Thursday, January 1
LOUISVILLE, KY
2 PM
University of Louisville
vs
SMU
Photo by: Taris Smith | Louisville Athletics
No. 13 Cardinals Begin New Year Against SMU
December 31, 2025 | Women's Basketball
The Cardinals are 2-0 so far in ACC play
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The No. 13 Louisville women's basketball team (12-3, 2-0 ACC) will ring in the New Year at the KFC Yum! Center as the Cards pick play back up following the holiday break. The Cardinals welcome SMU (7-7, 0-2 ACC) to the Yum Center for an afternoon matchup on Thursday, January 1. The Cards and Mustangs will square off at 2 p.m. ET and it will be streamed on the ACC Network Extra.
Louisville comes into the matchup riding a five-game winning streak and wins in eight of its last nine games. The Cardinals are coming off their most impressive win of the season to date with the 89-65 victory over No. 17/18 Tennessee at the Women's Champions Classic in Brooklyn on Dec. 20. It was the biggest win for the Cardinals over a Top 20 team since 2023, when they defeated No. 10 Notre Dame by 26. The Cardinals now have the two biggest wins over Top-25 teams in the ACC this season with the 24-point win over Tennessee and the 10-point win over No. 12/11 North Carolina on Dec. 14.
Louisville owned the glass in the win over the Volunteers, collecting 59 rebounds. It was one shy of the season high for the Cardinals, which they had in the previous game against Eastern Kentucky. It was the most rebounds Tennessee has given up in a game since Feb. 20, 2022, when they allowed 59 in a loss to No. 1 South Carolina.
Imari Berry recorded her first career double-double in the win over Tennessee with 15 points and a career-best 13 rebounds. Berry also tied a career high with four steals and dished out three assists. Elif Istanbulluoglu also had a career high in rebounds, with a team-best 14 in the win. Playing in front of the hometown crowd, Reyna Scott scored 12 points and had two assists and two steals.
Tajianna Roberts had a team-best 18 points against the Volunteers, her eighth game this season leading the Cards in scoring. Laura Ziegler had a team-best six assists to go with 10 points and eight rebounds.
PROMOTIONS
New Year's Bash | Welcome the new year with the Cards!
Date: Thursday, January 1
Time: 2 p.m. ET
Site: Louisville, Ky. | KFC Yum! Center (22,090)
TV: ACCNX (Jody Demling play-by-play; Jessica Laemmle McDaniel, analyst)
Radio: 93.9-FM The Ville (Nick Curran, play-by-play; Cortnee Walton, analyst)
Series History: Louisville leads 3-1 (1-0 home, 2-0 away, 0-1 neutral)
Last Meeting: W, 80-75 (Jan. 30, 2025 at Dallas, Texas)
ABOUT THE MUSTANGS
SMU enters Thursday's matchup with a 7-7 overall record and are 0-2 in ACC play. The Mustangs are coming off a 76-52 loss at Virginia this past Monday before coming to Louisville on New Year's Day. SMU opened ACC play with a 78-69 home loss to Syracuse back on December 7. As a team, SMU ranks third in the ACC and 47th nationally with 11.1 steals per game. Kyla Deck ranks second in the league and seventh nationally with 49 steals on the year. She ranks eighth nationally and second in the league with 3.8 steals per game. Prior to the season, SMU was picked 14th in the league's preseason poll between the coaches and Blue Ribbon Panel.
Series History - This will be the fifth all-time meeting between the two schools with the Cardinals holding a 3-1 series advantage. The Cardinals and Mustangs met as conference foes last year in SMU's first season in the ACC after the schools met briefly as conference foes while the Cards were in The American Conference for the 2013-14 season. The Cards have won each of the last three matchups, including last year's 80-75 win in Dallas. This will be the second all-time visit for the Mustangs to the KFC Yum! Center, as they came on December 29, 2013, a 71-51 win for the Cardinals.
Last Meeting (Jan. 30, 2025) - The Louisville women's basketball team (15-6, 8-2 ACC) held on for an 80-75 win over SMU (10-12, 2-8 ACC) Thursday night at the Moody Coliseum. The lead changed hands multiple times down the stretch but the Cardinals pulled away from good after a game-winning jumper from Tajianna Roberts with 56 seconds left. With the win, the Cardinals improved to 8-2 on the road this season and finished the month of January with a 7-1 record. Roberts led the way with 22 points, set a career high with a team-best five assists, tied a career high with four steals and had four rebounds. Jayda Curry scored in double figures with 15 points on 5-for-9 shooting and 3-for-5 from behind the arc to go with four assists.
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.
Louisville comes into the matchup riding a five-game winning streak and wins in eight of its last nine games. The Cardinals are coming off their most impressive win of the season to date with the 89-65 victory over No. 17/18 Tennessee at the Women's Champions Classic in Brooklyn on Dec. 20. It was the biggest win for the Cardinals over a Top 20 team since 2023, when they defeated No. 10 Notre Dame by 26. The Cardinals now have the two biggest wins over Top-25 teams in the ACC this season with the 24-point win over Tennessee and the 10-point win over No. 12/11 North Carolina on Dec. 14.
Louisville owned the glass in the win over the Volunteers, collecting 59 rebounds. It was one shy of the season high for the Cardinals, which they had in the previous game against Eastern Kentucky. It was the most rebounds Tennessee has given up in a game since Feb. 20, 2022, when they allowed 59 in a loss to No. 1 South Carolina.
Imari Berry recorded her first career double-double in the win over Tennessee with 15 points and a career-best 13 rebounds. Berry also tied a career high with four steals and dished out three assists. Elif Istanbulluoglu also had a career high in rebounds, with a team-best 14 in the win. Playing in front of the hometown crowd, Reyna Scott scored 12 points and had two assists and two steals.
Tajianna Roberts had a team-best 18 points against the Volunteers, her eighth game this season leading the Cards in scoring. Laura Ziegler had a team-best six assists to go with 10 points and eight rebounds.
PROMOTIONS
New Year's Bash | Welcome the new year with the Cards!
Date: Thursday, January 1
Time: 2 p.m. ET
Site: Louisville, Ky. | KFC Yum! Center (22,090)
TV: ACCNX (Jody Demling play-by-play; Jessica Laemmle McDaniel, analyst)
Radio: 93.9-FM The Ville (Nick Curran, play-by-play; Cortnee Walton, analyst)
Series History: Louisville leads 3-1 (1-0 home, 2-0 away, 0-1 neutral)
Last Meeting: W, 80-75 (Jan. 30, 2025 at Dallas, Texas)
ABOUT THE MUSTANGS
SMU enters Thursday's matchup with a 7-7 overall record and are 0-2 in ACC play. The Mustangs are coming off a 76-52 loss at Virginia this past Monday before coming to Louisville on New Year's Day. SMU opened ACC play with a 78-69 home loss to Syracuse back on December 7. As a team, SMU ranks third in the ACC and 47th nationally with 11.1 steals per game. Kyla Deck ranks second in the league and seventh nationally with 49 steals on the year. She ranks eighth nationally and second in the league with 3.8 steals per game. Prior to the season, SMU was picked 14th in the league's preseason poll between the coaches and Blue Ribbon Panel.
Series History - This will be the fifth all-time meeting between the two schools with the Cardinals holding a 3-1 series advantage. The Cardinals and Mustangs met as conference foes last year in SMU's first season in the ACC after the schools met briefly as conference foes while the Cards were in The American Conference for the 2013-14 season. The Cards have won each of the last three matchups, including last year's 80-75 win in Dallas. This will be the second all-time visit for the Mustangs to the KFC Yum! Center, as they came on December 29, 2013, a 71-51 win for the Cardinals.
Last Meeting (Jan. 30, 2025) - The Louisville women's basketball team (15-6, 8-2 ACC) held on for an 80-75 win over SMU (10-12, 2-8 ACC) Thursday night at the Moody Coliseum. The lead changed hands multiple times down the stretch but the Cardinals pulled away from good after a game-winning jumper from Tajianna Roberts with 56 seconds left. With the win, the Cardinals improved to 8-2 on the road this season and finished the month of January with a 7-1 record. Roberts led the way with 22 points, set a career high with a team-best five assists, tied a career high with four steals and had four rebounds. Jayda Curry scored in double figures with 15 points on 5-for-9 shooting and 3-for-5 from behind the arc to go with four assists.
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.
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballRecap: Women's Basketball vs. Tennessee
Monday, December 22
WBB: Tennessee Highlights (12/20/25)
Saturday, December 20
Laura Ziegler & Elif Istanbulluoglu Postgame Presser vs Eastern Kentucky 12 17 25
Thursday, December 18
Jeff Walz Postgame Presser vs. Eastern Kentucky 12.17.25
Thursday, December 18
