No. 6 Cardinals Comeback Falls Short Against No. 17/22 Duke

Thursday, February 5

LOUISVILLE, KY

7 PM

University of Louisville

21-4,11-1ACC

#17/#22 Duke

17-6,12-0ACC

Duke

Louisville

No. 6 Cardinals Comeback Falls Short Against No. 17/22 Duke

February 05, 2026 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Walz Postgame Presser Istanbulluoglu & Ziegler Postgame Presser

Louisville trailed by 15 in the first half and took the lead in the fourth

By: Matt Paras

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – In a battle of two undefeated ACC teams, the No. 6 Louisville women's basketball team (21-4, 11-1 ACC) comeback bid fell just short in the 59-58 defeat to No. 17/22 Duke (17-6, 12-0 ACC) on Thursday night at the KFC Yum! Center. The Cardinals trailed by as many as 15 in the first half but battled back to take the lead early in fourth. The Cards were unable to maintain the lead in the final quarter and their win streak ended at 14.

Elif Istanbulluoglu had a team-high 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting with six rebounds. It was her third-straight game scoring in double figures and fifth time over the last seven games. Laura Ziegler and Reyna Scott were both in double figures with 11 points each. Ziegler had a team-high eight rebounds and tied for the team lead with three assists.

It was a slow start for the Cards to begin the game as they did not score over the first three minutes plus. The Cardinals did not hit their first field goal until the 4:32 mark in the first quarter. Louisville pulled together a 7-0 run in the first to get the deficit briefly below double digits but after the opening 10 minutes, the Cards trailed 23-11.

The Cards looked to get some momentum going in the second, thanks to another 7-0 run that was capped off by a three-point play from Skylar Jones. She converted at the line to trim the deficit down to seven points. The Cards defense limited the Blue Devils scoring in the second, holding them without a point for a three-minute stretch. Duke hit a three at the buzzer to head into the half with a 37-27 advantage.

Louisville's offense continued to get better in the third quarter, hitting three of their first four shots in the quarter. Istanbulluoglu powered a 7-0 run with four points in the middle of the quarter. Her three in the corner cut the deficit down to three, the closest the Cards have been since the opening minutes of the first quarter. Louisville went on another spurt to close the quarter, scoring the last five points to bring it back down to three and trailed 46-43 heading into the fourth.

The Cards' run followed through in the fourth, as they scored the first six points in the frame. A three from Ziegler gave the Cards their first lead of the night and forced Duke to call timeout. Duke responded out of the timeout with the next eight points and 11 of the next 12 to regain a lead it would not relinquish. The Cardinals had two free throw attempts in the final seconds trailing by two but went 1-for-2 from the line to end the game.

Louisville heads back out on the road for a quick one game trip to close out the week. The Cards head up to Syracuse to take on the Orange on Sunday, February 8. The Cards and Orange will square off at 12 p.m. ET and it will be broadcast on The CW.