Preview: Lourdes Academy vs. Northwestern Bulls
Lourdes Academy is 7-1 against Northwestern since November of 2014, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Wednesday. The two teams will face off at 5:00 p.m. on January 17th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Lourdes Academy comes in on 11 and Northwestern on four.
Winning is just a little bit easier when you work as a team to rack up 12 more assists than your opponent, a fact Lourdes Academy proved last Tuesday. They came out on top against North Miami by a score of 60-50. Given Lourdes Academy's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 78th, while North Miami is ranked 328th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Lourdes Academy's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Sophia Sandoval, who scored 30 points along with nine steals. Luciana Picasso was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on 17 points and ten rebounds.
Meanwhile, Northwestern scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Saturday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat North Miami 67-40 on the road. Northwestern has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven matchups by 24 points or more this season.
Northwestern's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Sophonie Felix, who scored 16 points along with six rebounds and two steals. Felix is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last seven games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Jahyra Charles, who scored 19 points.
Lourdes Academy's victory was their sixth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 13-1. As for Northwestern, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 9-5 record this season.
This contest is shaping up to be a blowout: Lourdes Academy hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having only averaged 58.2 points per game. It's a different story for Northwestern, though, as they've been averaging only 43.8 points per game. The only thing between Lourdes Academy and another offensive beatdown is Northwestern. Will they be able to keep them contained?
Everything went Lourdes Academy's way against Northwestern in their previous meeting back in November of 2023 as Lourdes Academy made off with a 48-28 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Lourdes Academy since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
