PREVIEW: ACC #1 WBB vs #4 Florida State – ACC Semifinals

Tom FarmerMarch 6, 2020

Last time out, the shots didn’t fall. Last time out, no Elizabeth Balogun. And last time out, the Florida State Seminoles bested the Louisville Cardinals 67-59 at the KFC Yum! Center.

Now the awaited rematch arrives, albeit in neutral territory. FSU advanced to the ACC women’s basketball tournament semifinals with a 76-47 win over Wake Forest in the first quarterfinal game on Friday. The Louisville Cardinals advanced to meet them with a dominant 71-46 win over Syracuse.

READ: Louisville Post-Game Comments – ACC Quarterfinals

Game Info:

DATE: Sat 7 Mar 2020
TIME: 12:00 p.m. EST
SITE: Greensboro Coliseum (Greensboro, NC)
WATCH: ESPNU
LISTEN: 790 AM WKRD

Against Syracuse, and indeed over the past seven games, the Louisville Cardinals have looked nothing like the team that fell to FSU in the second of a two game skid. Defensive prowess was on display as the Orange were held to 46 points on 27% shooting. Meanwhile the Cards rained it down from three point range.

That could easily be a taste of things to come for both teams. Against Wake Forest the Seminoles were firing from deep at will, finishing 10 for 17 from three point range with four scorers in double figures. Forward Kiah Gillespie and guard Nicki Ekhomu were two of those double figure scorers just as they were against Louisville in February.

Another factor in the earlier loss was the Seminoles victory on the glass. Gillespie dominated in the post with 13 rebounds out of the ‘Noles total of 44. Even as the Cards were struggling from the field they lost the opportunities for second chance points as FSU scooped up every loose ball.

In many ways the FSU quarterfinal win over Wake Forest was similar to the ‘Noles win over Louisville in February. Dominated the Demon Deacons on the glass, hit from three point range, and forced Ivana Raca into isolation. If they can once again use their size and strength inside to pull in the Cardinals defense then the inside out game could find them raining it from three once again.

The shots aren’t always going to fall for Louisville like they did today, but of course the same can be said of Florida State. Still, the defensive performances over the past seven games by the Cardinals seem to indicate they’re ready for the challenge. Louisville will need another good game from Bionca Dunham on the inside, and she’ll need to be joined by Kylee Shook and Liz Dixon. As for Dixon, she put in an impressive performance against Syracuse that had Jeff Walz and the fans singing her praises.

Walz said he was proud of his team’s performance in meeting the ball, meaning having a defender in the ball possessors face before or at the same time a pass arrived. That kind of lock down defense will go a long way towards shutting down FSU’s ball movement. As for the offensive side, the Cards will win by beating the Seminoles at their own game. Work it inside, kick it out, keep the defense off balance.

The rest, as they say, is elementary.

Game Info:

DATE: Sat 7 Mar 2020
TIME: 12:00 p.m. EST
SITE: Greensboro Coliseum (Greensboro, NC)
WATCH: ESPNU
LISTEN: 790 AM WKRD

PROBABLE STARTERS:

#1 Louisville (28-3 | 16-2)
G #1 Evans
G #4 Balogun
G #23 Jones
F #33 Dunham
F #21 Shook

#4 Florida State (23-7 | 11-7)
G #13 Woolfolk
G #12 Ekhomu
G #24 Jones
F #32 Myers
F #15 Gillespie