Cardinals Close Homestand With Syracuse

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Louisville women's basketball team (12-5, 5-1 ACC) is wrapping up its short homestand on Thursday when they host the Syracuse Orange (7-9, 1-4 ACC) at the KFC Yum! Center. It will be Salute to Service Night when the Cardinals and Orange square off Thursday night. The game is set for 7 p.m. ET and it will be streamed on the ACC Network Extra.

The Cardinals have won their last six games and five-straight conference games dating back to Dec. 15. Only two of those six games have been at home as the Cardinals have spent most of the season away from home. The Cardinals seven home games heading into Thursday's matchup with the Orange is tied for the fewest of any ACC up to this point in the season.

Tajianna Roberts was named ACC Rookie of the Week for the third time this season following her performances in the wins over Pitt and No. 13 Georgia Tech. It was the third time she was named Rookie of the Week this season and she is the first Louisville player to earn the award three times in a single season since the Cardinals joined the league in 2014-15.

Roberts led the team in scoring in both wins last week with 17 points against Pitt and and 16 against No. 13 Georgia Tech. She set a career high with five made three-pointers in the win over Pitt and the 33 combined points were the most scored by an ACC freshman last week.

Nyla Harris tallied 11 points on 5-for-5 shooting to go with six rebounds in the win over the Yellow Jackets. Harris had a lot of success against Syracuse in both of the two meetings last season. She tallied a double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds in the first meeting against the Orange last year. Later in the season against the Orange, Harris set a career high with 22 points and tallied 11 rebounds for another double-double.

PROMOTIONS

Salute to Service - Join us in honoring those who have previously served and those currently enlisted in the United States Military. Write a letter to those currently stationed overseas with a message writing station at Section 101.
Giveaway - Stop by the main concourse behind Section 101 for a Salute to Service lapel pin featuring the patriotic old english L.
Concessions Special - Enjoy Thirsty Thursday night drink specials with $4 draft beer and $3 soda!
The team will be available for post game autographs. Only team provided print materials will be signed.

Date: Thursday, January 16
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Site: Louisville, Ky. | KFC Yum! Center (22,090)
TV: ACC Network Extra (Jeff Greer, play-by-play; Jessica Laemmle McDaniels, analyst)
Radio: 93.9-FM The Ville (Nick Curran, play-by-play; Cortnee Walton, analyst)
Series History: Louisville leads 20-8 (12-1 home, 6-6 away, 2-1 neutral)
Last Meeting: L, 72-73 (Feb. 11, 2024 at Syracuse, N.Y.)

ABOUT THE ORANGE
Syracuse comes into Thursday's matchup with a 7-9 overall record and are 1-4 in ACC play this season. The Orange are coming off their first ACC win of the season when they defeated Miami, 66-61, at home this past Sunday. Syracuse has dropped ACC games against #10 Notre Dame (62-93), #13 Georgia Tech (68-85), Florida State (73-85) and SMU (71-72, OT) so far this season. Syracuse ranks second in the ACC and 17th nationally with 15.7 offensive rebounds per game. The Orange are 29th nationally with 4.6 blocks per game and are third in the ACC with just 14.8 fouls per game. Thursday's matchup will feature the top two free throw shooting percentage players in the league. Jayda Curry leads the league and ranks fifth nationally with a 94.1

Series History - This will be the 29th meeting all time between the two schools as the series dates back to the 1986-87 season. Louisville holds the all-time series lead 20-8 and are 12-1 in games played in Louisville. The Cardinals have won eight of the last nine games over the Orange dating back to the 2019-20 season. The Cardinals have won the last nine games over Syracuse played in Louisville and the Cardinals have not lost to the Orange at home since the KFC Yum! Center opened in 2010-11.

Last Meeting (Feb. 11, 2024) - The No. 15 Louisville women's basketball team (20-5, 9-3 ACC) did everything it could but ultimately dropped Sunday's contest to No. 23 Syracuse (20-4, 10-3 ACC) 73-72, at the JMA Wireless Dome. The Cardinals led for most of the game but it was back-and-forth over the final minutes of the fourth quarter. The Cardinals held a three-point lead in the final minute but Syracuse scored the final four points after a controversial intentional foul was called in the final seconds. Nyla Harris had another career game for the Cardinals as she set a career high in points for the second-straight game. Harris tallied 22 points and hauled in 11 rebounds for her second-straight double-double and the third in her last four games. Harris leads the team with five double-doubles this season and two of them have come against Syracuse. Kiki Jefferson joined Harris in double figures with 13 points, six rebounds and three assists. Nina Rickards had a team-high four assists to go with nine points and five rebounds.

FOLLOW LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA

For the latest on Louisville women's basketball, visit GoCards.com, or follow the team's Instagram account at @LouisvilleWBB, X account at @LouisvilleWBB or on Facebook at facebook.com/louisvillewbb.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jayda Curry

Kiki Jefferson

Nina Rickards

Tajianna Roberts

University of Louisville Athletics