The Cards women's basketball squad takes to the Purcell Pavilion floor in South Bend, IN today to face Notre Dame. This contest is on ESPN at 3:00 p.m., as well as on Cards Radio 790.
In the previous matchup, back on February 7th, in the KFC YUM! Center, Louisville held on for a 71-65 win over the Irish. Dana Evans produced 27 points for UofL in the victory, Kianna Smith added 16 and "E" Balogun added 12.
When the two squads face today, Louisville comes into the contest at 20-2 and 13-2 in ACC play. A Cardinal win gives them the ACC regular season title for the fourth straight year and #1 seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament. The Cards could back into the championship with a loss, but only if second place NCST loses as well. The Wolfpack has Syracuse today in the Dome at noon. A NCST win and Cardinal loss would set the percentage points at .812 for the Cards and .857 for the Wolfpack and give them the regular season title. Welcome to math in the COVID year.
The Irish enter at 10-8 overall and 8-6 in ACC games. They are 5-1 in home ACC games, their loss coming against Georgia Tech, back in December. They also fell to Michigan at home in non-conference play. The Irish are currently the #5 seed for the ACC Tournament and would face the winner of Pitt vs. Boston College in second day action at Greensboro if the tournament started today. A Notre Dame win could vault them into a #4 seed (if Syracuse loses) and a bye until the quarterfinals, so...there's a lot on the line for Niele Ivey's squad.
The Cards will have to do a defensive number on several Irish if they want to get out of South Bens with a win. Maddy Westbeld, Mikayla Vaughn, Sam Brunelle and Olivia Miles all went for double figures against the Cards last time out and Destinee Walker and Dara Mabrey almost reached double digits. Westbeld, Vaughn and Brunelle accounted for 25 of Norte Dame's rebounds against Louisville. They also play Abby Prohaska in varying minutes, she's the Irish's version of Kasa Robinson. Anaya Peoples draws the usual start for the Irish, she was fairly effective for the Irish in the first game with eight points and six rebounds.
The Cards would love to get Notre Dame in a fast paced, up-and-down the court track meet today, but, it's unlikely the Irish will allow that. Olivia Cochran could be a huge game-changer today for Louisville, she was limited to just two points the first time the squads met but had 11 rebounds in 20 minutes. She could also be effective in stopping the Irish inside, Notre Dame won the points-in-the-paint battle last time these two faced.
Most importantly, Louisville needs Dana Evans to return to her usual brilliance after the Florida State failure last Sunday. Hailey Van Lith had a rough outing against the Irish the first time, with just three points in 19 minutes and a better effort from her would boost the Cards chances greatly.
Louisville is 9-16 all-time against Notre Dame. The Cardinals are on a three-game winning streak and have won five out of the last seven in the series. Louisville is 3-6 in South Bend, winning 86-54 in the last matchup on Jan. 30, 2020. Prior to last season’s win, UofL’s previous road win at Notre Dame was a 71-66 victory on Feb. 11, 2009.
Let's hope the win streak continues for the Cards today against the Irish and they get the win. I see another close battle, and I'll predict a 68-63 UofL win.
--sonja--
In the previous matchup, back on February 7th, in the KFC YUM! Center, Louisville held on for a 71-65 win over the Irish. Dana Evans produced 27 points for UofL in the victory, Kianna Smith added 16 and "E" Balogun added 12.
When the two squads face today, Louisville comes into the contest at 20-2 and 13-2 in ACC play. A Cardinal win gives them the ACC regular season title for the fourth straight year and #1 seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament. The Cards could back into the championship with a loss, but only if second place NCST loses as well. The Wolfpack has Syracuse today in the Dome at noon. A NCST win and Cardinal loss would set the percentage points at .812 for the Cards and .857 for the Wolfpack and give them the regular season title. Welcome to math in the COVID year.
The Irish enter at 10-8 overall and 8-6 in ACC games. They are 5-1 in home ACC games, their loss coming against Georgia Tech, back in December. They also fell to Michigan at home in non-conference play. The Irish are currently the #5 seed for the ACC Tournament and would face the winner of Pitt vs. Boston College in second day action at Greensboro if the tournament started today. A Notre Dame win could vault them into a #4 seed (if Syracuse loses) and a bye until the quarterfinals, so...there's a lot on the line for Niele Ivey's squad.
The Cards will have to do a defensive number on several Irish if they want to get out of South Bens with a win. Maddy Westbeld, Mikayla Vaughn, Sam Brunelle and Olivia Miles all went for double figures against the Cards last time out and Destinee Walker and Dara Mabrey almost reached double digits. Westbeld, Vaughn and Brunelle accounted for 25 of Norte Dame's rebounds against Louisville. They also play Abby Prohaska in varying minutes, she's the Irish's version of Kasa Robinson. Anaya Peoples draws the usual start for the Irish, she was fairly effective for the Irish in the first game with eight points and six rebounds.
The Cards would love to get Notre Dame in a fast paced, up-and-down the court track meet today, but, it's unlikely the Irish will allow that. Olivia Cochran could be a huge game-changer today for Louisville, she was limited to just two points the first time the squads met but had 11 rebounds in 20 minutes. She could also be effective in stopping the Irish inside, Notre Dame won the points-in-the-paint battle last time these two faced.
Most importantly, Louisville needs Dana Evans to return to her usual brilliance after the Florida State failure last Sunday. Hailey Van Lith had a rough outing against the Irish the first time, with just three points in 19 minutes and a better effort from her would boost the Cards chances greatly.
Louisville is 9-16 all-time against Notre Dame. The Cardinals are on a three-game winning streak and have won five out of the last seven in the series. Louisville is 3-6 in South Bend, winning 86-54 in the last matchup on Jan. 30, 2020. Prior to last season’s win, UofL’s previous road win at Notre Dame was a 71-66 victory on Feb. 11, 2009.
Let's hope the win streak continues for the Cards today against the Irish and they get the win. I see another close battle, and I'll predict a 68-63 UofL win.
--sonja--
