The 2025–26 Louisville Cardinals women's basketball team represented the University of Louisville during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cardinals, led by nineteenth-year head coach Jeff Walz, played their home games at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

The Cardinals began the season as the twentieth-ranked team in the AP Poll and opened the season with a loss to UConn in the Armed Forces Classic. They went on a four-game winning streak from there, including their opening ACC match at Clemson. Their streak was broken with a ten-point rivalry loss against twentieth-ranked Kentucky. The loss saw the Cardinals fall to twenty-third in the rankings. Another three-game winning streak saw them bounce back to twenty-second in the polls before they lost their ACC–SEC Challenge game against third-ranked South Carolina. The Cardinals then went on a fourteen-game winning streak. Notable wins over the streak included a ten-point overtime victory over twelfth-ranked North Carolina, a twenty-four point victory over seventeenth-ranked Tennessee in the Women's Champions Classic, a thirteen-point victory over twenty-third ranked Notre Dame and an overtime road victory over NC State. Over the streak the team rose from twenty-second to seventh in the rankings. The Cardinals rose to sixth before facing seventeenth-ranked Duke at home. Duke prevailed by one point to break the winning streak. The Cardinals fell back to ninth in the rankings before losing two of their final three games. They defeated Georgia Tech while being upset by Virginia and Notre Dame. They would close the regular season ranked twelfth in the polls.

The Cardinals finished the regular season 25–6 overall and 15–3 in ACC play to finish in second place. As the second seed in the ACC tournament, earned a bye into the Quarterfinals where they defeated seventh-seed Syracuse 87–61. In the Semifinals, the team defeated third-seed and sixteenth-ranked North Carolina. They were unable to prevail over first seed and thirteenth-ranked Duke in the Final. They received an at-large invitation to the NCAA tournament and were the three-seed in the Fort Worth 3 region. They defeated fourteen-seed Vermont in the First Round and six-seed Alabama in the Second Round. The Cardinals were unable to advance past the Sweet Sixteen as they lost 52–71 to two-seed and ninth-ranked Michigan to end their season. The Cardinals' final record was 29–8, and they were ranked eleventh in the polls.

Previous season

The Cardinals finished the season 22–11 overall and 13–5 in ACC play to finish in a three-way tie for fourth place. As the sixth seed in the ACC tournament, earned a bye into the second round where they defeated Clemson 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 the NCAA tournament and were the seven-seed in the Birmingham 3 region. They defeated ten seed Nebraska in the First Round before losing to second seed and sixth ranked TCU 85–70 in the Second Round to end their season.

Off-season

Departures Departures 0 G 5'9" Porter Ranch, California Transferred to Kansas State 2 F 6'2" Windermere, Florida Transferred to North Carolina 10 C 6'5" Benin City, Nigeria Transferred to Providence 12 G 5'9" Pompano Beach, Florida Graduated 13 G 6'0" Ottawa, Ontario Graduated 30 G 5'6" Corona, California Graduated 44 F 6'3" Columbus, Georgia Graduated

Incoming transfers Incoming Transfers 0 F 6'2" Herlev, Denmark Saint Joseph's 1 G 5'10" New York, New York Oklahoma 23 G/F 6'0" Chicago, Illinois Arizona

Recruiting class

Source:

Roster

Schedule and results

Source

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Rankings

*AP did not release a week 8 poll.

References