How No. 4 Ohio State will test Louisville women's basketball's efforts to improve defense
As No. 18 Louisville women’s basketball coach Jeff Walz looks up and down his roster, the talent amongst the squad is undeniable.
The Cardinals have three players averaging double-digit scoring performances in Hailey Van Lith (21.2), Chrislyn Carr (10.4) and Morgan Jones (10.0) with Olivia Cochran not too far behind at 8.3 points per outing. The team is forcing opponents to turn the ball over 21.3 times per game, which ranks 37th in the nation, and is also in the top 50 in the country in field goal percentage (45.3%).
Still, there have been hiccups, like the fact the Cardinals’ 37.1 rebounds per game ranks 183rd among NCAA Division I teams, and they're 310th in 3-point percentage defense (35.1%).
With just seven games played so far, the key to improvement?
Time.
“I can see the progress,” Walz said. “We're getting better. It's just a matter of being able to do what we're doing in practice and putting it into a game. So, we'll see how that transpires.”
U of L (5-2) will look to take more positive strides when it hosts No. 4 Ohio State (6-0) in the Big 10/ACC Challenge at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the KFC Yum! Center. This will be the last year of the challenge with the ACC pairing with the SEC moving forward.
"We just want to make sure that it's not going to ever be in place of our Kentucky game," Walz said of the rivalry contest. "That's a game that needs to be played each year at their place and the following year at ours and go back and forth. It's what we've done. They're well aware of that, so I don't see that ever changing so we'll just play another SEC school."
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The Buckeyes are currently unbeaten with their last win coming over North Alabama 105-67 on Sunday at home. They have the third-best scoring offense in the country with 94.0 points per outing and are +16.8 in the turnover margin. Rebeka Mikulasikova leads the team's scoring with 17.7 points followed by Taylor Mikesell (16.3), Jacy Sheldon (14.5), Taylor Thierry (11.7) and Madison Greene (10.8).
“They're a very good basketball team,” Walz said of OSU. “(They have) five players, close to six, in double figures. They shoot it, they shoot the 3 well. They rebound the ball. It's going to be a good challenge for us, and I'm looking forward to seeing what progress we've made here in the past week.”
The Cardinals’ 16th-year head coach said the focus since the team’s 100-37 win over Longwood on Friday has been rebounding and cleaning up their press offense. Given the way Ohio State has been able to force turnovers, taking care of the ball and not allowing turnovers to turn into points have been the focus.
“And if you're going to turn the ball over, as I've talked to our kids, you've got to have dead ball turnovers. You can't allow it to lead to a two-on-one, three-on-one fastbreak. We've got to hold it, get a five-second call if you're trapped or throw it up into the bleachers, but don't give it to them. Don't give them the numbers going back at the offensive end.”
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Louisville’s need for ball handlers to prevent those turnovers will likely mean the team will go smaller in their lineup against the Buckeyes, which could mean guard Mykasa Robinson plays at the four position. Cochran and centers Liz Dixon and Josie Williams may not all see the floor at the same time, but they’re all making progress to be viable options when their number is called. As of late, Cochran and Williams have started together with Dixon, who started the first four games, coming off the bench.
Walz has seen progress in each of them, noting Dixon’s needs to calm her “happy feet” and eliminate traveling turnovers. For Williams, it’s a matter of her mind and thus, the game, slowing down.
“Our posts are also, we're telling them to stop wrestling,” Walz said. “We're trying to post up every second of the shot clock which you don't want to get away from the defense when the ball gets reversed. Step and seal. You don't always want to be down there in a scrum, trying to put your body on somebody to get positioned. It's OK give them time, to get space, because all of them have a very nice 8-to-10 foot jump shot.”
Walz is confident the team will keep making progress.
“It just might not be in a week,” he added. “It might be in three weeks. It might be in a month and a half. But, I do believe that this team can be special.”
Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter at @Alexis_Cubit.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville, Ohio State gear up for women's basketball challenge
