No. 4 Louisville Closes Road Swing at Syracuse on Sunday

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – No. 4 University of Louisville women's basketball closes its three-game road swing at Syracuse on Sunday afternoon. The game will tip off at 12 p.m. ET and broadcast on Bally Sports South and 790-AM WKRD.

Louisville (20-2, 10-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) recorded its 20^th win of the season with a 93-71 victory at Clemson on Thursday night. The Cardinals have now recorded 20 or more wins in 12 straight seasons to extend the program record. The longest run previously was three, achieved twice.

The Cards have won at least 20 games in 14 of head coach Jeff Walz's 15 seasons. Prior to Walz's arrival, Louisville had just 10 20-win seasons in its history.

Louisville scored 93 points and shot 58.2 percent in the win at Clemson, both season highs. It is the most points UofL has scored since a 97-68 win at Boston College on Feb. 4, 2021 and the highest field goal percentage since they shot 60.9 percent in a 97-46 win over Bellarmine on Jan. 2, 2021.

Hailey Van Lith scored a career-high 34 points in the win at Clemson. It marked the most points in a game by a Cardinal since Asia Durr tied her career-high and program record with 47 points against NC State on Feb. 28, 2019.

Van Lith shot a perfect 6-6 from the 3-point line, which tied her career-high for made 3's in a game. Her six 3-pointers with no misses mark the most makes without a miss in program history. The previous high was five, which has been accomplished three times. Jill Morton did it on Dec. 4, 1999 vs. Maryland Eastern Shore and on Jan. 1, 1999 vs. DePaul, and Mariya Moore did it on March 20, 2017 against Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament.

Van Lith leads the team in scoring with 13.2 points per game and has led the team in scoring eight times. At 13.2 points per game, she has her highest scoring average since averaging 15.0 points two games into the season. Over the last eight games, she is averaging a team-high 16.9 points per game. She has made at least one 3-pointer in the last nine games and is 16-25 (.640) from deep in the last five games.

Kianna Smith led the way with 21 points on 8-13 shooting, 3-5 from deep, while adding seven assists and just one turnover in the win at Miami. She followed that with eight points and eight assists, while committing zero turnovers at Clemson. In her last two games, she has 15 assists and just one turnover.

In Liz Dixon's last five games, she is averaging 7.4 points and is 16-20 from the field. In the win at Clemson, she scored 12 points on perfect 6-6 shooting. Against Wake Forest, she scored 12 points and was 5-5 from the floor and 2-2 from the free throw line. She had seven points, five rebounds and four blocks in just 14 minutes against Florida State.

Louisville has won five straight games and during that winning streak they are averaging 77.2 points per game, while shooting 48.8 percent from the floor and 42.7 percent from beyond the arc.

In the last five games, UofL has assisted on 103 of 148 field goals, good for 69.6 percent. In ACC play, UofL has assisted on 193 of 310 field goals, good for 62.3 percent. The Cardinals had a season-high 25 assists in the win at Clemson. UofL assisted on 23 of 28 buckets in the win at Miami, good for 82.1 percent, which marked a season high.

The Cardinals are averaging 17.6 assists per game in ACC play, which leads the league. Five players are averaging at least 2.0 assists per game - K. Smith (2.8), Mykasa Robinson (2.6), Chelsie Hall (2.2), Van Lith (2.1) and Emily Engstler (2.0).

Louisville is shooting 44-103 (.427) from deep during the current five-game winning streak. They shot 11-32 from deep in the win over Duke, which tied for their most makes and is their most attempts this season. They followed that by shooting 8-20 at Miami and 10-20 at Clemson. The Cards are shooting 37.1 percent from deep on the season, which ranks second in the ACC and seventh in the country.

ABOUT THE ORANGE

Syracuse enters Sunday's game with a 9-11 record. They are 2-8 in ACC play with their two conference wins are an 86-46 victory against Clemson and an 80-72 win over Pitt. Their best win of the year is a 97-91 win over Ohio State. The Orange rank fourth in the ACC with 73.7 points per game, but their 70.5 points allowed per game rank last in the league. Their 10.7 steals per game lead the ACC, while their 8.0 3-point field goals made per game rank third. They are shooting 79.5 from the free throw line, which leads the league and ranks sixth in the country. Syracuse features five double-digit scorers, led by Teisha Hyman's 15.2 points per game, which ranks fifth in the ACC, and Chrislyn Carr's 14.2, which ranks ninth. Christianna Carr (12.9 ppg), Naje Murray (11.9 ppg) and Alaysia Styles (10.6 ppg) also average double figures. Hyman leads the ACC with 2.5 steals per game and ranks third with 4.3 assists per game. Christianna Carr is shooting 37.4 percent from deep, which ranks fourth in the ACC, and her 2.2 3-point makes per game rank sixth.

Series History - UofL is 16-7 all-time against Syracuse and has won four straight. Louisville has won 10 out of the 12 meetings since both programs left the Big East to join the ACC. In those 10 ACC wins, the Cardinals have outscored their opponent by an average of 15.3 points. Louisville is 4-5 all-time at the Carrier Dome and 2-1 since joining the ACC. The Cardinals fell 51-49 on Feb. 9, 2020, the last time the two teams squared off in Syracuse.

Last Meeting (Jan. 13, 2022) - Kianna Smith and Hailey Van Lith each scored 20 points, with Van Lith making a couple of clutch baskets to spark a critical 9-0 run in the final minutes and help UofL escape Syracuse 84-71. The Orange rallied to tie the game at 62 early in the fourth quarter before Smith and Van Lith hit consecutive 3s to give the Cards a 68-64 edge. Van Lith made another basket before Olivia Cochran followed with a three-point play to make it 73-66 with 3 minutes remaining. Van Lith added a jumper and Emily Engstler two free throws for a 77-66 cushion en route to the 84-71 win.

GAME FACTS
Date: Sunday, Feb. 6
Time: 12 p.m. ET
Site: Syracuse, N.Y. | Carrier Dome (49,250)
TV: RSN (Dean Linke, play-by-play; Amy Audibert, analyst)
Radio: 790-AM WKRD (Nick Curran, play-by-play; Adrienne Johnson, analyst)
Last Meeting: W, 84-71 (Jan. 13, 2022 at KFC Yum! Center)
Series History: 16-7 (W4, 10-1 home, 4-5 away, 2-1 neutral)
Series History w/ Walz: 12-6 (8-1 home, 2-4 away, 2-1 neutral)
Next UofL Game: Thursday, Feb. 10 vs. Virginia

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. 4 Louisville Closes Road Swing at Syracuse on Sunday

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Players Mentioned

Olivia Cochran

Liz Dixon

Emily Engstler

Chelsie Hall

Mykasa Robinson

Kianna Smith

Hailey Van Lith

University of Louisville Athletics