Raleigh, N.C.- If you read The Diamondback or pay attention to any news outlet covering the Terp women’s basketball team, you already know about Louisville coach Jeff Walz’s connection to the Terps.
But what about the Cardinals’ actual players? After all, they are the ones playing the game tonight, a point both Marissa Coleman and Kristi Toliver made clear while getting bombarded with questions about Walz during yesterday’s media availability.
No. 35 Angel McCoughtry, 6-foot-1 F, 23.3 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 4.2 spg: McCoughtry, a Baltimore native, is one of the premier players in the country and the unquestioned leader of this Louisville team. Against Baylor on Saturday and through most of the season, the senior has used her unmatched physical skills to dominate teams in the paint and off the dribble.
Stopping McCoughtry is key. It will be intriguing who coach Brenda Frese decides to put on her. The safe bet would be Coleman. But forward Dee Liles could be the better option.
Coleman has to be able to save herself for the offensive end, and McCoughtry’s perimeter game is unpolished. She’s only a 31 percent 3-point shooter and was 0-6 from three on Saturday. That means Liles can afford to sag off a little bit and force other Cardinals to hit shots.
No. 13 Candyce Bingham, 6-foot-1 F, 12.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.6 apg: Bingham is a Louisville native and really the only other big Cardinal offensive threat outside of McCoughtry. She will give Terp center Lynetta Kizer or Liles fits down low with her offensive rebounding ability.
While she’s primarily a post player, the first team All-Big East selection can even shoot the ball a little bit. She hit both of her 3-pointers on Saturday and really emerged in the second half to help Louisville pull away.
No. 50 Deseree Byrd, 5-foot-9 G, 7.5 ppg, 2.6 reb, 4.8 apg: Byrd is a prototypical pass first point guard and will do most of the ball handling duties for Louisville tonight. For critical possessions or in end of half/end of game situations, McCoughtry will run point, but Byrd seems to have a good grasp on things.
She’ll be defending Marah Strickland at least at the start. She’s not a huge scorer, but has shown to be an efficient outside shooter at times.
No. 4 Gwen Rucker, 6-foot-1 C, 2.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg: Rucker is a freshman who has started in the Cardinals last 22 games. Her stats don’t show much, but her size and physicalness is important. The Terps haven’t faced a team as big or strong as Louisville since they beat Duke in the ACC Tournament Final on March 8.
With Rucker, the Cardinals have three rough 6-foot-1 players that the Terp frontcourt will have to deal with. In Saturday’s game against a much smaller Vanderbilt team they should have taken advantage of, Liles and Kizer struggled to get anything going offensively.
No. 15 Tiera Stephen, 5-foot-7 G, 1.0 ppg, 1.5 apg, 10.5 mpg: Stephen is the Cardinals defensive specialist. She’ll be matched up on Toliver to start things off and her sole focus will be to slow down the Terps all-everything point guard.
Can she do it? Judging by the way Vandy frustrated Toliver on Saturday with their half-court pressure and hustle, absolutely. But is Kristi Toliver going to have back-to-back less than stellar performances in her final NCAA Tournament? No chance.
So there you have it. McCoughtry is going to get her points and Bingham could excel as well. But if the Terps do what they are capable of doing, especially when it comes to rebounding, they should win this game. They have the talent and two seniors with a tremendous amount of desire.
Will others, such as Kizer, Liles and Strickland, improve on their so-so performances Saturday? That’s the key. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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