Cards Back in Action vs Pitt -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Louisville WBB Returns to Action, Visits Pitt

Louisville women's basketball has returned from a brief hiatus due to COVID-19 protocol. They head up north to Pitt in the final stretch of the regular season.

Following a positive test within the program, the Cards went on a brief break, but return after just seven days. It was not announced who had the positive test whether it was a player, coach, staff, or someone else.

The Cards can pick up their 20th victory on the year by beating Pitt. A win would extend the 20-win season mark up to 11 straight years.

At 12-1 in the ACC and rocking a .923 win percentage, Louisville holds a 2.5 game lead over both NC State and Georgia Tech. The victor will be decided based on win percentage this season.

Pitt enters the game boasting a 5-9 record with a 3-8 conference mark. They have had six postponements on the year on top of loss of games from Duke and Virginia cancelling their seasons.

Just two days ago, the Panthers topped Boston College by three, ending a five-game losing streak. Their other two conference wins were both against Clemson.

Pitt was supposed to come to Louisville back on January 7, but never did due to going on pause.

Offense has not been a strong suit for the Panthers, as they average 69.14 points per game. They have shot a solid .391 from the field. From the free throw line, Pitt has been atrocious at .686. Only three players have made more than two three-pointers.

Jayla Everett is one of two Panthers averaging double figures. The junior is posting a team-high 15.4 points per game. Sophomore is close behind at 13.1 points per game.

Rebounding has been by committee with five players averaging between 4.6 and 6.6 rebounds per game. Pitt has outrebounded opponents by 2.0 rebounds per game. They average 16.3 on the offensive end, ranking second in the ACC and 13th in the NCAA.

Louisville owns the all-time series 20-2. Since joining the ACC, Louisville is 12-0 vs the Panthers. Almost one year ago to the day, Louisville visited Pitt and won 79-47. Four Cardinals scored in double figures and Mykasa Robinson posted a career-high eight assists.

Tonight's game is set for 8:00 p.m., and will be aired on ACC Network. You can also tune into 790-AM WKRD to hear Nick Curran and AJ call the game.

Let's hope for a dominating win by the Cards as they hope to try and close the door on the rest of the conference.

Walz Named to Naismith Coach of the Year Watch List

We all know the greatness of Jeff Walz and what he has accomplished at Louisville. The rest of the country seems to feel the same as he was named to the Werner Ladder Naismith Coach of the Year Watch List, joining 14 others on the list.

There are plenty of other reoccurring names such as Wes Moore (the only other ACC coach on the list), Geno Auriemma at UConn, Dawn Staley at South Carolina, and Tara VanDerVeer at Stanford.

The Big Ten, Pac-12, and SEC each have three coaches on the list.

Dawn Staley won the award last year. VanDerVeer won the award back in 2011 and 1990. Auriemma holds the record by winning the award eight times. The late Pat Summitt won it five times including the inaugural award back in 1987.

Track And Swimming Results

-- Host Louisville women's track and field squad won the Lenny Lyles/Cardinal Invitational indoor meet yesterday, besting Notre Dame, Bellarmine and EKU.  The Cards totaled 182 points, Notre Dame 101, Bellarmine 58 and EKU 58.  Winners for Louisville were Jaelyn Williams (50m dash), Brooke Weimer (60m hurdles), McKenzie Bell (400m), Riley Burger (long jump and triple jump), Gabrielle Leon (pole vault) and Victoria Farley (shot put) . 

-- In the ACC Swimming Championships in Greensboro, the Cards women are in sixth place after Day 1. Virginia leads the way with 165 points, while Louisville is in a three-way tie for sixth at 124, wuth Miami and Georgia Tech. Action starts today at 11 a.m. 

Lacrosse Today vs Colorado 

Louisville Lacrosse is scheduled for a 4 p.m. match at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium against Colorado today. The Cards (0-1) fell to #7 Florida 14-7 to open the season. 

Colorado is ranked #24 in the nation and today's game will be their first of the season.  This will also be the first time the Buffaloes and  Louisville have ever met. 

Today's match will be on the ACC Network and the call comes from Leah Segundo and Sheehan Burch. Paulie will have (as far as we know) post-game remarks from Louisville head coach Scott Teeter shortly after the match and we'll try to get a link of them for you to hear in tomorrow's Cardinal Couple.   

Softball postponed 

Louisville Softball was scheduled to play today in Raleigh, NC today against NC State, but this game has been postponed due to icy conditions on campus. The Cards are schedule to play several games in North Carolina as part of the first ACC Softball pods, we'll keep you updated as the week rolls on...

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Womens' Golf -- Swim and Dive -- Track and Field -- WEDNESDAY CARDINL COUPLE

 

Sports other than women's basketball take the headlines for today's Cardinal Couple column. Two are, thankfully, indoors -- as Louisville swimming and diving starts their quest in the ACC Championships in Greensboro and Louisville Track and Field hosts the Lenny Lyles Cardinal Invitational at the brand new Norton Healthcare Sports and Learning Center in Louisville's West End. The third event was in "warmer than here" Melbourne, Florida.

WOMEN'S GOLF FINISHES 10th IN MOON INVITATIONAL

The Louisville women's golf squad wrapped up action in the Moon Golf Invitational yesterday.  The Cards fired a combined 3-over-par 291 to end up in tenth place overall in the event.  

Mairead Martin had the hot hand for UofL yesterday, firing a 3-under-par 69 in the final round. She ended up in a tie for 13th overall in the three day event with teammates Lauren Hartlage and Hana Ryskova. Hartlage carded a 1-under-par 71 on the final day and Ryskova fired a 77 on her final day. All three Louisville golfers toured the 54-hole event with a 215. 

Augustina Cisernos-Gomez had a 74 on the final day and finished 82nd with a three-day total of 231. Margot  Bechaderque's 81 on the final 18th gave her a three-day total of 234. 

First place in the event was taken by South Carolina, who finished at 24-under-par. Seocnd place went to LSU at 18-under-par. 

The Cards return to action March 13-14 in the Valspar Invitational in Augusta, GA. 

ACC CHAMPIONSHIPS BEGIN TODAY FOR SWIM/DIVE

The Cardinal Women's Swim and Dive squads take part in the ACC Championships today at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. It's a four day session (Feb 17-20) for the Cards, who placed third in the Championships last year -- behind North Carolina State and 2020 winners Virginia. 

Louisville's Alena Kraus was named ACC Swimmer of the Week a couple of weeks for her performance in the 100 fly and 200 free events and is a contender to win both of these events in Greensboro for the Cardinal women. 

The Cards also hope to score well in the 200 medley relay, which they won against Cincinnati a few weeks ago. Louisville also had winning performances from Maddie Luther in the 1000 freestyle, and Ashlyn Schoof in the 100 backstroke. 

Louisville goes into the ACC Championships ranked 12th in the CSCAA poll from Feb 11th. Virginia is #2 in the poll and North Carolina State is #11. Other ACC women's swimming programs in the top 25 are #13 North Carolina, #14 Notre Dame, #15 Virginia Tech and #24 Duke.  The events can be viewed on ACCNX, from 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. each day. 

LENNY LYLES/CARDINAL INVITATIONAL

The University of Louisville men's and women's track and field programs will host their inaugural indoor meet, the Lenny Lyles Cardinal Invitational on Wednesday at the Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center. The event will be the first indoor track and field meet staged in the newly constructed facility located at 3029 West Muhammad Ali Blvd.

"We are excited to host UofL's first-ever indoor competition on Wednesday," said UofL head coach Dale Cowper. "The Norton Healthcare Sports and Learning Center is as fantastic facility and we are thrilled that the Lenny Lyles Cardinal Invitational will be the first event held there."

In addition to Louisville, the meet will also feature Bellarmine, Eastern Kentucky and Notre Dame and is slated to start at 12 p.m.

Have a warm Wednesday! 

paulie

WBB Rankings -- Golf Moon Invitational -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Cards Remain #3 in AP Poll

Despite another COVID-19 pause, Louisville women's basketball remained #3 in the latest AP Poll. The Cards beat Georgia Tech at home last Thursday before entering a break due to one or more player testing positive for COVID-19. At 19-1 overall, Louisville sits alongside #5 Texas A&M for most wins and best win percentage in the Top 25.

UConn and South Carolina flip flopped at #1 and #2 after the Huskies topped the Gamecocks in overtime last week. UConn has found themselves in the top spot for the ninth straight season, all under Hall of Fame head coach Geno Auriemma. This is also the third straight week that a different team has held the top spot (Louisville, South Carolina, UConn).

NC State retained their #4 ranking with an 18-2 record. Just three points behind them sits Texas A&M at #5. Stanford dropped a spot down to #6.

Baylor, UCLA, Maryland, and Arizona all held in the same position at 7-10, respectively.

The rest of the ACC still didn't see much love with Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech each receiving votes.

In other rankings: 

NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee – February 15 – Top-4 Ranking*

1.           UConn (No. 1 seed – Region 1)

2.           South Carolina (No. 1 seed – Region 2)

3.           Stanford (No. 1 seed – Region 3)

4.           Louisville (No. 1 seed – Region 4)

So, Louisville still holds one of the 1-seeds in the latest bracketology.  NC State is #6 and second ranked in Region 3 pairings. 

Georgia Tech is now listed as a 5-seed, as they creep up. Syracuse also moved up some and into a 7-seed.  Florida State and Virginia Tech are each listed as 10-seeds. Wake Forest also finds themselves in the bracket as an 11-seed. North Carolina is the final ACC squad in as a 12-seed.

Notre Dame and Clemson are both listed as the First Four Out so they have a little work to put in, but can easily find themselves dancing in March.

Notre Dame and NC State were scheduled to play last night, but the game was postponed due to positive tests and contact tracing within the Notre Dame program.

Next WBB Game Information

This latest update:  The Louisville at Pitt WBB game start time has been moved to 8 p.m. to accommodate the ACC Network. The move follows the Notre Dame at Syracuse game being post-poned. We'll keep you informed on this with any changes or updates as they happen. The Cardinal WBB squad is scheduled to have a full practice on Tuesday afternoon. 

Moon Invitational

Louisville Women's Golf enters their final day of the Moon Invitational today. They currently sit at 10th after the team shot an even par 288 yesterday.

Hana Ryskova led the way by shooting a 69. She is now in second place overall in the event. Lauren Hartlage fired  a 72. She's 26th overall in individual performances.

Mairead Martin shot a 73 and Margot Bechadergue was a stroke behind at 74.  Augustina Gomez Cisterna sat further back after shooting an 81.

Today is the final day of the invitational and the Cards hope to move up in the 18-team field.

Volleyball cancelled against Lipscomb

Although we didn't receive an "official" notification on it from the Louisville Athletics department,  the Louisville Volleyball schedule now shows the Feb 20th. match against Lipscomb has been cancelled . Obviously, we hope it might just be a postponement or slip of the finger when typing ??? ...but, as of now, that's what the schedule is saying.  Please join our Volleyball guru Jeff McAdams in a moment of silence...

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Softball Falls at Bama, Women's Golf in Moon Invitational -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

BAMA TAKES TWO FROM SOFTBALL CARDS 

The Louisville Softball squad began their 2021 season with a trip to Tuscaloosa, Alabama on Sunday -- facing the #8 ranked Crimson Tide team in a double header. The Cards fell 5-0, 4-0 to Bama.  The teams played in 39 degree weather, for the opening pitch,  at Bama's Rhodes Stadium on campus. 

GAME ONE: 5-0 ALABAMA 

Taylor Roby drew the start for Louisville in the pitching circle and the Crimson Tide touched her for three first inning runs on four singles. In addition to Roby , the Cards starters were:  Celene Funke in center, Maddy Newman at second, Carmyn Greenwood in left, Taryn Weddle as the designated hitter, Cassady Greenwood behind the plate, Charley Butler in right, Madison Ciaccio at first, Sydney Bickel and Jenna Servi at third. 

Claire Jenkins' two RBI single made the score 3-0 after one.  Roby would go three innings for the Cards, allowing an additional run in the bottom of the third when Alabama scored on a groundout with a runner in scoring position. Roby faced 17 batters during her time in the circle, allowing four runs on six hits, walking two and striking out three.

Jen Leonhardt relieved Roby to start the fourth inning allowed a single to Elyssa Brown and then a double to lead off the inning by KB Soles that scored Brown, to make it 5-0. Leonhardt blanked the Crimson Tide the rest of the game, going three innings, allowing just one run on two hits and striking out three, while facing 12 batters. 

The Cards managed just one hit against UofA hurler Montana Fouts, a Leonhardt single -- and Fouts struck out 11 Cardinals. 

GAME TWO:  ALABAMA  4 - LOUISVILLE 0 

Louisville started Leonhardt in the circle for game two, and didn't switch up the starters too much from the first game, putting Makayla Hurst at first base.  

The squads battled through 2-1/2 scoreless innings before' Bama got on the board in the bottom of the third, with a RBI ground out scoring Elyssa Brown .  Louisville head coach Holly Aprile brought in freshman pitcher Gabby Holloway to relieve in the fourth inning, after Leonhardt allowed a two-run homer and RBI single. Leonhardt finished her session allowing three runs on two hits, while walking two and facing 14 batters. 

Holloway gave the Cards three solid innings of pitching to close out the game, allowing just one run on three hits. Alabama had just five hits in the second game. 

Louisville had three hits in the second game, two of them by junior transfer from Utah, Hurst. The Cards did  have bases loaded opportunities to score in the third and fifth innings, but coild not push a run across the plate. 

Louisville is scheduled to play next in an ACC pod weekend, in Raleigh, NC -- where they'll face Virginia and the Wolfpack. 

WOMEN'S GOLF

The Louisville women's golf squad opened their 2021spring campaign hosting the Moon Golf Invitational in Melbourne, Florida yesterday and Hana Ryskova had a strong first round for the Cards, with a 3-under-par 69 at the Duran Golf Club. 

The Cards ended the day in 8th place out of 15 squads on the first day of the three-day event.  Lauren Hartlage finished with an even-par 72, Mairead Martin fired a 1-over-par 73 -- while Agustina Gomez-Cisterna carded a 76 and Margot Bechaderque ended with a 79. 

The Cards finished the day with a combined two-over-par 290, which puts them ten strokes back of first-round leader South Carolina. 

Play resumes today at 8:10 a.m. 

ACC WBB

Just three games in ACC WBB play yesterday: 

-- Wake Forest downed Clemson 72-65.  Ivana Raca led four Demon Deacons in double figures with 20 points. 

-- North Carolina got a win over Pitt 81-72. Center Janelle Bailey totaled 22 points and 10-11 free throw shooting for the Tar Heels. 

-- FSU won the battle of Florida yesterday, beating Miami 67-59. The Seminoles built a 35-21 first half lead and went on to improve their record to 8-5 overall, 7-5 in the ACC.  

                                                       ----------------------------

Have a safe Monday -- the snow is the story in Louisville today and the roads are already rough as of 9 a.m., with more on the way.Stay in if you can! 

paulie

 

Lacrosse Recap and Calendar Craziness - Sunday Cardinal Couple

Lacrosse Loses Opener

A two for one deal is great in a grocery store, but when you're on the losing side of it in scoring exchanges in a game?  Yeah, not so great.  After an initial exchange of scores to get the score to 2-2, 8th ranked Florida would build into a rough pattern of two for one on scores against UofL in the first half.  The second half was a bit more streaky, but ultimately, the two for one deal prevailed leading to the 14-7 final win for the Gators.

Caroline Blalock bookended the game with a pair of scores, getting both the opening goal, and the final one, with the other five goals for the Cards accounted for by Alex McNicholas, Hannah Morris, Allegra Catalano, Bella Karstien and Paige Richbourg.

Louisville did get on the board first with Blalock's goal and then after Florida answered McNicholas would get her goal on a free position shot.  Again Florida would answer, but then tack on another couple of goals to get out to the two for one lead at 2-4.  Catalano disrupted the run, Florida just started another trio to get out to a 3-7 lead.  Morris got her goal with a little over four minutes left in the 1st half to reach the halftime score of 4-7.

Florida opened the scoring the 2nd half within the first two minutes.  Freshman Karstien would answer from the free position making the score 5-8.  After that, though, things got a bit ugly on the scoreboard.  Florida ran off six straight to get to their final score of 14 with just under six minutes left in the game.  Richbourg scored on a feed from Blalock, and Blalock would get her 2nd score and the final one of the game with just under four minutes remaining.

Rachel Florek played all 60 minutes in goal for the Cards and gathered up a really quite impressive 14 saves.

The Cards played disciplined ball, getting well half the fouls that Florida did (16-35), but they just couldn't develop their offensive set.  Florida outshot UofL 38-32 and the shots that Florida took were seemingly better with a shots on goal stat of 28-18.

Coach Teeter was generally happy with the play, though as you might expect with the first game of the season, he saw some things to tweak, " First of all, it was great to get out there and finally play outside competition," said head coach Scott Teeter. "There were a lot of positives today, but there were some uncharacteristic things, as well. We got off to a great start and we were ready to play, we just didn't sustain that throughout."

24th ranked Colorado will be coming to town for a Thursday afternoon game, at 3pm, again on ACC Network Extra streaming.

Calendar Craziness But Softball Will Play

This was supposed to be a gameday for women's basketball, and for Tennis, but, as we've covered before for WBB, a positive Covid test and contact tracing has sidelined probably the rest of the regular season.  Tennis had their match cancelled because of Covid protocols within University of Tennessee - Martin's squad.  Tennis will be back in action vs Syracuse Friday at noon in the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center on campus.

Softball was slated to play South Carolina in the "South Carolina Tournament", though that has apparently been cancelled because of weather.  Instead the Cards will head to Tuscaloosa, AL and play a double header against Alabama.

The Tide is ranked pre-season number eight which is, well, not surprising for an SEC team.  A preview of the Alabama threat is tricky at this point as they've only played two games so far, so the stats are a bit all over the place.  Currently the top six hitters are all listed as hitting .400 or above, with Alexis Mack listed at .800 and Elisa Brown at .750.  With such a small sample size, I think we may have to consider that there will be a regression to the mean over time.  Or maybe they're just that good, which is a scary proposition.

The games today are at 1pm and 3:30pm.  No video listed, but Alabama's site does have a radio link listed.  A quick follow of the link does give a "Listen Live" option on the webpage, so if you really want to a UofL Softball fix, you can find that at https://praise933.com/listen-live/.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

The whole crew was on Skype, but Jared was quiet during the show yesterday as he was out braving the cold to bring us such great shots of the Lacrosse game.  He did add some comments in the Skype chat.

We recapped a couple of basketball games, discussed the implications of the WBB Covid pause, mused about whether there will be an ACC tournament or might they choose to just add in another couple of regular season games.  Case thought he scooped me on Volleyball results vs Dayton, though of course I had written about them last week.  And for anyone interested, my niece's J Graham Brown School basketball team did lose by one in a very exciting game against Highland's Latin School 29-30.

Good fun as always, check it out below.

WBB Back on Pause; Lacrosse Opens Season -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville WBB Postpones Syracuse Game

Welp... Here we are again. After the emotional home send-off for Dana Evans, Cards fans were ready to turn their sights onto the end of the regular season and the road to a national title. Unfortunately, we are instead reminded of the uncertain nature of this entire season. News broke midday yesterday that Louisville's game against the Orange on Sunday had been postponed. Optimistically, I opened the article hoping that it would be a contact tracing event or a Syracuse issue. That wasn't the case, though, as Louisville has had at least one positive test and quarantine/contact tracing makes the Cards unable to field a full team. Back onto a pause they go.

The question now is how long this one will last. Louisville WBB's first pause saw them off for nearly a month, not playing from December 9th until January 1st. Louisville MBB's first pause was for 18 days, and their second will be at least 16, assuming they return to the floor against Syracuse next Wednesday. Jeff Walz's squad has just 15 days remaining in the schedule, with the final game of the regular season scheduled to be played against Notre Dame on February 28th. We will just have to see what the extent of this event is.

As for the impact on the season, we at least don't have to worry about NCAA tournament eligibility. Louisville wrapped up their 13-game minimum weeks ago, and the only question now is whether they would be a one- or a two-seed. How a second pause will impact performance is a different question, and has to do with who is sick now, how bad it is, and whether the entire team will return at the same time. The men's team came off of their first pause without Carlik Jones and were run out of the gym by Wisconsin. The women's team came out of their first pause and labored to get a home win against NKU. We don't have any local evidence of teams coming off of a second shutdown because it hasn't happened, so we're all just flying blind. 

At any rate, we can only hope that everyone on Louisville's team stays safe and as healthy as possible for their sake and for the (through selfishness as fans) sake of the team. We'll be ready to root the Cards on when they return as they gear up for a conference championship battle and a run at a national title.

Lacrosse Hosts Florida

After 351 days, according to the Lax twitter account, the team is finally ready to get back in action. Scott Teeter's squad was off to a decent start and was making positive strides last year when they were called back to the hotel in Delaware to end their season. The Cards were 5-4 with close losses against Michigan and Virginia Tech that would have put their season on a very different path had a few goals gone the other way. Unfortunately, Louisville was unable to see that progress through as the season was canceled halfway through. 

The Cards look to pick up where they left off (a 17-7 win over Niagara to be exact) when they host the seventh ranked Florida Gators today at 11:30. Florida is a very good team that plays in the American Athletic Conference, as the SEC does not sponsor lacrosse. The Gators were off to a 6-2 start last season before the cancellation, with both losses coming to ranked teams and one of the wins coming on the road against #1 Maryland. Florida was 14-7 the previous season, defeating Cincinnati in the AAC Championship before falling in the second round of the NCAA tournament to North Carolina.

This is certainly one of the toughest season openers Teeter has had since becoming the leader down on Floyd Street, and he'll get an early look at what his team has to offer. This one is available on the ACC Network Extra, so be sure to tune in for the match that starts at 11:30AM.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour 

We're back on the air this week, and we'll have a relatively full house. Paulie will be in the booth with us, as media is limited (read: nonexistent) at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium, but Jared may still be down on the field, snapping photos and trying not to freeze. Best of luck to him. Join us on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour as we look back at the WBB wins over Notre Dame and Georgia Tech and what we're looking for with the uncertainty of the remainder of the season, plus all of the other odds and ends as spring (both rescheduled fall and natural spring) sports get underway. Tune in to the Cardinal Couple YouTube Channel at 11 AM for the live show or check out the replay or podcast after the show is finished airing.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Louisville WBB excels on Senior Night vs Georgia Tech -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS 85 - GEORGIA TECH 70

Happy Holiday Weekend Louisville fans! It's the 'I Love Dana Evans' edition of Cardinal Couple 

Lucy Walz took to the stage for the National anthem in the pre-game ceremonies for Thursday night's matchup with Georgia Tech... Coach Walz said she wanted to do it for Dana on Senior Night... As a freshman, Dana was heading to the Final Four with these two in tow (See pic below).  I'd say that both parties are very attached to the other, so the sweetness surrounded by Lucy wanting to sing the anthem for Dana's special night just fills me with so much joy I could burst. 

Daryl with "Lucy and Lola

RECAP: Louisville WBB vs Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 

It was Senior Night for the lone upperclassman, Dana Evans.  She added another headline to her Player of the Year campaign with 25 points on 8-19 shooting from the field, 4 rebounds and 7 assists on the night.  Kianna Smith followed her lead with 21 points of her own on 9-13 shooting, 3-6 from three with 3 rebounds and 5 assists.  The Cards scored 44 points in the paint and Elizabeth Balogun and Cochran came off the bench for 10-17 shooting for 9 and 13 points respectively. 

It was a tight race in the first quarter, the Yellow Jackets holding the advantage most of the way through the first ten minutes.  GT Guard Loyal McQueen finding the back of the net from deep going 3-3 with three assists.  Liz Dixon led the Cards with 6 points going 4-4 at the FT line and grabbing 4 rebounds. 

End of 1Q 20-19 GT 

FG %
7-16 43.8% Cards
7-16 43.8% GT
Reb.  10-9 GT 
3-pt %
1-3 33.3% Cards
3-4 75% GT

Dana Evans said she let the pre-game ceremony emotions wear off and started to warm up for the Cardinal offense in the second quarter.  She lead Louisville in the quarter in points and beat GT herself with nine points on 4-6 shooting in about a 3:30 minute span compared to the Yellow Jacket's eight points total for the quarter. The Cards closed the quarter on a 6-0 run 

End of 2Q 17-8 Cards 

FG %
7-15 46.7% Cards
4-17 23.5% GT
Reb. 11-10 Cards
3-pt %
2-6 33.3% Cards
0-3 0% GT

HALF 36-28 Cards

Kianna Smith had four points at the halftime break but she turned up the heat coming out of the break scoring 13 in the third quarter to lead all scorers. Kianna's 13 points were the first 13 points for the Cards in the third quarter.  Smith was 5-6, 3-4 from 3 with 2 assists and a rebound. She kept the Cards in it or it would've been close -- as the Louisville defense gave up 23 Georgia Tech points, five of them at the free throw line.  

End of 3Q 24-23 Cards 
FG %

10-18 55.6% Cards
8-15 53.3% GT
Reb. 8-7 GT
3-pt %
3-5 60% Cards
2-3 66.7% GT

SCORE 60-51 Cards

After the halftime break, GT was never able to pull it within less than 9 point lead for the Cards.  Lead by Dana's perfect 8-8 performance at the FT line in the 4th quarter and Olivia's seven points and three rebounds, the team won the quarter 25-19.  The Cards did commit eight fouls, though, including a technical foul that was handed out to each team with just 5 or so minutes left in the game. I'm sure a curse word warranted the judgement from the ref for it.  It wasn't anything to write home about as this game just kind of came and went.  The Cards are on a 3 game win streak as they hit the road for the final four game stretch of the regular season (fingers crossed).

Dana kisses the Cardinal Bird at the end
of the game, a long-standing Cards WBB
tradition for seniors. 

End of 4Q 25-19 Cards
FG %
8-16 50% Cards
6-12 50% GT
Reb. 10-6 Cards 
3-pt %
0-0 0% Cards
1-3 33.3% GT

FINAL 85-70 Cards

With the win, Louisville goes to 19-1 on the season and 12-1 in the ACC. Georgia Tech falls to 11-5 and 9-4 in ACC games. The win streak goes to three now and the Cards are 8-0 liffetime against Georgia Tech. 

 

FRED REPORT 

The late, legendary Fred Wiche
would have approved -- Flowers for Dana! 

F-Free Throws The Cards managed to go a solid 15-16 at FT line on the night good for 93.8%. Dana was 8-8 all in the 4th quarter, Liz Dixon 5-5 on the night and the team was 10-10 in second half.  It was a good night for the squad, in fact, it was the difference maker in this matchup and more than the required 70% for a CAPITAL F

R-Rebounding 37-34 Cards with the advantage in the game. 20-20 for both squads in the first half, 17-14 Cards advantage in the second half.  With the towering size of Dixon and Cochran, as well as the ability of HVL and Mykasa Robinson to snatch to boards for the Cards, its ideal that this squad average several more of these and take away the opportunities for the opponents.  Ill give this performance a lower case "r" for the advantage 

E-Effort/Efficiency 17 assists on 32 baskets, the Cards scored 25 more points than Georgia Tech was averaging allowing coming into the matchup. As a team, they shot almost 50% from the field for the evening and made sure Dana left the Yum! Center with a win.  It was a fiery effort on an icy evening in downtown Louisville. CAPITAL E 

D- Defense Georgia Tech didn't have a bad night from the floor.  They missed 7 of their 21 attempted free throws and turned it over 14 times which gave the Cards 13 extra points.  The Yellow Jackets matched their averaged coming into this one with 70 total points scored, 18 assists on 25 made buckets.  It was a Cards advantage in steals 7-4 and in blocked shots 4-1. GT found a good amount of quality scoring opportunities. Ill give the defense a lower case "d" 

FINAL Fred Report: F-r-E-d 

POST-GAME PRESS CONFERENCE

-- Coach Walz said he 'wishes there could've been 20,000 fans in the stands for Dana's Senior Night.' 

-- Kianna Smith on Dana.. 'She's the only senior... she's our leader and the only one who's been in a Final Four and in big games and she challenges me to be better.'

-- Check out the website the athletic department put together for Dana's Player of the Year Campaign.  You're gonna wanna see these videos and graphics... they're spectacular.  I even made it into Chapter 2 when they put a clip of my interview with Dana following the loss to Mississippi State in the Final Four in Columbus her freshman year.  Seeing that clip made make the cut made my week!

 

http://danaevans1.com/

CARDINAL SOFTBALL SWITCHES DIRECTION

UOFL Softball - Oh boy, don't look now but the first 'Cancelled' has found itself into the softball schedule already.. this time, weather to blame for the change of plans.  The Cards will be heading to #8 Alabama instead of Columbia SC for some SEC action this weekend to kick off the 2021 campaign. 

Next Games: 

Sunday 2/14 

WBB at 1pm vs Syracuse 

SBALL at 1pm vs Alabama

CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR PODCAST

(Dana auditioning for the Cardinal Couple
Radio Hour Podcast? No, probably not..) 

We will be back on the radio Saturday morning with a smaller crew for another episode of the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast.  Jared and Paulie will be freezing at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium for a (for now) 11:30 a.m. Saturday morning Lax match against Florida. 

Yep, they're crazy.

Tune in with me, Case and Jeff (as far as I know) at 11 a.m. Saturday to talk about the Cards. 

(GAME PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON)

Go Cards! 

~Daryl 

Georgia Tech Visits for Senior Day -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Cards Host Georgia Tech for Senior Day

Tonight is Dana Evans night. Well, it's Senior Night, but seeing as Dana is the only senior on the player roster, I found it fitting to alter the name.

Georgia Tech comes to the KFC Yum! Center to face a Louisville team that is itching to increase their hold over the ACC late in the season. A UofL victory would push the Louisville lead over the Yellow Jackets up to three games. Assuming NC State wins tonight then they would remain 2.5 games back. After tonight, Louisville will have four games remaining while Georgia Tech and NC State each having five games left.

The senior recognition will be quite different than past seasons. With the COVID-19 protocol, family and close friends are not allowed to escort the respective student-athlete onto the court this year. Some type of video tribute has been recorded and will be aired with Dana still being recognized on the court before the game.

Here's a look at some of Dana's stats up to this point in her career:

-1504 points (11th at UofL)

-485 assists (7th at UofL)

-264 made free throws (10th at UofL)

-.868 free throw percentage (1st at UofL)

-.933 free throw percentage this season (1st at UofL)

-258 rebounds

-200 made three-pointers (8th at UofL)

-.391 three-point percentage (3rd at UofL)

-150 steals

With five regular season games remaining including tonight, Dana has room to improve on all of these figures.

A victory tonight puts the Cards at 13-1 at home this season, marking the third straight year and fourth overall at the KFC Yum! Center that Louisville had just one loss at home in a season. 

So let's take a look at tonight's opponent- Georgia Tech.

The Yellow Jackets are 11-4 on the year with a 9-3 conference mark. They sit two games back on overall record behind the Cards for second in the ACC, but their .750 conference win percentage puts them at third in the ACC.

Georgia Tech is fresh off a loss at home to Wake Forest, snapping a seven-game win streak. 

Like most teams, Georgia Tech has seen the effects of COVID-19. They had a hiatus the back half of December and then saw a brief break during the middle of January.

Allowing just 60.8 points per game, the Yellow Jackets rank near the top of the conference defensively. OHfH3efensively, they are far from the top, scoring 68.5 points per game. They have a do-it-all player in Lotta-Maj Lahtinen. The junior averages 15.9 points per game, 5.5 rebounds per game, 3.4 assists per game, and her 32 steals this year is tied for first in the ACC. Lorela Cubaj has also been a huge factor. The senior is a walking double-double at 13.1 points per game and 12 rebounds per game. Cubaj is also the conference leader in rebounds per game.

The Cards are a perfect 7-0 all-time against Georgia Tech, all happening since the ACC welcomed Louisville. UofL defeated the Yellow Jackets 58-47 in Atlanta on Feb. 20, 2020. 

Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. This one is set for ACCNX, which is odd since it is a battle of some of the top teams in the conference. You can always tune into 790-AM WKRD to catch Nick Curran and AJ on air.

Yesterday's Evans and Walz Teleconference

Here are the links to yesterday's presser: 

DANA EVANS TELECONFERENCE 2-10-21

JEFF WALZ TELECONFERENCE 2-10-21

Around the ACC

DanaEvans1.com

Virginia Tech at Miami gets the 6:00 p.m., slot on ACC Network. Syracuse at Florida State gets the 8:00 p.m., slot.

NC State hosts Clemson with an early 4:00 p.m., game. Pitt visits Wake Forest at 6:00.

There is a Top 25 match-up outside of the ACC when #16 Tennessee visits #20 Kentucky. 

Much of the country is under some type of winter weather advisory currently and here in Louisville we saw the effects from it. Plenty of the city is covered in a thick layer of ice. If you plan on traveling today or even to the game tonight please be extra cautious and add extra time to take things slow.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Teleconference Day with Lacrosse, Softball and More Dana Recognition -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

LACROSSE AND SOFTBALL READY TO BEGIN 

In normal times, UofL women's athletics would have a Spring Sports Media Day on campus to bring in those who write about and cover the squads that participate in Louisville Athletics Spring Sports.

In place of that this year, UofL hosted a teleconference with head coaches Holly Aprile of Softball and Scott Teeter of Lacrosse.  No box lunch for the participants, no multiple players and coaches to gather at a location to field questions , but, a Microsoft Teams teleconference, which went quite well, all things considered. 

Lacrosse's Scott Teeter was first up and he discussed 2021 Louisville Lacrosse. The LAX squad begins action Saturday with an 11:30 a.m. match against #7 ranked Florida at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium on Floyd Street. The Cards get their first four matches at home  this season. 

Here is a link of the teleconference for your listening pleasure: 

SCOTT TEETER TELECONFERENCE 2-9-21 

Following Teeter, it was Holly Aprile's turn on the teleconference. Her Louisville Softball squad beings play this weekend also, but they are on the road at the South Carolina Tournament in Columbia, SC...where they'll face the host Gamecocks twice and UNC Greensboro once. 

Here is a link of the teleconference for your listening pleasure: 

HOLLY APRILE TELECONFERENCE 2-9-21 

A lot pf great information about the squads, the seasons, the scenarios and the status of both sports is revealed in these two teleconferences. If you are a fan of each sport, or want to hear two REALLY GOOD meetings with two excellent coaches, I highly recommend you take the time to listen to both of these teleconferences! 

MORE DANA RECOGNITION 

The Cards WBB stellar guard has been named to the Naismith Women's Trophy Midseason Team and also as a candidate for the 2020-21 Senior Class Award.

Evans is one of 30 student-athletes on the Naismith List and one of 60 on the Senior Class Award list 

To recognize and honor newest achievements, there will be a teleconference with her and Coach Walz today...beginning at 12:15 p.m. with Evans and then followed by Walz. 

We'll take part in it and post it for you here later today, when UofL releases the You Tube version of it so be sure and check back for it ! I'll also add it to Jared's article tomorrow. 

Have a safe Wednesday, the Interstates are an absolute mess this morning in Louisville because of the race, snow, ice combo being dumped on our area. 

paulie

New Rankings — Dana’s Accolades — TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 New Rankings

Despite a pair of victories, Louisville women’s basketball fell from the #1 ranking. We all suspected it would happen following their loss to #4 NC State. Thankfully, the Cards only dropped a couple spots down to #3 in the AP Poll, but did not receive any first place votes.

South Carolina retook the top spot for the second time this year with all but one of the first place votes. UConn sat closely behind in the second spot. Coincidentally, those two squads played last night, which we will get to later on.

NC State retained their #4 ranking and received the only other first place vote. The Wolfpack made a strong case for a higher position before getting upset by North Carolina on Sunday.

Stanford, Texas A&M, and Baylor each moved up one spot for the #5, #6, and #7 positions, respectively. UCLA dropped down to #8 following a loss. Maryland and Arizona flip flopped with the Terps moving to #9 and the Wildcats slipping to #10.

We still haven’t seen any other ACC teams make the Top 25, but several teams are within striking distance. Syracuse, Georgia Tech, and Virginia Tech all received votes.

Including tonight’s games, there’s 26 days left in the regular season. In a normal year, this is where rankings become more and more important as teams fight for the top four seeds in each region and home court advantage. With the entire tournament being held in a semi-central location, there is no home court advantage, but there is still plenty of bragging rights.

So now let’s backtrack to last night’s prime time game. South Carolina visited UConn for a 7:00 p.m., top-off. It was a poor shooting night for both teams and their three-point shooting would scare even the bravest people in a haunted house.

Regulation wasn’t enough excitement for this game so we added overtime to keep people on the edges of their seats a wee bit longer. The Huskies came out with a 63-59 victory in a game where the largest lead was seven points.

Conference Breakdown

ACC	W-L	GB	PCT	W-L	PCT	STRK
#3 Louisville	11-1	--	.917	18-1	.947	W2
#4 NC State	7-2	2.5	.778	12-2	.857	L1
Georgia Tech	9-3	2	.750	11-4	.733	L1
Syracuse	8-4	3	.667	11-4	.733	W2
Notre Dame	6-6	5	.500	8-8	.500	L3
Florida State	5-5	5	.500	6-5	.545	L1
Wake Forest	6-7	5.5	.462	9-8	.529	W1
Clemson	5-7	6	.417	10-7	.588	L1
Miami	5-7	6	.417	8-7	.533	W1
Virginia Tech	5-7	6	.417	10-7	.588	W3
North Carolina	4-8	7	.333	9-8	.529	W1
Pittsburgh	2-6	7	.250	4-7	.364	L3
Boston College	1-8	8.5	.111	5-8	.385	L4
Duke	0-1	5.5	.000	3-1	.750	L1
Virginia	0-2	6	.000	0-5	.000	L5

As Paulie mentioned yesterday, Louisville holds a 2.5 game lead over NC State in the conference standings. The Cards have five games remaining. Mrs. Wuf’s squad has six games left.

So what’s the mean for the Cards? Well, it’s simple. Louisville controls their own destiny. If they win out, the ACC title is theirs. In fact, they can still afford to lose another game (preferably not) and would still have more ACC wins and ACC win percentage than NC State to take the title.

Here’s where things get weird. Georgia Tech is only two games behind with their 9-3 record, but they have the third best win percentage (.750). Syracuse (8-4) is only three games behind and is fourth in win percentage. From there, everyone else sits at five games behind or further.

With four of the five games remaining being against the top six ACC teams, the Cards could actually finish as low as sixth. Let’s hope they don’t crash and burn though.

Dana’s Accolades

Just hand her the Player of the Year title. At this point there is no one you can’t put over the senior from Gary, Ind. I know, South Carolina's Boston is getting chatter and freshman Paige Bueckers at UConn hs been on fire lately, but Dana delivers each and every night -- unflappable, intense, and "the one" that anyone the Cards play probably has at the top of their scouting list -- maybe with the sentence:

"How do you stop #1"  

Rightfully so, Dana Evans was named both the ACC and ESPNW Player of the Week .yesterday.

In the three games last week, Evans averaged 26.3 points per game, 3.7 assists per game, and 3.0 rebounds per game while playing almost every single minute. She shot higher than 40% from both the floor and three-point range.  The only downside to Dana’s week was her 43-straight made free throws coming to an end. She is shooting .933 from the charity stripe this season.

Dana now has 36 straight games with double-digit points. That ties for the longest streak by a UofL women’s basketball player over the last two decades. Her partner in crime up there? Just someone named Angel McCoughtry. That’s darn good company to be in.

Thursday will be Senior Day with Dana being the only current player on the roster being recognized. We all have one final game to see Dana step onto Denny Crum Court. Georgia Tech comes to call, which means former Card great Cortnee Walton will be back in the KFC YUM! Center, handling her duties as recruiting operations director (we assume...we'll look for her). 

Today is Cortnee's birthday, by the way, so send her a "Happy Birthday" tweet at @cortneewalton

Rough Weather

FROM THE CARDINAL COUPLE WEATHER CENTER, PSUEDO-METEOROROLOGIST JARED ANDERSON REPORTS : The next several days have an ugly forecast. We will see temperatures as low as zero degrees on top of potential freezing rain and ice. This may not be drastic news to some of you, especially north of Louisville -- but...here, it's newsworthy. 

We care about all of our readers and contributors here at Cardinal Couple. Please take whatever precautions you may need to handle the upcoming weather. We now return you to our regularly scheduled program :  "The Perils of Paulie trying to figure out the Internet." 

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared