Louisville vs. Syracuse 12-29-2023 Photo by William Caudill

TONIGHT: #16 Louisville vs. #21 Syracuse

Mark BlankenbakerFebruary 1, 2024

The No. 16/12 Louisville women’s basketball team (18-3, 7-1 ACC) is set to close out a three-game homestand on Thursday with a top-25 matchup on deck. The Cardinals are set to take on the No. 21/13 Syracuse Orange (17-3, 7-2) on Thursday, February 1 at the KFC Yum! Center. The matchup with the Orange will be the first of four-straight ranked games for the Cardinals over the next 11 days. Louisville and Syracuse will square off at 7 p.m. ET and it will be streamed on the ACC Network Extra.

Louisville is 2-0 so far over the homestand with wins over Boston College (88-60) and Pitt (77-58) last week. Both wins improved the Cardinals home record to 11-0 on the season and they have won at least 11 home games in every season the KFC Yum! Center has been open. The Cardinals also improved to 56-0 all-time against unranked ACC opponents at home since they joined the league in 2014-15.

In the most recent win over Pitt, Jayda Curry led the team with 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting and she tied a season high with three made three-pointers. Curry has scored in double figures in four of the last five games and it was the fifth time she has led the team in scoring this season. She is tied for the team lead with Olivia Cochran and Kiki Jefferson in games leading the team in scoring.

Kiki Jefferson joined Curry in double figures against Pitt with 12 points in the win. It was the 14th time in the last 16 games she has scored in double figures and she leads the team in scoring with 12.9 points per game. Jefferson continues to be one of the best free throw shooters in the country as she is shooting 89.2 percent (74-for-83) on the season, a mark that leads the ACC and is 19th nationally.

Date: Thursday, February 1
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Site: Louisville, Ky. | KFC Yum! Center (22,090)
TV: ACCNX (Jeff Greer, play-by-play; Jessica Laemmle-McDaniel, analyst)
Radio: 93.9-FM The Ville (Nick Curran, play-by-play; Cortnee Walton, analyst)
Series History: Louisville leads 19-7 (11-1 home, 6-5 away, 2-1 neutral)
Last Meeting: W, 79-67 (Jan. 29, 2023 at Syracuse, N.Y.)

ABOUT THE ORANGE

Syracuse comes into Thursday’s matchup with a 17-3 record and are 7-2 in conference play. The Orange are coming off a 1-1 week in conference play with a road win over #15/18 Notre Dame (79-65) and a home loss against #19 Virginia Tech (62-75). The Cardinals will be the third ranked opponent the Orange will face in the past three games. The Orange will be the first of four-straight ranked opponents the Cardinals will face over the next two weeks. Both matchups between the two schools will occur in the next 11 days as the Cardinals will travel to Syracuse and face off on Sunday, February 11. Syracuse is one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country this season. They lead the ACC and rank seventh nationally with 16.8 offensive rebounds per game. The Orange average 43.6 rebounds overall per game, a mark that is third in the ACC and 13th nationally. Dyashia Fair has been one of the best scorers in the conference this season. She leads the conference and ranks third nationally with 3.6 three pointers made per game. She is fourth in the conference with 20.5 points per game and that ranks 18th nationally.

Series History – This will be the 27th meeting all time between the two schools as the series dates back to the 1986-87 season. Louisville holds the all-time series lead 19-7 and are 11-1 in games played at Louisville. The Cardinals have won seven-straight games over the Orange and have won eight-straight games against the Orange played in Louisville. The Cardinals have not lost to the Orange in Louisville since the KFC Yum! Center opened in the 2010-11 season.

Last Meeting (Jan. 29, 2023) – The University of Louisville women’s basketball team bounced back with a 79-67 win over Syracuse Sunday afternoon at the JMA Wireless Dome. After trailing by two at the half, the Cardinals used a big third quarter to jump back in front and did not look back as they won their seventh road game of the season. The win stopped a two-game losing streak and gave the Cardinals their seventh ACC win of the season. Nyla Harris led the Cardinals with a career high 18 points and three blocks to go with six rebounds. Mykasa Robinson had a career-high 12 assists and tied a career high with five steals to go with seven points, seven rebounds and zero turnovers. The 12 assists were the most by a Cardinal player in a game since 2015. She is the only player in the NCAA this season to have 12 or more assists and zero turnovers in a single game. As a team, Louisville had a season-high 25 assists on 31 made baskets. Chrislyn Carr had 14 points and season highs with eight assists and five steals. Liz Dixon was also in double figures with 11 points and she tied a season high with three blocks.