>

Louisville Women's Basketball Falls to UCLA in Top-25 Season Opener

Louisville Women's Basketball Falls to No. 5 UCLA in Top-25 Season Opener

A hard-fought battle

The Louisville Cardinals women's basketball team opened their season with a tough 75-64 loss to the No. 5 UCLA Bruins on Monday night at the KFC Yum! Center.

Louisville, ranked No. 25 in the preseason AP Poll, was led by sophomore guard Hailey Van Lith, who scored a team-high 20 points. Van Lith also added 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. The loss is the second straight season-opening defeat for the Cardinals, who fell to No. 1 South Carolina last season.

The Cardinals started the game strong, taking an early 10-point lead. However, the Bruins quickly responded and took a 34-24 lead into halftime.

Second half fight

Louisville came out strong in the second half and cut the lead to 3 points with just over 5 minutes remaining. However, the Bruins hit some key shots down the stretch to pull away for the win.

In addition to Van Lith, Louisville was led by junior forward Olivia Cochran, who scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Sophomore guard Mykasa Robinson also added 10 points. The Cardinals shot just 37.7% from the field and 26.3% from three-point range.

The Bruins were led by junior guard Charisma Osborne, who scored a game-high 23 points. Osborne also added 6 rebounds and 5 assists. The Bruin's shot 46.2% from the field and 36.4% from three-point range.

What's next

Tough next game

The Cardinals will be back in action on Thursday when they host the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal. The game is set to tip off at 7 p.m. ET.