Welcome to the 2026-27 Louisville women’s basketball season! This campaign kicked off with a thumping of our neighbor Bellarmine. The Cards set a record for points scored in an opener and led 44-9 at the end of the first quarter. Consequently it was difficult to get a good read on how good the new players are.
Tajianna Roberts was the leading scorer with 15 points to which she added 4 steals and 3 rebounds. Imari Berry and LSU transfer Amiya Joyner both had 14 points. Freshman Ariyana Cradle had 10
points and 6 rebounds. Senior Elif Istanbulluoglu finished with 9 points but had to leave the game early with an injury. Coach Walz said that she was putting weight on her ankle after the game but he suspected she would sit for the next game on Wednesday.
Coach Walz found plenty to be happy about tonight. “We shot the ball extremely well starting off the game. We were 10 of our first 15 from 3 and then struggled from that point on… we went 2 for 17.” He added, “I thought we passed the ball extremely well. We had one turnover in the first half. I don’t care who you’re playing if you can take care of the basketball and get shots we’re going to have a chance to be successful.”
However it was not all happy news. Coach Walz said, “Our free throw shooting was atrocious tonight [15/26 for 58%] so that’s definitely an area of concern…. Rebounding is an area of concern for me. This is a ball club tonight that we out-rebounded by 6. We didn’t put a body on enough people.”
On NC State transfer Zamareya Jones he said, “What Zam does is the way she picks the ball up and the intensity that she plays with is pretty special. It’s been a few years going back to Dana [Evans] for somebody who picks the ball up as quick as she does. She’s got great basketball instincts that you can’t teach.”
The Cards have a quick turnaround and meet Stetson on Wednesday at home. The game is at 8PM and can be seen on the ACC Network.
