WBB vs UVA -- Softball Season Opener -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Hosts Virginia

(Tina Thompson travels to town)

After a three-game road trip, Louisville Women's Basketball returns to the friendly confines of the KFC Yum! Center for their last Thursday night home game. Don't worry, the Cards still have two more home games, both games will be played on a Sunday. So, let's take a look at tonight.

Teams: #3 Louisville vs Virginia

Records: Louisville (21-2, 11-1 ACC), Virginia (3-18, 0-11 ACC)

Where: KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, KY

When: 7:00 p.m. ET

TV: ACC Network Extra (online)

Radio: 790-AM WKRD

Head-to-Head Record: Louisville leads 10-2

Coaches: Jeff Walz, 15th season as Louisville head coach

                Tina Thompson, fourth season as Virginia head coach

Key Players: Louisville: Hailey Van Lith (13.0 ppg), Kianna Smith (11.8 ppg, .409 3-pt pct), Emily Engstler (11.0 ppg, 8.5 rpg, .439 3-pt pct), Olivia Cochran (8.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg)

                      Virginia: Camryn Taylor (12.8 ppg, 6.1 rpg), Amandine Toi (12.3 ppg), Mir McLean (11.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg), Taylor Valladay (8.1 ppg, 3.6 assists per game)

Despite a few players with some strong numbers, Virginia has been nothing short of bad this year. The Cavaliers are still looking for the first ACC win and their first win since the beginning of December. Their three wins have come against Cal State Fullerton (baseball fans may remember some controversial calls in the Super Regional a few years back), William & Mary, and George Washington.

In the four-ish years under Coach Tina Thompson, Virginia has been one of the worst in the ACC. They don't have a single winning season under her tenure and they cancelled their season due to COVID-19 concerns after starting 0-5 last year. It's a shame to see them struggle so much after Thompson has had such incredible success in her playing career. I mean, she's the WNBA's second all-time leading scorer, has won four WNBA Championships, and has two Olympic gold medals.

This is a game where Louisville should run right over Virginia with little-to-no trouble. The Cards handled Clemson with ease before putting Syracuse to shame last week. This is another game Louisville could potentially see the century mark and could even get close to doubling up Virginia's total points.

(CavMan has been the UVA mascot since 1984)

However, we are in ACC play and crazy things happen in conference play. Virginia has nothing to lose and can play the role of David and take down Goliath tonight if Louisville goes in over-confident or sluggish. Still, my money goes on a 30+ point victory.

This is Louisville's Play4Kay game and the Kay Yow Cancer Fund will be promoted throughout the game. Despite our lack of findings in some digging earlier in the week, the Play4Kay Free Throw Challenge is back! Right now, Louisville is getting their butts kicked and sits in fifth in the final projections at an estimated $1194.00 raised. Elon, UW-Platteville, and Muskingum are the schools ahead of UofL. However, it's Jada Williams' Play4Kay Free Throw Challenge account (not tied to a school) is projected to finish with $6595.00 donated. I have attached the link below if you would like to donate.

Click here - https://pledgeit.org/louisville-play4kay-2022

Also, this is considered to be a PINK out, so please dress accordingly if possible! Despite popular belief, real men DO wear pink and I will be rocking mine tonight.

Softball Starts Season in Florida

Choosing to start their season where it's much warmer, Louisville Softball kicks off their 2022 season today. The Cards are competing in the FAU Classic with five games over three days. The first two games come in a double-header against host Florida Atlantic beginning at approximately 4:00 p.m. ET. 

Boca Raton has a high of 77 degrees today while Louisville will reach a high of 48 degrees. Smart move, Holly Aprile. But please bring some warm weather home with you soon!

Both games today will be aired on CUSA TV. Sadly, it's not actual TV and is just an online streaming service that you have to pay a subscription fee for. There will be free access to live stats through SideArm Sports here.

In case the hyperlink does not work from whatever device you're on, you can also copy this link for the free live stats- https://fausports.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary.

Louisville Softball will have some familiar faces will also some new faces mixed in. I expect to see some crazy shake-ups in the lineup.

(Roby is the "ace" of Louisville Softball's pitching staff)

Taylor Roby returns for her senior season and will lead the Cards on the mound while having a strong presence on offense. Her 14 home runs and 43 RBIs led Louisville last season. From the circle, her 12 wins, 2.96 ERA, and 83 strikeouts were all a team best.

There should be one heck of a battle for the starting catcher position between senior Cassady Greenwood, senior Rebecca Chung, and graduate transfer Kendall Smith. My best guess is to see a three-person rotation for a while, but Greenwood and Smith splitting a majority of the duties later in the season.

(Is Chardonnay OK?)

Pitching is going to be an area where questions will be raised. Besides Roby, the field is fairly open with who will step up and be the number two and number three pitchers. Gabby Holloway returns for her sophomore year after a solid rookie campaign. She should have a leg up over much of the competition. Assuming Chardonnay Harris is healthy, having a left-handed pitcher in the rotation can benefit the Cards and keep opposing offenses on their toes. Taja Felder is another one who was out last season due to injury and should be back. Payton Hudson saw some time in the circle last year and looks to be more of an impact with the bullpen this year. The newbie to the crew is freshman Sam Booe, who had an impressive high school career.

Makayla Hurst is back for her final season and should command the first base position with little challenge, as she has been consistent for the Cards both offensively and defensively.

(Jenna Servi returns to the infield)

With the graduation of Maddy Newman, the second base position will see a new face for the first time in five years. If Jenna Servi doesn't transition to second base after moving around the left side of the infield last year then I believe a freshman will take the starting spot.

Shortstop is up for grabs too. With Sydney Bickel moving to more of an outfield position this complicates the middle infield situation even more.

Elana Ornelas and Servi both saw time at third base last year and it would not surprise me to see one of them get the start here.

Carmyn Greenwood returns for her final year of eligibility. Greenwood was an All-ACC selection last year and led the team in batting average. She should transition to the center field position following the departure of Celene Funke.

The "Butler" serving in the outfield...

Charley Butler should be healthy and ready to go and will most likely see one of the corner outfield positions. I expect her other corner outfield partner to be graduate transfer Hannah File, who joins the Cards after several successful seasons with James Madison including two NCAA Super Regional appearances.

One good news for Louisville Softball is that they were picked to finish sixth in the ACC out of 13 teams. The Cards finished sixth last season as well, but now deal with the loss of two key players in Funke and Newman. Florida State, Clemson, Virginia Tech, and Duke are all ranked in the Top 25 and were picked to take the top four spot in the conference. Notre Dame, who is not currently ranked was picked to finish fifth.

Daryl will have a busy day tomorrow as she recaps women's basketball and softball while previewing day two of softball and the lacrosse season opener. Best wishes to you tomorrow, Daryl.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Softball and Lacrosse Preseason Pressers -- More WBB Honors -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

SOFTBALL

With the spring-like weather we've experienced here in the Louisville area lately, it's only fitting that two spring women's sports held their pre-season pressers yesterday. Both softball and lacrosse begin their 2022 campaigns on the road.

Softball plays FAU in Boca Raton Thursday in a double-header, the first two of five games Louisville will have in the FAU Fast Pitch Classic that runs through Saturday. They'll also face Bethune-Cookman, Indiana and Ohio State in Boca Raton.  

The Cards were picked to finish sixth in the ACC Coaches poll. 13 of the 15 ACC schools play softball. 

Head softball coach Holly Aprile and returning players Carmyn Greenwood and Taylor Roby discussed the season and the team. Check out the link below: 

SOFTBALL PRE-SEASON PRESSER

LACROSSE

The Louisville Lacrosse squad opens on the road also, taking a trip out to Colorado where they'll face the University of Colorado in Boulder Friday and then swing over to Denver to face University of Denver on Sunday. 

In the coaches poll, :Louisville was selected to finish seventh out of the nine ACC schools that play women's lacrosse. Teeter brings back a strong squad from last year, including preseason All-ACC team selection Caroline Blalock, her sister Sarah and Hannah Morris. The Cards are ranked #24 in the latest NCAA Women's Lacrosse RPI rankings. 

Head coach Scott Teeter discussed the season and the team. Link below:

LACROSSE PRE-SEASON PRESSER

As we do every year, we'll provide you full pre-game and post-game coverage, results and analysis on all UofL Softball and Lacrosse events. 

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Honors were bestowed on Emily Engstler and Kianna Smith yesterday for national lists and award. 

Emily is one of 20 players named to the Midseason Team for the Jersey Mike's Player of the Year Award. She was also named to the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year watch list and she's in the top 25 of ESPN's Top 25 Players. 

She's one of five ACC WBB student-athletes on the Player of the year list, joining Olivia Miles (Notre Dame), Elizabeth Kitley )Virginia Tech), Elissa Cunane (NC State) and Lorela Cubaj (Georgia Tech).

 

Kianna was named one of ten candidates for the 2022 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award. The award recognizes the best shooting guard in the nation. Kianna is the only ACC candidate on the list. It should be noted that players can play their way on and off the list as the season progresses. For more information, go to www.hoophallawards.com

These are two great honors for these seniors on the Louisville women's squad. One has to think that both have nice careers ahead of them in the WNBA, based on their college careers.

paulie

 

WBB News -- VBall News -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

WBB News

It feels like a heat wave here in Louisville as we get up in the 50s for a few days. Things are also warming up in the realm of women's basketball as down to less than three weeks remaining in the regular season.

Louisville moved up a spot to #3 in the AP Poll following an NC State loss to Notre Dame last week. NC State fell to #5. Georgia Tech moved up a spot to #11. Notre Dame moved up two spots to #18. North Carolina rounded out the ACC teams in the Top 25, coming in at #22. Duke and Virginia Tech are both flirting with the rankings and sit in the receiving votes category.

Last night, we saw a battle of two of the top three teams in the ACC with #12 Georgia Tech visiting #5 NC State on the Kay Yow Court for the annual Play 4 Kay game. It only seemed fitting that the Wolfpack get the win, 59-48. GT made a late surge to get to 48 points, they trailed 49-29 after three quarters. 

We have Kay Yow to thank for many things including her heavy involvement to pass Title IX, giving women's basketball more respect and spotlight in the public, and the fight against cancer and to commit to cancer research. ESPN2 did an excellent job of covering the halftime ceremony of the NC State vs Georgia Tech game recognizing cancer survivors. Louisville's Play4Kay game will be this Thursday against Virginia. In the past, the different writers and contributors here at Cardinal Couple have made donations to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund and I'm sure some of them have joined me in another contribution this year.

For those wishing to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, you can follow this link directly to their homepage- https://kayyow.com/play4kay/about/.

With one loss apiece in conference play, Louisville and NC State continue to battle it out for the ACC regular season title and the 1-seed in the ACC Tournament.

In other news for Louisville, Kianna Smith was named ACC Player of the Week. In the most recent three games, all on the road, the senior averaged 15.0 points per game and shoot 8-18 from three-point range. On top of her solid shooting, Smith logged 21 total assists over that stretch while committing just one turnover.

Smith is second on the team in scoring and three-point shooting while leading the team in assists with 68 on the year.

Hailey Van Lith also received a nice honor yesterday. The sophomore was named to the 2022 Nancy Lieberman Award watch list. She is one of 10 players and one of three in the ACC (Diamond Johnson, NC State and Olivia Miles, Notre Dame) named to the list. The award recognizes the top point guard in women's basketball.

Van Lith leads the Cards in scoring and is fourth on the team in assists and steals.

Volleyball News

Although we knew this news a couple months ago, Louisville Volleyball has officially announced that Raquel Lazaro will be transferring in for her final year of eligibility. Lazaro is the second setter from USC to join the Cards for the 2022 season along with Elle Glock.

Lazaro was the starting setter for USC last season She logged 458 assists while leading the team with 27 aces. While not known for her attack skills, Lazaro did hit .421 last season.

Lazaro will help fill out a talented setter corps that includes another USC transfer Elle Glock and redshirt freshman Paige Morningstar.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards WBB crush Orange 100-64 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 SIX IN DOUBLE FIGURES IN CARDS 36-POINT WIN

Louisville Women's Basketball scored 50 points in each half and put away Syracuse 100-64 in the Carrier Dome Sunday afternoon. 

A balanced scoring effort for UofL, with six players in double figures, led by Liz Dixon's 18 points. Kianna Smith had 16 points, Ahlana Smith added 13, Chelsie Hall and Emily Engstler added 11 each and Hailey Van Lith finished with 10 for the Cards, who shot 53% for the game and held Syracuse to 33%. Olivia Cochran almost made it seven Cards in double figures, with nine points and Kasa Robinson finished with a flurry of five points in the last 1:27 and ended up with seven points on the afternoon. 

The Cards jumped out to a 14-4 lead in the first four minutes of the contest and a Payton Verhulst three with five seconds left in the quarter created a 30-17 lead for Louisville in the first ten minutes. 

Louisville was showing no fatigue in their fourth game in eight days and had a 34-22 a couple of minutes into the second quarter, despite Syracuse scoring the first five points of the quarter. The Cards enjoyed a 44-31 lead with 3:19 until half time after a Hall jumper and Van Lith score set the 50-39 half-time score with a jumper 40 seconds before halftime. 

Hall led a balanced Cards attack with nine first half points. The Cards held a 23-10 rebounding edge and already had 30 points in the paint, compared to Syracuse's 10. Naje Murray was trying to keep Syracuse in the contest, with 12 points and the Orange's Carr sisters had combined for 18 points. 

The action slowed down a bit offensively in the third quarter, the two teams combining for just 26 points  Dixon assumed the top hand for Louisville with six third-quarter points, Hailey Van Lith's two free throws with 48 seconds left in the third set the tally at 65-50 Louisville. The Cards managed just 27.8% shooting in the third (5-18), but Syracuse was even worse, going 4-20 for a cold 20%. 

The fourth quarter saw Louisville explode for 35 points, hitting 14 of their 21 shots and holding Syracuse to just 14 points and 4-14 shooting  Engstler had seven fourth-quarter points, playing before a contingent of family and friends in Syracuse and Robinson fired up the Cardinals bench late by nailing a three and then appearing to sink another three the next time down court that was ruled to be just a long two-pointer. The Cards had a 100-61 lead with 22 seconds to go, their largest lead of the game, but a Syracuse three at the buzzer was ruled to be good and UofL had gone to 21-2 on the season and 11-1 in the ACC. 

THE FRED REPORT 

(Two wins this season now...over Syracuse)

FREE THROWS --  Louisville went 11-15 from the free throw stripe, Van Lith leading the way with 4-5 accuracy. 73% surpasses our 70% mandate to earn a letter. When you consider that UofL shot just two free throws in the first half (making them both) I'll give the CAPITAL "F" here for knocking them down when they started to pull away, going 5-8 in the fourth quarter. 

REBOUNDS -- No question here on who was the missed shot grabbing leaders. Louisville won the battle of the boards 55-26. Cochran led the Cards with 11 and Engstler added 10. Impressive that Cochran collected hers in just 20 minutes of court time. A CAPITAL "R" easily earned here, 

EFFORT/EXCUTION -- Louisville had a whopping 60-20 edge in points-in-the paint and 32-12 advantage with second chance points .That indicates a superior effort to me.  Dixon may have had her best game this season for the Cards off the bench and a 23-12 edge in assists and 53% shooting make it verty easy to award a CAPITAL "E". 

DEFENSE -- The Cards limited Syracuse to just 25 second-half points and 23.5% shooting. UofL had seven blocks and eight steals. The 64 Orange points were seven less than they scored in Louisville 24 days ago. Louisville did lose the second quarter, though, and Syracuse did make 10 threes on the Cards. I'll just award a lower-case "d" here.

FINAL FRED TALLY:  F-R-E-d

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

A win by more than I expected in this one. It was good to see Liz step up and have the afternoon she did and I was pleased to see Kianna get 16 points. Impressive to win by 36 when you're playing your fourth game in eight days, on the road and getting the win with a total team effort. Good to see Emily return to her previous school, play well and get a win. A nice birthday gift to Kasa Robinson and thanks to the announcers for not querying once where Norika Konno was. Also, good to see a dominant fourth quarter for Louisville.

:Louisville returns home and will bring in Virginia Thursday night. Six wins in a row now for the #4 Cards, who haven't lost since Jan. 20th. 

paulie

Cards vs Oranges - Sunday Cardinal Couple

 Basketball Up North

(Q's last appearance against the Cards ) 

Picasso had a blue period, apparently the Cards have an orange period.  The Cards' orange period consists of games back to back to back against Miami (orange and green), Clemson (orange and purple) and Syracuse (orange and white).  It also will be the second UofL athletics event against Syracuse in as many days.  We'll pass on discussing yesterday's competition, however.

Today wraps up the Cardinals Women's Basketball's orange period in the Carrier Dome in Syracuse.  A fun fact, the Carrier Dome, despite having been named for Carrier, a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning manufacturer, has not had air conditioning in the facility at all until 2020.  Some areas had air conditioning installed that year, and a renovation this year is planned to add air conditioning to the whole facility.  Of course, in upstate New York, the need for air conditioning is limited, but I'm sure it will be a welcome addition to the facility.

(How many Otto the Orange sightings will we get today?) 

Syracuse is currently sub-.500 overall, and only 2-8 in conference.  A little bit of unusual scheduling for The Orange, with a couple of early conference games in the season.  They started off conference play on November 14th against Notre Dame, and then played Clemson on December 11th.

Syracuse does have one signature win on their record, a 97-91 victory over then 18/20 Ohio State.  Other ranked competition has been South Florida, who won 77-53, and the in-conference teams that are ranked, including the Cards in the previous meeting, of course.  All were losses, as you might suspect.

The Orange are led by Acting Head Coach Vonn Read taking over after last season's post-season allegations of inappropriate behavior by Quentin Hillsman, and the subsequent mass exodus of players.

(Vonn Read, like Jeff Walz, has four letters in
his first name and last name. They are the only
ACC WBB coaches with this distinction.)  

Read has settled into a main rotation of about six players having played in all or nearly all of the team's games this season.  Only one other player has played in more than half of the team's games, with other four playing in 10 or less games.  In the previous matchup at the Yum!, Read only put six Orange on the floor.

The Carr sisters, Christianna and Chrislyn, were the pair that did the biggest damage to the Cards last outing, scoring 19 and 17; though Teisha Hyman, the overall highest scorer on the team, wasn't far behind, with 16 of her own.  Otherwise, the stat sheet from that game is mostly unremarkable.  The biggest eye-grabbing number is the 66.67% shooting from three-ball range in the 3rd quarter. for SU.

Christianna Carr against Cards

The Carrs, along with Najé Murray, are the biggest 3-pt threats on the team, though Hyman will hoist a few as well.

Looking to the right side of the stat sheet, Syracuse wins the turnovers and steals columns vs their opponents.  Of course, all stat sheet data has to be taken with a grain of salt. (In the stat sheet, Syracuse outscores their opponents and yet they're 9-11 overall).

UofL needs to have a solid defensive game, prevent the Carr sisters from having big games like they did the first time around, hold Hyman to a reasonable total, and we should see another victory over another school of orange.

TV coverage is again on Bally Sports South, so again I hope the four people that will be able to watch this live enjoy it.  I plan on catching the radio call with Nick Curran and AJ, and then probably go back and watch the replay through ESPN's site.  The TV coverage does make this a slightly earlier start that normal, with the tip at noon.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

(Paulie crashes a photo of our former "mayor for life" 
Jerry Abramson and his lovely bride Madeline.}

The latest edition of the CCRHP is available on Youtube at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr0tjH7pLXA

Four of us joined in the virtual studio, with Case still working on office renovations, Daryl, Jared, Paulie, and myself made the call.  Lot's of talk of basketball as is typical this time of year.  With three games to recap, we moved through them fairly quickly, but a good discussion, as always.

JMcA

Saturday News Roundup -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Winter Storm Brings Friday Dormancy

The only team scheduled to play yesterday was tennis, as they were set to host Ball State at the Bass Rudd Tennis Center. Unfortunately, with the winter storm bringing ice and some snow to Louisville and a whole lot of snow to the middle of Indiana, yesterday's match had to be postponed. The match will now take place on February 11th, just one week later. Louisville is next back in action on the road tomorrow against Vanderbilt. It will be the first time they venture away from the nest this season.

After a successful meet last weekend at home, Louisville Track & Field is off to hit the road once more. This weekend, the Cards have headed up to Notre Dame for the Meyo Invitational, though the results and start lists for the events so far indicate that the whole team may not be competing. Louisville had no participants in the long or high jumps or the weight throw yesterday, and Gabriela Leon is not listed in the roster for the pole vault today. Either way, today's events get underway at 9:45AM and you can follow along on the Endurance Timing site or the Louisville Track & Field Twitter account.

Yesterday, Louisville announced the broadcast plan for the lacrosse season, and it includes three games on the linear ACCN channel. Louisville will play Duke on ACCN in Durham on March 17th, and they'll host Ohio State and Notre Dame on the channel on March 31st and April 23rd, respectively. The Ohio State game is on a Thursday night, so should be expected to be in Cardinal Stadium, and we'll see if the Notre Dame game is shifted to there as well for the better video infrastructure. The remainder of Louisville's home games and conference road games will be on ACCNX. The Cards open the season on the road in Colorado against the Buffs next Friday and will take on Denver on Sunday.

The New York Liberty are becoming less of the Louisville Liberty than we all hoped. After the Liberty seemed to be rebuilding a Louisville final four team, Sandy Brondello has come in and made some changes. The most recent were the addition of Stef Dolson and resigning of Rebecca Allen. Those roster moves demanded some space to be made, and Jaz Jones was a casualty of such a change. She and Neah Odom were waived yesterday. Kylee Shook and Asia Durr remain on the Liberty, but with free agency and the draft still to come, no roster spot across the league is locked in quite yet. We'll hope for both of them to keep their spots and for Jaz to find a new home.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

(Should the Cardinal Couple crew form a lawn bowling squad?)

Once more, I'll be out this week. Fortunately, the tasks remaining in my office are few and that space should be ready for me to move back in before the end of the weekend. In my absence, four will be available to carry the show. They'll talk the big basketball wins, including a career night for HVL, and look ahead to the remainder of the Louisville basketball season along with the upcoming spring sports. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Anchor (podcast host): Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Breaker: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Spotify: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

WBB Defeats Clemson -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

Happy Friday to all of our awesome Cardinal Couple readers! Hopefully everyone is staying safe as we deal with some pretty unpleasant weather and road conditions.

I'm typically not a fan of Louisville Women's Basketball playing on the road because I would rather be at games in person, but yesterday was one of the few times I'm glad it was a road game.

HVL Scores Career High in Win at Clemson

Well, Clemson was ready to go for this game, at least for a while. The Tigers kept things close for a good portion of the first half and tied the score early in the second half before Louisville was able to pull away for a 93-71 win.

Delicia Washington posted a strong showing with 28 points, but most of her damage was done in the first half with 18 points. The senior, who is not known for her three-point shooting, went 5-6 from beyond the arc. Amari Robinson went well over her season average with an 18-point performance. Eight of those points came from the charity stripe for the junior guard.

Clemson shot 40.0% from the field and 38.9% from three-point range, quite a bit higher than what the Cards' were allowing on the year. A healthy chunk of their scoring came from the free throw line, where Clemson shot 20-24.

Although Clemson shot well from the floor, Louisville shot better. The Cards shot 58.2% with a flat 50% mark from deep. The 25 assists on 39 made shots is an excellent mark and the 25-14 assist-turnover ratio is something to be proud of.

It was the Hailey Van Lith show in Littlejohn Coliseum, especially in the second half. The sophomore went off for a career-high 34 points and crushed her previous best of 24 points. HVL shot a perfect 6-6 from three-point range and her six long bombs match her career best. Even more impressive, she did it all in 33 minutes.

Liz Dixon had a strong showing off the bench with 12 points on a perfect 6-6 shooting. Emily Engstler was the only other Card in double figures with 10 points. The transfer from Syracuse also posted a team-high eight rebounds. Despite a poor shooting night, Kianna Smith flirted with a double-double with eight points and eight assists.

Q1: Louisville 25, Clemson 16

FG%

11-15 73.3% UofL

7-16 43.5% Clemson

3-pt%

2-4 50% UofL

2-8 25% Clemson

Rebounding

9-5 UofL

After a slow start, it was Kianna Smith and her six assists propelling the Cards forward. Washington was perfect from the floor with 10 points and was the only Clemson player doing much early.

Q2: Clemson 23, Louisville 19

FG%

8-21 38.1% UofL

6-11 54.5% Clemson

3-pt%

1-4 25% UofL

4-5 80% Clemson

Rebounding

12-7 Louisville

This was the only quarter that the Tigers won. Washington and Robinson combined for 17 points and Clemson was red hot from three-point range. With Engstler on the bench with foul trouble and K Smith going scoreless in the second quarter due to a shooting slump Clemson was able to claw back into the game.

Q3: Louisville 29, Clemson 15

FG%

12-16 75% UofL

4-16 25% Clemson

3-pt%

4-6 66.7% UofL

0-2 0.0% Clemson

Rebounding

9-8 Clemson

After Clemson tied the game early in the third quarter, HVL decided she had had enough and went off for 16 points in this quarter alone. The Tigers struggled to score and Louisville's defense had made halftime adjustments to try and slow Clemson's shooting threats.

Q4: Louisville 20, Clemson 17

8-15 53.3% UofL

5-12 41.7% Clemson

3-pt%

3-6 50% UofL

1-3 33.3% Clemson

Rebounding

10-6 Clemson

No starter for Louisville saw more than five minutes in the final quarter as the Cards found themselves up by as much as 26 late in the game. It was a great chance for some of the bench players to see some extra minutes including Sydni Schetnan scoring her first field goal of her young Louisville career. The Cards forced Clemson into as many turnovers as made shots this quarter.

FRED Report

The late Fred Wiche posing on a day we all wish was out there today

Free Throws- Despite the discrepancy in free throw attempts (Louisville 10, Clemson 24), the Cards did next to nothing with their opportunities from the line. They shot 5-10 on the night and 50% is well below our minimum standard. No letter.

Rebounding- The Cards won the rebounding battle 35-31 with each team recording 12 offensive boards. Louisville's individual rebounding numbers are skewed a tad as the box score credits the team with six rebounds. Eight Cardinals logged two or more rebounds. Capital R.

Effort/Execution- Hailey alone deserves a capital E+ based off her performance. UofL is in the midst of a pretty tight stretch with several games so we expected to see plenty of reserves see enhanced minutes. Liz Dixon and Payton Verhulst both had strong games off the bench and even Mykasa Robinson had a surprisingly good offensive game. The Cards halted the Clemson run and hit the gas and never let up. Capital E.

Defense- Yeah, giving up 71 points isn't good. Letting a player go off for 28 points also isn't good. Nor is allowing an opposing team to shoot 40%. But, UofL forced Clemson into 17 turnovers and was able to make halftime adjustments to quiet down Clemson's offense. The Tiger's top two scorers were only able to muster up a combined 15 points in the second half. Due to a strong second half, Louisville did enough to earn a lowercase d.

_-R-E-d isn't horrible but there is plenty of room for improvement.

Louisville improves to 20-2 on the year (yay, 20 wins!) and 10-1 in the ACC. The one loss keeps them in the running for the ACC regular season title. Meanwhile, Clemson drops to 7-15 on the year with a 1-10 conference mark.

The Cards stay on the road for one more game when they visit Syracuse this Sunday at noon. Earlier this season, Louisville defeated Syracuse 84-71 in a shootout.

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards Visit Clemson -- Snowstorm -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Travel to Clemson

First, I want to thank Daryl for covering for me on Tuesday. We were in the process of switching internet/cable providers and the technician was here until around 6:30 p.m., and I had a church thing starting shortly after. Our upgrade in internet has been nice so far and we brought back cable thanks to a sweet deal. The trick is figuring out if we get the regional sports network that Louisville games are sometimes on. You'll also gte me doing a recap of tonight's game in the Friday Cardinal Couple -- if we still have power and internet accessibility, of course. 

Teams: #4 Louisville vs Clemson

Records: Louisville (19-2, 9-1 ACC). Clemson (7-14, 1-9 ACC)

Where: Littlejohn Coliseum, Clemson, S.C.

When: 6:00 p.m. ET

TV: Bally Sports South

Radio: 790-AM WKRD

Head-to-Head Record: Louisville leads 9-3

Coaches: Jeff Walz, 15th season as Louisville head coach

                Amanda Butler, fourth season as Clemson head coach

Key Players: Louisville: Hailey Van Lith (12.2 ppg), Emily Engstler (11.0 ppg, 8.5 rpg), Kianna Smith (11.8 ppg), Olivia Cochran (9.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg)

                      Clemson: Delicia Washington (15.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 2.75 assists pg), Amari Robinson (10.2 ppg, 6.0 rpg), Gabby Elliott (9.4 ppg), Kiara Lewis (9.2 ppg)

(Ah, the days of Fuehring and Diop...)

Clemson has gradually gone downhill the last few years since Amanda Butler arrived. The Tigers went 20-13 first her season and haven't finished above .500 since.

Graduate student Delicia Washington is the do-it-all player for Clemson, leading the team in scoring, rebounding, and assists. She has had a lot of help from Amari Robinson, who is averaging double figures in scoring.

Louisville is coming off a rough game at Miami (Fla.), where they needed a 19-7 run over the final six minutes to win 69-66. The Cards were averaging roughly 52 points per game going into the match-up, but had a rough night leaving Miami's shooters open. This was the seventh straight game an opposing player scored 16 or more points against the Cards.

Realistically, this should be a game Louisville wins by 20. The Cards continue to be a Top 10 while Clemson sits second-to-last in the ACC and is just having a downright bad season.

Louisville is in the middle of a four game stretch over eight days. To continue keeping fresh legs through the buSy stretch, I expect to see a healthy nine-player rotation with no one seeing more than 35 minutes unless it's a tight game.

The status of Norika Konno remains unknown. We appreciate all the texts, e-mails and calls we've received about her, but we know nothing.  Is it COVID-19 related issues, or are the whispers of it not being related to COVID-19 at all true?. Her Twitter does still have "University of Louisville women's basketball team" in her bio so it doesn't appear that it is transfer portal related. We understand the HIPPA factor here and respect her privacy. In short, we'll probably know when either she or UofL makes an official announcement. 

More frustrating, this game is only on Bally Sports South. If you're hoping to get lucky and catch this online on ACC Network Extra, think again. It will be blacked out because of the regional sports network and if you aren't paying for that channel (most people aren't) then you're S.O.L. Nick and A.J. are one of the best radio play-by-play and commentary crews in women's college basketball --Paulie likes to listen to them instead of watching the game many times. 

We will recap the game right here tomorrow morning... Mother Nature willing. 

Winter Weather

(Jared takes his pet groundhog for a drive.)

The ground hog saw its shadow so we have six more weeks of winter and it's coming quick. Much of the region is under a heavy winter weather advisory with the potential of a few inches of snow and ice. Oh, and it's been raining for several hours beforehand, which will freeze and add to the ice.

Make sure you have plenty of supplies at home as you may be stranded through the middle of the weekend. Thankfully, our Cardinal squads are on the road right now and in places that won't be affected as severely.

For myself, we have a pretty big primetime concert scheduled for lunchtime today and Mother Nature is determined to ruin that for us, so fingers crossed things work out for us.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards comeback leads to 69-66 win at Miami -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

SMITH WITH 21, COCHRAN WITH 18 IN CARDS WIN OVER CANES

For awhile it looked bleak for Louisville women's basketball against Miami Tuesday night. 

UofL trailed Miami 59-50 with 6:13 to play in the game. How would the Cards respond? Louisville showed they weren't in Miami just for the weather, and powered back to take a 65-62 lead on a Chelsie Hall three-pointer with 36 seconds to play and an Olivia Cochran bucket and two Kianna Smith free throws allowed the Cards to keep the lead and get their 19h win of the season against a determined Hurricane squad. 

Jeff Walz predicted a close one pre-game, our Daryl Foust saw it that way, too in Tuesday's preview column. It was an exciting one in the Watsco Center in Coral Gables. Until Kelsey Marshall's desperation three as time expired missed the mark, it was anyone's game. 

The Cards started slowly, falling behind 4-0 early, but rallied to grab an 11-10 lead with 5:49 left in the first quarter. It was 15-15 with 4:42 remaining but the Cards held a 19-18 lead after one, And, Louisville failed to score in the final 2:55 of the quarter, after Liz Dixon's put-back.

 

The Cards maintained the lead for almost the entire second quarter, holding a 23-19 edge after a minute of play, 26-24 with 6:50 left in the half and going on a three minute 6-0 run to hold a 32-24 advantage with 3:43 left in the half. UM wasn't tossing in the towel, though. At 35-30 Cards with 34 seconds left in the quarter, the Canes used a 5-0 run to close out the half and knot the score at 35-35 on a Kelsey Marshall three with, uh, 3 seconds left? Our 2.5 seconds left or 1.9? -- no one seemed to know, so the officials huddled and then motioned for both teams to head to the locker room -- the half was over. An interesting decision -- maybe the refs were thirsty or something?

A huge first half for Kianna Smith with 15 points on 6-9 shooting and four Cards had four points each (Van Lith, Hall, Engstler and Cochran).

The Cards came out slowly to start the second half and Miami took a 39-35 lead in the first 90 seconds. it was a lead they'd hold until Hall sank a three for the Cards with 3:52 left in the third to put UofL up 42-41. Not intimidated, Miami countered with 6-2 run over the next two minutes to go up 47-44 and a Maeva Djaldi-Tabli layup with 20 seconds to go gave the Canes a 49-46 lead after three. 

The fourth quarter was an epic one. The Cards climbed within two after a Kasa Robinson steal and pass to Cochran for a layup. Then, the tide turned in Miami's favor. Seven straight points by the Canes over the next 70 seconds had UofL in a 56-48 hole. A UM three created a 59-50 Miami lead. Engstler countered with a three but the Cards weren't making up any ground and the Canes led 61-55 with 4:52 to play.

It was time for UofL to respond. A huge Van Lith three cut the lead to three. And, with 2:05 to go, K. Smith nailed a jumper to make it 63-62 -- the Cards had pulled back to just a one-point deficit. Hall's three with 56 seconds to play put the Cards up 65-63, but Marshall countered with a three just nine seconds later to give Miami the lead back at 66-65.

How would it end? Cochran to the rescue with a jumper that gave the Cards a 67-66 lead with 32 seconds to play. Then, Kasa, with a huge steal got the ball back in the Cards possession with 20 seconds to play. The Canes fouled Kianna Smith and the red-shirt senior calmly sank both free throws for the 69-66 final score. A desperation Marshall three fell short and the Cards prevail.

 A Tuesday night thriller that Louisville pulled out by sinking five of their final six shots.

Hunt successful for Fred and Jed...another skin for the Cards

THE FRED REPORT

FREE THROWS  --  Louisville went 5-9 from the line (by comparison, Miami got 17 attempts and made 13). 55.6% isn't spectacular and we can't award a letter here. The discrepancy...in attempts significant.

REBOUNDS --  The Cards took the boards war 35-29. Emily Engstler a big night with nine. That's good enough for a CAPITAL "R" by me...the old adage, win the boards win the game held true. 

EFFORT/EXECUTION -- 23 assists on 28 made baskets, which is fantastic and 8-20 three point shooting, which was another plus, especially at the end. The team effort was the key, though, at the end that won this one for UofL, overcoming that nine-point deficit was a thing of beauty...there is no quit in these Cards.  CAPITAL "E" here.

DEFENSE -- Holding Marshall to 11 points was huge and the Cards won the points off turnovers battle also. Limiting UM to just three points in the final three minutes was a key to the Cards win...defense does it again and we'll bestow a CAPITAL "D" for the defense. 

FINAL FRED TALLY:  _-R-E-D

The Cards return to action Thursday, plying at Clemson in a 6 p.m. scheduled start.

paulie

UofL WBB on the road vs Miami PREVIEW -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Hello! Hello ~ readers

Its Daryl stepping in for Jared on the Tuesday/Game-Day edition of Cardinal Couple.  A midweek WBB matchup for the Cards is a nice shake-up to the regular Thurs/Sunday we've been used to.  This game was originally scheduled for Jan 9th, 23 days ago. 

Also, a Happy February to you all.  I haven't had a lot of chances to do basketball previews this season and the season is really going to heat up from here on out, so let's get to it.   

CARDINALS (18-2 8-1)   vs    MIAMI (11-7 4-4 ACC)

PREVIEW

All Photos: Jared Anderson 

Date: Tuesday, Feb. 1

Time: 7 p.m. ET

Site: Coral Gables, Florida

TV: ACCNX

Radio: 790-AM WKRD for Nick Curran&Adrienne Johnson

Last Meeting: W, 79-76 (Jan. 26, 2021 at KFC Yum! Center)

Series History: 6-2 (W2, 3-2 home, 3-0 away, 0-0 neutral)

The Cardinals are on the road looking to win their fourth game in a row and continue their dominance over the Miami Hurricanes.

Louisville has won six out of the last seven games. The first meeting came in 1989, where Miami defeated Louisville 58-59 in Freedom Hall. The two have met as conference foes since Louisville joined the ACC in 2014-15 and the Cardinals are 6-1. UofL is 3-0 in Coral Gables.

Four of the eight contests have been decided by single-digits and two of the last three came down to the final minute of play.

The Hurricanes are 9-1 when outrebounding opponents this season, with the only loss coming to NC State. The Hurricanes’ are holding their opponents to just 57.8 points per game and averaging 61.6 points of their on 38% shooting and 29% from beyond the arc per game. As a team they are attempting almost 10 FT / game and shooting just 68% when they do get there. Both Miami and Louisville are averaging 38 rebounds per game. Hurricanes average 17 turnovers, 9 steals and 3.5 blocks per game.

Grad senior Kelsey Marshall leads the offense for the Hurricanes, averaging more minutes and more than 14 points per game. She had 19 points including four 3-pointers for UM in the 2021 matchup vs the Cards. Naomi Mbandu came off the bench for the Hurricanes and had 17 points and 11 rebounds vs UofL. Junior and 6-4 forward Lola Pendande is the team's leading rebounder but not by much as it seems the guards can pull a decent about of loose balls as well. The assumed to be starting Lola's minutes are pretty a even split with Moulayna Johnson Sidi Baba - a junior who pulled down 10 rebounds in their outing vs Wake Forest on Sunday. Miami shot 28% from the field and 22.2% from beyond the arc but managed to win 66-59 over the Demon Deacons.

Miami has been coached by Katie Meier since 2005. She was voted AP Coach of the year in 2011.


Game Plan vs Miami
The Cards must win rebounding battle to get the victory. It could get ugly for the Hurricanes if they turn it over more than they already average (17). But I do think it will be another down to the wire battle for UofL. I think it'll be close the whole way rather than seeing a huge lead diminish in the final minutes and Emily Engstler continues her path to the WNBA draft. She leads all rebounders with 12 while also manages 4 steals and 2 blocks. Olivia Cochran is close behind with 10 of her own while also manages to get to the free throw line where she has an efficient outing of better than 80%.

As Always
Go Cards!!
~Daryl