The Louisville women’s basketball team is set for its final test before the Christmas break. The Cardinals (9-4, 1-0) are in Chicago to take on former Conference USA and Big East foe NR/RV DePaul (9-3, 2-0) on Wednesday, Dec. 21. The Cards and Blue Demons will square off from Wintrust Arena at 8:30 p.m. ET and the matchup will be aired nationally on Fox Sports 1.
Louisville is wrapping up a season-long four-game road trip and have a four-game winning streak heading into the game. The Cards are 4-1 this season on the road and one of the best teams in the country away from home. Since the start of the 2017-18 season, Louisville is 56-8 (.875) in road games. The winning percentage ranks second and the wins are third in the NCAA over that time. Last season, Louisville was 10-2 in road games.
The Cardinals are coming off a 77-53 win over Pitt in the ACC opener on Dec. 18. The Cards were knocking it down from the floor after shooting .547 percent on 29-of-53 shooting in the win. It was the fourth game this season the Cards shot 50 percent or better from the floor and they are 4-0 in those games. Under head coach Jeff Walz, Louisville is 138-1 when shooting 50 percent or better in a game. On the season Louisville is shooting .461 percent, a mark that is third in the conference and 30th nationally.
The Cards are also one of the best free throw shooting teams in the country. Louisville is .770 percent on the season from the line, the best free throw percentage in the ACC and a mark that is 32nd nationally. In the win over Pitt, Louisville was 12-for-13 (.923) from the free throw line. It was the second game this season they shot over 90 percent from the line and the sixth game over 80 percent.
Date: Wednesday, December 21
Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
Site: Chicago, Ill. | Wintrust Arena (10,387)
TV: FS1 (Mike Hall, play-by-play; Kim Adams, analyst)
Radio: 93.9-FM WLCL (Nick Curran, play-by-play; Cortnee Walton, analyst)
Last Meeting: W, 116-75 (Dec. 4, 2020 at Uncasville, Conn.)
Series History: Louisville trails 16-17 (10-5 home, 5-10 away, 1-2 neutral)
Series History w/Walz: Louisville leads 7-4 (5-1 home, 1-3 away, 1-0 neutral)
ABOUT THE BLUE DEMONS
DePaul is the final non-conference opponent on the Cardinals schedule this season and they are the eighth team to make the NCAA Tournament from a season ago. DePaul was part of the First Four in Ames and fell to Dayton after a 22-11 season last year anf 14-6 record in conference play. In 2022-23, the Blue Demons are 9-3 overall and 2-0 in BIG EAST play. This will be the third ACC team DePaul will play as they defeated Miami 98-83 and Pitt 74-59 so far this year. The Blue Demons also have a win over then No. 14 Maryland at the Fort Myers Tip-Off back in November. The Blue Demons are led by guard Aneesah Morrow, who is averaging 26.3 points per game and 12.0 rebounds per game. She ranks fourth nationally in points per game and sixth nationally in rebounds per game. She has had nine double-doubles this season, a mark that is third in the NCAA. Her 45 points in the win over Northwestern is tied for the most points in a single game in the country this season.
Series History – This will be the 34th meeting all time between the two schools as the series dates back to the 1982-83 season. The Cardinals and Blue Demons were both conference foes in Conference USA and the BIG EAST. DePaul holds a slim 17-16 advantage in the all-time series but the Cardinals have a 7-4 edge since Jeff Walz has been the head coach. All-time the Cardinals are 5-10 in games played in Chicago and this will be the first time the two teams meet in Chicago since January 5, 2013.
Last Meeting (Dec. 4, 2020) – It was a record-setting performance for Jeff Walz’s No. 5 Louisville Cardinals. Hailey Van Lith and Kianna Smith each scored 21 points in the highest-scoring game in Louisville history, a 116-75 romp over No. 20 DePaul on Friday night in the Jimmy V Classic. The Cardinals (3-0) surpassed the 115 points they scored against Murray State in 2017, reaching that point total with 3:53 left in the game that wasn’t finalized until earlier this week. Louisville was supposed to play UConn at Mohegan Sun in this game, but the Huskies have been on pause because of a positive COVID-19 test. DePaul was originally going to open its Big East season Friday against Villanova. The Wildcats agreed to move that game so the Blue Demons could play the Cardinals. Louisville led 30-24 after one quarter before opening the second period with a 25-6 run to blow it open. Van Lith, a freshman, had nine points during the game-changing spurt. The Cardinals led 61-37 at the half. They extended the advantage to 101-50 after three quarters, crossing the century mark in the final seconds of the third.
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