Cards Visit Wolfpack -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

PRIME TIME, BIG TIME HOOP TONIGHT ON ESPN2

In a rare Monday night primetime game, Louisville women's basketball visits NC State for a 7:00pm tip-off on ESPN2.

The ranked match-up between the #16 Cards and #5 Wolfpack have major ACC standings implications. An NC State win would put three teams in a tie for first with two losses each: Louisville, NC State, and Virginia Tech. A Louisville win keeps the Cards in first all alone with Virginia Tech holding second and NC State and Syracuse tied for third with three losses each.

UofL is on a three-game win streak, all at home, with the most recent win coming against a ranked Syracuse team. Louisville has lost three times this season but only one in conference play, a loss on the road to North Carolina.

NC State is 19-2 on the year and is riding a four-game win streak. Most recently, they hung on to defeat ranked North Carolina. The Wolfpack lost at Virginia Tech by one and at Miami by 14. They have ranked wins against UConn, Colorado, and Florida State.

Defensively, NC State is about as good as they come. Wes Moore's team allows 59 points per game with teams shooting 34.7% from the field. They've held their opponents to an average of 28.8% three-point shooting.

Aziaha James leads the team with 15.2 points per game. Saniya Rivers (12.8 ppg), Mimi Collins (12.1 ppg), and Madison Hayes (11.6 ppg) join her in the double figures scoring but two more NC State players also average over 9.0 ppg. Offensively, they are similar to Louisville in the fact that the go-to scorer can be one of several players on any given night. They spread out the scoring and minutes played. They also have six players averaging four or more rebounds per game.

Playing in Raleigh gives NC State a sizable advantage in this game. They average 5,200 fans per game at Reynolds Coliseum, which ranks near the top of the ACC. Louisville continues to excel in that category, averaging nearly 8,200 fans per game at the KFC Yum! Center.

Louisville holds a slim 8-7 lead in the all-time series including 3-1 at NC State. The Cards have lost four straight in the series including a 12-point loss at home last year.

All eyes will be on this game tonight so let's hope the Cards show up and show out and put on a performance that will woo over the NCAA Tournament selection committee for later down the road.

Happy Monday and Go Cards!

Jared