WBB -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Hello Readers!  Daryl checking in this Thursday AM.

With Jared out at Yum! Center last night, I wanted take the opportunity to recap the Cards WBB squad.  It's crazy to think we are 3 games into the 2021-22 season.   Coach Walz loaded the schedule with non-conference challenges that will no doubt help shape the squad for the post-season deep run demands.  

WBB vs UT Martin

I will be honest, I thought this game would be a little more competitive for the Cards than Tuesday night's throttle vs Bellarmine.  But the Skyhawks score got caught on that 5 pt mark for what seemed like forever and I knew we would see some bench minutes early. 

End of 1Q 18-5 Cards

FG %
7-16 43.8% Cards
2-10 20% UT Martin
Reb. 11-6 Cards
3-pt %
4-5 80% Cards
1-5 20% UT Martin

Emily Engstler shines for a second straight night!  The senior went 5-6 for 13 points in the first quarter.  She even left with a couple minutes left on the clock.  The first substitution for the evening was Liz Dixon for Olivia Cochran with 4:34 on the clock, giving O the breather and Liz the opportunity to be a quality rotator for starting five.  A minute or so after entering, Dixon made her presence known recording a block and 2 rebounds for the Cards. The next exits for UofL starters was Kianna Smith, Emily, Chelsie Hall out and Mykasa Robinson, Payton Verhulst, Norika Konno in with 1:37 left and the Cards up 18-5.

End of 2Q 14-6 Cards

FG %
5-14 46.7% Cards
3-11 27.3% UT Martin
Reb. 11-6 Cards
3-pt %
1-3 33.3% Cards
0-3 0% UT Martin

HALF 32-11 Cards

Engstler would not come back into the game until there was 5:34 left in the half.  Hailey Van Lith exited for Ahlana Smith to see the floor and Coach Walz reached even deeper into the bench when he put Merissah Russell in for Liz Dixon with 8:22 on the clock. 

The starters rotated back in with five and a half left until halftime.  The Cards put 9 more points, 5 of them from Engstler, on UT Martin to make it 32-11 at the break.   As a team, UofL made 63% from 3-pt land (5-8) in the first half , Emily leading the charge, going 4-4 from deep. 

End of 3Q 16-11 Cards

FG %
6-10 60% Cards
3-9 33.3% UT Martin
Reb. 5-6 UT Martin 
3-pt %
1-2 50% Cards
1-5 20% UT Martin

Kianna Smith welcomed the audience back to the match when she buried a 3-pt 12 seconds into the second half, assisted by HVL.  Cochran got the block on UT Martin before laying it up on the following offensive possession.  The Cards would not score another basket for almost 3 minutes.  One more layup from Olivia before the Cards went on another scoring drought for almost 4 minutes to close out the quarter.

End of 4Q 14-8 Cards

FG %
5-12 41.7% Cards
3-10 30% UT Martin
Reb. 9-6 Cards
3-pt %
1-3 33.3% Cards
0-3 0% UT Martin

HAPPY  BIRTHDAY AHLANA SMITH !!

With the Cards holding a commanding lead, Coach Walz let the bench run the floor for the majority of the quarter.  Mykasa Robinson had 4 points on 1-2 shooting, making her 2 free throws, 3 rebounds and an assist in her 16 minutes in the game.  She did pick up all 3 fouls in 4th quarter, though.. I'm sure she just let the technique get a little lax.  Another bright spot was Ramani Parker's 6 points in 5 minutes! 

FINAL 62-30

A quiet night for the starting back court, Chelsie Hall went 0-4 on the night. She did have 6 rebounds and 3 assists in her 19 minutes on the floor... Hailey Van Lith as she went 1-4 for 2 points, missed both free throws, 1 rebound, 3 assists and a turnover.  HVL saw 26 minutes in this game.

(PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON) 

(The Cards danced by UTM like the legendary Fred Astaire) 

FRED REPORT  

F-Free Throws The Cards went 9-12 (75%) at the free throw line.  They also committed 16 fouls of their own to send the Skyhawks to the line for only 8 free throw attempts total.  The visitors went 6-8 on the night.   HVL missing her two free throws was rather disappointing.  I give the squad a lowercase "f"

R-Rebounding The game's leading rebounder was Holly Forbes for the Skyhawks with 9.  The Card's outrebounded 36-24 overall, but I would think the team with the taller players should dominate this stat line.  lowercase "r"

E-Effort/Efficiency The team didn't seem to have any tired legs after playing the previous evening.  In fact, I think they could've gone for another quarter or two and been able to get the back court out of their shooting slump.  While they were cold, the energy from the two did not seem to rub off on the rest of the squad.  HVL and Hall combined for 6 assists and 7 rebounds and as a team, the Cards had 17 assists on 23 made buckets. CAPITAL "E"

D- Defense It was a not so great welcome back to the Yum! for the now UT Martin guard, former Card, Seygan Robins who managed just 4 points on 2-7 shooting, 0-3 from 3 point range.  As a team the Skyhawks shot 27.5% from the field and making only 2 of their 16 3-point attempts.   The Cards held their opponents to 'football scores' in back to back nights.  They forced 18 turnovers, scoring 23 off of them.  CAPITAL "D"


FINAL Fred Report: f-r-E-D

THEY SAID IT: 

Post Game Walz

POST GAME EMILY ENGSTLER

UP NEXT:

Saturday @ Washington - 5 p.m.

Have a great end to the week.  7 days until Thanksgiving!! 

Daryl

WBB Downs Bellarmine 82-25 -- UTM vs. Cards tonight -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

LOUISVILLE WBB ROLLS PAST KNIGHTS BY 57

It was a fun, feel-good evening in the KFC YUM Center Tuesday night, as the Louisville Cardinals rolled by Bellarmine University in the Cards regular season home opener in front of a crowd of 7014. 

Walz played all 13 on the roster at least five minutes and 12 scored in the romp. Louisville had four in double figures, getting a 12 point, 14 rebound night out of senior transfer Emily Engstler. Emily did her all her scoring in the first half, and had 10 rebounds at the break. 

The Cards jumped out to an early 20-7 lead in the first quarter and were getting it done offensively and defensively against the Knights. Walz had already gone ten deep in the roster on the court in the first ten minutes against the overmatched Knights The Cards shot 50% in the first ten minutes (12-24) while holding Bellarmine to 3-10 shooting. UofL held a comfortable 28-10 lead after the first quarter, and held an 18-2 points-in-the-paint edge. 

The Cards used their quickness to build that lead in the second quarter and Bellarmine's shooting woes continued. Engstler, Chelsie Hall and Norika Konno kept the defensive pressure on Bellarmine's guards and the Cards turned in a sparkling 20-4 second quarter effort to coast into halftime up 48-14. It was rebound missed shots or deflect BU passes, run and score in the paint for UofL. The Knights had committed 16 turnovers and head coach Chancellor Dugan had gone deep into her bench by halftime,  getting her reserves some valuable, on-court playing time and learning experience against a top 10 foe. 

The third quarter saw a continuance of UofL defensive pressure and working the offense. A slow start to the third, the squads combined for just six points in the first 5:24 of the third, but UofL held a 64-18 lead by the end of the quarter. A 16-4 quarter advantage for UofL and the only real question left was how many minutes reserves Payton Verhulst, Sydni Schetnan, Ramani Parker, Merissah Russell and Ahlana Smith would see in the final ten minutes. The starters were done for the night and had done their work. 

(Hailey Van Lith made an impromptu visit to see me last night...) 

The Cards held a reserve Bellarmine squad to just seven fourth quarter points and Ahlana Smith wowed the crowd with her skills on offense, getting eight of her10 points in the final eight minutes. Walz had Kasa Robinson (who came in for Norika Konno), Schetnan, Verhulst, Parker and Russell on the floor for the final two minutes and a Parker basket in the paint closed out the 82-25 final score.

(We feature Fred Flintstone as today's Fred. Yabba Dabba Cards ! )

THE FRED REPORT 

Free Throws -- The_ Cards only went to the line seven times in a lightly-whistled contest and Verhulst went 3-4 in her attempts. She was the only Card to make a free throw. 3-7 is 42.9% and may be the only thing one could point out as a Cards defect in the contest. No letter. 

Rebounds -- A  huge 54-24 edge for Louisville, that featured a 32-14 defensive edge. Engstler's 14 led the way, everyone who played for Louisville had at least one and Robinson showed again that she likes to go to the boards with six. She's 5'7", folks -- providing that positioning and hustle is a major key in coming up with missed shots. I award the CAPITAL "R" FOR REBOUNDING. 

Effort/Execution -- A 21 assist but 20 turnover night for the Cards, Louisville did come up with 15 steals, though, and totally dominated the fast break points (20-0), 2nd chance points (24-2) and points in the paint (52-10). Nothing but defense and run on the fast break for the Cards... I'LL GO WITH A CAPITAL "E" HERE. 

Defense -- Bellarmine shot just 7-47 for the night (14,9%) and committed 29 turnovers. Engstler had three of the Cards five blocked shots and four of the Cards 15 steals. The effort defensively was there, the Knights just made two baskets in the final 20 minutes. LET'S CLOSE IT OUT WITH A CAPITAL "D" FOR THE DEFENSIVE EFFORT. 

FINAL FRED TALLY:  _-R-E-D

(Hailey and I pleased to be one of Jared's photos !) 

Louisville was, no doubt, still hurting a bit from the Arizona loss, and Bellarmine was unfortunate enough to be "next up" for the Cards. I do believe this BU squad has some high points, and talented personnel. Guards Claire Knies, Kathleen Scott and forward Lauren Deel will prove to be a handful for the rest of the opponents on the BU schedule.

They just ran into a Cardinals squad that wanted to perform well after the Arizona loss. 

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

(YORKIE SIGHTING !)

Jess Laemmle was on the ACCNX broadcast and, from all accounts I've heard, did a great job. I enjoyed catching up with her before the game. If anyone knows Walz or Cardinals women's basketball, it would be Jess. 

THEY SAID IT: 

POST GAME JEFF WALZ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkji7A81oEU

POST GAME: EMILY ENGSTLER/KIANNA SMITH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz4kAw12enM 

(My media placard from my last trip to Martin...) 

NEXT: 

The Cards return to the court tonight to face UT-Martin in the KFC YUM! CENTER. The Skyhawks are 2-1 on the season, falling to Kansas State 44-30 and defeating North Carolina A&T 58-40 and WKU 63-57. 

All their results come from the WNIT Preseason Classic, held at Kansas State in Manhattan KS. Ex-Card Seygan Robins is still on the UTM roster and the Skyhawks are led in scoring by Holly Forbes (14.0 ppg) and Hayley Harrison (10.0 ppg).  

(PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON TODAY) 

Have a Wonderful Wednesday !

paulie

Cards soar over Skyhawks 96-61 -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 DANA EVANS CAREER DAY LEADS LOUISVILLE TO 96-61 WIN

Dana Evans had a career high 29 points and her #2 ranked Louisville Cardinals easily handled the rematch against visiting UT Martin SkyHawks Tuesday afternoon 96-61 in the KFC YUM! Center. Evans nailed her first two three-point attempts in the contest and had 11 points in the first 5:40 of the first quarter to propel the Cards to an early 15-9 lead. 

Louisville cruised out to an early 21-13 first quarter lead and the Cards showed no signs of slowing down in the next ten minutes. And, Evans remained hot. In a 28-11 Cardinal edge in the second quarter, Evans added 11 more points and UofL WBB went into the locker room comfortably ahead 49-24. Or, you could look at it as Evans 22 - UTM 22. She took nine first half shots. Eight went in. She took five three pointers. All of those went in. Add three assists and two steals to her performance and you had a very decent game for anyone for 40 minutes.   In basketball, finding the "hot" hand and feeding the hot hand is paramount to success. And, when her teammates "found" her...Dana delivered. 

The Cards were also getting it done defensively, allowing just 30.4% shooting for the visitors from Martin, TN. Louisville had shut down leading scorer Chelsey Perry to just two points on 1-5 shooting and former Card Seygan Robins still hadn't put one through the hoop after 20 minutes,  The Louisville transition game was running on all eight cylinders, the Cards were dominating in the paint (a 22-6 scoring edge) and UTM already had 11 turnovers, which led to 14 Cardinal points. 

And, it wasn't a case of Walz just using his starting five to inflict the damage. 10 Cardinals in all saw action in the first 20 minutes and nine of them saw at least five minutes of court time. 

One wondered if Louisville's intensity might drop off a bit in the second half, but it did not. The Cards put together a 29-19 third quarter performance to hold a 78-43 lead with 10 minutes remaining. Kianna Smith and Hailey Van Lith picked up the scoring attack and the Cards shot 61% in the third session and made five of their seven three point attempts. 

The newly activated Malea Williams decided to thrill the fans in the final quarter. She scored Louisville's final seven points of the game, grabbed three rebounds and blocked a shot in her six minutes of court time. Louisville maintained the 35-point advantage and picked up their eighth win of the season in front of an announced 2754 fans in attendance. 

It was a nice win, thanks to UTM for agreeing to the game and keep 'em coming, Cards.

THE FRED REPORT

It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood
for UofL WBB yesterday. 

FREE THROWS -- A good day from the charity stripe for seven Cards who attempted them. 17 for 19 is 89% and very acceptable by our standards. Evans, Van Lith, Cochran, Williams and Dixon were perfect in their combined 15 attempts. NO HESITATION IN AWARING A CAPITAL "F" HERE. 

REBOUNDING -- A 39-28 advanatage for the Cards in grabs. No one had more than six (Cochran). What is most impressive is that the Cards had 12 offensive rebounds compared to just five for UTM. Liz Dixon and Norika Konno had three offensive rebounds each. WE'LL AWARD A CAPITAL "R" FOR THE BOARDS SUPERIORITY. 

EFFORT/EXECUTION -- Louisville shot 49.3 % for the afternoon (33-67) and a much improved 13-26 (50%) from beyond the arc. Besides Evans 6 for 7 accuracy, Kianna Smith was on target as well, making three of her four threes. The Cards had just nine turnovers and any time you can keep that stat under double digits, a tip-of-the-hat is in order. A CAPITAL "E" FOR THE ACCURACY AND PRECISION. 

DEFENSE -- Allowing 61 points was a bit better than the 67 allowed the first time the two squads met. Louisville had 10 steals, forced 18 turnovers and held UTM leading scorer Perry in check for three quarters with just 11 points for her.  A team effort that WILL EARN THEM A CAPITAL "D". 

FINAL FRED TALLY:   F-R-E-D

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

NEXT ? 

It was announced during Jeff Walz's post-game presser that the Cards would be travelling to Blacksburg, VA to face Kenny Brooks' 6-2 Virginia Tech squad for a Thursday 8 p.m. contest. Louisville was originally scheduled to host the Hokies on Jan. 28th., but in this card-shuffling, free-for-all scheduling circus that COVID has brought about, the Cards pick up a game against a VT squad that has lost their last two (at Notre Dame and hosting FSU). We'll always take a "game-added" instead of a game cancelled. 

We also got news of two games being re-scheduled, Miami and FSU. Those two will visit the KFC YUM! Center (let's hope...)

We'll take it. It's games, it's good opponent and it's a conference foes -- When the Cards face VT tomorrow, it'll be only the second ACC member Louisville has played this season. 

Jared will prep you for it tomorrow. Have a wonderful Wednesday! 

paulie

Cards Prepare for UT Martin Round 2 -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Louisville Set to Host UT Martin Again

Didn't get enough of Seygan Robins in Louisville's first go around with UT Martin this year? Well, you get to see the Mercer County grad and former Cardinal again today at 2:30 p.m.

In the first game against the SkyHawks back on Dec. 6, the Cards won soundly 85-67. Dana Evans scored 26 points in the game to lead the charge. The game started close before Louisville used an 18-3 run in the final few minutes before halftime to hold a lead they would not relinquish.

UT Martin now holds a 2-2 record on the year but has yet to play at home. They are currently 1-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference. 

Senior Chelsey Perry has been a leader for the SkyHawks this year. She is averaging 27.0 points and 8.0 rebounds. The 27.0 points per game ranks third nationally. The Middleton, TN. native has shot an impressive 53% from the floor. She posted a 26 point, four rebound mark in the first game against Louisville.

Robins scored six points while adding four assists and a rebounds against her former team in December. She is averaging 8.0 ppg and 4.5 assists per game right now, but has had some trouble with turnovers. The Coach Walz influence has left a mark as she is a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line.

Louisville holds a perfect 10-0 mark all-time against UT Martin, with all games coming under Jeff Walz's tenure. The Cards are averaging a 25.6 point margin of victory in those 10 games, but only won by 18 in December and had to go to overtime to steal a win on the road last season.

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

CARDS WBB STILL #2 IN NATION

The Cards remained #2 in the latest AP Poll and hope to continue to show why they have earned that ranking today. Stanford still holds the top spot. UConn is the #3 team and Cards conference rival NC State checks in at #4. The top four are all undefeated. One-loss South Carolina rounds out the top five. 

Rounding out the top ten are Baylor, Arizona, Texas A&M, UCLA and Kentucky. ACC schools in the top 25 besides the Cards and Wolfpack are #24 Syracuse. In the "also receiving votes" category is North Carolina. 

By conference in the Top 25, The SEC and Big 10 have five schools, the Pac 12 four, and the ACC and Big 12 three programs. The Big East has two teams and the AAC, WCC and MVC one school each. 

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

Today's game is an early 2:30 p.m. tipoff. A lot of fans have scratched their heads at the early game time on a weekday, but the fact this game will be aired on ACC Network is the most logical answer.

That segways me into stating that duty calls and I will be counting money instead of taking pictures (😔) but I'll gladly make my coworkers watch it on TV with me.  Paulie will be present for the game and he will break it all down for us in tomorrow's write-up.  You can follow his live Tweets at @cardinalcouple

Of course, if watching on TV isn't accessible for you at that2:30 p.m. time, I highly recommend turning on 790AM WKRD Cards Radio to listen to Nick Curran and AJ call this game. Their color commentary and highly in-depth, in-game analysis can't be beat.

Following tomorrow's game, the Cards have a few days rest before staying downtown to host Clemson on Sunday. Game time has been announced for noon so tell your preachers to keep the sermons short and pray for a win. This one will also be aired on ACC Network.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared 

Robins to UT Martin -- Cheerleading Debate -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Seygan Robins to UT Martin

Seygan (left) with Kasa Robinson

Seygan Robins announced yesterday that she will continue her student-athlete/basketball pursuits at UT Martin.  Robins will have three years of eligibility remaining with the defending Ohio Valley Conference champions.

Robins hails from Harrodsburg, KY., and was 2018 Miss Kentucky Basketball.  She was also a two-time state champion at Mercer County.

"We are so excited to have Seygan join our women's basketball program," said UT Martin head coach Kevin McMillan.  "Seygan's versatility could put her in a lot of places that can help us.  The thing I like most about her is that she is a tough, hard-nosed winner after playing for Jeff Walz, Chris Souder and David Tapley.  She is a great kid and a perfect fit to the culture of our program."

Louisville and UT Martin have played every year for the last six years with the Cards winning all of the meetings.  It is likely that the two will face each other next season.

Emma Davis

Robins played in 26 games as a Cardinal in 2018-19. She matched her career high in 2018 against UT Martin with sic points. The 2019-20 season was a rough one for her. She injured an ankle and went in for surgery after just playing in two games. She successfully applied for red-shirt status.

At UT Martin, she'll join her former Mercer County H.S. teammate Emma Davis. . Davis, a 5'10" guard, will be a junior for the 2020-21 season. Emma has  played in 54 games as a SkyHawk and started two. She has 104 career points.

Everyone at Cardinal Couple wishes Seygan Robins the best in her time at UT Martin and we look forward to seeing the impact she makes in her time there
.

Cheerleading Debate

Yesterday went from the wild news of the firing of Kentucky's four cheer coaches following a three-month investigation to a highly controversial article posted by a local news station.

If you're waiting to see what I have to say about what happened at UK keep on scrolling.  I am not here to bash another college athletics program.

For those who did not read the article, it went from discussing the investigation and what led to the firing of the coaches to accusing cheerleading (and dancing) student-athletes as being nothing but a distraction and a sexual objectification at games with words like "underdressed", "overexposed", and "titillating" used.  The article was met with plenty of disagreements, including myself as I voiced my opinion.

By the time the sun set the article was heavily revised from its original version, with the sexist remarks removed altogether.

As someone who photographs cheer and dance and has gotten to know many of the members over the years I can vouch that cheer and dance activities are much more than supposedly being targeted at slutty clothing and sexual objectification.

The student-athletes put forth ample hours of practice and gym time as they stay in shape and perfect their routine.  Like other sports, they compete for a national championship either through UCA/UDA or NCA/NDA.

Note: UofL competes through NCA/NDA while UK competes in UCA/UDA, so the two never directly compete against each other.

The stunts they pull off are impressive and something a majority of us could not do even if we tried.  From the easier skills such as tumbling to the more difficult routines that involve multiple members and some of them going airborne, each move requires precision to execute it to perfection, just like other sports.

Outfits have often been controversial with many people claiming the outfits being too revealing.  However, the outfits are designed for both comfort and flexibility.  The same as volleyball players wearing spandex, tennis players wearing skirts, or swimmers wearing form-fitting clothing, outfits are designed for more than just visual pleasure.

A longtime cheerleader shared her thoughts in a response to the local reporter in an article posted by Kentucky Sports Radio.  I shared it on my Facebook and Twitter (@mrandersonjared) if you want to read her response.

If you got a chance to read the original article where many accusations were thrown around, we would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.

As we continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic but also slowly start to reopen things make sure to take precautions and also use common sense.  Please stay safe.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

WBB Cards departin' Martin with 71-63 double overtime win -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

10-0 FINAL RUN PULLS CARDS TO WIN

10-0 runs. They can be either a bonus or breaker for a team. Louisville women's basketball experienced two of them last night in a wild 71-63 win in from of 1156 fans last night in Martin, TN. in double overtime.

The first 10-0 run came at the start of the contest. Louisville failed to score in the first three minutes of the game and created a deep hole that the Cards eventually dug their way out of by managing the last 10-0 of the contest to get the win.

A win that was ugly, frustrating and inexplicable at times. Nevertheless, a win and one that pushed the Cards to 11-1 on the season. A win that looked like it might be a colossal upset for 47 minutes of the battle between the SkyHawks and the Cards. 

Louisville never led until late in the fourth quarter, when Kylee Shook scored inside to put UofL up 49-47. UT Martin would counter with two free throws, though, to force the first of two extra sessions. 

Jaz Jones found an opportune time to score seven of her nine points in the first, extra five minute session. A session the Cards led 58-56 with five seconds remaining, but managed to foul a shooter (Kyannah Grant) that had missed her last three attempts. Naturally, she sank both of these attempts to force the second overtime.


Dana Evans gave the Cards a lead they would not relinquish with 1:33 left in the final overtime when her jumper connected to make it 65-63 Cards. Louisville got a Yacine Diop jumper and four Evans free throws in the final 53 seconds to finally pull away for what has to be the ugliest win of the season for Jeff Walz's squad.

If you could shoot your foot in this one, Louisville managed to find a way to do it. The Cards had 22 turnovers and UTM found a way to score 25 points off them. 

Sophomore Damiah Griffin, who I managed to pretty much ignore in yesterday's scout of the SkyHawks, blistered the Cards for 25 points on 8 for 13 shooting. She knew what she was doing out there in terms of attack and battling the sometimes slow-to-react Cards defense. 

If there was one main factor that prevented UTM from getting the upset, it came from the free throw line. They went 15-28 from the charity stripe (53.6%) and that was probably a main topic of conversation in the SkyHawks locker room after the game. 

We'll look for a few sunny and bright, rainbow type-of-things now that the storm has past in this scary one and the first one has to be the off-the-bench play of Diop. in 28 minutes she scored 15 points, her second big effort in a row. Dana also gets a warm ray of sunshine her way, with a team high 22 points. Those two combined for five points to save the Cards chances in the fourth quarter. Down 47-42 with under three minutes to play, Evans nails a three and finds Diop for a jumper to tie it at 47-47 at the 2:47 mark. 

Louisville played to the level of their foe last night, a foe that does extremely well on the Pat Summit Court in the Elam Center. They were 4-0 this season coming into Thursday night's game. Jeff Walz and the Cards probably didn't help make UTM's home any more of a desirable spot for non-conference opponents to visit after last night either. 

Doesn't start but brings it when she gets in. Ace in the hole Diop

The Cards did find a way to scramble back after the inglorious start.  A Diop jumper drew UofL to within four at 14-10 with 1:59 remaining in the first quarter. They trailed 16-12 after one.

The second quarter wasn't pretty at all, unless you were a UTM fan. A 13-6 run by the SkyHawks put them up by eight at 29-21 with three minutes until halftime. By them, Louisville already had 10 turnovers. Fortunately, a 5-1 run, spurred by Shook and Dunham closed it to 29-26 before UTM got the final bucket of the half. 

UofL climbed within one of the lead with 4:11 left in the third on two Evans made free throws and at 37-36 after Jones only bucket in regulation with 2:12 remaining in the third quarter.

Jeff Walz spoke in terms of what he could depend on each night during the post-game words and, right now, it is solely Dana Evans. She played all 50 minutes of the contest. She was 10-10 from the free throw line. She handed out eight assists. Cardinal teams over the last couple of years have had multiple players who could be counted on each game. Hines-Allen, Carter, Fuehring and Durr. This year, Evans is the only one walking away from the carnival balloon toss each time with a prize. 

Give the Cards credit for managing to ride a tired horse that was shortening stride and hugging the rail to the wire for what was eventually a pull-away win. 

Call it "dreams of home" before getting there, as UofL now goes on a 10-day Christmas break before returning home to face dangerous Syracuse on Dec 29th. Call it a comedy of errors and missed shots but still finding a way to throw one huge and final knockout punch. Or, call it a come-from-behind win. I'm not going to call it much of anything. I'm just glad they survived the bumpy flight and turbulence. 


When you wear the target on your back, you can expect to be shot at. Either you avoid the incoming shots and return the fire or take the bullets and fall down. Louisville survived an all-out attack from a talented mid-major last night but looked like they were going to lose the gunfight for 47 minutes of a 50 minute showdown. 

I watched this one, alone... on the laptop, in a hotel room after a sad funeral earlier in the day for a beloved relative. For quite some time last night, it seemed I was attending another dirge for a befallen. Whether the Cards will take advantage of their "rising from the dead" last night as they now march toward the second half of the season remains to be seen.   


THEY SAID IT

Post game comments from Walz and UTM head coach are available at the link below: 

http://thecrunchzone.com/video-post-wbb-utmartin-20191219/

(The link leads you to another site. Credit to TCZ's Tom Farmer for the footage. We're all about promoting the joy and excitement of UofL women's sports and applaud all efforts to join us in that mission.)



THE FRED REPORT

"What's the matter, Fred?"
"I just watched the Cards play UTM on-line"

FREE THROWS -- Louisville continues to impress from the link and went 18-20 last night. We mentioned Dana knocking down all ten of hers, but Diop went 4-4 and we continue to like what we see out of Ya-Ya. I can easily award a capital "F" for foul line excellence. 

REBOUNDS -- Louisville held sway here 49-42 and should have, holding a huge height advantage. Kylee's 11 grabs, part of her double-double (15 points) were fine but just one of her collections of misses were on the offensive glass. An OK job overall, but not deserving of a capital letter, I go with the small-case "r"

EFFORT/EFFICIENCY/EXECUTION -- For what lack of it there was, Louisville did manage to win the fast break points 26-2. This hardly looked like a #6 in the nation squad, though, and there were way too few second chance points (4) and way too many fouls on made UTM baskets, creating the "and 1" scenario more than anyone except UTM fans wanted to see. No letter here for a lackluster effort. 22 turnovers and 15 UTM steals speak volumes.

DEFENSE -- UTM shot just 36.5% for the game but, perhaps the Cards best defense came from Kylee Shook, with six blocks, and Yacine Diop, who had three steals. The defense finally rose late, holding UTM scoreless in the final two minutes of the second overtime. It wasn't pretty for the most part, though, and I withhold any letter award. 

FINAL FRED TALLY:  F-r-_-_


SO...

A "W" that Louisville eventually got, maybe because UTM was too tired to make much of an impact in the final three minutes. Maybe the Cards worst performance in a win of the season. Consistency, hustle, and playing smart took a step back Thursday night on the road. 

Sometimes. you just have to look at something for what it is and "let it go".  This wasn't pretty. effective or something to gain from and grow on, unless the coaches use it as a teaching tool on how not to play DI WBB Hoops... but it was a win. Time to move on. 

If you're looking for a positive aspect, rejoice that Kylee set a new record at UofL for career blocked shots. Anytime you can pass Angel McCoughtry in a stat, that's a huge accomplishment. 

Better things await down the road. 

For those who inquired, Norika Konno did not play because she wasn't there, heading back to Japan a couple of days earlier that the rest of the squad's departure for Christmas break. What impact she might have had, we'll never know, but one thing is quite obvious.

You earn what you receive.

Louisville finally put in the work, albeit late, to get the win. It was, in a sense, earned...but game play like this against the ACC opponents ahead are going to earn the Cards more than a few "L's" down on the remainder of the schedule. 

Hopefully, the time off will give the student-athletes of the WBB hoops team a chance to reflect and recommit while they refresh and renew. There's a lot to evaluate. 


paulie
xxxxx 

Cards Move Up in Rankings -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Move Up to #6 in Rankings

There wasn't much room to move up but Louisville women's basketball did climb a spot up to #6 in the AP Rankings.  A win on the road at #14 Kentucky was sure to help contribute to the move.

Baylor was the team to drop down some.  Kim Mulkey's squad lost to South Carolina to close out November before destroying Georgia on Dec. 4.  A two-week break from playing games doesn't help in terms of staying highly ranked.

Stanford, UConn, Oregon, Oregon State, and South Carolina remained the same in the Top 5.  Florida State, NC State, and UCLA round of the Top 10.  In fact, South Dakota moving from un-ranked to 25th was the only other change in the rankings.

The Cards are 2-0 against the rest of the Top 25 with wins against Oregon and Kentucky.  They have two more games against current ranked teams.  Florida State comes to town Feb. 6, and the Cards travel to NC State on Feb. 13.

Four players have broken 100 points on the year: Dana Evans (209), Jazmine Jones (146), Kylee
Shook (107), and Elizabeth Balogun (103).  The Cards have outscored opponents 840-645.

No one has broken 100 rebounds but five players are north of 50: Shook (95), Bionca Dunham (70), Jones (53), Balogun (53), and Elizabeth Dixon (22).  Louisville has out-rebounded opponents 469-336.

Other marks at this point include Louisville dominating assists against opponents 176-11, out-blocking opponents 52-25, and UofL has less turnovers by a 185-166 margin.

Louisville will travel to UT Martin on Thursday before taking a 10-day break to allow players to celebrate Christmas and the holidays with their families.  Norika Konno will actually have a few extra days break.  Coach Walz is allowing her to miss Thursday's game to get an early jump on getting home halfway around the world to Japan.

We will not have anyone in person covering the game Thursday "live and in person" in Martin. Paulie had originally planned on going but a family matter came up, so he'll be heading in a different direction and he had cancel the trip.  He'll still breakdown the match-up in Thursday's article and recap the game Friday -- nonetheless.

I'll be in Chicago Thursday and Friday, so I'm taking the Wednesday write-up this week and Paulie will cover Thursday and Friday.

Seems like we're all traveling these days, copying Jeff's "Worldwide" adventures.

By the way, you have eight days before Christmas. Can you remember what the "true love" sent on that day in the song "12 Days of Christmas? Ha, ha, I bet your humming it right now, trying to remember.


(Note, Here are new lyrics to the song!  12 Kylee rebounds, 11 points in final quarter, 10 assists from Dana, nine fouls on UK,  eight UK miscues, seven lead changes, six is our ranking, five fabulous starters, four fouls on Jazzy, missed three from Howard, two horrible calls and a victory against UK !)

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Louisville Women's Basketball -- Cards roll past UT Martin 91-56 -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS PUT 5 IN DOUBLE FIGURES IN ROMP

( JARED ANDERSON BRINGS THE WEDNESDAY COLUMN FOR US) 

Another day, another win. 

The Louisville women had no trouble dismantling UT Martin in the KFC YUM! Center last night. Five players scored in double figures for the Cards, led by Myisha Hines-Allen's (DOOO-BLAY) 16 points. The irony, though, is that she did not record a double-double with just eight rebounds. 

This game wasn't supposed to be close and the Cards assured that by storming out to a 29-9 first quarter advantage. The Skyhawks could not handle Louisville's full-court pressure early and ended up committing 22 turnovers. Louisville head coach Jeff Walz called off the press after the first quarter. More importantly, the Cards managed 35 points off turnovers. You must make your opponents pay for mistakes and Walz's team did that. 

Cheerleaders help out with a stuck ball. Or is she dunking? 

We saw 10 Cardinals get playing time -- anywhere from 16-26 minutes -- in a balanced distribution of court time. One face missing from playing time was Retta Kakala. Walz discussed in his post-game presser the she was going through a few things and that the staff was working with her on them and that we would hear more in a week or so. Post-game speculation among the media centered around a possible transfer or a red-shirt but nothing has been confirmed. 

This was a good game to allow everyone ample playing time since it was a lesser opponent and with three more games in seven days coming up at the YUM! the distribution makes sense. It is also finals week at UofL so care is being taken to not drain the roster physically and mentally. 

After the conclusion of the first quarter the Cards worked on improvement of their half-court defense. That met with mixed results -- Louisville only outscored the SkyHawks by one but reserve Jess Laemmle, our favorite Attack Yorkie, directed the offense from the point for eight of those minutes with Hines-Allen, Kylee Shook, Arica Carter and Asia Durr primarily on the court with her. Walz implemented a few halftime adjustments and they worked well -- UofL outscored UTM by eight points in the third session and six points in the fourth period. 

I was impressed with the play of Sydney Zambrotta last night. Syd came into the program known as a three-point specialist, which she has done since day one of being on campus. The sophomore from New Babylon, NY has improved her defense drastically as well as worked diligently on ball control. She dropped 13 points last night -- including a team high three-pointers -- and had two steals and no turnovers. 

Arica Carter put on a nice show for the 6279 in attendance. She added 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and no turnovers. A nice stat line for the redshirt-junior starting point guard. The zero turnovers are impressive for 21 minutes of court-time. 


THE JARED REPORT

Paulie , Charlie  andAl have spotted something...is it Jared
inside the scoreboard? 

J - JUMP SHOTS. Louisville shot 52.3% from the floor and 33.3% from beyond the arc. The Cards were 40% or better each quarter. There were too many missed layups but it's hard not to be happy when you make over half your shots. A CAPITAL "J". 

A- ASSISTS. Dana Evans and Carter combined for 10 of the 21 assists last night. That is A LOT OF ASSISTS compared to UT-Martin's 10 for the night. The guards did a great job of finding the open players for some easy buckets. A CAPITAL "A"

R - REBOUNDS. UofL snagged 43 rebounds and 29 were on the defensive end. UTM finished with 34 rebounds and 19 were on the defensive side of Denny Crum Court. I like seeing the Cards 43 grabs but I don't like allowing an opponent 34 and 15 of them being offensive-generated. Better blocking-out is needed. I can only give a lower case "r" here. 

E - EFFORT. The overall team effort impressed me. With so many games in so few days plus dealing with academics it's easy to get distracted or half-hustle it against a mid-major. All 10 players that saw the court hustled and bustled their butts up and down the court (and off the court -- did you see Asia Durr hurdling over the scorer's table for a save of a loose ball?) All this with Walz changing things up with different looks and wholesale substitution patterns. The team adjusted well and I can issue A CAPITAL "E" here. 

D- DEFENSE. Holding an opponent to 56 works. Especially in a up-tempo game. Keeping them at 32.8% shooting is pretty good, too.  UTM managed just 9-14 free throw shooting as well (64.3%). Excellent pep-band prevent defense a factor there. Forcing 22 turnovers kept the bakery open until the game ended and the 35 points from them is quite impressive. THE CARDS EARNED THE CAPITAL "D" I'M AWARDING THEM. 

J-A-r-E-D.  Almost perfect. 

Next head coach of the Steelers? 

On a side note, Coach Walz was pleased with the free-throw shooting once again. 80% will effect such a response. Durr was a perfect 4-4. Walz did joke that they spend more time practicing free ones since they don't practice dunking. On the four misses from the charity stripe, there were no "3 is better than 2" conversions. Walz didn't mention that. He's also a big Pittsburgh Steelers fan and boasted he was texting people near midnight Monday with the words "Who dey?" after the Steelers came back to beat the Bengals. 

Whatever, coach. 

Vanderbilt visits next. Their 3-5 record doesn't do a historically good program justice. The Commodores have has opportunities in every game to win but have fallen short in a few. Fill those seats for a potential dogfight Thursday night.

POST GAME AUDIO: WALZ

POST GAME AUDIO: JAZZ and ARICA discuss the win


VOLLEYBALL

Dani Busboom Kelly was named AVCA East Region Coach of the Year yesterday. In her first year as the Wide Net Girls skipper, she led the Cards to an ACC title and a undefeated home record against ACC opponents. 

Melanie McHenry and Wilma Rivera were named to the AVCA All-East Region First Team. Both players were consistent all year and provided great leadership. More good news. They're back for 2018. 

Molly Sauer, Tess Clark, Maggie DeJong and Jasmine Bennett gathered second-team honors. The dynamic duo of Tess and Maggie are graduating but Jasmine and Molly return.


FIELD HOCKEY

Despite their season being over for a few weeks, the Stick Girls garnered some attention this week. Senior Nicole Woods and junior Ayeshia McFerran were selected to the First Team All-American squad and junior Taylor Stone was selected for third team honors. What? No Minnie Mink awards? 

The three additions push Louisville's All-American totals since 2001 to a whopping 18. Coach Sowry has to be pleased with that. Maybe Minnie and Katie Walsh join the club next season. 

JARED'S CORNER

If you're in town and looking to get into the holiday spirit I will be performing with a couple local musical groups during their Christmas concerts. It's a little different than the fantastic music WCHQ plays on a regular basis, but it is live and local. 

Tuba Christmas will be held on the main stage at Fourth Street Live on Saturday, Dec. 16th at 1 p.m. The Louisville Winds will perform at Harvey Browne Presbyterian Church on Sunday Dec. 17th at 3 p.m. Both concerts are free and a wonderful opportunity to come see the man with the music degree do something besides changing $20's into $5's and $10's. 

As always, keep cheering on the Cards. They ARE off probation from accreditation now so good news is continuing to come in on the Belknap Campus. 

(Photos today from Jared Anderson, Julie Sullivan and Frank the Wonder Mule) 

Go Cards! 
Jared Anderson