The UofL WBB squad opens the home slate today, hosting the EKU Colonels. Samantha Williams squad was not treated kindly in their opener, getting soundly thumped by IU 100-51 on Nov 25th.
The Colonels have six freshmen on their 12-player roster and four of them started against the Hoosiers. Out of them, it was a reserve -- Amerah Steele, from London, KY, who led EKU in scoring with 13 points. The first quarter was fatal for Sam's club, they trailed 34-8 after 10 minutes.
I expect four of those freshmen to be starters again for the Colonels; Corriana Evans, Clara Rosini, Alice Recanati, and Kendall Wingler. Rosini, and Recanati are Italian guards, and along with forward Dafne Gianesini add some international flair to the squad. Evans join fellow Georgian, senior Bria Bass, in the starting lineup, and Wingler represents the home state in the starting lineup from Brandenburg.
EKU likes to launch the three and went 9 for 30 from beyond the arc in Bloomington. They were soundly out-rebounded 56-40. IU shot 54% from the floor, EKU just 25% (20-80).
I'll look to see if the Cards can rediscover their three-point attack. It wouldn't surprise me to see EKU start out in a zone defensive matchup and make the Cards try to beat them from outside. IU was 9 for 26 against EKU from the arc. For the Cards, they'll most likely try to run, run, run when they have the ball and put pressure defense on EKU to build up a huge points-off-turnovers margin,
Will we see the return of Kianna Smith? Will Olivia Cochran follow up her huge SEMO success with another big effort today? Will freshmen Hailey Van Lith and Merissah Russell continue their impressive debuts. It'll be interesting to observe Walz's substitution pattern today as well. Does Dana get untracked from the deep?
These things and more will be revealed today at 1 p.m. If you don't have tickets, you can follow the action on the ACC Network Extra on line or through the ESPN app. My old buddy Don Russell has the call and Sara White provide the color commentary. For radio, Nick and AJ will return to their normal digits...Cards Radio WKRD 790 AM.
Longtime Cardinal assistant Samantha Williams returns to the Ville today, but it may not be an afternoon she'll remember fondly -- in terms of outcome. It'll be good to see her, albeit from afar, today. Sam is quite familiar with what the CARDS do, obviously. The question is, does she have the talent on her roster to prevent it.
--sonja--
The Colonels have six freshmen on their 12-player roster and four of them started against the Hoosiers. Out of them, it was a reserve -- Amerah Steele, from London, KY, who led EKU in scoring with 13 points. The first quarter was fatal for Sam's club, they trailed 34-8 after 10 minutes.
I expect four of those freshmen to be starters again for the Colonels; Corriana Evans, Clara Rosini, Alice Recanati, and Kendall Wingler. Rosini, and Recanati are Italian guards, and along with forward Dafne Gianesini add some international flair to the squad. Evans join fellow Georgian, senior Bria Bass, in the starting lineup, and Wingler represents the home state in the starting lineup from Brandenburg.
EKU likes to launch the three and went 9 for 30 from beyond the arc in Bloomington. They were soundly out-rebounded 56-40. IU shot 54% from the floor, EKU just 25% (20-80).
I'll look to see if the Cards can rediscover their three-point attack. It wouldn't surprise me to see EKU start out in a zone defensive matchup and make the Cards try to beat them from outside. IU was 9 for 26 against EKU from the arc. For the Cards, they'll most likely try to run, run, run when they have the ball and put pressure defense on EKU to build up a huge points-off-turnovers margin,
Will we see the return of Kianna Smith? Will Olivia Cochran follow up her huge SEMO success with another big effort today? Will freshmen Hailey Van Lith and Merissah Russell continue their impressive debuts. It'll be interesting to observe Walz's substitution pattern today as well. Does Dana get untracked from the deep?
These things and more will be revealed today at 1 p.m. If you don't have tickets, you can follow the action on the ACC Network Extra on line or through the ESPN app. My old buddy Don Russell has the call and Sara White provide the color commentary. For radio, Nick and AJ will return to their normal digits...Cards Radio WKRD 790 AM.
Longtime Cardinal assistant Samantha Williams returns to the Ville today, but it may not be an afternoon she'll remember fondly -- in terms of outcome. It'll be good to see her, albeit from afar, today. Sam is quite familiar with what the CARDS do, obviously. The question is, does she have the talent on her roster to prevent it.
--sonja--
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