From a No. 3 seed, to the No. 5 seed 'Party Crashers,' to a top contender to win it all, we’ve seen the emergence of Louisville Women’s Basketball explode over the last decade, including seven trips to the Sweet 16 and two title game appearances.
We’ve been in awe of Angel McCoughtry, Shoni Schimmel and now Asia Durr. A 'program on the rise' is now one of THE programs.
The powerhouse Jeff Walz and his staff have built has made it to the top. Coming off a highly emotional 74-72 win over Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament Championship, Louisville will begin its National Championship quest Friday at noon EST vs. Mountain West Champion, Boise State at home in Louisville.
The Cardinals enter the tournament led by ACC Player of the Year Durr, who is averaging 18.8 points per game and has the ability to absolutely explode offensively. Senior forward Misha Hines-Allen is a walking double-double bringing down just under 10 boards a game and adding 13.9 points.
The team's two only losses came versus No. 2 Florida State — by a single point — and top-ranked UConn, on the road.
The Tournament
Geographically, Louisville arguably may be set up better than any other No. 1 seed. With a consistent display of fans flooding the Yum! Center seats, Louisville ranks in the top 5 in attendance annually and hold an overall 121-15 home record in Walz’s time.
Hosting the first two rounds on their home floor, a short 75-minute drive to Lexington for the Elite 8 and finally a 3-hour drive to Columbus for the Final 4 … it doesn't get much better than that, huh?
In order to win it all, there's no doubt teams need some luck. One couldn't ask for a better setup or a better narrative for this Louisville team. A program that has had great success as lower seeds, they understand the night-in, night-out mentality of respecting every opponent they face.
They’ve been the underdog, and just as much as they can beat anyone in the country, there are 35 teams out there capable of upsetting them. And they know it.
A program filled with historic upsets, gritty wins, incredible players and a steady emergence of one of women’s basketball’s top programs, you can’t help but wonder…. is this Louisville’s time?
