Pitt today -- W Tennis downs SEMO St -- Swimming at the YUM -- Batter Up Brunch -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE.

Pitt Comes to the Yum!

0-7 in conference, 3-15 overall.  Honestly, and trying to be a respectful as possible, that may be about all you need to know about Pitt before today's later afternoon matchup.

The Panthers come in with wins only against Central Connecticut State, Fairleigh Dickinson, and Ole Miss.  UCF beat them by 14, Georgetown by 10, and Duquesne by 19.  None of these are strong teams in overall NCAA play.  In conference, loses have come by margins of eight to UNC, eight to Notre Dame, nine to Boston College, 12 to Virginia Tech, eight to Clemson, 18 to Syracuse, and to NC State?  Well, that one may have gotten an R rating for being just gruesome.  The Wolfpack ran off with a 22-0 run to start the 3rd quarter and won the overall quarter 30-4 on their way to a 88-44 finish.

The only main statistical category that Pitt is beating it's opponents is rebounding.  They do have that edge on both the defensive and offensive side, though the offensive rebounding margin is razor thing on the season.  Aysia Bugg is the scoring leader, averaging 13 per game, close behind is a committee of Amber Brown, Dayshanette Harris, and Gabbie Green, all scoring between 9.9 and 9.5 points per game.  Starting in the post, look for Cara Judkins, she's good for the highest scoring percentage on the team, but it's only 4.5 per game.  At 6'2", I don't think she'll provide a huge challenge for Kylee or Bionca.

Wins are what is looked for in the season, and this should be a relatively easy one.  I hope that Coach Walz can use this one for some teaching time with a little less pressure on getting the team into the winning side of the scoreboard.  We've all watched and cheered as this team has started to "figure it out", but there's still quite a ways to go on that journey.  While the level of competition plays into some of that, it can also be nice to have a less pressure filled game to give players a chance to make mistakes, play through them, and learn from the experiences.

A feel-good romp should make for a fun time in the KFC Yum! Center this afternoon.  It's a 4pm tip and is on the ACC Network, so there is no need for streaming today.

Tennis Back in Action

South East Missouri State comes to Louisville for a double-header today vs Mark Beckham's Tennis squad.

I haven't caught up much with the Tennis team this year, but they are transfer-laden, with seven of the 10 players on the roster listed as having transferred from another University, and also have a significant international flair, having a pair of Argentinians, a Russian, a Canadian (Toronto), and a Bosnian.

The first matchup starts with the doubles as always at 10am, and the second matchup will be at 1pm.  Live streaming of the matches should be available at:

https://gocards.com/sports/2018/2/2/louisville-tennis-live-video.aspx

At the time of this writing, it appears only one of the six courts actually has live video up and running.

Swimming and Diving

It was a the Battle of the Bluegrass, pool party style, yesterday at the Ralph Wright Natatorium.  Our intrepid photographer, Jared was in attendance early, before scooting over to the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour recording.  All reports was that it was an absolute jam packed house, with at least parts of 5 or 6 other sports teams in attendance to cheer on their colleagues against the Wildcats.

The teams split in the results, with the Kentucky women getting the best of the Louisville women with total scores of 160.5 to 139.5.  The Louisville men managed a similar margin of the Wildcats with a total score of 165 to 135.

On the women's side, we got wins from Arina Openysheva in the 100 free, Christiana Regenauer in the 100 fly, and Lainey Visscher in the 50 free.  The three of them, plus Casey Fanz narrowly edged out the wildcats to get the win in the 400 free relay.  The margin of victory was less than two tenths of a second in a nearly three and a half minute long race.

In (well, mostly above) the diving end of the pool, Molly Fears was just edged in the 1 meter board competition, but did come out on top in the 3 meter.

You can see more of Jared's pictures from the event below.

The Swim and Dive team will be back in action Friday with Indiana coming to the Ralph Wright.


Softball Batter Up Brunch

Louisville Softball held their pre-season Batter Up Brunch at the PNC Club yesterday and Paulie and Sonja were there to attend and catch the words.

Sean Moth handled the P.A. duties in his always informative fashion

A great time it was. Here are some audio links from the event:  Vince Tyra made some opening remarks, Alicja Wolny delivered the keynote speaker address and there was a great video about the squad that the attendees got to see while they dined. Celene Funke did a Q&A with selected members of the squad, including Eden Mayo, Catlin Ferguson, Chardonnay Harris and Holly Aprile ended the program with her comments about the event, team and upcoming season.

It was a splendid time for all, and a silent auction was also available for attendees.

THE WORDS:

HOLLY APRILE PRE-BANQUET WITH PAULIE

INTERVIEW WITH CELENE FUNKE

INTERVIEW WITH KEYNOTE SPEAKER WITH WOLNY

VINCE TYRA REMARKS

ALICJA WOLNY KEYNOTE ADDRESS

SEAN MOTH INTRODUCES THE SENIORS

HOLLY APRILE'S WORDS FOR THE ATTENDEES

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

It's a little bit of two steps forward and one step back.  We had four of us in the recording booth at the Louisville Northeast Regional Library branch, and with the added input, I found a new technical glitch.  Poor Jared, the audio interface they have had the 3rd and 4th channels turned off.  Case, Paulie, and I started on channels one and two, plus a separate USB mic, meaning for the first part of the show, Jared is awfully hard to hear.  I did give him my mic to use as I struggled to find the cause of the problem (and you can tell in my extremely distracted responses to prompts from Paulie).  We did find, and fix, the problem after the show.  So this continues to be a learning process.  In any case, you can check out the show below.

--
JMcA

Tennis Beats Ball State; Track Underway in South Bend -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Tennis Claims Victory Over Ball State 5-2

After a pair of sweeps at home last week, Louisville headed to Muncie, Indiana to take on the Cardinals of Ball State. The Battle of the Redbirds was a rematch from last season, when Louisville played host. In last season's match up, UofL was victorious, winning 6-1 over a Ball State team that went on to finish the season 16-6, with the final loss coming against the top-seeded Miami (OH) in the MAC Tournament. 

Yesterday, Louisville claimed victory by winning all three doubles matches and four of six singles matches. Ball State put up more fight than the final score indicates, after a big win (6-2, 6-0) for the northern Cardinals in the first completed singles match tied the overall score at 1-1 (doubles matches are completed first). Louisville regained a 3-1 lead before a close Ball State win (6-4, 6-3) made it 3-2. UofL finished off the final two singles matches to take the victory with the final 5-2 score. 

I was a bit harsh on the Cards last week in my assessment of their last few seasons, as there is no way to know this early if the team has turned a corner. A victory over a Ball State squad that they beat last year may not seem like much, but that matchup was just the second of the season and it was a Ball State team that lost just five more matches on the year. Louisville has plenty more time to get everything cleaned up before the conference season gets underway and we'll see during that time if the Cards can continue to put up impressive performances. 

Track Goes to Notre Dame Invitational

For their second winter meet of the year, the Cards are returning to Indiana. After a week off following the Gene Edmunds Cup, in which the Cards saw quite a bit of success, Louisville is in South Bend for a single day invitational meet where they will hope to duplicate some of those strong performances. The return to Indiana may seem a bit odd, but they'll actually head back for a third meet in the state on Valentine's Day at IU. In fact, all but one of the team's winter meets (outside of the championship) takes place north of Louisville. The only southern event is in Fayetteville, Arkansas and will share the competition weekend with the aforementioned event at IU and a third meet hosted in Ames, Iowa. Similarly, the indoor ACC championships will return to South Bend before any NCAA qualifiers head all the way to Alburquerque, New Mexico.

Keep an eye on the results from today's meet posted by the UofL Track and Field Twitter account, which can be followed along on the right hand side of the site, and tune in for final results following completion of the meet later today.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We still haven't given up on this new podcast format. In fact, you might say we're getting better at it every week. I don't know if you believe that, but you might say it. This week, we'll test the capacity of the new studio when we add a fourth member to the mix. Jared has finally emerged from his hibernation and decided to grace Paulie, Jeff, and me with his presence. We've got plenty of basketball to cover, as well as continuing coverage of the lead up to spring sports getting underway. The show this week will again be coming to you at 2:30 PM, so be sure to set your alarm. Tune in to the YouTube Live stream for the show. As always, the recording of this week's show and all past broadcasts can be found at any time on the Cardinal Couple YouTube channel. Be sure to subscribe to the channel for episodes of the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour as well as future interviews as more sports get underway.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Strong First Half Sends WBB Cards past UVA 71-56 -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

22-4 RUN OVER 10 MINUTES LEADS TO CARDS 19TH WIN

The University of Louisville women's basketball team used a 10-minute stretch that ended the first quarter and extended into the second quarter to outscore Virginia 22-4 and put away the Cavs last night in the KFC YUM! Center before 7776 fans. 

With 5:31 left in opening period action, Louisville found themselves in a bit of a struggle against the foe from Charlottesville. The score was 13-11 and despite Kylee Shook recording the Cards first five points, the Cavs were hanging close to Louisville. 

A media timeout and Jeff Walz inserting Yacine Diop and Liz Dixon into the lineup, though, worked wonders for the Cardinals production. UofL went on a 12-2 closing run to end the quarter, two Dana Evans threes and four points from Diop propelled Louisville to a 25-13 advantage as time expired in the opening session.

Another great start for Louisville and 71% shooting in those first ten minutes from the Cards had this one pretty much looking to be "in the bag" for a UofL "W". 

The hot streak continued as the second quarter began. 

Norika making a list and checking it twice? 

Bionca Dunham ran off three baskets in a row, and after an Evans layup with 6:26 until half, UofL had increased the lead to 35-15. The Cards defense was getting the stops and ended up forcing eight UVA turnovers. Shook already had three blocks in the books and the Cards ended the half ahead 39-22 after a Kasa Robinson jumper. Despite Louisville only hitting two shots out of their final 12 in the last six minutes, they managed to win the quarter 14-9 and were shooting 50% (16-32). They had also managed to hold Virginia to just 33% shooting for the half. 

Evans and Shook had combined for five first half three pointers, the Cards were winning the points in paint battle 18-8, had 11 points off turnovers (compared to UVA's 5) and were out-rebounding the smaller foe 20-16. Walz had already played the nine players available for the game (Jess Laemmle and Molly Lockhart were out with the flu) and it looked like UofL had the Hoos boarding the bus early to navigate I-65 traffic. 39-22 was the score, it probably could have been much higher if the Cardinals hadn't stumbled and sputter a bit as the quarter wore down. 

It didn't quite turn out to be a romp, though, in the final twenty minutes.  

UVA came out determined to get back into the contest and, after Louisville went on an early 4-0 run to start the quarter and build their largest lead of the game at 43-22 after Jaz Jones got in the scoring column, the Cavs struck back. 

43-22 became 43-30 in the space of three minutes. Balanced Virginia scoring and the Cards five missed shots and three turnovers had turned the momentum and lead to a 8-0, four minute Cavalier run. Robinson connected on two free throws with 4:16 to go and Diop followed suit with two more charity tosses two minutes later to give UofL a 46-33 lead.

The Cards played VA pretty evenly to close out the third quarter thanks to Jaz.  Her 5-0 quarter-ending run included an old-fashioned three point play and two free throws, but a late Shemera Williams three pulled the Virginia  squad within 12 as the quarter ended with the score board showing 51-39 Louisville. 

The Cards made just three of 11 shot attempts in those 10 minutes, Virginia had scored six points off turnovers and won the quarter 17-12. What would the final period bring? 

Fortunately, the Cards did not suffer a fourth-quarter collapse like they did at UNC Sunday. Dana, Jaz and Elizabeth Balogun made sure of that. The trio combined for 17 of Louisville's 20 final quarter points. Louisville got off to a slow start in the fourth, but, UVA couldn't do much either. Just seven points scored in the first two minutes, the Cards getting two of them on a pair of Jones free throws. UVA narrowed it to 11 after a Jocelyn Willoughby jumper that made it 55-44, but UofL responded with a 5-0 run, started by a Balogun three and capped off by an Evans layup to create a 16-point, 60-44 lead with 5:58 to play. 

UVA head coach Tina Thompson maybe reminiscing
about her stellar playing career? 

UVA would get no closer than 13 the rest of the way. An Evans jumper made it 67-47 at the four-minute mark. Three Cardinal free throws in a excessive, late whistle blowing contest between the officials, set the tally at 71-53.

Freshman Shemera Williams, who had a nice outing against the Cards with 20 points off the bench in just 22 minutes ended the scoring with a late three.

Louisville had captured their eighth straight ACC win with the 71-56 final. 


FRED REPORT

Fred G. Sanford , the "G" stands for Gun, Balogun,
He would have enjoyed last night's win 

FREE THROWS --  24 fouls called in the final 20 minutes of this outing, compared to just 13 in the first half. The Cards went to the line and shot for an acceptable 75% on 15-20 marksmanship. Diop and Jones went 9 for 12, Dana only got two chances but made them both.  75% works for all parties concerned, much better than the Hoos 10-18, 55.6%, and we have no problem extending a CAPITAL "F" for knocking down the ones where no one is guarding you. 

REBOUNDS -- How about "E" !! She dominated the defensive end of the court with 10 grabs and ended up with 12 grabs overall to lead all players. Louisville won the battle-of-the-boards 40-33. Kylee added seven rebounds and the CAPITAL "R" goes out for a gutsy performance against a battling UVA squad that was employing a four guard offense most of the game. Credit to Jocelyn Willoughby, whose 11 rebounds complemented her 17 points. Get to know the name, readers, she'll be earning money in the WNBA next year. 

EFFICIENCY/EXECUTION -- For stretches in this one, the Cards looked like the #3 squad in the nation. Sixteen turnovers still a bit high, but they passed the ball well most of the game (13 assists on 25 made baskets) shot an acceptable 44% from the floor and proved the best in the paint 28-20. That third quarter lapse, though, will dictate that a small case "e" is the designation here. All nine Cards that played had at least one turnover. 

DEFENSE -- UVA came into the game last in ACC scoring with just 59 points and Louisville defense did what most expected them to do, allowing just 56. Kylee Shook the "wow" factor last night with six blocked shots and Dana and Jaz created three steals each. Only 36% shooting for the Cavaliers and a mere 21% in the second quarter. After deliberation,  I'll extend a CAPTIAL "D" for holding the foe under their already lacking season point production and creating a game where only two Cavs were effective from the floor. 


FINAL FRED TALLY:   F-R-e-D


THEY SAID IT: 

Post game comments below: 

VIRGINIA HEAD COACH TINA THOMPSON

DANA EVANS AND KYLEE SHOOK

JEFF WALZ


SOOOOO...

Louisville came home and did what they were expected to do, beat a sub .500 ACC foe by double digits. UofL held Virginia to below their season average with mostly spectacular defense and double figure scoring performances from Dana, Jaz and Kylee. 

Jaz had a rough first half but responded with all of her 13 points in the second session. Kylee was "on" early and ended with 10 points in just 25 minutes. Dana...maybe I've gotten a bit spoiled or jaded by her consistent, every game magic....led all scorers with 21 points and logged a team-high 35 minutes. It's what she does, regular as rain in Louisville. 

I'll point out the very effective games Bionca Dunham and Yacine Diop had last night. "B" is the blue collar, punch the clock and go to the job --  working class hero on this squad. One rebound may raise a few eyebrows, but she did total eight points and was creating havoc for the Cavs when they had the ball. YA-YA came off the bench, helped spur the early, dominating run and, despite the four fouls, once again showed that she will always give you 100% plus when she's on the court. Her defense and overall hustle were key last night.

Let's hope the flu bug stays away from the rest of the roster and the Cards go into Sunday ready to rumble against Pitt. If not, Jeff Walz is bringing in over 1500 Girl Scouts in on the Sabbath to bolster the noise level and I would imagine there will be a few Thin Mints available for fan-base dining pleasure.

Maybe a couple GSA attendees will get playing time if the Cards can run up a sizable lead against the visiting Pitt Panthers. NC St. doubled the score on them last night 88-44. 

According to Coach Walz, if you freeze them, they become fat-free (FDA opinion on this pending). Bring cash, y'all. 

Also, it was good to see my good friend Bobbie and her son in attendance last night. Talk about huge Cardinal fans, they traveled down from way up north for this one.

Finally, former Cardinal staffer Jimmy Yu was at the game, performing his duties as UVA's assistant WBB operations director. I had a quick chat with him before the contest, he's a rising star in the profession and a great guy overall. We're going to need to do a feature on him during the slow months of Summer 2020. 

PHOTOS AND POST GAME INTERVIEWS BY JARED ANDERSON. WE'RE SPOILED BY HIS EXCELLENT WORK.


paulie
xxxxx 

Cards Prepare for Virginia -- Spring Sports Media Day I -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Prepare for Virginia

Get your naps in today because it's going to be a late one!  Louisville basketball is set for an ACC showdown against Virginia tonight at 8:00.

Virginia comes into the KFC Yum! Center carrying a 7-11 record with a 2-5 conference record.  On the other side, the Cardinals are 18-1 and sit at 7-0 atop the ACC.

The Cavaliers, or unofficially but more commonly called Wahoos, have had a tough schedule that features an 0-5 mark against ranked opponents.  A major factor behind that is their league worst 59.1 points per game.  They are almost no threat from three-point range, averaging just over four per game.

Defensively, the Hoos are not much better.  They allow 62.6 points per game.  Unlike the Cards, who have been fortunate with Kylee Shook, Bionca Dunham and E Balogun swatting shots, Virginia averages just two blocks per game.

Keep an eye on Jocelyn Willoughby.  The senior leads the ACC with 19.6 points per game.  Willoughby has made 98 free throws and 37 minutes per game are also top in the conference.

Coaches across the league, including Jeff Walz, seem to think she's a "guaranteed next level" player once here collegiate done are done.

Outside of Willoughby, the Wahoos struggle to find players who can score.  Dominique Toussaint, another senior, is averaging 10.1 points per game.

They did earn a pair of wins in conference play this year.  Virginia took down Duke at home in a 66-63 nail biter and defeated Boston College on the road in a 69-52 dominating performance

Louisville owns the series 9-2.  They are 5-0 at home against Virginia.  Last year, Louisville ran away with a 71-49 at Virginia.

If you're not in attendance at the game it looks like this one is on ACC Network Extra as of right now but hopefully a local channel will pick it up.  You can always tune into 790 AM on the radio to listen to the ever wonderful duo in Nick Curran and Adrienne Johnson.

It is 90's night tonight in the KFC YUM! Center.

No doubt we'll hear a lot of Green Day, Alice In Chains, LL Cool J and Beastie Boys on the soundboard. I wonder if Al Greener and the pep band will attempt any Metallica?


Spring Sports Media Day:  Part I

The Spring Sports are rapidly upon us, and, in a few cases, already started.

This year, the Spring Sports Media Days have been divided into two different days. Today, the media will here from Swimming and Diving, Women's Golf, Women's Tennis and Track and Field. Next Thursday, Men's Tennis, Softball, Lacrosse, Men's Golf and Rowing will greet the press.

We'll attend and have all the comments for you here in audio form later today in our Thursday article, Be sure to check back to hear the words from the student-athletes and coaches Arthur Albiero, Whitney Wade Young, Mark Beckham and Dale Cowper. Lunch is at 11:30 and the squads start at noon.

THE INTERVIEW LINKS:

WOMEN'S GOLF WITH COACH WHITNEY WADE YOUNG AND LAUREN HARTLAGE

TRACK AND FIELD WITH HEAD COACH DALE COWPER AND STUDENT ATHLETES GABRIELA LEON AND CHRISTIAN BUCKLEY

WOMEN'S TENNIS WITH HEAD COACH MARK BECKHAM AND STUDENT ATHLETE RHEA VERMA

SWIMMING AND DIVING WITH HEAD COACH ARTHUR ALBIERO AND STUDENT ATHLETES NICK ALBIERO AND GRACE OGLESBY


Speaking of food earlier (we got pizza for lunch at the Spring Sports Media Day) Jared has revived an old feature we used to run here at the site:


Bring Back the Burger!

Before I joined the cast here at Cardinal Couple there used to be a feature burger on the site. It was a popular feature, and, people still ask about the possible return of it here at the site.  I will try to pick up that duty for a while... at least until the end of basketball season or so.

One thing I will try to do is focus on either local places or places that have few stores, so no McDonald's, Wendy's, Steak N Shake, etc.

For our first feature I'll focus on a place I regularly go for lunch- Kern's Korner.  The locally owned restaurant on Bardstown Rd near the intersection of Taylorsville Rd is no longer owned by the Kern family, but you can often see them working there. You'll also run into a lot of Cardinal fans there.

Their burger is praised as one of the best in town and goes well with a side of chips.  If you visit let them know that Jared from the bank sent you. If they don't throw you out on your ear, enjoy the meal  !!

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Softball checks in at #18 -- Walz Presser Today-- Wednesday Cardinal Couple

COLLEGE SPORTS MADNESS PUTS SOFTBALL AT #18

Yes, dear reader, softball is just a few weeks away. 

The Cards "Hit and Pitch" women received recognition from the College Sports Madness site recently, when they were picked #18 in the publication's most recent poll. CSM also predicts that the Cards will make the NCAA Tournament and finish second in the ACC in Holly Aprile's second year as head coach of the squad. Always-powerful FSU seems to be the popular choice to take the ACC, and, ironically, Northwestern...who eliminated Louisville last year...is ranked at #17, just in front of Louisville. 

Let's roll you back to last year, where the Cards made the NCAA Tournament after a 35-23 record , that included a 12-12 finish in the ACC. Louisville was shipped off to Evanston, IL to land in the Northwestern-hosted regional. Two wins put UofL in the finals of the regional, but it proved to be a rough Sabbath, the Big 10 Wildcats winning twice over the Cards to advance out of the regional. 

The ranking is pretty optimistic, since Louisville had 2/3rds of their pitching staff wither graduate or transfer. Only Taylor Roby remains. She was effective last year at 14-4 and should see extended time in the circle this season.  She'll look for help from transfer-in-from Auburn Chardonnay Harris. If you caught our interview/article with the Cards head coach earlier this month, she's also looking at a couple of freshman arms and a returnee or two from last year that are healthy and could add pitching depth. 

When you consider the departed Hensley and Watson were a combined 21-19 last year, the graduation and transfer don't appear to be too crippling, in terms of wins.

Here's the Aprile interview link: INTERVIEW WITH HOLLY APRILE 

We'll provide, again, this year our comprehensive coverage and pictures of the 2020 Softball Cards. We challenge you to find another non-University moderated site that does Softball better than we do. Whether it's recognized or appreciated, we can't honestly say, but we dig the sport and we're gonna cover it, so...join us in our fandom

This is Celene Funke's squad. She went .324 at the plate, led the universe in triples and, if she can add a bit of fence-clearing skills to her resume (she had three "touch-'em-alls" last season) it'll give opponents another thing to worry about beside her speed (29 stolen bases) and league-leading enthusiasm title. The senior owns center-field and will contend for ACC Conference Player of the Year. 

Other returnees that should have an impact on the Cards' chances are Rebecca Chung at catcher (.299, six HR) and short-shop Catlin Ferguson. Chung, along with two other Cardinal catchers on the roster, will play an important role in the development of the Cardinal hurlers.  Ferguson is a steady, fielding anchor in the dirt, but we'd love to see "Fergie" improve her stick skills. (.212, four HR).

Louisville also gets Charley Butler back in the outfield, after her season-ending injury last year and Maddy Newman, who will probably end up at second base. Both are fast on the paths and a year's experience should make them even more dangerous at the plate. 

Freshmen are the question mark about this squad, as they usually are each year. What roles will they fill, which spots will they occupy and, along with the transfers-in and last year's reserves...who will get the nod for openings at first and third in the infield and right field? Maybe Holly has an insight on this Saturday...read about the Batter Up Brunch below. 



BATTER UP BRUNCH

The days of the magnificent Softball banquets left with Sandy Pearsall (and we miss them), but a Softball "Batter Up Brunch" has evolved in place of them. It's the second year for the Saturday "brunch" concept (we had no clue that they had one in 2019) and it'll be held this Saturday, Jan 25th from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the PNC Club over in the Cardinal Stadium football complex. 

This event for Bullpen Club member and their families provides a chance to hear more about the 2020 squad and meet the players and staff, we assume.  The registration deadline closed on the 20th., so if you didn't get tickets by then, you're out. 

It looks like Sonja and I will be there.  I'll also cover Spring Sports Media Days, Parts I and II, which start Thursday. The programs participating tomorrow are Swim & Dive, women's golf, women's tennis and track and field.

For softball, events like the Batter Up Brunch are directed through and announced to the UofL Softball Bullpen Club and you can join it for $50 a season.

Higher donation amounts are always welcome. You get a timely update from Coach Holly on happenings within the program. As it usually goes, the more money and higher level you join at gets you more perks. If you have an interest, click the link below: 

BULLPEN CLUB INFORMATION


WALZ PRESSER

It's Wednesday, here's the Jeff Walz presser to discuss the upcoming games in the KFC YUM! Center this week (Virginia tomorrow and Pitt Sunday).

Coach addressed the media and field questions starting at 12:30 p.m. at the Kueber Center Planet Fitness Center first floor Media Room on Floyd Street.  Paulie drug his old, slow-moving carcass down there to record the words and there is audio/video linked up below

WALZ MEDIA PRESSER 1/22/20. 

I kinda liked it when we just referred to the place as the "little YUM" Maybe I'll go initials from now on. K.C.P.F.C. sounds pretty official, right? 

Have a wonderful Wednesday and be sure to check back later today for "Walz Words" and  tomorrow here at "the Couple" for Jared's preview of UofL WBB vs. Virginia. Or maybe a detailed Jared's account of his trip to Tallahassee. You just never know what he's going to come up with....


paulie
xxxxx

UNC Win Brings Rankings, Honors -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Move Back into Top 5

With the newest AP Poll coming out yesterday, the Louisville Cardinals found themselves back in a familiar spot. The Cards received two first place votes on their way to a ranking of fifth, just behind the Oregon Ducks.

Louisville may have a legitimate gripe about being ranked behind Oregon, having beaten the Ducks earlier this year. Louisville also has just one loss, though Oregon's second came to a ranked team in Arizona State.

The Ducks are also coming off of a 32 point victory over Stanford, last week's third-ranked team.

The Cards can take solace in the fact that they are ranked above Oregon in last week's Coaches Poll, an advantage they'd seem likely to maintain. Louisville is also in an enviable position in the current RPI, as they hold the top spot in that particular category. The Cards have an unusual follower in that ranking, though, as Missouri State sits in second place. The RPI falls into line a bit after that as South Carolina, Stanford, and UConn round out the top five.

Just outside the top 10 are #11 DePaul, #12 UK and #13 Gonzaga.

Top 10:

1) South Carolina
2) Baylor
3) Connecticut
4) Oregon
5) LOUISVILLE
6) Stanford
7) Oregon St.
8) North Carolina St.
9) Mississippi St.
10) UCLA

Dana Evans Named ACC Player of the Week

After two huge games and being instrumental in two wins, Dana Evans was named ACC Player of the Week for the second time this season. Evans averaged 24.5 points in the pair, along with 4.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds. She also shot 9-9 from the free throw line and 48% from the floor (59% from three).

Evans has pushed her season averages to 19.1 ppg on 42.5% shooting from the floor (45% from three). Her free throw percentage has skied to 92.1%, an impressive mark for having taken more than 75 attempts. In addition to increasing her year over year scoring, Evans is sporting a 1.64 assist-to-turnover ratio. That mark is below the 2.2 ATO she set last season, but there is still plenty of time to improve for the rest of this season.

Let us not forget that Evans has also taken on a significantly increased role in the absence of Asia Durr and Arica Carter, so an uptick in turnovers can be expected given the additional pressure. Either way, I don't think this will be the last of Evans' ACC Player of the Week awards in her career.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

WBB Cards shine early, hang on late in 74-67 win at UNC -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

EVANS, JONES COMBINE FOR 41 TO PUSH UofL TO 18-1

An impressive start yesterday for the University of Louisville women's basketball squad against the North Carolina TarHeels women's basketball squad in Chapel Hill, NC. Louisville jumped out to a 27-14 first quarter lead and were able to build that to a 20-point difference before UNC came roaring back in the the final quarter to cut the margin to four.

The Cards were able to hang on, though, and eventually put the Tar Heels away 74-67 in front of 4027 attendees in Carmichael Arena. 

Early on, Louisville could do no wrong. The Cards raced out to a 14-3 lead in the first four minutes, getting balanced scoring from Jazmine Jones, Dana Evans, Kylee Shook and Elizabeth Balogun while playing shutdown defense against the slow-to-start, error-prone home team.

Just about everyone Walz played in the first ten minutes was getting involved in the offense, two back-to-back buckets by Jones made it 18-5 Louisville with four minutes left in the first session and the Cards got a Evans layup with 41 seconds on the clock to hold a commanding 27-14 advantage over a UNC squad that had committed eight turnovers already and looked lost and confused on the hardwood. Once again, the Cards had roared out to an impressive beginning. 

Louisville continued to hold UNC at bay in the second quarter. The Cards were having success in silencing the Tar Heels powerful post Janelle Bailey (who ended up with just four first-half points), Liz Dixon and Kylee were strong in the paint and Dana and Jaz were handling the scoring for the Cards. A brief, quarter-opening 7-4 run had gotten UNC back with 10 at 31-21 after the first four minutes but it was still a double-digit difference.

 Louisville responded with a 8-2 run over the next three minutes, including one of those "she did it again" seemingly impossible Evans scores. At 37-21, Louisville would go on to take their largest lead after Bionca Dunham sank two free throws to make it 43-25 with 1:41 left in the half, Liz Dixon gathered the Cards last basket on the second quarter after two heads-up passes got her the ball and Louisville had soared through the first twenty minutes to build a 45-29 lead on the UNC squad. 

The Cards shot 70% in the second quarter, 60% overall in the first half, they were out-rebounding UNC 15-8, Dana and Jaz had 22 first-half points for the visitors and UofL had forced 12 turnovers, four of them off steals. 

UNC did begin the second half with a bit of fight in them, benefiting from an opening 5-0 run to get within 11 at 45-34 in the first three minutes. The Cards turned back the challenge, though, with two straight buckets from a driving Jones and two straight three-point plays out of Dana...one of them an "and 1" and the other a three-pointer from deep. UofL had responded to build the advantage back to 57-38 halfway through the third quarter.

The Cards equaled their largest lead, 20 points, when Evans drove to the hoop and scored to make it 62-42. The final two minutes of the quarter proved to be a scoreless stretch for the Red and Black, but UNC managed just three points in the same stretch. Louisville was sitting pretty after three at 62-45. Dana's eight points in the 10 minutes had spurred a 17-16 Cardinal win of the third quarter and the basic question I suspect many UNC fans were asking was: 

Was there any fight left in UNC? 

As it turned out, yes, there was over the final ten minutes. Almost enough to pull off an upset. 

The quarter began slowly, in terms of point-production, a Jaz free throw early was the only point scored in the first 1:25 of the final session. Bailey was starting to wake up, and connected inside for UNC. Then, she added two free throws.  Liz Dixon was now in the game trying to slow her down but another made Bailey bucket cut the margin to 12 with seven minutes to play. Louisville had not made a shot from the floor yet in the fourth, part of a five minute stretch where the only Cardinal points came from free throws. Starting UNC point guard Shayla Bennett had picked up her fifth foul with 7:15 left. The Heels had to turn to seldom used Kennady Tucker at point guard. 

Dixon finally connected on a inside score to push the lead to 67-53, but, the Tar Heels had the answer, going on a 7-0 run over the next two minutes to make it 67-60 with 4:55 on the clock. Designated three-point shooter Leah Church had connected on a bomb and a steal by Madinah Muhammad from Dana had Cardinal fans wondering if Walz needed a time out, but, the fourth quarter media break stopped the action for him. 

UNC was on a 15-5 run since the start of the fourth quarter and "nervous" would be a good tern to describe how most Cardinal fans watching or listening were feeling.

"Uncle mo" was wearing a baby blue jersey and Walz went back to Dunham for Dixon inside to see ifs he could stem the tide. A missed UNC layup led to a Dunham rebound and she found Jones, who found Balogun for a much needed basket. 69-60 with 3:48 to play. Dunham then connected inside, off a great pick and roll, and the lead stood at 71-62 with 2:54 remaining

The Tar Heels had one last spurt in them. Two missed Cardinal shots and a turnover led to five straight UNC points and Taylor Koenen's deep three had trimmed the Cardinal advantage to 71-67 with 1:22 left.  A raucous crowd in Carmichael roared their approval for the Tar Heels never-say-die, rally effort.  

That three was UNC's final points of the contest, though.

The Cards were intent on burning some clock and ran off most of the ensuing shot clock until a Koenen steal led to a three-point shot from Muhammad. It missed the mark with 22 seconds left, however, and UNC was reduced to fouling to try and cut the margin. Dana sank two free throws with 22 seconds to go and "E" added one with three seconds left to close out the scoring.  The Ta rHeels missed their last three attempts from three-point range and Louisville had held on for the 74-67 win. 

This one could well be known as "the challenge at Chapel Hill". The Cards had gotten the "W" despite shooting just 3-11 (27.2%) in the final 10 minutes, committing four turnovers at crucial junctions of the quarter and had been out-scored 22-12.

The UNC knockout punch had fallen short...and Walz's squad had survived. 18-1 and 7-0 in the ACC. 

It was a road win (and, you know what we say about those) against an opponent that doesn't lose very often at home and that had tested the Cards resolve in the final quarter. 


THE FRED REPORT

We'll go with Fred Gwynne -- aka
Herman Munster, for that scary win.

FREE THROWS -- The Cards were 15-18 from the line, Jaz and Dana responsible for 10 of those in 11 attempts. Free throw makes totaled for half of the Cards scoring in the fourth quarter and we'll take 75% for a CAPITAL "F" in this category. 

REBOUNDING -- Cards get the edge here with 33, compared to 24 for UNC. Let's credit the "B&B" girls...(Balogun with nine and Bionca with seven grabs) who had 16 of them combined. Despite only two for Jaz in 36 minutes, I'll bring out the CAPITAL "R'. 

EFFICIENCY/EXECUTION -- For three quarters, this category stat look great. But, the fourth quarter drop off allowed UNC to narrow the points-in-the-paint Louisville margin to 38-30, and hold the Cards to the 27% mark from the floor late. 15 turnovers isn't that bad but it's more of when they committed them (four of them late in the game). 48.3% shooting helps me to determine that I'll go with a small-case "e" here. 

DEFENSE -- Once again, Louisville was spectacular in shutting down, Bailey, Koenen and Muhammad for thirty minutes but the three ended up with 50 of the UNC 67 points. And, the early, turnover-forcing defense Louisville had disappeared late. The Cards tied UNC in points-off -turnovers (16) and barely won the fast-break points battle 10-8. I'll offer a small-case "d" for this category, because it was a win and the  defense looked great for three quarters. 

FINAL FRED TALLY  F-R-e-d


IN CONCLUSION...

Credit to the Cards for coming out and building an advantage early that couldn't be overcome. Props, also, for weathering a full-out, no-holds barred late run from a UNC squad that tested Louisville. 

Norika Konno did not play in the contest, a knee issue might have her sidelined for a couple of weeks, according to reports. 

Big minutes off the bench again for Kasa Robinson, Liz Dixon and Yacine Diop in a game that Louisville never trailed in, but, Louisville is still searching for that knock-out, killer punch and couldn't find it Sunday in Carolina. 

A win is a win, the Cards did that and the season moves on. Dana and Jaz to the rescue once again, it's been a common theme this season and with half of Louisville's baskets between them (14 of 28), the "co-Alphas" are still leading the Cards in a season that has been enjoyable, a bit nerve-wracking at times, but highly successful. 

I expect they'll be glad to see the Downtown Arena again and will return there Thursday for an 8 p.m. contest against Virginia. 

Have a marvelous  Monday ! 


paulie
xxxxx





   

Sunday Cardinal Couple - Gameday vs UNC

Gameday vs UNC

Chapel Hill, NC is the venue.  The Cards women's basketball team will be tangling with the Tarheels of North Carolina at 1pm today.

The Tarheels past three games have been a bit of a roller coaster, with a big win over Miami, 78-58 this past Thursday, a 14 point loss to Florida State last Sunday, and a 6 point upset win over then undefeated NC State the Thursday previous.  The Tarheels are 13-4 overall, with the loses coming to the previously mentioned Florida State, a mid-conference-pack Virginia Tech two weeks ago, and a couple of eye-raising non-conference loses to Yale and Alabama.

The win over NC State shows us what this team is really capable of, and what the Cards need to be prepared for.  They will bring a balanced attack, with three in double figures scoring totals against the Wolfpack, and another pair that came up just short.  Led by the senior squad of Shayla Bennett, 20 points; Taylor Koenen, 14 points and 11 rebounds; and Madinah Muhammad, 13 points, expect the Tar Heels to stay calm and collected in the face of Louisville fast pace of play and pressure defense.  Pace of play may still be a factor as UNC doesn't seem to go deep on their bench, only playing eight total against NC State, so there's a chance that UofL could just wear them down.  Look for runs towards the end of the game.

Will Vince venture over from Durham to Chapel Hill today? 

Carmichael Arena can be an intimidating facility to play in, and outside of the Commonwealth of
Kentucky, you won't find a more basketball crazy state than North Carolina.  1,100+ is a decent crowd for a game in Boston College, expect more like 2,500 for a big game Sunday matchup with the vast majority wearing baby blue.

Cardinal Couple Writer Emeritus David Watson threw down a bit of a hot take, but with really great points to consider about this game in Friday article's comments.  I will certainly echo some of his concerns with Bionca Dunham's availability, though she was dressed and potentially available for the Boston College game, so that does suggest that she could be available and able to contribute well against the Tar Heels as well.  Her presence on the boards is always big for the Cards.

Inconsistency has been the calling card for the Cards this year.  Coach Walz even hinted at it pre-season at the basketball luncheon when he said the team was at about a two on a one to ten preparedness scale when they would normally be at about a five.  We've seen the progression of this team over the course of the season so far, but they clearly aren't fully put together, yet.

Which team will show up?  The team that beat Oregon and dismantled Miami?  Or the team that struggled at UT Martin and lost to Ohio State?  Which Cardinals will step up?  Will this be a Jaz Jones game?  Will Dana Evans continue to pour in the three pointers?  Can Yaya Diop continue to spark the energy when she's on the court?  Will Kasa wither the UNC offense with her frenetic defense?  I'm hoping for all of the above, but we'll see at 1pm.

The game will be on The Deuce, ESPN2.  We get Pam Ward and LaChina Robinson for play by play and color, perhaps one of the best combo's in the game, in my opinion.  Of course, Nick and AJ are always an option on the radio, as well.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

What? They're talking about UofL women's sports again? 

The trio of Paulie, Case, and myself visited the spectacular NorthEast Regional Library branch again for the latest episode of the CCRH.  The audio issues are much improved, though I'm still not completely happy with where they are.

I have figured out how to monitor all of the different audio levels in my earbuds, but there's just enough delay in them that it makes it near impossible to participate in the conversation while listening to them to get levels adjusted.

Check out the latest episode below:

-- 

JMcA

Tennis Starts the Spring with Familiar Opening -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Tennis Opens Season with Sweeps

Louisville women's tennis opened their season officially yesterday when they played host to North Alabama for a pair of matches. The Cards won the first 7-0 and the second 5-0 for an all around drubbing of the Lions. This was the first time that Louisville had ever played the same team in a double-header and head coach Mark Beckham was not entirely thrilled with the Cards' performance in the second match. Beckham said after the match that the team "didn't give [him] too many things to be upset about" but that "it's difficult to play a double header." About the team's issues, Beckham said, "They lost that focus and, I don't want to say motivation, but lost that just a little bit." Overall he was happy that the Cards got two wins and two sweeps to open their season.

If this sounds like a familiar January story, it kind of is. Louisville opened last season 9-0 before crashing through the conference season and finished the year 10-15 with just two conference wins. The year before, the Cards were 12-1 to open the season before the collapse led them to a 13-13 record, again with just two conference wins. Those season finishes have to be on Beckham's mind as another year gets underway. His frustration with a lack of focus is probably less about the actual matches against North Alabama and more about what focus lapses in the future may lead to throughout the season. Louisville has not won more than three conference matches since joining the ACC, and every year opens as though that fact will change. We'll see this year if the team can hold it together as the competition grows tougher.  Louisville will get back underway next week when they take on Ball State.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We're pushed into a different time slot today. Due to some scheduling conflicts, we three (Jeff, Paulie, and I) won't have access to our studio space until later this afternoon. We'll still be bringing you the show, as we strive to do every week, but we will miss our 11AM slot this week. Tune in to the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour today at 2:30 PM, instead. As always, you'll be able to listen to the broadcast at any time following the live show by checking out the full episode replay on Youtube. We're still working on getting the podcast out and will hopefully be able to present that as an option soon. We're also doing our best to get the audio issues ironed out, and as we become more familiar with a repeat studio, we'll continue to make the show better however we can. Check out the Cardinal Couple Youtube channel at this link and check back for the link to the live broadcast when it becomes available. You can also access the live broadcast directly from the main channel.

Let's see if this works to embed the live stream in the article directly.    Hopefully this will be live at 2:30pm EST.  -- JMcA

Apparently the answer is, no, it doesn't work, at least currently, and it's not a trivial fix.  Puts it on the todo list.  -- JMcA

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-