Louisville Faces 6-seed Oregon in Sweet 16 on Sunday

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – University of Louisville women's basketball squares off against 6-seed Oregon in the Sweet 16 on Sunday night at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT). The game will broadcast on ESPN and 790-AM WKRD.

UofL advanced to its fourth straight Sweet 16 and 10th overall with the 62-53 win over Northwestern on Wednesday. They are seeking their third straight Elite Eight appearance and sixth all-time (2009, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019). Louisville is 5-4 all-time in the Sweet 16 and has won two straight Sweet 16 games, with a 61-44 win over Oregon State in 2019 and an 86-59 win over Stanford in 2018.

The Cardinals are 6-1 all-time against 6-seeds in the NCAA Tournament. Under Walz, Louisville is 12-2 overall against the Pac-12, 8-0 in neutral site games and 4-0 in NCAA Tournament games. They beat Stanford and Oregon State (W, 76-43) to get to the Final Four in 2018 and in 2019 they beat Oregon State in the Sweet 16. They also beat Cal in the Final Four in 2013 (W, 64-57).

Louisville is now 10-2 all-time in the second round under head coach Jeff Walz. They are 10-6 all-time in the second round and were 0-4 before Walz's arrival. Louisville is 22-2 all-time in the first and second rounds combined under Walz.

UofL trailed 21-12 to Marist and 25-7 to Northwestern before rallying to wins. They have allowed 40 points in the first quarter, but just 56 combined in the second, third and fourth quarters. Marist and Northwestern shot a combined 48.3 percent in the first quarter, but UofL held them to 20.9 percent shooting combined in the second, third and fourth quarters.

In the first two tournament games, Louisville is being outscored 40-22 in the first quarter, but in the second half they are outscoring opponents 87-40.

Louisville's 18-point comeback against Northwestern is tied for the third largest in NCAA Tournament history. Texas A&M rallied from 21 down against Penn in 2017 and Oklahoma State rallied from 19 down against Chattanooga in 2010. Maryland also came back from 18 down against Texas A&M in 2012.

Freshman guard Hailey Van Lith leads the Cards with 13.4 points per game in postseason play. She is shooting 13-24 from deep in the postseason, while averaging 4.0 rebounds. She is averaging a team-high 15.0 points, while shooting 4-7 from deep in two NCAA Tournament games. Her 73.3 shooting percentage is the best in the tournament through two games. Her 57.1 3-point percentage ranks third.

After leading the team with 17 points against Marist, she had 13 points on 4-4 shooting, 2-2 from deep, against Northwestern.

Fellow freshman Olivia Cochran had 15 rebounds in the win over Northwestern, which is the most by a Cardinal this season and her career-high. It is also tied for second all-time by a UofL player in an NCAA Tournament game. Candyce Bingham had 20 rebounds vs. North Carolina in 2008 and 15 against Baylor in 2009. Cochran is averaging 10.0 rebounds in two NCAA Tournament games, which ranks second to Jasmine Franklin of Missouri State's 14.5 per game.

ABOUT THE DUCKS

With a 57-50 win over 3-seed Georgia on Wednesday, Oregon advanced to its fourth straight Sweet 16. Sedona Prince and Nyara Sabally combined for 37 points as UO held Georgia to 35-percent shooting. The Ducks were 8-0 in 2020, but lost eight of 13 games in 2021 prior to winning two straight in the NCAA Tournament. They entered the Big Dance with losses in five of their last six games. The Ducks ranked second in the Pac-12 and 16th in the country with a 1.26 assist-to-turnover ratio. They also ranked second in the Pac-12 with 72.1 points per game, 12.6 turnovers per game and 364 assists. They feature five players averaging more than 9.6 points per game with Sabally (12.9), Erin Boley (10.7), Prince (10.4), Te-Hina Paopao (10.2) and Taylor Mikesell (9.6). Boley, from Hodgenville, Ky., and Maddie Scherr, from Florence, Ky., were both named Miss Kentucky Basketball.

NCAA Tournament History - Oregon is making its fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and is also advancing to the Sweet 16 for the fourth straight time. They are 17-15 all-time and 12-3 in three trips under head coach Kelly Graves.

Series History - UofL is 3-2 all time against Oregon, including three straight victories in the series. The Cards dropped the first two games of the series, as the Ducks won 76-70 in Louisville on December 19, 1991 and in Eugene 81-70 exactly one year later. UofL got its first win over Oregon on March 17, 1995 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Athens, GA. More recently, the then-fifth ranked Cards beat then- tenth ranked Oregon 74-61 in Louisville on November 19, 2017 in the Preseason WNIT Final, and the then-eighth ranked Cards knocked off then-top ranked Oregon 72-62 on November 30, 2019 in the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam Final.

Last Meeting (Nov. 30, 2019) - The Cardinals handed No. 1 Oregon its first loss of the season, getting 18 points and 15 rebounds from Kylee Shook in a 72-62 victory in the Paradise Jam. The Ducks raced to a 24-13 lead after one period, but the Cards evened the score in the second. Louisville stretched its lead to as many as 12 points in the third quarter, going up 44-32 on Noriko Konno's jumper with 7:32 left, and were ahead 51-42 heading into the final period. Dana Evans scored 17 points, Elizabeth Balogun had 11 points and Jazmine Jones scored 10 for the Cardinals.

GAME FACTS
Date: Sunday, March 28
Time: 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT)
Site: San Antonio, Texas | Alamodome
TV: ESPN (Beth Mowins, play-by-play; Debbie Antonelli, analyst; LaChina Robinson, reporter)
Radio: 790-AM WKRD (Nick Curran, play-by-play; Adrienne Johnson, analyst)
Last Meeting: W, 72-62 (Nov. 30, 2019 at U.S. Virgin Islands)
Series History: 3-2 (W3, 1-1 Home, 0-1 Away, 2-0 Neutral)
UofL National Ranking: 8th Associated Press, 7th USA Today

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

Olivia Cochran

Dana Evans

Jazmine Jones

Kylee Shook

Hailey Van Lith

University of Louisville Athletics