No. 7 Louisville Hosts Syracuse to Open ACC Play

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – No. 7 Louisville women's basketball (11-1) opens Atlantic Coast Conference play when it hosts Syracuse (6-5) on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET. The game will broadcast live on ESPN2.

UofL has won its last six conference openers, including going 5-0 in ACC openers. Last season, they won 73-66 against North Carolina at the KFC Yum! Center on Jan. 3, 2019. Their last loss in a conference opener was an 86-80 defeat at DePaul in 2012-13. Overall, Walz is 10-2 in conference openers, 6-0 at home, and his teams have won 10 of their last 11. The other blemish came in 2008 at Syracuse (L, 79-56).

Kylee Shook now has 167 career blocks after recording six blocks at UT Martin to become UofL's all-time block leader, surpassing Angel McCoughtry (2006-09) who had 162. She recorded five blocks against Central Michigan to pass Audrey Baines (144, 1976-80) for second place all-time in program history.

She has six double doubles on the year, which ranks second in the ACC and 12th in the NCAA. She is nearly averaging a double-double on the season with 10.2 points per game and 8.8 rebounds. Her 8.8 rebounds per game rank eighth in the ACC, while her 2.5 blocks lead the ACC and rank 17th in the country.

Yacine Diop had season-highs in the win at UT Martin with 15 points, seven rebounds and 28 minutes. She averaged 2.8 points and 2.7 rebounds through the first nine games, but in the last three games is averaging 10.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, while shooting 11-20 (.550) from the field, 2-2 from 3-point range and 8-8 from the stripe.

The win at UT Martin marked the third time this season that UofL has overcome a double-digit deficit to record a win. They trailed by 11 (24-13) at the end of the first quarter against No. 1 Oregon prior to winning 72-62. Against UK, they trailed by 10 (55-45) with three minutes to go in the third quarter prior to going on 13-0 run and winning 67-66. At UT Martin, they trailed 10-0 to start the game and trailed by five (47-42) with 3:34 to go. They took their first lead at 49-47 with 2:03 remaining before going to double overtime. The Cardinals scored the final 10 points in double OT to secure the 71-63 win.

UofL's 71-63 double overtime win at UT Martin marked the first overtime win since the Cards won 95-90 in overtime against No. 5 Ohio State in Columbus on Nov. 12, 2017. It marked their first double overtime game since they won 87-82 against Rutgers in double overtime on March 8, 2009 in the first round of the Big East Tournament in Hartford, Conn.

Louisville boasts a 144-16 record (.900) at the KFC Yum! Center. All-time at the venue, UofL holds a plus-22.7 scoring margin. Through 160 games, Louisville averages 9,307 per contest and has welcomed nearly one million and a half fans through the doors of the KFC Yum! Center.

ABOUT THE ORANGE

Syracuse enters Sunday's contest with a 6-5 record. The Orange opened the season at 4-1, but are just 2-4 in their last six games. They last played in the Florida Sunshine Classic in Winterpark, Fla., beating No. 19 Michigan State 77-63 on Dec. 20 and falling to No. 22 West Virginia 71-69 on Dec. 22. Those are the only two games they have played over the past 21 days as they beat UMBC 82-48 on Dec. 8.

The Orange rely heavily on the 3-point shot as their 332 attempts lead the ACC and their 97 makes rank second. But, they are shooting just 29.2 percent from deep, which ranks third to last in the league. They lead the conference with 15.9 offensive rebounds per game, but are corralling just 39.1 percent of their shots, which ranks ninth. They lead the league with 5.45 blocks per game.

Redshirt junior Kiara Lewis leads the team and ranks sixth in the ACC with 16.9 points per game, while ranking third in the league with 5.6 assists per game. Sophomore Emily Engstler leads the league with 11.4 rebounds per game and is nearly averaging a double-double while putting up 9.5 points per game. Junior Dana Strautmane is averaging 10.5 points, while shooting 37 percent (25-68) from 3-point range. Senior Gabrielle Cooper rounds out Syracuse's double-digit scorers with an even 10 points per game.

Series History - UofL is 11-6 all-time against Syracuse. The Cardinals are 7-1 all-time at home and 4-0 at the KFC Yum! Center. Louisville has won three straight and five of six since joining their ACC, their lone loss an 80-75 loss to the Orange in the ACC semifinal game on March 5, 2016. Louisville has won four straight at home against the Orange and has not lost to Syracuse in the Derby City since falling 64-58 at Freedom Hall on Jan. 23, 2010.

The Last Meeting (Feb. 7, 2019) - No. 2 Louisville opened the game on an 18-4 run and barreled past No. 15 Syracuse 76-51 at the KFC YUM! Center. Junior Kylee Shook tallied her third double-double, posting 12 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Senior Asia Durr scored the first 10 points for the Cardinals and finished the night with 15 points, while sophomore Dana Evans added 12. Both guards added four assists.

GAME FACTS
Date: Sunday, Dec. 29
Time: 2:00 p.m. ET
Site: KFC Yum! Center | Louisville, Ky.
TV: ESPN2, Pam Ward, play-by-play, Debbie Antonelli, analyst
Radio: 790 AM (WKRD), Nick Curran, play-by-play; Adrienne Johnson, analyst
Last Meeting: W, 76-51 (Feb. 7, 2019 at KFC Yum! Center)
Series History: 11-6 (7-1 Home, 4-4 Away, 0-1 Neutral)
UofL National Ranking: 7th Associated Press, 7th USA Today
Next Game: Thursday, Jan. 2 at Clemson

For the latest on Louisville women's basketball, visit GoCards.com, follow the team's Twitter account at @UofLWBB or on Facebook at facebook.com/UofLWBB.

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Players Mentioned

Yacine Diop

Asia Durr

Dana Evans

Kylee Shook

University of Louisville Athletics