2021–22 Louisville Cardinals women's basketball team

The 2021–22 Louisville Cardinals women's basketball team represented the University of Louisville during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cardinals, were led by 15th-year head coach Jeff Walz, and played their home games at the KFC Yum! Center in their eight year in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

2021–22 Louisville Cardinals women's basketball
NCAA tournament, Final Four
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 4
Record	29–5 (16–2 ACC)
Head coach	Jeff Walz (15th season)
Assistant coaches	Stephanie Norman Sam Purcell Jonneshia Pineda
Home arena	KFC Yum! Center
Seasons ← 2020–21 2022–23 →

2021–22 ACC women's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 3 NC State †	17	–	1		.944			32	–	4		.889
No. 4 Louisville	16	–	2		.889			29	–	5		.853
No. 17 North Carolina	13	–	5		.722			25	–	7		.781
No. 21 Notre Dame	13	–	5		.722			24	–	9		.727
No. 16 Virginia Tech	13	–	5		.722			23	–	10		.697
Georgia Tech	11	–	7		.611			21	–	11		.656
Boston College	10	–	8		.556			21	–	12		.636
Miami (FL)	10	–	8		.556			21	–	13		.618
Florida State	10	–	8		.556			17	–	14		.548
Duke	7	–	11		.389			17	–	13		.567
Wake Forest	4	–	14		.222			16	–	17		.485
Syracuse	4	–	14		.222			11	–	18		.379
Clemson	3	–	15		.167			10	–	21		.323
Pittsburgh	2	–	16		.111			11	–	19		.367
Virginia	2	–	16		.111			5	–	22		.185
† 2022 ACC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

They finished the season 29–5 overall and 16–2 in ACC play to finish in second place. As the second seed in the ACC tournament, they were upset by seventh seed Miami in the Quarterfinals. They received and at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and were the first seed in the Wichita Regional. They defeated sixteenth seed Albany in the First Round, ninth seed Gonzaga in the Second Round, fourth seed Tennessee in the Sweet Sixteen, and third seed Michigan in the Elite Eight before falling to eventual champions, and first seed South Carolina in the Final Four. This was the Cardinals fourth appearance in the Final Four in program history.

Previous season

Main article: 2020–21 Louisville Cardinals women's basketball team

The Cardinals finished the season 26–4 and 14–2 in ACC play to finish in first place. In the ACC tournament, they defeated Wake Forest in the Quarterfinals and Syracuse before losing in the Final NC State. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they were the two seed in the Alamo Regional. In the tournament they defeated fifteen seed Marist in the First Round, seven seed Northwestern in the Second Round, and six seed Oregon in the Sweet Sixteen before losing to one seed and eventual champions Stanford in the Elite Eight to end their season.

Off-season

Departures

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for Departure
Dana Evans	1	G	5'6"	Senior	Gary, Indiana	Graduated; Drafted 13th overall in the 2021 WNBA draft by the Dallas Wings
Malea Williams	3	F	6'4"	Freshman	Georgetown, Kentucky	Transferred to Cincinnati[1]
Elizabeth Balogun	4	G	6'1"	Junior	Chattanooga, Tennessee	Transferred to Duke[2]

Incoming transfers

Incoming Transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Emily Engstler	21	F	6'1"	Senior	New York, New York	Syracuse[3]
Chelsie Hall	23	G	5'7"	Graduate Student	Boca Raton, Florida	Vanderbilt[4]

Recruiting Class

Source:^[5]

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Payton Verhulst G	De Soto, Kansas	Bishop Miege	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	N/A
	Recruit ratings: ESPN:    (97)
Sydni Schetnan F	Sioux Falls, SD	Washington	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	N/A
	Recruit ratings: ESPN:    (90)
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources:

Roster

2021–22 Louisville Cardinals women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown F 0 Ramani Parker 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) RS So Montverde Academy Fresno, CA G 2 Ahlana Smith 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Jr Mallard Creek Gulf Coast State Charlotte, NC F 3 Alexia Mobley 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Fr Reynoldsburg Reynoldsburgh, OH G 5 Mykasa Robinson 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Sr Ashland Blazer Ashland, KY G 10 Hailey Van Lith 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) So Cashmere Wenatchee, WA G 11 Norika Konno 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Jr Seiwa Gakuen Sendai, Japan G 12 Payton Verhulst 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Fr Bishop Miege De Soto, KS G 13 Merissah Russell 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) So Cairine Wilson Ottawa, Ontario G 14 Kianna Smith 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) RS Sr Troy California Moreno Valley, CA F 21 Emily Engstler 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Sr St. Francis Prep Syracuse New York, NY F 22 Elizabeth Dixon 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Sr Ridgeway Georgia Tech Memphis, TN G 23 Chelsie Hall 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) GS Seffner Christian Vanderbilt Boca Raton, FL F 44 Olivia Cochran 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) So Carver Columbus, GA F 45 Sydni Schetnan 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Fr Washington Sioux Falls, SD	Head coach Jeff Walz (Northern Kentucky) Assistant coach(es) Stephanie Norman (Arizona State) Sam Purcell (Auburn) Jonneshia Pineda (Georgia Southwestern State) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: October 29, 2021

Schedule and results

Source^[6]

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
November 4, 2021* 7:00 p.m.	No. 6	Union	W 106–32	–	KFC Yum! Center (6,587) Louisville, KY
Non-Conference Regular season
November 12, 2021* 4:30 p.m., ESPNU	No. 6	vs. No. 22 Arizona The Invitational	L 59–61 OT	0–1	Sanford Pentagon (2,345) Sioux Falls, SD
November 16, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 10	Bellarmine	W 82–25	1–1	KFC Yum! Center (7,014) Louisville, KY
November 17, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 10	UT Martin	W 62–30	2–1	KFC Yum! Center (6,809) Louisville, KY
November 20, 2021* 5:00 p.m., P12N+	No. 10	at Washington	W 61–53	3–1	Hec Edmundson Pavilion (1,884) Seattle, WA
November 23, 2021* 8:00 p.m., ESPN+	No. 10	at Cal Poly	W 72–32	4–1	Mott Center (662) San Luis Obispo, CA
November 28, 2021* 2:00 p.m., MWSN	No. 10	at Colorado State	W 71–45	5–1	Moby Arena (1,336) Fort Collins, CO
December 2, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 10	No. 12 Michigan ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge	W 70–48	6–1	KFC Yum! Center (7,309) Louisville, KY
December 5, 2021* Noon, ACCN	No. 10	Belmont	W 80–66	7–1	KFC Yum! Center (7,092) Louisville, KY
December 12, 2021* 1:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 7	No. 14 Kentucky Jimmy V Classic/Rivalry	W 64–58	8–1	KFC Yum! Center (12,167) Louisville, KY
December 16, 2021* 8:00 p.m., ACCN	No. 6	Eastern Kentucky	W 82–38	9–1	KFC Yum! Center (6,937) Louisville, KY
December 19, 2021* 3:30 p.m., ESPN	No. 6	at No. 7т UConn Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Showcase	W 69–64	10–1	Mohegan Sun Arena (8,204) Uncasville, CT
ACC Regular season
December 30, 2021 7:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 3	Boston College	W 79–49	11–1 (1–0)	KFC Yum! Center (7,709) Louisville, KY
January 2, 2022 Noon, ACCN	No. 3	at No. 16 Georgia Tech	W 50–48	12–1 (2–0)	McCamish Pavilion (1,918) Atlanta, GA
January 6, 2022 6:00 p.m., ACCN	No. 3	Pittsburgh	W 81–39	13–1 (3–0)	KFC Yum! Center (6,703) Louisville, KY
January 9, 2022 Noon, ACCN	No. 3	at Miami (FL)	Postponed due to COVID-19 Issues[7]		Watsco Center  Coral Gables, FL
January 13, 2022 7:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 3	Syracuse	W 84–71	14–1 (4–0)	KFC Yum! Center (7,307) Louisville, KY
January 16, 2022 Noon, ACCN	No. 3	at Boston College	W 63–53	15–1 (5–0)	Conte Forum (1,066) Chestnut Hill, MA
January 20, 2022 7:30 p.m., ESPN	No. 3	at No. 4 NC State	L 59–68	15–2 (5–1)	Reynolds Coliseum (5,500) Raleigh, NC
January 23, 2022 2:00 p.m., ACCN	No. 3	Wake Forest	W 72–60	16–2 (6–1)	KFC Yum! Center (8,802) Louisville, KY
January 27, 2022 8:00 p.m., ACCN	No. 5	Florida State	W 75–62	17–2 (7–1)	KFC Yum! Center (7,755) Louisville, KY
January 30, 2022 3:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 5	No. 21 Duke	W 77–65	18–2 (8–1)	KFC Yum! Center (9,001) Louisville, KY
February 1, 2022 7:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 4	at Miami (FL) Rescheduled from Jan 9, 2022	W 69–66	19–2 (9–1)	Watsco Center  Coral Gables, FL
February 3, 2022 6:00 p.m., ACCRSN	No. 4	at Clemson	W 93–71	20–2 (10–1)	Littlejohn Coliseum (493) Clemson, SC
February 6, 2022 Noon, ACCRSN	No. 4	at Syracuse	W 100–64	21–2 (11–1)	Carrier Dome (1,401) Syracuse, NY
February 10, 2022 7:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 3	Virginia	Forfeited to Louisville due to Virginia's travel issues.[8]		KFC Yum! Center  Louisville, KY
February 13, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 3	No. 18 Notre Dame	W 73–47	22–2 (13–1)	KFC Yum! Center (10,056) Louisville, KY
February 17, 2022 6:00 p.m., ACCRSN	No. 3	at No. 24 North Carolina	L 65–66	22–3 (13–2)	Carmichael Arena (2,115) Chapel Hill, NC
February 20, 2022 2:00 p.m., ACCN	No. 3	No. 23 Virginia Tech	W 70–56	23–3 (14–2)	KFC Yum! Center (10,294) Louisville, KY
February 24, 2022 6:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 4	at Pittsburgh	W 66–55	24–3 (15–2)	Peterson Events Center (1,344) Pittsburgh, PA
February 27, 2022 Noon, ESPN2	No. 4	at No. 14 Notre Dame	W 86–64	25–3 (16–2)	Purcell Pavilion (7,531) Notre Dame, IN
ACC Women's Tournament
March 4, 2022 6:00 p.m., ACCRSN	(2) No. 4	vs. (7) Miami (FL) Quarterfinals	L 59–61	25–4	Greensboro Coliseum (5,682) Greensboro, NC
NCAA tournament
March 18, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN2	(1 W) No. 4	(16 W) Albany First Round	W 83–51	26–4	KFC Yum! Center (8,407) Louisville, KY
March 20, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN	(1 W) No. 4	(9 W) Gonzaga Second Round	W 68–59	27–4	KFC Yum! Center (10,414) Louisville, KY
March 26, 2022 4:00 p.m., ESPN2	(1 W) No. 4	vs. (4 W) No. 18 Tennessee Sweet Sixteen	W 76–64	28–4	Intrust Bank Arena  Wichita, KS
March 28, 2022 9:00 p.m., ESPN	(1 W) No. 4	vs. (3 W) No. 12 Michigan Elite Eight	W 62–50	29–4	Intrust Bank Arena (4,695) Wichita, KS
April 1, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN	(1 W) No. 4	vs. (1 G) No. 1 South Carolina Final Four	L 59–72	29–5	Target Center (18,978) Minneapolis, MN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=Wichita. All times are in Eastern.

Rankings

Main article: 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings

Regular Season Polls

Poll	Pre- Season	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10	Week 11	Week 12	Week 13	Week 14	Week 15	Week 16	Week 17	Week 18	Final
AP	6	10	10	10	7	6	3	3	3 (5)	3 (4)	3 (2)	5	4	3	3	4	4	5	4
Coaches	6	7	5	5	4	3	2	2 (14)	2 (7)	2 (6)	4	4	3	3	4	4	5	4	4

Legend

		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		Not ranked previous week
(RV)		Received Votes