Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Gonzaga Bulldogs

The Cardinals and Bulldogs square off for a trip to the Sweet Sixteen on the line.

No. 1 Louisville Cardinals (26-4, 16-2 ACC) vs No. 9 Gonzaga Bulldogs (27-6, 16-2 WCC)

- Tipoff: Sunday, Mar. 20th at 7:00 p.m. EST
- Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
- How To Watch: ESPN
- How To Listen: WKRD 790-AM
- Betting Favorite: Louisville -10.5
- All-Time Series: Series tied 1-1
- Last Meeting: Louisville won 55-42 on Nov. 21, 2012 (Hardwood Tournament of Hope - Puerta Vallarta, Mexico)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

• G Hailey Van Lith (5-7, So.)
• G Chelsie Hall (5-7, Gr.)
• G Kianna Smith (6-0, R-Sr.)
• F Emily Engstler (6-1, Sr.)
• F Olivia Cochran (6-3, So.)

Gonzaga

• G Kayleigh Truong (5-9, Jr.)
• G Cierra Walker (5-8, R-Sr.)
• F Abby O'Connor (6-0, Sr.)
• F Melody Kempton (6-1, Sr.)
• F Anamaria Virjoghe (6-5, R-Sr.)

Comparison

	Louisville	Gonzaga
NET	5th	25th
SOS	39th	43rd
Points Per Game	72.5	69.3
Opp. Points Per Game	54.9	55.7
Scoring Margin	+17.6	+13.6
FG Percentage	46.0%	43.4
Opp. FG Percentage	36.6%	36.7%
3PT Percentage	36.6%	35.2%
Opp. 3PT Percentage	29.0%	27.5%
FT Percentage	71.9%	77.2%
Rebounds Per Game	38.8	40.6
Rebound Margin	+6.6	+10.2
Assists Per Game	15.8	14.7
Turnovers Per Game	14.3	14.8
Turnover Margin	+5.1	-0.3
Assist/Turnover Ratio	1.1	1.0
Steals Per Game	9.9	7.8
Blocks Per Game	4.4	4.0

Game Notes

Louisville

• At 26-4 and No. 4 in the AP and USA Today polls, Louisville is a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in program history. The Cardinals were also a No. 1 seed in 2018 (Final Four) and 2019 (Elite Eight). They are the only team in the country to be a No. 1 seed in three of the last four tournaments. This marks first time UofL has faced a No. 9 seed.
• Louisville is making its 24th NCAA Tournament appearance and 13th in 14 tournaments under head coach Jeff Walz. The Cardinals are playing in their 11th straight NCAA Tournament. Louisville is 38-23 all-time. They were 4-11 in their first 11 appearances and are 34-12 in their 13 appearances with Walz. They have moved on to the Sweet 16 10 times, the Elite Eight six times, Final Four three times (2009, 2013, 2018) and twice advanced to the title game.
• Louisville is 10-2 all-time in second round games under Coach Walz. The Cardinals are 10-6 alltime in the second round and were 0-4 prior to Walz’s arrival. Under Walz, UofL is now 13-0 in first round games with +26.6 scoring margin.
• Emily Engstler had seven steals and two blocks against UAlbany and joins UConn’s Breanna Stewart as the only two players to have seven steals and multiple blocks in NCAA Tournament history. Her seven steals are tied for the third most ever by a UofL player in the NCAA Tournament. Stephanie Edwards had 10 steals against Georgia in 1984 and Jude Schimmel had eight against Purdue in 2013. The seven steals also tie Engstler's career high, she had seven earlier this season against Pitt. She has 10 double-doubles on the year, which ranks fourth in the ACC and are the most by a UofL player since Kylee Shook had 11 during the 2019-20 campaign. She leads the ACC and ranks 30th in NCAA with 2.6 steals per game, ranks third in ACC with 9.1 rebounds per game and ranks fifth with 1.8 blocks per game. She has led UofL in rebounds in 27 of 30 games.
• Hailey Van Lith led the team with 20 points in the win over UAlbany. It marked her first 20-point game in the NCAA Tournament, fifth of the season and eighth of her career. She leads the team in scoring with 13.8 points per game and has led the team in scoring 12 times. She reached double figures in 14 of 17 ACC games, including four 20-plus point performances and a career-high 34-point game at Clemson. In the last seven regular season games, she averaged a team-high 18.6 points per game. She has made at least one 3-pointer in 14 of last 17 games.
• Mykasa Robinson has played a team-high nine NCAA Tournament games and is the only player in her third NCAA Tournament at Louisville. This is Kianna Smith’s team-high fourth NCAA Tournament, as she played in two tournaments while at California (2018, 2019). This is Emily Engstler’s third NCAA Tournament and first with Louisville. She played in the 2019 and 2021 tournaments while at Syracuse.
• Louisville hosts the first and second round for the sixth time in its history and fifth time in the last six tournaments. The only time during that stint when they didn’t host was last season when the entire tournament was in SanAntonio. The Cards are 11-2 all-time in NCAATournament games at the KFC Yum! Center, 6-0 in first round games and 4-1 in second round games.
• UofL has won 17 straight at home, which ties the longest home winning streak in program history. They won 17 straight in 2013-14 and they won their final five home games in 2016-17 and their first 12 in 2017-18.
• Kianna Smith had 15 points in the win over UAlbany, including 10 in the first quarter. She scored 10 of Louisville’s first 13 points. She finished 6-10, 3-6 from deep with five assists.
• At 26-4, UofL has recorded 20 or more wins in 12 straight seasons to extend the program record. The longest run previously was three, achieved twice. The Cards have won at least 20 games in 14 of Walz’s 15 seasons. Prior to Walz’s arrival, Louisville had just 10 20-win seasons in its history. The Cardinals have 25 or more wins in 10 straight seasons.

Gonzaga

• GU is coming off a 68-55 win over No. 8 Nebraska in the First Round of the tournament. Four Zags scored in double figures as junior Kayleigh Truong had a career-high 20 points against the Cornhuskers.
• GU won its 10th WCC Tournament Title in Vegas earlier this month with a 71-59 win over No. 15 BYU. The win was Gonzaga’s first ranked win since Dec. 17, 2019, versus No. 20/17 Missouri State. It was also the highest ranked win since Dec. 2, 2018 versus No. 8/7 Stanford.
• Melody Kempton was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player while Kaylynne Truong was tabbed to the All-Tournament team.
• It marked the 10th overall WCC Tournament Title for GU and head coach Lisa Fortier’s fourth at the helm. Gonzaga also moves to 11-4 overall in the tournament under Fortier.
• Kayleigh Truong leads the team with 11.1 points and 3.8 assists a game. Melody Kempton is leading the Zags in rebounds with 6.3 rebounds a game. She also has recorded 26 blocks and 30 steals this season. Senior Anamaria Virjoghe leads the team in blocks with 45 as sophomore Yvonne Ejim is right behind her with 42. Ejim also leads the team in steals with 45 as she averages 20.5 minutes off the bench.
• Cierra Walker is ranked 11th in the country and first in the WCC in three-point field-goal percentage as she has averaged 42.6 percent so far this year.
• Melody Kempton is shooting at 54.2 percent this year. The mark is currently ranked first in program history for Gonzaga women’s basketball.
• From the charity stripe, the Zags have made 421 free throws this season and are second in the WCC in freethrow percentage (77.2 percent), which also ranks 18th in the nation.
• Defensively, the Bulldogs are first in the conference in scoring defense with 55.7 points, also good for 26th in the country. From beyond the arc, Gonzaga is shooting at 35.2 percent, which is also first in the WCC.
• The Zags are averaging 40.6 rebounds a game and a 10.7 rebound margin, which ranks seventh in the nation.
• Three members of the Gonzaga women’s basketball team were name to the 2022 All-West Coast Conference Team. Senior Melody Kempton and junior Kayleigh Truong were both named to the All-WCC First Team. Sophomore Yvonne Ejim was named the Sixth Woman of the Year along with being selected to the All-WCC Second Team.

(Photo of Hailey Van Lith, Emily Engstler: Scott Utterback - Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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