Cards and Irish Face in Rivalry Game -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville and Notre Dame to Air on ESPN

Louisville defeats Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament

When you think of rivalries for Louisville women's basketball a few might come to mind. Of course, Kentucky is always at the top of the list. Perhaps UConn or NC State makes the list. But Notre Dame is one that is probably right up there near UK. Jeff Walz vs Muffet McGraw only amplified the rivalry, even with the latter retired and Niele Ivey taking the reins.

Louisville and Notre Dame will tip off with an early 6:00pm game and it will be aired on ESPN, the flagship of all sports channels.

#15 Louisville is fresh off a loss at a top-three NC State on Monday night. The Cards still sit at 19-4 this season with an 8-2 ACC mark. Their conference record puts them half a game behind 9-2 Virginia Tech.

#12 Notre Dame (AP Poll) is 17-4 on the year and 7-3 in the ACC. They have won three straight and are fresh off a 25-point victory over Pitt. Also in that stretch was a 17-point win at UConn. 

Even without Olivia Miles, the Irish have been a tough team that can make a run for the ACC title. Freshman Hannah Hidalgo has made a strong case for ACC Freshman of the Year by averaging 24.8 points per game, 6.4 rebounds per game, and 5.1 steals per game. Notre Dame also returned Sonia Citron (16.9 ppg, .397 three-point shooting, .913 free throw shooting) and Maddy Westbeld (13.9 ppg, 9.2 rpg). This Irish team loves to score, averaging 83.1 points per game.

Notre Dame leads the all-time series 18-13. In their most recent match-up, Louisville defeated 1-seed Notre Dame 64-38 in the ACC Tournament. Some other exciting games between the Cards and Irish are below.

Louisville 86, Notre Dame 64 (02/27/2022)- Louisville raced out to a 31-3 first quarter lead and even pushed that lead to 42 points in the second quarter.

Louisville 74, Notre Dame 72 (03/04/2018)- Her name is Asia Durr. After the Cards hit free throws down the stretch to hang on to defeat Notre Dame in the ACC Championship, Jeff Walz politely reminded Muffet McGraw that "that other player" is named Asia Durr after Durr won ACC Player of the Year over Arike Ogunbowale.

Louisville 100, Notre Dame 67 (01/11/2018)- Everything went right for Louisville as they blew out the Irish at home in front of 12,600 fans. AD hit a buzzer beater to close out the third quarter as icing on the cake. Not bad for a top-five match-up.

The great AD

Daryl and I will be in attendance for this one. She'll have the write up in the Friday Cardinal Couple.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared