[81alum]

Preview:

We get Louisville, just as the committee predicted.  Louisville is 26-3, having lost narrowly to North Carolina State twice and to Florida State once.  The ranked teams it has beaten include DePaul, Syracuse, and just now Oregon.  Frankly, that is not a terribly impressive resume for the elite 8. 

Louisville is led by 5'6" senior point guard Dana Evans, who scores 20ppg, has a 2:1 assist/turnover ratio, and leads the team in steals.  She hits about 34% of her treys.  She apparently was in an offensive slump until Oregon helped her get out of it--she finished with 29 points.  It is safe to say that Anna Wilson will have her hands full controlling her.

Their second leading scorer at 12ppg is a familiar player--Kiana Smith who transferred from Cal.  A 6'0" guard, she is hitting 38% of her treys.  She looks like an assignment for Lexie or Lacie.

Their third leading scorer is freshman Haily van Lith, a 5'7" guard who is hitting 39% of her treys. 

Olivia Cochrane is a 6'3" freshman forward who has started all year.  She hits 56% of her shots, all from inside, and leads the team in defensive rebounds.

They have started several different players in the fifth slot.  Today and lately they started 5'7" junior guard Mykasa Robinson.  She has taken almost no three point shots this year and is well down their scoring list.  I presume she is a defensive specialist.

What this means is that they have been starting 4 guards, with Kiana Smith at 6'0" the tallest, and a 6'3" forward.  This gives them great quickness and excellent perimeter defense, as Oregon found out.  Oregon was 4/14 from three point range.

Off the bench Louisville does have some height.  Elizabeth Dixon is a 6'5" forward who plays 19 mpg.  I would not be at all surprised to see a lot more of her and her two 6'4" forward teammates coming off the bench given that Louisville will otherwise be undersized.

I have a lot of respect for their coach as an X's and O's coach.  He knew exactly how to take us out of our game the last time we played them in the NCAAs, again relying on shorter and quicker players to disrupt us.  Tara I am sure has a good memory, though, and will be ready for them. 

I could be wrong (I often have been!) but I sense that they will be able to restrain our three point shooting the way they did Oregon's.  Their quickness and perimeter defense is good.  To win they may make us play quite differently than we have over the last six games, in which we relied on three point shooting to open up the defenses.  This makes the inside game very important, and I think they are not as strong there.  Brink simply MUST stay out of foul trouble and be prepared to make her inside shots.  She could be the key to this game.

Prechtel might also have an important role--they may not have anyone who can defend her on the perimeter without leaving the floor open for cutters receiving passes from her.

And we could possibly just continue shooting well from three despite their best efforts.

There are a lot of uncertainties.  I thought their win over Oregon did not look strong so much as Oregon looked weak and injured.  They did not look like a scary team.  But they have several elite guards and we might not be able to stay in front of all of them, and disrupting our three point shooting and our passing will be a priority for them.  Will they be able to do it?  We shall see.

[81alum]

Preview:

We get Louisville, just as the committee predicted.  Louisville is 26-3, having lost narrowly to North Carolina State twice and to Florida State once.  The ranked teams it has beaten include DePaul, Syracuse, and just now Oregon.  Frankly, that is not a terribly impressive resume for the elite 8. 

Louisville is led by 5'6" senior point guard Dana Evans, who scores 20ppg, has a 2:1 assist/turnover ratio, and leads the team in steals.  She hits about 34% of her treys.  She apparently was in an offensive slump until Oregon helped her get out of it--she finished with 29 points.  It is safe to say that Anna Wilson will have her hands full controlling her.

Their second leading scorer at 12ppg is a familiar player--Kiana Smith who transferred from Cal.  A 6'0" guard, she is hitting 38% of her treys.  She looks like an assignment for Lexie or Lacie.

Their third leading scorer is freshman Haily van Lith, a 5'7" guard who is hitting 39% of her treys. 

Olivia Cochrane is a 6'3" freshman forward who has started all year.  She hits 56% of her shots, all from inside, and leads the team in defensive rebounds.

They have started several different players in the fifth slot.  Today and lately they started 5'7" junior guard Mykasa Robinson.  She has taken almost no three point shots this year and is well down their scoring list.  I presume she is a defensive specialist.

What this means is that they have been starting 4 guards, with Kiana Smith at 6'0" the tallest, and a 6'3" forward.  This gives them great quickness and excellent perimeter defense, as Oregon found out.  Oregon was 4/14 from three point range.

Off the bench Louisville does have some height.  Elizabeth Dixon is a 6'5" forward who plays 19 mpg.  I would not be at all surprised to see a lot more of her and her two 6'4" forward teammates coming off the bench given that Louisville will otherwise be undersized.

I have a lot of respect for their coach as an X's and O's coach.  He knew exactly how to take us out of our game the last time we played them in the NCAAs, again relying on shorter and quicker players to disrupt us.  Tara I am sure has a good memory, though, and will be ready for them. 

I could be wrong (I often have been!) but I sense that they will be able to restrain our three point shooting the way they did Oregon's.  Their quickness and perimeter defense is good.  To win they may make us play quite differently than we have over the last six games, in which we relied on three point shooting to open up the defenses.  This makes the inside game very important, and I think they are not as strong there.  Brink simply MUST stay out of foul trouble and be prepared to make her inside shots.  She could be the key to this game.

Prechtel might also have an important role--they may not have anyone who can defend her on the perimeter without leaving the floor open for cutters receiving passes from her.

And we could possibly just continue shooting well from three despite their best efforts.

There are a lot of uncertainties.  I thought their win over Oregon did not look strong so much as Oregon looked weak and injured.  They did not look like a scary team.  But they have several elite guards and we might not be able to stay in front of all of them, and disrupting our three point shooting and our passing will be a priority for them.  Will they be able to do it?  We shall see.