The Cards are in Durham, NC for a 7 p.m. contest against the Duke Blue Devils tonight. A game in Cameron without fans, but, Fox Sports South locally will have the feed and Nick and A.J. will handle the radio call on 790 Cards Radio WKRD AM
Duke comes into the match 3-0 with wins over Longwood, WCU and ECU. They haven't been seriously challenged by the foes. All games have been in Cameron and Duke is averaging 83 points a night, and giving up just 55.
It's a balanced attack for first-year coach Kara Lawson's squad. Three different leading scorers in the three contests. Miela Goodchild, a 5'10" guard from Australia, put up 24 against ECU and is averaging 18 points a contest. Sara Anastasieska comes off the bench for the Lawson squad, had 23 against WCU and is a 5'11" guard who is also from Australia . Jaida Patrick totaled 21 for Duke in the opener against Longwood, she's a 5'10" guard from New York.
Duke plays nine players pretty regularly in their contests so far and other threats include 6'3" Onone Akinbode James, 6'5" Jada Williams and freshman guard Vanessa de Jesus. The Blue Devils are 28 for 69 from three points range this season and hold an impressive +24 per game rebounding edge so far.
It's a Duke squad who lost Haley Gorecki, Kyra Lambert and Leaonna Odom to graduation -- those three were esssential in Duke playing the Cards to 55-55 tie with one minute to go in the KFC YUM! Center. A Dana three and two Bionca free throws gave the Cards the "W", though 60-55. A new coach, new cast of contributors and new philosophy is waiting for the Cards tonight.
Things I'll be watching for:
-- Can Louisville overcome the slow first quarter starts that they've had in their first four games? The Cards have just a +3.5 average lead over their foes this season after the first quarter (80-65) or 20-16.5 points.
-- Can the Cards utilize the "rebounding by committee" concept effectively against a Duke front line that goes 6'5" and 6'3"? Olivia Cochran, Liz Dixon and Ramani Parker could get a strong test of their skills on the boards tonight.
-- Will Dana Evans continue her soaring start to the season? She's leading Louisville with 20.3 points per game . The top three UofL WBB scorers are guards -- Hailey Van Lith has 16 points a game and Kianna Smith has put in 31 points in two contests for a 15.5 average. My guess is that Dana was pretty good at hide-and-seek as a kid -- she certainly likes to find people on the court.
-- Will Duke try to run with the Cards or slow them down with a pressing zone matchup? And, if the zone is employed, will Dana, Kianna, Hailey, Norika and Ahlana find success beyond the arc ?
-- Louisville is forcing opponents into an average of 26 turnovers a game and averaging almost 10 blocked shots a night. Can they continue these eye-popping stats against ACC competition?
It should be a fun one to watch and I'll be back Thursday with a wrap up.
--sonja--
Duke comes into the match 3-0 with wins over Longwood, WCU and ECU. They haven't been seriously challenged by the foes. All games have been in Cameron and Duke is averaging 83 points a night, and giving up just 55.
It's a balanced attack for first-year coach Kara Lawson's squad. Three different leading scorers in the three contests. Miela Goodchild, a 5'10" guard from Australia, put up 24 against ECU and is averaging 18 points a contest. Sara Anastasieska comes off the bench for the Lawson squad, had 23 against WCU and is a 5'11" guard who is also from Australia . Jaida Patrick totaled 21 for Duke in the opener against Longwood, she's a 5'10" guard from New York.
Duke plays nine players pretty regularly in their contests so far and other threats include 6'3" Onone Akinbode James, 6'5" Jada Williams and freshman guard Vanessa de Jesus. The Blue Devils are 28 for 69 from three points range this season and hold an impressive +24 per game rebounding edge so far.
It's a Duke squad who lost Haley Gorecki, Kyra Lambert and Leaonna Odom to graduation -- those three were esssential in Duke playing the Cards to 55-55 tie with one minute to go in the KFC YUM! Center. A Dana three and two Bionca free throws gave the Cards the "W", though 60-55. A new coach, new cast of contributors and new philosophy is waiting for the Cards tonight.
Things I'll be watching for:
-- Can Louisville overcome the slow first quarter starts that they've had in their first four games? The Cards have just a +3.5 average lead over their foes this season after the first quarter (80-65) or 20-16.5 points.
-- Can the Cards utilize the "rebounding by committee" concept effectively against a Duke front line that goes 6'5" and 6'3"? Olivia Cochran, Liz Dixon and Ramani Parker could get a strong test of their skills on the boards tonight.
-- Will Dana Evans continue her soaring start to the season? She's leading Louisville with 20.3 points per game . The top three UofL WBB scorers are guards -- Hailey Van Lith has 16 points a game and Kianna Smith has put in 31 points in two contests for a 15.5 average. My guess is that Dana was pretty good at hide-and-seek as a kid -- she certainly likes to find people on the court.
-- Will Duke try to run with the Cards or slow them down with a pressing zone matchup? And, if the zone is employed, will Dana, Kianna, Hailey, Norika and Ahlana find success beyond the arc ?
-- Louisville is forcing opponents into an average of 26 turnovers a game and averaging almost 10 blocked shots a night. Can they continue these eye-popping stats against ACC competition?
It should be a fun one to watch and I'll be back Thursday with a wrap up.
--sonja--
