Cardinals face Ohio State dribble drive offense
Louisville women’s basketball has its first road game of the season Dec. 5 against Ohio State as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Cardinals went 3-0 last week in the Paradise Jam, defeating top-ranked Oregon, UT Arlington and Oklahoma State.
The second-ranked Cardinals face an Ohio State team that is no stranger to highly ranked opponents. The Buckeyes (4-3) lost to fourth-ranked UConn 73-62 in November.
Louisville coach Jeff Walz said dribble drive offenses like Ohio State’s has bothered the Cardinals in the past.
“They are going to attack you off the bounce,” Walz said. “They are going to come at your full speed. We have to do a good job of trying to keep them in front of us. Cut down on our fouls. They’re a ball club that runs this type of offense that we have had some problems with. A few teams we have played have done this and we have fouled. We have to be able to guard without getting into foul trouble.”
Buckeye sophomore Dorka Juhasz leads the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 10.2 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Freshman Kierstan Bell is Ohio State’s only other player to average in double figures, scoring 10.0 points per game.
Ohio State is holding opponents to 34.6 percent shooting from the field and blocks five shots per game, which ranks 26 nationally.
“They have good size, it’s going to be a good test for us,” Walz said. “They are a team that concerns me, and it’s one that I make sure our players know we have to go up with the same mindset that we had against Oregon. It’s easy to get excited for a team ranked number one in the country.”
Louisville has won 102 straight games against opponents not ranked in the Associated Press (AP) Top 25.
