CARDS fall to Wake Forest 68-57 -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Good Friday morning yall - I hope you have a warm weekend ahead! 

Seems weird to say there's only 8 games left in the regular season for the WBB Cards, 4 of them at home.  They will return to the Yum! Center on Sunday 2/5 vs North Carolina.  I encourage you to make it downtown for a game if you can!  Bring some friends/family out for some great time spent and hopefully a Cardinal victory! 

WBB

Photo: Jared Anderson

The Cards went on the road looking to get back in the win column but it wasn't "in the cards" for Louisville.  After winning the first half and looking like a team on a mission, the team fell apart in the second half, losing by 20 in 20 minutes.  Morgan Jones fouled out and was the leading scorer for Louisville with 15 points on 5-7 shooting.  Mykasa Robinson was also a leader for UofL going 3-4 for 6 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal.  Louisville lost the third quarter 26-11 to the Deacons.  With the loss, the Cardinals move to 15-8 on the season and 6-4 in the ACC.  

Recap

End of 1Q  18-14 Cards  

FG %
6-11 54.5% Cards
5-9 55.6%   WF
Reb. 6-4 WF
3-pt %
1-2 50% Cards
3-5 60% WF

Morgan Jones, Hailey Van Lith, Olivia Cochran, Chrislyn Carr and Liz Dixon started the game but a minute into the contest Dixon turned the ball over and was subbed out for Josie Williams.  Williams made an immediate impact, scoring the Cards first points of the game and securing a defensive rebound in less than a minute on the floor.  WF committed 7 turnovers in the first 6 minutes in which the Cards converted for 11 points, 8 of them in the paint giving the Cards a 14-8 lead.  Jones lead the scoring for the Cards with 9 points 16-8 on 3-4 shooting and 3-4 at the FT line in the quarter.  The Deacons went on 5-0 run to make it 16-13 with a couple free throws from both squads to close out the first quarter. 

                                                                          

End of 2Q  16-11 Cards

FG %
8-12 66.7% Cards
3-10 30%  WF
Reb.  7-5 Cards
3-pt %
0-1 0%  Cards
1-4 25%  WF

Louisville came out to score the first 6 points in the quarter to give the Cards a 24-14 lead over the Demon Deacons.  There were about 2 minutes between 2 HVL buckets while the defense held WF scoreless for the first almost 4 minutes.  Mykasa Robinson forced a steal with 5 min left and got the  assist to Jones to make it 26-16 Cards.   The WF offense struggled with leading scorer, Jewel Spear with only 5 points on 2-7 shooting with 3:30 left in the half but then a little 6-0 Spear spurt made it 28-23 before the Cards went on their own 6-0 run to push back and give UofL the 34-23 lead.  Jones fouled Spear on a 3 point attempt to close the quarter where she made 2 of 3.  

HALF  34-25

 

End of 3Q  26-11 WF

FG %
5-10 50%   Cards
8-13 61.5%  WF
Reb.  6-3 WF
3-pt %
0-2 0% Cards
5-6 83.3% WF

Dixon returned to the floor to start the second half after finishing with no points and 2 turnovers in 5 minutes in the first half.  She had 4 points and a rebound in the opening 3 minutes.  The Cards committed 5 turnovers in consecutive possessions over a five minute period and while the Deacs went on an 18-0 run including a 4 point play by Spear.   Spear and Williams scored the last 24 points for WF to give the Demon Deacons a 41-40 lead.  A layup by Olivia broke the scoring drought for UofL to cut the WF lead 46-43, she went to the to complete the 3 point play. Spear was 3-3 from both the field and the free throw line.  WF shot 83% from three point land in the quarter. 

End of 4Q  17-12 WF

FG %
5-12 41.7% Cards
4-11 36.4%  WF
Reb.  7 all
3-pt %
0-3 0% Cards
0-3 0%   WF

 Louisville continued to struggle to take care of the ball into the final quarter, committing two turnovers to open the first couple minutes and WF grew the lead to 55-47 lead over Louisville.  Cochran and HVL scored the next 6 points in the game to make it 55-53 WF and 4:30 minutes left in the game. Cochran also recorded a block and a steal in that run but a failed defensive set by the Cards allowed WF to get open underneath the basket to score.  With the score 59-57 WF, a made up walk on Cochran with 1:30 left in the game and phantom foul on Jones at the end of a shot clock for Spear allowed the momentum to go the Deacons way entirely as they secured a 61-57 lead.   WF closed the game on a 9-0 run at the free throw line. 

FINAL 68-57 Wake Forest over Louisville 

UP NEXT

Louisville vs Syracuse

Sunday 1/29   12 p.m. 

ACCN or 93.9 The Ville 

FRED REPORT

(Most Cardinals Fans had to feel like Fred Thompson after the 18-0 WAKE run.)

FREE THROWS --  Louisville went 8-10 at the line where Morgan Jones lead the team going 5-7 from the charity stripe.  Cochran was the only other Card who went to the line and was a perfect 3-3. They were 80% but they did not get there far enough compared to Wake Forest's 19-24... Capital F  

REBOUNDING -- UofL was outrebounded 24-21 where WF Demeara Hinds lead all rebounders with 9.  Olivia lead for the Cards with 6.  Louisville only secured 3 offensive rebounds and had only 4 second chance points.  lower case r 

EFFORT/EXECUTION --  After coming off one of the worst quarters in program history, the Cardinals showed some similar signs of struggle in the final moments of the game.  UofL turned the ball over on 5 consecutive possessions.   HVL and Carr struggled to score combining for 13 points on 6-18 shooting, Carr scoreless in the second half.   As a team, the Cards committed 20 turnovers, 12 in the second half.  lower case e 

DEFENSE --  The wheels totally fell off the defensive bus for Louisville after a strong first half.  The Cards gave up 43 points in the second half to the Demon Deacons where Spear lead with 21, 11 coming at the free throw line.   Both teams had 6 steals in the game.  no letter 

FINAL FRED TALLY: F-r-e- _

POST GAME WALZ:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVztiItbrNg

As always 

Go Cards! 

~Daryl 

 

Winter Sports Pile On - Sunday Cardinal Couple

Wake Up to WBB

Well, not exactly wake up to unless you're a really late riser, but the Cards opponent today is Wake Forest.  The Cards are, of course, looking to start a new winning streak after the fourth quarter meltdown in Raleigh.  Jen Hoover's Wake Forest Demon Deacons are working to climb out of the lower ranks of the ACC, let's call it the bottom third.

Wake arrives at today's game with a 2-6 record in conference with more than a few head scratchers in there, including most recently a 20+ point beat-em-down at the hands of Clemson in Winston-Salem.  No shame in losses to ranked teams Georgia Tech and Notre Dame, and Virginia Tech is playing at those sorts of levels as well, but hasn't quite broken into the rankings yet.  But a loss to Pitt, splitting with Florida State, a squeaker win over Miami, in addition to the mentioned Clemson thumping puts Wake down fairly low in the conference standings.

Wake is led by 5'10" guard Jewel Spear who hoists more than half of her shots from beyond the three point arc, and drains them 37% of the time.  Next in line is Elise Williams at 5'9" and also playing guard.  Williams plays a bit more balanced game, with only a third of her shots beyond the arc, hitting 42% overall and 32% from range.

Wake will also likely start a pair of 6'2" forwards, Christina Morra and Olivia Summiel.  Summiel can also be a bit of a threat from range, but Morra hasn't even attempted a three pointer this year.

Wake trails their opponents overall in all four of the "right side" stats categories - assists, steals, turnovers, and blocked shots.

Louisville shouldn't have too much trouble with this team, but they will be looking to bounce back from their loss to NC State.  Slow starts have been a hallmark of this UofL team for much of the season, and Wake held Clemson scoreless for the first 5+ minutes of the game.  UofL will not want to let them repeat that feat.

If the Cards can start the game off strong, the rest should follow along.  Of course, we can't have another fourth quarter collapse, but I don't expect Wake to go 11-14 overall and 5-6 from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter like NC State did.  For the Cards this game is as much a mental game against themselves as it is against Wake.  If they've gotten their heads in the right place and play through the last whistle, they should be fine, but that's the biggest question about this team right now.

Two o'clock is the tip time, on the ACC Network today at the KFC Yum! Center, which is, of course, also available via streaming if that's your preferred media consumption approach.  Sam Ravech and Kelly Gramlich are on the call today, and with Gramlich's Clemson ties, we may hear a bit more about Wake's outing against the Tigers than we would otherwise.

Track and Field

Louisville was in Blacksburg, VA for the Hokie Invitational.  The top finish for the women was in the 4x400 relay with  Katie Martin, Je'Niya Burton, Kiyah Yeast and Taylor Boggess, finishing in second place with a 3:44.85 time.

On the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast yesterday, I mentioned Emily Scott, who has completed her time with UofL Volleyball and has moved over to the High Jump with Track and Field.  She was the top UofL finisher in the event with best clearance of 1.66 meters.  That ties the height with the two third place finishers, but Scott gets the fifth place finish because of the number of attempts it took her to clear the height.

UofL will return home to the Lenny Lyles Invitational on Saturday.  This is an indoor event which UofL previously didn't have a facility to host in, but is now able to host indoor events at the Norton Healthcare Sport and Learning Center at 30th St. and Muhammad Ali Blvd.

Swim and Dive

Swim and Dive hosted Kentucky at "The Ralph", the Ralph Wright Natatorium at Floyd St. and University Blvd. on campus.  Jared made it out for part of the meet to get a few pictures, and I managed to squeeze myself into a corner of the very full stands to watch some of it as well.  UofL won both the men's and women's competitions.  174-126 was the overall scores for the women, with the men winning even more substantially, 208.5-88.5.

The Cardinals are ranked 9th or 11th, depending on which rankings you're looking at, while the Wildcats are either 15th or unranked.  Regardless, this was some rather high level swimming.

UofL set a pool record and registered an A-cut time in the 200 yard medley, consisting of  Tristen Ulett (24.89), Mariia Astashkina (27.02), Christiana Regenauer (23.02), and Gabi Albiero (21.43).  Not to be outdone, the men also set a pool record and A-cut time on their side of the event.

The women were led by Gabi Albiero in the short distance races, and Liberty Williams in the longer events.  The men were led by Nick Albiero and Haridi Sameh.

Gabi Albiero, Nick Albiero, and head coach Arthur Albiero...I think this family may have something going with this whole swimming thing, ya know?

UofL will continue their season ending homestand this Saturday with Cincinnati coming to visit "The Ralph".  No start time is listed for this, yet, but I would expect it to be similar to yesterday's event with diving starting at noon, and swimming at 1pm.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

It was a sparse crew for the CCRHP yesterday, with just Paulie and myself able to get on the call.  We had a good time chatting about a wide variety of topics, including reckoning with the WBB loss against NC State.  We did also talk about the win at Boston College, so we were able to get some "joy and excitement" in there.  Lots of other topics got covered, from Lacrosse to vacuums.

You can check the unedited version of at Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1Ao-qZRBoc

Case hasn't gotten an edited version of it up to the podcast system yet, but if he does, you will be able to find it at:

https://anchor.fm/cardinal-couple

Check out the fun!

JMcA

Cards Escape at Wake 65-63 -- Monday Cardinal Couple

 DANA DELIVERS AS CARDS DODGE DEMON DEACONS 85-63

Dana delivered. 

It was a narrow escape for a 13-0 #1 in the country Louisville women's basketball squad yesterday against Wake Forest and it was Dana Evans who drove the get-away vehicle to keep the Cards unbeaten. 

The scenario was like one of those old time, noir moves from the 40's. The heroes were in trouble. Wake Forest was playing the role of the villains, giving the protagonists (the Cards) trouble at every turn. Things looked bleak, as the plot thickened and darkened -- a nine point home squad lead for Jen Hoover's Deacs and just 7:15 left in the scenario.  Would our heroines survive? Could they manage to escape the clutches of the crew conspiring to send them off the deep end? Cue the screeching violins and trumpet blasts. These birds from up north were grounded and the hunter was approaching.

Dana delivered. 

Evans delivered 10 of her team-leading 25 points in the final seven-minute stretch and, when it came down to crunch time, with the Cards trailing 63-62, she drove to the basket -- maneuvered around the taller Wake defenders -- and sank an improbable, off-balance and falling down jumper over out-stretched hands. And drew a foul from defender Gina Conti.

 Basket good, Cards leading 64-62 now,,,and the "cool as a January morning" Evans, after a few celebratory bumps with teammates, strode to the charity stripe and knocked down the free one for the 65-63 lead. Wake Forest had a final chance but the Deacs Ivana Raca went for the win instead of the tie and her three at the buzzer was wide left.  The Cards had survived 

This was Louisville's worst game of the season and I don't think you'll find many who would disagree.

We learned that a four-guard line up against a two-center opposition formation wasn't going to work. Wake out-rebounded the Cards 43-32 and had 38 points-in-the-paint, compared to the Cards 32.

What was supposed to be a  UofL romp over a squad that had just gotten shellacked by Georgia Tech by 29 a few days prior turned into a frantic, nail-biting -- but successful -- scramble for the win.  

The Cards couldn't hit shots...the 39.7% from the floor won't go into the annals of "best game ever" discussions. The threes were even worse, at 33%. Fortunately, Wake went 1-11 from beyond the arc and shot the face-palm, what-are-we-doing 12-24 from the free throw line. The Homer Simpson "DOH!" exclamation audio comes to mind when analyzing Wake's three-and-free shooting.  If you are a Wake apologist and need to point to two things that cost you the upset Sunday afternoon, here's your signs. 

Evans received a ton of help from her sidekick at guard Elizabeth Balogun. "E" was masterful with 12 points, six grabs, three steals and three blocks. One can't say enough about the clutch minutes Liz Dixon contributed or the double-double Olivia Cochran generated (10 points, 11 rebounds). 

The Cards got a huge boost off the bench from Norika Konno's five-point run in the second quarter that kept the Cards in a some-what comfortable lead. It wasn't Kianna Smith night, we'll just leave that comment right there and not amplify it. The "bakery" was open for Hailey Van Lith early, her five turnovers were by far the highest on the Cards squad, but, let's give her credit for the huge bucket she delivered when the Cards were mustering a comeback in the 4th. quarter. 

In the end, though...it was the best guard in the ACC, arguably the best guard in NCAA women's college basketball who refused to lose when the chips were down, brought the sunshine on a cloudy day and put the Cards back on the flight to Louisville with the win. Dana doesn't like to lose. She didn't and Louisville loves her for it. 

THE FRED REPORT

WE drag Freddy Krueger out, for the 
"Nightmare on I-40" Cardinal win 

FREE THROWS -- The Cards were perfect from the charity stripe -- 13 for 13 -- and 11 of them came from two players, Evans and Cochran. NO QUESTION ABOUT THE CAPITAL "F" EARNED HERE. 

REBOUNDS -- Olivia Cochran was doing all she could in the grabs category but Wake Forest out-rebound Louisville 43-32. The discrepancy was most noticeable on the offensive boards, where Wake owned them -- 24-13. No letter here. 

EFFORT/EXECUTION -- The Cards shot well to begin and end the game but the middle two quarters were less-than-exemplary. Too much dribbling and not enough passing against the Wake defense. Only 11 assists on 23 made baskets. Yes, the fourth-quarter comeback was state-of-the-art, so I'll settle for a lower-case "e" here and more than a few may argue whether even that was warranted. 

DEFENSE -- If there was a free throw defense stat/formula...never mind....Louisville held Wake to the same exact shooting percentage (39.7) that the Cards managed. Wake was beating the Cards up pretty badly in the paint, though. The Cards did win the steals (8-6) and blocks (4-1) stats, and allowed just 63 points...and they did win the game, so, I'll award a lower-case "d" , despite the Cards losing the second-chance stat 19-13. Their defense was two-points more effective than Wake's in the end

FINAL FRED TALLY:  F-_-e-d

Jeff Walz was asked how the Cards designed the winning shot and he glibly responded "Pray". It was a "W" ...t though, and they count the same in the standings whether they're by 2 or 22. That sounds good for a close-to-article sentence here,  but I'd toss this game video in the toilet and never view it again, if I were the Cardinal coaching staff. Louisville exorcized the Demons on a Sunday, but, the win was in doubt until...

Dana delivered. 

NEXT UP:

Bassy's brood flies north for a bird battle Tuesday.

Louisville entertains "the U" next, when Miami comes to town for a Tuesday, 4 p.m. matinee at the KFC YUM Center. The Canes come in at 7-5 (4-5 in ACC play) and were off Sunday. They probably needed the rest, since their last game was a furious , come-from-behind win over Pittsburgh 72-68. This one looked to be all Panthers early on, they held a 31-10 first-quarter advantage, but couldn't maintain it. 

Have a puddle-dodging Monday!

paulie

Wake Up For Gameday - Sunday Cardinal Couple

 Wake Forest Hosts the Cards

In this nearly-every-other-day game schedule that the Cards have been maintaining for much of the season, the game days roll on.  Today, it's Wake Forest in Winston-Salem at 2 p.m, part of a nice double-header on the ACC Network with Clemson hosting Syracuse at noon. And, for the Cards WBB pursuits, radio always an option on Cards Radio 790 WKRD AM with Nick and AJ. 

Wake Forest is currently sitting just about in the middle of the ACC standings, 7th out of the 15 total teams.  I'll claim the exact middle based on Duke and Virginia having bowed out of playing for the year.

There is an argument to be made that the Demon Deacons are about to start sliding down the standings a bit, though.  When you look at their schedule played so far...well, it's not bad, including a win over a then-24th-ranked Missouri State though of course that doesn't impact conference standings, a split of two very closely contested games against UNC, wins of Miami, Boston College, and Virginia Tech.  With the losses coming to the aforementioned squeaker against UNC, NC State, Notre Dame, and Georgia Tech.

It's pronounced RA-ZA not RA-CA, if 
you  want to try and reach her on the phone...

The Deacs have started a pretty brutal part of their schedule, however.  That GT game basically started it off, they follow that up with the game today against us, the #1 team in the country, then Florida State, Clemson, Syracuse, and the 2nd game against Georgia Tech.  Clemson will be the easiest opponent in that slate, and they're no cakewalk.  Wake also has 2nd games against NC State and Florida State to come.

So who should we be watching on the court?  The sharp shooter most efficient shooter on the squad is Christina Morra shooting at 56.6% from the field.  She is not the biggest scorer, however, with Ivana Raca and Gina Conti taking the one and two spots of that ranking.  A big part of the difference between total points and shooting percentages is the three pointers.  Morra has not taken a three point shot all year. 

Your Becky Burke-esque three point bombers are Jewel Spear and Alexandria Scruggs, each taking about 2/3 of their shots from beyond the arc.

Wake Forest head WBB coach Jen Hoover is 0-6 against 'the Cards
including last year's 75-61 loss in Louisville. She wasn't thrilled. 

Watch out for Conti in the guard role as well, her steals and turn-overs stats are almost identical to Dana Evans for the season.

There's probably not too much need to be wary of shot blocking.  The team leader for blocks is 6'2" Raca with eight on the season.  For comparison's sake, 6'1" Elizabeth Balogun has 24.

The "Deac" is a noted ladies man" and warns 
Paulie away from his gal at the ACC Tournament. 

The only other stat I see that piques my particular interest is assists.  Conti is the team leader with 42, compared to Dana Evans 60, on the year, but particularly of note is that Wake trails their opponents in assists 117-169.  That suggests that the Cards could make an extra effort to help each other on defense and worry less about the Wake players dishing the ball off to others.

Overall, you never want to take a game for granted, particularly in the ACC, but as long as the Cards come out, play their game the way we know they can play it, then we should come away with a win today.

Volleyball Tidbits

The unprecedented spring part of the NCAA volleyball season has begun, though the Cards won't play until February 27th, at least based on currently scheduled games.  There could be some non-conference games that might get scheduled, but I'm not holding my breath for them.

Beyond the college courts, however, the Athletes Unlimited Pro league is getting together for practice with play slated to begin also on February 27th.

AU Volleyball is going to be...interesting.  There aren't set teams, with players drafted each week.  There's a whole scoring scheme that rewards individual players for their individual efforts as well as their current team's success.  You can check out the scoring system at https://auprosports.com/volleyball/how-we-play-volleyball/.

There are several players with more or less direct UofL connections involved in AU Volleyball.

First and foremost, UofL alum Erin Fairs will be playing.

Next, Taylor Morgan, who was filling the UofL Volunteer Assistant Coach role in the fall.  Morgan graduated a year ago from Minnesota, and as a middle blocker was part of the team that eliminated UofL from the NCAA tournament the game after UofL's big win over Texas.

Prime UofL rival for the past 4 years Leah Edmond from UK will be in the league, and finally a big sis, Deja McClendon, who played her college ball at Penn State is the older sister to Maya McClendon who played a couple of years for UofL before transferring to Arizona State.  The McClendons are Louisvillians, with both Deja and Maya playing their high school ball at duPont Manual High School.

So you've got a few Louisville rooting interests in this one.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Back mostly to basketball, the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast, unsurprisingly, largely focused on basketball with recaps of previous games and some discussion about this upcoming Wake Forest game as well.  We did touch base on the announced volleyball schedule, and we got more good day job news from much of the crew.  Lastly, did we get an answer?  Do seals have ears?  or is it sea lions that do?

Check out the fun below, as always.

JMcA 

ACC WBB report -- WEDNESDAY NIGHT ACTION

THREE LOWEST SEEDS PULL UPSETS IN FIRST DAY

So, how many times can you recall the ACC women's basketball tournament or any basketball tournament) starting out this crazy? #13 seed Wake Forest defeats #12 seed UNC. #15 seed Pitt gets their second win the ACC this season with the exciting two point win over #10 seed Notre Dame. In the nightcap, Clemson, seeded #14 upsets #11 seed Miami (with Bea Mompremier). 

It makes you wonder about Thursday.


WAKE FOREST 83 - NORTH CAROLINA 73

The day started with Wake Forest and UNC engaged in a tight one. Ivana Raca had 12 first quarter points to give the Demon Deacons a 20-17 lead. WFU would build that to six, but the TarHeels Shayla Bennett spurred a run that cut it to two at the half, WFU still leading. 

UNC took the lead halfway throgh the third quarter at 44-43, but a 6-0 Wake run ended the third 61-56 and UNC would not get any closer than that in the final quarter. 83-73 to advance Wake Forest to play Virginia Tech tomorrow at 11 a.m. Raca ended with 27 points for Jen Hoover's team. Joining her in double figures were Christina Morra (19), Gina Conti (10) and Alex Sharp (19). Bennett had 26 for UNC.

The key? Rebounding. Wake had a 47-22 advantage. Center Janelle Bailey played just 22 minutes for North Carolina.


PITTSBURGH 67 - NOTRE DAME 65


The second game started out a Notre Dame blowout. They roared out to a 11-3 led, but the Panthers fought their way back into it and trailed just 16-12 after one. Pitt kept coming. They grabbed a four-point second quarter edge at 29-25 bu the Irish fought back with a 6-0 run. Gabbie Green sunk a jumper at the buzzer and Pitt went into the locker room ahead 34-33. 

The craziness was just getting started. In the third, Pitt would push out to a eight-point edge, led by Day Harris, but here came the Irish, behind Katlyn Gilbert, and the third ended 51-47 Panthers. Notre Dame went 5-18 in the third quarter (27%) but hadn't surrendered by any means. Muffet's squad saw their final lead at 55-53 and tied it at 65-65 on a Gilbert layup with 21 seconds to go.

Harris -- calm, cool and collected -- buried a jumper with 2.7 second left and then stole the Notre Dame in-bounds pass after an Irish timeout to cinch it. Pitt advances to play Georgia Tech at 6 p.m. Thursday. Harris had 20 points for the Panthers, Ismini Prama sank four threes for Pitt to finish with 12 before she fouled out. Gilbert was the ND leader with 20 points. 


( I talked with Cardinal COUPLE readers Arthur and Bea before the Clemson game. He was nervous about facing Miami, but correctly indicated he thought Kobi Thornton was due for a potential big night. Bea was just nervous -- playing a team that had beaten them twice. I guess the bourbon is flowing at the Hampton Inn, and who can blame them? I'm ready for one or two myself).



CLEMSON 71 - MIAMI 56

The Tigers came out roaring and jumped to a 18-9 led over a Miami squad that looked slow and disorganized. It was 25-15 after one, Thornton had 11 points already and the Clemson fans, what few of them that were there, were ecstatic. Miami regrouped in the second quarter, steadily chipped away at the lead and eventually cut it to two. At 37-33 Clemson for the halftime break, but "uncle MO" was on Miami's side. 

No one told Clemson, though.

Miami grabbed their only lead at 41-39, but, Clemson got Thornton re-engaged, came back and went on a quarter-closing 16-3 run to hold a 55-44 advantage after three. They would increase upon that and Chyna Cotton drilled a three in the fourth to make it 71-56
. 
Mompremier had 23 for the Canes in a losing effort, she's gone for the WNBA next year and was playing dinged up but with all she had. Thornton ended with 27 for the Tigers, who will go against Boston College Thursday at 8 p.m. Amari Robinson added 16 for Amanda Butler's squad, who shot 50.9% for the game. Miami's shots would go, they finished at 31.7% from the floor. 

So, how does your bracket look? 


paulie
xxxxx 

Strong start send WBB past Wake Forest 75-61 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

EARLY RUN, BALANCED SCORING HELP CARDS GO TO 16-1

For the second straight game, the University of Louisville women's basketball squad jumped on an opponent early with solid defense and early scoring. The Cards, now 16-1, 5-0, went on a five minute, 14-0 run in the first quarter to go from trailing 6-5 to holding a 19-6 lead against the Demon Deacons. 

In that stretch, Dana Evans had six points,  Jazmine Jones added four and the Cardinal defense forced Wake Forest into four turnovers and held them to 0 for 4 shooting.

The Cards led 19-9 after one quarter and Wake Forest was searching for answers to solve their 4-14 shooting (28.6%) and slowing down a Louisville squad that had a 10-0 points-off-turnovers edge and was out-scoring them 10-4 in the paint. 

Wake Forest has had a propensity for playing opponents close all season, and, they would eventually get it together enough to actually win the second half 38-37, but the second quarter featured Louisville equaling their 19-point first quarter by benefiting from the foul line (6-6) and turning back two Wake challenges to them. The Deacs trimmed Louisville's lead to 21-16 after Canadian sensation Christina Morra connected inside at the 7:46 mark. A minute later a huge three from Alexandria Scruggs created a bit of nervousness in the 9414 fans in attendance when her three made it 23-19. 

A huge Evans three pushed the lead back out to 26-19, but, Wake came knocking at the door again when Alex Sharp nailed a jumper to make it 28-23 with 2:45 until the half. 

Coach Walz has warned us several times that the fan base shouldn't expect any 18-0 or real huge runs out of this group of Cardinals this year. But, his squad did piece together a half-ending 10-0 run. Jones and Evans led the way again. Jaz's spectacular leap, catch and score on a beautiful pass from Evans with just five seconds left in the half set the tally at 38-23, which created Louisville's largest lead of the contest.



The Cards held a huge advantages in points-off-turnovers (21-0) and Wake hadn't been to the free throw line yet, something that WFU coach Jen Hoover was raising a huge ruckus about on the sidelines and during timeouts during the first 20 minutes. Wake actually had a small rebounding edge 19-17, but those costly 12 Deacon turnovers were a key factor in first half play and Wake needed to regroup and find some answers for stopping the effective Cardinal offense. 

Evans (13 pts.), Jaz (8 pts) and E (7 pts) were carrying the load for Louisville in the first half and Bionca Dunham had already collected five defensive rebounds in the first twenty minutes. Just four turnovers for the Cards was a positive factor as well.

Jen can go to either hand, as you see in the photos,
when she's offering suggestions to players or baiting refs.
She uses her feet to jog five miles each morning. WHAT ?  

The Cards began the second half with Kylee. She scored Louisville's first six points and the Cards used them to maintain a 44-30 lead after three minutes of action. Jaz and Dana were recognizing she she open and able to pop outside jumpers effectively against the visitors and even spear-headed a fast break for a layup. Wake had held her to four first half points and maybe didn't consider her a part of their "must shut down in the second half" strategy" -- she made them pay.


Wake trimmed the Cardinal lead to 10 with 6:25 left in the third and Morra's strong inside bucket made it 49-42 with 2:29 remaining in the quarter. By the time the clock struck 00:00 in the third, the Demons had cut UofL's halftime lead in half and the score stood at 55-47 with ten minutes to go. Wake was showing signs of life again and had won the quarter 24-17. 

The fourth quarter was just plain puzzling. 

The referees decided they hadn't had enough work in thirty minutes and called a combined total of 13 fouls, after whistling just 20 total in the previous three quarters. Neither team could take advantage of the whistle-fest, though. Louisville went 4-8 from the charity stripe and Wake Forest 2-5.

Louisville called on Jazmine Jones to provide the spark and magic and she responded with 10 final-quarter points. Dana added seven and UofL pushed the lead back to 14 after a dramatic Jones score to start the session. 

Just 75 seconds into play, J.J. drove to the basket, performed a fantastic spin move past WFU defender Alex Sharp and got a layup that was deserving of  "four-letter network consideration" for one of the top 10 plays on Sunday. The "ankle-breaking" sequence became a Twitter sensation almost immediately after she performed the surgery and it spurred an early 8-2 Cardinal run that finally buried the visitors for good. 

Look, Ma ! I got a 1000 pt. ball and picture with Coach ! 

Dana sank a free throw with two minutes left to give Louisville their largest lead of the quarter at 73-56 with two minutes remaining. It was a quarter where Louisville owned the paint again (16-4) in points scored and limited Wake to just 5-14 shooting and only two second chance points. The Cards went with the combination of Jones, Shook, Evans, Diop and Robinson for most of the quarter and belatedly inserted Konno, Duvall, Lockhart and Laemmle late.  

75-61 for the Cards, who pick up their fifth straight ACC win to remain the only undefeated squad in the conference. Four in double figures for Louisville and a hard-fought win over a Wake Forest squad that just wouldn't go away and was competitive much of the game -- save for the three extended Louisville runs that turned the contest into a Cardinal win. 


THE FRED REPORT

Cards string up another victim. Poor
Fred the Bear...ventured out of Wake Forest. 

FREE THROWS -- Louisville tried 15 and sank 11 and that was good enough for 73.3%. My esteemed colleague Jeff McAdams would question the "CAPITAL F" I'm going to assign to this category, his standards a bit higher than Coach Walz and my 70% hopes from the line. Dana was a perfect 6-6 and but Jaz just 2-4. 

REBOUNDS -- Wake has been out-rebounding foes by an average of 11 a game this season and they out-grabbed the Cards by 10 at 42-32. Sharp, Raca and Morra hit the glass very hard and very tenaciously for WFU and Louisville, despite eight grabs from Kylee and seven from Dunham, just couldn't match that prowess. No letter here. 

EFFICIENCY/EXECUTION -- Only nine Cardinal turnovers is a welcome stat to see. Especially Diop with just one in almost 20 minutes. The fast break was providing points (10-0 edge), the Cards shot an "O.K." 40% from the floor but they did have 19 assists on 30 made baskets, which is encouraging. Jaz continues to be a heat-seeking missile finding the target on the floor with 8-10 shooting and Dana nearly had a double-double with 20 points and nine assists. After deliberation, A CAPITAL "E" is the way to go in the award. 

DEFENSE -- Guarding proved to be spot on early when Louisville pulled away and we note the 19 WFU turnovers, nine Cardinal steals and five blocked shots as well. Wake did out-hustle the Cards in second chance points 16-6, though, and ended up shooting 40% for the game after an ice cold start from the floor. Louisville's defensive effort got the job done, it wasn't spectacular, but it does deserve a small case "d". 

FINAL FRED TALLY:  F-_-E-d


THEY SAID IT

Post-game comments from Jen Hoover, Jeff Walz, Dana Evans and Jaz Jones await your listening below: 

JEN HOOVER

JEFF WALZ

DANA AND JAZ



SOOOO...

-- It's encouraging to see the Cards, once again, come out and throw the hammer down on the opponent early. The "dual alphas" Dana and Jaz are also surrounded by a very strong supporting cast. "E" quietly amassed ten points in 21 minutes and Kylee nearly got a double-double with 122 points and eight grabs. Bionca works so hard at both ends of the court, is the vocal leader on the floor and... you have to go a step beyond, past the stats, to fully appreciate what she does out on the hardwood nightly. 

--The Cards Seygan Robins was on a "scooter" last night, word is she had a small "procedure" on her ailing right foot on Friday. One has to wonder if maybe a red-shirt this season might be in the offing for her...with just two appearances this season. Time will tell. 

-- Louisville takes to the highway for their next two. A Thursday trip to Boston College, who got beaten on their home court by a resurgent Virginia team yesterday, and a Sunday trip to Chapel Hill, NC., where the surprising TarHeels will put their 12-4 record up against the Cards. UNC was handled pretty easily by FSU yesterday in Tallahassee 78-64 to drop them to 3-2 in ACC play, but they are still a formidable foe at home, 8-1 in games played at their place.  




(PHOTOS AND POST-GAME VIDEO FROM THE EXCELLENT JARED ANDERSON TODAY) 


paulie
xxxxx

Louisville women's basketball shakes Wake 73-49 -- MONDAY CARINAL COUPLE

CARDS RAKE WAKE FOREST 

Using a balanced attack and stifling defense, the University of Louisville women's basketball team won every quarter in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and kept Wake Forest winless in the ACC with a 73-49, 24-point win Sunday afternoon. 

The Cards (17-1, 5-1) went on a 12-0 first quarter run to jump out to a 17-5 lead and never looked back against the Demon Deacons...getting early production from Arica Carter, who knocked down three straight three-pointers in the first quarter and ended up as the Cards leading scorer with 12-points. 19-9 after one, and it looked like the Cards might be on their way to a big blowout of the Jen Hoover coached home team. 

Wake Forest (9-9, 0-5) wasn't willing, though, to go away easily. The Deacs battled the Cards closely in the second session. They narrowly lost the quarter 16-15 and did what a lot of schools wish they could duplicate -- keeping All-American Asia Durr scoreless in the first half and limiting Sam Fuehring to just two first half points. Louisville led 35-25 at the halftime break, thanks to Carter's early start and strong play from Bionca Dunham (10 first half points) and Jaz Jones (six points in the first two quarters). 

Neither team was exactly lighting up the scoreboard and Wake held the edge on rebounds 19-15. The Cards were getting it done on the turnover side...forcing 12 while committing just four in the second quarter... and made the most of them, in getting 12 points off the turnovers. The Cards were maintaining the lead with two of their prolific point-scorers strangely silent but you had to wonder if Asia's time was coming after the break. 

Durr did deliver in the third.

She totaled all of her eight points in the ten minutes following halftime and the Cards pulled out another quarter 18-15 to lead 53-39 as the teams headed to the final ten minutes. With two threes and a nice two-point jumper, Durr also had three assists and two steals. 

The Cards have been guilty of less than perfect fourth quarters at times this season but that wasn't the case in the state of North Carolina yesterday. Louisville got a strong effort off the bench and a 7-0 run late in the quarter helped push the lead to 28 before the Cards finished with the win. The Cards held a 20-10 points advantage in the final session and got threes from Seygan Robins, Lindsey Duvall and Dana Evans. Kylee Shook sank a couple of free throws to reach that 28-point edge with about a minute left and the Cards got 18 of their 20 points from the reserves in the fourth quarter against the tired and a bit disillusioned Demons. 

I continue to be pleasantly surprised by the hustle, effort, toughness and grit of freshman Mykasa "Kasa" Robinson. In 20 minutes yesterday, she added three steals and two rebounds to her seven points. Free throws still need work (maybe they'd let her shoot them while running?) but she is a valuable "off the bench" spark for the Cards. Your car won't start this morning? Call "Kasa" she'll provide the spark and jump needed to get it rolling. Vehicle doors frozen and won't open? Have her run around it a few times, that'll heat it up.

Wake was with out their leading scorer and star Elisa Penna, who is out with a knee injury. Without her, guards Ivana Raca and Gina Conti combined for 20-points to lead WFU. Former Card recruiting target Christina Morra played for Wake and the "Canadian sensation" totaled six points and six rebounds in a reserve role in the paint. 

For Louisville, the scoring was nicely distributed. Carter (12) and Dunham (10) were the double figure scorers. Durr and Jones were good for eight points each and Fuehring, Evans and Robinson added seven each. Shook finished with six points, Robins contributed five and Duvall nailed a three for her only points. Our favorite "Attack Yorkie" Jess Laemmle got three minutes in at the end but never got a shot off. 


Cards win, the Cardinals win 73-49. They are 3-0 against the ACC schools in North Carolina this season and have held their last three ACC opponents to less that 50 points  



THE FRED REPORT

Free Throws - Louisville went just 11-18 in the foul stripe efforts yesterday. That just 61% and is undeserving of a letter. 

Rebounds - Ouch. Wake was the lead dog in the sled here, gathering a 45-25 advantage over the visitors. Kylee Shook led the way with five. We cannot award a letter here. 

Effort/Execution - The Cards forced (or were handed) 25 turnovers and committed just six. The Cards pilfered 11 steals to Wake's six. 26-22 points in the paint went Louisville's way and 14-4 on fast break points to the visitors as well. That's hustle and a capital "E".

Defense - Wake shot 40% against the Cards and that's borderline for Louisville defensive efficiency. Despite the huge rebound edge for Wake, the Cards took the second chance battle 9-8. The dominating first and fourth quarters, where Wake totaled a mere 19 points, plus the overall total of under "50" points (49) warrant a capital "D". 

FRED TOTAL -- -_-_E-D


CAPTION THIS PICTURE

You know this works. Take a look and create a caption for the picture below. 

Stay warm today. Although the roads are fine in Louisville (except for some driveways) the temperatures are still brutal. We recommend hanging around the house and binge-watching something and making a pot of soup or chili.  


MLK JR DAY

It is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so the schools are closed and some of you have the day off. As we reflect on the life and works of Martin Luther King, remember and try to follow the example, please, of these words of King: 

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that." 



paulie
xxxxx