The WBB season ends...UCLA proves me wrong by showing they are the best team -- Monday Cardinal Couple

 UCLA BLOWS OUT SOUTH CAROLINA IN SECOND HALF. 

I step back and admit I am wrong. 

I said, a few weeks back, that UConn was the best team in Division I WBB. 

When South Carolina ended their season with a surprising blowout, it led me to think that the Gamecocks would do the same to the Lady Bruins.  But, after a half, this one was already close to being over at 36-23 UCLA.. the 79-51 final unfolded in almost unbelievable fashion. Dawn Staley's gals couldn't buy a basket with gold standard cash money.

As a buddy remarked to me..."When's the last time you saw a bunch of white girls beat a bunch of black girls in D1 action?" Putting the unintended racial profiling aside, she made a good point. I guess none of us figured that Lauren Betts and Gabriella Jaquez would shut out the "cocks" inside and dominate on the offensive boards. Maybe we should have opened our eyes a little wider. 

After all, UCLA came into the contest with just one loss all season. Yes, it was early on, against South Carolina...but this was NCAA Tournament time and many critics were saying that UCLA was the best team in the nation. I was still in the UConn camp. 

I guess I didn't read the signs correctly either. 

Isla, we hardly knew you...Good luck

For Louisville, the upcoming few weeks could prove to be very interesting. The height that the Cards had is disappearing quickly. Between graduation and the transfer portal . Juffermans and Hardy are in the portal. .Ziegler has graduated. Istanbulluoglu and Putra are back, along with Mbugna. It looks like Roberts and Randolph will hang with the Cards, and that alone will make Louisville a bona fide ACC title contender. 

They don't have a Betts on their roster though...and that's what it took this year to best the rest.  

paulie

Suftball drops final at NC State -- UConn vs South Carolina -- Season Recap -- Pick 'EM MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLCE

 CARDS RALLY FALLS SHORT IN RALEIGH

Louisville Softball got themselves in a hole early against the Wolfpack in the series finale Sunday, and -- despite three home runs -- fell to NC State 10-6

 

The Wolfpack posted three runs in their first-at-bat against the Cards, all with two out in the inning -- and Louisville was able to get only one back in the top of the second when Vanessa Miller went "Grass, fence, wall - touch 'em all" on a solo shot in the top of the second. It was her third round-tripper of the season. 

NC State got that run back in the home half of the second when they connected on a solo homer. 

The third inning is where the damage was done. NCST exploded for six runs. Two home runs, a double and a single gave the Wolfpack a 10-1 advantage. Sam Booe and Taylor Roby felt the wrath of the NC State bats and needed to do something to prevent a five-inning run rule decision.  

And respond they did. Louisville put four runs on the board in the top of the fourth. A three-run Roby home run down the left field line was the big blast in the inning (her 12th of the season) and Hannah File began the inning with a triple. Thee former James Madison standout scored on a Jenni  Servi single. It was 10-5 NC State, but the Cards were showing life. 

But, the scoring pretty much ended after that. Tala Felder entered the circle in the bottom of the fourth and delivered three innings of  two hit, no run pitching for the Cards. Louisville had two on in the top of the fifth but could not advance them home. Vanessa Miller went "yard" for her second home run of the game in the top of the seventh to make it 10-6, but the Cards scoring stopped there. 

Louisville falls to 19-15 on the season  with the "L" and is 3-6 in ACC play. 

A big one awaits Wednesday when the Cards take on in-state rival Kentucky and this one will be shown on ESPNU. We'll cover that preview in more detail in our Wednesday column. 

UCONN WBB vs.SOUTH CAROLINA IN THE NCAA WBB FINALS

South Carolina is your 2021-22 National champ- disposing of UConn last night 64-49

The Gamecocks got off to a 13-2 early lead on the Huskies and never looked back. They held UConn to just eight first quarter point in amassing a 22-8 first quarter lead. That lead swelled  to 30-12 in the second quarter before UConn mounted a charge that got them back into the contesr but USC scored last in the half and took a 35-27 into halftime. 

South Carolina started the second half on a 11-0 run and that pretty much doomed any UConn chances of winning.. The SEC school coasted through the forth quarter and won by 15 over a UConn squad that failed to put as many points on the board as Louisville did against them in the semi-finals. 

Congratulations to the Gamecocks.

A SEASON RECAP 

What fun it was to watch Louisville women's basketball this season ! The Cards took us on a magical ride that gave us so many things to enjoy and embrace. The dominating guard play of Hailey Van Lith, Kianna Smith, Chelsie Hall, Kasa Robinson and Ahlana Smith shut down opponents defensively and put points aplenty on the scoreboard. 

Emily Engstler, Olivia Cochran and Liz Dixon were as good as any front line in the nation and battled on the boards, shut down taller foes and packed a powerful scoring punch. Payton Verhulst contributed a loy as well as a freshman and the future looks so bright for her. A solid reserve crew of Ramani Patker, Merrisah Russell and Sydni Schetnan make sure the Cards maintained the pace and momentum when they entered Cardinals contests. 

It took the eventual National Champion to finally stop this Cardinal Cannonball, a UofL team that  was so good and effective on defense and ran past so many opponents (in conference and out). Foes never knew who would explode on them offensively but did know that points were going to be very hard to come by against the Cards stifling defense. 

Louisville will miss Hall, Engstler and Kianna Smith but there is so much talent returning and a great incoming class of five freshmen  who will compete for playing tome and recognition. Louisville women's basketball is alive, prospering and will be a major force to deal with in the 2022-23 season. 

Jeff Walz and the coaching staff did a wonderful job with these college student-athletes.  We wish Sam Purcell the best of luck and unqualified success at Mississippi State. I hope they realize what an incredible, hard working coach they are getting in Starkville. 

Such a fun, exciting and rewarding season we had, that got the Cards back to another Final Four. Whaddya say we do it again next year and end the season on a winning streak? 

CARDINAL COUPLE PICK EM

With South Carolina winning it all, we had two contestants tie for most wins. Our own Jared Anderson and Kenny S. ended up 47 wins, so we went to the tie-breaker. 113 points were scored in the championship game -- Jared predicted there would be 120, Kenny S. guessed a few more than that, so Jared wins the trip to Sea World (just kidding), but he nabs the winning gift card to Cracker Barrel. Kenny gets Subway. 

A thanks to all that participated and to our Bracket Czar Jared. 

What? He ran the contest AND won it? The Cardinal Couple Chimps have lodged a protest, called for sanctions and demanded a court of inquiry be formed. Yeah, we'll get right on that...

 paulie   

WBB in Final Four vs SC -- LAX falls 13-12 vs OSU in 2OT -- SB hosts NC State; FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL

 

Good morning readers, welcome April and GAME DAY!   This Final Four run has saved my sanity this week.   My work schedule is picking back up again ahead of the summer months so I look forward to the Cards' biggest fight of the season tonight in the Final Four in Minneapolis. No fooling,  today will be a tough battle for Walz and the Cards

WBB

#1 Louisville vs #1 South Carolina 

The Cardinals and Gamecocks will tip off at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN and 790-AM WKRD

                            LOU     SC 

Scoring               72.2     71.1 

Holds Oppnt       55.2     50.5

FG%                   46%     43%

Holds Oppnt       37%     33%
FT%                   72%     68%

South Carolina leads the all-time series with Louisville 17-4, but just one of those games has come since the two were members of the Metro Conference in the early 1990s.

The Gamecocks won 83-59 decision in the Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Challenge in Springfield, Mass. on 11/27/16.

South Carolina on the National Scale

-South Carolina is playing in its fourth Final Four in the last seven NCAA Tournaments winning their only title in 2017.
-South Carolina leads the nation with 12 wins over ranked opponents this season.
-Leading the nation in rebounding margin (+17.9), South Carolina grabs an SEC-best 45.9 percent of its own missed shots, turning 17.2 offensive rebounds per game into 16.4 points per game.
-The Gamecocks have allowed just 41.2 points per game in this NCAA Tournament. North Carolina (3/25) scoring the most of the group at 61 points.
-South Carolina has a +23.5 advantage on the glass through four games and has out-rebounded all four teams by at least 15.  Aliyah Boston is six rebounds shy the program season record (434) set in 1977-78 by Katrina Anderson.
-In her 22nd season as a head coach, Dawn Staley has taken a team to the NCAA Tournament 16 times. She is 32-14 at the event, including a 30-8 mark at South Carolina.

The Tall Order of Aliyah Boston - AP & Naismith Player of the Year 

Aliyah Boston captured that title via consistent dominance in the form of an NCAA-best 28 double-double, but she is punctuating it with an outstanding NCAA Tournament. Her 16.8 points and 14.3 rebounds per game lead the team, and she's tied for the team lead with eight assists.  She pulled down a season high 22 rebounds vs North Carolina last Friday. 

The Good JuJu for the Cards - Some of my favorite stories leading up to this game 

Excellent quotes in this transcript from Coach Walz presser
https://www.si.com/college/louisville/basketball/walz-previews-south-carolina

Some of my favorite ones:

In reference to a fan and her longtime commitment to the program..  "She was supposed to come before the game to talk to them, but unfortunately she got there a little bit late, and then the next thing I know after I meet with my staff at halftime, she's in there talking to them at halftime.  I think she thinks she's on staff. She does a great job. Our kids love her. Just the passion that she has for life, not just for our team but for life, and her experiences that she's been able to share with our players, as well as many of our fans, it means a lot to them."   

I picture Mrs. Green painting the picture of Shoni Schimmel running circles around Brittney Griner in 2013 (Bring Brittney Griner home) to the squad in the hotel lobby in between practice and film sessions.  Hailey Van Lith was 11 years old when that happened, Payton Verhulst was 9.  

Sidenote: I saw a video of the team walking through the hotel and they all stopped to acknowledge a woman, some even embraced her into a huge hug.... Does anyone know if this woman was Mrs. Green?!  

In reference to the transfer portal and roster adjustments.. "Now you can look and say, hey, what voids do I have; what can I fill in; what areas can I look to increase or get stronger in? Now, I do think you have to be real careful because you've got to make sure you're getting kids that are going to fit into your program, fit into your culture, and make sure they understand what you're trying to do. It's not all about them, and I think that's what's one of the things that we have here is we have kids that want to win, and it goes a long way. I've said it before, when Emily went into the portal last year and we were going to call, the first person I talked to was Mykasa on my team. Mykasa Robinson was going to be the player who was impacted the most if Emily decided to come here because her playing time was going to be impacted.The first thing that she tells me is, Coach, I'm tired of guarding her. If we can get her on our team, let's get her. Because these kids like to win. I think it just speaks volumes for the character of the players that we have here, and their end game is to compete and compete for a National Championship."

In reference to his familiarity with Minnesota.. "Oh, yeah, it's exciting to be coming back. I talked with my wife and my kids, and I can show them my house I bought in Minnesota. I've actually -- I bought the house in a cul-de-sac. I still stay in touch with a few of the neighbors. They've emailed me. They're planning to come to the game."

Its awesome that Coach Walz has established roots all over the country and lifelong cheerleaders.  

Warm fuzzies of the WBB squad going the extra mile 700 miles away
https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/ncaa/article259889525.html

My favorite part:

But in the moments after scoring 22 points to lead her team to the Final Four, being named Most Outstanding Player in the Wichita region and delivering a post-game interview to the ESPN cameras, Van Lith chose to leave the celebration to hop over the barrier, even with a limp, to take pictures and chat with a group of local teenagers she didn’t know.

Two of those girls were Destiny Smith and Naomi White, a pair of sophomores who are up-and-coming players on the Derby girls basketball team that recently played in the Class 6A state championship. They both have Division I dreams of playing college basketball and they aspire to be like the Louisville players they watched on Friday and Monday. Even before the Cardinals were assigned to the Wichita regional, the girls said Louisville was their favorite college basketball team to watch. “I’ve been watching Hailey play since she was in high school,” White said. “I love watching her play. She’s so good. I love her so much.”

If you've been to women's basketball game in the last 15 years and stayed after the final buzzer, you would have noticed these squads delay their showers and media questions until every kid lined up the stairs of the KFC Yum! Center gets their picture and autograph from the players.  And the lines get longer every season.   It should bode well for the Cards to pay it forward.  

LAX

Cards falls to Buckeyes 13-12 in 2OT

The Cards got off to a 3-0 lead before OSU went on a 9-3 run and dominated the second quarter 8-2 as the Cardinals trailed 9-5 at the half.

UofL was down 4 goals at the start of 4th quarter and were able to storm back and tie it up 12 all with 2:03 left in the game. Hannah Morris scored 5 of he Cards last 6 goals to get them there. Morris’ six goals marked a career-high, while her five second half goals are tied for the second most in Louisville program history.

The Buckeyes were held scoreless in the 4th quarter and first overtime period. 

Nicole Perroni received a yellow card and was ruled out for the final 2 after her stick hit the head of the OSU player.  She scored twice for UofL and had 5 of the team's 9 Draw Controls. 

With a minute left and the rain picking up at Cardinal Stadium, J Pleck had a huge save to push it to OT.  And then it went to 2OT. 

UofL took huge shot off the knee near the goal, possibly saving a game winning goal and the Cards got the ball back and OSU got the yellow card.  

However, UofL wasn't able to take advantage and the Buckeyes got the ball back when the Cards charge.  OSU went scoreless for 21+ minutes and it looked as if Ohio State was content to head to a third overtime but Nicole Ferrara found Lindsay Epstein with less than a second remaining for the game-winner. 

Jaws were on the floor after the final buzzer.  That is one that Scott Teeter and the squad will lose sleep over, I'm sure.  

With the loss, Louisville moves to 5-7 on the year, Ohio State improves to 8-4.  

Softball

Louisville @ NC State

Friday 6 P.M.

Cardinals bring an 18-13 overall record and a 2-4 mark in ACC play into the weekend.

Louisville leads 11-8, Louisville defeated NC State 5-4 on Feb. 20, 2021 at Dail Stadium. NC State enters the weekend with a 23-12 overall record following a pair of midweek wins against UNCW (3-2) and Charlotte (9-4). The Wolfpack carry a 3-9 ACC mark.
• Logan Morris is ranked 3rd in the ACC with a .420 batting percentage and is tied for second with 10 home runs to lead the Wolfpack's offense. As a team, the Wolfpack lead the league with 62 home runs.
• Sam Gress leads NC State pitching staff with a 2.79 ERA and Aisha Weixlmann has earned 10 wins on the mound.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour -- As far as I know, the whole gang will be in tow for the show.  Pleeeeease, Basketball Gods, let us have some F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C news to cover! 

As Always, 

Go Cards!

~Daryl 

WBB In Top 10 in Polls-- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS #9 AND #10 IN EARLY WBB POLLS

As Louisville women's basketball continues their westward jaunt Tuesday with a game against Cal Poly, I thought today might be a good day to take a look at the top 10 rankings in two polls -- the AB WBB Poll and the NCAA Committee Top 10. The USA Today Coaches Poll hasn't been released since pre-season -- you know how busy the coaches are these days, and, in this one, a lot of coaches assign their vote to an assistant or other staff member. 

In the AP Poll, we find the Cards ranked #10. Here's the rundown, as of Week 2: 

1) South Carolina

2) UConn

3) Maryland

4) Indiana

5) NC State

6) Baylor

7) Stanford

8) Iowa

9) Oregon

10) LOUISVILLE 

Here's the way the NCAA Top 10 Committee sees it: 

1) UConn

2) Stanford

3) Texas A&M

4) South Carolina

5) NC State

6) Maryland

7) Arizona

8) Baylor

9) LOUISVILLE

10) UCLA

The difference between the two polls is striking. Despite being ranked higher in the NCAA Poll, Louisville will watch both closely, as Oregon went 1-1 over the last two days, beating Oklahoma but falling to South Carolina...and Baylor took a loss against Maryland. Hopefully, the pollsters will just look at Louisville's eight point win over Washington and not explore that the Cards had a 16 point lead shrink to three in the fourth quarter on Saturday. The Cards could move up in both polls because of the losses by teams ranked higher than them.

Despite a loss to South Carolina, NC State is still #5 in both polls. That raises an eyebrow. And Arizona, ho handed Louisville their lone loss so far, made the NCAA Committee Top 10 at #7, but is unranked in the AP Top 10. Another bit of a surprise is Texas A&M checking in at #3 in the NCAA Committee Poll but not making the AP Top 10. The Aggies are 4-0...

Iowa makes the AP Poll at #8, but is not in the NCAA Poll. The biggest discrepancy is South Carolina at #1 in the AP and #4 in the NCAA Committee Poll. 

Looking at it by conference breakdown...in the AP, three Big 10 schools are ranked, the ACC and PAC 12 have two schools each and the Big East, SEC and Big 12 one school each

In the NCAA Committee Poll, the PAC 12 has three schools, ACC and SEC two schools, Big East, Big 10 and Big 12 one member each. 

THE PAULIE POLL

My poll is a combination of what I, Sonja, the nice lady at the Gas N Go, my pizza delivery guy, two squirrels scurrying about my back yard and a disinterested phone solicitor who called me this morning when I was doing the article. Hoo, boy !!!

I give you my Paulie Poll Rankings: 

1) South Carolina (5-0)

2) U Conn (3-0) 

3) Maryland (6-0) 

4) Indiana (4-0)

5) NC State (4-1) 

6) Iowa (4-0) 

7) Arizona (4-0)

8) LOUISVILLE (3-1) 

9) Stanford (3-1) 

10) Baylor 3-1

Let's point out  a couple of things. Iowa is on COVID pause. South Carolina and UConn meet today in the Battle 4 Atlantis on Paradise Island, Bahamas  The AP delayed their weekly poll a day to consider the outcome of this one. It'll be on ESPN at noon. 

Louisville returns to the court Tuesday against Cal Poly. Jared will get you ready for that one in Tuesday's Cardinal Couple. 

paulie

   

 

Basketball, Softball

Basketball Championship

Congratulations to Dawn Staley and the South Carolina Gamecocks for winning the NCAA Women's Basketball tournament.  South Carolina took the lead in the 2nd quarter, but really pulled away from Mississippi State late in the 4th to win the championship game 67-55.

I had the pleasure of watching Dawn Staley coach at her previous gig at Temple University, where she was clearly a great coach, but working in a program that either wouldn't, or couldn't, put forth the resources to support the team's progression.  When it was announced that she was taking the South Carolina head coaching position, I had a suspicion that she was headed for great success.

The SEC had the championship locked up, of course, by having both teams in the championship game being SEC teams.  There was some discussion on twitter about the absence of Morgan "Itty Bitty" William in the 4th quarter for Mississippi State, with many thinking it was just an issue of a bad matchup.

Softball

Nicole "The Poof" Pufahl was the star of the 2nd game of the Louisville vs Notre Dame series this
weekend, but it wasn't enough as the Cards fell to the Irish 6-4.  Defensive struggles can be pointed to as the 'cause of the loss, with the Cards chalking up 4 errors in the game.

Overall, the scoring in this one came late, the Cards picked up a run in the 1st inning, when Caitlin Ferguson got on base with a walk, advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Maryssa Becker, and scored on a Pufahl single.  No other runs would score in the game until the Irish put up 3 in the 4th inning, 2 more in the 5th, and another in the 6th.

The Cards clawed one back in the 6th with a lead-off home-run by Pufahl.

An exciting, but disappointing, finish to this one, when back-to-back two-out walks put Becker and Jamie Soles ("The New Pride of New Egypt, New Jersey") on base to score on a double by, who else, Pufahl.  Another walk to Tiarra Sanabria put the tieing runner on base.  Alison "Mike" Szydlowski came to the plate, and hit a strong shot out to left center on a full-count 9th pitch.  A great play, and great foot speed, by the left fielder for Notre Dame ended the game.

The 3rd game of the series is tonight at 7pm.  Notre Dame has already won the series, but both games have been close, and UofL will be looking to make a statement by taking one back.

-- JMcA

Loretta Kakala Interview...All-SEC WBB Final -- Saturday Cardinal Couple..

FROM SMALL TOWN TO BIG CITY...RETTA FINDS HER SECOND HOME

One of the first things that you pick up on when you talk with Retta Kakala is that she puts a lot of thought into what she says. She'll laugh easily but answers from her are precise, concise and straight-forward. 

CARDINAL COUPLE had the chance yesterday to speak with her about her All-American game performance and her choosing Louisville....as well as several other subjects. In typical Paulie fashion, there is also a bit of schmaltz and humor included as well in the nine-minute interview. You'll find a link to hear the interview at the end of this segment...we'll hit a couple of the highlights here. 

Why Louisville?

'Louisville is home away from home. Being from California, Kentucky is a long way to go so I wanted to be somewhere that I was comfortable and I felt like I was around family."

The All-American Game

"Honestly, I think I just played my game. I just did what I needed to get done...like rebounding, scoring when we needed points and just being a supportive player off the court, too. Keeping everyone fired up." 

What areas of your game are your going to work hardest on?

"Definitely getting into college-level shape and my ball-handling and shooting.

If you could be an animal, what animal would you be?

"A lion. Because I'm super-aggressive. And because they're really pretty!" 

You wear #32. Is their a significance to that number? 

"I love Blake Griffin. I've also worn it since I began playing basketball. 

A great interview with one of the future 2017-18 WBB Cards! We'll try to catch up with Dana Evans and Lindsey Duvall in future interviews as well. 

LINK TO ENTIRE INTERVIEW AUDIO: 

KAKALA ON CARDINAL COUPLE 3/30/17



******************************************************************************


UCONN STREAK ENDS AT 111.

No, this isn't an April Fool's joke. 

No five-peat, The 111 game win streak ended. 

Mississippi State delivered the first blows in an exciting semi-final game last night, weathered the UConn comeback and forced overtime...winning on a Morgan William drive and floater over UConn's Gabby Williams as time expired to seal a major-upset win over the Huskies 66-64. 

After Saniya Chong turned the ball over with 12.3 second left in the extra session, Mississippi State regained possession and called a timeout. Head Coach Vic Schaefer told William: 

"Mo...you're about to win the game." 

And he was right. At the end of regulation, Morgan had tried a similar move. Gabby swatted that effort away. This time, the ball cleared Gabby's up-raised hand and found net success. 

Schaefer was jubilant after the win:

"What an unbelievable, gusty performance that no one in the country probably thought could happen. We beat the greatest team, with the greatest win streal in the history of sports." 

Losing coach Geno Auriemma's thoughts on the defeat: 

"They beat us. They took us away from the things we like to do. We didn't have the kind of maturity that you need to win at this level at this time of year." 

Credit the MSU defense as well. Schaefer, who engineered the defense that took Texas A&M to a title in 2011 when he was an assistant there, laid out a defensive strategy that forced 17 turnovers, held UConn to almost twenty points below their season average and turned a usually dependable and patient squad into one that lost its composure and became frustrated.  

An SEC final. If someone had told you that at the start of the season, you probably would have passed it off as a delusional, fanatical Kentucky Wildcats fan trying to raise the ire of a rival fan base. 

It has come to pass. Mr. Samuelson goes 0-2 on Friday night. 

Nothing stings like getting this far and then having to go home. A bitter taste that even Geno's Spaghetti Sauce won't be able to vanquish. See ya, Huskies.


SOUTH CAROLINA TAKES THE TREES DOWN

South Carolina advances. After a forgettable first half, the Gamecocks erase a nine-point deficit and down Stanford 62-53. How big was the hobbling of Stanford's Karlie Samuelson and the ankle sprain with about five minutes until halftime? 

How huge were the efforts from USC'S Allisha Gray (18 points) and the double-double from Aja Wilson (13 points and 19 rebounds?) 

When the 'Cocks lost Alaina Coates in mid-march...shortly before tournament time...most figured that the Dawn Staley squad would make a brief apperance in the tournament and then head home. Some wondered if they'd reach Stockton for the regional. 

Survive and advance. It's the catch phrase this time of year. 

For what it's worth...South Carolina won both contests against the Bulldogs this year. A 64-61 win in mid-January and 59-49 victory in the SEC Tournament finals. 

***********************************************************


THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR

Case and I will be joined by Jared Anderson in the studio today and call Jeff McAdams who will be covering volleyball. 

Should be a good show. We'll play the Retta Kakala interview and get the guys opinion on men's and women's hoops, softball, lacrosse and more.

Always live, always unpredictable and always worth the hour you spend listening. 

11 a.m.  WCHQ 100.9  Listen at www.crescenthillradio.com

March Madness is now April Awareness
paulie
xxxxx

Those Louisville WBB foes...How are they doing? -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

LOUISVILLE'S SEVEN OPPONENTS 16-26 SO FAR.

(Notes written while watching a replay of the start of the second half against South Carolina...again...Pretty sure Kaela Davis is still out in my backyard still shooting threes...and Alaina Coates grabbing those that miss.)

At 6-1, it isn't the worst start in the world for now #7 ranked Louisville Women's basketball (and certainly a better start than last season)...tough games ahead, no doubt. Let's take a look this morning at how the teams are doing that Louisville has played already. Why not? It is hoops season and the WBB squad doesn't play again until Thursday...


LINDSEY WILSON  Yes, I know, it was a pre-season exhibition game...and we didn't count it in the cumulative stats...but ol' Blue Raider Bob has had nothing but success since falling to the Cards. LWU is 8-0. Kayla Styles leads them in scoring with 16.7...she had four against the Cards when they met. 

UT-MARTIN  The Skyhawks haven't soared too well since hosting the Cards in the opener for both. They're 1-5...losing to Vandy by just two in their last outing. Emany Robertson leads them with 12.0 a contest...she scored four against the Cards. Ashton Feldhaus is at 11.7...she totaled 12 when the two schools met.

BELMONT  Cam Newbauer's Bruins have had trouble coming out of hibernation so far...with a 3-4 record. Granted, they've only had one home game..and fell to a good Green Bay squad. Kylee Smith leads the Bears charge with 16.1 per outing...she tallied 13 against Walz & company in the Bucket. 

MIDDLE TENNESSEE  These Blue Raiders haven't been too active in their season as of yet...just 1-2...getting their first win against Tenn. Tech on the road in their last outing. Ty Petty continues to shine for the Murfreesboro school...averaging 16.7 a game...she had 27 against UofL. Center Alex Johnson adds 14.0...she put in 13 in the meeting. 

BOWLING GREEN  The Falcons are trying to get off the ground still...with a 2-4 record. They did beat St. Peter (and probably won't get into heaven now) up in Springfield at the Hall of Fame classic. Carly Santoro leads the Ohio squad with 14.3 a night...she was held to four against the Cardinals. 

LAFAYETTE  The Easton, PA Leopards aren't showing their spots yet...at 1-6. They were in Springfield and fell to Hampton (but got valuable awards points for future stays). Anna Ptasinski is the leading feline with 8.7 a night...she failed to score against UofL 

CHATTANOOGA  Jim Foster's Mocs need to change into tennis shoes...with a 3-5 record. They made the trip to the Hall of Fame showdown also and fell to Maine. Queen Alford rules the monarchy with 10.9 an appearance. She had 20 against the Birds. Jasmine Joyner follows with 10.0...she only had two against the 'Ville...we'll remember her for her 15 rebounds. She's averaging 9.9 grabs on the year. 

SOUTH CAROLINA  Perfect at 5-0 after the corralling of the Cards...the Hens feature Alaina Coates...who is currently third in the nation at 12 rebounds a night and second in shooting % with a 72.9% success rate. They'll tackle Texas next and the Lone Star State school may not be big enough to hold her, Wilson, Gray and Davis in their borders. 

So, a combined 16-26 record for UofL's opponents this season. Looking at the next four game...Maryland, Kentucky, WKU and South Dakota St. are a combined 18-5. The Terps are undefeated and #5 in the nation. UK sits at 5-1 and is ranked #17. South Dakota St is un-ranked but 4-1...with a loss at #13 Oklahoma. WKU, a bit surprising 3-3. Their loss to DePaul in the Gulf Coast Showcase wasn't too awful...74-60. Stumbling to George Washington down in Estero does raise an eyebrow and falling to UT-Arlington is surprising as well.


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CONGRATS TO TESS AND MOLLY !!

Junior middle hitter Tess Clark and sophomore libero Molly Sauer have been named to the 2016 All-ACC Volleyball Second team. We have to wonder about the exclusion of freshman outside hitter Melanie McHenry from the All-Freshman team...but, all and all, nice accolades for both of these returning wide-netters. 

Three ACC teams were invited to the NCAA Volleyball Tournament...#7 North Carolina, Florida State and Pittsburgh. A bit of a surprise there, as well...with 21-8 Duke and 24-8 Georgia Tech getting left at the alter...but best of luck to those who got the berths. 

Dani Busboom Kelly has a solid nucleus with these three...and more...returning to begin her head coaching gig at Louisville. She's still got a bit of off-campus work before she migrates to the Belknap campus...she's the associate coach at Nebraska and her squad is in the NCAA Tournament and ranked #1. 

paulie
xxxxx

Louisville women's basketball -- Cards fall to USC 83-59-- Kelly New VB head coach...MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS GET DEFEATED BY "A" EFFORTS

South Carolina got a 51-point by the "A" Force...17 each for Alaina Coates, Allisha Gray and Aja Wilson...and the Cards fell victim to a 23-5 run over an nine-minute stretch that spanned the end of the second quarter and most of the third quarter...eventually losing to #3 South Carolina 83-59.

The Cards won the first quarter 20-18 against Dawn Staley's squad and had drawn to within two at 31-29 after two Mariya Moore free throws with 3:22 until halftime when the Hens exploded and the Cards started laying eggs. A 6-0 run by USC gave them a eight-point 37-29 lead at the break and with 5:24 left in the third quarter the score read 53-34 in favor of South Carolina..

The Cards were no match inside for the powerhouse duo of Coates and Wilson and guards Gray and Kaela Davis combined for 30 points...the Hens held a 20 point lead at 64-44 after three and it was pretty much over at that point...and it was just a matter of how badly Louisville would take their first loss of the season. 

A combination of early foul trouble and ineffectiveness from the court held Louisville star Myisha Hines-Allen to just two points in 20 minutes. She didn't score until there was just 8:30 left in the game and fouled out four minutes later. Two fouls in the first couple of minutes limited her to just five on-court minutes in the first half. 

Moore led Louisville in scoring with 17 points. Asia Durr added 13 and Briahanna Jackson reached double figures with 10. Jazmine Jones came in for 11 minutes of inspired play to finish with six for UofL. 

A definite glimpse Sunday into what the Cards need to work on...both offensively and defensively again a team that showed their worthiness of the #3 in the nation ranking. 


HOW DID FRED DO? 

Freddy Krueger..for that nightmarish
effort yesterday. 

-- Free Throws-- Louisville went 7-10 from the stripe and that's our dividing line for good vs. bad. Only three Cards attempted them...Moore going 6-8, B.J. 0-1 and Jessica Laemmle 1-2. On the other side, it was a free shot buffet for the Hens...going 24-31 (77.4%). Having "Silly Joe" as one of the refs is never a good thing for the Cards...but foul calls and free throws didn't lose this game for the Cards. Louisville hit 70% and that's good for a small case "f". 

-- Rebounding -- Coach Walz has been saying since the start of the year that the Cards need to improve here and it definitely showed agains the taller and much more physical South Carolina squad. They out-maneuvered and out-hustled UofL all day on the glass and ended up with a 46-29 advantage over the Cards. No letter awarded here. 

-- Effort/Execution -- Louisville had 17 turnovers (14 in the first half), so USC won that battle with 13. The Cards were outscored 14-2 on fast-break points, 20-5 on second chance points and 40-24 in the paint. We cannot award a letter.

-- Defense -- When you lose by 24 points and allow 83..it's pretty obvious your defense...as well as your offense...wasn't having a very good night. Coates and Wilson had no trouble scoring inside and Gray and Davis were connecting on wide-open threes pretty much whenever they felt like it. No letter. 

FINAL ANALYSIS: 

f-_-_-_


WHAT WE LIKED

Not much to like about this one, except that Louisville hung in there for most of the first half without Myisha Hines-Allen.

That 16 minute effort was just a teaser. Durr and Mariya were frantically working to keep the patient alive...but once the SC guards got firing, it was too much to stop and it was over.

Cortnee Walton did return to the floor. We're happy she's able to play but she was mostly ineffective in her 14 minutes out there...adding two points and three grabs. She'll get better, just one of those things on a day where not much worked well. 

Mariya stepped up with some nice baskets trying to keep the Cards in it...but, if it's OK with you... we'll just pretend that the final 27 minutes of the game didn't happen...because we certainly didn't like them and there was no joy or excitement of UofL women's sports present in them. 


THINGS TO WORK ON

These will be "Captain Obvious" items...so we'll just list them and leave it at that. You can add your own epitaphs to each listing.  

-- Defense
-- Rebounding
-- Turnovers
-- Fouls
-- Consistency
-- Game management


A tough thing to watch yesterday after the first half. The Cards will learn and improve from the surprising drubbing from South Carolina. They better. Maryland on Thursday and Kentucky on Sunday aren't going to be an easy next two at all...

paulie
xxxxx 


Dani Busboom Kelly New Volleyball Coach

Before the Men's Soccer game (a 3-1 victory over Notre Dame to advance to the quarterfinals of the
NCAA tournament), Tom Jurich, introduced the next head coach of the UofL Volleyball squad.

Dani Busboom Kelly is not a stranger to Louisville Volleyball having been an assistant coach to Anne Kordes in Kordes' first year here at UofL, before returning home to her native Nebraska for the past five years to be an assistant coach to John Cook.  Nebraska has been a perennial powerhouse in the volleyball world and sets the bar high for success.  Dani is considered one of the top recruiters in the nation.  Prior to her experience as an assistant coach at Louisville, she was an assistant at Tennessee from 2009-2011.

Dani's played volleyball at Nebraska with experience at both the setter and libero positions.  She also had the opportunity to play for the US Women's National Training Team (where she played with Sarah Drury Petkovic) and has coached the USA A2 Select team.

Dani's husband is Lane Kelly, who is a former football player for Nebraska.

After the press conference concluded, I had a brief moment to greet Lane, and welcome him back to Louisville.  I expect the Kelly's to settle back into the UofL athletic world with ease.  The press conference was held at Lynn Stadium before the soccer match and Lane's question to me was to ask who UofL was playing in the soccer game.

Dani is a great coach, and a phenomenal recruiter.  The UofL program is in good hands.

-- JMcA