Southpaw specials...Cardinal Couple Saturday

Cardinal Couple Collaborative Southpaw Special Squad

It's been a while.  I know you have been craving a Cardinal Couple team honor, so today we bring you The Cardinal Couple Collaborative Southpaw Special Squad.  An honorary team of all left-handers.  We only have appearances from three of the Louisville women's teams because, here's a fun fact for you, there is no "left-handed" equipment for Field Hockey, so it's nigh-on impossible to tell the lefties when they're out on the field in that sport, and similar for Lacrosse.  So we have honorees from Basketball, Volleyball, and Softball, as these are the sports where handedness really makes a more significant difference.

Softball Honorees

We'll start on the diamond.  We have three full lefties on the Softball Squad.

Jordan Vorbrink

A sophomore this year, Jordan saw action last year as a freshman, with appearances in 24 games, and 15 starts at either first base, or in the outfield.  Seemingly a specialist in triples, tying for the team lead, she almost had a cycle in one game, lacking just a single in the attempt.  Jordan is a local, playing high school ball at Mercy Academy

Morgan Meyer

A senior leader on the team, co-captain last year, "Mo" played in 45 games last year, with 37 starts in the outfield.  A real speedster, Meyer has found a home in the outfield, covering acres of grass to deny hitters their success.  Before making her presence known in the outfield, she frequently made base running appearances, taking advantage of her quickness and speed to advance on even marginal hits.  Morgan is definitely a country girl at heart, but also hails from the Derby city, and also is a Mercy graduate.

Jordan McNary

To round out the true-lefty softballers, Jordan McNary shares a lot of traits with Morgan Meyer.  She's a senior speedster that patrols the outfield, appeared in 45, started 38.  She also tied with Vorbrink for triples.  Also a Kentuckian, McNary hails from Madisonville, and went to Hopkins County Central HS.

Volleyball Honorees

To the wide net, and another trio of lefties.

Gabbie Wiley

From Hannibal MO, and Hannibal High School, Gabbie Wiley had a great year as a defensive and serving specialist for the Cardinal squad that generally struggled through the year.  Gabbie played in a more attacking role in high school, and has taken a couple of years to adjust to playing a more defensively oriented role on the team, but came into her own this year, with several matches where she equalled Libero Molly Sauer's dig totals, with only half the rotations to do it in.  In service, the left-handed serve puts a different spin on the ball which tends to cause serve receive problems.  Notre Dame seemed particularly hapless this season in handling the southpaw spin.  Gabbie also was on the ACC Honor Roll and Athletic Director's Honor Roll, as a pre-med student, no less.  Gabbie was a junior this year.

Kali Eaken

The Cardinals primary setter this year, Kali also hails from Missouri, but from the city of fountains, Kansas City.  Kali initially committed to and enrolled at Kansas State, but after a redshirt freshman year, transfers to UofL to continue her career.  Eaken struggled with several injuries throughout the season, which limited her playing appearances some, but the impact when she was on the court was significant.

Morgan Miller

Morgan Miller comes to us from Magnolia, TX, the second recent Cardinal to hail from that town, following in the footsteps of Roxanne McVey, though they attended different high schools, but did play in the same club system.  The Cardinals are losing the play-her-anywhere services of Janelle Jenkins, who is graduating and heading off to be awesome in whatever she does, but Morgan Miller is from a similar mold.  A competent defensive player, with a good serve, those skills are probably the areas where she has the most room for improvement, as she is already, as a sophomore, a quite good hitter from anywhere on the court.  We don't see her hitting in the middle often, as UofL already has a great roster of middles, but I'm confident she could do a fine job of it.  Otherwise, swinging from the right, from the left, from the backrow, or maybe even not swinging at all, but instead setting others for attacks, she can do it all.  A true utility player with a great eye for the opponent's court, she has excellent ball placement on attacks.

Basketball Honorees

Sydney Zambrotta

"THREEEEEEEEEEEEE 'Z'" is already a common refrain from Cardinal PA guy Sean Moth.  This freshman sharpshooter hails from the venerable Christ The King high school in New York.  Zambrotta, who has also bolstered the ranks of the Cardinal Couple All-Syd/Sid/Szyd team, has already seem some clutch minutes, but we should only expect her contributions to grow as she progresses through her freshman year and further.  At Christ The King, Sydney also played Soccer in the fall, and Lacrosse in the spring, keeping busy all year around.

Asia Durr

Cardinal Couple seems to have an affinity for "Asia"'s, as we continue to follow the career of excellence of Asia Taylor currently tearing up the court in the land down under.  This Asia comes to us from Douglasville, GA and St. Pius X Catholic HS.  Really, who will ever forget her 36 point performance vs Syracuse a couple of weeks ago?  Another sharpshooter, she has just about the range of Shoni Schimmel, but plays great defense as well.  Durr has great handles, and can dribble drive with the best of them.  She's back at full speed this year after being hampered by injury somewhat during her freshman campaign.  We can't wait to see what the next 2 and a half years hold for this star, and for once we won't be excited for the final countdown.

Some Honorable Mentions

Nicole Pufahl

Softball has a couple of players that throw right handed, and I believe are predominantly right-handed, but bat left-handed, so we wanted to give them some love.

Lillie Goetz and Sidney Melton both bat left handed.  Frequently you'll see right handers bat left handed in Softball to be "slappers", but Lillie swings for power from the left side, with a pair of home runs in as many games, both grand slams, no less.  Sidney Melton also doesn't just slap at the ball, tallying some triples in the 2016.

An unusual combination, Nicole Pufahl (who's last name I still can't spell right without checking), throws left handed and bats right handed.  This suggests that she may be predominantly left handed, but learned to bat (with some serious power as well) right handed at some point.  Why?  We're not sure, but we're OK with it.

Radio Today

Today's broadcast will be pre-empted by "Baking with Paulie."  We'll be highlighting turnovers in today's baking show.  Do check it out, it should be a bunch of fun on WCHQ FM 100.9 or streaming at http://www.crescenthillradio.org.  As useless as I am in the kitchen, I'll be fetching coffee.

-- JMcA

WBB Cards survive wild one in OT 86-81 over Cavs -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

MYISHA HINES-ALLEN RECORDS CAREER HIGHS WITH 31 POINTS AND 17 REBOUNDS IN UOFL WIN.

Louisville women's basketball overcame a 15-point 3rd quarter deficit and takes the win in overtime in a wild game at Charlottesville Thursday night to down Virginia 86-81. Myisha Hines-Allen had career highs with 31 points and 17 grabs, Mariya Moore added 23 points and Asia Durr with 16 in the win that saw both Myisha and Mariya on the bench for the final 1:24 of the extra session. 

It was a game of runs, luck, miscues and...in the end...free throw shooting that got the Cards to 14-3 on the season. While waiting for my sedative to kick in, let's see how they got it done. 

The first half was, in my humble opinion, the worst half of the season for Jeff Walz's squad. Despite jumping out to an early 5-0 lead in the first two minutes, the Cards couldn't find the basket after that and seven first quarter turnovers helped the Wahoos take control with a 12-2 run over six minutes and lead after the first ten 17-11. The Cards shot 27.8% in the initial session and Hines-Allen spent five minutes on the bench but had four points to lead the Cards in scoring. 12 turnovers. BJ still feeling the effects of her illness, it seemed and Asia Durr was off as well with just one three. Turns out, she wasn't feeling that great either in the game. Daggone illnesses...

It proceeded to get worse in the next ten. The Cards started with some effort...cutting the Cavs lead to two at 19-17 after three straight Hines-Allen scores to start the quarter. Hines-Allen still had Louisville hanging around when her jumper in the paint made it 25-24 Virginia with 4:14 until half but a 13-1 closing run put UVA in charge 38-25 and one had to wonder what was going on with the Cardinal squad and their lack of effort. 

We figured Coach Walz probably cracked the locker room walls with a half-time tirade (in fact... he didn't know what to say about the lackadaisical effort) and just
questioned his squad's commitment. Beside Hines-Allen and her 13 points...the Louisville boat was dead in the water and no one else seemed willing to pick up an oar and row.

It got even more dire to start the third, if that's possible. Hines-Allen and Moore tried to rally the Cards at the beginning and cut the UVA edge to 40-31. An 8-2 Cavalier run over the next four minutes, though, had the home team up 48-33 after a Aliyah Huland El three and some good things definitely needed to happen for the hapless Cards.

One of those good things was Taylor Johnson. Some key passing and tough defense started to raise the Cards out of their winter hibernation. A Cortnee Walton bucket, three T.J. free throws, a Durr three, two Moore charity tosses and Walton inside again and it was a 12-0 run and it was suddenly a 48-45 game. Hines-Allen got her 20th. point on a "and one" to make it 50-48 and the quarter ended at 52-48. We had a game again and the Cards had secured the momentum. 

Louisville would regain the lead for the first time since the first quarter when Moore knocked back a trifecta with 8:02 to play to make it 55-54. It was tooth and nail, back and forth for the next five minutes...then Taylor Johnson drew a key charging foul off of the Cavs and Moore sank her second three of the quarter to give the Cards the edge at 65-60 with 2:37 remaining. She popped another long-range, three-point net-swisher for her 20th point 39 seconds later and at 68-62 with 1:58 left...this one was looking awfully good for the visitors. 

Virginia wasn't buying that. A Breyana Mason three cut the edge to 68-66. The Cards went cold from the charity stripe over the next 45 seconds when Moore missed three free ones and Taylor Johnson missed two...but Durr's two for two at the line had the Cards up 71-68 with less than five seconds to go. 

The ball went to Virginia's freshman guard Dominique Toussaint, though...and she came through huge with a deep three at the buzzer to make it 71-71 and send the contest to overtime. Stunner....setting off a wild home crowd and home team celebration. Bonus ball and a possible momentum switch in the affair. 

I questioned why the Cards didn't foul on that in-bounds possession. Later, in his post-game radio interview show...Coach Walz admitted they probably should have done just that but he feared a make then a miss and Virginia rebound from their 6'9" center Felicia Aiyeotan for a put-back to tie it and possibly win it if she was fouled on the put-back score and hit a free throw. 

Conjecture...yeah...and I'm no probability expert...but in any event...bonus ball was on the way and the Cards had the M&M girls with four fouls each. White-knuckle time. 

Virginia never led in the extra session but they did make it interesting. The teams exchanged baskets for the first 2:30 and then a Moore foul sent her to the bench. Two free throws from Hines-Allen made it 77-74 Cards with 2:15 left but she was called for her fifth infraction 30 seconds later. Who would the Cards turn to now...with 54 of their points now on the bench? 

Turns out, it was a group effort. Jazmine Jones nailed one of two charity tosses to give the Cards a 78-74 lead with 1:24 in the overtime. After VA hit two free throws, Durr got the same chance and reciprocated on her attempts with 30 seconds left. Huland El made good on two free tosses with 20 seconds left to set the ledger at 80-78. The Hoos fouled Taylor Johnson immediately (and maybe mistakenly) and she nailed both chances to give UofL the 82-78 edge. A foul sent Jazmine Jones back to the stripe with six ticks left and she came through on both to create what seemed to be an insurmountable 84-78 advantage. J'Kyra Brown thought differently for UVA, though and her three cut the tally to 84-81. Virginia should change their nickname to the Cats...because it seemed they had nine lives last night. 

A Mason foul on Durr gave her two attempts with 1.1 seconds on the clock and both went through the net to give UofL the 86-81 win. Fortunately, a five-point play didn't happen. 

Myisha did her best Godzilla impersonation tonight in the John Paul Jones Arena tonight. The people of Charlottesville are not safe until she boards the charter flight home. Mariya stepped up big-time when she was absolutely needed. Asia Durr overcame a dreadful start and held the squad together in overtime and Taylor Johnson provided a needed spark off the bench to give the Cards a hard fought, if not shaky, ACC road win. 

Let me catch my breath here...let's go to Fred. 


HOW DID FRED DO? 

Farmer Fred from THE WATERBOY movie

Free Throws --  The Cards went 24-32 in a game that featured 40 total fouls. Billy Smith earned a voucher for a replacement whistle after that one. Costly misses prevented the Cards from taking this one in regulation but expert marksmanship at the end secured the victory in overtime...the Cards sinking their final six attempts and 11-12 in the overtime session. Louisville made just two baskets in the bonus ball period and none in the final 2:12. You know the routine...if it's over 70%, we award the capital "F". 

Rebounds -- Give the Cards a 51-42 advantage Thursday night. Hines-Allen was dominating. They took both the offensive and defensive categories. We will award the capital "R" because of that. 

Effort/Execution -- This one is a tale of two halves. Louisville performed like a three-legged horse in the Kentucky Derby in the first twenty. They finally showed signs of life in the third quarter and won the overtime 15-10 but it wasn't a thing of beauty. Because it was a win and because of Hines-Allen, I'll distribute a small-case "e" here. Maybe an "e" minus-minus.

Defense -- Virginia shot 42.3% (50% from three-point range) and Huland-El torched the Cards time and time again. The Cards did get 12 steals but forced only 14 turnovers. The 12-0 stretch in the third quarter was spurred by the defense, though, and UofL held UVA to 2 for 8 shooting in overtime. Grudgingly, I'll award a small case "d"...since defense did get Louisville back in the game and they won.

FINAL FRED COUNT:  F-R-e-d


THINGS WE LIKED

Marvelous Myisha Hines-Allen. She put on her best performance of the season, maybe of her career on a night when it was desperately needed. Losing her at the end of this one -- on a whistle-happy night -- was critical but the squad finished the work she started. Any questions on why she was the pre-season ACC Player of the Year top vote-getter? 

Taylor-made. Taylor Johnson resembled a point-guard in many ways tonight and did it off the bench to give UofL a much needed lift. She caught the eye of the UVA based TV crew and deserved the kudos on a night where BJ wasn't at her best. 

Finishing. Too often we've lamented here about Louisville losing the fourth quarter. Louisville actually won it,  the second half and overtime session tonight. It was a topsy-turvy, roller-coaster ride but the objective is to out-score the opponent and Louisville did that after a horrendous start. 


THINGS TO WORK ON

Consistency. This team needs to put 40 (or 45 minutes) together from here on out if they want to achieve ACC success. Let's face it, Virginia might well probably be dubious in getting an NCAA Tournament bid but they looked like UConn against the Cards for 26 minutes tonight. Time to commit, buy in, do the work and invest in yourself Cards. 

Bench. Not a stellar effort out of those who aren't starters tonight...except for Taylor Johnson and a few Jazmine Jones flashes. Walz tried to play 12 players tonight but zero points and three rebound in 13 minutes for five of them forced him to stay with seven players the majority of the way tonight. 


SO...

What did we learn tonight? We learned that Louisville can come from behind on the road. We learned that lackadaisical and uninspired play to start a game can be a real tough situation to overcome. It was confirmed that Myisha Hines-Allen is the best player in the ACC and that smart play can eliminate turnovers.

Speaking of turnovers, I was brought up in Coach Walz's post-game radio presser. Not because of any I committed (although I made a judgement call and did leave the lap-top view for a brief while to listen on the radio out on the porch and yell..) but in his reference to the Cards opening a bakery and distributing turnovers right and left. He attributed the phrase to his grandfather but dedicated it to me. I like those lemon-custard turnovers...but would opt-out for a nice cheese danish if there is an option. Maybe someone will bring me one on media row Sunday...

I will study this and decide...1) If I want to get into the bakery business with Coach Walz. 2) What to name it if I do -- although he probably has a name picked out -- and 3) Who our staff and servers will be. They don't want me on the counter, by the register or near the oven...so I expect I'll be on trash runs, dishes and clean-up...much like what I do here daily on the website. 

The Cards go 1-1 against "the Joanne's" on their road trip and Pitt comes in Sunday. Hopefully the Cards and Walz will close the bakery and open a pest-elimination service. 

I can't cook and I can't dance...
Paulie
xxxxx 







  

Men Fall, Women Hope to Pick up Pieces -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

WBB Stays East of Home

After a tough loss at Duke, Louisville will have to take care of the second of a pair of road games before returning home. This time, the Cards will be facing Virginia in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers are coming off of a loss after having their six game win streak snapped against Syracuse. Despite the loss, Virginia held Syracuse (averaging 81.8 ppg) to only 54 points. After a game in which they managed only 55, the Cardinals will likely need a greater offensive output in this one to come away victorious. 

Tonight's game starts at 7PM and can be found on the ACC Network Extra. Paulie will have quite a bit more to say about it, and we'll hope to see a F-R-E-D in the writeup of a win.

South Bend Curse Strikes Again

This game was decided in regulation, which is unusual for a competition between Louisville and Notre Dame, but it was the Irish that came out on top. Notre Dame is the number one free throw shooting team in the land, with multiple players shooting greater than 90% from the stripe, and that showed last night. Sending the Irish to the line was a bold strategy for the Cards, but they elected to do so often anyway. The officials in the game were more than happy to whistle fouls in both directions, making questionable calls either way. The officials called 38 total fouls in the game, and while the foul deficit was low, the better free throw shooting team will always benefit in a tight game. Louisville did manage to shoot 13-18, a respectable 72.2%, but they were outdone by Notre Dame's 22-25 mark.

Notre Dame's attack was led by Steve Vasturia (who looks like the plucky protagonist in a RomCom), Matt Farrell (who looks like the bad guy boyfriend in the same RomCom), and Bonzie Colson (who is averaging a triple double). The three combined for 64 of Notre Dame's 77 points and shot 23 of Notre Dame's 25 free throws. Colson added 14 boards to the mix and peppered in three blocks. Here's an early scouting report of the March rematch between these two teams: guard these three guys.

Donovan Mitchell continued his ascendance to stardom in Purcell Pavilion, filling up the stat sheet with 20 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals. He did all while staying clean, turning the ball over just once (a strange over the head pass that looked more like it slipped out of his hand than anything else) and accumulating no fouls. Unfortunately, Mitchell failed to come away with the most important stat, the W. He also shot only 35%, due largely in part to being 2-10 from behind the arc. He was 4-4 from the free throw line and shot 50% from two point land. Mitchell is a very good player and is right to work on his outside shooting ability. However, when the outside shot isn't falling, it can be extremely beneficial to drive more often. Missed outside shots that lead to long defensive rebounds often have the same effect as a turnover at the top of the key. While it's clear that Donovan will be the go-to guy for the rest of the season, consistency will be extremely important. He played nearly the entire second half and scored only 4 points, making his 16 first half points lose a bit of luster. If you're gonna be the star, stepping up at the biggest moments is a definite requirement.

Like any game against the Irish, this one was up and down. It was mostly down for the Cards who led only thrice in the game, and never by more than two points. A minor comeback (of which Louisville had many last night) to tie the game at 68 was extinguished by a final 90 seconds that was extremely painful to watch for Louisville fans. The Cards will get another chance against the Irish in the regular season finale, this time without having to play in the dreaded Purcell Pavilion. Pitino has not won in South Bend as the head coach of the Louisville Cardinals, which makes having to play there seemingly every year rather unfortunate. 

Louisville finished its holiday gauntlet with a respectable 2-2 mark. An 0-2 conference start isn't pretty, but Virginia and Notre Dame aren't terrible losses to have. The Cards will get Georgia Tech on Saturday. I'd say that the Yellow Jackets would make for a nice team to get the first conference win against, but they knocked off UNC in Atlanta before being absolutely mangled by Duke. Josh Pastner is always an annoyance, but hopefully the Dr. Jekyll version of the Cards will show up rather than the Mr. Hyde. There is a lot of season remaining, and I'm excited to see how it plays out.

Until next time, Go Cards.

-CH-

Louisville women's basketball -- Early season losses aplenty for top ACC WBB teams...WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

ACC PRESEASON TOP-FIVE HAVE ALL LOST IN EARLY CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

One of the terms that you can use about the early ACC WBB Conference play would be parity. A glance at the top four in the league reveals NC State on top at 2-0, Virginia Tech 1-0, Duke 1-0 and Boston College 1-0. None of these four were picked in the top four in the ACC preseason poll. 

Duke was predicted to finish sixth, NC State seventh, Virginia Tech 12th and Boston College 13th. Sometimes, the favorites break slow out of the gate, right?

NC State is the early surprise team in ACC WBB...with wins at Notre Dame and at home against FSU. These two squads were picked to finish first and third in the preseason Coaches and Blue Ribbon Panel polls. These weren't squeakers, either...the Wolfpack downed the Irish 70-62 and the Seminoles 70-61.

A thriller last year! 

Wolfpack Coach Wes Moore is getting it done with several players. Dominque Wilson, a 5'8" red-shirt senior guard had 18 against the Irish and 19 at Florida State. She's in her third season at NC State after transferring from Arkansas. Miah Spencer, a 5'8" senior guard tallied 17 against UND and 12 against the Seminoles. She's been a starter all four years in Raleigh. Inside, the Wolfpack look to Jennifer Mathurian, a 6'1" senior that had 11 points and 10 rebounds against the Irish. She's been on the NC State roster all four years. Chelsea Nelson, a 6'2" junior, went for 17 against FSU.

None of these four made the Preseason All-ACC Team. No Wade Watch List, Naismith Trophy Watch nor Wooden Award candidates among them. NC State has had three losses on the season...like Louisville...their defeats coming to Kansas State and LSU in the Paradise Jam and at Tulane. Miami comes to visit Reynolds Coliseum Thursday. Louisville gets them Thursday, Feb. 2nd in the KFC YUM! Center. Who could forget last year's nail-biting 92-20 Cardinal win in Raleigh last year in the high school gym the 'Pack played in while Reynolds was being renovated? 

Experienced upperclassmen, especially at the guard slots for Mr. and Mrs. Wuf's squad. Louisville has already seen that twice in league play with Syracuse's Peterson and Sykes and Duke's Greenwell and Brown. 

Virginia Tech continues to surprise with a 14-0 record. They're the only team that is undefeated for the season so far in the conference. UNC was their victim in Cassel Coliseum 76-68. Chanette Hicks is the story in Blacksburg...the sophomore guard had been named ACC Player of the Week twice already. The Cards go to Va.Tech Thurs. Feb 9th. to face the Hokies. Louisville won an ugly one against them in the YUM! last year 56-45. 

We know how Duke got their lone ACC win. They head to Georgia Tech Thursday and FSU Sunday. Boston College downed Clemson in what would have been a battle for the cellar last year in the ACC. They stay up north this week with trips to Pitt and Syracuse. 

The top five teams in the preseason rankings...#7 Notre Dame, #6 FSU, #8 Louisville, #14 Miami and #25 Syracuse are 1-1 in conference play. They consist of the middle of the pack in the ACC. Wake Forest still hasn't played a conference game and Clemson, Ga. Tech, UNC, Virginia and Pitt are all 0-1. 

Of course...it is way early in the conference schedule. 230 ACC games yet to be played. Eight teams ranked in the USA Today top 25. 

Thursday's slate has some great match-ups.

Syracuse goes to Clemson and should get a win, although "Q's" bunch had to come from 17 down to beat Virginia last time out.  Duke heads to Atlanta to take on the Ramblin' Wreck and should pick up their second conference win. The Miami-NC State contest in Raleigh should be a thriller...I'll go with the 'Canes coming in and getting the road win. Florida State and UNC should be a good one, too. I like the Seminoles over the TarHeels. Wake Forest opens their conference slate at Notre Dame in what should be an easy Irish victory. Boston College at Pitt is a toss up. I'll take the home Panthers. Louisville at Virginia will be close...the Cards get the "W". 

I was 5-2 last week...Louisville and Florida State were my losses. I'm a so-so 
6-4 on the ACC schedule so far.  

My top five performers from Monday? I'll go with Lexie Brown (Duke), Chanette Hicks (Va. Tech), Dominque Wilson (NC State), Alexis Peterson (Syracuse) and Arike Ogunbowale (Notre Dame). 


      💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣💣


CARDS MBB TRAVELS TO NOTRE DAME TONITE

Rick Pitino takes the men's squad to South Bend tonight to face the Irish in
a 9 p.m. match-up in the Purcell Pavilion. (We didn't know Sam Purcell had a pavilion...that guy is everywhere!) The Cards enter at 12-2 and are ranked #9 nationally.

We'll see how the new starting lineup of "Q", Ray, Donovan, Deng and Anas does in their second outing against the the 12-2 #23 Irish. It looked pretty good against IU. Having Jaylen and Mangok coming off the bench could provide the spark the Cards need to gather their first win in South Bend since 1994. 

This one will be televised on the ACC Network...WHAS TV locally. Case will have the write-up on it Thursday. 

😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊


"HAPPY TO BE HERE" ASIA TAYLOR FLOURISHING IN AUSTRALIA

If you've followed us for a awhile...it should come as no surprise that Asia Taylor has been a Cardinal Couple favorite for a long time...especially with our ops manager Sonja. The former Cardinal from Columbus, OH has found success and happiness in the land down under...playing for the Sydney Flames. 

Since graduation, A-Tayy has remained active in the women's hoops professional ranks with a couple of WNBA teams and abroad. The 25 yr. old is arguably playing the best basketball of her life these days and we couldn't be more pleased for her. Good to see "Tigger" healthy and pain-free! 

Reader Sandy W...a big A-Tayy fan as well...sends us this nice link detailing her impressive 2016-17 season. Post 'em up and take it to the hoop! 

LINK: A-TAYY ON THE PROWL OVERSEAS


have a Wonderful Wednesday! 
paulie

xxxxx

Louisville women's basketball -- Despite the trickery, Cards fall to Blue Devils 58-55...Tuesday CARDINAL COUPLE

TRIO IN DOUBLE FIGURES NOT ENOUGH AS CARDS FALL TO BLUE DEVILS BY 3

Photo by Carolyn Chang - The Chronicle 

Myisha Hines-Allen recorded another double-double, Asia Durr and Mariya Moore joined her in double figure scoring and the Cards pulled off the con job of the 2016-17 basketball season...but erratic shooting, ball-handling woes and getting outscored 17-11 in the final ten minutes all contributed to Louisville first ACC loss Monday night in Durham, NC. 

The Cards well-planned trickery paid off to start the second half when Louisville sent Hines-Allen, Cortnee Walton and Asia Durr underneath the DUKE basket prior to Moore tossing the ball in-bounds to Briahanna Jackson to begin the third quarter. The Duke starting five dutifully followed them down there. Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, they needed to be defending the other basket and Moore flipped the ball to Jackson...following her down the court as she trotted to the unguarded rim and put in an uncontested layup. 

Classic Walz afoot there. The mad scientist strikes again!

The mis-direction gave the Cards a 27-23 lead...which they would increase to 44-41 by the end of the period...but the Cards ended up taking the 58-55 loss due to some steady free throw shooting by Duke guard Lexie Brown and a couple of less-than-perfect offensive possessions at the end of the contest. 

The Cards started slowly, trailing 15-12 after the first quarter. The Cards regrouped to lead 25-23 at the half. A 6-0 closing run had Louisville on top 44-41 after three. The loss comes after Duke takes the fourth 17-11. 

Carolyn Change -- The Chronicle

Let's face it. Stretches of this one were sloppy and "choppy"...a term used by the ESPNU talking head who accompanied Brooke Weisbrod on the play-by-play. A man who still thinks the one-and-one still exists in WBB. Who hasn't figured out Asia Durr is left-handed yet. Sailing masts and regatta dinghy's aside...the Cards committed 19 turnovers and shot just 6-23 from the deep to take their third loss of the season. 

Coach Walz explains it sufficiently: 

"We took a lot of really good shots. Unfortunately the ball just did not go in. When go you against a team that's going to play zone for 40 minutes...you've got to be able to knock down open shots and that just what we didn't do."   

Head Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie put her own spin on the win: 


"We played a lot of match-up and that takes away a lot of passing angles to those post players. It starts with the guards and, of course, with the posts. You're connected at the hip -- all five players -- it's always team defense." 

Thanks for that, Coach "P". I'll have to study it and look at the pictures. Five players connected at the hip... 

The 3-2 Duke employed was, in part, responsible for Louisville shooting under 40% but I'm going with the off-shooting night for Durr and some silliness at the end causing Louisville's loss. Plus the 7-0 Duke run to the start the fourth quarter.

It was a 53-52 Louisville lead with 1:27 to play after Hines-Allen's jumper but after Rebecca Greenwell gave the Dookies a 54-53 lead 30 seconds later on a nice inside move...the Cards get a three pointer blocked and then start fouling Brown...who had made 40-something in a row coming into the game. Twice she's fouled and twice she sinks both. Sydney Zambrotta's last-second, sprawling, falling potential game-tying three almost banked in...but the Cards suffer an ACC road loss 58-55 to a team that has also downed Kentucky and South Carolina this year. 

I realize you can't always pick who you have to foul at game's end...and the obvious choice (Duke's Chidom) was throwing the ball in...so that pretty much eliminated her...but putting Brown at the line was like tossing tennis balls into a trash barrel from a yard away...you're probably not gonna miss. 

Ten played for Louisville (Hines-Allen, Moore, Jackson, Durr, Walton, Fuehring, Jazmine Jones, both Johnsons and Zambrotta.) Six scored (Hines-Allen 16, Durr 15, Moore 14, Walton 4, Fuehring 4 and Jackson 2).   

Lessons learned on a road trip. The need to finish on the offensive end. To make the layups. The need to overcome poor shooting nights with lock-down defense. On a night where tomfoolery got national attention, the Cards ended up with the joke on them. How big a game was it? Let's close with another JoAnne P-ism: 

"Big games only occur in April. March and April. Nothing's big about this or any other game. What we learn from this game will be the test for us. What we learn and how we move forward." 

I'm gonna have to study and think on that. Might need a picture...


HOW DID FRED DO? 

Fred Gwynne -- Herman Munster

Free Throws -- Well, on the Cardinal side they were few and far between (because we know Duke never fouls in Cameron, right?) but one Card actually got to the line and Asia Durr made all three of her attempts. That's 100% and that will get a capital "F". Duke went 8 for 11...if anyone's counting.

Rebounding -- The Cards held a commanding 37-25 advantage on the boards. Hines-Allen corralled 12 and Walton found six. Good enough for a capital "R" in my book. 

Effort/Execution -- Louisville had 19 turnovers, Duke had 12 steals, the Cards shot 39.7% (26.1% from 3-range) and lost the fourth quarter. The effort, although misguided at times, was there but the execution not great enough to award a letter in this category.

Defense -- Brown had a field day against the Louisville guards with 17 points but Greenwell wasn't a big factor with just 10 points. At times, the defense was solid but in the fourth quarter it slipped and after a loss, we usually don't award a letter. That stands today.

FINAL FRED COUNT:  F-R-_-_.


WHAT WE LIKED 

"The Sting". No one but the Cards knew what was going on in the start of the second half trickery. Not the announcers, the refs or...most importantly...Duke. Credit the genius of Walz and the staff for the ploy.  If you missed it, here's the link: Cards WBB fakes out Duke

"You're going the wrong way!
ANOTHER CLASSIC MISDIRECTION LINK

Solid Sam. Sam Fuehring saw only eight minutes in the contest but had two key baskets early in the second quarter to give the Cards the lead and also grabbed four rebounds. The three fouls...well...*meh* but a good effort in a limited appearance for the sophomore. 

Light at the end of the tunnel? Mariya Moore went 4-8 from three-point range which might mean she's over the slump from the deep that has been there the last few games. 


WHAT NEEDS WORK

Closure.  After Asia Durr's jumper at 7:35 in the fourth, it was 46-41 Louisville. We would have liked to see the "killer instinct" take over for Louisville at this point. Instead, a 7-0 Duke run followed over the next two minutes. Gotta seal the deal. 

Ball handling. 14 of the 19 turnovers came from Louisville's guards. Mariya had seven of them. Yes, these were very good Duke guards, no doubt about that...but the miscues were responsible for 18 points off turnovers. Duke won that category 18-10. A telling stat. 

Focus. The Cards were out-of-sync in their possessions at the end...almost timid and unsure of what to do out there. Those possessions resulted in a blocked three attempt, Hines-Allen bucket for two instead of a potential-tying three attempt and a missed desperation three at the buzzer. A little leadership would have come in handy in that last minute. 



SO...

A loss that could have been prevented for Louisville tonight if they had performed better in the fourth quarter. An exciting, in some ways, end to this one...with the score lead going back-and-forth. One to chalk up to experience and learn from as the Cards roll back into it at Charlottesville on Thursday against a Virginia team who surrendered a 17 point lead over Syracuse to lose at home. Surprising NC State also pulls the shocker with a 70-61 win over #7 Florida State. 

ACC. Anything Can Culminate. 



POST GAME WALZ

Coach Walz answers a few questions after the game and Asia observes and serves as a silent partner in the link below. It's obvious that they have no "Paulie" presence in the Duke media contingent...

LINK:  

JEFF WALZ POST GAME DUKE PRESSER




tuesday trauma...
Paulie
xxxxx

Louisville women's basketball -- Healthy, revamped #15 Duke a challenge for Cards...MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

WBB TRAVELS TO DURHAM TO PLAY DUKE

(Notes while trying to remember it's 2017 and forget Saturday's football game.)


The first road game for the University of Louisville women's basketball squad in the ACC schedule has the Birds flying into Carolina country and facing a very dangerous Duke Blue Devils squad. The two will tip off at 7 p.m. tonight on ESPNU in a match that pits Louisville against another top-flight pair of guards for the second straight game. After the Christmas break, the action will start coming at you, Cardinal fans, hot and heavy with hoops and today's should be a battle.

With prayers that Grayson Allen won't be in the stands (or near the court) for this one and that the Cameron Crazies will be at home watching bowl games....off we go! 


Rebecca Greenwell is healthy and the rest of the ACC should take notice
and be forewarned. The senior guard has had her ups-and-downs injury-wise
in her career as a Blue Devil...but is red-hot and helping lead the charge for
Joanne P. McCallie's 12-1 group. She leads the Devils with 19.7 ppg, 6.7 rebounds and has also canned a team-high 41 3-pointers this season. 
Cards fans may remember her from her high school days at Owensboro, KY
Catholic high school...where she was a 2013 All-American and made the 
Kentucky All-State first team her final three years.  

Lexie Brown is a first-year transfer for the Blue Devils from Maryland and
her impact has been immediate. She scores 17.6 a contest and is definitely
a guard you want to think twice about fouling, with a 90.9% (50-55) success
rate from the charity stripe. UofL backers will probably remember her role
in knocking the Cards out of the "Great 8" leg of the NCAA Tournament
back in 2013-14 at the YUM! Center with 20 points as a freshman.

Although key rebounder from last year Azuri Stevens left the program at the end of last season to transfer to UConn..the other "mover in the middle" Oderah Chidom returns and is flourishing well in the paint for Duke with 9.4 points a night, 24 blocks on the year and second in rebounding at 6.6. Chidom will make you pay inside if you try and drive on her and she will collect again if you leave her alone with a mid-range jumper.

These Devils with with blue unis on have stumbled but once this year...a bit
of a surprising fall to Vanderbilt in quaint Memorial Gym in Nashville back on
November 20th. December has belonged to the Devil worshipers, though...
with big wins over two common UofL foes in Kentucky and South Carolina. 
Duke is on a eight-game win streak and is unbeaten in Cameron Indoor Arena this year. 

No one said the ACC was going to be easy. 

The 13-2 Cards will counter with the red-hot Asia Durr....who lit up downtown
Louisville pre-New Years Eve with 36 points against Syracuse. Add in Myisha Hines Allen's 18 and 10 and the triple-double Mariya Moore executed 
against the Orange and you have a really great potential three-on-three 
side game that would be fun to watch. 

The Cards downed Duke pretty convincingly last year in the YUM! 65-48 back
on Jan 10th, 2016. Moore and Durr had 15 each in the win and Myisha added 
14 for UofL. Cortnee Walton grabbed 12 boards for the Cards, who forced
the Blue Devils into 22 turnovers. 

Although a lot of the names are the same, this is a vastly different Duke team
this season. Brown adds that extra dimension out front and if one of the Blue Devil top-three are having a off-night, returnees Kyra Lambert and Leanna Odom...plus freshman Kendall Cooper are capable of double-digit performances...plus all three go to the boards very strong and will give the Cards a handful of players to keep an eye on.

What must the Cards do to get the win tonight? Here's five ideas.

1. Avoid the "can't shoot straight early" syndrome. Louisville can't afford to have a cold start against a squad that is shooting 49% on the season and averages 81 points a game while just giving up 53. Patient offense and not firing up forced threes. Work the shot clock and get the good look. 

    2. Stay with us #2 . A seat early for Myisha Hines-Allen could spell big                   trouble for the Cards tonight. Careful on the defense with no silly fouls and         playing under control early would be sound advice for the Cardinal star.

    3. Are ya still hot? We hope so! The Cards could definitely use another 

        scorching performance from Asia Durr in this one and feel free to join

        the party early...#25. A.D is averaging almost 23 ppg in her last four and

        Louisville likely will need all those and more tonight.

   

     4. Score...Moore. This would be a great night to see Mariya break out of                her recent shooting slump from the deep and if Duke tries to get cute

         and "zone up" the Cards...her proven marksmanship will be needed.

     5. All-the-way-BJ! . Louisville would be greatly benefited by another of                 those "stand back and watch me work" games from Briahanna                           Jackson...doing all the sometimes underappreciated things with perfection.

        Steals, assists, rebounds, shut-down defense. It's a lot of hats to wear,               but they fit her so well. 

Another huge test for the Cards tonight... but one that the Cards are perfectly capable of passing if they can control the pace and dictate the tempo. I expect a close one. An exciting one. A winning one. Louisville needs to turn the dial to "11" tonight with their hustle and intensity. 

Who will step up off the bench in this one? It seems it's someone different each time in Louisville's recent games. With the style of ball Duke likes to play, we're hoping Jazmine Jones can take advantage of this great setting to explode and if Sydney Zambrotta can get a few open looks...it could be trifecta time in a state that has no horse-racing tracks. 

😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎

TESTING, TESTING...

In case you missed THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR Saturday (which is perfectly understandable with all the different things going on)...here's a link to the re-broadcast. We had fun in the studio discussing hoops and football and even made a few New Years resolutions. Worldwide even explains the concept of time to me. Stunning, really....

It's live radio. We get our surprises from time-to-time (like Paulie's chair plummeting a foot or so unexpectedly near the end of the broadcast) but that's part of the allure. 

LINK: CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR 12-31-16


Monday ,monday....can't trust that day
paulie
xxxxx

Happy New Year -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

HAPPY NEW YEAR ! 

From all of us at CARDINAL COUPLE...HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!


We're glad you made it to 2017 with us and promise to continue bringing you the best in
UofL women's sports coverage from a fan's viewpoint. The joy and excitement of Cardinal Athletics is alive and well here and we invite
you to make the trip with us as we roll 
through the next 12 months of Louisville
sports! 

No worries...Football will recover, men's 
basketball will shine..we have women's
hoops, softball, swimming and lacrosse to get
fired up about in the next couple of months and....Asia Durr is still awesome! 

Thank you to the folks at Crescent Hill Radio for putting up with our
nonsense on The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour in 2016 and we look
forward to another year with our hard working studio engineer Monk
and her faithful side-kick Punkin.

Also our appreciation to Howie Lindsey and Louisville First for giving
us another weekly radio outlet to share the joy and excitement of
Louisville women's athletics.

Our hats are off to the coaches, players, administration and staff of UofL Athletics 
who make it so very easy and so much 
fun to do this 365 days a year. You are the story...we just observe and comment. 

We are grateful for the sponsors and 
donors who keep this site and radio show
running. Your support is greatly valued.

Most importantly, we appreciate you...the
readers and listeners who have decided to
choose us. We are overwhelmed with your
support and always welcome your ideas, suggestions, input, comments and 
commentary. Our lives are truly enriched by
your presence and you are the reason why
we are here. 


YOU are Cardinal Couple...and we never forget that. Thank you! 

party, baby...
paulie

xxxxx