UofL Women

Bumpy road ahead for the University of Louisville women’s basketball team

The expressions on the faces of UofL player provided plenty of evidence that the Cardinals will have some challenging games ahead of them in the 2015 NCAA basketball tournament. There are no lightweights among the 16 teams in the so-called Albany Region.

There are several familiar faces, none of them friendly, including the UConn Huskies, the top-ranked team in the land with a 32-1 won-lost record and rising the crest of a 31-game winning streak.bracket

There’s also the University of Kentucky (23-9), which defeated UofL early in the season and was awarded the No. 2 seed over UofL, pushing the Cardinals down to the three seed.

The one and only question for Jeff Walz from UofL fans at the Yum Practice Center Monday was how UK got the second seed over UofL. “I’m sure they considered head-to-head matchups,” he said. “They did beat us early in the season and they also beat second-ranked South Carolina.”

Then there’s South Florida, which owns a 26-7 record and took UofL to the wire in some recent games between the two schools. And Western Kentucky, coached by former UofL assistant Michelle Heard, with a 30-4 mark from Conference USA.

Plus, Vivian Stringer has Rutgers back in the dance with a 22-9 record.

But right of the gate they will meet Brigham Young University in a 4 p.m. game on Saturday. BYU has compiled a 23-9 record and won the West Coast Conference tournament, disposing of Gonzaga and San Francisco along the way.

If the Cardinals get by BYU, they will face South Florida (or LSU) on the Bulls’ home court.

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By Charlie Springer

Charlie Springer is a former Louisville editor and sportswriter, a public affairs consultant, a UofL grad and longtime fan.