Louisville women’s basketball was forced to deviate from its normal game-opening play — a pass in the low post to Anaya Hardy for a quick layup — against Florida State on Sunday.
The Seminoles took the look away from the ninth-ranked Cardinals. The only problem was that their double team left Laura Ziegler open. The senior called for the ball and nailed the shot beyond the arc. One minute later, Taj Roberts found Ziegler in the paint for a layup. After one quarter, Ziegler had either scored or assisted on seven of the Cardinals’ eight made field goals while tallying five rebounds.
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“(Ziegler) had a beautiful touch pass to Hardy in the first half for a layup,” UofL head coach Jeff Walz said. “And (making good passes) really can separate you when you’re playing a point forward, when you’re at the 4 spot.”
The first 10 minutes of Louisville’s ACC game against Florida State is what the Saint Joseph’s (Pa.) transfer has been doing all season. And it yielded a similar result to all but four of the Cardinals’ games as Louisville (24-4, 14-1 ACC) took down the Seminoles, 88-65, on Sunday at the KFC Yum! Center.
“I thought we shared the ball extremely well,” Walz said of the team’s overall performance. “We had (19) assists and seven turnovers going into the fourth quarter, which is really impressive. So overall, I thought, a really good performance for us. But I’m quite aware that it’s going to get tougher as we go forward.”
A day after UofL was projected to be a No. 2 seed in the first NCAA Tournament Top 16 reveal, Ziegler showed why the Cardinals were deserving of such recognition as she helped her team build a 34-20 halftime lead against the Seminoles (9-17, 4-10). She neared triple-double territory with 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, all in the first three quarters. Louisville was +26 in her 28 minutes on the court, and she covered nearly every inch by contributing in some way. That ranged from bringing the ball up the floor to battling in the post or getting the outlet pass for a 3-point shot.
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Ziegler’s versatility is something Walz saw from her film at Saint Joseph’s. After getting her on campus, he tried her out at the point-forward position. The Denmark native began to take on more ballhandling responsibilities during Louisville’s game on Dec. 4 against third-ranked South Carolina. Since then, she’s been a viable option to run the offense and currently has the team’s second-most assists per game (2.9).
“She passed the ball well,” Walz said last week. “And she handles it well enough that at the 4 spot, there aren’t many 4 players that are going to pick her up full-court. So, the advantage to her then is like, ‘Hey, no one’s really harassing me a whole bunch.’ And then when teams start to put guards on her, she’s bigger than they are so she can see over them. And now we’re making the pass up to our guard who’s being guarded by a post.”
Louisville’s forward Laura Ziegler (0) makes the shot against Florida State’s forward Allie Kubek (0) in the KFC Yum! Center Sunday night. Feb. 15, 2026
Ziegler has been open to any role the team needs her to play. In addition to being the Cardinals’ second-leading scorer with 11.5 points per game while shooting 46.3% from the field, she leads the team in rebounds per game (7.2) and has the second-most blocks (13). Her leadership as one of only two seniors on the roster has also been invaluable, helping Louisville to one of its most successful seasons over the past few years. Being a do-it-all player with leadership ability will continue to be important with the postseason looming. It’ll be Ziegler’s first time in the NCAA Tournament after going to the WNIT once and WBIT twice while at Saint Joseph’s.
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Louisville is off Thursday and returns to the KFC Yum! Center to host Virginia at noon next Sunday, Feb. 22.
“It’s a great time for us,” Walz said of the bye. “We’ve got some bumps and bruises that we need to get on the mend. So it couldn’t have come any better. Hopefully we’ll get everybody … not 100%, but closer and feeling better.”
Reach Louisville football, women’s basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville women’s basketball, Laura Ziegler roll past Florida State
