Softball Wins Home Opener -- WBB Senior Day Tonight -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Open Home Season With Blowout Win

Louisville softball had a warm welcome home, both figuratively and literally, as they defeated crosstown rival Bellarmine 10-0 in five innings. Temperatures broke into the 70s for the first time of the 2025 calendar year and the Cards couldn't be stopped with aggressive baserunning.

The Cards pieced together 10 runs on 10 hits while capitalizing on a pair of Bellarmine errors and multiple obstruction calls.

Brooke Gray got the start in the circle for the Cards, earning her third win on the early season. In her three innings of work, Gray surrendered two hits but maintained a shutout. Izzy Harrison came in relief for the final two innings, striking out six and walking one.

Louisville jumped out front early. After Chelsea Mack and Bri Despines found ways to get on base and advance to scoring position, Char Lorenz drove both runners in. The Cards recorded four successful steals in the first inning.

With two outs in the second inning, Louisville pieced together a four-run rally with Easton Lotus, Bri Despines, Chelsea Mack, and Madison Pickens crossing the plate.

Louisville did more damage in the third inning before recording any outs. Maddi Grant led off with the only triple of the game and was followed by a double by Ally Alexander. Easton Lotus followed with a single and the Cards found themselves threatening to run rule the Knights.

In the fourth inning, UofL pieced together two more runs to add a little insurance. The inning was highlighted by a 10-pitch at bat for Taylor Monroe, who capped it off with an rbi double.

Louisville finished the game 8-for-9 on steals with the only unsuccessful attempt coming in the fourth inning. The Cards had five multi-base hits and had no strikeouts on the offensive end.

The Cards remain home to host the Cardinal Classic this weekend. They will play five games from Friday-Sunday. 

Cards WBB Host Clemson for Senior Day

Photo by Go Cards

Senior Day for Louisville women's basketball has already arrived. The Cards will face off against Clemson at 6:00pm for their final home game of the regular season. It will be aired on tv on ACC Network.

Prior to the game, Olivia Cochran, Merissah Russell, Jayda Curry, and Ja'Leah Williams will be recognized in the Senior Ceremony. Cochran and Russell are both five-year players at Louisville. Curry has been with the Cards for the last two seasons while Williams used her final year of eligibility at Louisville this season.

Clemson, under first year head coach Shawn Poppie, is 13-14 this season. The sit near the bottom of the ACC at 6-10. The former Clemson had coach, Amanda Butler, is on the Louisville coaching staff as an assistant

Photo by Go Cards

While the Tigers don't have a ton of strengths, they have been efficient with their three-point shooting and have had strong bench scoring. Loyal McQueen is one of the best point guards in the country, averaging 5.0 assists per game. Hannah Kohn has proved to be one of the best three-point shooters nationally with 75 made threes and nearly three per game.

Louisville leads the all-time series, 12-3. All 12 wins have come since the Cards joined the ACC. Last year, Louisville went down to Littlejohn Coliseum and won 81-64.

WALZ PRESSER 2/26/25

(Softball photos by Jared)

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

WBB stats --ACC Pick em --WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 TAJ ROBERTS, JAYDA CURRY LEAD CARDS WBB IN SCORING

With two games left in the regular season, it looks like a two way battle to see who will lead this 2024-25 UofL WBB team in scoring. Freshman Taj Roberts has 13.2 points in 27 games and senior Jayda Curry has 13.0 points per game in 23 contests. Only one other Card is in double figures and that is grad student Olivia Cochran.

Roberts and Curry are also the 1-2 punch in three-pointers...45 for Roberts and 43 for Curry. Curry is the clear leader in free throws made, with 73, and also the most accurate with a sizzling 92% success rate. 

Her  high school jersey in background, we all  know 

                                         "O" is #44.

When it comes to rebounding, it's Cochran leading the way with 177 on the season, followed by Nyla Harris with 152. 

After 27 games, the Cards have scored  5450 points and their opponents have also scored 5450 points. I don't think I have ever seen a team and its various opponents tied in scoring this late in a season. 

96-57 is the largest margin of victory this year for UofL WBB (over Grambling) and the Cards biggest loss came to UConn (52-85) . 

Louisvill'se eight losses have come to: UCLA, Kentucky, Oklahoma, UConn, NC State, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame and North Carolina. Seven of these schools are in the AP Top 25. 

If the ACC Tournament were starting tomorrow, Louisville would earn a #4 seed and get a double bye...they are tied at 12-4 with FSU and Duke but own wins over both. With two regular season games left (Clemson and Notre Dame), if the Cards finished 20-9...they would watch with great interest that season ending battle between FSU and Duke, which could determine if UofL gets the double bye. FSU has to also go to Notre Dame, so, it appears their battle to earn the double bye might be the toughest of all...Duke's other final games, beside FSU,  is hosting UNC, another tough task. 

It's the final season for the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, I'd surely love to be there this year, but odds are I won't get to make the trip. 

For Louisville, the key is to...at least go 1-1 to have a shot at that coveted ACC Tournament double bye....along with Notre Dame, UNC and NCST 

ACC PICK EM

We'll be running our annual ACC Tournament "Pick Em" Tournament this year.. with some major changes in the judging crew of your entries. Jared , former bracket czar, has stepped aside from the duties this year, so it'll be me and Cardinal Couple writer Case Hoskins doing the tracking and judging.

You'll need to get your entries in before the first game on March 5th.  We'll also request that all entries be posted in the comments sections of articles...we won't track any entries sent to us other ways. 

We have two great gift cards in the prize vault...one for legendary Wagner's Restaurant (near Churchill Downs) and one for Cracker Barrel. 

One entry per participant and we'll offer an entry format example (from the lovely Sonya) once the seeds are revealed. 

paulie 

Cards Join AP Top 25 -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Cracks Rankings at #25

Following a 1-1 week against a pair of highly ranked teams, Louisville women's basketball has found itself back in the rankings. The Cards enter the AP Poll at #25.

Last week, Louisville went to then-#11 Duke and secured a win. They followed it with a down-to-the-wire loss to then-#9 North Carolina loss. The latter was a game where Louisville led for 39 of the full 40 minutes but a late game collapse plus some interesting antics by referee Maj Forsberg and her crew led to another loss on the schedule.

While Louisville boasts a 19-8 overall record, the losses have come against some of the toughest competition available. The eight losses have come against current ranked teams:

#2 UCLA (by 7)

#3 Notre Dame (by 18)

#5 UConn (by 33)

#8 North Carolina (by 4)

#9 NC State (by 30)

#13 Oklahoma (by 6)

#15 Kentucky (by 10, OT)

unraked Virginia Tech (by 5)

The Cards are one of six ACC teams currently ranked with Georgia Tech and California in the receiving votes category. Louisville is joined by #3 Notre Dame, #8 North Carolina, #9 NC State, #16 Duke, and #24 Florida State.

Clemson on Thursday night and a rematch with Notre Dame are the only remaining regular season games. Winning both games would solidify a top-four seed and a double-bye in the ACC Tournament. One or two losses would drop them down to a single-bye. The Cards cannot finish below sixth in the ACC this year.

National Girls and Women in Sports Day

Louisville Volleyball

UofL celebrated National Girls and Women in Sports Day on Sunday. Louisville volleyball and new head coach Dan Meske were recognized at halftime. Louisville women's soccer coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes was also recognized at halftime.

Dan Meske

Karen Ferguson Dayes with Amy Calabrese and Josh Heird

Angel McCoughtry

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards WBB loses heartbreaker to #9 UNC 79-75 -- SOFTBALL RESULTS. -- LACROSSE RESULTS -- Monday CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS WBB FALTERS IN FINAL MINUTE TO #9 NORTH CAROLINA

(taken at halftime when the Cards were up 35-29. Paulie, "mayor for life" Jerry Abramson, and Sonya . Photo by Mike DeZarn

So...when you lead a team for 39 of The 40 minutes you play them, and put six players in double figures...YOU'D NORMALLY EXPECT TO PUT A "W" in the win/loss column for your squad. But this UofL team has shown a penchant for fading and faltering in the fourth quarter of contests. And it happened again Sunday afternoon in front of 11.280 in the KFC YUM! Center.

On a afternoon when Cardinals greats Angel McCoughtry and Myisha Hines-Allen were back in the house and greeted the crowd, the Cards were outscored 29-20 in the final quarter to go down in defeat. Walz probably would have liked to suit up Angel and Myisha for this one...Keep in mind, it took UNC and entire first half to score 29 points...but the TarHeels discovered late that they could use tthe dribble drive and score at will on the Cards defense and proceeded to do just that.

Guess who? 

Louisville made exactly one basket in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter, and was out scored 13-5. And, that is the telling stat. A 5'9" ,5'7" and 5'8" guards combined to score 26 points on the Cards in the final ten minutes. 

Louisville went for the win with six seconds left in the game and down by two, when Jayda Curry tried a three-pointer. It was a clear, open look at the potential game winner, but the shot missed and UNC got the rebound and was fouled and sank two free throws with a second to play for the 79-75 final. A lot of discussion followed among some of the media on going for the win instead of a tie...but Walz seemed convinced it was the best thing to do in his post game remarks.

Louisville shot 39% for the game while UNC was at 49%. The Cards ruled the boards, as we'll point out in the FRED report, but, UNC used a 38-15 bench scoring advantage for the win. And, the TarHeels were minus two starters. 

All in all, the Cards lost to a higher ranked team that shot better than them and scored the game's final six points. And, it's a game where the most points win. 

FRED HECHINGER is an actor who was in Gladiator II

THE FRED REPORT

FREE THROWS -- The Cards went 21-26 from the free throw line. that' 80% and that will get them a CAPITAL "F" Free throws certainly didn't lose this one for UofL. Ja'Leah Williams and Tajianna Roberts were 9-9 .

REBOUNDING -- Louisville outrebounded the taller TarHeels 42-27. Olivia Cochran led the way with 10. We award  CAPITAL "R" here. 

EFFORT/EXECUTION -- UofL won the second chance points battle 18-5. They won points off turnovers 16-5. Three point shooting was maybe a bit off at 4-13(30.8%) but that didn't lose the game for them...getting outscored 29-20 in the first quarter did. Especially after limiting UNC to 29 points in the entire first half.  Louisville lost, so we will just award a small case "e".

DEFENSE -- Louisville allowed 79 points...second most this season. UNC shot 49% for the game. UNC won the second half 50-40. i can't call this a great defensive effort. NO LETTER.

FINAL FRED TALLY:   F-R-e-_

The Cards return to action Thursday when Clemson comes to town. It's the final regular season home WBB game of the season

WBB Photos by Jared Anderson 

POSTGAME JEFF WALZ REMARKS HERE

POSTGAME UNC REMARKS HERE

SOFTBALL

Louisville played Wisconsin on Sunday in the final day of the USF Tournament in Tampa. An early start to this one (9 a.m) and early success for the Cards, jumping out to a 3-0 start after one inning and extending that to 5-0 after two...ending up winning 5-1

Alyssa Zabala got the win, going to 5-1 on the season and the Cards improved their record to 10-5 on the season. Zabala went four innings, allowing the lone Wisconsin run, and Sam Booe got the save with three innings. The Cards hit two home runs in the contest, both in the first inning, from Bri Despines and Char Lorenz. The Cards allowed just three Badger hits, and the UofL pitchers recorded six strike outs. 

The Cards Florida extended stay ends...and Louisville returns home to face Bellarmine on Wednesday Feb. 26th...first game of a 13 game home stand. 

LAX WINS AT CALIFORNIA. 

The Lax Cards got a double overtime win out in Berkley, California Sunday 10-9. 

Izzy  Seikel had the winner, and Reese Whitman had a huge game for Scott Teeter's squad with five goals. 

Louisville is now 3-2 on the season and 1-0 in ACC play. The Cards come home for another ACC match... to face UNC on Friday at noon at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium

paulie

Basketball, Softball, Lacrosse, and More - Sunday Cardinal Couple

Softball Still in the South

In their last weekend of Softball in Florida, the Cards split Saturday's games against Michigan, and host USF.

 

The Cards got started early, in a 9am first pitch against Michigan.  Michigan has traditionally been a major power in college softball, particularly back under the leadership of legendary coach Carol Hutchins, but they are not quite that national power these days.  They're still a good team, to be sure, but not what they once were.  The Louisville squad was able to get a couple of hours of rest before they had an early afternoon game against host USF.  The Bulls took this one, 6-1.

 

The game against Michigan was quite a battle, going eight innings before being decided, but the Cards did come out on top.  They got started right off the bat, if you'll forgive the pun, with Easton Lotus in leadoff.  Usually we talk about her getting on base and promptly stealing second, but in this case, she just went directly for the triple, no base stealing need.  Chelsea Mack followed with a single to left field, and USF was able to hold Lotus at third.  But you know we can't go without base stealing, so Mack promptly stole second.  Jordan Williams gets the pair of RBIs with a single, bringing home both Lotus and Mack.

 

Fast forward to the fifth inning, and this one is pretty straightforward.  Bri Despines comes to the plate to lead off the inning sends Mr. Spalding for a ride, clearing the fence in left field.  Job done.

 

Michigan scored a third run in the bottom of the 6th, and a scoreless 7th for both sides led to an extra inning.  They were playing with the rule where an offensive player starts on second base in extra innings, and Williams got that placement.  Ava Venturelli was able to sneak a hit through the left side, advancing Williams to third, Venturelli was able to advance on the throw.  Venturelli was pinch hitting for Taylor Monroe, who re-entered at this point to finish the base running.  Turning the lineup over after an Ally Alexander walk to fill the bases, Easton Lotus doubled down the left field line, bringing home Williams and Monroe.  The Cards would hold the Wolverines scoreless in the bottom of the 8th to take the win.

 

The only score for the Cards in the afternoon event was in the third inning, where Lotus got a single, followed by the same by Mack, and then again by Despines.  And I know you're as shocked and confused as I am, but there was no base stealing in this inning.  Finally, another single, this one by Madison Pickens, scored Lotus.

 

Unfortunately, that would be it for Louisville and with USF scoring six, Louisville dropped to 9-5 on the season...still respectable.

 

The Cards are back in action today, again with an early 9am start, against Wisconsin.  The Cards did already take a loss to Wisconsin on Friday, 4-1, and will be looking for the revenge today.  At the time of this writing, early in the game in the bottom of the 2nd, the Cards lead 3-0.

 

Looking forward, Ulmer field will finally welcome play to it's pristine grass and dirt on Wednesday in an intra-city battle against Bellarmine.  That will be a 5pm start.  The weather forecast looks pretty good for it, with a chance of showers, but a high predicted for the day of 63F, which should be about the temperature at first pitch.  I'll take it.

 

Lacrosse in the West

The Lacrosse squad headed out west to California contingent to play the Cal Bears, and this one was an absolute battle until the very end.  The Cards did finally get the victory, 10-9, at the beginning of the second overtime period.

 

Lots of the Cards scoring has been by committee, but we did have a standout yesterday, with Reese Whiteman putting in half of the goals for the Cards.  The sophomore put two in the net in the first quarter, another pair in the third, and started off the fourth quarter with her fifth and final score.  Lauren Figas, Negai Nakazawa, and Rian Adkins each got on the board once, all in the second quarter.  Izzy Seikel scored with about one minute left in the third quarter, and got the game winner at the beginning of the second overtime to seal the deal for the Cards.

 

Lacrosse heads back east for a Friday noon game against North Carolina, which will, of course, be a big challenge for the Cards as the Tarheels are ranked number two in the nation, behind only Boston College.

 

Basketball Gameday

Speaking of ranked North Carolina teams.  WBB will welcome the #9/#10 Tarheels into the KFC Yum! Center today for a 2pm start.

 

UNC only has four losses on the season, to UConn, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, and FSU, all of which are reasonable and respectable losses.  They're coming into the game today on a six game win streak, and having just beaten Syracuse in NY (68-58).

 

UNC doesn't have a lot of really high scores, they're lead by Maria Gakdang and Alyssa Ustby, scoring at a rate of 11.3 and 10.7 points per game.  Lexi Donarski and Reniya Kelly both fall just short of that double-digit mark at 9.9 ppg for both.

 

As you might expect for a quality team, they beat their opponents on average in every statistical category, so not much insight is to be found there.  Donarski will be the biggest outside threat, taking the most threes on the team and being among the highest percentage shooters at about 40%.  Kelly is the most efficient from beyond the arc, hitting at around 43%, but she attempts fewer than Donarski.

 

Be aware that today is the program's celebration of Girls and Women in Sports Day (which was officially a few days ago), along with Girl Scout Day.  Of course those are two demographics that overlap quite a bit in any case.  So expect the crowd to be enthusiastic and high pitched.  There will be cookie sales on the concourse by the entrance starting in the 3rd quarter if you haven't gotten your fix, yet.

 

VolleyCards in the Pros

A quick Volleyball Cards in the Pros update.

 

Yesterday the Pro Volleyball Federation held their first All-Star match in Fischer's Indiana.  One Card made it onto the All-Star rosters, Charitie Luper with Las Vegas.  She was not originally named to the rosters, but after Leketor Member-Meneh suffered an ankle injury and was determined to be unable to play in the All Star match, Luper got the call up to fill that vacancy.  Luper's team, Team Shondell (Dave Shondell, head coach at Purdue was the coach) did win over Team Collier (Michelle Collier, head coach at Georgia Tech).

 

Going to back to Thursday, it was a good day for more local Cards, as Elena Scott started the match for Indy Ignite in the libero jersey for the first time.  It was expected that it was only a matter of time for her to win the jersey over Kylie Murr, and Thursday was that day.  Also in that match, Anna DeBeer made her pro volleyball playing debut.  She's still recovering from the injury she suffered in Louisville's National Semifinal win over Pitt, the coach of the Ignite said she was at about 80-85%, but she has healed enough to enter as a serving sub.  Alas, she entered the match twice to serve, and both plays resulted in points for the opponent, so two plays was the sum total of her appearance, but it's a start in her return to the court.

 

Both former Cards received significant cheers from the crowd when they were announced in their respective positions, Scott during the starting lineup, and DeBeer when she first substituted into the game.

 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Last but not least, Case, Daryl, Paul, and myself were on the CCRHP call yesterday.  Busy times as we try to cover the main sports in action with basketball, lacrosse, and softball all getting time.

 

Check it out at it's Spotify home:

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/cardinal-couple/episodes/Basketball--Lacrosse--and-Softball-Keeping-Everyone-Busy-e2v8npb 

Softball Splits Friday at USF -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Beat Kent State 13-3; Fall to Wisconsin 4-1

Louisville softball improved to 8-3 early yesterday afternoon before falling to 8-4 later in the day. The Cards rode two big innings to beat Kent State 13-3 in a run rule in their first game in the USF Tournament and later couldn't find the offense against Wisconsin. Louisville continues the tournament today with games against Michigan and USF, and they'll get a second shot at Wisconsin tomorrow. 

Sam Booe has largely established herself as the second starter in the rotation so far this season, picking up many starts that I think we would have expected to go to Brooke Gray. Booe started game one yesterday and gave up one run on five hits with no walks and three strikeouts in three innings. Not too shabby. Gray came in for the fourth and was a little shaky. She pitched only the fourth inning and gave up two runs on three hits while picking up just one strikeout. Katie Thatcher got another opportunity in the circle, striking out one in two thirds of an inning and Lindsey Mullen finished the game and ended the fifth inning with a line out. 

Offensively, Louisville looked poised to start their scoring early, but they couldn't convert with the bases loaded and two outs. Coach Holly Aprile has shifted the lineup slightly, working to get more hitters in the top of the order. Easton Lotus is still leading off, but Chelsea Mack has moved to the second spot. With Char Lorenz still batting third, Bri Despines was in the cleanup spot. 

Kent State actually opened the book with an RBI single in the second. Booe looked in danger of giving up a handful as she started the inning with a strikeout and then couldn't miss a bat. Kent State went double, single, RBI single, fielder's choice ground out, and ground out. If one of those last two ground outs made it through a hole, Louisville would have been down even more. 

The Cards responded in the bottom half, with Maddi Grant opening the inning with a walk and being replaced on the base by pinch-running Riley Janda. Janda moved up to second on a Katie Thatcher single, and both advanced with an Ally Alexander sacrifice bunt. Lotus had a productive ground out to first, which scored Janda, but Thatcher was stranded at third on another ground out. 

The third saw Booe return to form with a three-up, three-down inning on just nine pitches. Then it was Louisville's turn to open it up. Lorenz walked on at 13-pitch at bat and Bri Despines reached on catcher's interference. Madison Pickens singled to score Lorenz, and Taylor Monroe did the same to score Despines. Grant walked to load the bases, prompting Kent State to make a change in the circle. The new pitcher walked a run in. Alexander hit a sac fly, and Thatcher stole second to put two runners in scoring position with one out. Easton Lotus brought both in with a double, but for reasons unclear to me, those runs were considered unearned. Mack moved Lotus to third on a ground out, and Lorenz walked. I assume Kent State just stopped paying attention when walking Lorenz, because Louisville executed a double steal on the walk to get Lotus home. Despines was walked intentionally to get a force out at any base, and Pickens flied out to mercifully end the inning after Louisville scored seven runs. The Cards led 8-1.

The fourth saw them get a pair back in Gray's short outing, but the Cards went right back to work in the bottom half. Again, they opened the inning with a walk, and Maddi Grant singled to move Monroe all the way to third. Thatcher had a ground out RBI and Alexander was walked. Camryn Lookadoo, who replaced Lotus at second base, greeted Kent State's new pitcher with a walk, and Jordan Williams, pinch hitting for Mack, did the same. During William's walk, one of the pitches was wild and Grant came home to score. Char Lorenz grounded out, but Kent State couldn't turn two so one run scored. Ava Venturelli came in to pinch hit for Despines and kept the good vibes rolling, singling in two runners. All in all, Louisville scored five runs on two hits and no errors in the inning. Thatcher and Mullen made quick work of Kent State in the fifth and the run rule applied with a 13-3 victory. 

Louisville finished the first game with just six hits while scoring 13 runs. That's incredible. With that, they still managed to leave seven on base. Kent State just really couldn't find the strike zone, ultimately walking 12 batters and giving up one hit by pitch. Louisville, potentially, should have saved some offense for the second game. 

The Cards opened game two as the away team, and we saw right away that Aprile had returned the lineup to its previous shape. Unfortunately, Lotus, Despines, and Lorenz went down in order on just eight pitches. Alyssa Zabala got the start in this one and made similarly short work of the Badgers in the first inning, needing just nine to go three-up, three-down. 

Pickens opened the second inning with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. She might have fallen asleep at second, though, as she was picked off with a throw behind from the catcher and officially earned a "caught stealing". Grant walked after a full count but Thatcher struck out to end the inning. The second got off to a less-than-stellar start defensively, with runners on first and second after an error and a walk. Zabala looked as though she might tight-rope out of the jam, getting a pop-out and a ground out to give Wisconsin two outs. She was made to pay for the productive ground out, though, as a single up the middle scored both runners. Louisville trailed 2-0. 

In the top of the third, the Cards once more looked like they'd put some runs on the board. Alexander grounded out to open the inning, but Mack singled, and Lotus turned a sacrifice bunt attempt into a single as well. Despines grounded to second, but Wisconsin couldn't turn the double-play, so Char Lorenz came to the plate with runners on the corners and two outs. She flied out to left field.

After seeing the ball well in the second resulted in the ball staying on the ground for the Badgers, they converted that into putting the ball into the air in the fourth. A first pitch pop out was followed by a double to the gap in left-center. Zabala didn't flinch, though, and ultimately stranded the runner with help from the defense. She picked up a fly out to left and the inning ended on a fly out down the right field line, where Madison Pickens saved a run. 

For her defensive efforts, Pickens was rewarded with a strikeout to open the fourth inning. Monroe singled, but Wisconsin still kept the Cards off the scoreboard with a double play. The Badgers kept up their quality at-bats in the bottom half. Zabala once again opened the inning by getting the first batter out, but the next fly ball to left field got all the way over the fence for a solo home run. That was followed by another fly ball to left that was caught, while the next batter doubled to right center. A ground out ended the inning, but the Cards' deficit had grown to 3-0.

Louisville finally broke through in the top of the fifth, but alternating reaching base with outs will quickly end an inning. Thatcher drew a full count walk to open the inning before Alexander flew out to center. Mack continued to show her small ball skills at the plate with a bunt single to put runners on first and second with one out and the top of the order up. Lotus flied out to left center. Seeing a trend? Despines singled between first and second base, and she and Mack each moved up an extra base on the throw home that couldn't stop Thatcher from scoring. With two runners in scoring position and two outs... Lorenz flied out to left center. Cards cut into the lead to make it 3-1.

Zabala returned to the circle for her fifth inning of work and got the first batter out before giving up a single. The Wisconsin runner stole second while Zabala picked up a strikeout. As it turned out, the steal was unnecessary, as a double would have scored her from first. A fly out ended the inning, but the run erased Louisville's comeback progress. Wisconsin brought in a new pitcher to help close out the game and the middle of Louisville's order went down in a hurry with two strikeouts and a first pitch groundout. 

Sam Booe replaced Zabala in the sixth and followed a foul out with a hit by pitch. Bri Despines caught the pinch runner stealing, and Booe picked up a strikeout to end the inning. Down to their final three outs, Louisville didn't go down quietly, although the box score doesn't really indicate that. The line ultimately says one hit, one line out, and two ground outs. But Thatcher opened with an eight-pitch at bat that ended on a full-count liner to the hot corner. A pinch hitting Jordan Williams got ahold of the ball for a ground out to put the Cards up against it. Venturelli came in to pinch hit for Mack and got a first pitch single. She was immediately swapped back out to get the disruptive Mack on the base paths with the top of the order up. Lotus got the bat on the ball on her second pitch with a ground ball, but it was fielded by the shortstop and the game ended on the fielder's choice. 

Despite how some of the early games have gone so far this season, yesterday's was Alyssa Zabala's first loss this year. She finished with six hits and a walk in five innings, giving up four runs (two earned) with one strikeout. I'll also push the limit a bit and say all four of those runs are kind of earned, since she was the one who committed the error. The offense let Zabala down a bit in this one, earning seven hits and two walks, but leaving six on base. The Cards will need more consistency at the plate going forward this season if they want to return to the NCAA tournament. 

Today's games are against Michigan, with that one starting at 9am, and the hosting USF at 1:35. The USF game will be available on ESPN+. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have four on board today, as Jared heads to the Yum! Center for a noon MBB tipoff. We'll have plenty to cover this week, as there have been games galore. 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

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cards Stun Blue Devils in Cameron -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Beats #11 Duke 70-62

Louisville women's basketball weathered a third quarter comeback to hang on and become the first team not named Duke to win at Cameron Indoor Stadium this season. Coming into the game, the Blue Devils' men's and women's teams were a combined 26-0 at home, with Kara Lawson's squad sporting an 11-0 record. The Cards got clutch minutes from Merissah Russell late in the game and saw Jayda Curry score a season-high 24 points as they moved to 12-3 in conference and hold the tiebreaker over FSU, Duke, and Cal for the fourth seed in the ACC tournament with three games to play.

Louisville got off to an inauspicious start in this one, opening the game with a shotclock violation. The offense didn't get much better for the Cards in the first quarter, as they made just one of their first nine shots. Coupled with a pair of free throws, Louisville had four points in the first seven minutes of the game. They returned to equilibrium a bit over the last three minutes of the quarter by making four of six, including a three from Elif Istanbulluoglu (the first of the game for either team) to finish the quarter with 13. Duke, who shot 44% from the floor in the quarter, had just 14, as they made only two-point baskets, didn't get to the line, and matched Louisville's three turnovers.

The second quarter was a comedy of errors, and I mean that literally. Louisville finished with seven turnovers in the quarter, which actually paled in comparison to Duke's 10. The Cards found a bit more rhythm offensively, shooting 8/16 from the floor and picking up two more free throws. Where they really did their damage was the three point line. Louisville was 4/6 from beyond the arc in the quarter, while Duke was just 1/4. Those makes included a pair by Jayda Curry, with one coming off balance as the shot clock wound down, and one from Mackenly Randolph to improve her season mark to 2/17 from three. Duke, to their credit, was 7/10 from the floor, going 100% from two, but the turnovers and inability to get to the free throw line allowed Louisville to take a six-point lead into the locker room at 35-29.

The Cards came out of the break determined to continue the sloppy basketball on display in the second quarter, but the Blue Devils appeared to have gotten their yips out of the way. Louisville committed eight more turnovers in the third, while Duke had just four. The wheels came off a bit for the referee crew (which had Louisville favorites Dee Kanter and Billy Smith as part of it)  in this quarter, if you ask me, with both teams getting away with various fouls and violations while simultaneously falling victim to ghost calls. To add to their troubles, Louisville was just 4/9 from the floor with another strong mark from Duke, who went 8/17. The Blue Devils last shot fell through the net as time expired to tie the game and reset the board going into the fourth. 45-all.

Pam Ward (who is committed to saying Louisville incorrectly and as frequently as possible) and Stephanie White continually spoke on the broadcast about Louisville being able to push the defense and make Duke commit fouls. While this was anticipated to be a strongly contested defensive battle, Duke is susceptible to foul trouble. That began to roost early in the fourth. Louisville's first four points in the quarter came at the line, keeping them in a game where their field goal shooting threatened to abandon them. Jayda Curry made the Cards' first basket of the fourth three minutes in with a three-pointer to make it 52-47.

After Duke collected back-to-back offensive rebounds on their next possession, Olivia Cochran committed her third foul and Delaney Thomas stepped to the line for free throws. She made them both, giving Duke their first free throw makes on their first free throw attempts of the game with just 6:30 remaining. The Blue Devil's second made three of the game would tie it at 52. Cochran earned her fourth foul and the game went to its final media timeout. A Curry foul sent Duke to the line to give the Blue Devils their first lead since the score was 18-16 in the second quarter, but Louisville was undeterred. Jeff Walz left Cochran in the game with four fouls and she delivered, scoring to tie the game, while drawing a foul on Reigan Richardson. Cochran would miss the and-one free throw, but Merissah Russell made her first huge offensive rebound play to lead to a Curry jumper to give the Cards the lead once more.

After that, the Cards continued to trade a pair of free throws for a Duke made two pointer. Remember how we talked about Duke being susceptible to fouling? Yeah, that remained true. After Curry's jumper made it 56-54 in favor of Louisville, the Cards would score just one more field goal for the remainder of the game. And in a close game like this, it wasn't because Duke was fouling aggressively to send Louisville to the line. Louisville just ran their offense, played their game, and happened to earn freebies. In fact, Duke was so committed to not fouling that when the Cards inherited the ball with 58 seconds remaining and a four-point lead, they were able to milk 42 seconds off the clock before Curry was sent to the line. I mentioned Russell's first huge O-board already, but her second came when Curry ran the shot clock all the way down before firing a three. Russell fought hard for the rebound, then wisely pulled it away, helping tick those extra 14 seconds away.

Curry made two to give the Cards a six-point lead, and a Duke turnover on a missed offensive rebound attempt appeared to seal the game. But wait! Is that Dee Kanter's music? Despite the ball pretty clearly going out off of Duke in real time, Kanter called it Duke ball. To her credit, she immediately went to the monitor. Once again, the ball was shown to clearly bounce off the Duke player's arm last, but a minute later, Kanter announced the call was confirmed. Ok, sure. As they say, though, "Ball don't lie." The Blue Devils threw the inbound pass away and Curry corralled it. She was fouled immediately, and she sunk two more to set the final: 70-62.

This was an extremely chaotic game. Both teams went on runs that looked like they'd ice the game early, and both also looked completely out of sorts at different times. Sometimes, they looked out of sorts at the same time, resulting in certified "ugly basketball" at multiple points in the game. Curry was the biggest bright spot in this one, with her season high also being the highest point total in the game. She added three assists and five steals to two offensive boards and she was 9-9 from the free throw line. Toss in her three "oh please no" injury scares and that's a full stat line.

The Cards also got strong performances from the other two players to match Curry's 37 minutes. Taj Roberts and Ja'Leah Williams were both in double figures. Williams had four rebounds, three assists, and two steals to go along with her 13 points, and Roberts had three rebounds and a steal while going 6-6 from the free throw line to score 11. Merissah Russell scored two points on her only shot attempt (a critical basket at the end of the shot clock) and matched the team high with four rebounds.

Let's have a FRED Report, shall we?

The FRED Report

F - Free Throws: This one is pretty straightforward. Louisville was 22-25 from the line, scoring more points from the free-throw line than the three-point line (which is saying something; they had six threes!). 88% is really good, and it's twice as nice when the opponent scores just four points from the stripe. Capital 'F'.

R - Rebounding: Rebounding was a strange one. Louisville had just 28 rebounds, but their boards were much more distributed than Duke's 30, as the Blue Devils had two players with seven apiece. Louisville made hay with their offensive rebounds, though. The two teams matched with 11 each, but the Cards outscored Duke 14-8 on second chance points. I'm going to go with a lowercase 'r'.

Marvel's Fred Duke
AKA 'Blob'

E - Effort/Execution: Boy, you thought rebounding was tough to judge? The Cards were beaten in points in the paint, largely due to defensive lapses, and bench points, but they scored more points off turnovers and on the fast break. They also had more second chance points, as I just noted, so clearly hustle was on the table. They only shot 43% from the floor but that came with 50% from three point range (Louisville really struggled with missed layups). The Cards had 19 turnovers, but that was fewer than Duke (albeit by one), and Duke is a really good defensive team. Because this was a game that Louisville had every chance to give up in the second half and instead they showed their mettle by hanging in for a tough road win, I'm granting a capital 'E'. Sue me.

D - Defense: So... Duke shot the ball pretty well. They ended up going 50% from the floor, with a whopping 60.5% from two-point land. However, they turned the ball over a ton and Louisville defended without sending the Blue Devils to the line. Duke was averaging 74 points coming into the game and Louisville held them way below that. The Cards defense had some mistakes, to be sure, but they kept themselves in the game early and closed it out late. Capital 'D'.

You may not love a final tally of F-r-E-D in a game that was as choppy as that one, but I'm not going to let a somewhat ugly game overshadow the fact that the Cards picked up their second Quad 1 win with a huge road win over a top-15 opponent. Louisville has an incredibly difficult road ahead to close out this season, so getting it started with a win like tonight is great for confidence. Up next is another matchup with a team tied with Louisville in the standings. The Cards bring #9 UNC to town on Sunday for the penultimate home game of the season. A win would go a long way toward cementing Louisville's double-bye and improving their NCAA seed line. Hopefully this team is peaking at the right time of year.

POST GAME JEFF WALZ HERE

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

SB vs USF cancelled -- WBB at #11 DUKE tonight -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

  Good morning readers, Daryl checking in a day early this week.   Another shake up in the usual lineup around here as UofL closed its campus for a snow day on Wednesday which meant a nice day at home for myself and the cat.  Jared asked for some extra coverage so we made it work and Case will cover the early weekend.  

Softball

Photo by: Kennedy Knisley | Louisville Athletics

Some other shake ups include the Softball Cards cancelling their first matchup with the USF Bulls on Wednesday due to the lingering storms in the Tampa Bay area.   The squad will look ahead to facing Kent St, USF, Michigan and Wisconsin in the USF tournament over the weekend.  

Alyssa Zabala Named ACC Co-Pitcher of the Week

After going 3-0 on the weekend and shutting out #25 FAU, Zabala moves to 4-0 on the season. She recorded a 0.75 ERA in 18.2 innings, tallying 12 strikeouts and allowing only two runs and four walks in 79 at-bats.

WBB

Photo: Jared Anderson

The WBB Cards are back in action after a weeklong break when they head to Durham to play the #11 Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium.    This one will be available on ESPN2 tip off set for 7 p.m.   

Louisville is coming off one of its best games of the season vs #21 FSU and the Dukies are coming off a 64-49 loss at #1 Notre Dame on Monday night.  

The last time these two faced off was 1/4/2024 when the Cards got the 61-44 victory at the Yum! Center.    Olivia Cochran had 13 points on 6-11 shooting and led the Cards in rebounding with 6.  Merissah Russell had 10 points on 4-6 shooting and a couple steals.  

UofL is 6-1 in the last 7 meetings with Duke, 8-4 all time and 2-4 on the road.

The Blue Devils overall record is 20-6 and they are 11-3 in ACC play. They are the 10th ranked opponent Louisville has faced this season.  As a team, Duke is averaging 75.4 PPG while holding its opponents to an average 58.7 PPG which is good for second the ACC in scoring defense.  

Toby Fornier leads Duke in points per game with 13.4 which is what Taj Roberts is averaging for Louisville.   Ashlon Jackson looks lead the 3 point shooting efforts for the Blue Devils shooting 41% on 62 connections from beyond the arc.  Kara Lawson is in her 5th season at helm for Duke.  

As Always, 

Go Cards 

~Daryl

Taj Roberts ACC Rookie of the Week...again...--WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 ROBERTS ACC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK FOR 5TH TIME

(Remember this class? Is the current freshman class as good?) 

There is no doubt that the freshmen on the UofL WBB squad have had a major impact on the team's success this season. Imani Berry has delivered a lot of clutch three-pointers, Mac Randolph and Isla Juffermans have been strong in the paint for the Cards. Izela Arenas has provided strong off the bench performances...but the freshman that has drawn the most attention and had the most success has been Tajianna "Taj" Roberts.

Taj leads the Cards in scoring with 13.4 p.p.g. .She was key in the Cards win at FSU with a double-double and her 17 points led the Cards in scoring. She also had 10 rebounds. 

She has scored in double figures 20 times this season in the Cards 25 games, the most of any ACC freshman. A starter on the squad, she averages 30 minutes a game, tops on the squad. 

Roberts is not a showboat, don't ever get that impression of her. She is more the silent assassin who goes to work, gets it done and doesn't bring attention to her with any dramatic acting. That' something Jeff Walz would like to see change. 

"We have great crowds here, and you'll make a great play, and then you'll look like you missed it," Walz said he has told Roberts. "Let the crowd know you're excited because our crowd will get behind you. They want to see that as well. I think she's starting to have more fun with it. It's OK to show emotion and show excitement. And then, I think she's seen how everybody else feeds off of that as well."

Roberts, out of San Diego, CA played her high school basketball at La Jolla (CA) Country Day and the IMG Academy in Florida. She was ranked 24th. in the top 25 list of freshmen incoming this season.

Roberts and the Cardinals will be back in action Thursday night as they go to Durham to take on the No. 11/10 Duke Blue Devils. The Cards and Blue Devils will square off at 7 p.m. ET and it will be broadcast on ESPN2.

Hear Taj, along with Nyla Harris, in this post game presser following the win over Ga.Tech in the clip below

POST GAME WBB VS GT WITH TAJ AND NYLA


A win over Duke, a top ten, Tier 1 team, would be huge for the Cards, as they try to stay in the hunt for a double bye in the ACC Tournament. And certainly, a great performance by the Cards and Roberts in the ACC WBB Tournament would only help their chances for a decent seeding in the tournament that matters...the NCAA. which will be having the Final Four in Tampa , FL this year.

We can only predict that this group of freshmen will continue to get better and better as the season draws to an end. It's like Walz said years ago..."By the time they (freshmen) get to post-season play, they are sophomore...in terms of experience and skills."



The Cards are currently tied for third in ACC WBB standings...Notre Dame is still atop the league and perfect at 14-0 in conference. NC State is 12-2, and North Carolina, Duke and Louisville follow at 11-3.




paulie