No. 16/17 Cardinals Crush No. 17/18 Tennessee, 89-65

Saturday, December 20

Brooklyn, NY (Barclays Center)

11 a.m. ET

University of Louisville

12-3,2-0ACC

#17/#18 Tennessee

7-3,0-0SEC

Tennessee

Louisville

December 20, 2025 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Walz Postgame Presser

It is the Cards’ largest win over a Top 20 team since March of 2023

By: Matt Paras

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The No. 16/17 Louisville women's basketball team (12-3, 2-0 ACC) left no doubt in its dominant 89-65 win over No. 17/18 Tennessee (7-3) at the SharkBeauty Women's Champions Classic Saturday afternoon at the Barclays Center. After the game was tied with just over five minutes left in the third, Louisville outscored Tennessee 41-17 over the final 15 minutes for their second ranked win of the season.

With the 24-point win over the 17th-ranked Vols, the Cardinals collected their largest win over a Top 25 team since March of 2023, when they defeated No. 10 Notre Dame by 26. The Cards picked up their second Top 20 win in the last seven days after they took down No. 12 North Carolina this past Sunday, 76-66 in overtime in Chapel Hill.

Louisville had a balanced scoring game as six players scored 10 or more and seven players tallied nine or more points. Tajianna Roberts had a game-high 18 points to go with five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Imari Berry collected her first career double-double with 15 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Elif Istanbulluoglu set a career high with a team-best 14 rebounds and she scored nine points.

Laura Ziegler tallied a team-high six assists to go with 10 points and eight rebounds. Playing in front of her hometown crowd, Reyna Scott scored 12 points with two assists and two steals. Mackenly Randolph (11 points) and Skylar Jones (10 points) rounded out the Cards scoring in double figures. As a team, Louisville hauled in 59 rebounds, their second-straight game with 50 rebounds or more (60 vs. Eastern Kentucky, 12/17/25).

The Cardinals were not thrown off by the early start, as they hit four of their first five shots to begin the game. Louisville got their work done in the paint in the first quarter, as 16 of their 17 points came from the paint. The Cards finished the quarter 8-for-16 (50%) from the floor and the score was tied 17-17 after the opening 10 minutes. Jones had a team-best six points in the first.

The strong shooting continued in the second quarter and the Cards got after the boards on the offensive end. The Cards had six offensive rebounds in the second and turned it into 12 second-chance points. The Cardinals trailed by three halfway through the quarter before they ripped off a 12-0 run to build the Cards biggest lead of the game. Ziegler and Berry played a big part in the run and they both had eight points in the second quarter and the Cardinals took a 41-36 lead into the half. Louisville shot 50% from the field again in the second quarter after going 10-for-20.

The Volunteers stormed back to tie the game at 48-48 with 5:36 left in the third quarter but that is the closest they would get the rest of the way. Louisville ended the quarter on a 15-4 run to get back ahead by double digits heading into the fourth.

The run continued in the final quarter as Louisville scored 12 of the first 14 points in the period as the lead grew above 20 and the Cards never looked back. Scott scored 10 of her 12 points in the fourth quarter and Roberts added eight as the Cards closed out their 12th win of the season.

The Cardinals will be off for the Christmas break and their next game will not be until 2026. When the Cardinals come back, they will welcome SMU to the KFC Yum! Center on Thursday, January 1. The Cardinals and Mustangs will square off at 2 p.m. ET and it will be streamed on the ACC Network Extra.