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FORT WORTH, TX — Louisville women’s basketball took the necessary steps to get back to being one of the best teams in the ACC. It was rewarded with a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and an appearance in the Sweet 16 before falling to second-seeded Michigan on Saturday at Dickies Arena.
Despite starting off the season with a 13-point loss to UConn, the third-seeded Cardinals were one of the best teams in the country for much of the year, ranking as high as sixth in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll during the last month of the regular season. Their 14-game winning streak was highlighted by victories over Tennessee, N.C. State and Notre Dame on the road. While they struggled some at home, the Cards went undefeated in road games for the first time in program history.
It was a result of the Cardinals improving in every statistical category with the help of a strong sophomore class. Including redshirt freshmen Rebekah Graves and Isla Juffermans (who redshirted this season), seven of the 13 currently-rostered Cardinals are second-year players (three are true freshmen).
Taj Roberts took on a bigger role in learning the point guard position and combined efforts with ACC Sixth Player of the Year Imari Berry as two of the team’s top scorers entering this weekend. With the two sophomores averaging 11.6 and 11.0 points, respectively, Louisville increased its scoring from 71.8 points per game with a +4.3-point scoring margin last year to a program-record 79.4 points per outing to complement a +18.7-point margin. In addition to scoring more, the Cardinals were more efficient offensively, shooting 46% from the floor (42.6% last year) prior to Saturday.
“I would say everybody being coachable with coach (Jeff) Walz and just listening to what advice he has to say and doing what he says,” Berry said of the difference between this year and last. “I feel like last year we didn't really do that, but this year I feel like we really demanded that with the people that were coming in.”
Louisville also cut down on turnovers, going from 15.5 per game a year ago to 13.2 entering Saturday, and was significantly better at rebounding (36.4 in 2024-25 to 41.1 in 2025-26) thanks to a deep frontcourt. Elif Istanbulluoglu took a major step in her development as a junior, using her experience with the Turkish national team during the summer to help her become a more dominating presence in the post. The forward tripled her scoring average (9.8 points entering Saturday) and nearly tripled her rebounding average (5.1 rebounds), earning her almost 14 more minutes per game (26.4) as a first-time starter.
Istanbulluoglu joined forces in the post with Laura Ziegler, who was one of three transfer portal players for the Cardinals this season. Ziegler came from Saint Joseph’s and, a month into the regular season, moved into a point-forward role for the squad. After playing point guard at the beginning of her basketball career, she was open to the change and relied on that experience to help her. Using Ziegler to bring up the ball freed a guard and allowed the Cardinals to spread their offense more. She entered the Sweet 16 second on the team in assists in addition to being the team’s leading rebounder and second-leading scorer with 11.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game.
Louisville rebounded from a regular season-ending home loss to Notre Dame by making the ACC Tournament championship game for the first time since 2023. The Cardinals fell to Duke in overtime but put together a strong enough resume to earn the No. 3 seed and home-court advantage in the NCAA Tournament. They capitalized on the opportunity but couldn't go further, falling to the Wolverines in the third round.
Although he declined to specify who, Walz said prior to the NCAA Tournament he had already re-signed five players, with one yet to sign at the time but verbally committing to return.
“A lot of kids are going to go out for a money grab, and that's fine, but I've watched some go and get paid well, and their team sucks,” Walz said. “... I've got players that, we're doing as well as we can. We're compensating and taking care of them, but they also know they're getting a great experience and having a chance to not only prepare to win here but win in the future for their opportunity to hopefully play professionally, if it's in the WNBA, if it's overseas, because they're playing against really good players every single day.”
UofL also has three players in its 2026 recruiting class — four-star guards Ariyana Cradle and Myah Epps, the respective Nos. 34 and 68 players in the SportsCenter Next 100 for the Class of 2026, as well as Turkish forward Ayse Melek Demirer. The Cardinals will have a chance to replace Ziegler and guard Reyna Scott, the team’s lone seniors, when the transfer portal opens on April 7.
Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at [email protected] and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville women's basketball 2026-27 to benefit from this UofL team
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Despite starting off the season with a 13-point loss to UConn, the third-seeded Cardinals were one of the best teams in the country for much of the year, ranking as high as sixth in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll during the last month of the regular season. Their 14-game winning streak was highlighted by victories over Tennessee, N.C. State and Notre Dame on the road. While they struggled some at home, the Cards went undefeated in road games for the first time in program history.
It was a result of the Cardinals improving in every statistical category with the help of a strong sophomore class. Including redshirt freshmen Rebekah Graves and Isla Juffermans (who redshirted this season), seven of the 13 currently-rostered Cardinals are second-year players (three are true freshmen).
Taj Roberts took on a bigger role in learning the point guard position and combined efforts with ACC Sixth Player of the Year Imari Berry as two of the team’s top scorers entering this weekend. With the two sophomores averaging 11.6 and 11.0 points, respectively, Louisville increased its scoring from 71.8 points per game with a +4.3-point scoring margin last year to a program-record 79.4 points per outing to complement a +18.7-point margin. In addition to scoring more, the Cardinals were more efficient offensively, shooting 46% from the floor (42.6% last year) prior to Saturday.
“I would say everybody being coachable with coach (Jeff) Walz and just listening to what advice he has to say and doing what he says,” Berry said of the difference between this year and last. “I feel like last year we didn't really do that, but this year I feel like we really demanded that with the people that were coming in.”
Louisville also cut down on turnovers, going from 15.5 per game a year ago to 13.2 entering Saturday, and was significantly better at rebounding (36.4 in 2024-25 to 41.1 in 2025-26) thanks to a deep frontcourt. Elif Istanbulluoglu took a major step in her development as a junior, using her experience with the Turkish national team during the summer to help her become a more dominating presence in the post. The forward tripled her scoring average (9.8 points entering Saturday) and nearly tripled her rebounding average (5.1 rebounds), earning her almost 14 more minutes per game (26.4) as a first-time starter.
Istanbulluoglu joined forces in the post with Laura Ziegler, who was one of three transfer portal players for the Cardinals this season. Ziegler came from Saint Joseph’s and, a month into the regular season, moved into a point-forward role for the squad. After playing point guard at the beginning of her basketball career, she was open to the change and relied on that experience to help her. Using Ziegler to bring up the ball freed a guard and allowed the Cardinals to spread their offense more. She entered the Sweet 16 second on the team in assists in addition to being the team’s leading rebounder and second-leading scorer with 11.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game.
Louisville rebounded from a regular season-ending home loss to Notre Dame by making the ACC Tournament championship game for the first time since 2023. The Cardinals fell to Duke in overtime but put together a strong enough resume to earn the No. 3 seed and home-court advantage in the NCAA Tournament. They capitalized on the opportunity but couldn't go further, falling to the Wolverines in the third round.
Although he declined to specify who, Walz said prior to the NCAA Tournament he had already re-signed five players, with one yet to sign at the time but verbally committing to return.
“A lot of kids are going to go out for a money grab, and that's fine, but I've watched some go and get paid well, and their team sucks,” Walz said. “... I've got players that, we're doing as well as we can. We're compensating and taking care of them, but they also know they're getting a great experience and having a chance to not only prepare to win here but win in the future for their opportunity to hopefully play professionally, if it's in the WNBA, if it's overseas, because they're playing against really good players every single day.”
UofL also has three players in its 2026 recruiting class — four-star guards Ariyana Cradle and Myah Epps, the respective Nos. 34 and 68 players in the SportsCenter Next 100 for the Class of 2026, as well as Turkish forward Ayse Melek Demirer. The Cardinals will have a chance to replace Ziegler and guard Reyna Scott, the team’s lone seniors, when the transfer portal opens on April 7.
Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at [email protected] and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville women's basketball 2026-27 to benefit from this UofL team
Continue reading...
