Louisville women's basketball hosts #13 Kentucky Sunday -- Sunday Cardinal Couple

CARDS LOOK TO SNAP THREE GAME LOSING STREAK VS CATS

The #7 ranked University of Louisville women's basketball squad will look to snap their 3 game losing streak against Kentucky Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. in the KFC YUM! Center. The game will be available on ESPN3 and looks to be the highlight game for both squads so far this season.

We'll have a full recap here later today on the action. 


Hard to believe, but Sara, Jude and Bria have never been part of a win over Matthew Mitchell's Cats. Shawnta' Dyer and Sherrone Vails were freshmen on the 2010-11 Louisville team that defeated UK 78-52.

The Cards have won six of the last seven home contests against Big Blue...Sunday's game will be the 50th. meeting between the two schools since women's college basketball became an intercollegiate sport in 1975. Kentucky leads the series 32-17. 

Both teams have shown the propensity for putting points on the board. Kentucky averages 81.6 PPG, ranking 23rd. in the nation. The Cards are averaging 86.6 PPG...ninth-best in the nation... and allowing just 55.2 a game. 

The keys to a Cardinal victory will be a continuation of their strong inside game against a UK team that is strong on the boards, especially in offensive rebounds...where their 18 per game ranks 21st. in the nation. Also, Louisville will need to find answers for shutting down scorers Jennifer O'Neill (15.4 PPG), off-the-bench Makayla Epps (15.1 PPG) and Kyvin Goodin-Rogers..who had 19 points last time out against NKU. Linnae Harper is also a dangerous scoring threat for the Cats and Azia Bishop is a strong front-court
presence for the 7-1 Cats.  


How will the freshmen duo of Myisha Hines-Allen and Mariya Moore fare against the pressing, trapping and full court defense that Kentucky brings? 

Louisville has gotten strong interior play off the bench from Shawnta' Dyer and Emmonnie Henderson this season. The effectiveness of those two will play a key role in Sunday's match-up.  

UK returns two starters from a team that erased a Louisville double-digit lead in Memorial Coliseum last year to defeat the Cards 69-64. 

38 of the Cards 64 points are gone from that game last year with the graduation of Shoni, Tia, Nita and Asia. The Cats lose 24 of last year's 69 when Stallworth, Walker and Pinkett exhausted their eligibility. 

Jeff Walz is full aware of the importance of Sunday's game and sees it as a chance to find out how his talented freshmen will do against a veteran top 10 team.

"They're ranked 13th...but they're a top ten team from every thing I've seen. They beat Duke. We've got to go out and take care of business." 

Matthew Mitchell realizes that it is a marquee game also:

"It's a big game for us on Sunday. I am very impressed with UofL's team. It's a very, very strong basketball team with some great players that...as usual...are very well coached. 
Their performance against Iowa was extremely impressive. It will be a tall order for the Wildcats on Sunday, but we'll try and get ready here and see what we can go over and do." 


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