No. 7 Louisville Women Push Winning Streak to 14 With Win Over California.

The No. 7 Louisville Cardinals continued their dominant run Sunday afternoon, defeating California 71–59 in Berkeley to extend their winning streak to 14 games. Tajianna Roberts led Louisville with 21 points while also contributing five assists and four rebounds. Elif Istanbulluoglu added 15 points and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds as the Cardinals improved to 21–3 overall and 11–0 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. Louisville remains tied with No. 20 Duke for first place in the ACC. California entered the matchup riding a three-game winning streak but fell to 13–10 overall and 4–6 in conference play. Gisella Maul paced the Golden Bears with 19 points, while Mjracle Sheppard finished with 13 points. Sakima Walker recorded a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. The game remained competitive through much of the third quarter. After Maul knocked down a three-pointer to give California a 34–32 lead with seven minutes remaining in the period, Roberts responded with a three of her own to put Louisville back in front. That basket sparked a decisive 14–2 run for the Cardinals, highlighted by two additional three-pointers from Roberts. Louisville carried a 46–36 advantage into the final minutes of the third quarter.

California was unable to close the gap after that stretch, getting no closer than five points for the remainder of the contest. The Bears also played without starting forward Taylor Barnes, who was sidelined due to an injury sustained in Thursday’s win over Notre Dame.

Louisville will return home Thursday for a highly anticipated matchup against No. 20 Duke, while California travels to face Georgia Tech the same day.