Louisville vs. Michigan NCAA Tournament Elite Eight, Advance to Final Four 3-28-2022 Photo by Mark Blankenbaker

Cards Head To Seattle For Sweet 16 Battle vs. Ole Miss

Mark BlankenbakerMarch 23, 2023

The No. 5 seed Louisville women’s basketball team is out west for regional weekend as it prepares for its sixth-straight appearance in the Sweet 16. The Cardinals are set to square off with the No. 8 seed Ole Miss Rebels in Seattle on Friday, March 24. Louisville and Ole Miss will tip off from Climate Pledge Arena at 10 p.m. ET and the game will be aired nationally on ESPN.

Louisville is back in the Sweet 16 for the 12th time in program history and all 12 occurrences have come under head coach Jeff Walz. The Cardinals have been in six-straight Sweet 16’s and are just one of three schools (UConn, South Carolina) to have a streak of six tournaments or longer. The Cardinals have been to 10 Sweet 16’s since the 2011 season, a mark that is tied for fourth nationally over that span.

The Cardinals advanced to the Sweet 16 after a dominant 73-51 win over No. 4 seed Texas in the Second Round in Austin this past Monday. Louisville never trailed and the game was only tied once as the Cardinals handed the Longhorns their worst home loss since the 2019 season. The Cardinals limited Texas to just five assists, the fewest assists in an NCAA Tournament game for the Longhorns since 2000.

In the win over the Longhorns, Hailey Van Lith once again led the Cardinals offensively with 21 points on 8-for-15 shooting. She has scored 20 or more points in both NCAA Tournament games this season and has shot 50 percent or better in each. Over the last two NCAA Tournaments, Van Lith has scored 20 points or more in six of her seven games.

With the win, Walz improved to 26-2 overall in the first and second round during his time at Louisville. He also improved his record as the lower seed to 9-6. It was the team’s 25th win of the season, the 11th-straight season with 25 or more wins. Overall, the Cardinals have won 25 or more games in 13 of Walz’s 16 seasons. Prior to his time, Louisville only won 25 or more games twice in a 32-year span.

Date: Friday, March 24
Time: 10 p.m. ET
Site: Seattle, Wash. | Climate Pledge Arena (18,100)
TV: ESPN (Pam Ward, play-by-play; Stephanie White, analyst; Holly Rowe, sideline)
Radio: 93.9-FM WLCL (Nick Curran, play-by-play; Cortnee Walton, analyst)
National Radio: Sirius Channel 136, XM Channel 204 (Matt Chazanow, play-by-play; Krista Brink, analyst)
Series History: First Meeting

ABOUT THE REBELS
No. 8 seed Ole Miss enters the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament with a 25-8 record and were 11-5 in SEC play. The Rebels finished fourth in the SEC during the regular season and the 11 conference wins tied the program record. It is also the first time since 1994-95 that the Rebels have won 20 or more games in back-to-back seasons. The Rebels bring a stingy defense into the Sweet 16 matchup with the Cardinals as they are third in the nation in three-point defense as they limit opponents to 24.8 percent from behind the arc. The Cardinals shoot 34.2 percent from three, a mark that is second in the ACC. The Rebels are ninth nationally in field goal percentage, as they hold opponents to 35.2 percent shooting while the Cardinals shoot 45.0 from the field on the season.

Ole Miss Tournament History – This is the 19th appearance for the Rebels in the NCAA Tournament and the first time they have earned back-to-back bids to the Tournament since the 2004 and 2005 seasons. The Rebels are 20-18 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and have advanced to the Sweet 16 11 times and Elite Eight five times in program history. This is the first time the Rebels have made the Sweet 16 since the 2007 NCAA Tournament, where the Rebels made the Elite Eight before falling to Tennessee. Ole Miss is 2-0 all-time against ACC teams in the NCAA Tournament and this is the first time they have faced an ACC opponent since they played Maryland in the second round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament. The Rebels are 5-5 all-time in the Sweet 16.