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The Louisville Cardinals women’s basketball team opened the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament on Saturday with the benefit of home court advantage as they were named a 3-seed in the tournament. That seed was earned after a strong 27-7 season that included making it to the championship game of the ACC Tournament. The Vermont Catamounts (27-7) arrived at the KFC Yum! Center riding momentum of their own, fresh off a dominant America East Tournament run capped by a 61-43 win over Maine in the championship.
There was already an added storyline before tipoff. On Friday, it was announced that Skylar Jones, who had appeared in all 34 games for Louisville this season, was no longer with the program. Head Coach Jeff Walz stated that, “She’s no longer with the team, so we’ve just parted ways. It’s best for both parties.”Walz noted he didn’t expect the departure to significantly impact the team, as Jones had seen limited minutes in recent games.
The opening quarter played out much like a typical first-round matchup, with both teams taking a bit of time to settle in. Behind a strong start from senior guard Keira Hanson, Vermont carried a narrow 17-16 lead into the second quarter. Hanson accounted for more than half of her team’s early offense, scoring nine points on 4-of-6 shooting. Louisville was paced by sophomore forward Mackenly Randolph, who posted five points and three rebounds in the first ten minutes.
The second quarter remained a battle. Sophomore guard Imari Berry once again provided a spark off the bench for the Cardinals, tallying five points and five rebounds in just five minutes of action. However, her momentum was briefly stalled after picking up two quick fouls midway through the second quarter. Louisville continued to adjust, knocking down key outside shots to really get the offense going. The Cardinals had stretched their lead to eight with a little under three minutes remaining in the half. Even after a late scoring drought, Louisville maintained a 32-28 advantage at the break. Randolph led the way for UL with eight points and four rebounds, while Hanson (14 points) and senior center Nikola Priede (10 points) both reached double figures for Vermont.
Louisville quickly found another gear to begin the second half. A decisive 9-0 run, combined with a prolonged Vermont scoring drought, pushed the Cardinals into a double-digit lead midway through the third quarter. From there, Louisville seized full control, outscoring the Catamounts 23-10 in that period to take a commanding 55-38 lead into the fourth quarter.
Randolph dominated in the third quarter, stuffing the stat sheet with nine points, seven rebounds, a steal, and an assist in that quarter alone. Senior forward Laura Ziegler also reached double figures for the Cardinals in the third. Hanson and Priede continued to anchor Vermont’s offense.
Mackenly Randolph wasted no time adding to her total in the fourth quarter, knocking down a three-pointer just 20 seconds into the quarter to surpass the 20-point mark in the game off of a Taj Roberts assist. Roberts followed with a basket on the next possession, becoming the third Cardinal to reach double figures. Even with starters seeing limited minutes late, Louisville continued to extend its lead, ultimately cruising to a 72-52 victory.
The Cardinals were led by Randolph with a double-double, 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Ziegler added 12 points and seven boards. Roberts contributed 12 points and four assists, and Berry finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. Against a Vermont defense that ranked third nationally in three-point percentage defense, holding opponents to 25% shooting from beyond the arc this season, Louisville connected on eight three-pointers and shot an efficient 42.1% from deep against them.
Vermont was paced by Hanson’s 22 points and five rebounds, along with Priede’s 16 points and Jadyn Weltz’s 11.
