No. 5 Louisville Hosts Virginia Tech on Senior Day

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – No. 5 Louisville women's basketball (26-3, 15-2) concludes the regular season when it hosts senior day festivities against Virginia Tech (21-7, 11-6) on Sunday at 12 p.m. ET. The game will broadcast on the ACC Network and 790 WKRD-AM.

With the 68-48 win over Boston College, Louisville claimed a third straight ACC regular season title and its first ever outright ACC title. Prior to this stretch, Louisville had never won consecutive regular season conference titles. It also marks UofL's first outright regular season conference title since they won the Conference USA regular season championship in 2000-01. It is their eighth conference title in program history

UofL is 44-5 in ACC games the last three years. They are 21-3 in home games, 23-2 in road games.

Louisville is seeking its 16th conference win, which would tie the program record for most conference wins in a season. They went 16-2 in the American Athletic Conference in 2013-14.
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The senior class will be recognized prior to the game and with one more win, Bionca Dunham, Jazmine Jones, Jessica Laemmle and Kylee Shook will be the third straight senior class to conclude their career as the most accomplished class in program history. They are 123-18 (.872) overall, which ties the program-record 123 wins. They will also set the program record for winning percentage and the program-record for fewest losses.

Yacine Diop came to Louisville as a graduate transfer from Pitt and will also be recognized on Sunday. She is averaging 8.3 points and 3.9 rebounds in league play.

Jones has played in 141 games and is one game away from tying Myisha Hines-Allen (2014-2018) and Shoni Schimmel (2010-14) for most games played in program history with 142.

UofL is giving up 56.7 points per game, which ranks third in the ACC, and have held opponents to 70 points or less in all but one game. In 17 ACC games, they are holding opponents to 55.1 points per game, which leads the league.

The Cardinals have held opponents below 50 points in the last four games and below 60 points in nine of 10 games. Over those 10 games, opponents are averaging 53.5 points per game. Last year, the Cardinals held opponents below 50 points in five straight games from Jan. 13, 2019 to Jan. 27, 2019.

Shook has double-doubles in three straight games and in four of her last five games. In the last five games, she is averaging 13.8 points, 10.0 rebounds and 4.0 blocks.

ABOUT THE HOKIES

Virginia Tech enters Sunday's ACC regular season finale with 21-7 record, 11-6 in league play. They've won five of their last six games, with their lone loss during that stretch an 86-76 defeat to Virginia last Sunday. On Thursday, they beat Duke 70-56 in Blacksburg.

The Hokies are shooting a league-best 35.3 percent from beyond the arc, while limiting opponents to a league-worst 27.2 percent shooting from deep. Their 7.9 3-point field goals made per game ranks second in the league. They rank fifth in the league in scoring offense (72.2 ppg) and scoring defense (61.9 ppg).

They have five players averaging more than 9.5 points per game - Aisha Sheppard (15.6 ppg), Elizabeth Kitley (12.3 ppg), Dara Mabrey (12.2 ppg), Taja Cole (9.6 ppg) and Trinity Baptiste (9.5 ppg).

Sheppard leads the league with 84 made 3-pointers and 3.0 3-pointers made per game, ranks second shooting 38.0 percent from 3-point range, and ranks seventh in points per game.

Mabrey ranks third with a 36.5 3-point field goal percentage and fourth with 70 made 3's, while Cole leads the league with 6.7 assists per game and ranks fourth with 1.84 assist-to-turnover ratio. Kitley ranks second with a 56.0 field goal percentage.

Series History - UofL is 21-17 all-time against Virginia Tech and 9-7 in Louisville. The Cards have won six straight and are 6-0 against the Hokies since joining the ACC, 2-0 at the KFC Yum! Center. When the Cards and Hokies met on Feb. 19, 2015 in Blacksburg (W, 69-49), it marked the first time in 20 years that the two teams had squared off. In 2017-18, UofL beat VT twice. They won 67-56 in the last meeting at the KFC Yum! Center and 73-70 in the ACC Tournament Quarterfinals. Louisville won 72-63 on Feb. 10, 2019 last year in Blacksburg.

The Last Meeting (Feb. 10, 2019) - Asia Durr was having a big day and No. 2 Louisville was rolling, up 20 points midway through the third quarter. Then it was Virginia Tech that grabbed the momentum, and it took Durr and fellow senior Sam Fuehring to help the Cardinals hang on. Durr scored 34 points and Fuehring had 21 points and 13 rebounds as the Cardinals overcame a near-collapse in a 72-63 victory Sunday. Fuehring made consecutive driving baskets in the final quarter after the Hokies had closed to within 62-56 with under four minutes to play, allowing Louisville to avoid an upset.

GAME FACTS
Date: Sunday, March 1
Time: 12:00 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, 72-63 (Feb. 10, 2019 at Virginia Tech)
Series History: 21-17 (9-7 Homes, 8-10 Away, 4-0 Neutral)
UofL National Ranking: 5th Associated Press, 5th USA Today
Promotions: Senior Day, $10 Family Meal Deal
Next Game: Friday, March 6 at ACC Tournament

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

Taja Cole

Yacine Diop

Bionca Dunham

Asia Durr

Sam Fuehring

Myisha Hines-Allen

Jazmine Jones

Jessica Laemmle

Kylee Shook

University of Louisville Athletics