Louisville Cardinals women's basketball

The Louisville Cardinals women's basketball team represents the University of Louisville in women's basketball. The school competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Cardinals play home basketball games at KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky.

Louisville Cardinals women's basketball
2024–25 Louisville Cardinals women's basketball team
University	University of Louisville
Head coach	Jeff Walz (18th season)
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Location	Louisville, Kentucky
Arena	KFC Yum! Center (capacity: 22,090)
Nickname	Cardinals
Colors	Red and black[1]
Uniforms
Home Away
NCAA tournament runner-up
2009, 2013
Other NCAA tournament results Final Four 2009, 2013, 2018, 2022 Elite Eight 2009, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 Sweet Sixteen 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 Appearances 1983, 1984, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Conference tournament champions 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1993, 2018
Conference regular-season champions 1992, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021

Louisville's current head coach is Jeff Walz, who joined the team in 2007. Under his leadership the school moved into the top 15 in attendance his first year, averaging 6,456 fans per game.

Louisville represented USA basketball at Globl Jam 2023, and defeated team Canada, by a score of 68–66 in the gold medal game.

History

The Cardinals have reached the NCAA Tournament in 1983, 1984, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. They reached the Final Four 4 times in 2009, 2013, 2018, and 2022; losing in the title game twice (09,13). They have been in six conferences, playing in the Kentucky Women's Intercollegiate Conference from 1978 to 1981, the Metro Conference from 1981 to 1995, Conference USA from 1995 to 2005, the Big East Conference from 2005 to 2013, the American Athletic Conference for the 2013–14 season, and the Atlantic Coast Conference since 2014.^[2]

Season-by-season results

Statistics overview

Season	Coach	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Terry Hall (Metro Conference) (1975–1980)
1975–76	Terry Hall	12-11
1976–77	Terry Hall	15-7
1977–78	Terry Hall	18-9
1978–79	Terry Hall	17-10	7-5
1979–80	Terry Hall	17-17	7-5
Terry Hall:		79–54 (.594)	-–- (–)
Peggy Fiehrer (Metro Conference) (1980–1989)
1980–81	Peggy Fiehrer	14-14	5-7
1981–82	Peggy Fiehrer	19-8	4-2
1982–83	Peggy Fiehrer	20-10	5-4		NCAA 1st round
1983–84	Peggy Fiehrer	15-16	7-3		NCAA 1st round
1984–85	Peggy Fiehrer	17-14	4-6
1985–86	Peggy Fiehrer	8-20	2-8
1986–87	Peggy Fiehrer	11-17	4-8
1987–88	Peggy Fiehrer	12-16	4-8
1988–89	Peggy Fiehrer	4-24	0-12
Peggy Fiehrer:		120–139 (.463)	35–58 (.376)
Bud Childers (Metro Conference) (1989–1995)
1989–90	Bud Childers	17-12	6-8
1990–91	Bud Childers	24-11	9-5
1991–92	Bud Childers	20-9	11-1
1992–93	Bud Childers	19-12	7-5		NCAA 2nd round
1993–94	Bud Childers	10-16	7-5
1994–95	Bud Childers	25-8	7-5		NCAA 2nd round
Bud Childers (Conference USA) (1995–1997)
1995–96	Bud Childers	17-11	9-5
1996–97	Bud Childers	20-9	12-2		NCAA 1st round
Bud Childers:		152–88 (.633)	68–36 (.654)
Martin Clapp & Sara White (Conference USA) (1997–2000)
1997–98	Martin Clapp & Sara White	20-12	12-14
1998–99	Martin Clapp & Sara White	21-11	12-14		NCAA 1st round
1999–00	Martin Clapp & Sara White	16-13	9-7		NCAA 1st round
Martin Clapp & Sara White:		57–36 (.613)	33–35 (.485)
Martin Clapp (Conference USA) (2000–2003)
2000–01	Martin Clapp	19-10	14-2		NCAA 1st round
2001–02	Martin Clapp	17-13	8-6
2002–03	Martin Clapp	15-14	5-9
Martin Clapp:		108–73 (.597)	60–52 (.536)
Tom Collen (Conference USA) (2003–2005)
2003–04	Tom Collen	20-10	11-3
2004–05	Tom Collen	22-9	11-3		NCAA 1st round
Tom Collen (Big East Conference) (2005–2007)
2005–06	Tom Collen	19-10	10-6		NCAA 1st round
2006–07	Tom Collen	27-8	10-6		NCAA 2nd round
Tom Collen:		88–37 (.704)	42–18 (.700)
Jeff Walz (Big East Conference) (2007–2013)
2007–08	Jeff Walz	26-10	10-6		NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2008–09	Jeff Walz	34-5	14-2		NCAA Runner Up
2009–10	Jeff Walz	14-18	5-11		WBI 1st round
2010–11	Jeff Walz	22-13	10-6		NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2011–12	Jeff Walz	23-10	10-6		NCAA 2nd round
2012–13	Jeff Walz	29-9	11-5		NCAA Runner Up
Jeff Walz (American Athletic Conference) (2013–2014)
2013–14	Jeff Walz	33-5	16-2		NCAA Elite Eight
Jeff Walz (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2014–present)
2014–15	Jeff Walz	27-7	12-4		NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2015–16	Jeff Walz	26-8	15-1		NCAA 2nd round
2016–17	Jeff Walz	29-8	12-4		NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2017–18	Jeff Walz	36-3	15-1		NCAA Final Four
2018–19	Jeff Walz	32-4	14-2		NCAA Elite Eight
2019–20	Jeff Walz	28-4	16-2		Postseason Cancelled
2020–21	Jeff Walz	26-4	14-2		NCAA Elite Eight
2021–22	Jeff Walz	29-5	16-2		NCAA Final Four
2022–23	Jeff Walz	26-12	12-6		NCAA Elite Eight
2023–24	Jeff Walz	24-10	12-6		NCAA First Round
2024–25	Jeff Walz	22-11	13-5	T-4th	NCAA Second Round
Jeff Walz:		486–146 (.769)	215–67 (.762)
Total:		1033–537 (.658)
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

^[3]

NCAA tournament results

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1983	#7	First Round	(2) Texas	L 84–55
1984	#8	First Round	(1) Georgia	L 112–69
1993	#11	First Round Second Round	(6) Connecticut (3) Auburn	W 74–71 L 66–61
1995	#11	First Round Second Round	(6) Oregon (3) Georgia	W 67–65 L 81–68
1997	#10	First Round	(7) Auburn	L 68–65
1998	#10	First Round Second Round	(7) Utah (2) Duke	W 69–61 L 69–53
1999	#10	First Round	(7) Illinois	L 69–67
2001	#13	First Round	(4) Xavier	L 80–52
2005	#9	First Round	(8) USC	L 65–49
2006	#9	First Round	(8) Vanderbilt	L 76–64
2007	#6	First Round Second Round	(11) BYU (3) Arizona State	W 80–54 L 67–58
2008	#4	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	(13) Miami (OH) (5) Kansas State (1) North Carolina	W 81–67 W 80–63 L 78–74
2009	#3	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship	(14) Liberty (6) LSU (2) Baylor (1) Maryland (1) Oklahoma (1) Connecticut	W 62–42 W 62–52 W 56–39 W 77–60 W 61–59 L 76–54
2011	#7	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	(10)Vanderbilt (2) Xavier (11) Gonzaga	W 81–62 W 85–75 L 76–69
2012	#7	First Round Second Round	(10) Michigan State (2) Maryland	W 67–55 L 72–68
2013	#5	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship	(12) Middle Tennessee State (4) Purdue (1) Baylor (2) Tennessee (2) California (1) Connecticut	W 74–49 W 76–63 W 82–81 W 86–78 W 64–57 L 93–60
2014	#3	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	(14) Idaho (6) Iowa (7) LSU (4) Maryland	W 88–42 W 83–53 W 73–47 L 76–73
2015	#3	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	(14) BYU (6) South Florida (7) Dayton	W 86–53 W 60–52 L 82–66
2016	#3	First Round Second Round	(14) Central Arkansas (6) DePaul	W 87–60 L 73–72
2017	#4	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	(13) Chattanooga (5) Tennessee (1) Baylor	W 82–62 W 75–64 L 97–63
2018	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four	(16) Boise State (8) Marquette (4) Stanford (6) Oregon State (1) Mississippi State	W 74–42 W 90–72 W 86–59 W 76–43 L 73–63 (OT)
2019	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	(16) Robert Morris (8) Michigan (4) Oregon State (2) Connecticut	W 69–34 W 71–50 W 61–44 L 80–73
2021	#2	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	(15) Marist (7) Northwestern (6) Oregon (1) Stanford	W 74–43 W 62–53 W 60–42 L 63–78
2022	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four	(16) Albany (9) Gonzaga (4) Tennessee (3) Michigan (1) South Carolina	W 83–51 W 68–59 W 76–64 W 62–50 L 59–72
2023	#5	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	(12) Drake (4) Texas (8) Ole Miss (2) Iowa	W 83–81 W 73–51 W 72–62 L 83–97
2024	#6	First Round	(11) Middle Tennessee	L 69–71
2025	#7	First Round Second Round	(10) Nebraska (2) TCU	W 63–58 L 70–85

Individual honors and notable players

See also: List of University of Louisville people

Retired numbers

No.	Player	Pos.	Tenure	No. ret.	Ref.
35	Angel McCoughtry	F	2005–2009	2010	[4]

Current roster

2024–25 Louisville Cardinals women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Izela Arenas 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Fr Sierra Canyon Porter Ranch, CA G 1 Imari Berry 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Fr Clarksville Clarksville, TN F 2 Nyla Harris 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Jr Lake Highland Prep Windermere, FL F 4 Mackenly Randolph 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Fr Sierra Canyon Chatsworth, CA F 9 Anaya Hardy 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Fr Renaissance Detroit, MI C 10 Eseosa Imafidon 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) RS Fr Proctor Academy Benin City, Nigeria F 11 Elif İstanbulluoğlu 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Fr Fenerbahçe S.K. Istanbul, Turkey G 12 Ja'Leah Williams 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Sr Blanche Ely Miami Pompano Beach, FL G 13 Merissah Russell 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) GS Cairine Wilson Ottawa, Ontario F 15 Isla Juffermans 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Fr Centre of Excellence Australia Coffs Harbor, Australia G 21 Reagan Bender 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Fr Sacred Heart Academy Louisville, KY G 22 Tajianna Roberts 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Fr IMG Academy La Jolla, CA G 30 Jayda Curry 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Sr Centennial California Corona, CA F 44 Olivia Cochran 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) GS Carver Columbus, GA	Head coach Jeff Walz (Northern Kentucky) Assistant coach(es) Stephanie Norman (Arizona State) Jonneshia Pineda (Georgia Southwestern State) Shay Robinson (Central Florida) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster