No. 5 Louisville Squares Off Against No. 3 NC State in ACC Final

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Following wins over Wake Forest and Syracuse, No. 5 University of Louisville women's basketball (23-2, 14-2) faces NC State (19-2, 12-2) in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament finals on Sunday afternoon at 12 p.m. ET. The game will broadcast on ESPN2 and 790-AM WKRD.

It marks the third time in four years that Louisville has advanced to the finals and they are seeking their second ACC Tournament championship in the last four years.

They claimed the 2018 ACC Tournament title and advanced to the title game in 2019.

In two ACC Tournament games, freshman Hailey Van Lith is leading the Cardinals with 16.0 points per game, eight made 3's, a 57.1 3-point shooting percentage, 3.0 steals per game and 37.5 minutes per game. She is tied for the team-lead with 6.0 rebounds per game and ranks second with 3.0 assists per game.

She led the team with 24 points in the win over Wake Forest and then had eight points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals against Syracuse.

In the win over Syracuse, Louisville had four double figure scorers and seven players scored at least seven points. UofL features four double-digit scorers - Dana Evans (20.2), Van Lith (11.4), Kianna Smith (11.4) and Olivia Cochran (10.8).

In all but three games, at least three players have scored in double figures. Six times four players have scored 10-plus points, six times five players have scored 10+ and six players scored in double figures wins over Bellarmine and North Carolina.

Louisville is limiting opponents to 6-35 (.171) 3-point shooting in the ACC Tournament. They held Wake Forest to 3-18 shooting (.167) and Syracuse to a 3-17 clip (.176).

ABOUT THE WOLFPACK

NC State advanced to the ACC championship game with wins over Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech. On Saturday, NC State trailed by as many as 10 points (53-43) after the Yellow Jackets hit their first two shots of the fourth quarter, but NC State went on to score 23 of the last 31 points of the game from the 8:26 mark on to complete the comeback. Senior Kai Crutchfield led the Wolfpack in the fourth quarter with eight points in the final eight and a half minutes. She finished with 10 points on the day. Elissa Cunane led all scorers on the floor with 23 points, shooting 8-of-13 from the field and hauling in nine rebounds. Earlier this week, Cunane and Jakia Brown-Turner were unanimous First Team All-ACC honorees, while Jada Boyd was named Co-Sixth Player of the Year.

Series History - UofL is 8-4 all-time against NC State. Sunday's championship will mark the fourth time that Louisville has faced NC State in seven ACC Tournament appearances. The Cardinals are 3-0 against the Wolfpack in the ACC Tournament with one win in the quarterfinals and two in the semifinals (March 3, 2017 - ACC Quarterfinal vs. NC State - W, 59-58; March 3, 2018 - ACC Semifinal vs. NC State - W, 64-59; March 9, 2019 - ACC Semifinal vs. NC State - W, 78-68).

The Last Meeting (Feb. 1, 2021) - No. 1 Louisville suffered its first loss of the season, losing to No. 4 NC State 74-60 inside the KFC Yum! Center. A 16-3 Wolfpack run to start the fourth quarter made it 65-47 with just over four minutes to go. Louisville responded with a 7-0 run of their own to pull within 65-54 and then Kianna Smith hit a 3-pointer to pull the Cardinals within nine at 69-60 with 1:23 remaining, but they would not get any closer. Dana Evans tied her career-high with 29 points, 19 of which came in the second half. She finished 10-22 from the floor and 5-8 from 3-point range.

GAME FACTS
Date: Sunday, March 7
Time: 12 p.m. ET
Site: Greensboro, N.C. | Greensboro Coliseum
TV: ESPN2 (Beth Mowins, play-by-play; Debbie Antonelli, analyst; Holly Rowe, sideline)
Radio: 790-AM WKRD (Nick Curran, play-by-play; Adrienne Johnson, analyst)
Last Meeting: L, 74-60 (Feb. 1, 2021 at KFC Yum! Center)
Series History: 8-4 (L1, 2-2 Home, 3-1 Away, 3-1 Neutral)
UofL National Ranking: 5th Associated Press, 5th 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.

No. 5 Louisville Squares Off Against No. 3 NC State in ACC Final

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Players Mentioned

Olivia Cochran

Dana Evans

Kianna Smith

Hailey Van Lith

University of Louisville Athletics