Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Oregon Ducks

(Photo of Olivia Cochran, Hailey Van Lith: Scott Utterback/Courier Journal via Imagn Content Services, LLC)

No. 2 Louisville Cardinals (25-3, 14-2 ACC) vs No. 6 Oregon Ducks (15-8, 10-7 Pac-12)

- Tipoff: Sunday, March 28th at 7:00 p.m. EST
- Location: Alamodome in San Antonio, Tex.
- How To Watch: ESPN
- How To Listen: WKRD 790-AM
- All-Time Series: Louisville leads 3-2
- Last Meeting: Louisville won 72-62 on Nov. 30, 2019 (Paradise Jam)

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.)

Oregon

G Taylor Mikesell (5-11, Jr.)
G Maddie Scherr (5-11, Fr.)
F Erin Boley (6-2, Sr.)
F Sedona Prince (6-7, R-So.)
F Nyara Sabally (6-5, R-So.)

Comparison

Louisville	Oregon
Points Per Game	77.9	72.1
Opp. Points Per Game	60.8	59.6
Scoring Margin	+17.1	+12.5
FG Percentage	46.5%	45.2%
Opp. FG Percentage	36.9%	37.2
3PT Percentage	34.9%	36.1%
Opp. 3PT Percentage	27.7%	30.2%
FT Percentage	79.5%	70.3%
Rebounds Per Game	39.5	39.0
Rebounds Margin	+4.1	+4.8
Assists Per Game	15.1	15.8
Turnovers Per Game	12.3	12.6
Turnover Margin	+3.5	+2.1
Assist.Turnover Ratio	1.2	1.3
Steals Per Game	7.6	8.2
Blocks Per Game	4.9	4.3

Game Notes

Louisville

UofL advanced to its fourth straight Sweet 16 and 10th overall with the win over Northwestern. They are seeking their third straight Elite Eight appearance and sixth all-time (2009, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019). Louisville is 5-4 all-time in the Sweet 16 and have won two straight Sweet 16 games, with a 61-44 win over Oregon State in 2019 and an 86-59 win over Stanford in 2018. The Cardinals are 6-1 alltime against 6-seeds in the NCAA Tournament. Louisville is now 10-2 all-time in the second round under Walz. They are 10-6 all-time in the second round and were 0-4 before Walz’s arrival. Louisville is 22-2 all-time in the first and second rounds combined under Walz.
Louisville trailed 21-12 to Marist and 25-7 to Northwestern before rallying to wins. They have allowed 40 points in the first quarter, but just 56 combined in the second, third and fourth quarters. Marist and Northwestern shot a combined 48.3 percent in the first quarter, but UofL held them to 20.9 percent shooting in the second, third and fourth quarters. Louisville is being outscored 40-22 in the first quarter, but in the second half they are outscoring opponents 87-40.
Louisville’s 18-point comeback against Northwestern is tied for the third largest in NCAA Tournament history. Texas A&M rallied from 21 down against Penn in 2017 and Oklahoma State rallied from 19 down against Chattanooga in 2010. Maryland also came back from 18 down against Texas A&M in 2012.
Senior Dana Evans continues to rack up accolades as she has been named one of four finalists for the Wade Trophy and the Naismith Women's Trophy. She was named a Wooden Award, Associated Press, espnW and Sports Illustrated First Team All-American.
Evans leads the ACC with 19.6 points per game and ranks seventh with 4.0 assists per game. She ranks sixth in the country with a 90.4 free throw percentage. Evans is 85-94 (.904) from the line on the season and was 57-59 (.966) in ACC play. She made 43 consecutive free throws from 12/6-2/7 prior to going 5-6 against Notre Dame.
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.
Freshman guard Hailey Van Lith leads the Cards with 13.4 points per game in postseason play. She is shooting 13-24 from deep in the postseason, while averaging 4.0 rebounds. She is averaging a team-high 15.0 points, while shooting 4-7 from deep in two NCAA Tournament games. Her 73.3 shooting percentage is the best in the NCAA Tournament through two games. Her 57.1 3-point percentage ranks third. After leading the team with 17 points against Marist, she had 13 points on 4-4 shooting, 2-2 from deep, against Northwestern.
Olivia Cochran had 15 rebounds in the win over Northwestern, which is the most by a Cardinal this season and her career-high. It is also tied for second all-time by a UofL player in an NCAA Tournament game. Candyce Bingham had 20 rebounds vs. North Carolina in 2008 and 15 against Baylor in 2009. She is averaging 10.0 rebounds in two NCAA Tournament games, which ranks second to Jasmine Franklin of Missouri State’s 14.5 per game.
Mykasa Robinson tied her career-high with nine rebounds vs. Northwestern. She is averaging 5.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in the NCAA Tournament. Her 8.0 rebounds per game rank sixth in the tournament.
Kianna Smith is shooting 5-10 from deep in NCAA Tournament, which ranks fourth among all players in 3-point percentage. Her five makes rank fourth in the tournament.

Oregon

With a 57-50 win over 3-seed Georgia on Wednesday, Oregon advanced to its fourth straight Sweet 16. Sedona Prince and Nyara Sabally combined for 37 points Wednesday as OU held Georgia to 35-percent shooting. The Ducks were 8-0 in 2020, but lost eight of 13 games in 2021 prior to winning two straight in the NCAA Tournament. They entered the Big Dance with losses in five of their last six games.
A stunning display of defense fueled Oregon to a 67-47 victory over South Dakota in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Ducks held the Coyotes without a field goal for a stretch of 14:44 that began midway through the first quarter and extended until the opening moments of the second half, during which South Dakota missed 25 straight field-goal attempts.
The Ducks had two players on the all-Pac-12 team announced on March 1, with Te-Hina Paopao and Nyara Sabally both being selected to the 15-player squad by the league’s coaches. Paopao was also one of five players on the Pac-12 all-freshman squad, and one of only two student-athletes to earn both all-Pac-12 and all-freshman. Sabally received Pac-12 all-defensive honorable mention in addition to being named all-Pac-12, and senior Erin Boley received all-conference honorable mention recognition. Paopao is projected to be out for the NCAA Tournament due to injury.
Nyara Sabally is one of only two players in the Pac-12 (Mya Hollingshed, CU) to lead their team in PPG (12.8), RPG (7.2), FGs (109) and blocks (24). She ranks No. 1 in the Pac-12 with a 54.2 field-goal percentage (109-of-201), according to the official NCAA stat rankings. She also leads Oregon with 17 double-figure scoring games - 14 in Pac-12 play - and four double-doubles.
After missing the last two seasons - first due to a knee injury and then NCAA transfer rules - and then dealing with an ankle injury that forced her to miss five games this season, redshirt sophomore Sedona Prince appears to finally be back at full strength for the Ducks. The 6-foot-7 center returned to the starting lineup on Jan. 22-24 for the first time since Dec. 4, leading the Ducks to a weekend and season sweep of the Washington schools. Prince scored in double figures in four straight games from Jan. 22 to Feb. 8, including 16 points and seven rebounds on Jan. 24 vs. UW.
Junior Taylor Mikesell impressed in her first career Pac12 Tournament game on March 4 vs. Oregon State, leading the Ducks with 24 points while setting a new career-high with 10 made field goals. The transfer from Maryland reached a career milestone with the performance, surpassing 1,000 points for her collegiate career to join Erin Boley as active Ducks in the 1K club.
The Ducks have held seven of their last 12 opponents and 13 total teams to fewer than 60 points this season, and South Dakota became the fifth team to be limited to fewer than 50 points against Oregon. UO held the Coyotes to just 26.2 percent shooting - including a stretch of 26 straight missed field goals - as well as 21.7 percent from three-point range, and the Ducks racked up 11 total steals, tied for the second-most this season. Oregon forced a season-high 23 turnovers and allowed a season-low 41 points to California on Jan. 10, tied for the fewest points the Ducks have given up in a conference game since Jan. 17, 2009.

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