- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 411,962
- Reaction score
- 43
You must be registered for see images
Hailey Van Lith and TCU rolled to a dominant win over Louisville, her former team, on Sunday afternoon (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Even after recruiting her out of high school and going on a Final Four run with her, Louisville head coach Jeff Walz couldn’t stop Hailey Van Lith in the NCAA women's tournament on Sunday afternoon.
Van Lith led No. 2 TCU to a tight win over her former team in Fort Worth on Sunday in what was a historic victory for the Horned Frogs. The 85-70 win over No. 7 Louisville officially lifted TCU to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history.
The Horned Frogs got off to a bit of a slow start at Schollmaier Arena on Sunday. Louisville kept within three points of TCU after the first 10 minutes, which was only possible after Jayda Curry dropped 15 of the team’s first 17 points. That, though, was about it for the Cardinals.
TCU outscored Louisville 27-9 in the second period to break open a 21-point lead at halftime. The Cardinals shot just 3-of-19 from the field in the quarter, and it took them nearly six full minutes for their first field goal. TCU entered halftime shooting better than 70% from the field and nearly 70% from behind the arc, too. Van Lith had seven assists in the first half alone, and Agnes Emma-Nnopu drained four 3-pointers.
Louisville's offense picked back up in the second half, but it was too late. The Horned Frogs held on even after Louisville opened the fourth quarter on a 13-4 tear to cut the deficit to single digits to grab the 15-point win.
Curry led Louisville with 41 points and five assists after she shot 13-of-27 from the field. Olivia Cochran added 15 points, though she was the only other Cardinals player to hit double figures. They shot less than 34% from the field as a team.
Emma-Nnopu led TCU with 23 points. Sedona Prince added 19 points, and Van Lith finished with a double-double with 16 points and 10 assists. TCU finished shooting 63% from the field and went 11-of-18 from behind the arc.
Van Lith spent her first three seasons at Louisville, and she led the team to a pair of Elite Eight appearances and a Final Four trip. She then transferred to LSU for last season, where she made it to the Elite Eight again, before opting for one last transfer to close out her college career.
Van Lith and the Horned Frogs then took off in what is easily the best season in program history. They rolled through the Big 12 to win both the regular season and conference tournament titles. They won more than 30 games for the first time in program history and earned their first NCAA tournament bid since 2010.
Now, the Horned Frogs are out of the first weekend of the NCAA tournament for the first time. They’ll take on No. 3 Notre Dame, which rolled past Michigan in their second round matchup, next weekend.
While this is uncharted territory for the Horned Frogs, Van Lith has been here plenty of times before. If anybody is going to lead TCU past the Fighting Irish and into what would be her fifth straight Elite Eight appearance, it’s her.
Continue reading...
