No. 16/17 Louisville Face No. 17/18 Tennessee in SharkBeauty Women’s Champions Classic

Saturday, December 20

Brooklyn, NY (Barclays Center)

11 a.m. ET

University of Louisville

#17/#18 Tennessee

The Cards huddle before the game against EKU at the KFC YUM Center on December 17.

Photo by: Taris Smith | Louisville Athletics

No. 16/17 Louisville Face No. 17/18 Tennessee in SharkBeauty Women’s Champions Classic

December 19, 2025 | Women's Basketball

Game Notes (PDF)

This is the fifth ranked opponent the Cardinals will face this season

By: Matt Paras

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The No. 16/17 Louisville women's basketball team (11-3, 2-0 ACC) is heading to the Big Apple and another Top 20 opponent awaits them. The Cardinals are set to face off with No. 17/18 Tennessee Volunteers (7-2, 0-0 SEC) at the SharkBeauty Women's Champions Classic at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The Cardinals and Lady Vols will square off at 11 a.m. ET and it will be broadcast nationally on FOX.

This is the final game for the Cards before the Christmas break and Louisville has won seven of its last eight games heading into the weekend. The Cardinals are no strangers to ranked opponents over the first two months of the season as Tennessee is the fifth ranked opponent the Cardinals will face this year. It is the third-straight week the Cards will go up against a ranked foe after facing No. 3 South Carolina on Dec. 4 and No. 12/11 North Carolina on Dec. 14. Louisville has played six Quad 1 & 2 games so far this season.

The Cardinals are coming off a 76-51 win over Eastern Kentucky this past Wednesday at the KFC Yum! Center. The Cards improved to 8-2 at home this season during non-conference play before ACC play begins after the holiday break. The Cardinals are 116-15 at the Yum Center over the past nine seasons.

Louisville's defense was on full display once again, limiting the Colonels to under 60 points. It is the seventh time this season the Cards have held their opponent to 60 points or less. The Cardinals have won 58-straight games when holding opponents to 59 points or less in a game dating back to 2021. Louisville also held Eastern Kentucky below their season scoring average in the win this past Wednesday. The Cardinals have held their opponent below their season scoring average in each of the last 12 games dating back to Nov. 12

The Cardinals had four players in double figures with Tajianna Roberts (12 pts.) leading the way. She leads the team with 11 double figure scoring games this year and has led the team in scoring in seven games this year. Laura Ziegler (11 pts.), Skylar Jones (10 pts.) and Yevheniia Putra (season-best 10 pts.) joined Roberts in double figures.

Imari Berry had one of her best games of the season against the Colonels with a career-high seven assists and four steals to lead the team. Berry also had a season-best eight rebounds to go with six points. Grace Mbugua made her collegiate debut against Eastern Kentucky and it was a memorable one. She had a team-best 10 rebounds to go with three points, two blocks and steal.

Date: Saturday, December 20
Time: 11 a.m. ET
Site: Brooklyn, N.Y. | Barclays Center (19,000)
TV: FOX (Jason Benetti, play-by-play; Sarah Kustok, analyst)
Radio: 970-AM WGTK (Nick Curran, play-by-play; Cortnee Walton, analyst)
Series History: Louisville leads 3-2 (1-1 home, 0-1 away, 2-0 neutral)
Last Meeting: W, 76-64 (Mar. 26, 2022 at Wichita, Kan.)

ABOUT THE VOLUNTEERS
Tennessee enters Saturday's matchup with a 7-2 overall record and are ranked 17 in the AP poll and 18 in the coaches poll, directly behind the Cards in each poll. Tennessee has not played many games so far in December as they have just played two games this month. They defeated Stanford in the ACC/SEC Challenge back on Dec. 3 and their most recent game was on Dec. 14, a home win over Winthrop. Similar to the Cardinals, Tennessee's losses this season have come against ranked teams. The Vols lost the season opener to then-ranked No. 9/8 NC State and they lost to No. 3 UCLA at the end of November. Tennessee leads the nation in three-point attempts per game with 34.0. The Vols are second in the SEC and seventh nationally with 17.6 offensive rebounds per game. They lead the SEC and rank ninth with 10.1 three pointers made per game. Tennessee was selected fifth in the preseason SEC coaches poll and Talaysia Cooper was named to the Preseason All-SEC First Team.

Series History - This will be the sixth all-time meeting between the two schools with the Cardinals holding a 3-2 series advantage. The Cardinals have won the last three matchups with two of those games coming in the NCAA Tournament. Louisville defeated Tennessee in the Sweet 16 during the 2022 NCAA Tournament en route to the program's fourth Final Four appearance. The Cardinals took down Tennessee in the Elite Eight during the 2013 NCAA Tournament as the Cards reached the national championship game for the second time in program history.

Last Meeting (Mar. 26, 2022) - Emily Engstler had 20 points and 10 rebounds to help the top-seeded Cardinals withstand Tennessee's frantic comeback for a 76-64 victory on Saturday that sent coach Jeff Walz's bunch back to the Elite Eight for the fourth straight time. Kianna Smith also had 12 points for the Cardinals (28-4), whose 15-point lead was whittled to two in the fourth quarter before they pulled away to set up a date with third-seeded Michigan or No. 10 seed South Dakota on Monday.

FOLLOW LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA

For the latest on Louisville women's basketball, visit GoCards.com, or follow the team's Instagram account at @LouisvilleWBB, X account at @LouisvilleWBB or on Facebook at facebook.com/louisvillewbb.