On Super Bowl Sunday, Stanford women’s basketball will take on the Louisville Cardinals on the road at 9:00 AM PT on ESPN2. Stanford comes in at 11-11 overall and 3-8 in the ACC while Louisville comes in at 16-7 overall and 9-3 in the ACC.

Last time out: Stanford fell to No. 3 Notre Dame on the road on Thursday by a final score of 96-47. Stanford star forward Nunu Agara got injured in the 1st quarter and did not return. Her status for Sunday is not known at this time.

RECAP: Stanford WBB gets obliterated by No. 3 Notre Dame

On Louisville: The Cardinals are having a strong season as their record indicates. They are coming off a 70-63 victory over a ranked Cal team and are 7-3 at home on the season. Ironically, they are 8-2 on the road, but I’m sure Stanford would still rather see them at Maples. They played No. 1 UCLA really tough in Paris earlier this season, losing 66-59, so they’ve shown they can play well against the best of the best.

The Cardinals are led by freshman guard Tajianna Roberts, who is averaging 12.9 points per game on 41.2% shooting from the field, 31.6% shooting from 3-point range, and 67.4% from the foul line. Former Cal guard Jayda Curry is the number two scorer for the Cardinals with 11.7 points per game while graduate student forward Olivia Cochran is the number three scorer with 10.7 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.

As a team, the Cardinals average 73.1 points per game on 43.8% shooting from the field, 30.5% shooting from 3-point range, and 70.2% shooting from the foul line. They average 35.7 rebounds, 15.7 assists, 9.7 steals, 2.2 blocks, and 16.5 turnovers per game. They also average a +2.2 rebound margin and a +3.7 turnover margin per game. Their opponents average 67.7 points per game on 44.5% shooting from the field, 34.5% shooting from 3-point range, and 71.8% shooting from the foul line.

Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is make some shots. They were building a house of bricks at Notre Dame, scoring just 15 points in the first half. They cannot expect to win this game if they aren’t getting shots to fall. More specifically, they need to get their 3-pointers to fall and avoid long dry spells.

The second thing Stanford needs to do is get to the foul line. They got some good shooters at the foul line and they have to take advantage of it. This means they need to attack the rim, draw fouls, and not settle for too many jump shots.

Finally, Stanford just needs to come with some confidence. It would be really easy for them to come out flat or rattled after the way Notre Dame dominated them. They need to turn the page on that game and come out with a good deal of energy. Otherwise, it’ll be a long day.

Prediction: I gotta roll with Louisville in this one. Stanford is in a terrible funk right now. I got Louisville winning handily by a final score of 77-60.

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