WBB vs. Duke Preview -- Scott Teeter Interview -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

#2 CARDS FACE 3-0 BLUE DEVILS

We have the start of ACC play tonight for the University of Louisville women's basketball squad and they begin the 2020-21 conference slate with a trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium for a 7 p.m. ET tilt against the 3-0 Duke Blue Devils. 

There's a new sheriff in town for the Durham, NC squad and she needs no introduction to women's college basketball fans. Kara Lawson has guided the Blue Devils to an impressive 3-0 start this season with wins over Longwood 94-64, Western Carolina 83-56 and East Carolina 72-47. Duke has played all three opponents at home but the fans haven't been there for the contests. That'll remain in force this evening, but, the game can be viewed on the RSN Network. Locally in the Louisville area that translated out to Fox Sport South. Nick Curran and  Adrieenne Johnson will have the radio call on Cards Radio 790 WKRD AM. 

Duke has had three different leading scorers in the three contests, so that's as good as anywhere to start previewing tonight's contest. 

Miela Goodchild went for 24 points in 26 minutes in Duke's win over ECU. She's a 5'10" junior guard from Queensland, Australia. The ECU performance was no flash in the pan, Goodchild has average 15 points a game in the other two Duke wins this season. She's also a legitimate three-point threat, having sunk 12 of her 25 attempts from beyound the arc. 

Sara Anastasieska led the Blue Devils over WCU with 23 points in 28 minutes. She's a grad transfer, originally from Sydney, Australia and previously played at California. She comes off the bench for Kara Lawson, averaged 14.5 for the Blue Devils in the first two games and seems to be the other major three-point threat with a 6 of 17 (35%) success rate. 

Jaida Patrick totaled 21 points in 31 minutes for the Blue Devils in the opener against Longwood. The 5'10" guard/forward is a sophomore and is out of West Haverstraw, NY. 

All told, nine Blue Devils have hit the floor from Lawson this season and other threats include 6'5" forward Jada Williams, 6'3" forward Jada Williams and freshman guard Vanessa de Jesus. 

Duke ranks second nationally with a +24 rebounding margin, so we'll see how the Cards "rebound by committee" fares against that. They average 83 points a game and allow just 55, so, will the run-and-gun, full throttle Cards be a serious threat to put up the most points of the Blue Devils? 

It should be an exciting one to watch tonight. Louisville has sputtered a bit out of the gate this season in their opening quarters but has put devastating second and third quarter efforts up against their four opponents. We'll look to see how the pre-season player of the year Dana Evans fares against a squad that gave the Cards all they wanted last year in thee KFC YUM! Center. The Cards fell behind early, struggled to a 55-55 tie with a minutes to go and got a huge three from Evans, plus two clutch Bionca Dunham free throws to eke out a 60-55 win. In all fairness, that Duke squad had Haley Gorecki, Leaonna Odom and Kyra Lambert -- and those three won't be walking through the doors at Cameron tonight. 

We'll see if the Duke defense is ready for the triple-talented guard attack of Evans, Hailey Van Lith and Kianna Smith and the talented interior crew of Olivia Cochran, Liz Dixon and Ramani Parker. The length of Elizabeth Balogun could come into play tonight and, as we've seen, Louisville can htt you in waves with fresh bodies and a unrelenting attack offensively 

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SCOTT TEETER INTERVIEW

I had the chance to catch up (via phone) with the head Louisville women's lacrosse coach yesterday and got filled in on many aspects of how the fall went and what's ahead for his LAXers. 

A great 17 minute discussion with Coach Teeter that covered a wide range and variety of topics. You can hear the interview at the link below: 

LINK:  SCOTT TEETER INTERVIEW

Have a wonderful Wednesday!  

paulie