A huge ACC matchup tonight in the KFC YUM! Center -- with #1 Louisville women's basketball entertaining #??? NC State at 7 p.m.
We don't know where the WolfPack wlll end up in the AP Poll that'll come out later today. I'd guess they'll still be in the nation's top five. The big question concerning NC State is whether 6'5" All-Conference center Elissa Cunane will play for Wes Moore's squad. She's missed the last two NC State games on COVID protocol -- the "Pack" are quite the different team without her, and fell to 7-7 Virginia Tech on Thursday in Blacksburg, a 83-71 loss in overtime.
Cunane leads NC State in scoring, rebounding, shooting and blocked shots. VT Center Elizabeth Kitley had a field day against the WolfPack without "Big Smile" in the lineup for both games against NCST.
The WolfPack are 11-1 on the season and are tops in the ACC in defensive rebounding, field-goal percentage, field-goal percentage defense -- those ranking largely influenced by Cunane. Without her, Wes Moore has relied primarily on seven players. 6'0" sophomore wing Jakia Brown-Turner, 5'9" senior guard Kai Crutchfield, 6'2" sophomore forward Jada Boyd, 5'4" graduate senior guard Raina Perez, 6'1" senior forward Jada Rice, 6'1" senior forward Kayla Jones and 6'1" graduate senior Camille Hobby. It was Hobby who sent the WolfPack's last game to overtime against the Hokies, with a buzzer-beating three-pointer to tie it.
NC State has played, and defeated a #q this season -- knocking off South Carolina back in early December. They had Cunane for that matchup.
Jeff Walz has prepared the Cards for this one expecting Cunane to play. Regardless of whether she does or not, The way I see it, the Cards will need to do five things well, if the Cards are to go to 17-0.
-- Rebound well on both ends of the court. NC State's current alignment of 6'2" Boyd and the three 6'1" players crash the boards with relentless effort. The Cards may well counter with dual-centers in Olivia Cochran and Liz Dixon to bolster the boards battle. My guess is Walz starts both, but I've been surprised before.
-- Force the pace. Getting out on the transition with quickness and taking advantage of fast-break opportunities is where the Cards can excel. It'll also help wear out a Wolfpack squad that doesn't go much deeper than the seven student-athletes I outlined above.
-- Have three-point success. The Cards have a variety of long-range shooting specialists and one would hope all of them are "on target" tonight, if needed.
-- Limit WolfPack scoring opportunities. NCST has shot better than 50% in half of their games this season.
-- Win the second-chance battle. That entails a lot of guard-based rebounding for the Cards guards and blocking out after missed shots.
Obviously, the top-ranked guard in the ACC -- Dana Evans will be a huge factor in this one:
Dana Evans needs to be at her best tonight.
In the last four games, she has played 153 of 160 minutes and is averaging 19.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists. She has made 33 consecutive free throws and hasn’t missed since Dec. 6 vs. UT Martin. She has 11 20-point games, which are four more than VT’s Aisha Sheppards’s seven, which rank second. She has 23 career 20-point games and UofL is 23-0 in those games. The All-American has scored in double figures in every game this season. She leads the ACC with 19.5 points per game and ranks fifth with 4.4 assists per game. She leads the ACC with a 93.5 free throw percentage and ranks sixth with 37 3-point makes.
Liz Dixon's continued excellence could be a key factor as well.
Dixon has scored in double figures in back-to-back games for the second time this season. She had a Louisville career-high 21 points and led the team with nine rebounds against Miami and followed that with 13 points and four rebounds against UNC. Her previous career high at UofL was 15 points at Boise State on 11/24/19. She twice had a career-high 22 points during her freshman season at Georgia Tech. She had 10 points and 10 rebounds in just 16 minutes vs. FSU for her first double-double of the season. It was her second double-double in a Louisville uniform. She had 10 points and 13 rebounds against WKU on Nov. 5, 2019, her first game as a Cardinal. She shot 0-4 in the season opener at SEMO, but is 56-90 (.622) from the floor since. After shooting 49.6 percent (56-113) last season, she is shooting 59.6 percent (56-94) this year.
Last, but not least, will be the free-throw scenario. Opposing teams have not fared too well in the KFC YUM! Center from the charity stripe lately, while Louisville leads the ACC with a 79.2% free throw success rate. We'll see how tightly the "whistles" control this one tonight.
It's a Big Monday, ESPN 2 viewing option for you at 7 p.m. Cards Radio 790-AM WKRD will have the radio feed. Holly Rowe in the house today, according to the promo blurbs, while Rebecca Lobo and Ryan Ruocco handle the play-by-play and commentary. Nick Curran And Adrienne Johnson one of the best radio-duos in women's college basketball and I go to them a lot as an option, and different take on WBB games. Tonight, though -- I'll be in the downtown arena watching this one.
Hoping for the best. Hoping I don't see #33 warming up for Wes Moore's squad.
Go Cards!
--sonja--
We don't know where the WolfPack wlll end up in the AP Poll that'll come out later today. I'd guess they'll still be in the nation's top five. The big question concerning NC State is whether 6'5" All-Conference center Elissa Cunane will play for Wes Moore's squad. She's missed the last two NC State games on COVID protocol -- the "Pack" are quite the different team without her, and fell to 7-7 Virginia Tech on Thursday in Blacksburg, a 83-71 loss in overtime.
Cunane leads NC State in scoring, rebounding, shooting and blocked shots. VT Center Elizabeth Kitley had a field day against the WolfPack without "Big Smile" in the lineup for both games against NCST.
The WolfPack are 11-1 on the season and are tops in the ACC in defensive rebounding, field-goal percentage, field-goal percentage defense -- those ranking largely influenced by Cunane. Without her, Wes Moore has relied primarily on seven players. 6'0" sophomore wing Jakia Brown-Turner, 5'9" senior guard Kai Crutchfield, 6'2" sophomore forward Jada Boyd, 5'4" graduate senior guard Raina Perez, 6'1" senior forward Jada Rice, 6'1" senior forward Kayla Jones and 6'1" graduate senior Camille Hobby. It was Hobby who sent the WolfPack's last game to overtime against the Hokies, with a buzzer-beating three-pointer to tie it.
NC State has played, and defeated a #q this season -- knocking off South Carolina back in early December. They had Cunane for that matchup.
Jeff Walz has prepared the Cards for this one expecting Cunane to play. Regardless of whether she does or not, The way I see it, the Cards will need to do five things well, if the Cards are to go to 17-0.
-- Rebound well on both ends of the court. NC State's current alignment of 6'2" Boyd and the three 6'1" players crash the boards with relentless effort. The Cards may well counter with dual-centers in Olivia Cochran and Liz Dixon to bolster the boards battle. My guess is Walz starts both, but I've been surprised before.
-- Force the pace. Getting out on the transition with quickness and taking advantage of fast-break opportunities is where the Cards can excel. It'll also help wear out a Wolfpack squad that doesn't go much deeper than the seven student-athletes I outlined above.
-- Have three-point success. The Cards have a variety of long-range shooting specialists and one would hope all of them are "on target" tonight, if needed.
-- Limit WolfPack scoring opportunities. NCST has shot better than 50% in half of their games this season.
-- Win the second-chance battle. That entails a lot of guard-based rebounding for the Cards guards and blocking out after missed shots.
Obviously, the top-ranked guard in the ACC -- Dana Evans will be a huge factor in this one:
Dana Evans needs to be at her best tonight.
In the last four games, she has played 153 of 160 minutes and is averaging 19.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists. She has made 33 consecutive free throws and hasn’t missed since Dec. 6 vs. UT Martin. She has 11 20-point games, which are four more than VT’s Aisha Sheppards’s seven, which rank second. She has 23 career 20-point games and UofL is 23-0 in those games. The All-American has scored in double figures in every game this season. She leads the ACC with 19.5 points per game and ranks fifth with 4.4 assists per game. She leads the ACC with a 93.5 free throw percentage and ranks sixth with 37 3-point makes.
Liz Dixon's continued excellence could be a key factor as well.
Dixon has scored in double figures in back-to-back games for the second time this season. She had a Louisville career-high 21 points and led the team with nine rebounds against Miami and followed that with 13 points and four rebounds against UNC. Her previous career high at UofL was 15 points at Boise State on 11/24/19. She twice had a career-high 22 points during her freshman season at Georgia Tech. She had 10 points and 10 rebounds in just 16 minutes vs. FSU for her first double-double of the season. It was her second double-double in a Louisville uniform. She had 10 points and 13 rebounds against WKU on Nov. 5, 2019, her first game as a Cardinal. She shot 0-4 in the season opener at SEMO, but is 56-90 (.622) from the floor since. After shooting 49.6 percent (56-113) last season, she is shooting 59.6 percent (56-94) this year.
Last, but not least, will be the free-throw scenario. Opposing teams have not fared too well in the KFC YUM! Center from the charity stripe lately, while Louisville leads the ACC with a 79.2% free throw success rate. We'll see how tightly the "whistles" control this one tonight.
It's a Big Monday, ESPN 2 viewing option for you at 7 p.m. Cards Radio 790-AM WKRD will have the radio feed. Holly Rowe in the house today, according to the promo blurbs, while Rebecca Lobo and Ryan Ruocco handle the play-by-play and commentary. Nick Curran And Adrienne Johnson one of the best radio-duos in women's college basketball and I go to them a lot as an option, and different take on WBB games. Tonight, though -- I'll be in the downtown arena watching this one.
Hoping for the best. Hoping I don't see #33 warming up for Wes Moore's squad.
Go Cards!
--sonja--
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