Much of the ACC seems to be in turmoil right now — Notre Dame beat UNC today but has struggled of late (and UNC similarly has offered a disappointing season for conference fans who were looking forward to seeing what Courtney Banghart could pull off). But if there's one team that's steadily putting in the work and reaping impressive results, it's the Louisville Cardinals.
The Cardinals are 15-3 so far this season and showing no sign of slowing down. Much was made of the team's freshman class during the 2024-25 season, and even with a few unexpected departures, it appears the now-sophomores are living up to the hype. Louisville coasted to yet another win over the Pittsburgh Panthers Sunday, and there is little reason to expect the team will fall in their upcoming match against Notre Dame.
Tajianna Roberts is leading the way for the Cardinals
Those wins are owed in part to sophomore Tajianna Roberts, who is currently the team's leading scorer and who has steadily implemented the lessons learned from last year in each game this season. Roberts is averaging 12.7 points and 2.5 rebounds in 28.3 minutes so far this season.
A lot of those games have seen her put up double digits, like when she helped the Cardinals take down the Lady Vols in a December match in Brooklyn. Roberts added on 18 points during that game, an effort that was assisted by Imari Berry, who had a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds, and Reyna Scott, who added 12 points.
Louisville had a big win over Miami
The Cardinals took home a 77-68 road win against Miami this month after waging a fierce second half battle that allowed the team to come back from a deficit. The win was the team's eighth in a row, and the team managed to pull it off in large part due to the work of Elif Istanbulluoglu.
Istanbulluoglu had her best game to date with a career-best 23 points on 9-for-14 shooting. Roberts and Berry each hit 14 of their respective 16 points in the second half, and Skylar Jones hit 12 points of her own. The team enjoyed a 12-0 run at the beginning of the second half, a marked response to what was a weak first half game for the team.
The Cardinals will next travel to meet Notre Dame, then head over to greet NC State before returning home to host Boston College on January 25.