CARDS SWEEP 2017
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| Paulie and Sonya at TaxSlayer Bowl |
The road trip to start ACC play, one that caused a bit of consternation and white-knuckle time to close 2017 nevertheless was a success in terms of wins. Two tough trips, maybe too soon after the Christmas break, but two wins against two opponents that we'll probably see at the end of the year in the field of 64 for the NCAA Tournament. ACC wins are gold, no matter the margin or opponent and Louisville has accomplished that.
We were fortunate to see both. The slow start against the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta that showed us why Asia Durr IS the best player in women's college basketball and the "what-appeared-to-be-a laugher-early" but ended up being a gut-check and fortunate win in Raleigh. Two schools not ranked in the top 25 but getting votes in the USA TODAY/COACHES poll and with a combined record of 23-4. Each unique in their method of getting a "W" and games that were still in doubt with 120 seconds remaining on the clock.
This is the conference we are a part of.
-- A conference that has gone 150-44 against non-conference foes.
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| Held hostage by Mr. and Ms. Wuf !! |
-- Two espnW National Player of the Week honorees so far...Asia Durr (Nov. 20th) and Shkayla Thomas (FSU - Dec 4th.)
-- Four teams in the Top 25 with #2 Notre Dame, #3 Louisville, #11 Florida State and #17 Duke.
So, how are the Cards measuring up in the ACC Conference categories? The ACC tracks and reports on 19 team and 13 individual statistics. We'll close today's Cardinal Couple with Worldwide's favorite thing to follow and monitor...numbers on how Louisville is doing in ten of these 32. The numbers are through Dec 29th.
SCORING OFFENSE. Louisville is third with a 82.4 average through 15 games. On top is Florida State with 87.1.
SCORING DEFENSE. The Cards are fifth allowing 56.5 a contest. Leading the league is Clemson who has held opponents to 51.2 in 13 games.
SCORING MARGIN. UofL leads the league with a +25.9 margin of victory.
FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE. Louisville atop the ACC with a .496 mark. They've attempted 936 shots and made 464.
FREE THROW PERCENTAGE. Holy cow! The Cards are on top here with a .786 success rate. They've tried 271 and made 213.
INDIVIDUAL SCORING. UofL has two in the top 30. Durr is #3 with 20.3 a game and Myisha Hines-Allen sits at #19 with 13.5 per outing. Lexie Brown (Duke) leads the way with 21.2 per contest. We'll see her in the KFC YUM! Center Thursday night.
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| OMG! Walz's Christmas list has an ENTIRE undefeated season! I just brought the 2017 part. |
3 - POINT FG MADE. Have we mentioned Asia Durr in the stats columns yet? She leads the ACC with 45 threes...an average of 3.2 per game.
ASSIST/TURNOVER RATIO. Louisville has two in the top five. Checking in at #3 is Arica Carter with 53 assists and just 22 turnovers for a 2.4 ratio. At #5 is Dana Evans with 67 assists and 32 turnovers for a 2.1 ratio.
ATTENDANCE. The Cards lead the way! In 15 games, an average of 5206 have attended. At home, an average of 6126 in nine games, which is second to Notre Dame's 6333 for five games.
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The first reader who can correctly guess who in conference is #3 in total attendance average will be entered in our Panera Card drawing !!!!
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Everyone have a great second day of 2018! Stay warm and don't stay outside too long...it's cold out there (in the Louisville area) baby! 1 degree as I write this Tuesday morning. Hot coffee, please...
Paulie
xxxxx
N Carolina State?
ReplyDeleteDuke Blue Devils
ReplyDeleteJoseph is correct. Congratulations, it is the Blue Devils. You're in the drawing.
ReplyDeletePaulie
So, Paulie. How do you think the Cards will do hosting Duke on Thursday?
ReplyDeleteCurtis "16-0" Franklin
I'd like the readers to chime in as well, but I see a tight contest against the Dookies. I am surprised that Villanova beat them early, not too surprised South Carolina handled them convincingly and thought their contest against Miami would be close but that Duke would prevail. They basically go through Lexie Brown who does it all for them. You don't want to leave her unguarded anywhere on the court and avoid fouling her. She shoots 88% from the charity stripe. She also leads the league in steals so expect her to feast on our guards. Leaonna Odom and Erin Mathies shoot the ball well from them also and Haley Gorecki is a deep range threat. Rebecca Greenwell is still there as well (hasn't she been there since the Reagan administration?) but has been slowed by more knee issues.
DeleteI see the Cards winning in almost predictable fashion. Getting up early, watching the lead dwindle and then having to hang on at the end. We need a LARGE crowd Thursday to cheer them on. Asia will probably be Asia again adnif we can get a double/double out of DOOO BLAY Hines-Allen, I'll say we squeeze by them, maybe by four points.
Paulie
I'm sure Myisha will be Myisha and have Monzilla of a night! It's great to see MHA have a great senior year, She has been here for four FULL years and never gave up on her team and IMHO is one of the main reasons they are where they are now. Hard work and dedication to the program...#JERSEYGIRLSDONTQUIT! Can't wait for Thursday..
ReplyDeleteMyisha and Asia will lead the way But don't sleep on Sam. She is going to be key on the defensive end against Duke.
ReplyDeleteYou got that right Sam is killing it this year she is looking good! Say what? Another Jersey girl! Lol love the hard work and she has got to be the most improved player this year!
DeleteWow! Clemson is #1 in scoring defense in the conference? I am pleased and surprised. Something to brag about for a little while at least after our thud in the football playoff last night. Just got back from it. Quite disappointing, really.
ReplyDeleteWe did get thumped by Georgia Tech 66-33 New Year's Eve in women's basketball. I'm glad I didn't see it. Thanks for getting them mad and hungry for a win, Cards.
Your friend
#1 Clemson fan
Arthur
Greer, SC
Thornton and Edwards make you dangerous Arthur in women's hoops and tough about the loss to Bama. I definitely didn't want to see an All-SEC National Championship game. I've been saying GT is a force to be reckoned with. I'm glad we got them early when they were still figuring a few things out and would hate to have to face them in the ACC Tournament.
DeletePaulie
Good article Paulie. It was great seeing you and Sonya in Jacksonville! Thanks for the lending of the jacket and "liquid preparation" pre-game. Wish I could be in the arena Thursday night to see the Cards make history against Duke. We'll be watching on-line and congratulations on the new studio location for the radio show.
ReplyDeleteDave-O
David Watson
Cardinals by 12 over Duke in a game that is not that close.
ReplyDelete