#6 Seed Cardinals Travel to Baton Rouge for NCAA Opener vs. MTSU

Mark BlankenbakerMarch 22, 2024

The No. 6 seed Louisville women’s basketball team is back in the NCAA Tournament as they are making its 26th all-time appearance in the dance this week. Louisville was selected as the No. 6 seed in the Albany 2 Regional and will play their opening round games down in Baton Rouge. In the first round, Louisville will go against regional foe No. 11 Middle Tennessee. The Cardinals and Blue Raiders are set to square off at 1:30 p.m. ET on Friday and the matchup will be aired nationally on ESPN2.

This will be Louisville’s 13-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the 15th out of 16 under head coach Jeff Walz. The Cardinals have advanced to 12 Sweet 16’s, Eight Elite Eight’s, Four Final Four’s and two appearances in the national championship game during Walz’s tenure. The Cardinals are the only team in the nation to make each of the last five Elite Eight’s. Louisville has advanced to the Sweet 16 six-straight times, the third-longest active streak in the country.

Louisville is 14-0 all-time in the first round of the NCAA Tournament under Walz. This is the first time the Cardinals are a No. 6 seed under Walz and just the second time in program history. Louisville was a No. 6 seed in 2007 and advanced to the second round in the year prior to Walz’s arrival. Louisville has had success away from home in the first and second round of the tournament under Walz. They are 14-2 all-time in the first and second round of the tournament during Walz’s tenure.

Date: Friday, March 22
Time: 1:30 p.m. ET
Site: Baton Rouge, La. | Pete Maravich Assembly Center (13,125)
TV: ESPN 2 (Dave O’Brien, play-by-play; Christy Thomaskutty, analyst)
Radio: 93.9-FM The Ville (Nick Curran, play-by-play; Cortnee Walton, analyst)
Series History: Louisville leads 6-2 (3-1 home, 3-1 road)
Last Meeting: L, 49-67 (Dec. 4, 2022 at Murfreesboro, Tenn.)

ABOUT THE BLUE RAIDERS

Middle Tennessee heads into the NCAA Tournament with a 29-4 overall record and were 16-0 in Conference USA play. The Blue Raiders won the Conference-USA regular season and conference tournament titles this season. It was the second-consecutive Conference-USA tournament title for the Blue Raiders. They have won 19-straight games, the sixth-longest active winning streak in the country and they have not lost a game since December 30. Middle Tennessee has a few common opponents with the Cardinals this season. They defeated DePaul, 71-69, back in November and defeated Liberty three times, twice in the regular season and again in the Conference-USA championship game. The Blue Raiders are one of the best defensive teams in the country as they rank sixth nationally in field goal percentage defense as they limit opponents to .349 percent shooting per game. The Blue Raiders are also eighth in scoring defense, limiting opponents to 54.3 points per game. Middle does not turn the ball over often, as they are seventh nationally with 11.6 turnovers per game. They do not have a deep rotation as three of their players rank in the top-11 nationally in minutes played per game. Savannah Wheeler is third with 38.06, Jalynn Gregory is ninth with 37.25 and Courtney Whitson is 11th with 37.15. The Blue Raiders have one of the best shot blockers in the country in Anastasiia Boldyreva, who is third nationally with 95 blocks and fifth nationally with 2.9 per game.

Blue Raiders Tournament History – This will be the 21st all-time appearance for Middle Tennessee and the 12th appearance under head coach Rick Insell. It is the third appearance in the last four tournaments for Middle Tennessee. They are 5-20 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and the second round is the farthest they have advanced in program history. This will be the seventh time the Blue Raiders have faced an ACC opponent in the NCAA Tournament and they are 2-4 all-time against the ACC in the NCAA Tournament.

Series History – Louisville and Middle Tennessee will meet for the ninth time in program history on Friday in a series that dates back to 1992. The two teams first met in Murfreesboro on Dec. 12, 1992, and the Cardinals came away with a 71-70 victory. Louisville leads the all-time series 6-2 and this will be the first time they met at a neutral venue. This will be the second time Louisville and Middle Tennessee have faced off in the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals and Blue Raiders squared off in the first round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament at the KFC Yum! Center and Louisville came away with a 74-49 win.

Last Meeting (Dec. 4, 2022) – The No. 18/15 Louisville women’s basketball team dropped its second game in a row to Middle Tennessee, 67-49, Sunday evening at the Murphy Center. The Cardinals (5-4) held a three-point lead after the first quarter but shooting woes plagued them the rest of the game as they fell to the Blue Raiders (5-2). Olivia Cochran led the way for the Cardinals with a team-high 14 points and added seven rebounds. Chrislyn Carr was the third Cardinal in double figures with 10 points, the fourth time in her last four games she has scored 10 points or more.