The NR/RV Louisville women’s basketball team is back on the road, and they’re heading to Winston-Salem for a Thursday night matchup against the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest. This game will be a true test for the Cardinals, who have been one of the best road teams in the country over the past six seasons.
Since the start of the 2017-18 season, the Cardinals have racked up an impressive 58-10 record in road games, good for a .853 winning percentage. This record puts them at tied for second in the country for most road wins and fifth in the NCAA for winning percentage. This season alone, Louisville has already won 6 out of their 9 road games, and their most recent road win was an 83-75 victory over Florida State on January 15th.
One of the key players for Louisville in this matchup will be Chrislyn Carr. She has been one of the most prolific three-point shooters in the country this season, leading the Cardinals with 58 threes made and a .487 shooting percentage from behind the arc. Her impressive shooting percentage leads the ACC and ranks fifth nationally. If the season ended today, Carr would be second all-time in the Louisville program’s history for three-point shooting percentage in a single season.
Louisville has also shown that they can bounce back quickly following a loss. Under head coach Jeff Walz’s tenure, the Cardinals are 81-23 coming off of a loss. In their last 14 games coming off a loss, the Cardinals are 13-1 in those games. So far this season, Louisville is 5-1 after a loss. The Cardinals have not dropped back-to-back ACC games since the 2019-20 season, a span that covers 47 conference games.
On the other side of the court, Wake Forest enters the game with an 11-9 record and a 2-7 record in ACC games this season. They have played five of the same opponents as the Cardinals in ACC play and have lost against Syracuse, Duke, and Virginia Tech, while they beat Georgia Tech and Pitt. In their most recent game, they lost a road contest against Miami. Wake Forest ranks fourth in the ACC in scoring defense, limiting opponents to 58.3 points per game. Demon Deacons guard Jewel Spear is a player to watch, ranking seventh in the league with 15.2 points per game and second in the league in three-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage.
This will be the tenth meeting between these two schools, and the Cardinals are 9-0 all-time against the Demon Deacons. All of the previous nine matchups have occurred since the Cardinals joined the ACC. Wake Forest is one of two ACC teams the Cardinals are undefeated against in their history (Georgia Tech). Louisville is 4-0 all-time in games played in Winston-Salem.
The game is set to take place on Thursday, January 26th at 6 PM ET. It will be aired nationally on the ACC Network, and fans can also tune in to 93.9-FM WLCL for radio coverage. Don’t miss this exciting matchup between two talented teams, as the Cardinals look to continue their impressive road record and the Demon Deacons hope to pull off the upset.