Retro Cardinals: Waltz wants current team to mimic toughness of past champions

By RUSS BROWN • Photos By UofL Athletics 

For almost the entirety of his 29 seasons as Louisville’s women’s basketball coach, Jeff Walz has had the Cardinals among the elite programs in the country. In only his second season, he guided them to the national runner-up spot, and from 2018 through 2023 UofL advanced to five Elite Eights and two Final Fours in consecutive seasons (there was no tournament in 2020 due to Covid). But the Cards haven’t performed up to Walz’s standards recently, winning just one NCAA Tournament game in the last two years. 

“We’ve got to be that team that when people see us, they’re like, ‘Hey, they play hard,’” Walz told fans at the Tipoff Luncheon. “We’ve lost that the past two years. And we’ve got to get back to who we are if we want to continue to move our program forward.” 

He spent much of the preseason trying to instill toughness back into his team. He demanded that players take charges, fly onto the floor for loose balls, fight on defense and hit the glass with tenacity to grab rebounds. 

“If we want to win at the level we’re used to winning at, then we’re going to have to have that toughness,” he said. “You’re trying to change some things from some kids where they might not have had that physicality or that toughness. And you’re trying to instill it in them.” 

Walz cited his 2009 and 2013 national runner-up teams as examples of how he wants his current team to play. 

“You look at some of our teams -- our ‘09 team and our ‘13 team -- we had some talent, but I’m not sure anybody thought we’d be playing in a national championship game,” he said. “But because we were tough, we were diving after loose balls. . .And when you start advancing (in the tournament), those games come down to one possession.” 

So how is that mission going? During the non-conference season, which ended with a game against Tennessee in the Women’s Champions Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Dec. 20, the best indication that Walz is succeeding and that UofL could be primed to return to prominence came in early December when the then-No. 23 Cards took No. 3 and 2025 runner-up South Carolina down to the final seconds in a physical battle before succumbing 79-77 in the KFC Yum! Center. Then they continued to flash their potential later in the month by upsetting No. 12 North Carolina 76-66 in overtime on the road. 

Only a missed open 3-pointer off a designed play prevented Louisville from completing a notable upset. However, it did provide a glimpse of the Cards’ potential the rest of the season. 

“We played well -- not well enough to win -- but well,” Walz said afterwards. “Our effort was great. If we give that every night, I like our chances. We played four good quarters, that’s a first this year, and we competed. If we bring that effort we’ll win a lot of games. 

“It’s not going to mean we’ll win every game, but I think we’ll have a fighting chance. The problem is, you can’t just do it during games. What’s practice going to be? Are you willing to say, hey, I’ve still got to get better? That’s the challenge I put forth to all of them.” 

UofL, which was picked to finish fourth in the ACC by the league’s coaches, opened its 18-game conference schedule with a 65-54 win at Clemson. The league isn’t as strong as it has been in recent seasons, with just two other teams besides Louisville in the Top-25 -- North Carolina and Notre Dame. The Cards’ only meeting with the Tar Heels came in Chapel Hill on Dec. 14. They will face the Irish and preseason Player of the Year, junior guard Hannah Hidalgo, twice -- in South Bend on Jan. 15 and in the Yum Center in the regular season finale on March 1. UofL will play preseason favorite Duke at home on Feb. 5 and projected third-place finisher NC State on the road Jan. 18. 

UofL is the only team to place two players on the All-ACC first team in sophomore guard Tajianna Roberts and senior forward Laura Ziegler, both of whom have lived up to the billing. They lead the team in scoring and Ziegler, a Denmark native who transferred from St. Joseph’s, is the top rebounder. 

In the eighth game of the season Ziegler reached 1,500 career points and then brought down her 1,000th rebound three games later. The team’s other consistent contributors are junior guard/forward Skylar Jones; sophomore guard Imari Berry; junior forward Elif Istanbulluoglu from Turkey; sophomore guard Reyna Scott; and sophomore forwards Anaya Hardy and Mackenly Randolph. Louisville’s roster is a mix of international experience and coast-to-coast recruits, with players from four continents and eight U.S. states. 

UofL VOLLEYBALL OUSTED IN SWEET 16 

Louisville’s volleyball season ended last month as No. 3-seeded Texas A&M pulled off a reverse sweep after falling behind 2-0 in the NCAA Regional semifinal in Lincoln, Neb. The Cards won the first two sets, 25-23 and 25-22, but the Aggies prevailed 25-23, 25-28 and 15-12 in the last three sets. 

“It’s a bummer to lose a match like this, because it has a tendency to feel like, ‘Oh, if we could’ve done this. We should’ve changed this,’” UofL coach Dan Meske said. “These players are fantastic. We’ve won big with them. We’ll continue to win big with them. And I’m really proud.” 

Meske, who took over the UofL program last January when Dani Busboom Kelly returned to her alma mater as Nebraska’s coach, finished his inaugural campaign with a 26-7 record. With Meske as her associate head coach, Busboom Kelly guided the Cards to three national runner-up finishes, three Final Four appearances and four ACC championships. Her first Cornhuskers team this season was the No. 1 overall seed.