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

Cards open WBB season vs UCLA in Paris -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 2024-25 WBB SEASON STARTS TODAY FOR WBB

Believe it or not, the start of women's college basketball season is upon us. The Louisville Cardinals squad will start it up in Paris,France..of all places...against a UCLA Bruins squad  that has been selected either #5 or #6 in preseason polls, depending on which source you want to believe. Louisville checks in at #17, in jeff Walz's 18th season as the Cards head skipper. 

Alice Cooper, who we seriously doubt will be there af or the contest

I guess the old Alice Cooper classic. "I'm Eighteen" won't be played in the pre-game warm ups by the pep bands for Jeff Walz. Let's just hope they don't decide to break into another Cooper classic "Welcome to My Nightmare..." And, I wonder if any of the four schools sent a pep band over for the event?  

Game time is 2:30 pm and ESPN2 will have the broadcast. We have no firm grip or insight on who Coach Walz will trot out to start this opener...but I'll venture a guess and say Olivia Cochran, Nyla Harris, Merissah Russell, Elif Istanbulluoglu and Jayda Curry.

Lauren Bettts

UCLA looks to be a powerhouse on paper.  They return 6'7" center Lauren Betts, Kiki Rice, Charlisse Leger-Walker, Charisma Osbourne and Angela Dugalic. Transfer Janiah Barker will add depth to the Bruins and head coach Cori Close enters after their 27-win season last year.  

One of the big questions for this opener is how heavy a role will the eight freshman and transfer Ja'Leah Willams play for the Cards. A lot of it could depend on how close this contest is and how the refs call the contest. Or maybe Walz wants to see how different combinations look against a challenging, top #5 foe. No one knows for sure how he'll approach this one, except him and maybe his associate and assistant coaches. And, they may not even know..

Ja'Leah Williams

The contest will be the first ever between UCLA and UofL WBB. The contest is the opener in the Aflac Qui Play event, USC and Ole Miss will do battle after the Cards and Bruins. 

We'll recap the contest in the Tuesday Cardinal Couple. 

paulie

Curry named to Drysdale Watch List -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE.

 CURRY ONE OF 20 GUARD ON PRESEASON SHOOTING GUARD LIST. 

Senior Cards shooting guard Jayda Curry can fill up a basket, we saw that several times last season, and now...less than a week away from the Cards opening game in Paris vs. UCLA...Curry has been named to the Anne Meyers Drysdale award list...the list of the best shooting guards in women's college basketball. 

Jayda is one of four ACC guards on the list. Ta'niya Latson (FSU), Sanya Rivers (NCST) and Sonia Citron (Notre Dame) are also part of the twenty players named, as well as former Cardinals guard Hailey Van Lith (TCU), Azzi Fudd (UConn), Jewel Spear (Tennessee) and Sarah Andrews (Baylor).

Curry sank 45 - 3 pointers in her first season at Lousiville, and averaged 9.2 points per game in a mostly reserve role for the Cards. One would expect she'd be a contender for a starting role this season...along with Merissah Russell, Nyla Harris, Olivia Cochran, Ja'Leah Williams and Elif Istanbulluoglu. 

Curry began her career at Cal, where she was naamed the Pac 12 Freshman of the Year and also to the All- PAC 12 conference squad.  she averaed 18,.6 points her freshman year. As a sophomore, she started every game for the Golden Bears and averaged 15.5 points a contest. She sank 59 three-pointers and made at least one three in every game for California. 

As a junior at UofL she was a highly valued reserve guard, behind Sydney Taylor and Nina Rickards.  

Lauren Betts

The Cards begin the 2024-25 season against UCLA,. The Bruins, of course, have 6'7" junior center Lauren Betts returning , who Curry faced when Betts was at Stanford and UCLA. The Bruins are now a part of the Big 10, after the demise of the Pac 12.  Btts will be a tough one to stop, Most in the now are pointing to her as a probable All-American and maybe the best center in the Big 10. 

We'll have more on the Cards WBB  opener as we get closer to the Monday, Nov 4th contest between the Cards and Bruins in Paris, France. 

paulie