Louisville women's basketball lost their third game in the last five games, this time at home to Virginia Tech 86-70.
Liz Kitley posted a triple-double for the Hokies with 26 points, 13 rebounds, and about 25 fouls committed. Okay, so she officially had a double-double and finished with three fouls on the stat sheet, but the reigning ACC Player of the Year certainly was immune to whistles for much of the game. Georgia Amoore added 23 points on 9-11 shooting and 10 assists. The Aussie native took advantage of the international travel rules (you get an extra step in FIBA compared to most US rules), which the officials seemed to not realize we weren't playing FIBA rules.
Now, before you get on me for criticizing the officials, this game was not decided by the officials at all. Louisville was outplayed and had one of their worst games of the season. The Cards missed four layups in the first quarter and were up to seven late in the first half when I stopped counting. Louisville also went 4-16 (.250) from three-point range with half of the made threes coming in the second quarter.
One plus for Louisville is that they committed four turnovers in the game. That number is a season low for Jeff Walz's team. Virginia Tech didn't put too much pressure on full court or half court pressure and instead chose to go with allowing Louisville to miss shots and then dominate the defensive rebounding. The Hokies won the rebounding battle 35-24 with 28 of those coming on the defensive end.
Kiki Jefferson led the Cards with 19 points on 7-12 shooting. Jayda Curry scored 13 points and Nyla Harris and Nina Rickards each added 10 points. Olivia Cochran had a team-high six rebounds with Harris adding five boards.
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| Louisville's player intros have become creative over the years |
Defensively, this year's team has not lived up to the standards of Louisville basketball yet. The biggest concern on defense with yesterday's game came on switches. Kenny Brooks was able to expose the Cards by running picks with Kitley and Amoore, often resulting in mismatches for both players. This allowed the duo to find easy baskets or force help from extra defenders, leaving the rest of the Virginia Tech team with open looks.
FRED Report
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| Fred Warner of the Super Bowl Runner-Up San Francisco 49ers |
Free Throws- The Cards were at 8-12 late in the game but a pair of made free throws pushed that to 10-14 (71.4%) and get just within the threshold for a "F".
Effort/Efficiency- Well, the Cards had one of their worst shooting days this season and mustered up just seven assists on 28 made shots. They managed four second chance points and four fast break points, both of those marks well below what we've come to expect. I do believe the effort was there as the Cards continued to try to find scoring opportunities and attack the paint. Unfortunately, the shots weren't falling. And you have to give positive points to only four turnovers. I'm willing to give a lowercase "e" for effort only.
Rebounding- UofL was outrebounded by 11. They held VT to just seven offensive boards- probably because the Hokies shot 65%. Louisville pulled in 13 offensive rebounds but converted that into only four second chance points, so not too effective. Rebounding was one of the reasons Louisville dug themselves into a hole. No letter here.
Defense- Giving up 86 points is plenty of reason to not award a letter. The Cards were not effective at all trying to shut down Virginia Tech's top two players, something we talked about as a concern on the show Saturday. Case pointed out to me the VT went 24-29 (82.7%) on two-point shots. If I could give a negative letter I would.
F-r-_-_. Eek. That's not something we want to see late in the season.
Virginia Tech head coach Kenny Brooks spent some time praising the teams in the ACC during yesterday's press conference. He discussed how the ACC is the best and most competitive women's basketball in the country this year. Eight ACC teams made the NCAA Tournament last year. The latest Bracketology has nine ACC teams projected to be in this year's tournament.
With yesterday's loss, Louisville's chances of being a top-16 seed and hosting opening weekend grew slim. If the Cards win out, then there's a possibility of hosting still. Louisville also dropped to fourth in the ACC at 10-4. Four teams have five losses in the conference. Win out and the Cards get the double bye and don't play until Friday in the ACC Tournament. Any more losses and they might find themselves playing on Thursday.
Louisville will play at Georgia Tech on Thursday at 6:00 pm. They then return home to host Virginia on Sunday.
Lax Falls on the Road at Lindenwood
A slow start doomed Louisville lacrosse as they fell on the road to Lindenwood 12-9. The Lions scored the first goals of the game and led 5-1 at the end of the first quarter. The Cards cut it to 6-5 late in the first half and 10-8 midway through the fourth quarter but couldn't complete the rally.
Kokoro Nakazawa posted a hat trick with three goals. Kylea Dobson and Negai Nakazawa each scored two goals and Tiffany Natoli and Nicole Perroni both scored a goal. Perroni's scoring streak extended to 40 straight games, adding to her existing program record.
Louisville (1-3) returns home to host Virginia Tech on Saturday at 6:00pm. The match will be televised on ACC Network and will be played at L&N Stadium (football).
Happy Monday and Go Cards!
Jared
Cards play hard shots wasn't falling they were going against a superior team this team (Virginia tech) made the final four last year,hardly lost pieces maybe one or two but replace them with good players. So all in all I knew this would be a tough game for the Cardinals.
ReplyDeleteThe Cards lost they played hard couldn't hit shots you have to match shot for shot. I don't think this team could do that they don't play that brand of ball this is not a three-point shooting team so with that said cards fought hard but just lost a much better ball club.
PS The Syracuse loss really hurt.
Sydney Taylor has not been consistent from three point line this whole year.
It's the defense. Understood, Kitley and Amoore are a dynamic duo, but the ease at which they scored on us was just...no words except PITIFUL defense. Whether it's not following the game plan or taking no pride in personal defense, defense is NOT what I'm used to seeing from a Louisville team.
ReplyDeleteI think part of this problem stems from having so many one and two year players coming in, not understanding or taking seriously the culture established here, along with having so many one year players transferring out, not having that consistency of 4 year players.
Not giving up on this team, but, there will be no elite eight this year if they don't buy into defense getting them there.
Yes I agree one year player & two year player also.
DeleteI wanted to express how disappointing it is to have the fans in place, excited to open up the upper tier and be ready for a game! Louisville knows how to throw a party….
ReplyDeleteI have been a season ticket holder since Angel McCoughtry was an incoming freshman! I love that Jeff reloads this team but what happened to recruiting?? What happened to be a solid team and make your way to March Madness with strength, defense and unending energy. What I witness yesterday was deflating to our core. I listened to Jeff’s comments and Kiki/Olivia and noticed their laughter and jokes instead of embarrassment of a game. It doesn’t seem to matter that we lost our first game at home. We had everything in place but our Team! I love this team and wondering what happened Click to Chemistry…Jeff keeps substituting quickly and no one has continuity. I believe in this team, I believe in Jeff, but I don’t believe in what is happening with the levity and not understanding the gravity of the situation. This is the ACC… we were relevant until this year, as Jeff crafts a new team and there’s no Mikasa walking in the door.
COVID and transfer portal is what happened to recruiting.
DeleteAgain I say, Walz built this program recruiting players who were willing to stay, learn from players ahead of them, and develop their games until their time.
Perfect example is Kylee Shook. Didn't start until her senior year but left as the ACC defensive player of the year.
Arica Carter was Jude's backup who couldn't shoot three's, became one of our best 3 point shooters by her senior year.
And for the record, one reason I consider Walz to be one of the best is he has done MORE with less than ANY other coach in the nation.
Yes he has.
DeleteI concur that Jeff is a round ball savant but the team has to buy in and play with urgency. We keep getting burnt on back door cuts and three pointers…this is on the team he has on the floor. Jeff has always built teams on defense…I don’t see this team competing for floor time. When we play as a unit we succeed. I wish they all had the spirit of Nyla! She plays hard all the time we just need everyone to play this hard. I’m grateful for Jeff and what he does but let’s get it going in the right direction….
ReplyDelete