Women's Basketball Releases Schedule
September 09, 2004 | Women's Basketball
Sept. 9, 2004
Louisville, Ky. - The University of Louisville women's basketball schedule features 18 of 27 games against teams that participated in postseason play last season. The Cardinals will tip off its home schedule with a Dec. 5 matchup against the Kentucky Wildcats in Freedom Hall.
"This might be the most challenging schedule Louisville has ever attempted," said second-year head coach Tom Collen. "But we feel it is necessary to prepare for the future. If we want to be a Top 25 program we need to find out how we stack up and go from there."
The Cardinals will start the season with five road games.
"It will be a tough test beginning the season with five games on the road. Especially with teams like Auburn, Nebraska, NC State and Indiana. If we survive that stretch and become a better team, it will prepare us for an even tougher conference schedule."
Collen's second Louisville squad will begin the season at the Vermont Tournament on Nov. 19. The Cards will face host Vermont on the 19th and could face either Auburn or UW-Green Bay.
Louisville will then travel to the Virgin Islands to participated in the Paradise Jam on Nov. 26-27. The Cards will face NCAA participant Hampton in the first round and could face either Nebraska or NC State in the second round.
Louisville will then travel to Bloomington on Dec. 3 for a new series with the Indiana Hoosiers.
"We are excited about the beginning of a series with Indiana," said Collen. "It should be another great regional rivalry similar to Kentucky, Western Kentucky and Xavier."
After facing the Wildcats, the Cards will host Detroit on Dec. 8 before another instate rivalry with Western Kentucky on Dec. 12 in Freedom Hall at 2:00 p.m. Louisville will then host Alabama State on Dec. 16 and Murray State on Dec. 19 in Freedom Hall.
Louisville will wrap up the nonconference season on the road against Xavier on Dec. 22. They will finish out 2004 in the Montana Tournament on Dec. 28-29. The Cards will face Florida State in the first round. In the second round, Louisville could face host Montana or Maine.
The Cardinals will begin Conference USA play with three road games. Louisville will face South Florida for the league opener on Jan. 7 and then a matchup with UAB on Jan. 9. U of L will play its first of two meetings with Cincinnati in Shoemaker Arena on Jan. 16.
A tough matchup with TCU on Jan. 21 will open up the Cardinals home conference slate. Then the Cardinal will host Houston on Jan. 23, which will be televised on ESPN2. The game will be a rematch of the Cardinal's dramatic overtime win last season in Houston.
The conference schedule features road games against Memphis, Saint Louis, Charlotte and East Carolina. The Cardinals will host DePaul, Marquette, Southern Miss, and Tulane before closing out the season at home against Cincinnati on Feb. 25.
Louisville's games against Southern Miss on Feb. 18 and the final game against Cincinnati on Feb. 25 will be played in Cardinal Arena.
The Conference USA Tournament will be hosted by Charlotte on March 3-6.
