Haley Van Dyke scored 15 points and had seven rebounds for Washington (2-1), and Alexis Whitfield came off the bench for 10 points.
Haley Van Lith made a pair of free throws with 2:42 left to stop the Huskies' 11-0 run that had cut Louisville’s lead to 54-51. Emily Engstler then hit a turnaround jumper with 1:52 left for a 58-51 lead that Washington couldn’t erase. Van Lith finished with 11 points.
The Cardinals trailed by five early because of cold shooting, missing 12 of their first 18 shots and were 0 of 3 from the 3-point line.