Louisville women's basketball advanced to the NCAA WBB sweet Sixteen Sunday night with a 68-59 win over Gonzaga.
The #1 seed Cards used a 20-12 third quarter advantage to pull away from the Bulldogs squad in front of 10414 fans in the KFC YUM! Center and Hailey Van Lith had 10 of her 21 points in the quarter to help send the Cards to Wichita and improve their record to 27-4. Louisville will face the winner of Monday's Belmont vs Tennessee game.
The Cards had four players in double digit scoring -- joining Van Lith were Kianna Smith and Emily Engstler with 12 points each and Olivia Cochran added 11 points. Louisville shot 40.6% from the floor and held Gpnzaga to 38% shooting.
Defense did it again for the Cards -- they forced 18 Gonzaga turnovers, outscored the Bulldogs 23-11 in points off turnovers and had 10 steals.
Engstler had 11 rebounds to lead both squads, nine of them coming in the first quarter, but the Cards lost the overall rebounding battle 40-31. Louisville roared out to a 14-0 first quarter lead, but Gonzaga responded with a 12 point run. The Cards had a 18-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Louisville held a 36-32 led at halftime but went on a 8-0 run to push a 36-36 tie to 44-36 lead in that three minute run.. Van Lith had all eight Cardinals points in that run.
The Cards led by 15 late in the fourth quarter at 68-53 but the Zags scored the final six points in the game.
Coach Jeff Walz said repeatedly through the season that this Cardinals team could make the Final Four or lose in the second round. Gonzaga gave Louisville a scare, but now it's back to the Sweet 16 for the eighth time since 2013.
--sonja--
The #1 seed Cards used a 20-12 third quarter advantage to pull away from the Bulldogs squad in front of 10414 fans in the KFC YUM! Center and Hailey Van Lith had 10 of her 21 points in the quarter to help send the Cards to Wichita and improve their record to 27-4. Louisville will face the winner of Monday's Belmont vs Tennessee game.
The Cards had four players in double digit scoring -- joining Van Lith were Kianna Smith and Emily Engstler with 12 points each and Olivia Cochran added 11 points. Louisville shot 40.6% from the floor and held Gpnzaga to 38% shooting.
Defense did it again for the Cards -- they forced 18 Gonzaga turnovers, outscored the Bulldogs 23-11 in points off turnovers and had 10 steals.
Engstler had 11 rebounds to lead both squads, nine of them coming in the first quarter, but the Cards lost the overall rebounding battle 40-31. Louisville roared out to a 14-0 first quarter lead, but Gonzaga responded with a 12 point run. The Cards had a 18-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Louisville held a 36-32 led at halftime but went on a 8-0 run to push a 36-36 tie to 44-36 lead in that three minute run.. Van Lith had all eight Cardinals points in that run.
The Cards led by 15 late in the fourth quarter at 68-53 but the Zags scored the final six points in the game.
Coach Jeff Walz said repeatedly through the season that this Cardinals team could make the Final Four or lose in the second round. Gonzaga gave Louisville a scare, but now it's back to the Sweet 16 for the eighth time since 2013.
--sonja--
