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March S[imulation]adness: Can the Eagles continue to soar against Louisville?

By Matt Ward

COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 30: Head coach Jeff Walz of the Louisville Cardinals instructs his team against the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs during the second half in the semifinals of the 2018 NCAA Women's Final Four at Nationwide Arena on March 30, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 30: Head coach Jeff Walz of the Louisville Cardinals instructs his team against the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs during the second half in the semifinals of the 2018 NCAA Women's Final Four at Nationwide Arena on March 30, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Louisville hosts Florida Gulf Coast with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line

[Please enjoy our March S[imulation]adness content. For more about this project, check out our explainer post.]

Following a dominant opening round performance by the Cardinals, an 81-55 win over No. 15 seed Radford, head coach Jeff Walz will need to prepare his team for a high-flying Florida Gulf Coast team, who upended Creighton 71-60 in the first round.

The game will be played in Louisville, which certainly favors the Cardinals, as will their experience in playing a number of big games throughout the year. The Cardinals (28-4) are led by junior Dana Evans, who is scoring 18.0 PPG, while seniors Jazmine Jones (14.1) and Kylee Shook (10.1) are also averaging double figures. Jones and Shook also bring a plethora of NCAA Tournament experience that could prove vital in this one.

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For FGCU head coach Karl Smesko, who are coming off of a dominating first round performance, the keys are simple: rebounding and pace.

“We need to keep them off of the offensive boards as much as possible. We are going to push the ball and look to get a lot of threes in transition,” Smesko told High Post Hoops. Rebounding will be vital is the Eagles want to pull the upset. Louisville is in the top-25 in the country in rebounding margin at +5.8, while the Eagles are 249th at -2.4.

The Eagles will need to keep pace on the glass and would love a repeat performance from senior Davion Wingate, who scored 35 points in the opener, while going 8-10 from behind the arc. “Davion is an explosive scorer.  She has topped the 30-point mark multiple times this year including 38 in the ASUN quarterfinal,” Smesko said.

For the Eagles to have a chance, the threes might just have to fly.

Both Louisville and FGCU are ranked in the top-50 in scoring offense and scoring defense. Louisville has a significant strength and rebounding edge, while FGCU’s ability to shoot the 3-point shot could prove to be the ultimate equalizer.

Prediction: Louisville- 68 FGCU- 65

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