Louisville women get No. 3 seed for NCAA Tournament, look to run deeper into March

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Louisville knew it was going to be home for the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Now, the Cardinals know the next step in front of them.

Louisville, a No. 3 seed, will play host to Vermont in their NCAA Tournament opener in the KFC Yum! Center on Saturday, with the winner to play the winner of Alabama's game against Rhode Island on Monday.

For Louisville, the bid is another marker of consistency in one of women’s basketball’s steadiest programs.

The Cardinals are making the 27th NCAA Tournament appearance in school history and another under Walz, who has built Louisville into a regular March presence with 12 Sweet 16 trips, eight Elite Eights, four Final Fours and two national runner-up finishes. Walz carries a 41-16 NCAA Tournament record into this year’s bracket.

Louisville | Kentucky | Indiana | Eric Crawford

The Cardinals take a 27-7 record into the field after finishing second in the ACC and pushing eventual tournament champion Duke to overtime in the ACC title game before falling 70-65. Louisville has now spent the season doing what the selection committee values most: winning away from home, challenging itself, and surviving one of the tougher schedules in the country.

Louisville finished the regular season 9-0 in true road games, one of only three teams nationally to do that, and tied for the ACC lead with eight Quad 1 wins, including six on the road — the second-most Quad 1 road wins in the country.

That résumé was built against a schedule with very little softness. Louisville faced both the No. 1 and No. 2 teams from the preseason AP poll during the nonconference schedule, one of only two teams nationally to do so, and played a string of ranked opponents that helped shape a team that looks more dangerous than flashy.

Five of Louisville’s losses have come to teams currently ranked in the Top 20, and each of its last five defeats has been by five points or fewer.

That is part of what makes this Louisville team intriguing. It does not have one singular household-name star around whom everything revolves. Instead, it comes at opponents in waves.

Tajianna Roberts leads the Cardinals in scoring at 11.4 points per game and was named first-team All-ACC by the league’s coaches. Laura Ziegler averages 11.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game, giving Louisville one of its most versatile frontcourt pieces. Imari Berry adds 11.0 points per game off the bench and has emerged as one of Louisville’s most dangerous scorers, earning ACC Sixth Player of the Year honors.

And the bench is a major part of Louisville’s identity. The Cardinals average 34.7 points per game from their reserves, second-most in the nation, and have outscored the opposing bench in all 33 games listed in the pre-ACC title notes. That depth has helped Louisville survive foul trouble, absorb injuries, and maintain pressure over 40 minutes.

Louisville has also been one of the country’s best travel teams and one of the ACC’s most reliable programs over time. Since joining the league in 2014-15, the Cardinals have won 12 or more ACC games every season, finished in the top five of the standings every year, and reached at least the quarterfinals of every ACC Tournament.

Over the last five NCAA Tournaments entering this season, Louisville leads the ACC with 11 tournament wins.

The larger March question is whether this team can push back into the tournament’s second weekend. Louisville reached at least the Elite Eight in five straight NCAA Tournaments from 2018 through 2023, excluding the canceled 2020 event, before first-round and second-round exits the past two years interrupted that standard.

Walz’s program is again positioned to host, again carrying a strong seed line, and again trying to turn regular-season consistency into a deeper March run. Louisville is 45-27 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.

There are still things to clean up. Walz said after the ACC title game that March comes down to rebounding and free-throw shooting, and Louisville’s late defensive-board issues against Duke helped decide the championship.

He also noted that getting players healthy would be a priority heading into the NCAA Tournament. But the broader body of work says Louisville will enter the bracket tested, deep and capable of winning in different ways.

Now the Cardinals get what they wanted: home floor, a place in the field, and another chance to show that a team built on depth, toughness and balance can still make noise in March.

This time, Louisville will try to make the Yum! Center the start of something bigger.

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