​Jeff Walz has never forgotten the trips the Louisville women’s basketball team took to the national championship game in 2009 and 2013. Both ended in losses to UConn.More than losses, Walz viewed the games as lessons, gleaning wisdom from how the Huskies were able to beat his Cardinals.“They were a great defensive team, but their offense was so darn good,” he said. “That’s what made their defense so good, too, because (of) the pressure you had to have on yourselves to score. If you didn’t score, they were scoring, and because of that, now all of a sudden your defense is better.”More than a decade after the Cardinals’ national championship appearances, Walz believes his Cards, ranked no. 7 in the postseason polls, have enough offensive firepower to make another deep postseason run. That’ll be tested during November, when UofL faces two preseason top-10 opponents in the No. 2-ranked Huskies and No. 6-ranked Texas.If the Cards are going to make it back to the final weekend of the NCAA Tournament, they’re going to need guard Imari Berry to take the next step in her maturation process.She already took a huge stride in her development as a sophomore. As a better conditioned player, she averaged 10.9 points and 4.8 rebounds en route to ACC Sixth Player of the Year honors. This offseason, she competed with USA Basketball’s 3×3 Nations League team, which helped her play faster after already being one of the most explosive players on Louisville’s team.“Imari’s just blossoming into her own,” Walz said. “She’s who we thought she’d be — gifted athletically — and is now putting all of her athleticism into her basketball game. It’s fun to watch.”That athleticism enables Berry’s ability to take over a game. She did just that in a 33-point performance against NC State, but she also produced a double-double (22 points, 10 rebounds) against North Carolina to get the Cards to the ACC Tournament championship game last year. In addition to her scoring prowess — she led the team by shooting 37.1% from 3-point range — she’s an improved rebounder, particularly on the defensive end, where she tied with forward Elif Istanbulluoglu for the third-most on the team (129). She also had shared the team high with 1.5 steals per game.Walz didn’t show his hand when asked about Berry moving into a starter role this season, but he said it’s up to her. Not in a way where she calls her own shot, but in needing to see her embrace a bigger leadership role in setting the tone for each game. Walz gave her a shot as a starter for the first two games of the 2025-26 season, but Berry performed better coming off the bench. A year later, she knows she has to step up.“I feel like I have to prepare myself for any challenge this year,” Berry said. “I’m an upperclassman. So I would just say I have to mentally prepare myself for coming into practice every day and leading even on the days that I don’t want to do it, or coming in, lifting and giving it my