Louisville women’s basketball: Takeaways from win over Miami

Based on the first half, one could have sworn that Louisville women’s basketball had overcome its struggles against Wake Forest.

The Cards had an 11 point lead at the end of the first quarter, and an 8 point lead at halftime. Louisville got up by as many as 16 points in the third quarter, but that’s as far as they could get away from the Hurricanes.

Miami whittled the lead to single digits in the fourth quarter and kept the game within striking distance till the end. Thankfully, Louisville women’s basketball is a great free-throw shooting team.

Even after only hitting three baskets in the fourth quarter, Louisville was able to put the game away when Miami had to foul at the end.

Here are three takeaways from a slim victory for Louisville women’s basketball.

HAILEY VAN LITH AND KIANNA SMITH’S OFFENSIVE STRUGGLES CONTINUE FOR THE SECOND STRAIGHT GAME

I know this was mentioned post-Wake Forest, but this is important to watch. Van Lith and Smith are the second and third-leading scorers on Louisville’s team, but they haven’t played like it in the last two games.

Though Tuesday was not as bad as at Wake Forest it still wasn’t near their potential. Van Lith had 9 points, but it came on 3-9 shooting from the field and 2-8 from three-point range. These are the numbers from a player shooting 45 percent from the field and 40 percent from deep on the season.

Smith put in 8 points, which is better than her 0 against Wake Forest. She went 2-8 from the field and 2-5 from three-point range. This is the second game in a row Smith hasn’t made a two-point field goal. She was right on her season average from three-point range, but severely below her 46 percent field goal percentage.

IF YOUR NAME IS ELIZABETH THEN YOU HAD A DAY

The Georgia Tech transfer duo had a day to remember. Elizabeth Dixon came off the bench to score a game-high 21 points on 6-7 shooting from the field. This is Liz’s season-high, and 1 point off of her career-high. Liz also led the Cards in rebounding with 9 boards.

Elizabeth Balogun was the Cards’ third-leading scorer with 14 points on 5-7 shooting from the field and 4-5 from three. Balogun was also Louisville’s second-leading rebounder with 5, and second in assists with 4.

The only downside was both Balogun and Dixon ended up with four fouls.

TURNOVERS AND FOULS HAVE HAUNTED LOUISVILLE

The sloppy play has continued for the second straight game for Louisville women’s basketball. The Cards turned the ball over 11 times against Wake and 13 times against Miami, which is right at their season average. The Cards forced 11 turnovers against Wake and 14 against Miami, which is below their per-game average.

Louisville committed 19 fouls at Wake and 22 fouls versus Miami. The Cards are averaging just under 18 fouls per game on the season, while their opponents are averaging 16.

Louisville must figure something out soon because the last two efforts are not indicative of a championship-level squad.

Louisville’s next game is Thursday the 28th at 8 PM against North Carolina (Finally!). You can catch Louisville on the ACC Network, or listen to them on 790 WKRD in Louisville.