By Elizabeth Scanland
The Louisville Cardinals are back on the road to take on the No. 23 Florida State Seminoles.
This will be a game between the current and fourth and fifth ranked teams in the ACC. With this being the only matchup of the two during the regular season, the winner will have the inside track for a double-bye in the conference tournament.
Oh my, that’s a lot of points
Florida State has the best offense in the nation averaging 92.1 points a game.
This comes from the help of one of the best guards in basketball, Ta’Niya Latson. Latson leads the team, and the nation, in scoring with 26 points a game. She shoots 47.7% from the field and 41% from three-point range making her dangerous from all areas of the court.
Latson only has one game this season in which she didn’t score double-digits.
She is an extremely versatile, athletic and confident player who is hard to stop when she gets hot, and will pose a real challenge for the Cards. Latson also leads her team in assists with 4.7 a game and grabs 4.6 rebounds.
Despite Latson being FSU’s first, second and third options, she is far from their only weapon.
Makayla Timpson is second in scoring with 17.2 a game and adds 10.7 boards, the 13th most in the country. In fact, her ability to shoot and rebound well lands her at 8th in double doubles in a season earning 13 straight, a streak that was only broken just a few weeks ago.
O’Mariah Gordon and Sydney Bowles round out the double-digit scorers with 16 and 10.3 points, respectively. After the top four, there is a major drop-off in production. FSU runs a relatively short bench and prioritizes their stars.
Louisville has had trouble holding opponents to modest shooting percentages this season, and there’s no real indication that will change Thursday against the most potent offense in the country.
The Cards have had two consecutive games where their perimeter defense has taken a major step forward, and if that trend continues Louisville will have a real chance to slow down the Noles offense.
Still a lot of points
Despite a floursing offense, FSU doesn’t focus as heavily on defense allowing 71 points a game, the second worst in the ACC.
This is in part due to FSU’s high tempo, as they want to get out and run with opponents and have as many possessions in each game. They allow a below average 41.6% from the field and an average 30.9% from three.
They also rack up steals and blocks, ranking top-45 in both categories (10.4 and 5.8, respectively).
Gordon, Latson and Timpson each grab two-plus steals a game, and Timpson is second in the country with 3.3 blocks a game.
Louisville’s offense thrives when going up and down the court, but it might be difficult to try and beat Florida State at their own game. Expect Louisville to try to keep up with the Seminoles’ pace, but slow the game down in spots when they need to cool off FSU’s scorers.
While this is going to be a challenge for the Cards, it is not impossible. The numbers may be a bit over inflated by the speed at which Florida State plays.
The road trip will make tougher what is already a tough opponent, but the Cards have what it takes if they limit mistakes.
Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. Thursday.
Photo Courtesy // Eli Dych, Louisville Athletics
