No. 9 Louisville Hosts Notre Dame in Annual Pink Game

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Following a huge road win at No. 4 NC State, No. 9 Louisville women's basketball (22-3, 11-2) returns home to play Notre Dame (10-15, 5-8) on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET in its annual Play4Kay pink game. The game will broadcast on the ACC Network.

At 11-2 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, UofL holds the tiebreaker against NC State (11-2) in the race for the regular season conference title.

Senior Kylee Shook finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks in the 66-59 win at NC State on Thursday. It marked her seventh double-double of the season and the seven blocks were a season-high, just one shy of the program-record eight blocks she had last season against Tennessee State.

She is nearly averaging a double-double on the season with 9.2 points per game and 7.8 rebounds. Her 7.8 rebounds per game rank ninth in the ACC, while her 2.8 blocks lead the league and rank 14th in the country.

UofL is giving up 58.2 points per game, which ranks third in the ACC, and have held opponents to 70 points or less in all but one game. In 13 ACC games, they are holding opponents to 57.4 points per game, which ranks second in the league.

In the last three years, which equates to the last 100 games, UofL is 90-10 overall. Eight of 10 losses have come against AP Top 25 teams.

ABOUT THE FIGHTING IRISH

Notre Dame enters Thursday's contest with a 10-15 record, 5-8 in ACC play. The Fighting Irish are 5-5 in road games, compared to 4-8 at home. They have won three of four since their 86-54 loss to Louisville in South Bend. They had won three in a row and led by as many as 15 points in their last game at Boston College before losing 56-55 at the buzzer.

They rank 10th in the ACC with 64.4 points per game, while allowing 68.0 points per game, which ranks second-to-last. The Irish rank second in the league with 18.5 turnovers forced per game and third with 8.7 steals per game. They rank last in rebound margin (-6.6), 3-point field goals made per game (3.8 pg) and 3-point field goal percentage (25.2%).

Notre Dame features four double-digit scorers - graduate Destinee Walker (14.6 ppg), sophomore Katlyn Gilbert (13.8 ppg), freshman Sam Brunelle (13.4 ppg) and junior Makayla Vaughn (10.4 ppg).

Graduate Marta Sniezek chips in 4.3 points per game and ranks third in the ACC with 5.4 assists per game.

Freshman Anaya Peoples was averaging 12.6 points per game, but is out for the rest of the season with a torn right shoulder labrum.

Series History - UofL is 7-16 all-time against Notre Dame and 2-5 at home. UofL lost twice to Notre Dame last season, falling 82-68 in South Bend and 99-79 in the ACC Tournament Final. In 2017-18, Louisville won 100-67 at home on Jan. 11, 2018 and then beat the Irish in the ACC Tournament Final 74-72 on March 4, 2018. Prior to winning both games against the Fighting Irish two seasons ago, the Cards had lost 11 straight to Notre Dame. Louisville had lost five straight in South Bend prior to their win in January.

The Last Meeting (Jan. 30, 2020) - Dana Evans returned to her home state and scored 17 points as Louisville won its 13th straight game, routing overmatched Notre Dame 86-54. Jazmine Jones scored 14 points, Kylee Shook 12 and Elizabeth Balogun 11 for the Cardinals. Louisville shot 34 of 63 (54% percent). Louisville jumped to a 9-0 lead before the Irish scored with 7:10 left in the opening quarter. Coach Jeff Walz called a timeout with 4:36 remaining after Notre Dame closed to 14-8 on Gilbert's drive down the lane. The Cardinals then responded with 3-pointers from Evans, who played basketball at Gary West High School, and Balogun and finished on a 13-3 run to lead 27-11 after the first quarter. Brunelle scored seven points to help the Irish close to 33-23 with 5:52 before half. But, Louisville responded with a 13-2 run over the next 3 1/2 minutes and eventually doubled the score, 50-25.

GAME FACTS
Date: Sunday, Feb. 16
Time: 3:00 p.m. ET
Site: KFC Yum! Center | Louisville, Ky.
TV: ACCN, Pam Ward, play-by-play, Kelly Gramlich, analyst
Radio: 790 AM (WKRD), Nick Curran, play-by-play; Adrienne Johnson, analyst
Last Meeting: W, 86-54 (Jan. 30, 2020 at Notre Dame)
Series History: 7-16 (2-5 Home, 3-6 Away, 2-5 Neutral)
UofL National Ranking: 9th Associated Press, 9th USA Today
Next Game: Thursday, Feb. 20 at Georgia Tech
Promotions: Play4Kay Pink Out (Breast Cancer Awareness Game)

Play4Kay Pink Out

Committed to being a part of finding an answer in the fight against women's cancers, The Kay Yow Cancer Fund takes center stage during Louisville's annual Pink Game. The Cardinals will wear special pink accessories during the game and in-game tributes for cancer survivors will be conducted.

Fans are encouraged to wear pink!

Play4Kay Free Throw Challenge

After winning the Play4Kay Free Throw Challenge for two years in a row, we are ready to three-peat! This year CardNation will be competing for another victory in the 2020 Play4Kay Free Throw Challenge, the largest fundraising initiative of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. Louisville women's basketball is collaborating with the Kay Yow Cancer Fund by joining the Play4Kay Free Throw Challenge. They are competing against other college basketball teams around the country to see who can raise the most money for those battling cancer.

Click here to support the Cards by pledging for every free throw they make during the month of February!

Follow Louisville's progress on the National Leaderboard. The team raising the most money will be crowned champion. All proceeds of the Play4Kay Free Throw Challenge will benefit the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.

Fundraising Efforts

Play4Kay Auction - The University of Louisville is auctioning off several commemorative items. Visit GoCards.com/Play4KayAuction in the month of February to place your bid! All proceeds benefit the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.

5% of all walk-up ticket sales to the Notre Dame game on Sunday, Feb. 16 at the KFC Yum! Center ticket office will be donated to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.

Visit Cardinal Authentic and pick up the same Play4Kay pink t-shirt that Louisville will wear in pregame warmups. Partial proceeds will benefit the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.

Tom Drexler will take $5 donations for breast cancer awareness t-shirts on the main concourse. Proceeds will benefit Gilda's Club of Louisville.

Learn more at www.play4kay.org.

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

Elizabeth Balogun

Dana Evans

Jazmine Jones

Kylee Shook

University of Louisville Athletics