Coffee with Crawford | Jeff Walz has Louisville women back in the top 10 and looking for more | Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Before "roster construction" became a buzzword in college sports and long before players were getting salaries, Louisville women's basketball became one of the most consistent winners in the country.

But even in the most basketball-crazed city in America, that can be taken for granted, especially in the new college landscape.

"Sometimes I go 'Yeah, the women won again,'" Walz said Sunday, after his team won its 14th-straight game, 71-59, at Cal. "We're 16 years in a row now with 20-plus wins. ... The consistency we've built here is pretty damn impressive."

He's not wrong.

In a time when every successful thing in college sports is compared to what Indiana football did under Curt Cignetti, I'm hesitant to even bring it up. I'll just say: Louisville women's basketball wasn't at rock bottom when Walz took over but it had never won an NCAA Tournament game. It wasn't on the national radar.

In his second season, Walz had them playing in the NCAA Championship game. They lost to one of Geno Auriemma's best UConn teams ever. But they haven't relinquished the stage since.

For a program that had never cracked the AP top 10, Louisville's next poll appearance will mark its 178th week in the top 10 under Walz.

Earlier this season, Walz became the third-fastest active coach to reach 500 wins. The only ones to get there faster: Kim Mulkey and Geno Auriemma.

Under Walz, Louisville has reached: four Final Fours, two national championship games, 16 straight 20-win seasons (only UConn and Baylor have longer streaks) and 10 or more ACC wins every year since joining the league, the only program that can say that.

And the job Walz is doing this season may be one of his best. This group began the year ranked No. 20. They're now No. 7, riding a 14-game win streak into Thursday night's showdown with No. 20 Duke at the KFC Yum! Center.

They've won on the road at Notre Dame, NC State, and Stanford. Their six Quad 1 wins are the most in the ACC and second-most in the country. They're doing it with depth, defense and a full buy-in to team play. Since Jan. 1, seven different players have led them in scoring.

They've now held 22 straight opponents below their season scoring average — a stat so absurd it deserves repeating.

Walz's teams always guard, and this one might be his deepest. Their bench averages 36.7 points per game — second nationally. They hold opponents to 59.7 points per game and out-rebound them by an average of 10.

Over the last 17 games, they've averaged nearly 86 points per game with a +27.5 scoring margin.

That kind of balance was on display again Sunday:

Tajianna Roberts had 21 points on 7-12 shooting, including 3--5 from deep
Elif Istanbulluoglu battled inside for 15 points and 7 boards
Laura Ziegler added 14 points, 5 assists and excellent defense
Louisville shot 64% in the second half after a sluggish start

They're winning without a single alpha scorer — nine players have led them in scoring this season — and they'll likely need all of them Thursday night when 11-0 Duke comes to town.

If you've been waiting for a reason to show up to a women's game, here it is: Louisville vs. Duke. Two teams undefeated in ACC play. Duke has won 13 straight and ranks No. 20 nationally.

Unlike Louisville, which leads the ACC with six Quad 1 wins and a top-10 NET, Duke has just three Quad 1 victories. But Walz knows the challenge.

"They're playing some really good basketball right now," he said. "Scoring it well, defending well… It should be a great game, and I'm hoping we have a great turnout."

So do I.

Quick Sips

FATHERS AND SONS, PART 1:

One of the only bright spots during Louisville's blowout loss at Duke came before tipoff — when ESPN showed a clip of Pat Kelsey's young son, Johnny, calmly draining long threes at Cameron Indoor while the Crazies roared their approval.

After Saturday's win over SMU, Kelsey was asked what it meant to have his son around the team:

"I'm so blessed, it's not even funny," he said. "Are you kidding me? Josh Heird lets my son be in the practice facility every day. He wants to leave school and come here and be around J'Vonne Hadley and Mikel Brown and Khani Rooths and Kobe Rodgers, and he's got all these big brothers that teach him cuss words — but teach him the right freaking things.

"He's shooting at Cameron Indoor Stadium in front of the Cameron Crazies. He's making baskets, and they're going crazy. And then he sees the reality: Life ain't good all the time. We got our freaking butts kicked by 30. That's a locker room you don't want to be in.

"Stand right there. This is life. You get kicked in the teeth. You fall down. But you dust yourself off and get up. I'm raising my son through what I coach and teach my team. It's pretty cool."

FATHERS AND SONS, PART 2:

After my recent column on the 1986 national championship team, Debbie Sims sent along a story that's too good not to share.

She and her husband held season tickets from 1981-2017. When their son was born on Jan. 30, 1986, Louisville lost just one more game — then won the national title.

When that son's son — Debbie's grandson — was born on Jan. 29, 2013, the Cards lost just once (in five overtimes at Notre Dame) and again won it all.

Both were in the crowd Saturday against SMU. Two generations. Two birthdays. Two championships. Hoping she notifies us when a great-grandson is born.

The Last Drop

"It's been fun to watch them. We've won seven road games — and not just at the bottom of the league. We've gone into tough places and found ways to win. Our kids are buying into whoever has the hot hand. I'm proud of them."

— Jeff Walz, after the win at Cal