| Mode: | Women's basketball |
| Year: | 2020–21 |
| Prev Year: | 2019–20 |
| Next Year: | 2021–22 |
| Team: | Louisville Cardinals |
| Conference: | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| Short Conf: | ACC |
| Coachrank: | 6 |
| Aprank: | 8 |
| Record: | 26–4 |
| Conf Record: | 14–2 |
| Hc Year: | 14th |
| Asst Coach1: | Stephanie Norman |
| Asst Coach2: | Sam Purcell |
| Asst Coach3: | Jonneshia Pineda |
| Stadium: | KFC Yum! Center |
| Champion: | ACC regular season champions |
| Tourney: | NCAA tournament |
| Tourney Result: | Elite Eight |
The 2020–21 Louisville Cardinals women's basketball team represented the University of Louisville during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cardinals, were led by 14th-year head coach Jeff Walz, and played their home games at the KFC Yum! Center in their seventh year in the Atlantic Coast Conference. On January 18, 2021, following a 12–0 start, the Cardinals were ranked number 1 in the AP Poll for the first time in program history, garnering 20 of 29 first place votes.[1]
The Cardinals finished the season 26–4 and 14–2 in ACC play to finish in first place. In the ACC tournament, they defeated Wake Forest in the Quarterfinals and Syracuse before losing in the Final NC State. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they were the two seed in the Alamo Regional. In the tournament they defeated fifteen seed in the First Round, seven seed Northwestern in the Second Round, and six seed Oregon in the Sweet Sixteen before losing to one seed and eventual champions Stanford in the Elite Eight to end their season.
The Cardinals finished the 2019–20 season at 28–4 and 16–2 in ACC play. They finished as the regular season ACC champions and earned the first seed in the ACC tournament. They defeated Syracuse in the Quarterfinals before losing to eventual champions NC State in the Semifinals. The NCAA tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.[2]
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yacine Diop | 2 | G | 5'10" | Senior | Graduated | ||
| Seygan Robins | 3 | G | 5'10" | Sophomore | Transferred to UT Martin | ||
| Lindsey Duvall | 12 | G | 5'9" | Sophomore | Transferred to Northern Kentucky | ||
| 21 | F | 6'4" | Senior | Graduated; drafted 13th overall in the 2020 WNBA draft by the New York Liberty | |||
| 23 | G | 6'0" | Senior | Graduated; drafted 12th overall in the 2020 WNBA draft by the New York Liberty | |||
| Jessica Laemmle | 24 | G | 5'2" | Senior | Graduated | ||
| Molly Lockhart | 30 | F | 6'3" | Freshman | — | ||
| Bionca Dunham | 33 | F | 6'2" | Senior | Graduated |
Source:[3]
Source[4]
|-!colspan=6 style=| Non-Conference Regular season|-!colspan=6 style=| ACC Regular season|-!colspan=6 style=| ACC Women's Tournament|-!colspan=6 style=| NCAA tournament
See main article: 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings.
| + Regular season ranking movement Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Received votes. т=Tied with team above or below also with this symbol | Poll | Pre- Season | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 | Week 13 | Week 14 | Week 15 | Week 16 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AP | 5 | 5 | 2 (2) | 2 (1) | 2 (1) | 2 (1) | 2 | 2 | 1 (20) | 1 (20) | 1 (26) | 3 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 7т | 8 | |
| Coaches | 5 | 2 (6) | 2 (6) | 2 (1) | 2 (1) | 2 (1) | 2 (1) | 1 (30) | 1 (30) | 3 (5) | 2 (11) | 2 (8) | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 |
Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll and AP does not release a final poll.
This is the first time Louisville has been ranked number 1 in the AP Women's Basketball Poll in program history.[1]