The time is now, to start paying attention to the UofL women’s basketball team.

The University of Louisville Women’s basketball team is 19-0 this season and have raised eyebrows after beating two top five teams.

The Lady Cards defeated number two Notre Dame on Thursday and beat number five Ohio State at the beginning of the season. The KFC Yum Center had to open the entire arena on Thursday unlike regular women’s basketball games in the past. The UofL women’s basketball team is no joke this year and it’s time to join the ride as they push for the top dogs, Uconn.

The UofL team absolutely shocked the college basketball world this week when they hit the floor against the Irish. They dominated the Irish from offense to defense. Louisville shot 74 percent in the first quarter. They had 25 assists on 41 field goals and 29 third-quarter points. The Cards also had a staggering 11-of-17 clip from three point range. Walz said it was the most dominant team effort he’s seen in his 11 years coaching the Cardinals. Louisville dominated the boards 35-25, had 25 assists and used 10 players. The Cards beat the Irish 100-67. This is the first time the Irish had 100 points scored on them since 1998.  “I thought Louisville looked like the best team in the country today. Asia Durr may be the best player in the country,” said Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame Head coach. The Irish fought hard in the game and didn’t play that bad. Eighteen turnovers are not the best, but Notre Dame still shot 44 percent from the floor and had three players score in double figures. Louisville’s Asia Durr had 36 points and Myisha Hines-Allen put up 31 points and that combined to match the Irish in scoring. McGraw said Louisville was simply “too much for us to handle.” This was the Cardinals first win over Notre Dame since 2009.  

Over 12,000 fans packed the Yum Center for the game which was a red out. The upper level had to be opened because the lower level sold out. The game was highly hyped up as Louisville Head coach Jeff Walz made his rounds to the local news stations promoting the matchup and his talented squad. ESPN televised the game Thursday night and the announcers were shocked at how dominant the Cardinals played when the matchup was supposed to be close. Walz addressed the crowd after the game and thanked them for their support and encouraged them to keep it up throughout the rest of the season. This winning streak has broken the UofL’s school record and the Cards hope to continue the streak.  

The game to watch out for this season is when Louisville travels to the University of Connecticut to take on the Huskies on Feb. 12. This will be a tough matchup for both teams. Uconn has won 11 National Championships and they are the most successful team in women’s basketball. Uconn has recorded six perfect seasons and their head coach Geno Auriemma has tallied 991 wins. Auriemma reached win number 900 in fewer games than any coach in the history of the game and entered the 2017-18 season only nine-victories shy of 1,000 for his career. Auriemma hit 1,000 wins in the early parts of the season, but the Cards hope to give him an L on his hall of fame record and I believe they have a great chance of doing that this season. The key players in this game to watch out for will be Durr and Allen for UofL and Katie Lou Samuelson and Crystal Dangerfield for Uconn.

UofL has been compared to the top rank Huskies and they have also been projected to reach the final four and the National Championship game by many reporters and women’s basketball analysts. This is definitely a fair analysis, the Cards have the potential and skilled players to make it all the way. They have played top competition this season and they have handled them with pose and unbelievable domination. It seems as if they have a pep in their step that has given the Louisville fan base something to cheer about. They play with excitement and amazing effort that not many teams have.

Louisville has a week off before visiting Pittsburgh on Jan. 18.