WBB: Cardinals Fall to TCU, 85-70

Mark BlankenbakerMarch 24, 2025

The No. 7 seed Louisville Cardinals (22-11) season came to a close after an 85-70 defeat to No. 2 seed TCU (33-3) Sunday night at Schollmaier Arena in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. After trailing by 20 in the first half, the Cardinals clawed back to get it within single digits in the fourth quarter but were unable to get over the hump.

Jayda Curry put together a historic performance for the Cardinals, as she scored a career-high 41 points and was 6-for-12 from behind the arc. The 41 points set the program record for points scored in an NCAA Tournament game, surpassing the previous record of 35 held by Angel McCoughtry. She is the first Louisville player to score 40 points or more in a game since Asia Durr scored 47 back in 2019.

In her final game as a Louisville Cardinal, Olivia Cochran scored in double figures with 15 points and added five rebounds and three steals. Cochran set the program record for games played, ending her career with 167 games played.

Curry wasted no time making an impact for the Cards in the first quarter. She came out scorching hot, scoring 13 of the Cards first 15 points of the game and was 2-for-2 from behind the arc. TCU got hot at the end of the quarter and finished on a 7-0 run and the Cards faced a 20-17 deficit after the opening 10 minutes.

The run continued into the second as TCU scored the first eight points of the quarter and forced the Cardinals to use a timeout. The Horned Frogs continued their strong shooting in the quarter, hitting 11-of-14 (78.6 percent) from the field in the second quarter. Heading into the half, the Cards trailed 47-26.

The Cards fought back a bit in the third quarter. Louisville hit 9-of-17 shots in the quarter and put up 25 points. Cochran tallied eight points and Curry had nine while Imari Berry hit two shots from behind the arc. Heading into the fourth, the Cardinals trailed 69-51.

The Cardinals trimmed the deficit down to 12 to start the fourth as they scored eight of the first 10 points in the quarter. Louisville continued to claw back and got the deficit to single digits thanks to Curry. She surpassed her career high in the fourth and got above the 40-point plateau as the TCU lead got down to eight. Eight points was the closest the Cards would get as TCU closed the game out in the final minutes.

The Cardinals season comes to a close with a 22-11 overall record. The Cardinals won 20 or more games for the 15-straight season, the fifth longest active streak in the country. The Cards made their 14th-straight NCAA appearance and 16th in 17 tournaments under head coach Jeff Walz.