For the first time in history, the Associated Press women’s college basketball poll has coach Jeff Walz’s Louisville team as No. 1. The prior No. 1 team, Stanford, lost that spot to Louisville Monday, Jan. 16, 2021, when they lost to Colorado. The Cardinals’ first game as No. 1 will be today against Syracuse.
Cardinals Coach Quote
Coach Walz said:
It really is special, It’s neat to be able to share with these young women, not only the ones here right now but the players who have played in the past to help build this where it is. It’s not just one team; it’s 14 years of hard work that has put us in this spot.
Walz shares that being number one does not mean that his team is head and shoulders above everyone else. This only means that they have to show up and win ballgames, and they have a bigger bulls-eye on their backs.
The No.2 team, according to national polls, is NC State. The top two teams were supposed to have played one another this Sunday, but NC State had a positive COVID-19 test and has been inactive since Jan. 3. The remaining three teams rounding out the top-five in the poll are UConn, South Carolina, and Stanford.
Cardinals Stats
The Cardinals under coach Walz have been in the top five for the past 77-weeks. And they have been No. 2 for 11-weeks. Louisville at 12-0 and 5-0 in the ACC has an upcoming game this week with Wake Forrest on Sunday, Jan. 24, at 2:00 p.m. EST.
Written by Omari Jahi
Sources:
ESPN: Louisville Cardinals ranked No. 1 in AP women’s basketball Top 25 for first time
Fan Nation: Louisville Women’s Basketball Ascends to No. 1 in AP Top 25 for First Time, MATTHEW MCGAVIC
SBNation: Louisville women’s basketball takes over as AP poll No. 1, Mike Rutherford
Featured Image by Ken Lund Courtesy of Wikimedia – Creative Commons License
Inset Image by Acdixon Courtesy of Wikimedia – Creative Commons License
