Cards WBB 77 - Duke 65

[Sonja]

The Cards put three in double figures, led by Hailey Van Lith' s 17, and built a 18 point lead in the first half to down Duke WBB Sunday afternoon at the KFC YUM Center in front of 9001 attendees.

The contest featured the return of former Cards WBB player Elizabeth Balogun to the KFC YUM Center. The Blue Devils third leading scorer was limited to five points and committed four turnovers in 27 minutes of play.

The Cards jumped our to a 25-14 first quarter lead and did it mostly without Olivia Cochran, who picked up two quick fouls and sat the rest of the quarter. Van Lith, Chelsie Hall and Payton Verhulst picked up the scoring slack though, the always dependable Cards defense helped the Cards build a 45-27 halftime lead.

Duke did outscore the Cards 20-15 in the third quarter as Sheyeann Day-Wilson got hot for the Blue Devils, who were without head coach Kara Lawson (health prtocols) The visitors from Durham also sank 8-12 free throws, a point of contention from Jeff Walz in postgame comments, to cut the Cards lead to 13 at the end of the third quarter at 60-45. The Cards shot just 35.7% in the third quarter.

Duke would win the fourth quarter as well -18-17 - but never seriously challenged the Cards in getting their third straight ACC win.

Louisville won the points in the paint battle 24-20 and forced 20 Duke turnovers, getting 29 points off them. The Cards also won the 2nd chance points stat 17-6 and outrebounded Duke 28-26.

Verhulst joined Van Lith in double figures with 13 points in 19 minutes and Kianna Smith produced 11 points. Emily Engstler had eight points in 22 minutes but was whistled for five fouls (a few questionable) by the officiating crew of Brewton, Suffren and Danaher.

The Cards leave the friendly confines of their downtown Arena for a three game conference road trip which starts out in Miami on Tuesday.

--sonja--

 

[nccardfan]

Was Balogun a grad transfer? Wouldn’t she have made this team a sure FF contender? Not trying to start trouble but hate to see that much talent leave when we are this close to a NC.

 

[Bardman]

When she saw her minutes drop in her last year here…the writing was on the wall that with the incoming players her minutes would not increase - my opinion. Do not believe she was a grad transfer. **Unless she graduated early.

 

[ulcards1]

Not to be cruel, but Balogun returning would not have helped our team this year.
She had 5 points on 2-7 shooting and 4 turnovers. Duke was -20 when she was in the game and Duke made their 3rd quarter run when she was benched.
I agree she has talent, but bottom line she is not a very productive player. Lack of focus, determination, toughness -who knows?

 

[nccardfan]

Not to be cruel, but Balogun returning would not have helped our team this year.
She had 5 points on 2-7 shooting and 4 turnovers. Duke was -20 when she was in the game and Duke made their 3rd quarter run when she was benched.
I agree she has talent, but bottom line she is not a very productive player. Lack of focus, determination, toughness -who knows?

Man you watch 1 game and that’s your conclusion? She is 3rd leading scorer on Duke’s team at 10.2 pts. I disagree that she wouldn’t have contributed. Liz Dixon, bless her heart contributed nothing against NC State. We needed one more
forward in that game and that means against teams like South Carolina, Stanford and NC State.

 

[ulcards1]

I watched her for 2 full seasons and couple of games this year. Liz had 10 pts and 4 rebounds in 2 games against NC St last year.-don't really think she was going to make a big difference this year.
We are playing 10 when Konno is available, who do you want to see play less? Maybe we don't get Emily E. if Balogun had stayed. She would not be starting over Emily E. at forward and I can't imagine that she would be happy in a reduced role.

We might not win a national championship this year, but this team plays with maximum effort and is close group. Maybe we are currently 4th in the country because of the makeup of our team.

 

[nccardfan]

No doubt this team plays with maximum effort. With all the disappointment with MBB’s,
Football, womens volleyball losing the FF (ok not really a disappointment), I’m desperate for the next NC. If Cochran and Dixon were consistent night after night, I would feel better. Sometimes our best lineup is 4 guards but then we get outrebounded by other teams. Konno is a guard. We need one more big. Maybe Velhorst can fill the role.

 

[Bardman]

I was a bit disappointed the other night when Jeff didn’t bring Verhulst back in the game - think it was early 4th qtr maybe? He left Kasa and or Ahlana in and we needed scoring and rebounding - Verhulst was doing both. The more she plays the better she gets.

 

[Shonda97]

Payton will be this teams ticket to the final four this year. If she can play like she did this game consistently come tournament time….watch out.

 

[2330859]

Liz value to this team is huge, but not necessarily in terms of her scoring ……it’s her length defensively, and ability to rebound that makes her so valuable. Jeff is easing Verhulst into the rotation, and doing so without disrupting the chemistry and the flow.

I see some serious mid season development here that could be just the extra kick we need for tournament time.

 

[TheRealVille]

Man you watch 1 game and that’s your conclusion? She is 3rd leading scorer on Duke’s team at 10.2 pts. I disagree that she wouldn’t have contributed. Liz Dixon, bless her heart contributed nothing against NC State. We needed one more
forward in that game and that means against teams like South Carolina, Stanford and NC State.

You recall Balogun leaving mid-season to play for her country in Olympic trials? She missed two games and the Cards lost one of them. Walz of course publicly said it was fine because playing for your country in the Olympics is a dream, but it had an negative effect on the team and the other players.

Not saying this is why she transferred but I'm sure it was a factor. Remember, she was already a transfer when she was at Louisville. When I saw that she was transferring it didn't surprise me or even disappoint me. I knew Walz would replace her with someone better and he did with Emily E.

Dixon is far more valuable than Balogon and I'm glad she stayed.

 

[nccardfan]

You recall Balogun leaving mid-season to play for her country in Olympic trials? She missed two games and the Cards lost one of them. Walz of course publicly said it was fine because playing for your country in the Olympics is a dream, but it had an negative effect on the team and the other players.

Not saying this is why she transferred but I'm sure it was a factor. Remember, she was already a transfer when she was at Louisville. When I saw that she was transferring it didn't surprise me or even disappoint me. I knew Walz would replace her with someone better and he did with Emily E.

Dixon is far more valuable than Balogon and I'm glad she stayed.

Balogun is not the only player Jeff has excused to play in either Olympic trials or tryouts. I don’t think it’s a great idea but if Jeff doesn’t have a problem with it neither to do I. Heck, all the WNBA teams let their players go off and tryout for their Olympic teams. And to be clear I never said Balogun over Dixon. I stated that I think our depth is an issue against the elite womens teams.

 

[2330859]

Chemistry matters, and there were instances where Balogun struggled to fit in with last year‘s roster. I am not sure we would have been successful getting Emily on campus, if Balogun had not transferred out. Dixon is a team player, and has demonstrated loyalty to Jeff and will do whatever and whenever called upon to help this team.