All of a suuden, the University of Louisville women’s basketball program is making waves in NCAA basketball again. And Coach Jeff Walz is celebrating still another milestone.
The UofL coach celebrated his 500th win in program history with a lobsided 85-60 victory over Virginia Tech, extra special considering the Hokies had won the past four games against the Cardinals. He is just the seventh active coach in women’s college basketball to win 500 games at his current school. He is the fourth coach in all sports at Louisville to win 500 career games (Denny Crum, Dan McDonnell and Sandy Pearsall).
Equally important the UofL women appear to be on their way to another special season again. Louisville appears to be a serious contender for Atlantic Coast Conference honors and is earning respect in the national polls again, rising to No. 10 in this week’s Associated Press rankings.
The Cardinals scored the first five points in the opening minute of the second quarter. Berry hit her third three of the afternoon and the Hokies were forced to call timeout as the Cardinals’ lead grew to 24-12.
Louisville was lights out from the floor in the second, hitting 11 of their 18 shots (61.1%). Ziegler and Randolph both went 3-for-3 from the floor in the second and the Cardinals took a 44-27 lead into the half. Randolph stayed with a loose ball towards the end of the half which led to an open three from Ziegler, her second of the afternoon.
“I applied for several jobs throughout my career to be a head coach. Louisville and Tom (Jurich) and Julie Hermann were the ones that gave me a chance, that gave me an opportunity,” Walz said. “And to be here for 19 years, it’s just not the norm. … I love every second that I’ve been here. It’s home.”
