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2023–24 Louisville Cardinals women's basketball team

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2023–24 Louisville Cardinals women's basketball
NCAA tournament, First Round
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
Record24–10 (12–6 ACC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Stephanie Norman
  • Jonneshia Pineda
  • Shay Robinson
Home arenaKFC Yum! Center
Seasons
2023–24 ACC women's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 18 Virginia Tech 14 4   .778 25 8   .758
No. 4 NC State 13 5   .722 31 7   .816
No. 20 Syracuse 13 5   .722 24 8   .750
No. 11 Notre Dame 13 5   .722 28 7   .800
Louisville 12 6   .667 24 10   .706
Florida State 12 6   .667 23 11   .676
No. 17 Duke 11 7   .611 22 12   .647
North Carolina 11 7   .611 20 13   .606
Miami (FL) 8 10   .444 19 12   .613
Georgia Tech 7 11   .389 17 16   .515
Virginia 7 11   .389 16 16   .500
Clemson 5 13   .278 12 19   .387
Boston College 5 13   .278 14 19   .424
Wake Forest 2 16   .111 7 25   .219
Pittsburgh 2 16   .111 8 24   .250
2024 ACC tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

The 2023–24 Louisville Cardinals women's basketball team represented the University of Louisville during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cardinals were led by seventeenth-year head coach Jeff Walz, and played their home games at the KFC Yum! Center. This season was their tenth year competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Cardinals started the season ranked seventeenth in the nation and won their first four games of the season before losing to Alabama. After the loss, they would go on a six-game win streak that included wins over number 19 Ole Miss in the ACC–SEC Challenge and over rivals Kentucky. Their non-conference season concluded with a loss at number 17 Connecticut and a win over number 23 Washington. The Cardinals finished the non-conference season 11–2. Louisville started the ACC season with five straight wins to reach their highest ranking of thirteenth. However, they lost at number 23 North Carolina before winning three more games. In their final nine games, each loss was followed by a win. They defeated number 12 Notre Dame but lost to four ranked teams in that span, including a final day loss to then number 17 Notre Dame.

The Cardinals finished the season 24–10 overall and 12–6 in ACC play to finish in a tie for fifth place. As the fifth seed in the ACC tournament, they defeated thirteenth seed Boston College in the Second Round before losing to fourth seed and eventual champion Notre Dame in the Quarterfinals. They received an at-large invitation to the NCAA Tournament, marking the thirteenth straight time the Cardinals qualified for the tournament. As the sixth seed in the Albany 2 they were upset by eleventh seed Middle Tennessee in the First Round to end their season.

Previous season

[edit]

The Cardinals finished the season 26–12 overall and 12–6 in ACC play to finish in a tie for fourth place. As the fourth seed in the ACC tournament, they earned a bye to the quarterfinals where they defeated twelfth seed Wake Forest. They then defeated first seed Notre Dame in the semifinals before falling short in the final to third seed Virginia Tech. They received and at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and were the fifth seed in the Seattle 4 Regional. They defeated twelfth seed Drake in the first round, fourth seed Texas in the second round, and eighth seed Ole Miss in the Sweet Sixteen, before losing to second seed Iowa in the Elite Eight to end their season. The Cardinals' 24 total wins was their lowest season win total since 2011–12.

Off-season

[edit]

Departures

[edit]
Departures
Name Number Pos. Height Year Hometown Reason for departure
Zyanna Walker 1 G 5'8" Freshman Wichita, Kansas Transferred to Kansas State[1]
Chrislyn Carr 3 G 5'5" Graduate Student Davenport, Iowa Graduated
Mykasa Robinson 5 G 5'7" Graduate Student Ashland, Kentucky Graduated
Hailey Van Lith 10 G 5'7" Junior Wenatchee, Washington Transferred to LSU[2]
Norika Konno 11 G 5'10" Senior Sendai, Japan Graduated
Payton Verhulst 12 G 6'1" Sophomore De Soto, Kansas Transferred to Oklahoma[3]
Jalyn Brown 15 G 6'0" Freshman Baltimore, Maryland Entered transfer portal[4]
Elizabeth Dixon 22 F 6'5" Graduate Student Memphis, Tennessee Graduated
Morgan Jones 24 G 6'2" Graduate Student Jonesboro, Georgia Graduated
Imani Lester 32 F 6'3" Freshman Raleigh, North Carolina Transferred to Kansas State[5]
Josie Williams 40 C 6'5" Graduate Student West Haven, Utah Graduated

Incoming transfers

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Incoming Transfers
Name Number Pos. Height Year Hometown Previous School
Sydney Taylor 1 G 5'9" Graduate Student Long Island, New York UMass[6]
Hennie van Schaik 3 F 6'2" Junior Urk, Netherlands Cal State Bakersfield[7]
Kiki Jefferson 12 G 6'1" Graduate Student Lancaster, Pennsylvania James Madison[8]
Nina Rickards 15 G 5'9" Graduate Student Queens, New York Florida[9]
Eylia Love 24 G/F 6'1" Junior Kansas City, Missouri Georgia Tech[10]
Jayda Curry 30 G 5'6" Sophomore Corona, California California[11]

Recruiting class

[edit]

Source:[12]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Eseosa Imafidon
C
Benin City, Nigeria Proctor Academy 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) N/A  
Recruiting star ratings: RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A
Elif Istanbulluoglu
F
Istanbul, Turkey Fenerbahçe S.K. 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) N/A  
Recruiting star ratings: RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

Roster

[edit]
2023–24 Louisville Cardinals women's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown
G 1 Sydney Taylor 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) GS St. Anthony's
UMass
Long Island, NY
F 2 Nyla Harris 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) So Lake Highland Prep Winermere, FL
F 3 Hennie van Schaik 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Jr Centre for Sports and Education
Cal State Bakersfield
Urk, Netherlands
C 10 Eseosa Imafidon 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 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 Kiki Jefferson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) GS Lancaster Catholic
James Madison
Lancaster, PA
G 13 Merissah Russell 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Sr Cairine Wilson Ottawa, Ontario
G 15 Nina Rickards 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) GS Christ the King
Florida
Queens, NY
F 23 Alexia Mobley 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) RS So Reynoldsburg Reynoldsburgh, OH
G/F 24 Eylia Love 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Jr Olathe North
Georgia Tech
Kansas City, MO
G 30 Jayda Curry 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) So Centennial
California
Corona, CA
F 44 Olivia Cochran 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Jr Carver Columbus, GA
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: October 31, 2023

Schedule and results

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Source[13]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-Conference Regular season
November 6, 2023*
6:00 p.m., ESPN+
No. 17 at Cincinnati W 77–59  1–0
Fifth Third Arena (1,725)
Cincinnati, OH
November 12, 2023*
4:00 p.m., ACCN
No. 17 DePaul W 81–74  2–0
KFC Yum! Center (7,456)
Louisville, KY
November 16, 2023*
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 19 Bellarmine W 111–33  3–0
KFC Yum! Center (7,486)
Louisville, KY
November 19, 2023*
4:00 p.m., ACCN
No. 19 Bucknell W 77–44  4–0
KFC Yum! Center (7,383)
Louisville, KY
November 24, 2023*
12:00 p.m., ESPN+
No. 20 vs. Alabama
Betty Chancellor Classic
L 73–78  4–1
Merrell Center 
Katy, TX
November 25, 2023*
12:00 p.m., ESPN+
No. 20 vs. Liberty
Betty Chancellor Classic
W 72–63  5–1
Merrell Center (256)
Katy, TX
November 26, 2023*
1:45 p.m., ESPN+
No. 20 vs. Gonzaga
Betty Chancellor Classic
W 81–70  6–1
Merrell Center 
Katy, TX
November 29, 2023*
9:15 p.m., ESPNU
No. 22 at No. 19 Ole Miss
ACC–SEC Challenge
W 64–58  7–1
SJB Pavilion (2,694)
University, MS
December 3, 2023*
12:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 22 North Carolina A&T W 80–40  8–1
KFC Yum! Center (7,618)
Louisville, KY
December 10, 2023*
2:00 p.m., ACCN
No. 18 Kentucky
Rivalry
W 73–61  9–1
KFC Yum! Center (11,291)
Louisville, KY
December 13, 2023*
4:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 18 Morehead State W 74–48  10–1
KFC Yum! Center (7,086)
Louisville, KY
December 16, 2023*
12:00 p.m., Fox
No. 18 at No. 17 Connecticut L 62–86  10–2
XL Center (13,028)
Hartford, CT
December 20, 2023*
7:00 p.m., ACCN
No. 19 No. 23 Washington W 59–51  11–2
KFC Yum! Center (8,018)
Louisville, KY
ACC Regular season
December 31, 2023
4:00 p.m., ACCN
No. 19 at Miami (FL) W 77–72  12–2
(1–0)
Watsco Center (2,120)
Coral Gables, FL
January 4, 2024
8:00 p.m., ACCN
No. 17 Duke W 61–44  13–2
(2–0)
KFC Yum! Center (7,789)
Louisville, KY
January 11, 2024
6:00 p.m., ACCN
No. 15 at Pittsburgh W 74–44  14–2
(3–0)
Peterson Events Center (868)
Pittsburgh, PA
January 14, 2024
2:00 p.m., ACCN
No. 15 Wake Forest W 83–62  15–2
(4–0)
KFC Yum! Center (8,901)
Louisville, KY
January 18, 2024
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 13 at Clemson W 81–64  16–2
(5–0)
Littlejohn Coliseum (868)
Clemson, SC
January 21, 2024
2:00 p.m., ACCN
No. 13 at No. 23 North Carolina L 68–79  16–3
(5–1)
Carmichael Arena (6,073)
Chapel Hill, NC
January 25, 2024
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 18 Boston College W 88–60  17–3
(6–1)
KFC Yum! Center (7,606)
Louisville, KY
January 28, 2024
2:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 18 Pittsburgh W 77–58  18–3
(7–1)
KFC Yum! Center (9,452)
Louisville, KY
February 1, 2024
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 16 No. 21 Syracuse W 81–69  19–3
(8–1)
KFC Yum! Center (8,254)
Louisville, KY
February 5, 2024
6:00 p.m., ESPN2
No. 15 at No. 3 NC State L 67–77  19–4
(8–2)
Reynolds Coliseum (5,500)
Raleigh, NC
February 8, 2024
6:00 p.m., ESPN
No. 15 No. 12 Notre Dame W 73–66  20–4
(9–2)
KFC Yum! Center (9,417)
Louisville, KY
February 11, 2024
12:00 p.m., The CW
No. 15 at No. 23 Syracuse L 72–73  20–5
(9–3)
JMA Wireless Dome (3,912)
Syracuse, NY
February 15, 2024
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 18 at Boston College W 69–67  21–5
(10–3)
Conte Forum (937)
Chestnut Hill, MA
February 18, 2024
1:00 p.m., ESPN
No. 18 No. 12 Virginia Tech L 70–86  21–6
(10–4)
KFC Yum! Center (12,249)
Louisville, KY
February 22, 2024
6:00 p.m., ACCN
No. 20 at Georgia Tech W 80–62  22–6
(11–4)
McCamish Pavilion (1,554)
Atlanta, GA
February 25, 2024
12:00 p.m., The CW
No. 20 Virginia L 68–73  22–7
(11–5)
KFC Yum! Center (10,305)
Louisville, KY
February 29, 2024
8:00 p.m., ACCN
No. 22 Florida State W 70–55  23–7
(12–5)
KFC Yum! Center (7,932)
Louisville, KY
March 3, 2024
2:00 p.m., ESPN
No. 22 at No. 17 Notre Dame L 58–74  23–8
(12–6)
Purcell Pavilion (9,149)
Notre Dame, IN
ACC Women's Tournament
March 7, 2024
11:00 a.m., ACCN
(5) No. 24 vs. (13) Boston College
Second Round
W 58–55  24–8
Greensboro Coliseum (10,823)
Greensboro, NC
March 8, 2024
11:00 a.m., ACCN
(5) No. 24 vs. (4) No. 14 Notre Dame
Quarterfinals
L 68–77  24–9
Greensboro Coliseum (10,488)
Greensboro, NC
NCAA Women's Tournament
March 22, 2024*
1:30 p.m., ESPN2
(6 A2) No. 23 vs. (11 A2) Middle Tennessee
First Round
L 69–71  24–10
Pete Maravich Assembly Center (12,957)
Baton Rouge, LA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
A2=Albany 2.
All times are in Eastern.

Rankings

[edit]
Regular Season Polls
Poll Pre-
Season
Week
2
Week
3
Week
4
Week
5
Week
6
Week
7
Week
8
Week
9
Week
10
Week
11
Week
12
Week
13
Week
14
Week
15
Week
16
Week
17
Week
18
Week
19
Week
20
Final
AP 17 19 20 22 18 18 19 19 17 15 13 18 16 15 18 20 22 24 24 23 RV
Coaches 15 15 15 19 18 17 19 19 16 15 12 16 12 15 18 20 23 24 25 25 RV

Note: The AP does not release a final poll.

Legend
  Increase in ranking
  Decrease in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
(RV)   Received Votes

2024 WNBA Draft

[edit]
Player Team Round Pick # Position
United States Kiki Jefferson Minnesota Lynx 3 31 G

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Zyanna Walker transferring to K-State". kwch.com. KWCH-DT. April 19, 2023. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  2. ^ Nagy, Zach (April 28, 2023). "Hailey Van Lith Opens Up On Transfer Decision To LSU". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  3. ^ "Sooners Add Five-Star Transfer in Verhulst". soonersports.com. University of Oklahoma. December 18, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  4. ^ McGavic, Matthew (March 13, 2023). "Report: Louisville's Jalyn Brown, Zyanna Walker Enter Transfer Portal". si.com. FanSided. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  5. ^ DeLoach, Zach (June 28, 2023). "Louisville transfers Walker, Lester find new home at K-State". themercury.com. The Mercury. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  6. ^ Paras, Matt (April 22, 2023). "Women's Basketball Adds Transfer Sydney Taylor". gocards.com. University of Louisville Athletics. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  7. ^ Paras, Matt (April 11, 2023). "Women's Basketball Adds Transfer Hennie van Schaik". gocards.com. University of Louisville Athletics. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  8. ^ Philippou, Alexa (April 17, 2023). "Louisville lands transfer Kiki Jefferson from James Madison". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  9. ^ Crawford, Eric (April 22, 2023). "Louisville women add transfer guard Nina Rickards, a 4-year starter from Florida". wdrb.com. WDRB. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  10. ^ "Louisville Adds Georgia Tech Transfer Eylia Love". si.com. University of Louisville Athletics. January 18, 2023. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  11. ^ Philippou, Alexa (April 3, 2023). "Former Cal guard Jayda Curry transferring to Louisville". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  12. ^ "Louisville Cardinals". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  13. ^ "2023–24 Louisville Cardinals women's basketball schedule". gocards.com. Louisville Cardinals. Retrieved October 31, 2023.