Louisville Faces 9-Seed Gonzaga in NCAA Second Round on Sunday

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After opening the NCAA Tournament with an 83-51 win over 16-seed UAlbany on Friday, University of Louisville women's basketball faces 9-seed Gonzaga on Sunday night at 7 p.m. at the KFC Yum! Center. The game will broadcast on ESPN and 790-AM WKRD.

Tickets are available at GoCards.com/MarchMadness.

Gonzaga advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 68-55 win over Nebraska.

With Louisville's win over UAlbany, the Cardinals are now 13-0 in first round games with a +26.6 scoring margin during head coach Jeff Walz's tenure.

Louisville is 10-2 all-time in second round games under Coach Walz. The Cardinals are 10-6 all-time in the second round and were 0-4 prior to Walz's arrival.

UofL moved to 15-0 at the KFC Yum! Center this season with the win on Friday. They finished the regular season a perfect 14-0 at home, which marked the first time they have finished the regular season undefeated at the KFC Yum! Center. Two other times, Louisville finished undefeated at home. In 1996-97, they were 11-0 at home and 20-9 overall and in 2000-01 they finished 13-0 at home and 19-10 overall.

Dating back to last season, UofL has won 17 straight at home, which ties the longest home winning streak in program history. In 2013-14, they won their first 17 games at home and finished 18-2. They also won 17 straight when they won their final five home games in 2016-17 and their first 12 in 2017-18.

In the past five seasons, the Cardinals are 75-4 at home, including 5-0 in the NCAA Tournament.

Emily Engstler had seven steals and two blocks against UAlbany and joins UConn's Breanna Stewart as the only two players to have seven steals and multiple blocks in NCAA Tournament history. Her seven steals are tied for the third most ever by a UofL player in the NCAA Tournament. Stephanie Edwards had 10 steals against Georgia in 1984 and Jude Schimmel had eight against Purdue in 2013. The seven steals also tie Engstler's career high, she had seven earlier this season against Pitt.

Hailey Van Lith led the team with 20 points in the win over UAlbany. It marked her first 20-point game in the NCAA Tournament, fifth of the season and eighth of her career. She leads the team in scoring with 13.8 points per game and has led the team in scoring 12 times.

Kianna Smith had 15 points in the win over UAlbany, including 10 in the first quarter. She scored 10 of Louisville's first 13 points. She finished 6-10, 3-6 from deep with five assists and just one turnover.

ABOUT THE BULLDOGS

Gonzaga topped eighth-seed Nebraska 68-55 on Friday at the KFC Yum! Center. Leading scorer Kayleigh Truong paced the Bulldogs with 20 points, nine higher than her season average of 11.1. Lisa Fortier leads the Bulldogs in her eighth season and is the only coach in program history to have six 20+ win seasons in their first seven campaigns. Gonzaga defeated San Francisco and BYU to win the West Coast Conference Tournament after finishing first in the regular season with a 16-2 mark. The Bulldogs enter the game winners of 10 of their last 11 games.

Gonzaga Tournament History - This is Gonzaga's 13th NCAA appearance, all since 2006-07. The Bulldogs have earned a berth in five consecutive tournaments and have reached the regional semifinals four times (2010, 2011, 2012, 2015). Last season, the Bulldogs were a No. 5 seed but were defeated by 12-seed Belmont 64-59 in the first round in San Marcos, Texas. Overall Gonzaga is 11-12 in NCAA Tournament games.

Series History - This is the third ever meeting between Louisville and Gonzaga and the Cardinals are 1-1 all-time. Louisville won 55-42 in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico on Nov. 21, 2012. Gonzaga won 76-69 in Spokane, Wash., in the NCAA Sweet 16 on March 26, 2011.

Last Meeting (Nov. 21, 2012) - Megan Deines and Shoni Schimmel each scored 16 points and the No. 7 Cardinals held Gonzaga to two points over the final 8 minutes in a 55-42 victory in the Hardwood Tournament of Hope.

GAME FACTS
Date: Sunday, March 20
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Site: Louisville, Ky. | KFC Yum! Center (22,000)
TV: ESPN (John Brickley, play-by-play; Meaghan McKeown, analyst)
Radio: 790-AM WKRD (Nick Curran, play-by-play; Adrienne Johnson, analyst)
Last Meeting: W, 55-42 (Nov. 21, 2012 in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico)
Series History: 1-1 (0-0 home, 0-1 away, 1-0 neutral)

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.

Louisville Faces 9-Seed Gonzaga in NCAA Second Round on Sunday

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Players Mentioned

Emily Engstler

Kianna Smith

Hailey Van Lith

University of Louisville Athletics