Cards Earn Post-Season Honors -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Emina Ekic Named To Best XI Team

Earlier this week, Jared talked about the success that the fall sports teams had throughout this season. Today, I thought I'd give a bit of attention to a couple of players that have received recognition this week as well. One of those players is Emina Ekic. Ekic had a fantastic season, as you may have heard, but it is not just local talking heads that were paying attention. Thursday, she added to her list of accolades when she was named to Top Drawer Soccer's Best XI Third Team. The TDS award is Ekic's second such national award, as she was named as a second team All-American earlier this month. Ekic was joined by Brooklynn Rivers when they were both named to All-Region teams. Ekic unfortunately did not make the finalist cut for the MAC Hermann trophy, but it would be hard to argue that she was not the most valuable player to Louisville's success this year. Everyone should consider making a trip to at least one of her senior season games to see just how critical she is to Louisville's team and how much she stands out on the field.

Aiko Jones Earns All-American Nod

Speaking of players that just stand out, Aiko Jones was honored this week by the AVCA. We've discussed it at length on the site and the radio show, but Jones was forced to step into a much larger role than anticipated and filled it very well. She filled it so well, in fact, that the coaches of the other teams in the country noticed her performance. Louisville is not known as being a "powerhouse" program, and that is especially the case this year, so to have a player stand out enough to make an All-American list is quite significant. Knocking off the number two seed on their home court helps. Jones, of course, is only a red shirt freshman, so her All-American honorable mention is very exciting for her personal future and the future of the program. As the volleyball season comes to a close this weekend, there are sure to be more awards forthcoming. I can't imagine this is the last time we will see Aiko Jones' name on these lists this year, and I'm excited to see how many she can end up on in future years.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We've officially made it through fall sports season. For you basketball fans, that's great! For us radio hosts, it can make things a little more challenging. Despite that, the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour will still be on the air this weekend. We'll bring you a breakdown of volleyball's season ending loss as well as the scare that basketball experienced in Martin, Tennessee. As always, you can tune into the radio show on 100.9 FM, WCHQ. The show is also available in the WCHQ App, at wchqfm.com, or on Facebook live. Join us at 11AM for the joy and excitement of Louisville women's athletics.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH--

WBB Cards departin' Martin with 71-63 double overtime win -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

10-0 FINAL RUN PULLS CARDS TO WIN

10-0 runs. They can be either a bonus or breaker for a team. Louisville women's basketball experienced two of them last night in a wild 71-63 win in from of 1156 fans last night in Martin, TN. in double overtime.

The first 10-0 run came at the start of the contest. Louisville failed to score in the first three minutes of the game and created a deep hole that the Cards eventually dug their way out of by managing the last 10-0 of the contest to get the win.

A win that was ugly, frustrating and inexplicable at times. Nevertheless, a win and one that pushed the Cards to 11-1 on the season. A win that looked like it might be a colossal upset for 47 minutes of the battle between the SkyHawks and the Cards. 

Louisville never led until late in the fourth quarter, when Kylee Shook scored inside to put UofL up 49-47. UT Martin would counter with two free throws, though, to force the first of two extra sessions. 

Jaz Jones found an opportune time to score seven of her nine points in the first, extra five minute session. A session the Cards led 58-56 with five seconds remaining, but managed to foul a shooter (Kyannah Grant) that had missed her last three attempts. Naturally, she sank both of these attempts to force the second overtime.


Dana Evans gave the Cards a lead they would not relinquish with 1:33 left in the final overtime when her jumper connected to make it 65-63 Cards. Louisville got a Yacine Diop jumper and four Evans free throws in the final 53 seconds to finally pull away for what has to be the ugliest win of the season for Jeff Walz's squad.

If you could shoot your foot in this one, Louisville managed to find a way to do it. The Cards had 22 turnovers and UTM found a way to score 25 points off them. 

Sophomore Damiah Griffin, who I managed to pretty much ignore in yesterday's scout of the SkyHawks, blistered the Cards for 25 points on 8 for 13 shooting. She knew what she was doing out there in terms of attack and battling the sometimes slow-to-react Cards defense. 

If there was one main factor that prevented UTM from getting the upset, it came from the free throw line. They went 15-28 from the charity stripe (53.6%) and that was probably a main topic of conversation in the SkyHawks locker room after the game. 

We'll look for a few sunny and bright, rainbow type-of-things now that the storm has past in this scary one and the first one has to be the off-the-bench play of Diop. in 28 minutes she scored 15 points, her second big effort in a row. Dana also gets a warm ray of sunshine her way, with a team high 22 points. Those two combined for five points to save the Cards chances in the fourth quarter. Down 47-42 with under three minutes to play, Evans nails a three and finds Diop for a jumper to tie it at 47-47 at the 2:47 mark. 

Louisville played to the level of their foe last night, a foe that does extremely well on the Pat Summit Court in the Elam Center. They were 4-0 this season coming into Thursday night's game. Jeff Walz and the Cards probably didn't help make UTM's home any more of a desirable spot for non-conference opponents to visit after last night either. 

Doesn't start but brings it when she gets in. Ace in the hole Diop

The Cards did find a way to scramble back after the inglorious start.  A Diop jumper drew UofL to within four at 14-10 with 1:59 remaining in the first quarter. They trailed 16-12 after one.

The second quarter wasn't pretty at all, unless you were a UTM fan. A 13-6 run by the SkyHawks put them up by eight at 29-21 with three minutes until halftime. By them, Louisville already had 10 turnovers. Fortunately, a 5-1 run, spurred by Shook and Dunham closed it to 29-26 before UTM got the final bucket of the half. 

UofL climbed within one of the lead with 4:11 left in the third on two Evans made free throws and at 37-36 after Jones only bucket in regulation with 2:12 remaining in the third quarter.

Jeff Walz spoke in terms of what he could depend on each night during the post-game words and, right now, it is solely Dana Evans. She played all 50 minutes of the contest. She was 10-10 from the free throw line. She handed out eight assists. Cardinal teams over the last couple of years have had multiple players who could be counted on each game. Hines-Allen, Carter, Fuehring and Durr. This year, Evans is the only one walking away from the carnival balloon toss each time with a prize. 

Give the Cards credit for managing to ride a tired horse that was shortening stride and hugging the rail to the wire for what was eventually a pull-away win. 

Call it "dreams of home" before getting there, as UofL now goes on a 10-day Christmas break before returning home to face dangerous Syracuse on Dec 29th. Call it a comedy of errors and missed shots but still finding a way to throw one huge and final knockout punch. Or, call it a come-from-behind win. I'm not going to call it much of anything. I'm just glad they survived the bumpy flight and turbulence. 


When you wear the target on your back, you can expect to be shot at. Either you avoid the incoming shots and return the fire or take the bullets and fall down. Louisville survived an all-out attack from a talented mid-major last night but looked like they were going to lose the gunfight for 47 minutes of a 50 minute showdown. 

I watched this one, alone... on the laptop, in a hotel room after a sad funeral earlier in the day for a beloved relative. For quite some time last night, it seemed I was attending another dirge for a befallen. Whether the Cards will take advantage of their "rising from the dead" last night as they now march toward the second half of the season remains to be seen.   


THEY SAID IT

Post game comments from Walz and UTM head coach are available at the link below: 

http://thecrunchzone.com/video-post-wbb-utmartin-20191219/

(The link leads you to another site. Credit to TCZ's Tom Farmer for the footage. We're all about promoting the joy and excitement of UofL women's sports and applaud all efforts to join us in that mission.)



THE FRED REPORT

"What's the matter, Fred?"
"I just watched the Cards play UTM on-line"

FREE THROWS -- Louisville continues to impress from the link and went 18-20 last night. We mentioned Dana knocking down all ten of hers, but Diop went 4-4 and we continue to like what we see out of Ya-Ya. I can easily award a capital "F" for foul line excellence. 

REBOUNDS -- Louisville held sway here 49-42 and should have, holding a huge height advantage. Kylee's 11 grabs, part of her double-double (15 points) were fine but just one of her collections of misses were on the offensive glass. An OK job overall, but not deserving of a capital letter, I go with the small-case "r"

EFFORT/EFFICIENCY/EXECUTION -- For what lack of it there was, Louisville did manage to win the fast break points 26-2. This hardly looked like a #6 in the nation squad, though, and there were way too few second chance points (4) and way too many fouls on made UTM baskets, creating the "and 1" scenario more than anyone except UTM fans wanted to see. No letter here for a lackluster effort. 22 turnovers and 15 UTM steals speak volumes.

DEFENSE -- UTM shot just 36.5% for the game but, perhaps the Cards best defense came from Kylee Shook, with six blocks, and Yacine Diop, who had three steals. The defense finally rose late, holding UTM scoreless in the final two minutes of the second overtime. It wasn't pretty for the most part, though, and I withhold any letter award. 

FINAL FRED TALLY:  F-r-_-_


SO...

A "W" that Louisville eventually got, maybe because UTM was too tired to make much of an impact in the final three minutes. Maybe the Cards worst performance in a win of the season. Consistency, hustle, and playing smart took a step back Thursday night on the road. 

Sometimes. you just have to look at something for what it is and "let it go".  This wasn't pretty. effective or something to gain from and grow on, unless the coaches use it as a teaching tool on how not to play DI WBB Hoops... but it was a win. Time to move on. 

If you're looking for a positive aspect, rejoice that Kylee set a new record at UofL for career blocked shots. Anytime you can pass Angel McCoughtry in a stat, that's a huge accomplishment. 

Better things await down the road. 

For those who inquired, Norika Konno did not play because she wasn't there, heading back to Japan a couple of days earlier that the rest of the squad's departure for Christmas break. What impact she might have had, we'll never know, but one thing is quite obvious.

You earn what you receive.

Louisville finally put in the work, albeit late, to get the win. It was, in a sense, earned...but game play like this against the ACC opponents ahead are going to earn the Cards more than a few "L's" down on the remainder of the schedule. 

Hopefully, the time off will give the student-athletes of the WBB hoops team a chance to reflect and recommit while they refresh and renew. There's a lot to evaluate. 


paulie
xxxxx 

CARDS WBB ENDS NON-CONFERENCE PLAY AT UT-MARTIN -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

10-1 CARDS A PERFECT 8-0 AGAINST SKYHAWKS

Captain Skyhawk says, "Hiya, Paulie !"

Louisville WBB goes into their Christmas break with a final game against a squad that has never beaten them. The Cards will play UT-Martin in Martin tonight, a 7 p.m. tipoff that will be available on ESPN+ and Cards Radio 790 WKRD. 

The teams have faced each other eight times in the past nine years, Louisville coming out on top in each match-up. Last time out, Asia Durr poured in 25 points in a 102-62 romp at the KFC YUM CENTER in early December of 2018. A 11-0 run in the first quarter helped push the Cards out to a 31-14 first quarter lead and Louisville steadily increased  the margin as the contest went on. 

So, what does the 2019-20 version of the Skyhawks offer? It was a rough start for UTM, dropping their first three games of the season to St. Louis, Mississippi State and Gonzaga...all on the road. They returned to the Elam Center for wins against Samford and IUPUI before hitting the highway again. A trip through Illinois resulted in losses to Illinois State and Southern Illinois. Getting back to Martin proven to be beneficial -- they have won their last two, against Chattanooga and Lipscomb.

Junior Chelsey Perry has been the main threat for head coach Kevin McMillian so far this season. She averages 19.9 points per game and also leads the squad in rebounding with 7.4 grabs a contest. The 6'2" forward from Middleton, TN had a career night in the Skyhawks last outing, a 83-67 win over Lipscomb, with 42 points and 10 rebounds. Perry has been named the OVC Player of the Week the last two weeks and also ranks 18th. nationally with 2.4 blocks a game.

Redshirt sophomore Damiah Griffin , a 6'0" redshirt sophomore from Memphis, averages 10.4 points a game. Of note, the Skyhawks have three players 6'2" or taller in Perry, Maddie Waldrop (Murray, KY) and Demi Burdock. The Skyhawks have four players who played Kentucky High School basketball in Waldrop, Tamiah Stanford (Radcliff, KY) Haley Harrison (Winchester, KY) and Emma Davis -- who played with Seygan Robins at Mercer County. 

For the Cards, it'll be a matter of not letting visions of home, family and friends dance in their heads as they play their only game in the next 10 days. Most of the players will be departing for their home towns after the contest. Norika Konno has already left for Sendai, Japan. She gets a few additional days of Christmas break because of the long distance and traveling time from Louisville to her hometown (6373 miles) and head coach Jeff Walz stressing the importance that all players have five days with their families. 

If Dana Evans can continue the point-guard proficiency she showed against UK and Kylee Shook can manage to school opponents inside and out, offensively and defensively, the Cards shouldn't have much trouble with their OVC foe. A chance, maybe for Walz to go deeper than the 10 player rotation that has been  protocol recently. Evans is second in the ACC in scoring with 29 points per game and has 31 threes on the season, which puts her in the top 30 of DI. 

This is the type of game that also sets up for Jaz Jones to have a big night. She saw 18 minutes of action with six points the last time UofL visited UT. The Cardinal starting lineup that night of November 11th, 2016 was Myisha Hines-Allen, Mariya Moore, Ciera Johnson, Taylor Johnson and Asia Durr. 

A contest tonight that will also give Elizabeth Balogun (Chattanooga,TN) and Liz Dixon's (Memphis, TN) parents, friends and family a bit of a shorter trek to see the two in action.

Martin is a quaint, little town in the northwest corner of Tennessee. When I was there a couple of years ago to watch the Cards WBB play the Skyhawks, the trip took about four hours. They have a beautiful campus at UT Martin, a Hampton Inn, a wonderful, old opera house and a couple of neat, local restaurants.

My favorite memory has to be going to "gas up" the vehicle to return to Louisville and waiting for the convenience store to open. 

As I waited, a "local law enforcement representative" approached me and asked what I was doing there. I explained my need for petrol and he told me that if I drove about a 1/2 mile up the road, I would find a 24 hour station open. I thanked him for that bit of knowledge, and, he was kind enough to follow me to the store. Even walked in with me as I plunked my cash payment down on the counter. And, he saw I got safely out of the city limits. 

I'm gonna miss seeing what adventures I might have gotten into this year. Family matters make it impossible to make the sojourn this time. Maybe I should call the police station and let them know. Or inform them Nick Evans will be in town. 

UTM floor (as of 2016) 

Back to basketball, and of particular note, tonight will most likely be the night that Kylee passes Angel McCoughtry as the all-time leading shot blocker at UofL. She's one block away from the tie. 

A final tune up before a brief holiday and the onset of ACC play. Let's hope that all of our WBB players have a efficient and productive showing tonight, and then safe travels home. 

And, in case you were wondering, it's 50 days until the start of Cardinal Softball. 

Have a terrific Thursday ! 


paulie
xxxxx 

Evans Player of the Week -- Fall Sports Rarity -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Evans Named ACC Player of the Week

Dana Evans has been named College Sports Madness ACC Player of the Week.  The junior guard played a key role in Louisville's win over Kentucky.

Evans posted a double-double that featured team-highs in points with 18 and assists with 10.  She shot 7-14 from the field and went a perfect 3-3 from the free throw line.  Evans added three rebounds while limiting herself to three turnovers in 38 minutes played.

Jeff Walz mentioned during the postgame interview that Evans is starting to appear more like a point guard by controlling the floor on offense and finding the open players for assists.  The Cards had 18 assists on 29 made shots.

Evans and Louisville look to push their record to 11-1 tomorrow night at UT Martin.


Kylee Closing In

Guess who is closing in on the All Time Blocked Shots record for Louisville WBB. No other that Kylee Shook. The current record is held by Angel McCoughtry, with 162 total in her time at Louisville. With five blocks against Kentucky, Kylee now stands at 161 in her time as a student-athlete. 

She's already the holder of the most blocked shots in a game with eight recorded against Tennessee State on 12-2-18. She's third and fourth in most blocked shots/season with 52 in 2018-19 and 51 in 2017-18. So far this season, in 11 games, she has 24. 

Kylee is on pace to be the only WBB Cardinal to lead the team in blocks for four years in a row.

I guess you could say that whenever Kylee is on the court, a block party is about to break out.

. 
Louisville Fall Sports Pull Off Rare Feat

Having a team make the postseason is a sign of a good program.  Having five fall sports teams make the postseason is a rare sight and a sign of a great athletics program.

Louisville is one of two schools nationally to have field hockey, football, men's soccer, women's soccer, and volleyball compete in their respective postseasons.

Field Hockey was named the 4-seed in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the quarterfinals.

Volleyball went into the tournament unseeded but enjoyed a Cinderella story run to the quarterfinals that featured upsets over 15-seed WKU and 2-seed Texas.

Women's Soccer opened tournament play with a win to advance to the second round of play for just the second time in program history.

Men's Soccer enjoyed a trip to the third round of tournament that included an upset over South Florida.

Football is set to play in the Music City Bowl against Mississippi State on Dec. 30.

Field hockey, women's soccer, and men's soccer all saw an ACC team claim the title or finish runner-
up.  Football has an ACC team represented in the College Football Playoff.  There are no ACC teams remaining in the semifinals of volleyball.  The Cards were the last ACC team remaining in the tournament.

Also, on a side note here are some teams of early season or preseason interest:

Women's basketball ranked 6th
Men's Basketball ranked 3rd
Baseball ranked preseason #1
Women's swimming and diving ranked 12th
Men's swimming and diving ranked 9th

The softball preseason rankings have not been released but I suspect the Cards will be in the Top 25 before they ever play a game at home next season.

Where's Waldo? 

Today's Where's Waldo is Where's Jared

Thank you to Paulie for switching days with me this week.  I am headed to Chicago this morning and will return home extremely late tomorrow night.

The music ensemble I am in received the honor of being one of the select few to perform at the prestigious Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference that will see enough people to fill up the KFC Yum! Center over the next few days.  To be selected to perform here is the highest honor a music ensemble can receive.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: We always suspected Jared was full of hot air. This confirms it. )


Happy Wednesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards Move Up in Rankings -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Move Up to #6 in Rankings

There wasn't much room to move up but Louisville women's basketball did climb a spot up to #6 in the AP Rankings.  A win on the road at #14 Kentucky was sure to help contribute to the move.

Baylor was the team to drop down some.  Kim Mulkey's squad lost to South Carolina to close out November before destroying Georgia on Dec. 4.  A two-week break from playing games doesn't help in terms of staying highly ranked.

Stanford, UConn, Oregon, Oregon State, and South Carolina remained the same in the Top 5.  Florida State, NC State, and UCLA round of the Top 10.  In fact, South Dakota moving from un-ranked to 25th was the only other change in the rankings.

The Cards are 2-0 against the rest of the Top 25 with wins against Oregon and Kentucky.  They have two more games against current ranked teams.  Florida State comes to town Feb. 6, and the Cards travel to NC State on Feb. 13.

Four players have broken 100 points on the year: Dana Evans (209), Jazmine Jones (146), Kylee
Shook (107), and Elizabeth Balogun (103).  The Cards have outscored opponents 840-645.

No one has broken 100 rebounds but five players are north of 50: Shook (95), Bionca Dunham (70), Jones (53), Balogun (53), and Elizabeth Dixon (22).  Louisville has out-rebounded opponents 469-336.

Other marks at this point include Louisville dominating assists against opponents 176-11, out-blocking opponents 52-25, and UofL has less turnovers by a 185-166 margin.

Louisville will travel to UT Martin on Thursday before taking a 10-day break to allow players to celebrate Christmas and the holidays with their families.  Norika Konno will actually have a few extra days break.  Coach Walz is allowing her to miss Thursday's game to get an early jump on getting home halfway around the world to Japan.

We will not have anyone in person covering the game Thursday "live and in person" in Martin. Paulie had originally planned on going but a family matter came up, so he'll be heading in a different direction and he had cancel the trip.  He'll still breakdown the match-up in Thursday's article and recap the game Friday -- nonetheless.

I'll be in Chicago Thursday and Friday, so I'm taking the Wednesday write-up this week and Paulie will cover Thursday and Friday.

Seems like we're all traveling these days, copying Jeff's "Worldwide" adventures.

By the way, you have eight days before Christmas. Can you remember what the "true love" sent on that day in the song "12 Days of Christmas? Ha, ha, I bet your humming it right now, trying to remember.


(Note, Here are new lyrics to the song!  12 Kylee rebounds, 11 points in final quarter, 10 assists from Dana, nine fouls on UK,  eight UK miscues, seven lead changes, six is our ranking, five fabulous starters, four fouls on Jazzy, missed three from Howard, two horrible calls and a victory against UK !)

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

L's UP in Rupp -- UofL WBB 67 - UK 66 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS PREVAIL IN ONE-POINT SUNDAY THRILLER

"Hey, ref

Head Louisville women's basketball coach Jeff Walz will tell you that the objective is to win games in the coaching world. Mission accomplished yesterday in  a packed, noisy Rupp Arena where 11,256 predominately blue-clad fans witnessed the exciting 67-66 UofL win. 

Matthew Mitchell, skipper of UKWBB, described it as finishing one play short of the objective. He was correct as well, UK with a chance to take the lead on the final possession and falling just short of the goal. You can't blame one player for a loss...ever...but either the shot goes in or it doesn't. Thankfully, it missed. 

A great view of Matty's bald spot in the coaches pre game chat. 

If this game didn't thrill you, have you on the edge of your seat and raise the pulse and emotional level in you yesterday...head to the doctor and see if you are human or cyborg. The annual UK vs. UofL yearly rivalry game felt like a regional final or, dare I say it, a Final Four type of contest instead of a pre-conference tilt between two top 15 squads who had one loss between them prior to the contest. The pre-game aura was electric, an anticipation (correctly so) of a contest that all wanted and thought might be exciting.



The battle of the Bluegrass, hoops style, began with the Cards jumping out to an early 8-3 lead after four minutes of action. Three different Cardinals scoring and Louisville avoiding what most Cardinal fans hoped they would -- a slow start. UK devised their own "comeback Cats" strategy, though, and it was centered around two players -- powerful Rhyne Howard scoring from everywhere and KeKe McKinney dropping threes on the Cardinal defense. The Cats grabbed a 16-15 lead with 2:10 left in the first but Louisville went on a 6-0 run to finish the quarter, Liz Dixon and Dana Evans leading the charge to give Louisville a 21-16 lead after one. 

UK was not backing off, though. Howard went on a second quarter, seven-point opening run to tie the contest at 25-25. Sabrina Haynes buried a deep three and drew a foul from Jazmine Jones to give the Cats a four-point edge halfway through the second quarter, and the media timeout couldn't have come at a better time for the Cards -- UK was on a 13-4 run in the quarter and led 29-25. The Cards managed to stay just four points behind until the final 106 seconds. Then, a half closing, Howard-led, 7-2 run changed a 33-29 score into a nine-point UK jaunt that had Louisville on their heels 40-31 at the intermission. 

A 24-10 quarter for Big Blue, Howard had 15 of the second quarter points and 20 overall in the game on 7-15 shooting. Dana led Louisville with 11 points but the Cards, simply put, had to find a way to shut down the superb sophomore 

They accomplished the task.

Howard was held to two made free throws in the third quarter, Louisville went on a 13-0 run that spanned the final three minutes of the third and turned a 55-45 deficit into a 58-55 lead. Yacine Diop exploded for six crucial points in the run. Louisville shot 64.7% in the session after halftime. Howard got just one look and missed it. Kylee Shook nailed two threes in the quarter and Dana added seven points to turn this one around in Lexington and the elated UK crowd had been partially silenced. The Cards led by three with ten minutes to go. Diop, Dunham, Jones and Shook had silenced the threat. Could they hang on, though? 

The fourth started and three minutes passed before either team could add to their point total. UK reserve Jaida Roper was fouled on a three-point attempt and sank two of her three free throw attempts to draw the Cats within one. A huge blocked shot by Kylee Shook (she had five in the game) got the ball to Louisville and Diop scored her final bucket to push the lead back to three. 45 seconds later, Jaz pulled up for a jumper and sent Cardinal fans and the UofL bench into a frenzy when it went through the net. 

Here came UK again, though. KeKe drained another three and suddenly it was 62-60 Cards and 4:52 showing on the clock. The Cards were trying to hang on and over a minute and a half of frantic hoops passed before the next points -- Howard bullying her way into the paint for two and a potential lead-changing free throw. The "gimmie" wouldn't drop, however and with 2:37 remaining, Diop found Shook for a jumper that put the Cards up 64-62. After a Howard bucket to tie it again , the possible play of the game occurred when Evans spotted Kylee alone past the three-point line, rlfled a pass to her and she played string music to set the score to 67-64 Cards. 

1:51 remained. 

Another costly UofL blunder had them fouling Haines on a three point attempt. She tanked the first but connected on the other two and it was 67-66 Cards. It stayed that way the rest of the way, a couple of turnovers and missed shots filling the time and leading up to final 11 seconds. 

Tatyana Wyatt corralled a missed, potential Dana dagger from beyond the arc three. Wyatt advanced the ball to Howard and she drove down the right side of the court. She decided to launch a three instead of driving to the hoop. Three seconds on the clock. Howard soared to take the shot over the defending Bionca Dunham, my heart skipped a beat as the shot approached the rim and...it drew iron but did not go in. Jaz corralled the miss, the buzzer went off and a joyous UofL bench stormed the court to celebrate and congratulate their victorious teammates on the floor. 

A nail-biting thriller had ended in Lexington. Louisville 67- UK 66. Four straight in a row for the Cards over UK. Yes, the joy and excitement of Louisville women's basketball came to fruition. I watched with pride and admiration as the Cards made their way off the court to the tunnel leading to the locker rooms. 

Breathe, Cardinal fans. It's over. The epic battle had ended and pandemonium reigned for the Louisville contingent. A game I'll remember for quite some time. Two heavyweights standing toe-to-toe slugging it out. Louisville getting the decision.


THE FRED REPORT

Fred G. Sanford. "Lamont, you got to get us
tickets to watch those Cardinal women ! 

FREE THROWS -- Louisville got four free throw chances in 40 minutes. No, this isn't a misprint. In one of the weirdest, one-sided calls by the officiating crew I can remember in recent memory. UK attempted 15 "free ones" and made 12. A 19-9 fouls called discrepancy -- the Cats being the huge benefactor -- but Louisville made all four attempts. Three for Dana, one for Diop. We'll award a capital "F"...any less of a effort, if humanly possible, and the Cards go to overtime or worse. 

REBOUNDS -- A clear 37-17 advantage to Louisville. Kylee reigning supreme with 13 grabs. No UK player gathered more than five. Diop's six rebounds off the bench in just 18 1/2 minutes was huge, as well. I break out the capital "R" for boards dominance. 

EFFORT/EXECUTION -- 15 turnovers for the Cards, not a bad number, considering the intense UK pressure. An eye-popping 10 assists for Dana. The Cards won the second chance points stat 11-6 and shot 51.8% from the floor (29-56). Yep, a capital "E" here. 

DEFENSE -- A gutsy Cardinal effort on defense. Six blocks, and shutting down Howard to just six second-half points in 20 minutes. Hanging in there at the end with both Dana and Jaz sporting four fouls. The 13-0 run in the third, after the media timeout when Louisville held UK to 0-4 shooting with Diop and Shook turning up the intensity pressure to"11" was the key for me. Let's close it out with a capital "D" 

FINAL FRED TALLY:  F-R-E-D  (our first perfect Fred report of the season) 


FINALLY...

This photo says it all. Heart-thumping eventual happiness
on Sunday

The Cards took UK's best punch, survived against the Cats and the referees on the road and took a highly exciting, competitive match. Four Cards in double figure scoring (Evans 18, Shook 11 and Dunham and Jones with 10 each) Two double-double efforts, with Shook's 13 grabs and Dana's 10  dishes. 

Maybe my MVP goes to Yacine Diop, though. When it mattered, when she was truly needed, she produced. Consider out of her almost 19 minutes, 10 of them came in the pivotable fourth quarter and 17 in the second half. The poise and experience of the veteran was a stabilizing force in the Cardinal third quarter rally and in the maintenance of a Louisville lead that withstood as much UK hammering as the construction efforts on the Rupp Arena property. .  


I saw a basketball battle yesterday that any basketball fan anywhere had to appreciate and talk about. After attending 16 straight contests between these two, I didn't think anything could surprise me anymore. I was wrong. I saw the continued emergence of maybe the best women's basketball player in the nation in Howard. I saw Louisville do a outstanding job of largely negating Howard's efforts in the final 20 minutes.

I saw why future Cardinal opponents will have feelings of dread and insecurity when they come to grips with having to face Louisville. From Shook to Jaz, to Diop, Dunham and Dana...this is a team that grew up a lot yesterday and went out with a competitive spirit.

I saw a classic. 




THEY SAID IT: 

Walz, Shook and Evans post-game video :  https://youtu.be/iPs3s7xQz8k

UK Players post-game video :  https://youtu.be/CAfnv7YFYEs

Matthew Mitchell post-game video :  https://youtu.be/fanliOwOeS8


(A HUGE THANK YOU AND JOB WELL DONE TO JARED ANDERSON FOR THE PICTURES IN TODAY'S ARTICLE AND THE ACCOMPANYING VIDEO OF THE POST-GAME). 


paulie
xxxxx

Volleyball Finishes -- WBB and the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour -- Sunday Cardinal Couple

Volleyball Finishes

We, here at Cardinal Couple are well acquainted with juggling multiple major stories in UofL women's sports, and today is no exception.

We start with the a recap of the end of the season for Volleyball.  Normally, it's a disappointing affair when a team suffers a post-season defeat and the end of their competition for the year.  For volleyball this year...well, yeah, there is a twinge of disappointment, but there is also joy.  Joy that this team, even after losing the best player on the squad to an ACL tear, was able to do what no team has done in UofL Volleyball history, advance to the Elite Eight round of the NCAA with two upsets that got the volleyball talking heads across the nation talking about the Upset Queens of Louisville (a metaphor that I far prefer over the overused and problematic "Cinderella").

There is also excitement.

Excitement?  Yes, because the team you saw on the floor of Gregory Gym in Austin upending the number 2 seed in the tournament has a very good chance of being the exact same starting lineup you see in August of 2020.  What changes might occur?  Well, we might have some incoming freshmen competing for positions on the court over the players that occupied those spots for the past several weeks.

Think about that for a minute.  Beyond just seeing the current players get even better, the biggest chance of a change is because we may have some incoming players that are even better.

To be sure, we'll miss Melanie McHenry.  This team would not have done what it did without her.

There are no qualifications to that statement, and if anything it understates her importance to what happened here.  The biggest disappointment of the season may have been not getting to see her finish out her final NCAA tournament on the floor, but it wasn't to be, and as unfortunate as that is, it positioned this team to have the potential for even better things next year.

Spring play for volleyball can largely be about, "OK, what do we do without our seniors that are graduating"...at least partly figuring that out.  Louisville Volleyball has already done that, so spring play will get to be a much more pure opportunity to just practice and get better.

"Don't worry Dani...I'll go get a win
in Lexington to take their minds off
Saturday !" 

The future is exciting, here.

OK, to the actual match last night.  Minnesota was a beast, they clicked.  Louisville never got it's blocking game going well, and credit Minn for quick offensive play and good passing that kept Louisville's block guessing.  Similarly, passing and serve receive just wasn't there for the Cards in this one.

I said, during the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour yesterday, that the Cards have the talent to play toe to toe with any team in the country.  I stand by that statement.  The talent is absolutely there, it's just a matter of bringing it to bear when the challenge is presented.  The Cards were a little bit off last night, and Minnesota will be planning their travel to Pittsburgh for the Final Four.  Well played, Minnesota, and good luck.

Basketball

The other big story line today, and it's a big one in it's own right, is the UofL vs UK basketball game at Rupp Arena at 1pm.

Kentucky comes in to this game undefeated (10-0), and that's impressive, no doubt, but when you look at their schedule to this point...well, maybe that undefeated record isn't quite so shiny.  The best competition they have played to this point is...probably Virginia, who they squeaked past, 50-47.  Beyond that, they've beaten a bunch of mostly mediocre mid-majors.

The game today will be UK's first really big test of their season, but it won't be their last.  They are, of course, in the same conference with South Carolina (never underestimate Dawn Staley), Florida, Tennessee, and Mississippi State, but those are in the future, and here in the present, well, it's a little difficult to tell how good of a team UK really is.

Let's get this out there, though.  We do know that 6'2" guard Rhyne Howard is good.  Again, no qualifications are needed, here.  She is a very fine player.  She leads the team in many statistical categories, only dropping out of the top spot for Offensive Rebounds (but leads in total boards), along with assists and steals.  In points scored this season, she's not all that far away from doubling the tally of the 2nd place scorer Sabrina Haines, and accounts for over a quarter of the points scored by the team for the whole season.

"Paulie, I think I'd like to go dancing in Lexington Sunday..." 

How will the Cards continue their win streak over UK?  Well, the answer is pretty obvious after the previous 'graph.  Stop, or at least significantly slow down, Howard and force UK to figure out another way to win if they can.  Of course, that's a tall task, but the Cards did it with Sabrina Ionescu, and they can do it with Howard.  The question is, which UofL team will show up?  The team that played Oregon?  Or the team that played Ohio State (and the first half of NKU)?

Game time is at 1pm at Rupp Arena, and is televised on ESPN...not the deuce, not the U, not on a streaming platform.  This one is getting the top dog treatment by the 4 letter network.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

I may be biased, but I think the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour yesterday may have been one of our
best.  Paulie, Case, and I were in studio recapping the Cards magical run in the volleyball tournament, and previewing today's UK game.

Check out the replay at Facebook Live:

https://www.facebook.com/WCHQfm/videos/2186056001703321/

-- 

JMcA

Volleyball Shocks the World -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Knocks off Second-Ranked Texas

This year, after a pair of wins in Bowling Green, Louisville advanced to it's fifth ever Sweet Sixteen to face off against Texas. The Cards had not ever won a set in this round, and Texas had not lost an NCAA Tournament match at home since 2006. Imagine everyone's surprise, then, when the Cards opened the match with a fairly controlling first set to take the lead at 1-0. Things got even more interesting in the second when Louisville clawed their way back from 7-2 and 11-4 deficits to slide past Texas at 19 points and win the second set. The Cards sat at 2-0, their first Sweet Sixteen set wins, and were one set away from handing the three-time champs a loss and advancing to their first Elite Eight.

Of course, it couldn't be so easy. In what was clearly an attempt by me to sabotage the team, I texted the Cardinal Couple group chat to say, "Biggest test is avoiding the reverse sweep." As a fan of Louisville athletics, the Seattle Seahawks, and the Cincinnati Reds, I've begun to be pessimistic when it comes to sports. No lead is safe. I was in the building for both the miracle loss to Virginia and last year's catastrophe against Duke. The only Seahawks game I've attended was one in which they gave up a 20 point lead against the Colts. Unfortunately, as the third set wore on, it looked as though my fears may come true. The hard hitting by the Cards seemed to fall off and Texas forgot how to commit errors. After hitting .381 and .393 in the first two sets, Louisville ran out a .118 in the third and a .147 in the fourth. Meanwhile, Texas turned .286 and .310 into .375 and .519. Louisville was flagging and it looked like they may be out of gas. 

After being down 19-10 in the fourth set, Louisville looked like the thrill of the day might overcome them and Texas would settle in for their second come from behind victory of the tournament. However, the Cards didn't go down without a fight and managed to pull to within 5 points at 18-23 before ultimately losing the last two. While the end result is the same as just letting the Longhorns run away with the fourth set (going to a fifth set for winner-take-all), the burst of energy at the end of the fourth was enough to remind the Cards that they still had something left for this match. They came out and showed they had a will to win.

After trading the first few points of the fifth set, Louisville jumped out to an 8-3 lead, prompting a Texas challenge for the sake of having a free timeout. The Longhorns were called for being in the net, but Texas's challenge was not that they did not get into the net, but rather Louisville was in the net earlier in the rally. The replay showed no such thing, and play went on. However, Texas plan seemed to work a bit. That extra time-out allowed the Longhorns to get their feet under them and they quickly turned 8-3 into 12-10. Game on. Louisville battled for the next few points and found themselves on 14-11. Three chances at match point. It only took them two. After an error by Aiko Jones, only her fifth in the five set match, Anna Stevenson slammed home the final kill and the Cards' upset was complete.

Louisville's effort was undeniable in this one. The Cards were led by Jones and Stevenson who finished with 23 and 14 kills respectively, while having only eight combined errors and picking up eight combined block assists. Credit also needs to be given to Tori Dilfer, who was forced into 15 digs while still snagging 47 of the team's 55 assists. The match was truly a team effort, with no other player contributing double digit statistics for Louisville. The difference in this match was one that we probably wouldn't have guessed early in the year. After the struggles Louisville faced with service errors early on, who would think that the Cards would win multiple matches in the NCAA Tournament on clean serving. Such was the case yesterday, as Louisville committed only seven service errors compared to Texas's fifteen, a free eight point swing for the Cards. These errors, conveniently, came most often in the sets the Cards would ultimately win, and were not wasted on the sets in which the Cards struggled.

Louisville now advances to take on Minnesota in the Elite Eight after the Gophers took down Florida last night. The two teams did not play this season, but Minnesota beat up on the Cards two years ago in Wisconsin. Minnesota enters as the seven seed, and sit at 26-5 on the season. The Gophers are 3-1 in neutral court games but their two non-conference losses will be teams you may have heard of. Minnesota opened the season in Chapel Hill with a sweep of UNC before turning around and being swept themselves by Florida State the next day. The following weekend, Minnesota headed down to Austin where they were swept by Texas. The Gophers have officially played more matches in this building this season than Louisville, but we will see how (if at all) that impacts tonight's matchup. The Elite Eight match will get underway at 8 PM on ESPNU.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Do you think we'll have anything to talk about today? Join Jeff, Paulie, and me as we hit the airwaves at 11 AM and discuss the big win for volleyball as well as a refocused basketball team preparing for the big rivalry game against UK. The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour is available on WCHQ at 100.9 FM, the WCHQ app, wchqfm.com, or on Facebook Live.

Listen live here:  THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-