By Jo Simpson
The Louisville Cardinals will look to extend their winning streak to six games as they hit the road to play the Pittsburgh Panthers.
Saving Faye-ce
Pittsburgh’s offense flows almost entirely through their senior forward Khadija Faye.
Faye leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 17.4 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. Faye’s efficiency inside—shooting nearly 49% from the field—makes her a tough matchup, but turnovers have been her Achilles’ heel.
She commits 3.9 turnovers a game, primarily because of how ball-dominant she is and her inability to work outside of the paint. For an aggressive Louisville team who averages 21.3 turnovers forced per game, they’ll have a great chance at slowing down Faye’s impact.
In fact, Pitt’s entire team has a problem with holding onto the ball. The Panthers give the ball up 18 times a game, which is more than Louisville who has had turnover struggles themselves.
Ja’Leah Williams and Tajianna Roberts will likely have a field day attacking ball handlers on the perimeter and clogging passing lanes, and their defensive production may be necessary if the Cards can keep the ball to themselves.
The Panthers don’t help themselves out either when it comes to softening the blow of their turnovers, as they only record 12.7 assists a game. Brooklynn Miles is the best facilitator for Pitt at 3.3 assists a game, but she offers next to no other offensive production.
While Faye has been a reliable option in the post, the Panthers have struggled to find consistent help. Mikayla Johnson, the team’s second-leading scorer, averages 9.3 points per game but shoots just 27.4% from the field and a rough 19.7% from three. Outside of Faye and Johnson, not a single player scores seven or more points a game.
It is very, very clear who Jeff Walz will look to take out of the game Thursday night, so look to see if the defense can limit the impact of Faye.
Slightly better…
Pitt’s defensive struggles have been well-documented: The Panthers allow opponents to shoot over 40% from the field and have trouble containing interior scorers.
While Faye does lead the team with 2.4 blocks per game, she can only shoulder so much of the load especially when she is the engine, ignition and key of the Pitt offense.
Tragic as it is for the Panthers, this plays right into the hands of Louisville’s front-court duo of Olivia Cochran and Nyla Harris. The Louisville offense will probably look to attack the paint early and often not only to dictate the terms of the game but to pressure Faye in an attempt to get her into foul trouble.
The one area of the Panthers’ defense that could cause Louisville some fits is how aggressive they are will steals. Pitt grabs 8.8 steals a game as a part of the 18.1 turnovers they force each game. Turnovers have been the deciding factor for the past couple of seasons for the Cards, so holding onto the ball will be a must.
As of late, the Cards haven’t been limiting turnovers in the slightest. It’s not ideal, but their best chance at a win might just be to force more turnovers than they give up.
Louisville comes in with more firepower and a defense that thrives on forcing mistakes. If the Cards play to their strengths, they should secure a comfortable win and improve to 11-5 on the season and 4-1 in the ACC. But Pitt, hungry for its first conference victory, won’t go down without a fight.
Tip-off is set for Saturday at 5 p.m.
Photo Courtesy // Taris Smith, Louisville Athletics