain dominance of the contest. For a team that had averaged 98.6 points in their first six games, USA was held to a tournament low with the 72...but defense had been a strong factor in USA's six previous wins and they held opponents to an average of 47.8 points a contest in the tournament. 

Let's be objective and realistic here -- seven games in eight days is a grueling schedule and playing in a foreign country makes the USA feat all that more remarkable. 

Caitlin Clark (Iowa) was named the tournament MVP and joined on the all-tournament team by teammate Sonja Citron. Also named were Jade Melbourne (Australia), Julia Boros (Hungary) and Sika Kone (Mali). Kone led all 16 teams in scoring and rebounding, as Mali finished fourth overall, falling to Hungary in the third-place game. 

The experience gained by Verhulst in the tournament should prove to be invaluable as she now returns to the UofL campus to prepare for her freshmen year student-athlete on Jeff Walz's squad. She averaged 8.3 points per game in Hungary, but, much more than important that that was the experience she gained in a team setting over an extended period of time. It's a bit like what she'll walk into at Louisville. She joins a squad full of talented and "name" players who have had successes in their careers at Louisville and Verhulst should be able to mesh well into the rotation and challenge for a starting spot and significant minutes for Louisville. 

So, a "job well done" to Payton and her FIBA teammates and now on to the next task, defending their ACC regular season title and going far in the NCAA Tournament.

Have a Marvelous Monday

paulie 

Sunday Cardinal Couple - Fall Sports Kick Off

 Soccer Nets Exhibition Win

A full weekend of soccer for the city of Louisville, with Racing Louisville playing today against NJ/NY Gotham FC, Louisville City picking up yet another win, 2-1, last night over Tulsa FC, and both men's and women's UofL teams in exhibition action, the men on the road against Alabama Birmingham, and the women hosting Ball State in UofL's Lynn Stadium.

That's right, it was Cards vs Cards on Floyd Street for only their second meeting ever and the UofL Cards were looking to even the score, which they did, taking the win, 2-0.

Ravin Alexander and Mikayla Hampton were the scorers, both finding the net about halfway through the 2nd half of play.  Both put their shots in the left side of the goal.

Louisville played very aggressively, pressuring the Ball State offense all the way down the field and giving the Muncie team fits.  Ball State substituted liberally to try to find success, but were stymied.  The aggression paid off.  Louisville attempted 21 shots compared to Ball State's five.  11 of UofL's shots were on goal, and only one was for Ball State.

Credit to Ball State's goalkeepers, who did yeoman's work in the net, chalking up 9 saves between them, but I would bet they would have liked a little more help keeping Louisville out of the box and up at the other end of the field to begin with.

Delaney Snyder was expected to be one of the prime goal scorers for the UofL this year, and she didn't get on the pitch at all.  No word was given for her absence. 

Corinne Dente, another promising Louisville  student-athlete did not "hit the pitch" either, still clearing up a leg injury from last season. Karen Ferguson Dayes started a "youth movement" against BSU, with five freshmen in the starting lineup. And, it seemed to go well. 

The women will officially open their season of non-conference play up with a Thursday evening game against Western Michigan, and if you have listened to, or are planning to listen to the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast, Case almost had it right, the Western Michigan mascot is Buster Bronco.

All in all, it was a great evening out at Lynn, a bit humid, but the temperature was nice.  My niece and nephew joined me, and we all (including my sister-in-law, who got to have a quiet evening at home) had a delightful time. It was a good turnout for the Cardinal Couple crew, we had Jared on the field snapping photos (which you see here) and Paulie and Sonya up in the press box following the action. 

An always good indicator of a game is the time of ball possession for each squad. Louisville dominated here with a 56% to 44% edge.

Another "clean sheet" for Gabby Kouzelos in goal,  No real threats on her, except for a first half attempt that looked like it caught her a bit off-guard, but sailed harmlessly over the top of the net. 

USA U19 Advances to the World Cup Championship

Payton Verhulst came off the bench to have the 2nd most minutes on the court for Team USA in the U19 World Cup in Debrecen Hungary.  The US, after a slow start, gained some separation over host Hungary to eventually cruise to a 75-42 win.

Verhulst finished with four points, including a field goal and a pair of free throws, five rebounds, and two each of assists and blocked shots.  Sonia Citron led all scorers with 17, followed closely by Diamond Johnson and Caitlin Clark both with 14.

The semifinals and finals are, alas, not on the FIBA Youtube channel as they are being carried on ESPN+, the premium add-on to ESPN's streaming service.

In the championship game, the US will have a rematch with Australia who advances in a 62-50 win over a, perhaps, surprisingly good Mali team who got wins over Japan, Canada, South Korea, and Russia before finally falling to Australia.

Hungary and Mali will play today for 3rd place at 11:30am EDT, with the US and Australia tipping of the for the World Cup at 2:30pm EDT.

This has definitely been a great opportunity for Verhulst to play against some of the world's best players in her age group, and the benefits should accrue for the Cards this winter when she hits the court with UofL.  Will she be able to come in and have an immediate impact on the Cards?  Time will tell, but my magic eight ball says that signs point to yes.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

There were only three of us on the CCRHP yesterday, Paulie, Case, and myself, as Jared was at Kentucky Kingdom riding rides at a company event.  Daryl was keeping herself in prime button pushing shape, which paid off in the evening with her at the controls at the game against Ball State back in the ACC Headquarters off Arthur Street on campus. .

As fall sports get ready to get under way, we discussed what's upcoming for Volleyball, Soccer, and Field Hockey, including their appearances at the Fall Sports Media Day.  We also discussed the non-conference schedule for Women's Basketball that was unveiled this week. And, we discussed the successes of USA U19 FIBA during the past week.  Check it out below, or on any of your usual podcast sources.

JMcA

Soccer Opener; FIBA U19 Results; WBB Schedule -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Women's Soccer Opens Season with Exhibition vs Ball State

Despite some confusion throughout the week about the nature of this game, it was never in doubt that Louisville would open the season tonight against Ball State. Earlier this week, during fall sports media day, Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes emphasized that tonight's match would be an exhibition. That was news, as the game had not been listed as such on Louisville's schedule, nor was it called out as an exhibition in Louisville's schedule press release. However, last week's schedule press release from Ball State did call the game an exhibition, indicating that it has been considered one by the two sides for quite some time. That said, all that really does is give the Cards one less game on their regular season schedule. 

For the time being, it may take some of the pressure off of the team which has quite a few questions to answer. We saw what Louisville women's soccer looked like in the spring without Emina Ekic at the helm and it wasn't the prettiest action on the field. The Cards became a bit of a one trick pony on offense with Ekic, a point we've belabored here at Cardinal Couple, so getting an exhibition game to try and figure out what the team formation looks like now that the freshman players have been added to that roster from the spring should be very helpful before the real season opener next Thursday against Western Michigan. 

These two Cardinal teams last faced off in 2016, a forgettable season for Louisville. UofL went 7-7-4 that season, missing out on both the ACC and NCAA tournaments. Ball State was Louisville's seventh of eight non-conference opponents that year and the matchup came in Louisville's sixth straight home match. Louisville dominated the game with 23 shots (11 on frame) compared to just 4 (2) for Ball State. Unfortunately, the Ball State goalkeeper was up to the task, snagging 11 saves. The game was won with a Ball state golden goal in the 108th minute. We don't need to get into a whole discussion about college soccer tie rules (either tie in regulation or play the full overtimes, please), but that game was one of eight that Louisville played in 2016 that went into extra time. 

No one that played in the game for Louisville in 2016 remains on the roster, so it will be a fresh start for this Louisville team. The Cards will hope to get their feet under them as they look to build on the last few years in which they have seen growing success. Things will be hard without Ekic, as we have discussed, but there is a lot of talent on this team. Tonight's game will be the first opportunity to see whether that talent will be able to come together to continue to propel the Louisville women's soccer program forward. The match in Lynn Stadium will begin at 7:30PM. It is free to the public and attendance at soccer matches this season are free. All visitors are subject to the UofL bag policy, but no COVID-19 policies are readily available for information.

USA Thumps Spain in Quarterfinals 

Payton Verhulst didn't get the start yesterday afternoon against Spain, but she did play the second most minutes of any non-starter for Team USA. The Yanks continued their domination of the event with a 98-64 victory over the Spaniards to advance to the semifinals to face Hungary today at 11:30 AM. 

Spain's 64 points were the most scored against USA so far in the tournament, and 34 points has been Team USA's smallest margin of victory. Their next closest game was a 40-point win over Australia in the second game of the group round. Spain also played USA to their two closest quarters so far in the tournament as USA won the second and fourth quarters of yesterday's game by only three and four points, respectively. After a 30-18 victory in the first quarter, though, Team USA was never in danger of yielding the lead. 

As it was against Taiwan, yesterday's victory was a group effort. Six players scored in double figures, with four of five starters accomplishing the feat. Collectively, the team shot 54.1% from the floor, going 40% from three-point land. Verhulst's 13 points were tied with Diamond Johnson as the most by a non-starter and fourth-most on the team. Payton added in five rebounds, an assist, a block, and a steal. She was 5/7 from the floor and 3/4 from beyond the arc. Against a much tougher opponent than the previous game, this performance may be more impressive than the one she gave earlier in the week. Caitlin Clark led the team with 17 points and she (6/6) and Sonia Citron (7/7) were both perfect from the free throw line.

USA and Hungary have played two common opponents in the tournament, as Taiwan was in Hungary's group and Hungary played their Round of 16 game against Italy from the USA's group. Hungary beat Taiwan 99-42, a dominating win but not quite the 129-45 victory that USA put up. The more interesting comparison is the game against Italy. Hungary snuck past Italy in the opening round of the knockout stage 54-48. Team USA opened the tournament with a 96-37 victory over Italy. We'll keep up with this game during the show, and Jeff will cover the results in tomorrow's article.

Women's Basketball Releases Non-Con Schedule

Though we already knew a few games on Louisville's schedule this season due to press releases, the official non-conference schedule was released in full yesterday. Louisville will play six home games, three road games, and two "neutral" games. The Cards get just one exhibition game this season, as they'll host Union College on November 4th. 

I put neutral in quotes, because the second of Louisville's neutral court games is an effective home game for the opposing team. The first, as we know, is the season opener against Arizona in South Dakota. Hardly any concerns about the crowd going one way or the other there. The second, however, is the Hall of Fame Women's Showcase. This game will be a rescheduling of the matchup against UCONN that was scuttled last year due to COVID-19. The game will be played in Uncasville, Connecticut, a mere 45-minute drive from Storrs. That game will round out what is likely to be a tough week for the Cards, as they'll play three games in eight days. Louisville hosts Kentucky on the 12th of December and EKU on the 16th in the Jimmy V Classic before heading to Connecticut for the Clash of the Titans on December 19th. That will be Louisville's final non-conference game on the schedule.

Prior to the Kentucky matchup, Louisville will play six previously unannounced games, along with the ACC-Big Ten Challenge game against Michigan. The season opener will come against Bellarmine on November 16th, meaning we are just outside of three months from the beginning of the college basketball season. The Cards get a short turnaround before hosting a second mid-week game against UT-Martin on November 18th. 

There's no rest for the weary, though, as Louisville will jump straight on a plane for a swing out west. The Cards head to Washington to take on the Huskies on November 20th before going down the coast to Cal Poly on November 23rd. The team will presumably come back to Louisville for Thanksgiving before heading to Fort Collins to play Colorado State on November 28th. 

The first week of December sees Michigan on the 2nd and Belmont on the 5th before the aforementioned tough week against Kentucky, EKU, and Connecticut. Louisville's non-conference schedule includes five NCAA tournament teams and four teams that won at least 20 games last season. In a season where some teams barely played 20 games, that achievement is even more impressive. The Cards could easily face five ranked teams in the non-conference schedule and will have plenty of challenges before getting into ACC play.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

The show is a bit thinner today with Jared and Daryl out for various reasons, but we should have plenty to discuss given all of the news that has come our way this week. We'll cover fall sports media day, the basketball schedule release and look a the season opener for women's soccer. Join us as we bring you the joy and excitement of UofL women's athletics on this week's Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

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Apple Podcasts: Link

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Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Teeter and FIBA - Friday Cardinal Couple

Daryl is back to peak button pushing form with her time being split between the Louisville Bats and UofL gearing up for fall play.  So we're using some help side defense here in the Cardinal Couple writing team. Jeff's in the net today, push for a penalty corner opportunity.

Scott Teeter and Canada Lacrosse

Scott Teeter was apparently craving some Tim Hortons and needed an excuse to head back north.

He has been named the head coach of the Canadian Women's National Lacrosse Team.  Of course Teeter has a long history of coaching with the national program of our neighbors to the north, with this just being the latest installment.

The Canadian National team will compete next year in the 2022 World Lacrosse Women's World Championship in late June to early July.  The Championships will be held at Towson University in Maryland.

The team will also compete in the 2022 World Games in a 6v6 version of Lacrosse that features a smaller field, shorter quarters, and shorter shot clock.  We've drawn comparisons between Lacrosse and Basketball in the past, so this would be somewhat equivalent to the 3x3 form of Basketball that many of us have enjoyed recently, with faster pace of play in a condensed space.

The World Games will be in Birmingham Alabama in mid-July.

For warm-ups for these events, the Teeter will lead the teams in Fall Classic and Sixes team events in mid-October.  These events will also be in Towson, MD.

Of course, after making a crack about Tim Hortons, neither Towson, MD, nor Birmingham, AL have any significant availability to the franchise.

FIBA U19 Update

The FIBA U19 World Cup had the day off yesterday, but will back in action today with Payton Verhulst.  The event is in the knockout stage of play at this point with the US team easily dispatching Chinese Taipei, as they're being referred to in this event, also known as Taiwan, on Wednesday with the US tying their own scoring record with 129 on the scoreboard.

Today's opponent is Spain.  The Spanish took easy wins in group play over South Korea and Brazil before narrowly defeating France 65-61.  They eliminated Japan in the first round of knockout play, 71-64.

JMcA

Verhulst Leads USA -- Cross Country Announces Schedule THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Verhulst and USA Advance to Quarterfinals

Team USA took on Taiwan in the Round of 16 in the FIBA U19 World Cup, and a 10-0 start stayed just as lopsided for the remainder of the game. Team USA set a new assist record (38) on their way to a 129-45 victory over the 0-4 Taiwanese team. The 129 points also tied the record for the most points scored by a USA U19 team.

The high scorers were a team effort as nine players scored in double figures. With only eleven players on the squad, that's quite the feat. Louisville's Payton Verhulst led the way, scoring 18 point and adding eight rebounds, six assists, and two steals. Her eight rebounds were tied for second on the team, and she was third on the team in assists. Verhulst started in the game, and had 13 points, three rebounds, and three assists at the half. 

Coach Jeff Walz will surely be pleased to see his new guard getting such valuable experience and performing at such a high level on this stage. If Verhulst can carry these kinds of performances into the beginning of her college career, she will almost surely stake a bonafide claim on a starting spot this fall. Team USA will continue their run at a title when they take on Spain in the quarterfinal game on tomorrow at 2:30 PM Eastern. The Spaniards went 2-1 in group play. 

Cross Country to Have Abbreviated Schedule

This fall won't see UofL cross country runners compete against different teams very often. The cross country meet schedule was announced yesterday and held only three regular season events. The team will open at the Tennessee Dual on September 3rd before going on a month-long break. There will be plenty of training in that time before the Cards play host at the Live in Lou Classic at EP Tom Sawyer Park on October 2nd. Two weeks later, the team will head to College Station to compete in A&M's Arturo Barrios Invitational for the first time. 

Hopefully, the teams can achieve some cold weather training, as they may need it for the tournament slate. Notre Dame will host the ACC Championships on October 29th, and the Southeast Regional meet will be held in Lexington on November 12th. If any Louisville runners advance to the NCAA Championship meet this season, they'll get a break from the cold as the Championships are set to be held in Tallahassee on November 20th. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

USA U 19 FIBA WOMEN ROMP AUSTRAILIA 99-59 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 VERHULST'S SQUAD ASSIMILATES AUSSIES BY 40 

The USA FIBA U 19 WBB squad continued their domination over opponents in the FIBA games in Debechen Sunday with a start-to-finish dominating win over the "down under" ballers from Australia 99-59 in pool play. 

Cardinals freshman Payton Verhulst drew the start for USA and came out on fire, nailing two three-pointers and getting a steal in the first four minutes of the first quarter for USA.

 In an effort to get all of her all-stars a chance to compete in the action, USA head coach Cori Close(UCLA)  played everyone dressed for the game a lot -- Verhulst saw just 18 minutes of action in the romp and all 11 USA players in uniform scored in the dismantling of Australia 

A notable exception from action was Wake Forest guard Jewel Spear...who was held out of the contest under that dubious distinction of "coaches decision" Spear was not not the court nor on the USA bench for the event. No word on whether she'll reappear Tuesday. 

As for Verhulst, she ended the game with eight points and seven rebounds. She also dealt out three assists for USA, who is now 2-0 in pool play. Cori Close has been using Verhulst primarily as a "4" in her offensive sets...and Payton has looked good in the role. With a team that consists of Verhulst, Clark, Sonja Citron, Lauren Ware, Lauren Betts and Azzi Fudd, though, they probably could have entered themselves as an "independent" in the recent Olympics women's basketball tournament and grabbed the silver.  

Stepping up huge for USA was Iowa sensation Caitlin Clark.. The 511" guard that ran roughshod over the Big10 last season accounted for 24 points -- sinking five three-pointers and grabbing nine rebounds against the Aussies. Her 33 minutes on the hardwood led USA in time played. with a 52-35 halftime lead, USA was in good shape and continured to roll over the hapless Aussies. 

If there is a chink in the USA squad's armor, it is from the charity stripe. Yesterday, they went 16 for 26 from the line, a 61% number that would have Jeff Walz glowering over his stat-sheet in dismay. but, USA is 2-0 in their group -- which consists of Italy, Egypt and Austrailia -- and will play the winless Egyptians on Tuesday. 

All told, 16 teams are divided into four groups in Hungary.  Group B consists of Russia, Hungary and Chinese Taipei, Group C has Spain, France, Brazil and Korea and Group D holds Canada, Japan, Mali and the Czech Republic.

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Watching the games on YouTube, I have had some fun listening to the "accounts and descriptions" provided by the sole guy (Coach "J2K") who has done the play-by-play for the USA games.  He seems to get excited about three-pointers more than anything else, and interacts with a host of commenters nin the chat section provided with feed. A typical sequence would consist of: 

"Australia, they have the ball. They shoot. They miss. It is now United States ball. They are moving it. The will try a shot  THREE POINTER BY CLARK !!!! It's good, she made it !!!!" (Somewhere, Arike Ogunbowale is smiling, I'm sure...) 

He also mistakenly identified Verhulst as attending Iowa with Clark, which would be enough to scare the "bee-jesus" out of any Big 10 program,  The commenters called him to task, though, and he finally made the correction. I suppose I should not complain too much, though. The games are available and we can watch. That's a good thing. 

For yesterday's romp, go here:  https://www.fiba.basketball/world/u19women/2021/game/0808/USA-Australia#tab=overview

FIBA events allow "noise-makers" (at least n Hungary) and some well-meaning USA fan, in the two games I've watched, has had access to an air-horn with a seemingly-endless source of pressurized air. Every single USA possession, this moron lets loose a staccato of synchronized blasts in varying patterns that gets old by the 5-minute mark in the first quarter. It continues all 40 minutes. I know, mute the broadcast...Paulie. 

Best of continued luck to USA as they advance, although they probably won't need it against the Egyptians, who have been out-scored 180-101 in their first two tilts.

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GETTING THEIR KICKS IN? 

The UofL schedule of events indicates that Louisville women's soccer was "allegedly" involved in a exhibition/scrimmage with IU last night.  This seemingly took place on campus at Lynn Stadium. None of us from the Cardinal Couple crew made it out to this scrimmage and there is no recap or report on how it went for the Cards. They usually don't keep an official stat sheet either.

That's usually the case in pre-season scrimmage affair, but I'll continue to search for infor/results

Have a marvelous Monday!

paulie