Sunday, January 19
Chapel Hill, N.C.
1 PM
North Carolina
vs
Louisville
The Tar Heels host fifth-ranked Louisville on Sunday at 1.
Photo by: Dana Gentry
Tar Heels Host No. 5 Louisville Sunday On ESPN2
January 18, 2020 | Women's Basketball
CHAPEL HILL – The UNC women's basketball team hosts No. 5 Louisville Sunday afternoon for an Atlantic Coast Conference battle at Carmichael Arena. The game starts at 1 p.m. and will be televised nationally by ESPN2.
Click here for tickets. As is the case every Sunday, it's Kids' Day: the first 200 kids (eighth grade and younger) get kid combo meals and there will be free face painting and a photo booth in the lobby. Young Tar Heel fans can shoot on the Carmichael court following the game.
The matchup with the Cardinals is Carolina's second top-10 home game in the past 10 days, following a win over No. 9 NC State on Jan. 9.
UNC vs. Louisville
Sunday's game is the 10th meeting between UNC and Louisville. The Cardinals lead the series 6-3 and have won the last six in a row.
• The Cardinals won 73-66 in the teams' last meeting, on Jan. 3, 2019, in Louisville. The last time the teams played in Chapel Hill was Feb. 18, 2018, when the Cardinals won 67-57.
• UNC's last win in the series was in the 2008 NCAA Tournament, 78-74 in a Sweet 16 game in New Orleans.
Scouting the Cardinals
Louisville is 17-1 this season and 6-0 in ACC play coming off an 81-70 win at Boston College on Thursday night. The team's loss came in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge, 67-60 at Ohio State on Dec. 5.
• The Cardinals are led in scoring by junior guard Dana Evans, who averages 18.9 points per game and leads the ACC in three-point percentage and free throw percentage. Senior guard Jazmine Jones is the other Louisville player in double figures, with 14.2 points per game. Senior forward Kylee Shook leads the team in rebounding with 7.9 boards per game.
Tar Heels by the Numbers
• All five UNC starters are averaging between 14.9 and 11.6 points per game.
• UNC leads the ACC in scoring (76.5 ppg) and assist/turnover ratio (1.32). The Tar Heels rank second in turnover margin (+3.65) and scoring margin (+17.1) and third in free throw percentage (.722).
• UNC and Louisville are the only teams that rank in the top 10 in the conference in every statistical category.
• Freshman Malu Tshitenge leads the league in offensive rebounding (4.65 per game) and senior Shayla Bennett leads in assist/turnover ratio (2.3).
Carolina's ACC Start
• UNC is off to a 4-2 ACC start for the first time since 2015
• UNC has started 3-0 at home in ACC play for the first time since 2013.
• UNC's win over Miami was UNC's first since 2015 and the first win over the Hurricanes at home since 2012.
North Carolina Notables
• In ACC games only, UNC leads the conference in defensive rebounding percentage at .776. (UNC with 161 defensive rebounds compared with 51 offensive rebounds in six games.)
• All five UNC starters have led the scoring effort in at least two games this season. Janelle Bailey Taylor Koenen and Madinah Muhammad have each been the leading scorer four times, Shayla Bennett three times, and Malu Tshitenge twice.
• UNC has trailed at halftime in each of the past four games and has come back to win twice, both at home. The Tar Heels trailed by 10 vs. NC State (38-28) and one vs. Miami (38-37) before rebounding to win. Carolina couldn't complete the comeback at Va Tech (36-32) and FSU (40-33). UNC is 2-3 when trailing at the half, with Yale (30-28) the other loss.
• UNC hasn't lost this season when shooting 40 percent or better from the field.
• The NC State game marked the largest UNC deficit in a win this season. The Tar Heels trailed by 14 in the second quarter.
• UNC and Louisville are the only teams in the ACC that rank in the top 10 in the conference in every statistical category.
• Koenen is just the fifth player in program history to total 1,000 points, 700 rebounds and 300 assists. (The four players who previously reached those marks – Tonya Sampson, Erlana Larkins, Rashanda McCants and La'Tangela Atkinson – all went on to play professionally in the WNBA or ABL.)
• Against Miami, Shayla Bennett had seven assists and no turnovers.
• Leah Church has hit her last four three-point attempts – her last two in the FSU game (she was 3-4 overall) and both of her shots against Miami. For the season, she's shooting .422 ( 19-45), with every shot coming from long range. She's averaging 4.0 points per game for the season but 8.5 over the past two games.
• Janelle Bailey's 28 points vs. Miami marked the most by a Tar Heel this season.
• The Tar Heels will be celebrating National Girls and Women in Sports Day, with an event before the game and recognitions during it. Women's basketball is one of 15 women's varsity teams at UNC and all will participate in the national event.
Click here for tickets. As is the case every Sunday, it's Kids' Day: the first 200 kids (eighth grade and younger) get kid combo meals and there will be free face painting and a photo booth in the lobby. Young Tar Heel fans can shoot on the Carmichael court following the game.
The matchup with the Cardinals is Carolina's second top-10 home game in the past 10 days, following a win over No. 9 NC State on Jan. 9.
📞 Calling on our 6️⃣th man this Sunday!
👣💙🏀👀#InPursuit | #CarolinaFamily pic.twitter.com/ruoKNLQeby— Carolina Women's Basketball (@uncwbb) January 18, 2020
UNC vs. Louisville
Sunday's game is the 10th meeting between UNC and Louisville. The Cardinals lead the series 6-3 and have won the last six in a row.
• The Cardinals won 73-66 in the teams' last meeting, on Jan. 3, 2019, in Louisville. The last time the teams played in Chapel Hill was Feb. 18, 2018, when the Cardinals won 67-57.
• UNC's last win in the series was in the 2008 NCAA Tournament, 78-74 in a Sweet 16 game in New Orleans.
Scouting the Cardinals
Louisville is 17-1 this season and 6-0 in ACC play coming off an 81-70 win at Boston College on Thursday night. The team's loss came in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge, 67-60 at Ohio State on Dec. 5.
• The Cardinals are led in scoring by junior guard Dana Evans, who averages 18.9 points per game and leads the ACC in three-point percentage and free throw percentage. Senior guard Jazmine Jones is the other Louisville player in double figures, with 14.2 points per game. Senior forward Kylee Shook leads the team in rebounding with 7.9 boards per game.
Tar Heels by the Numbers
• All five UNC starters are averaging between 14.9 and 11.6 points per game.
• UNC leads the ACC in scoring (76.5 ppg) and assist/turnover ratio (1.32). The Tar Heels rank second in turnover margin (+3.65) and scoring margin (+17.1) and third in free throw percentage (.722).
• UNC and Louisville are the only teams that rank in the top 10 in the conference in every statistical category.
• Freshman Malu Tshitenge leads the league in offensive rebounding (4.65 per game) and senior Shayla Bennett leads in assist/turnover ratio (2.3).
Carolina's ACC Start
• UNC is off to a 4-2 ACC start for the first time since 2015
• UNC has started 3-0 at home in ACC play for the first time since 2013.
• UNC's win over Miami was UNC's first since 2015 and the first win over the Hurricanes at home since 2012.
North Carolina Notables
• In ACC games only, UNC leads the conference in defensive rebounding percentage at .776. (UNC with 161 defensive rebounds compared with 51 offensive rebounds in six games.)
• All five UNC starters have led the scoring effort in at least two games this season. Janelle Bailey Taylor Koenen and Madinah Muhammad have each been the leading scorer four times, Shayla Bennett three times, and Malu Tshitenge twice.
• UNC has trailed at halftime in each of the past four games and has come back to win twice, both at home. The Tar Heels trailed by 10 vs. NC State (38-28) and one vs. Miami (38-37) before rebounding to win. Carolina couldn't complete the comeback at Va Tech (36-32) and FSU (40-33). UNC is 2-3 when trailing at the half, with Yale (30-28) the other loss.
• UNC hasn't lost this season when shooting 40 percent or better from the field.
• The NC State game marked the largest UNC deficit in a win this season. The Tar Heels trailed by 14 in the second quarter.
• UNC and Louisville are the only teams in the ACC that rank in the top 10 in the conference in every statistical category.
• Koenen is just the fifth player in program history to total 1,000 points, 700 rebounds and 300 assists. (The four players who previously reached those marks – Tonya Sampson, Erlana Larkins, Rashanda McCants and La'Tangela Atkinson – all went on to play professionally in the WNBA or ABL.)
• Against Miami, Shayla Bennett had seven assists and no turnovers.
• Leah Church has hit her last four three-point attempts – her last two in the FSU game (she was 3-4 overall) and both of her shots against Miami. For the season, she's shooting .422 ( 19-45), with every shot coming from long range. She's averaging 4.0 points per game for the season but 8.5 over the past two games.
• Janelle Bailey's 28 points vs. Miami marked the most by a Tar Heel this season.
• The Tar Heels will be celebrating National Girls and Women in Sports Day, with an event before the game and recognitions during it. Women's basketball is one of 15 women's varsity teams at UNC and all will participate in the national event.
Players Mentioned
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