Cards Travel to Virginia -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Women's Basketball Visits Virginia

Louisville women's basketball is back in action tonight against Virginia. The Cards and Cavaliers have not played each other since the 2019-2020 season after Virginia forfeited last year. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET and will be aired on ACCNX. You can also tune into 93.9-FM to hear Nick Curran and Cortnee Walton call the game.

The Cards enter the game riding a two-game win streak including being fresh off a win against #11 North Carolina in the KFC Yum! Center. The recent hot streak has improved Louisville's conference record to 8-4 as they continue to battle for a double-bye in the ACC Tournament.

Virginia has struggled this season, holding a 14-10 overall record but a poor 3-10 mark in the ACC. Their wins gave come against Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, and Boston College. Four of their conference losses have been by single-digits.

In terms of offense and defense, the Cavaliers sit near the middle. They average 70.3 points per game, ranking them ninth while they allow 62.0 points per game, sitting eighth. Rebounding has been a strong spot for them as they sit third in the conference with 43.1 rebounds per game. Mir McLean, whose season has ended due to injury,  leads the charge with 9.6 boards while four other Wahoos average at least four rebounds per game.

McLean, who transferred in from UCONN was also second in scoring on the team with 12.2 points per game. She is one of three players averaging scoring double figures alongside Camryn Taylor (13.6 ppg) and Sam Brunelle (11.0 ppg). Despite strong offensive efforts by the aforementioned trio, Virginia has been subpar from the free throw line at 72% and three-point shooting at 28%.. Brunelle, of course, played at Notre Dame before going into the portal. 

Virginia has had success in forcing opponents to turn the ball over. In fact, they've forced 426 turnovers this season. Meanwhile, Louisville has turned the ball over 397 times this year.

One of the questions going into tonight centers around the starting lineup and who will see more playing time. In the past two games, Nyla Harris, Mykasa Robinson, and Norika Konno were on the court for tip. Harris has posted back-to-back season bests in points and rebounds as she commands more minutes for the Cards. Robinson single-handedly sparked a momentum surge for Louisville in the third quarter against North Carolina thanks to her effort and defense.

Excluding the forfeit from last year, Louisville has dominated the series, winning 10 of the 12 meetings with one of the losses coming in 1985. Jeff Walz is 10-1 against the Wahoos including having won nine straight dating back to January 2016.

Currently projected as a 7-seed in the NCAA Tournament, Louisville sits comfortably enough to not worry about being a bubble team at the moment. A win most likely won't move them up a slot but a loss would certainly drop them down. This is a must-win for the Cards and I expect Louisville to treat it as such and will come out firing out of the gate.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared