# 2017–18 Louisville Cardinals women's basketball team

The 2017–18 Louisville Cardinals women's basketball team represented the University of Louisville during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cardinals, led by 11th-year head coach Jeff Walz, played their home games at the KFC Yum! Center in their fourth year in the Atlantic Coast Conference. They finished the season 36–3, 15–1 in ACC play to win a share of the regular season title. They defeated Virginia Tech, NC State, and Notre Dame to win the ACC women's tournament. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA women's tournament. As the No. 1 seed in the Lexington region, they defeated Boise State and Marquette to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. There they defeated Stanford and Oregon State in the Elite Eight to advance to the school's third Final Four. In the Final Four, they lost to Mississippi State in overtime.

## Previous season

The Cardinals finished the 2016–17 season at 29–8, 12–4 in ACC play to finish in a tie for fourth place. They advanced to the semifinals of the ACC women's tournament where they lost to Notre Dame. They received an at-large bid for the NCAA women's tournament and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen where they lost to Baylor.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 9 | Southeast Missouri State Preseason WNIT First Round | W 80–40 | 1–0 | KFC Yum! Center (6,054) Louisville, KY |
| Nov 12, 2017* 4:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 9 | vs. No. 5 Ohio State Countdown to Columbus | W 95–90 $^{OT}$ | 2–0 | Nationwide Arena (9,711) Columbus, OH |
| Nov 14, 2017* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 5 | Toledo Preseason WNIT Quarterfinals | W 90–55 | 3–0 | KFC Yum! Center (7,444) Louisville, KY |
| Nov 16, 2017* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 5 | No. 25 Michigan Preseason WNIT Semifinals | W 74–49 | 4–0 | KFC Yum! Center (5,651) Louisville, KY |
| Nov 19, 2017* 3:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 5 | No. 10 Oregon Preseason WNIT Championship | W 74–61 | 5–0 | KFC Yum! Center (6,162) Louisville, KY |
| Nov 24, 2017* 1:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 4 | Murray State | W 115–51 | 6–0 | KFC Yum! Center (6,881) Louisville, KY |
| Nov 30, 2017* 8:00 pm, BTN | No. 4 | at Indiana ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge | W 72–59 | 7–0 | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (2,853) Bloomington, IN |
| Dec 03, 2017* 3:00 pm | No. 4 | at South Dakota State | W 68–64 | 8–0 | Frost Arena (2,506) Brookings, SD |
| Dec 05, 2017* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 4 | UT Martin | W 91–56 | 9–0 | KFC Yum! Center (6,279) Louisville, KY |
| Dec 07, 2017* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 4 | Vanderbilt | W 79–57 | 10–0 | KFC Yum! Center (6,132) Louisville, KY |
| Dec 09, 2017* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 4 | Middle Tennessee | W 80–26 | 11–0 | KFC Yum! Center (6,752) Louisville, KY |
| Dec 12, 2017* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 3 | Tennessee State | W 95–56 | 12–0 | KFC Yum! Center (5,782) Louisville, KY |
| Dec 17, 2017* 3:00 pm, SECN | No. 3 | at Kentucky The Battle for the Bluegrass | W 87–63 | 13–0 | Memorial Coliseum (5,871) Lexington, KY |
| Dec 20, 2017* 3:00 pm | No. 3 | at Air Force | W 62–50 | 14–0 | Clune Arena (537) Colorado Springs, CO |
| Dec 28, 2017 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 3 | at Georgia Tech | W 74–71 | 15–0 (1–0) | McCamish Pavilion (1,473) Atlanta, GA |
| Dec 31, 2017 2:30 pm, FS Regional | No. 3 | at NC State | W 55–47 | 16–0 (2–0) | Reynolds Coliseum (2,865) Raleigh, NC |
| Jan 04, 2018 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 3 | No. 17 Duke | W 66–60 | 17–0 (3–0) | KFC Yum! Center (8,101) Louisville, KY |
| Jan 7, 2018 2:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 3 | Virginia Tech | W 67–56 | 18–0 (4–0) | KFC Yum! Center (7,523) Louisville, KY |
| Jan 11, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 3 | No. 2 Notre Dame | W 100–67 | 19–0 (5–0) | KFC Yum! Center (12,614) Louisville, KY |
| Jan 18, 2018 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 2 | at Pittsburgh | W 77–51 | 20–0 (6–0) | Petersen Events Center (441) Pittsburgh, PA |
| Jan 21, 2018 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 2 | No. 12 Florida State | L 49–50 | 20–1 (6–1) | KFC Yum! Center (14,248) Louisville, KY |
| Jan 25, 2018 11:00 am, ACCN Extra | No. 4 | at Miami (FL) | W 84–74 | 21–1 (7–1) | Watsco Center (2,706) Coral Gables, FL |
| Jan 28, 2018 1:00 pm, RSN | No. 4 | Wake Forest | W 89–52 | 22–1 (8–1) | KFC Yum! Center (10,139) Louisville, KY |
| Feb 01, 2018 7:00 pm, RSN | No. 4 | at Virginia | W 77–41 | 23–1 (9–1) | John Paul Jones Arena (2,877) Charlottesville, VA |
| Feb 04, 2018 1:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 4 | at Syracuse | W 84–77 | 24–1 (10–1) | Carrier Dome (2,575) Syracuse, NY |
| Feb 09, 2018 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 4 | Clemson | W 65–48 | 25–1 (11–1) | KFC Yum! Center (7,014) Louisville, KY |
| Feb 12, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 4 | at No. 1 Connecticut | L 58–69 | 25–2 (11–1) | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, CT |
| Feb 15, 2018 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 4 | at Boston College | W 87–52 | 26–2 (12–1) | Conte Forum (929) Chestnut Hill, MA |
| Feb 18, 2018 2:30 pm, RSN | No. 4 | at North Carolina | W 67–57 | 27–2 (13–1) | Carmichael Arena (3,934) Chapel Hill, NC |
| Feb 22, 2018 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 4 | Virginia | W 51–39 | 28–2 (14–1) | KFC Yum! Center (8,434) Louisville, KY |
| Feb 25, 2018 2:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 4 | Pittsburgh | W 81–49 | 29–2 (15–1) | KFC Yum! Center (10,431) Louisville, KY |
| ACC Women's Tournament ||||||
| Mar 02, 2018 2:00 pm, ACCN Extra | (1) No. 4 | vs. (9) Virginia Tech Quarterfinals | W 73–70 | 30–2 | Greensboro Coliseum (3,297) Greensboro, NC |
| Mar 03, 2018 12:00 pm, ESPNU | (1) No. 4 | vs. (5) No. 23 NC State Semifinals | W 64–59 | 31–2 | Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, NC |
| Mar 04, 2018 2:00 pm, ESPN2 | (1) No. 4 | vs. (2) No. 5 Notre Dame Championship | W 74–72 | 32–2 | Greensboro Coliseum (7,424) Greensboro, NC |
| NCAA Women's Tournament ||||||
| Mar 16, 2018* 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | (1 L) No. 3 | (16 L) Boise State First Round | W 74–42 | 33–2 | KFC Yum! Center Louisville, KY |
| Mar 18, 2018* 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | (1 L) No. 3 | (8 L) Marquette Second Round | W 90–72 | 34–2 | KFC Yum! Center (8,017) Louisville, KY |
| Mar 23, 2018* 9:00 pm, ESPN | (1 L) No. 3 | vs. (4 L) No. 15 Stanford Sweet Sixteen | W 86–59 | 35–2 | Rupp Arena (5,715) Lexington, KY |
| Mar 25, 2018* 12:00 pm, ESPN | (1 L) No. 3 | vs. (6 L) No. 13 Oregon State Elite Eight | W 76–43 | 36–2 | Rupp Arena (6,268) Lexington, KY |
| Mar 30, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | (1 L) No. 3 | vs. (1 KC) No. 4 Mississippi State Final Four | L 63–73 $^{OT}$ | 36–3 | Nationwide Arena (19,564) Columbus, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. L=Lexington Region. All times are in Eastern. ||||||
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