The Louisville Cardinals and Notre Dame Fighting Irish are set to clash on Sunday at the KFC Yum! Center for the annual Pink Game, and it is set for a 12 p.m. ET tipoff and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.
Cardinals and Fighting Irish have been at the center of attention and constantly at the top of the ACC. In the last 11 years Louisville or Notre Dame has been in the ACC Championship nine times, including 2018 when Louisville defeated Notre Dame 74-72, earning their last ACC title.
Both schools have been exceptionally well this season, but Notre Dame has been nearly unbeatable all-season long, as they are 18-2 and on a 13 game win streak.
However, the Irish have a glaring kryptonite that the Cardinals seem to capitalize on as of late.
Louisville Cardinals dominant stat is Notre Dame’s glaring kryptonite
Louisville women’s basketball team has been dominant as of recent, where they have won nine of their last 10 and improved to 15-6, 8-2 in ACC play. The Cardinals were able to hold on in a tight victory over SMU Thursday night in an 80-75 win as they were led by Tajianna Roberts with her 22 points.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish come in ranked No.3 in the nation and are heavily favorited against Louisville, but Cardinals are peaking at the right time and seem to have Notre Dame’s number in recent years.
Jeff Walz has rallied this gritty Cardinals program to be one of the best programs in the country and specifically at the KFC Yum! Center. The Cardinals and Irish have dominated the ACC in the last 10 years and have made a fun rivalry in women’s basketball.
However, the Cardinals faithful are known to pack the KFC Yum! Center, and the environment seems to be the Fighting Irish glaring weakness, and a hurdle Notre Dame has struggled to overcome.
UofL looks to keep dominating the Irish Sunday, as they have won five of the last six meetings between these historic programs at KFC Yum! Center. Irish have been one of the most prestigious programs in this century, but the Cardinals just seem to be their weakness, and especially in the city of Louisville.
Over the last 12 meetings, Louisville has claimed eight of them, and they won 12 of the last 16 including a commanding 64-38 victory in the ACC Tournament in 2023. Jeff Walz and his Cardinals squads have been one of the best teams playing at home in the past decade, and it includes against the elite Fighting Irish squads.