No. 3 Louisville Hosts No. 18 Notre Dame on Sunday

Sunday, February 13

LOUISVILLE, KY

2 P.M.

University of Louisville

NOTRE DAME

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February 11, 2022 | Women's Basketball

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The Cardinals and Fighting Irish will tip off at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN and 790-AM WKRD.

By: Nick Evans

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – No. 3 University of Louisville women's basketball returns to the KFC Yum! Center to host No. 18 Notre Dame on Sunday afternoon. The game will tip off at 2 p.m. ET and broadcast on ESPN and 790-AM WKRD.

Tickets for Sunday's game are available and $10 meal deals will be available behind Section 110. Get a hot dog, bag of chips and bottled water or small fountain soda for $10. Louisville Women's Basketball observes Black History Month with a celebration of Black Culture. Join us as we honor ACC Unite award winner, Von Macklin.

Louisville is 21-2 on the season and 12-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. The Cardinals' game on Thursday was cancelled and declared a Virginia forfeit.

On Thursday night, the NCAA Division I Tournament Committee revealed that the Cardinals would be a No. 1 seed if the season ended today. They are joined by South Carolina, Stanford and NC State.

During Louisville's six-game winning streak they are averaging 81.0 points per game, while shooting 49.7 percent from the floor and 40.8 percent from beyond the arc. They have scored 70-plus points in five of six games and are 14-0 this season when scoring 70-plus points. They are 56-0 the past three seasons when scoring more than 70 points.

Louisville scored a season-high 100 points and shot 53.2 percent in the win at Syracuse. It marks the Cardinals' first 100-point game since they scored a program-record 116 points in the 116-75 win over No. 20 DePaul on Dec. 2020. They scored what was a season-high 93 points, while shooting a season-high 58.2 percent in the win at Clemson.

In the last two games, Louisville is averaging 96.5 points and 24.0 assists, while shooting 55.6 percent from the floor. Their scoring margin is +29.0 in the last two games.

In the win at Syracuse, a season-high six players scored in double figures - Dixon (18), K. Smith (16), A. Smith (13), Engstler (11), Hall (11), Van Lith (10). It's the first time six players have scored in double figures since a 79-68 win over North Carolina on Jan. 28, 2021. In wins over BC and Pitt, five players scored 10-plus points. Seven different players (Van Lith - 8, Engstler - 7, K. Smith - 7, Dixon - 3, Hall - 1, A. Smith -1, Cochran - 1) have led the Cards in scoring this season.

Ahlana Smith tied her career-high with 13 points on 6-11 shooting in the win at Syracuse. She last had 13 points in the win over Kentucky this season.

Kianna Smith was named ACC Player of the Week after averaging 15.0 points per game, shooting 8-18 from beyond the arc and dishing out 21 assists to just one turnover in road wins over Miami, Clemson and Syracuse.

Smith ranks second on the team with 11.8 points per game and seven times this season has led the team in scoring. She leads the ACC with a 40.9 3-point field goal percentage and ranks ninth in the ACC with 2.0 made 3-pointers per game.

In Liz Dixon's last six games, she is averaging 9.2 points and is 24-28 (.857) from the field. In the last two games, she has scored a combined 30 points and is a perfect 14-14 from the floor. She scored a season-high 18 points on 8-8 shooting, while pulling down seven rebounds, in the win at Syracuse. In the win at Clemson, she scored 12 points on 6-6 shooting. Against Wake Forest, she scored 12 points and was 5-5 from the floor.

ABOUT THE FIGHTING IRISH

Notre Dame enters Sunday's matchup with a 19-5 overall record, 10-3 in conference play. They are 7-0 in ACC home games and 3-3 in conference road games. The Fighting Irish average 75.2 points per game, which ranks second in the league, while giving up 62.0 points per game, which ranks ninth. Notre Dame leads the ACC and ranks 13th in the NCAA with 17.6 assists per game and leads the league and ranks 15th in the country with 5.4 blocks per game. They commit just 12.8 fouls per game, which is the fewest in the ACC and ninth fewest in the country. The Irish feature five double-digit scorers - Olivia Miles (13.9 ppg), Maya Dodson (12.7 ppg), Maddy Westbeld (11.9 ppg), Sonia Citron (11.4 ppg) and Dara Mabrey (10.1 ppg). Miles leads the ACC and ranks second in the NCAA with 7.2 assists per game and her 1.9 steals per game rank sixth in the league. Dodson ranks second in the league with 2.6 blocks per game and sixth with 7.8 rebounds per game. Mabrey connects on 2.2 3-pointers per game, while shooting 37.4 percent from beyond the arc, both of which rank fifth in the ACC.

Series History - Louisville is 10-16 all-time against Notre Dame. The Cardinals are on a four-game winning streak and have won six out of the last eight in the series. Louisville is 4-5 all-time at home and 3-2 at the KFC Yum! Center, winning the last three. In those last three games, UofL has an average scoring margin of +24.0. Last year, on Feb. 7, 2021 at the KFC Yum! Center, Dana Evans' 27 points helped the No. 1 Cardinals hold off Notre Dame, 71-65.

Last Meeting (Feb. 28, 2021) - Dana Evans and No. 6 Louisville took care of business quickly and wrapped up their fourth straight regular-season Atlantic Coast Conference title with a 78-61 victory at mistake-prone Notre Dame. Evans had 26 points and five assists and was 9-18 from the floor and eclipsed 500 career assists in the win. Liz Dixon added 12 points and Mykasa Robinson finished with a career-high 10 points, while recording five charges.

GAME FACTS
Date: Sunday, Feb. 13
Time: 2 p.m. ET
Site: Louisville, Ky. | KFC Yum! Center (22,000)
TV: ESPN (Courtney Lyle, play-by-play; Carolyn Peck, analyst)
Radio: 790-AM WKRD (Nick Curran, play-by-play; Adrienne Johnson, analyst)
Last Meeting: W, 78-61 (Feb. 28, 2021 at Notre Dame)
Series History: 10-16 (W4, 4-5 Home, 4-6 Away, 2-5 Neutral)
Next UofL Game: Thursday, Feb. 17 at North Carolina

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.