Cards Down SEMO -- Thanksgiving -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Cards Defeat SEMO in Season Opener

One down, many to go.  #5 Louisville defeated SEMO in both teams season opener, 74-53.

After a slow start, which is expected in the first game of the season, the Cards outscored the Redhawks by 19. It was a healthy mix of new faces and familiar ones contributing to the victory.

Freshman Olivia Cochran led Louisville in scoring with 17 points that was highlighted by a 9-for-10 mark from the free throw line. Dana Evans, who is now a senior (holy cow, already?!), scored 15 points to go along with a team-high six assists.  However, Evans was held without a made three-point basket. Freshman sensation Hailey Van Lith did not disappoint with 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds.  She filled up the stat sheet well with a made three-pointer, an assist, a steal, and a block with only two turnovers.

It was the defense that impressed.  The Cards surrendered just 53 points on the game that featured allowing just eight points in the second quarter.  They recorded 10 blocks led by Elizabeth Balogun's three blocks.  The Cards recorded 11 steals on the day highlighted by Ahlana Smith's three.

Louisville forced 19 turnovers and converted that into 26 points off turnovers.  They won that mark 26-10.

Rebounding seemed to be next to no concern after getting through the first quarter.  They won the rebounding battle 50-36.  The26 offensive rebounds turned into 21 second chance points. All in all, 11 players saw playing time ranging from eight minutes to 32 minutes.

SEMO was a last minute add after Middle Tennessee had to back out.  Jeff Walz was extremely complimentary of the Redhawks.

"I was really appreciative for (them) to make this happen" he said.  "For us to go on the road, it was a good win.  We're at a point right now in college basketball in general, you've got to get as many games in as quick as you can since there's so much uncertainty."

After scoring the first bucket of the game, Louisville went back-and-forth with SEMO up until a 16-16 tie.  A pair of free throws by Evans gave Louisville a lead at the end of the quarter, a lead that would never be vanquished.

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Louisville would go on an 11-3 run for much of the second quarter to push the lead to 10.  A Merissah Russell fast break layup art the buzzer would send the Cards into the half with their largest lead of the time at 14.

A HVL three-pointer to start the second half put the Cards up 17 before SEMO went on a run.  They cut the lead to six with four minutes left in the quarter.  Louisville answered with a run of their own to push it up to 15.

The defense kicked it up a notch again in the fourth quarter and gave up two points over the first 4:03.  A trio of layups wrapped up the Louisville scoring going into the final 35 seconds of the game.

Overall, the game went as expected with Louisville getting the win.  There were moments of early season mayhem as players get used to real opposition as well as playing with each other.  Many players adjusted to the collegiate style of play or finally got to rep their Louisville uniform for the first time.

It is a solid start to the year and gets jitters out in time for their home opener this Sunday.

The ever-popular F-R-E-D report is back.  Since this is the first F-R-E-D report of the season I will give the honor to our fearless leader to fill out.

F-R-E-D Report

Free Throws -- The Cards got to the line 27 times and made 20 of the attempts. That was good for a 74.1%. Our free throw line of success is 70%, so they squeaked by there. Olivia Cochran had the most attempts for UofL, and went a stellar 8-10 from the charity stripe. We can award a capital "F" here for making the unguarded ones. 

Rebounding --  Give the edge to Louisville 50-36. The Cards didn't really pull away in this stat, though, until the latter part of the third quarter and the final quarter. SEMO only shot 8% in the fourth quarter (no, not a mistype -- they went 1-12 from the floor) and when you grtab the misses, you're numbers go up. It was rebounding by committee, although I'll point out that 5'7" Hailey Van Lith tied for the Cards leader in grabs with eight. In fact, the three freshmen combined for 21 of the Cards grabs. We'll definitely qward a capital "R" here. 

Effort/Execution -- Despite the slow start, Louisville did a good job overall running the offense, given the number of players they shuttled in-and-out and it being the first game. Thumbs uo on the 26-10 points-off-turnovers Cardinal edge (creating offense off defense) but a face-palm on the 2-17 three-point shooting. If any of the Cards future opponents watch the replay of this one, they'll come out in a zone and dare UofL to beat them from the deep. So, given the good and bad, I'' award a small case "e" for the effort and execution. 

Defense -- Holding SEMO to just 53 points and 27.3% shooting gets a thumbs up here, creating 19 turnovers does as well. The surprising number was a 10-1 advantage in blocked shots, seven Cards getting them and Elizabeth Balogun with three. Ahlana Smith had three steals and thaat's was a bright spot. The Cards had no answer for Tesia Thompson (21 points) but they shut down the rest of the Red Hawks and got the win. We'll bestow a capital "D" for doing it defensively.

FINAL FRED TALLY:   F-R-e-D

Thanksgiving

Normally we do not have a true article on Thanksgiving but the basketball game yesterday made this year an exception. 

Thanksgiving may look different this year than in recent years.  We are all doing our part to keep everyone healthy and safe --  even if it means we do not see certain family or get certain food. We should be extra thankful this year for things that may range from family and friends to food to being able to afford bills, and especially our lives.

Here at CARDINAL COUPLE, we are thankful for so many things. Our families, our health, the camaraderie on our staff. our wonderful readership and that there are sports to report on.  If you're reading this, be thankful you can. 262,000 fellow Americans have left grieving families and friends behind with only memories and sadness. 

Have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving!

Jared

GAME DAY -- Louisville women's basketball vs SEMO -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS WBB BEGIN 2020-21 SEASON AT RED HAWKS

It is here. 

After all the talk, speculation, changes and implementations -- the University of Louisville women's basketball squad will take the court for their first game of the 2020-21 campaign, 

Today's opponent is the Southeastern Missouri State (SEMO) RedHawks and the contest will be played in the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. A trip west on I-64 for the Cards, about 4-1/2 hours from the Belknap campus. (Last we heard there were $6 tickets available, in case you aren't doing anything today and fancy a drive). 

For Louisville WBB fans, the broadcast will be available of ESPN+ (a pay-for-view internet platform) or on radio. 93.1 FM will have today's coverage, since Louisville's men's squad will be on the normal home for Louisville women's basketball 790 Cards Radio WKRD. 93.1 is known as Real 93.1 , the call letters are WTFX and their normally a rap and R&B genre format..you can catch Nick and A.J around 2:40 p.m. this afternoon for pre-game festivities leading up to the 3 p.m. live call. Whether Nick tries any Jay Z or Flipp Dinero styling remains to be seen...

So what will the Cards face today? 

SEMO plays in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) and did quite well their in the 2019-20 season. They posted a  14-4 conference mark and the Red Hawks were 25-7 overall. They won the OVC Conference Tournament, downing UT Martin 67-47. They return leading scorer, senior 5'11" guard Tesia Thompson,  who averaged 19.7 points per game and seven other players from last year, including starter Pruitt Taelour, a 5/6" junior guard who averaged 9.6 points per game. 

The Red Hawks added five freshmen and have three transfers into the program. Of particular note is freshman, 6'2" center Ambrea Gentile 

A key loss is Carrie Shephard, who started her career at Missouri, and was the Red Hawks leading three-point specialist, going 96 for 239.  The tallest SEMO player is 6'4" forward LaTrese Saine, who is a red-shirt senior and averaged 4.8 p.p.g with no starts. 

With three starters gone and three of their top scorers graduated, it looks to be a rebuilding year for sixth-year and OVC Coach of the Year last season... head coach Rehka Patterson.  SEMO was picked to finish third in the pre-season OVC poll. Thompson and Pruitt were pre-season All-OVC Team picks. 

SEMO hasn't had much luck against the Cards in their two visits to the KFC YUM! Center, winless in both visits. They fell 97-43 in 2010 and 80-40 in 2017.

And the Cards? 

I expect Walz to utilize the speed and depth this team possess in the opener. Defensive pressure will be a key and if pressed for a starting lineup, I'll venture a guess and go with Dana Evans, Elizabeth Balogun, Kianna Smith, Hailey Van Lith and Liz Dixon. I expect a lot of situational substitutions and Olivia Cochran, Ahlana Smith, Kasa Robinson and Norika Konno could see 20+ minutes. Coach has said he has a lot of student-athletes that can "fill up the bucket" and we'll see if they fulfill Coach's proclamation in the opener.

 

Louisville will need to crash the boards on both ends of the court and Nyah Green and Ramani Parker could be key elements for Louisville in the rebounding. I'll look to see how Walz uses Canadian sensation Merissah Russell as well, and I won't be surprised to see Louisville in a four-guard set throughout the game. Three-point shooting looks to be a strong suit for the Cards and if Evans, Balogun, Van Lith and the Smiths are knocking down the three ball with consistency, it could be a very good outing for the Cards.  

We'll have a full recap of the action here tomorrow and make sure to follow our in-game Tweets as well. Feel free to leave your comments on what you expect in today's game. 

Go CARDS! and let's hope everyone has a safe, successful and super start to the season. 

paulie

Season Opener Changes -- Plexiglass for Games -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Season Opener Changes

UPDATE: After the publishing of today's Cardinal Couple article, we got news that the Louisville WBB game against UConn has now joined the ranks of being cancelled, sue to an outbreak of COVID within the UConn program. UConn women’s basketball has temporarily suspended team activities after a member of the program tested positive for COVID-19, the school announced Monday night. All team activities will be on hold for at least 14 days, the school said, meaning that the No. 3 Huskies will not compete in their first four scheduled games. Those games included two matchups in the Hall of Fame Women’s Challenge this weekend at Mohegan Sun Arena, a Dec. 4 game in Uncasville against No. 5 Louisville and the conference opener Dec. 6 at Seton Hall.

Some things age like fine wine.  Some things age like milk.  Anything recently we have talked about for MTSU aged like milk. Jeff Walz took to social media yesterday to let us know that MTSU had to cancel Wednesday's game and that he was looking for another team to replace them.  Within a few hours, a new team filled the slot. We  know not whether he'll employ the same tactics to replace the Huskies game. 

Southeast Missouri State (SEMO) is now on the schedule.  Rkha Patterson and the SEMO Redhawks will host the Cards on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m., ET (2:00 p.m., CT). So, in effect, the Cards WBB replaced one directional university with another. 

Walz added a hashtag to his post #WontBeTheLastScheduleChange and it's pretty safe to assume he is right.

As of right now, this game will be aired on ESPN+.  If you are not paying for ESPN+ then this one will not be accessible to be viewed.  Hopefully, we will see a local station or somewhere else pick up a free live stream. It's 2020 and things change rapidly. One thing you can depend on is the radio call from Nick and A.J...usually on Cards Radio 790. We'll know more about the listening/viewing finalizations tomorrow, I would venture. 

SEMO is in the Ohio Valley Conference, a conference that UofL sees plenty of action against across several sports.  Murray State, Morehead State, and Eastern Kentucky are all Kentucky-based schools in the OVC. A OVC WBB Preseason Poll has SEMO picked to finish sixth in the 12-team league. 

The Redhawks finished tied for first in the OVC in the 2019-20 season with a record of 16-2.  In fact, their conference record has gotten progressively better over the last four years. Louisville and SEMO have faced each other twice, with the Cards claiming both victories. Most recently, Louisville took an 80-40 win in November 2017.

SEMO is located in Cape Girardeau, MO and about 4-1/2 hours from Louisville. 

Check back here for a full breakdown of the match-up by Paulie tomorrow morning.

In other women's basketball news, Florida A&M canceled their entire season due to COVID-19.  They are probably the first of many that will drop in the coming weeks.

Plexiglass for UofL Games

Ice hockey rink or basketball arena?  Various twitter users shared photos of the floor at the KFC Yum! Center and Plexiglas is clearly noticeable around the newly designed team benches.  Several rows of seats have been removed and the benches are spread out.

As a photographer, my first question would be where I am supposed to sit, followed by a question regarding potential glares from the glass, which can actually be seen in the first picture.

I do want to raise the question about the socially distanced team benches.  These are players who play on the court together everyday and use the same locker room together.  More likely than not, the players would expose each other outside of the game.  And also, they will be closer together when celebrating or in team huddles.  So why distance them for just the game?

It looks like my pool photographer duties are all set and my new speedos complimentary of Arthur Albiero will be ready to go by Sunday.  Now, time to get some waterproof equipment.  Funny how smartphones nowadays are waterproof but camera and camera lenses are not...Paulie offered the use of his "floating duckie" he used years ago for water activities. I would also assume our resident engineers Case and Jeff are on standby, ready to design a floatation device suitable for maneuvering about in the Ralph Wright Natatorium to keep my various pieces of photography and internet access equipment dry. 

I hope I have a UofL swimmer on hand to help me with my backstroke. 

UofL has sent out a game day protocol/informational guideline for media that are planning to be in attendance. A drastically limited  and reduced amount of media coverage personnel will be allowed in, tucked away neatly in the corner of the KFC YUM! Center and socially distanced. No one on the sidelines, so Coach Walz will have the run of the area. 

Anyway, I hope everyone has a happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared