Louisville women’s basketball standout Yacine Diop out for the season with ACL tear

Yacine Diop, the Pitt grad transfer expected to play a large part in filling the interior void left behind by Myisha Hines-Allen’s graduation, will miss the rest of the 2018-19 season because of a torn ACL. U of L head coach Jeff Walz confirmed the news to the Courier Journal’s Danielle Lerner Monday morning.

Diop, who had been averaging 8.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, suffered the injury during Louisville’s win over Arizona State in Las Vegas last Friday.

“We’ve handled adversity before, and our kids were really upset because they really like Yacine,” Walz told the CJ. ”She came and sat on the bench at the Arizona State game and was cheering, and I’ve seen so many kids when they get injured go to end of bench, put towel up over their head like, ‘Oh, poor, pitiful me,’ and that’s just not what she’s about.”

Because she only appeared in four games this season, there is a possibility that Diop could appeal to the NCAA for a sixth season of eligibility and suit up for the Cardinals in 2019-20.

Louisville (5-0) is back in action Monday night when it will play its first home game of the season. The fourth-ranked Cards host Miami (OH) at 7 p.m.