Around women’s college hoops: Louisville tops ACC, hot seat watch, more

Since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2014, the Louisville women’s basketball team has been the league’s most stable program. From 2018 to 2023, the Cardinals reached the Elite Eight five times in a row, won four consecutive ACC regular season championships, and reached the Final Four twice. Led by head coach Jeff Walz, the Cardinals’ expectations are to compete for an ACC championship and a Final Four berth each season. When Louisville failed to do that the past two years — losing on the opening weekend of the 2024 and 2025 NCAA tournaments — people began to wonder whether Louisville’s dominance was over. “Louisville has been playing basketball for about 19 years,” Walz said after an overtime victory over North Carolina a few weeks ago, pointing to his tenure as coach that began in 2007. “You know, our standards are a little higher. It was a bad year when we got beaten in the second round. When we lost in the first round, I mean, people were like, “Get rid of this guy.” There was a little tongue-in-cheek exaggeration from Walz, but it was true that fans were starting to rule them out in the race for the ACC title. Those who were pessimistic about Louisville had their pessimism confirmed in November, when the Cardinals lost by double digits to UConn and rival Kentucky. But then December came. Louisville nearly beat South Carolina, losing by two points to the mighty Gamecocks, then won a ranked road game at North Carolina before beating Tennessee at a neutral site.

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Louisville has won nine straight games since losing to the Gamecocks. Walz’s Cardinals not only appear to be the best team in the ACC, but also the favorite in the league to be a top-16 seed in the NCAA tournament and reach the Final Four. Statistically speaking, the Cardinals’ defense and ability to run the ball are excellent. They rank 12th nationally in opponent three-point field goal percentage (25.1%), 21st in opponent offensive rebounding rate (24.7%), 13th in total rebounds per game (44.1), and 18th in assist-to-turnover ratio.

“When we pass the ball unselfishly, we have six or seven kids who can take open shots that you have to defend, and when we do that, we can space the floor,” Walz said last week. “We can put pressure on you, and that’s why I think we’re having success right now.” This team has grown and matured as the season has gone on. This is a young team with 10 freshmen and sophomores. Imari Berry and Elif Istanbulluoglu have made the most progress, Tajianna Roberts is still playing at the all-conference level after earning ACC nod as a freshman, and Laura Ziegler has lived up to expectations since transferring from St. Joseph’s. Louisville is 4-3 in four games and has a net rating of 11 points, ranking seventh in the WAB (win out of the bubble). The losses to UConn and Kentucky feel like a lifetime ago. “We competed and performed well (in non-conference play). Our win against Tennessee was beautiful. I think part of it was our conference, our team made a difference,” Walz said. “Just like Duke, you know, we’re playing good teams. We’re playing higher-ranked opponents.” There are two big tests ahead. The Cardinals play Notre Dame on Thursday and North Carolina on Sunday, neither of which is friendly to road teams. If Louisville comes out on top in both categories, they should be seriously considered a contender again.

Duke’s top prospects on hold

Duke head coach Kara Lawson has been complimentary of freshman Emily Skinner since the preseason. The 6-foot point guard, rated the fourth-best prospect in the 2025 class by ESPN, had a lot of hype entering the season. “She’s the best passer we’ve had here since I was at Duke, and it’s not even close,” Lawson said after Duke’s Nov. 12 win over Norfolk State. “She sees the court in an advanced way. She’s able to throw catchable passes that are easy to shoot or easy to put up. And she’s smart. She knows the playbook, understands her teammates’ strengths, which again is more advanced than a typical freshman.” But Skinner didn’t play as much, playing a total of 47 minutes in the Blue Devils’ three games, seemingly due to a lower-body injury. Lawson has been a mom most of her life. Skinner has not played for Duke since the Blue Devils beat Virginia Tech on Dec. 7. A source close to Skinner and familiar with her situation told USA TODAY Sports that she will redshirt this season. Since Skinner played three games, she should retain her eligibility this year. Meanwhile, Duke has adjusted as they have now won eight straight games.

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Coach carousel warm-up

Joe McKeown announced last March that this season would be his last as coach at Northwestern. The 69-year-old coach has been the head coach of Division I women’s basketball for 40 years and previously coached at New Mexico State and George Washington University. His record is 783-442, and 19 of his teams have participated in the NCAA tournament. But the Wildcats, who have only appeared in the dance twice since taking the helm at Northwestern in 2008, have an overall record of 6-10 this season and appear on track to miss March Madness again. Multiple sources told USA TODAY Sports that Northwestern knows McKeon is retiring and is already vetting candidates. The second round of candidate interviews will begin this week. Some of the best mid-major coaches in the country from the Ivy League, Atlantic 10 and CAA will be participating in this opening event. Michigan native Carrie Moore, who won the Ivy League last season with Harvard, is one of the front-runners. Elsewhere, schools that have yet to announce coaching changes are quietly putting out feelers to agents and potential candidates to see who might be interested in their job if the position opens up. Multiple sources told USA TODAY Sports that the two teams that emerged last week were Texas A&M and VCU. At Texas A&M, Joni Taylor went 14-39 in four seasons in the SEC and played in one NCAA tournament. Beth O’Boyle has been VCU’s head coach since 2014 but has only danced through the COVID-affected 2020-21 season and is coming off her third losing season in four years.

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UCLA dual-sport star must reduce time on court

One of the feel-good moments of this women’s college basketball season was Megan Grant’s AND-1 score for UCLA in a win over Long Beach State. It didn’t hurt the game, with the Bruins leading by 60 points, but the bench erupted when they saw the softball star lay up. This is Grant’s first season playing college basketball. Softball fans are familiar with Grant, an All-American versatile player who played in the outfield and infield corners for the Bruins over three seasons, hitting 49 home runs in 180 games. But with softball season approaching, basketball coach Corey Close had to share Grant with softball captain Kelly Inoue-Perez. As a result, Close said Grant will not travel with the basketball team for the remainder of the regular season but will play in home games without conflicting with softball. “Before we got into the playoffs, she was pretty much all about softball,” Close said after UCLA’s win over Nebraska on Sunday. “Then we’ll reevaluate at that time. But she’s a great addition to our team and even though she’s not on a day-to-day basis right now, she’s here in good spirits.” Grant has played in 12 basketball games this season and scored in three of them, including a win over North Carolina.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Louisville women’s basketball tops ACC again