By Derek DeBurger and Elizabeth Scanland
The Louisville Cardinals will take on the No.13 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in a big matchup at home.
Georgia Tech has gotten off to a surprising 14-1 start to the year, proving themselves to be a much tougher foe than the Cards may have thought preseason.
Three amigos
In the past, Georgia Tech has been a team defined by their hard-nosed defense, winning games the old-fashioned way. Not this year’s squad.
Tech has a high flying offense that averages 83.8 points per game, the third best mark in the ACC and 13th nationally.
This comes from the help of lead scorer Kara Dunn who averages 15.9 points per game. Dunn is 52.9% from the field and is a respectable three-point shooter at 35.5%.
Trailing right behind her is Dani Carnegie averaging 15.1 points a game and is the team’s best three-point shooter at 42.1%.
Carnegie left Tech’s most recent game early with an injury, with her likely being a game-time decision.
Tonie Morgan rounds out the top scorers for the Yellow Jackets with 13.1 points and she adds a team-leading 5.2 assists a game. While Morgan is a great initiator of the offense, she is almost no threat whatsoever from outside. She shoots 22.2% on a limited number of attempts.
There’s a considerable drop-off behind the top-three scorers for Tech, but the top options are just so versatile they’ve more than survived thus far into the season.
Louisville’s guards will have their hands full with this trio, and how effectively they defend them will likely decide the ball game. Ja’Leah Williams and Tajianna Roberts will no doubt lead the charge, but it has to be a group effort.
Mini but mighty
On the defensive side of the ball, the Yellow Jackets are just as dominant as they’ve always been despite the identity change.
They hold teams to just 59.9 points per game, lending toward their 21st ranked 23.8 average scoring margin.
Georgia Tech’s defense has sticky hands, grabbing 9.3 steals a game. The Jackets aren’t amazing at forcing non-steal turnovers, but they’re average overall at 17.3 turnovers forced per game.
Louisville has been winning games recently by simply forcing more turnovers than they give up, but that method will not work against a team as talented as Tech. If Louisville wants to win, they need to hold onto the ball.
One interesting thing about this Tech team is their height. Outside of their 6-foot-6 center Ariadna Termis, the Jackets are a very short team. Three of their starters are under six-foot, with much of their bench falling under the mark as well.
In spite of their size, they are a great rebounding team. Louisville tends to have their best rebounding performances against the most aggressive teams on the glass, and they will actually have a major height advantage at most positions. If the Cards’ bigs can box out Termis one-on-one, they will have a great chance at controlling the pace of the game via the glass.
A win over Georgia Tech will no doubt be a big win, earning Louisville their first ranked win of the season. The game seems like a must win given the hole the Cards put themselves in during the non-conference.
Tip-off is set for Sunday at 4 p.m.
Photo Courtesy // Landen Fuller, Louisville Athletics