Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Marist Red Foxes

The Cardinals begin their NCAA Tournament run with a matchup against the Red Foxes

(Photo of Elizabeth Dixon, Mykasa Robinson, Jeff Walz: Walter Unks via the Atlantic Coast Conference)

No. 2 Louisville Cardinals (23-3, 14-2 ACC) vs No. 15 Marist Red Foxes (18-3, 13-3 MAAC)

- Tipoff: Monday, March 22nd at 8:00 p.m. EST
- Location: Alamodome in San Antonio, Tex.
- How To Watch: ESPN
- How To Listen: WKRD 790-AM
- All-Time Series: Series tied 1-1
- Last Meeting: Louisville won 65-53 on Nov. 27, 2015 (Gulf Coast Showcase - Estero, Fla.)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

• G Dana Evans (5-6, Sr.)
• G Hailey Van Lith (5-7, Fr.)
• G Mykasa Robinson (5-7, Jr.)
• G Kianna Smith (6-0, R-Jr.)
• F Olivia Cochran (6-3, Fr.)

Marist

• G Allie Best (6-8, Sr.)
• G Trinasia Kennedy (5-8, So.)
• G Sarah Barcello (5-11, Jr.)
• F Willow Duffell (6-2, Sr.)
• F Caitlin Weimer (6-4, Fr.)

Comparison

	Louisville	Marist
Points Per Game	78.7	63.6
Opp. Points Per Game	61.8	50.0
Scoring Margin	+16.9	+13.6
FG Percentage	46.9%	41.6%
Opp. FG% Percentage	37.6%	34.0%
3PT Percentage	35.1%	33.4%
Opp. 3PT Percentage	27.4%	25.6%
FT Percentage	79.0%	68.4%
Rebounds Per Game	39.4	38.2
Rebound Margin	+4.2	+4.3
Assists Per Game	15.2	16.2
Turnovers Per Game	12.0	13.7
Turnover Margin	+3.7	+2.6
Assist/Turnover Ratio	1.3	1.2
Steals Per Game	7.6	8.2
Blocks Per Game	4.8	3.2

Game Notes

Louisville

• At 23-3 and No. 8 in the AP poll and No. 7 in the USA Today poll, Louisville is a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. The Cardinals were a No. 1 seed in 2018 (Final Four) and 2019 (Elite Eight). Louisville has never faced a 15-seed in the NCAA Tournament.
• Louisville is making its 23rd NCAA Tournament appearance and 12th in 13 tournaments under head coach Jeff Walz. The Cardinals are marking their 10th straight NCAA Tournament. Louisville is 34-22 all-time. They were 4-11 in their first 11 appearances and are 30-11 in their 11 appearances with Walz. They have moved on to the Sweet 16 nine times, the Elite Eight five times, Final Four three times (2009, 2013, 2018) and twice advanced to the title game. With three Final Fours in the last 11 years, UofL ranks fourth in the country behind UConn (11), Stanford (6) and Notre Dame (6).
• UofL enters postseason play with two players that have tournament experience in a Cardinals uniform. Dana Evans came off the bench as a freshman for the 2018 team that reached the final four, averaging 6.2 points and 2.4 assists in 19.0 minutes. As a sophomore in 2019, she helped the Cards reach the Elite Eight, averaging 9.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists. In 2019, Mykasa Robinson played in four games, including one start, averaging 8.5 minutes. Kianna Smith played in the 2018 and 2019 NCAA Tournaments while at Cal, averaging 15.3 points and 4.3 assists, while shooting 6-14 from deep. As a freshman, she had 20 points and eight assists in the first round loss to Virginia. Ahlana Smith played two games in the 2019 tournament at UCLA, averaging 6.5 minutes.
• Senior Dana Evans continues to rack up accolades as she has been named one of four finalists for the Naismith Women's Trophy, and an Associated Press, espnW and Sports Illustrated First Team All-American.
• Evans was named ACC Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. Evans joins Asia Durr as the only players in program history to earn conference player of the year multiple times. She is the ninth player in ACC history to win the award in back-to-back years. Last season, she became the first player in league history to go from winning ACC Sixth Player of the Year to winning ACC Player of the Year the following season. It marks the fourth straight year that the conference’s top honor has come from the Cardinals program, as Louisville joins Duke as the only two programs with the ACC Player of the Year in four consecutive years. On Wednesday, Evans was named Kay Yow Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She joins Durr as the only Cardinals to win this prestigious award.
• In addition to Evans being named the ACC Player of the Year, Mykasa Robinson was named to the All-ACC Defensive Team and Olivia Cochran and Hailey Van Lith were named to the All-ACC Freshman Team. Robinson is the first named to All-Defensive team since Kylee Shook and Jazmine Jones did so last season, while Cochran and Van Lith are first on All-Freshman team since Evans did so in 2017-18. Liz Dixon, Evans, Robinson, Kianna Smith and Van Lith were named to the All-ACC Academic team. Evans, Kianna Smith and Van Lith were all named to the ACC All-Tournament team.
• UofL is shooting 35.1 percent from beyond the arc, which ranks fourth in the ACC. From 1/14-2/11, they had a 10-game stretch where seven times they shot above 40 percent from 3-point range and went 94- 227 (.414) in those 10 games. UofL shot 7-38 (.184) from 3-point range in the first two games in January and through their first seven games were shooting 29.5 percent from deep, which ranked 13th in ACC. In ACC play, they shot 37.2 percent from deep, ranked second in the league, and their 126 makes ranked second behind VT’s 157.
• UofL has held their opponent to 70 points or below 22 times, below 60 11 times and below 50 three times. In ACC play, they allowed 63.3 points per game, which ranked second in the league to Georgia Tech’s 62.9 ppg.
• UofL features four double-digit scorers - Dana Evans (20.0), Kianna Smith (11.5), Hailey Van Lith (11.2) and Olivia Cochran (10.7). In all but four games, at least three players have scored in double figures. Twice in the ACC Tournament, they had less than three double figure scorers - one (Van Lith) vs. Wake Forest and two (Evans, K. Smith) vs. NC State. Six times four players have scored 10-plus points, six times five players have scored 10+ and six players scored in double figures wins over Bellarmine and North Carolina.
• In three ACC Tournament games, UofL limited opponents to 18.9 percent shooting (10-53) from deep. Overall, opponents are shooting just 27.4 percent from deep against UofL, which ranks second in the ACC. They limited Clemson to 0-19 shooting from 3-point range. In 16 ACC games, UofL limited opponents to 29.8 percent 3-point shooting, which ranked second in the league. Eight total times, including both ACC Tourney wins vs. WF (3-18, .167) and Syracuse (3-17, .176), the Cards have held their opponent below 20 percent shooting from deep.
• True freshmen Hailey Van Lith (11.2 ppg, 5.5 rpg) and Olivia Cochran (10.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg) ranked in the top six in scoring and rebounding among ACC freshmen.
• Olivia Cochran and Liz Dixon are shooting a combined 196-331 (.592) from the floor on the season, while averaging a combined 19.0 points and 12.4 rebounds per game.

Marist

• Marist captured its 11th MAAC title in program history, all under Head Coach Brian Giorgis, after going 18-3 on the season. The Red Foxes went 13-3 in MAAC play to secure their 13th MAAC regular season championship. Marist defeated Siena, Fairfield, and Saint Peter’s in the MAAC Tournament, and the Red Foxes’ 69-30 win in the MAAC title game set championship game records for largest margin of victory & fewest points allowed.
• Willow Duffell was named to the All-MAAC First Team for the first time in her career after receiving Preseason All-MAAC Third Team accolades.
• Duffell is averaging career-highs with 12.5 points per game and 9.2 rebounds per game. She became the first Red Fox to be named MAAC Tournament MVP since Sydney Coffey in 2014. The Harriman, NY native set her own single-game marks with 18 points and 17 boards against Quinnipiac on January 4th, the most boards by a Red Fox since Tori Jarosz had 15 rebounds vs. Canisius on February 27th, 2016.
• Duffell received MAAC Tournament MVP honors after averaging 17 points, 12 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game in Marist’s three wins. Weimar (10.5 PPG, 10 RPG, 3.5 BPG) and Allie Best (19/3 assist/turnover ratio) were selected to the MAAC All-Championship Team.
• Sarah Barcello and Trinasia Kennedy were selected to the All-MAAC Third Team. For Barcello, it is her first postseason honor outside of her MAAC All-Championship nomination in 2019. Kennedy racks up her first MAAC honor in her sophomore campaign.
• Barcello is setting career-bests with 12.9 points per game, 4.4 rebounds per game, and 1.5 steals per game in 29.6 minutes per contest. - After setting her personal best with a pair of 18 points against Canisius, she dropped 25 points at Quinnipiac on January 3rd on 10-of-16 shooting, becoming the first Red Fox since Rebekah Hand on February 20th, 2020 to score at least 25 points in a game.
• Kennedy began her sophomore campaign with 14 points in the win over Army, shooting 60% from the field. - On January 16th at Fairfield, she dropped a career-best 26 points. She shares the team lead with Willow Duffell with two 20+ point games after she scored 20 points, 15 after halftime, vs. Rider on February 8th
• Caitlin Weimar was named MAAC Co-Rookie of the Year with Rider’s Makayla Firebaugh, and a unanimous pick for the MAAC All-Rookie Team after winning five MAAC Rookie of the Week awards.
• Weimar has started every game this year, and is averaging 8.8 PPG and 7.5 RPG along with 35 blocks. - She became Marist’s fourth-ever MAAC Rookie of the Year, joining Rebekah Hand (2017), Erica Allenspach (2008), and Rachele (RACHEL, don’t pronounce the second e) Fitz (2007)
• Allie Best has dished out 5.2 assists per game, a career-best that is 26th in the nation. - She didn’t surrender her first turnover of the year until the fourth game against UAlbany. Her assist/turnover ratio is 4.78, best in the nation. That mark would be fourth-highest since the NCAA began tracking the statistic in 2008
• Head Coach Brian Giorgis was named MAAC Co-Coach of the Year with Saint Peter’s’ Marc Mitchell.
• Marist is first in the MAAC with 63.6 points per game. The Red Foxes have paced the conference in that category the previous two seasons. - Nine of Marist’s 18 victories have come by 18 or more points, putting their scoring margin of +13.6 the 22nd-highest mark in Division I.
• Marist leads the conference in scoring defense and field goal percentage defense; the Foxes sit second in the nation, allowing just 50.0 points per game, and ninth with a 34 FG% defense. No opponent has scored more than 61 points against Marist in the Red Foxes’ first 21 games, and just twice has Marist allowed a team to shoot more than 40 percent.
• The Red Foxes have held their last 10 opponents under 60 points. The single-season program record in each category is 49.7 PPG allowed and 33.2 FG% defense, both set in the 2010-11 season.
• The Red Foxes tied its program record with five straight wins to start the season. Marist has achieved that feat in three consecutive seasons, a program first. The 7-1 start has happened twice prior to this year, in 2007-08 and 2008-09. In both seasons, the Red Foxes won the MAAC title.

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