By Derek DeBurger
No. 15 Louisville women’s basketball will face arguably the worst team in the ACC this season—the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
Wake’s offense is almost a non-factor. Averaging 59.2 points per game off of 38.2% from the field and 28.4% from three, hitting shots is almost an exception to the rule that is the Deacon’s offense. Because the scoring numbers are so low, it shouldn’t shock you that individually the numbers aren’t inspiring either. Wake only has two players that average double-digit points—Elise Williams and Kaia Harrison—and they barely crack 10 a game. The one saving grace this offense has is that they share the ball very well. Out of their 340 made shots this year, 196 (57.6%) are off of assists.
The only two stats that Wake could hang its hat on are steals and free throw shooting. The Deacons get 8.3 steals a game and shoot 71.7% from the charity stripe— good but not great numbers. Wake also averages 15.2 turnovers a game and 14.8 free throw attempts a game, good enough for 125th and 247th in the country respectively.
The defense for the Deacons isn’t much better. Wake gives up 66.5 points per game, only 0.2 points better than Pitt—the team Louisville just beat by 30. Wake is also really bad at defending without fouling, averaging 17.2 team fouls per game which is the 203rd worst in the country. Time and again, Olivia Cochran and Nyla Harris have shown that they are nearly impossible to guard consistently without fouling, so the bigs for Wake could be in for a long night.
Barring a colossal failure to perform when the lights are the dimmest, I cannot realistically see the Cards losing this one. I expect a resounding win to keep the undefeated streak in the ACC going.
