NCAA First Round opponent is Louisville

Notes for game #33 vs. Louisville

2015 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship bracket

With a 23-9 record, BYU women’s basketball enters the 2015 NCAA tournament as an automatic qualifier after winning the 2015 West Coast Conference Championships. The Cougars are the No. 14 seed and will play No. 3 seed Louisville, 25-6, in the first round game in Tampa, Florida on Sat. Mar. 21 at 4 p.m. ET. The game will be carried live on ESPN2 and on BYU Radio,

About BYU
Lexi Eaton, a 5-foot-10 junior guard/forward combo, leads the Cougars in scoring, averaging 20.7 points per game. She ranks third in rebounds, pulling down 6.5 boards and was named the MVP of the 2015 WCC Championships. Morgan Bailey, a 6-foot-2 senior forward, the 2015 WCC Player of the Year, is in second place in scoring, tallying 17.3 points, while leading the way in rebounding, averaging 10.5 boards per game. Bailey became BYU’s 26th player to eclipse 1,000 points in the USF game in San Francisco. The team’s assist leader is Kylie Maeda, who averages 4.3 assists a game.

BYU is averaging 68.6 points per game, while shooting 43.3 percent from the field, 71.6 percent at the free-throw line and 35.8 percent from 3-point land. In 24 games (most recent vs. USF in the WCC championship game) the Cougars have dished out more assists than their opponents and have pulled down more rebounds in 14 contests to date. When leading at the break, they are 17-2 and have scored at least 80 points in six games (most recent, 82 at Pacific).

The team has had four players score in double figures in four contests, (most recent at Pacific) and has had three players finish with double-digit points in 13 games (most recent vs. USF, in the WCC championship game).

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78) 14th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #21 L. Eaton, 20.7 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #41 M. Bailey, 10.5 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #15 K. Maeda, 4.3 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #23 M. Morrison, 1.5 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #41, M. Bailey, .69 bpg

About LOUISVILLE
Louisville enters the NCAA tournament with a 25-6 record and a 12-4 mark in the ACC. The Cardinals, who are ranked No. 8 in the national polls, finished in third place in league play and advanced to the semifinals of their conference tournament.

Three players are scoring in double figures for Louisville, led by Mariya Moore, who averages 13.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Myisha Hines-Alle follows, contributing 11.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per contest. Sara Hammond rounds out the double figure scoring for Louisville, tallying 10-8 points and a team-best 6.5 rebounds per contest.

Louisville scores 73.4 points a game, grabs 41.7 rebounds, shoots 44.4 percent from the field and 64.5 percent from the free-throw line. When attempting shots from behind the arc, Louisville is shooting 32.0 percent.

• Head coach: Jeff Walz (Northern Kentucky, 1995) Eighth season
• Team’s leading scorer: #04 M. Moore, 13.8 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #00 S. Hammond, 6.5 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #04 M. Moore, 3.7 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #21 B. Smith, 2.0 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #00 S. Hammond and #12 S. Dyer, .87 bpg

Series History
Louisville leads the series 1-0.

Last Meeting
These two teams have played once, in the first round of the NCAA tournament in 2007, where Louisville got the 80-54 victory in Los Angeles at USC. In that game, the Cardinals were the No. 6 seed and BYU was an 11 seed.

Dani Wright led BYU with 12 points, followed by 10 from Mallary Carling. Current assistant coach Melinda Bendall (Johnsen), started in that game and contributed seven points and four assists.

Up Next
A win over Louisville would send the Cougars into the second round and would play either host South Florida or LSU, on Mon. Mar. 23.