# 2009–10 Louisville Cardinals women's basketball team

The 2009–10 Louisville Cardinals women's basketball team represented the University of Louisville in the 2009–2010 NCAA Division I basketball season. The Cards, coached by Jeff Walz, played their final season at Freedom Hall at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Kentucky, before moving into the KFC Yum! Center in Downtown Louisville for the 2010–11 season. The Cardinals were a member of the Big East Conference.

## Offseason

* April 21, 2009 : Freshman forward Gwen Rucker will play volleyball during the 2009 season while redshirting during the 2009–10 women's basketball season. Rucker was a starter for both the Louisville volleyball and women's basketball teams this past season, helping lead both to NCAA tournament play. Rucker saw action in 32 games for the Cardinals, starting in the final 27 games. She finished the year averaging three points and 2.1 rebounds per game.
* April 28, 2009: The University of Louisville women's basketball team will serve as Honorary Grand Marshals of the Pegasus Parade. The Cardinals advanced to the 2009 NCAA Championship game. The 54th annual Parade will begin at 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 30.
* April 29, 2009: BasketballScoop.com and ONS PerformanceTM announced that Louisville women's basketball assistant coach Stephanie Norman was named a finalist for their "Coaches of the Year" awards focusing on the "Rising Stars" of the college basketball coaching profession. The finalists were nominated by their peers, and were the 10 leading vote getters in our online voting. Norman joined Walz on the Louisville staff two years ago when he took over the program.
* May 5, 2009 : Freshman guards Mary Jackson and Tiera Stephen will not return to the University of Louisville women's basketball team for the 2009–10 season. Jackson and Stephen are currently exploring other options to continue their playing careers.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 1, 2009* 2:00 p.m. | | Northern Kentucky | W 79–54 | | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 15, 2009* 1:00 p.m. | | at Dayton | W 65–63 | 1–0 | UD Arena Dayton, OH |
| November 17, 2009* 7:00 p.m. | | at Hartford | L 50–62 | 1–1 | Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion (2,017) West Hartford, CT |
| November 22, 2009* 4:30 p.m. | | Tennessee Tech | W 84–54 | 2–1 | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| November 27, 2009* 6:00 p.m. | | vs. Northern Iowa Cancún Challenge | W 81–53 | 3–1 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya Cancun, Mexico |
| November 28, 2009* 8:15 p.m. | | vs. Old Dominion Cancún Challenge | W 82–75 | 4–1 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya Cancun, Mexico |
| December 2, 2009* 7:00 p.m. | | at Central Michigan | L 75–84 | 4–2 | McGuirk Arena Mount Pleasant, MI |
| December 6, 2009* 2:00 p.m. | | Utah | W 60–55 | 5–2 | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| December 9, 2009* 7:00 p.m. | | Middle Tennessee | L 84–94 | 5–3 | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| December 13, 2009* 2:00 p.m. | | IUPUI | W 88–58 | 6–3 | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| December 16, 2009* 7:00 p.m. | | at Tennessee | L 56–86 | 6–4 | Thompson–Boling Arena (11,084) Knoxville, TN |
| December 20, 2009* 1:00 p.m. | | at Kentucky Battle for the Bluegrass/Pack the House | L 67–101 | 6–5 | Memorial Coliseum (7,323) Lexington, KY |
| December 22, 2009* 7:00 p.m. | | at New Hampshire | W 76–67 | 7–5 | Lundholm Gym (763) Durham, NH |
| December 29, 2009* 7:00 p.m. | | IPFW | W 91–62 | 8–5 | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| Big East regular season ||||||
| January 2, 2010 2:00 p.m. | | at Cincinnati | W 63–49 | 9–5 (1–0) | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| January 5, 2010 9:00 p.m. | | at DePaul | L 70–76 | 9–6 (1–1) | McGrath Arena Chicago, IL |
| January 9, 2010 4:00 p.m. | | Providence | W 67–48 | 10–6 (2–1) | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| January 16, 2010 2:00 p.m. | | at Georgetown | L 56–60 | 10–7 (2–2) | McDonough Gymnasium Washington, D.C. |
| January 19, 2010 7:00 p.m. | | Notre Dame | L 60–78 | 10–8 (2–3) | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| January 23, 2010 2:00 p.m. | | Syracuse | L 58–64 | 10–9 (2–4) | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| January 26, 2010 7:00 p.m. | | Villanova | W 53–50 | 11–9 (3–4) | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| January 30, 2010 7:00 p.m. | | at No. 22 West Virginia | L 66–72 | 11–10 (3–5) | WVU Coliseum Morgantown, WV |
| February 2, 2010 7:00 p.m. | | Cincinnati | L 68–74 $^{OT}$ | 11–11 (3–6) | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| February 7, 2010 12:00 p.m. | | Connecticut | L 38–84 | 11–12 (3–7) | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| February 10, 2010 2:00 p.m. | | at St. John's | L 56–91 | 11–13 (3–8) | Carnesecca Arena Queens, NY |
| February 14, 2010 5:30 p.m, ESPN2 | | at Pittsburgh | L 69–72 | 11–14 (3–9) | Petersen Events Center Pittsburgh,PA |
| February 16, 2010 7:00 p.m. | | Marquette | W 77–61 | 12–14 (4–9) | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| February 24, 2010 7:00 p.m. | | at Seton Hall | W 72–49 | 13–14 (5–9) | Walsh Gymnasium South Orange, NJ |
| February 27, 2010 2:00 p.m. | | South Florida | L 60–63 | 13–15 (5–10) | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| March 1, 2010 7:30 p.m. | | at Rutgers | L 52–72 | 13–16 (5–11) | Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway, NJ |
| Big East Women's Tournament ||||||
| March 5, 2010* 12:00 p.m. | (13) | vs. (12) Pittsburgh First round | W 79–71 | 14–16 | XL Center Hartford, CT |
| March 6, 2010* 12:00 p.m. | (13) | vs. (5) Notre Dame Second round | L 52–89 | 14–17 | XL Center Hartford, CT |
| WBI Tournament ||||||
| March 17, 2010* 7:00 p.m. | (3) | (6) Bradley First round | L 59–69 | 14–18 | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||