Can Clemson Conquer the Cardinals and Claim Victory?
The Clemson Tigers women’s basketball team has been struggling recently. With a 6-10 record in the Atlantic Conference, they are on a losing streak, recently losing 72-59 to Pittsburgh. Most of their errors from that loss against the Panthers came from only making 3.1 percent of their field goals. Pittsburgh players were able to run through Clemson every time through the paint, working the ball around the offense. They also were able to complete fast break plays on Clemson, feeding Brooklynn Miles the ball every time. Clemson guard Loyal McQueen led Clemson with 17 points and four assists. Hannah Kohn played a good game, 15 points in the game with all her points coming off threes.
There is a possibility Clemson could pull through from this tough loss with Pittsburgh, however, it's by a long shot matching up with Louisville. Clemson has a good lineup with their lead scorer McQueen, she puts up 13.4 a game and 5.0 assists. Before that loss, they were able to put up a fight against Georgia Tech taking the victory 68-61 and demolishing SMU by a score of of 72-46. Tessa Miller makes sure she gets every rebound for her team by assisting 6.3 rebounds. Mia Moore can be very aggressive with her opponent, having 1.6 steals as well as Anya Poole getting 1.3 blocks a game.
Regarding this matchup, Louisville will take the approach that this victory will win, it is a high chance based on the skills they bring to the court. Louisville has good point guard Tajianna Roberts, who puts up 13.2 points per game and 1.9 steals. Olivia Cochran, who’s their main rebounder, assists with 6.5 percent on the glass. Jaleah Williams does her part by giving her teammates as many assists as possible, working the ball around the court, having a good eye, and contributing about two a game. Within their players Roberts, Curry, and Cochran are the top three scorers that Clemson will have to watch out for because they are in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a record of 12-4 but overall 19-8 in the standings.
In their last five games, Clemson is 2-3, falling short against Pitt, UNC, and Duke while Louisville has gone 4-1 in their last five games, their one loss comes from UNC. The Tigers and Cardinals went up against one another last January, and Louisville blew Clemson out 81-64. There was a lot of rebounding, and knowing every shot they made continued to push them further so they could play Clemson at their own game. The Cardinals were able to beat them at their own pace, Dayshanette Harris was able to hold the Tigers up as much as possible on the board, contributing a game-high 25 points. Even though in a losing effort, she still didn't give up on trying to come back. The KFC Yum! Center will host the match between both teams on Thursday, February 27th, at 6:00 p.m. EST.
