| 2025–26Louisville Cardinals women's basketball | |
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.svg) | |
| Conference | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 22 |
| AP | No. 23 |
| Record | 4–2 (1–0 ACC) |
| Head coach |
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| Associate head coach | Jonneshia Pineda (7th season) |
| Assistant coaches |
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| Home arena | KFC Yum! Center |
Seasons ← 2024–25 2026–27 → | |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 23Louisville | 1 | – | 0 | 1.000 | 4 | – | 2 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stanford | 0 | – | 0 | – | 7 | – | 0 | 1.000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wake Forest | 0 | – | 0 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 1.000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| California | 0 | – | 0 | – | 6 | – | 1 | .857 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 12North Carolina | 0 | – | 0 | – | 5 | – | 1 | .833 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 19Notre Dame | 0 | – | 0 | – | 5 | – | 1 | .833 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Syracuse | 0 | – | 0 | – | 5 | – | 1 | .833 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Virginia Tech | 0 | – | 0 | – | 5 | – | 1 | .833 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Miami (FL) | 0 | – | 0 | – | 4 | – | 1 | .800 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Virginia | 0 | – | 0 | – | 5 | – | 2 | .714 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pittsburgh | 0 | – | 0 | – | 4 | – | 3 | .571 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boston College | 0 | – | 0 | – | 4 | – | 4 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Duke | 0 | – | 0 | – | 3 | – | 3 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgia Tech | 0 | – | 0 | – | 3 | – | 3 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 25NC State | 0 | – | 0 | – | 3 | – | 3 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Florida State | 0 | – | 0 | – | 3 | – | 4 | .429 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SMU | 0 | – | 0 | – | 1 | – | 5 | .167 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Clemson | 0 | – | 1 | .000 | 4 | – | 2 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| †2026 ACC tournament winner As of November 25, 2025 Rankings fromAP Poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The2025–26 Louisville Cardinals women's basketball team represents theUniversity of Louisville during the2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cardinals are led by nineteenth-year head coachJeff Walz, and play their home games at theKFC Yum! Center inLouisville, Kentucky. This season is their twelfth year competing in theAtlantic Coast Conference.
The Cardinals finished the season 22–11 overall and 13–5 inACC play to finish in a three-way tie for fourth place. As the sixth seed in theACC tournament, earned a bye into the second round where they defeatedClemson 70–68 in overtime. They lost to eleventh ranked and third seed Duke 61–48 in the Quarterfinals. They received an at-large invitation to theNCAA tournament and were the seven-seed in theBirmingham 3 region. They defeated ten seedNebraska in the First Round before losing to second seed and sixth rankedTCU 85–70 in the Second Round to end their season.
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Izela Arenas | 0 | G | 5'9" | Freshman | Porter Ranch, California | Transferred toKansas State[1] |
| Nyla Harris | 2 | F | 6'2" | Junior | Windermere, Florida | Transferred toNorth Carolina[2] |
| Eseosa Imafidon | 10 | C | 6'5" |  Freshman | Benin City, Nigeria | Transferred toProvidence[3] |
| Ja'Leah Williams | 12 | G | 5'9" | Senior | Pompano Beach, Florida | Graduated |
| Merissah Russell | 13 | G | 6'0" | Graduate Student | Ottawa,Ontario | Graduated |
| Jayda Curry | 30 | G | 5'6" | Senior | Corona, California | Graduated |
| Olivia Cochran | 44 | F | 6'3" | Graduate Student | Columbus, Georgia | Graduated |
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laura Ziegler | 0 | F | 6'2" | Senior | Herlev,Denmark | Saint Joseph's[4] |
| Reyna Scott | 1 | G | 5'10" | Senior | New York, New York | Oklahoma[5] |
| Skylar Jones | 23 | G/F | 6'0" | Junior | Chicago, Illinois | Arizona[6] |
Source:[7]
| Name | Hometown | School | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peyton Bradley G | Brandenburg, Kentucky | Meade County High School | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | N/A | Mar 9, 2025 | |
| Recruit ratings:ESPN: (NR) | ||||||
| Grace Mbugua F | Danville, Kentucky | Danville Christian | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | N/A | Oct 15, 2024 | |
Recruit ratings:ESPN:  (92) | ||||||
| Yevheniia Putra F | Kyiv,Ukraine | MBK Ružomberok | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | N/A | May 12, 2025 | |
| Recruit ratings:ESPN: (NR) | ||||||
| Overall recruit ranking: | ||||||
Sources: | ||||||
| 2025–26 Louisville Cardinals women's basketball team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source[8]
| Date time, TV | Rank# | Opponent# | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season | |||||||||||
| November 4, 2025* 5:30 p.m., ESPN | No. 20 | vs. No. 1 UConn Armed Forces Classic | L 66–79 | 0–1 | 16 – Ziegler | 18 – Ziegler | 3 – Scott | Alumni Hall (3,640) Annapolis, MD | |||
| November 9, 2025* 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 20 | Northern Kentucky | W 89–61 | 1–1 | 23 – Roberts | 11 – Ziegler | 5 – Ziegler | KFC Yum! Center (7,182) Louisville, KY | |||
| November 12, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 22 | Colorado | W 74–68 | 2–1 | 21 – Jones | 6 – Tied | 3 – Tied | KFC Yum! Center (6,730) Louisville, KY | |||
| November 16, 2025 3:00 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 22 | at Clemson | W 65–54 | 3–1 (1–0) | 17 – Ziegler | 10 – Ziegler | 4 – Roberts | Littlejohn Coliseum (1,004) Clemson, SC | |||
| November 19, 2025* 8:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 21 | Morehead State | W 96–49 | 4–1 | 13 – Tied | 13 – Hardy | 4 – Tied | KFC Yum! Center (6,620) Louisville, KY | |||
| November 22, 2025* 2:00 p.m., The CW | No. 21 | No. 20 Kentucky Rivalry | L 62–72 | 4–2 | 22 – Roberts | 11 – Ziegler | 4 – Berry | KFC Yum! Center (10,442) Louisville, KY | |||
| November 28, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 23 | Eastern Illinois | KFC Yum! Center Louisville, KY | ||||||||
| November 29, 2025* 3:30 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 23 | vs. East Tennessee State | Knights Hall Louisville, KY | ||||||||
| November 30, 2025* 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 23 | Bellarmine | KFC Yum! Center Louisville, KY | ||||||||
| December 4, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN | South Carolina ACC–SEC Challenge | KFC Yum! Center Louisville, KY | |||||||||
| December 7, 2025* 12:00 p.m., ACCNX | New Hampshire | KFC Yum! Center Louisville, KY | |||||||||
| December 10, 2025* 9:00 p.m., ACCNX | Ball State | KFC Yum! Center Louisville, KY | |||||||||
| December 14, 2025 4:00 p.m., ACCN | at North Carolina | Carmichael Arena Chapel Hill, NC | |||||||||
| December 17, 2025* 6:00 p.m., ACCN | Eastern Kentucky | KFC Yum! Center Louisville, KY | |||||||||
| December 20, 2025* 10:30 a.m., FOX | vs. Tennessee Women's Champions Classic | Barclays Center Brooklyn, NY | |||||||||
| January 1, 2026 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | SMU | KFC Yum! Center Louisville, KY | |||||||||
| January 4, 2026 4:00 p.m., ACCN | Virginia Tech | KFC Yum! Center Louisville, KY | |||||||||
| January 8, 2026 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | at Miami (FL) | Watsco Center Coral Gables, FL | |||||||||
| January 11, 2026 2:00 p.m., The CW | Pittsburgh | KFC Yum! Center Louisville, KY | |||||||||
| January 15, 2026 6:00 p.m., ACCN | at Notre Dame | Purcell Pavilion Notre Dame, IN | |||||||||
| January 18, 2026 1:00 p.m., ESPN2 | at NC State | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC | |||||||||
| January 25, 2026 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | Boston College | KFC Yum! Center Louisville, KY | |||||||||
| January 29, 2026 8:00 p.m., ESPN | at Stanford | Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA | |||||||||
| February 1, 2026 2:00 p.m., The CW | at California | Haas Pavilion Berkeley, CA | |||||||||
| February 5, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN | Duke | KFC Yum! Center Louisville, KY | |||||||||
| February 8, 2026 12:00 p.m., ACCNX | at Syracuse | JMA Wireless Dome Syracuse, NY | |||||||||
| February 12, 2026 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | Wake Forest | KFC Yum! Center Louisville, KY | |||||||||
| February 15, 2026 6:00 p.m., ACCN | Florida State | KFC Yum! Center Louisville, KY | |||||||||
| February 22, 2026 12:00 p.m., The CW | Virginia | KFC Yum! Center Louisville, KY | |||||||||
| February 26, 2026 6:00 p.m., ACCN | at Georgia Tech | McCamish Pavilion Atlanta, GA | |||||||||
| March 1, 2026 4:00 p.m., ESPN2 | Notre Dame | KFC Yum! Center Louisville, KY | |||||||||
| ACC Women's Tournament | |||||||||||
| * | vs. | Gas South Arena Duluth, GA | |||||||||
| Week | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Final |
| AP | 20 | 22 | 21 | 23 | |||||||||||||||||
| Coaches | 19 | 21 | 19 | 22 | |||||||||||||||||
