The Clemson Tigers women’s basketball team suffered their third straight defeat at the hands of the No. 3 Louisville Cardinals on Saturday afternoon by a score of 76-44. With the loss, the Tigers drop to 14-8 on the season.
After a five game winning streak which included a win over No. 24 Florida State, the Tigers were playing their best basketball of the season entering their toughest stretch. After a 65-59 victory over Pittsburgh, the Tigers had matchups against No. 7 N.C. State, No. 5 Notre Dame and No. 3 Louisville all within ten days. After a narrow defeat against N.C. State, the Tigers fell flat against the Irish and the Cardinals.
In Saturday’s defeat, the Tigers struggled shooting the ball as they connected on just 2-8 three-point attempts compared to 12-25 for Louisville. The Tigers also struggled from the free throw line, converting just 61 percent of their 23 attempts. Clemson’s leading scorer was forward Kobi Thornton who managed nine points on the afternoon. Louisville had four players reach double digits in points scored.
The losses, while they are missed opportunities, are not detrimental for a Tiger team with postseason aspirations.
“This was a great opportunity for us to get better, but we’ve got to move on to the next one…February’s huge for teams with postseason aspirations so we want to improve a little bit every single day,” said Clemson head coach Amanda Butler. The Tigers will have to learn from their losses and find a way to get that elusive resume-topping win that could propel them into the NCAA tournament. Another shot at Florida State and the ACC tournament are where the Tigers will look to secure that victory.
In the meantime, the Tigers have seven games remaining in the regular season against solid ACC opponents. They will take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on the road this Thursday, Feb. 7.