Women's Basketball Releases 2009-10 Schedule
September 11, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Sept. 11, 2009
2009-10 Louisville Women's Basketball Schedule
2009-10 Louisville Women's Basketball Schedule in PDF Format 
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The 2009 Louisville women's basketball schedule features nonconference games against Utah, Middle Tennessee State, Hartford and Tennessee. The conference slate features home against Connecticut, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Villanova and Marquette.
Eighteen of the Cardinals' 29 games will be played against teams that participated in post-season competition last season, including nine in the NCAA Tournament (NCAA Tournament: Connecticut, the 2009 NCAA Champion, Utah, Middle Tennessee, Tennessee, DePaul, Notre Dame, Villanova, and Pittsburgh; NIT: Dayton, Hartford, Kentucky, Georgetown, Syracuse, West Virginia, St. John's, Marquette, and USF, the WNIT Champion).
Six of the Cardinals' 13 non-conference opponents competed in post-season tournaments last season and the group collectively won an average of nearly 21 games (128-66 combined record, .659 winning percentage).
"We have a very challenging non conference schedule that should get us ready for an always tough BIG EAST slate," said Louisville Head Coach Jeff Walz, whose team played the nation's 10th-toughest schedule by the ratings percentage index (RPI) last season. "Road games at Tennessee and Hartford along with home games against Utah and Middle Tennessee are just a few of the many teams that will help prepare our young team for conference and postseason play. The schedule provides us with a lot of opportunities to improve with each game and we look forward to another competitive season."
With six lettermen returning from last year's NCAA Runner-Up team and advancing to their first Final Four with a 34-5 record, the Cardinals will face their first outside competition in an exhibition game against Northern Kentucky on Nov. 1 in Freedom Hall. The Norse posted a 29-3 record last season were ranked at the top of the NCAA Division II poll before falling to Michigan Tech in the NCAA Division II Regional Semifinal.
U of L will open its season on Nov. 15 at Dayton and then travel to Hartford for a game on Nov. 17. The Cardinals' home opener will be Nov. 22 against Tennessee Tech in Freedom Hall. The Cardinals will then travel to Cancun Nov. 27-28 to play Northern Iowa and Old Dominion in the Caribbean Challenge. The Cards will wrap up the three game road swing at Central Michigan on Dec. 2.
Louisville will return home to face Utah on Dec. 6 in Freedom Hall at 2:00 p.m. The game will be the Pallas Partners Showcase, for Pack the House 1. Utah finished the 2008 season with a 23-10 overall record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Cards will face another challenging opponent against Middle Tennessee State on Dec. 9 at 7:00 p.m. The Blue Raiders won the Sun Belt conference race with an overall record of 28-6 last season.
The Cardinals will play IUPUI in Freedom Hall on Dec. 13. Louisville will then travel to Tennessee for a new series on Dec. 16 at 7:00 p.m. in Thompson Boling Arena. The Cards will then face in-state rival Kentucky on Dec. 20 in Memorial Coliseum at 2:00 p.m. The Cardinals will travel to New Hampshire on Dec. 22 before wrapping up the nonconference slate on Dec. 29 against IPFW in Freedom Hall.
The Cards' 16-game league schedule begins with two road games, Jan. 2 at Cincinnati and Jan. 5 at DePaul. The Cardinals will host Providence for the BIG EAST home opener on Jan. 9. The Cardinals will host BIG EAST home games against Notre Dame, Syracuse, Villanova, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Marquette and South Florida. The Cardinals host a rematch of the 2009 NCAA National Championship game against Connecticut on Feb. 7. The game will be Pack the House 2.
The Cardinals will play BIG EAST road games at Georgetown, West Virginia, St. John's, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall and Rutgers along with previously mentioned Cincinnati and DePaul. On March 5-9 the BIG EAST Tournament will be held at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. The Cardinals will also host the first and second round of the NCAA Tournament March 20-22 in Freedom Hall.
Season tickets are still available by calling the Athletic Ticket Office at 852-5151. Tipoff times and television arrangements for all games are incomplete and will be released at a later date.
