Cards vs. Oregon

[Sonja]

The University of Louisville women's basketball squad will face Oregon tonight at 7 p.m. for the right to advance to the Great Eight.

So, what about the Ducks?

With a 57-50 win over 3-seed Georgia on Wednesday, Oregon advanced to its fourth straight Sweet 16.

They have 6'7" Sedona Prince and Nyara Sabally and both had good games, combining for 37 points as Oregon held Georgia to 35-percent shooting. The Ducks were 8-0 in 2020, but lost eight of 13 games in 2021 prior to winning two straight in the NCAA Tournament.

Kelly Graves squad came in to the Big Dance less than "on fire". They entered the tournament with losses in five of their last six games. The Ducks ranked second in the Pac-12 and 16th in the country with a 1.26 assist-to-turnover ratio. They also ranked second in the Pac-12 with 72.1 points per game, 12.6 turnovers per game and 364 assists.

Balanced scoring is the rule of thumb for them. They feature five players averaging more than 9.6 points per game with Sabally (12.9), Erin Boley (10.7), Prince (10.4), Te-Hina Paopao (10.2) and Taylor Mikesell (9.6). Boley, from Hodgenville, Ky., and Maddie Scherr, from Florence, Ky., were both named Miss Kentucky Basketball.

So, how do the Cards ground the Ducks? Let's state the obvious -- they must get off to a better start than they have in their first two games. They have, basically, 15 fouls to waste on Prince (Cochran, Dixon and Parker), and I'd expect Walz to make life difficult for her from the opening tip. Boley can get streaky hot, can Kasa shut her down?

Dana needs to have a "Dana-type" game, obviously, but this squad has shoeen they don't quit fighting if their leader is not up to top form. I see Kianna Smith and Hailey Van Lith having a lot of success against the Ducks and if Cochran can repeat what she did against MSU -- Louisville should prevail over the Ducks. Walz will force the pace, try to run by the Ducks like the Cards eventually did against Marist and MSU, and probably play a lot of players, If Konno is on and Balogun is hitting shots, that'll only help the Cards chances. Defense has gotten Louisville this far and it'll be a top priority again tonight.

--sonja--

 

[Deeva]

Thanks Sonja. Go Cards.

 

[CardsFirst]

Hoping for an aggressive start by the Cards. Set the tone early. Go Cards!

 

[KozmasAgain]

I hope we have a better game preparation than our first 2 games. We can’t continue to fall behind by double digits and expect to win against better teams. We have enough players to put constant defensive pressure on our opponents. I can guarantee that the 2 Kentucky kids on their roster are going to play with a lot of passion today.

 

[CardsFirst]

I hope we have a better game preparation than our first 2 games. We can’t continue to fall behind by double digits and expect to win against better teams. We have enough players to put constant defensive pressure on our opponents. I can guarantee that the 2 Kentucky kids on their roster are going to play with a lot of passion today.

Yeah I have hard time putting their performance or lack of performance on game preparation. They come out flat that’s on the players. Not sure why that’s occurring. It’s the Rocky Syndrome (Have to get punched in the mouth before waking up). Jeff has played multiple players and made halftime adjustments. As I see it he’s doing his job. Although Jeff did say something about letting Stephanie coach the first quarter lol.

 

[Guardman]

Incredible Defense. 40% Three Point Shooting. REBOUND. Value the Ball. Let the good times roll!

 

[KozmasAgain]

I disagree about adjustments being made we didn’t adjust our defense until we were 15 points behind. The adjustment has to be made quicker against better teams or we won’t win the game.

 

[KozmasAgain]

It seems the past 2 games we start off playing one on one instead of passing the ball around . That won’t work against better opponents especially this team because of their height advantage. The main thing is also to control the tempo of the game. I haven’t seen Oregon enough to know but usually the bigger you are the slower you are.

 

[CardsFirst]

I disagree about adjustments being made we didn’t adjust our defense until we were 15 points behind. The adjustment has to be made quicker against better teams or we won’t win the game.

I understand, but sometimes you have to let the cake bake to see if it’s going to work or in this case the women wake up. Nevertheless adjustments were made that worked, just not on your timeframe.

 

[KozmasAgain]

If we get 15 points behind against the top teams we won’t win. The good teams have good coaching and a lot of talent. Once your down by 15 they have the players to jack up the 3’s and hit them. Once your down by 15 the good teams can play loose.

Being down by 15 to Marist and Northwestern no problem both teams have a decent starting 5 but nothing after that. If are players aren’t fired to play in the tournament and come out and play unmotivated that is a problem.

 

[CardX]

Not sure about the rest of you, but I’ve got an uneasy feeling about tonight’s game.

Regardless, Go Cards!

 

[nccardfan]

I disagree about adjustments being made we didn’t adjust our defense until we were 15 points behind. The adjustment has to be made quicker against better teams or we won’t win the game.

I disagree with your assessment. Jeff went zone early and then back to man to man. Also tried a couple of variations of zone press. It just didn’t become effective after the second time we got behind big by double digits.

 

[KozmasAgain]

Let’s all hope for a better start today, I looked at Oregon’s schedule and they lost to Stanford twice. Once by 7 and once by 2 so this is a high level opponent. CJW has had success against Oregon in the past let’s hope that continues.

 

[Birdie King]

The University of Louisville women's basketball squad will face Oregon tonight at 7 p.m. for the right to advance to the Great Eight.

So, what about the Ducks?

With a 57-50 win over 3-seed Georgia on Wednesday, Oregon advanced to its fourth straight Sweet 16.

They have 6'7" Sedona Prince and Nyara Sabally and both had good games, combining for 37 points as Oregon held Georgia to 35-percent shooting. The Ducks were 8-0 in 2020, but lost eight of 13 games in 2021 prior to winning two straight in the NCAA Tournament.

Kelly Graves squad came in to the Big Dance less than "on fire". They entered the tournament with losses in five of their last six games. The Ducks ranked second in the Pac-12 and 16th in the country with a 1.26 assist-to-turnover ratio. They also ranked second in the Pac-12 with 72.1 points per game, 12.6 turnovers per game and 364 assists.

Balanced scoring is the rule of thumb for them. They feature five players averaging more than 9.6 points per game with Sabally (12.9), Erin Boley (10.7), Prince (10.4), Te-Hina Paopao (10.2) and Taylor Mikesell (9.6). Boley, from Hodgenville, Ky., and Maddie Scherr, from Florence, Ky., were both named Miss Kentucky Basketball.

So, how do the Cards ground the Ducks? Let's state the obvious -- they must get off to a better start than they have in their first two games. They have, basically, 15 fouls to waste on Prince (Cochran, Dixon and Parker), and I'd expect Walz to make life difficult for her from the opening tip. Boley can get streaky hot, can Kasa shut her down?

Dana needs to have a "Dana-type" game, obviously, but this squad has shoeen they don't quit fighting if their leader is not up to top form. I see Kianna Smith and Hailey Van Lith having a lot of success against the Ducks and if Cochran can repeat what she did against MSU -- Louisville should prevail over the Ducks. Walz will force the pace, try to run by the Ducks like the Cards eventually did against Marist and MSU, and probably play a lot of players, If Konno is on and Balogun is hitting shots, that'll only help the Cards chances. Defense has gotten Louisville this far and it'll be a top priority again tonight.

--sonja--

Great info Sonja, but you neglected to mention that are missing a key ingredient- their point guard

 

[Sonja]

Great info Sonja, but you neglected to mention that are missing a key ingredient- their point guard

Well, shucky-darn, excuse me for neglecting that earth-shaking development. I'm headed to the convent to meditate on my shortcomings.

--sonja--

 

[Birdie King]

Forget about it. We have a national championship to take care of. 👆