Louisville to Open ACC Tournament Against Syracuse

After securing a double-bye in the ACC Tournament, the Louisville women's basketball program now knows their first opponent in postseason play.

The second-seeded Cardinals (25-6, 15-3 ACC) will open up their run in the 2026 ACC Tournament against seventh-seeded Syracuse on Friday, Mar. 6 at 5:00 p.m. EST in the quarterfinals. The Orange clinched a single-bye, and took down 10th-seeded Cal 70-59 on Thursday.

Louisville took down Syracuse in their lone regular season matchup, winning 84-65 back on Feb. 27 at the JMA Wireless Dome in upstate New York. The Cardinals shot 54.1 percent from the field and had four players crack double figures, led by 22 points from Laura Ziegler. The Orange were held to 38.6 percent shooting, including 0-for-13 in the first quarter, and turned the ball over 15 times.

While the Cardinals have lost two of their last three heading into the ACC tournament, they have still put together an excellent campaign in head coach Jeff Walz's 19th year at the helm. Louisville started conference play at 11-0 for their longest undefeated start to ACC play since joining the conference, fired off a 14-game win streak during the middle portion of the year, and three of their losses are to teams ranked in the top-20 of the AP Poll.

Four players for Louisville are averaging double figures scoring, led by 11.5 points per game from sophomore guard Tajianna Roberts. Senior forward Laura Ziegler is a potential All-ACC pick at 11.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, and junior forward Elif Istanbulluoglu is in the mix for ACC Most Improved Player at 10.1 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.

Louisville is 16-10 all-time in the ACC Tournament and 8-33 in the ACC Quarterfinals. The Cardinals sport a 27-17 record in conference tournaments under Walz, winning the ACC Championship in 2018 and reaching seven league title games since his hiring in 2007.