Louisville Cardinals women's basketball

Louisville Cardinals women's basketball
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;
Uniforms
Home	Away ;
NCAA tournament runner-up
	2009, 2013
NCAA tournament Final Four
	2009, 2013, 2018, 2022
NCAA tournament Elite Eight
	2009, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
	2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023
NCAA tournament second round
	1993, 1995, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023
NCAA tournament 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
Conference tournament champions
	1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1993, 2018
Conference regular season champions
	1992, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021

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'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, and 2023. 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]

Terry Hall era (1975–1980)

In 1975, Terry Hall was hired as the first full time head coach for the Louisville women's basketball team. Hall compiled a record of 79-54 and led the Cardinals to the 1980 Metro Conference Championship.^[3]

Peggy Fiehrer era (1980–1989)

During her tenure, Fiehrer led the Cardinals to three Metro Conference Tournament championships and the first NCAA tournament appearance in program history.

Bud Childers era (1989–1997)

Martin Clapp & Sara White era (1997–2003)

Husband and wife duo Martin Clapp and Sara White were hired as co-head coaches in 1997.

In 2000, Martin Clapp took over as head coach.

In 2003, Clapp resigned as head coach of the Cardinals.^[4]

Tom Collen era (2003–2007)

Jeff Walz era (2007–Present)

Jeff Walz was hired as a first year head coach from the University of Maryland in 2007. Under the guidance of Walz, Louisville became a college basketball power. In his first season, he guided the Cardinals to the first NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance in program history. During his tenure at Louisville, the Cards have made fifteen NCAA tournament appearances, twelve Sweet 16s, eight Elite Eights, four Finals Fours, and two national championship appearances.

Angel McCoughtry era (2005–2009)

Angel McCoughtry is the only player for the Louisville women's basketball team to have her jersey retired.

Durr era (2015–2019)

Asia Durr was named ACC Player of the Year two years in a row in 2018 and 2019. Durr, received 29 of 31 votes for pre-season All-American. Durr was named to the All-American list for 2019, and was nominated for the John. R Wooden Award in the same season. In high school she was also selected as the Miss Georgia Girls Basketball Player of the Year twice, 2014 and 2015.

Season-by-season results

Statistics overview
Season	Coach	Overall	Conference	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 1st round
Jeff Walz:		464–135 (.775)	202–62 (.765)
Total:		1011–526 (.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

^[5]

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

Individual honors and notable players

Retired numbers

No.	Player	Pos.	Tenure	No. ret.	Ref.
35	Angel McCoughtry	F	2005–2009	2010	^[6]

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 Istanbulluoglu	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