The University of Louisville women's basketball team -- "The Bad News Birds" -- went on a 10-0 run to end the game Monday Night in the Wichita Regionals finals and defeat Michigan 62-50. the No. 1 seed Cards will face South Carolina Friday night in Minneapolis.
The No. 3 seed Wolverines were within 52-50 with less than 3 minutes to go when the Cardinals, using some precise ball movement to get out of a half-court trap, found Olivia Cochran for a layup. Then at the other end, Michigan star Naz Hillmon was called for charging, and Cochran added another bucket to give Louisville some breathing room.
Hailey Van Lith ended up with 22 points to earn regional MOP honors, The woman behind the mask -- Cochran -- made a series of crucial baskets in the final minutes, and Jeff Walz's "never say die" bunch of Cardinals answered every body blow from Michigan in a physical 62-50 victory on Monday night that has them playing in the Final Four for the fourth time in program history.
Louisville was led at the start of the game by point guard Chelsie Hall, who had six points and Kianna Smith who had the Cards first two baskets, to jump out to an early 6-0 lead. Hailey Van Lith added five first quarter points and Emily Engstler grabbed seven rebounds in those first ten minutes and the Cards had a 17-13 led at the end of the opening quarter.
UofL went on a 7-2 run to start the second quarter but Michigan battled back to make it just a 28-27 Cardinals lead with a minute before halftime after two Naz Hillmon free throws. The Cards got a jumper from Kianna Smith with three seconds left in the quarter to take a 30-27 lead into the halftime locker room.
Hall had 13 first half points for the Cards and Van Lith added nine, as only four Cards scored in the first half. Louisville had forced 11 UM turnovers but was having trouble containing Hillmon, who had nine first half points for the Wolverines, who shot 71% in the second quarter.
Michigan cut the Carss led to one in the first minute of the third quarter at 32-31, but UofL went on a 6-0 run after that, with buckets from Cochran, Hall and Engstler. the Cards had a 43-34 lead with 2:46 remaining in the third quarter, after a Van Lith basket, but the Ann Arbor squad responded with a 7-0 run to make it 43-41 with a minute left in the third. Hillmon was sinking her free throws (she went 6-8 in the third quarter) and the Cards found themselves in a two-point affair at 45-43 with 10 minutes to play.
It was Hailey time.
The Cards started the final quarter on a 5-0 run, Van Lith with a basket and free throw, in the first minutes of the fourth quarter. It was 50-43 Cards, but Michigan roared back to cut the Cards lead to two at 52-50 with 5:42 left in the game.
The Cards switched strategy and started going to Cochran. Her 6-0 run pushed Louisville's lead to 58-50 with 33 seconds to play. The defense was keeping Michigan at bay offensively and the Cards sank four free throws (two each by Van Lith and Engstler) to end the game and complete the 10-0 run to beat the Wolverines 62-50.
Michigan did not score in the final 5:42 of the game.
Kim Barnes Arico's thoughts on the fatal fourth quarter:
''That was stinky: 52-50 with the ball. I'm going to have nightmares about that for the next eight months until we play again,'' Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said. ''Louisville is a great team. We knew it would be a game of runs.''
Emily Engstler on coming to Louisville to play for Jeff Walz:
'He's meant the world to me personally. He lets you be yourself and he protects you and you can trust him, and that's hard in this industry. I'm going to do whatever I can to get him a national championship.''
Jeff Walz on the 2021-22 team:
'I treat these kids as my own,'' Walz said. ''I love all of them and I'm just so excited for every single one of them.''
The Cards ended up shooting 43% from the floor for the game, Michigan 35%. The big discrepancy came from fouls and free throws. Louisville was whistled for 17, Michigan 12. The Wolverines went 15-20 from the free throw line (Hillmon was 10-13) and Louisville 7-9.
These Cardinal Birds are still flying and will land in Minneapolis sometime tonight to take on #1 in the NCAA WBB South Carolina on Friday, who disposed of Creighton 80-50 on Sunday. Joining the two in Minneapolis are UConn, who took a double-overtime thriller over NC State 91=87 and Stanford, who sent Texas back to Austin with a 59-50 final.
--sonja--
The No. 3 seed Wolverines were within 52-50 with less than 3 minutes to go when the Cardinals, using some precise ball movement to get out of a half-court trap, found Olivia Cochran for a layup. Then at the other end, Michigan star Naz Hillmon was called for charging, and Cochran added another bucket to give Louisville some breathing room.
Hailey Van Lith ended up with 22 points to earn regional MOP honors, The woman behind the mask -- Cochran -- made a series of crucial baskets in the final minutes, and Jeff Walz's "never say die" bunch of Cardinals answered every body blow from Michigan in a physical 62-50 victory on Monday night that has them playing in the Final Four for the fourth time in program history.
Louisville was led at the start of the game by point guard Chelsie Hall, who had six points and Kianna Smith who had the Cards first two baskets, to jump out to an early 6-0 lead. Hailey Van Lith added five first quarter points and Emily Engstler grabbed seven rebounds in those first ten minutes and the Cards had a 17-13 led at the end of the opening quarter.
UofL went on a 7-2 run to start the second quarter but Michigan battled back to make it just a 28-27 Cardinals lead with a minute before halftime after two Naz Hillmon free throws. The Cards got a jumper from Kianna Smith with three seconds left in the quarter to take a 30-27 lead into the halftime locker room.
Hall had 13 first half points for the Cards and Van Lith added nine, as only four Cards scored in the first half. Louisville had forced 11 UM turnovers but was having trouble containing Hillmon, who had nine first half points for the Wolverines, who shot 71% in the second quarter.
Michigan cut the Carss led to one in the first minute of the third quarter at 32-31, but UofL went on a 6-0 run after that, with buckets from Cochran, Hall and Engstler. the Cards had a 43-34 lead with 2:46 remaining in the third quarter, after a Van Lith basket, but the Ann Arbor squad responded with a 7-0 run to make it 43-41 with a minute left in the third. Hillmon was sinking her free throws (she went 6-8 in the third quarter) and the Cards found themselves in a two-point affair at 45-43 with 10 minutes to play.
It was Hailey time.
The Cards started the final quarter on a 5-0 run, Van Lith with a basket and free throw, in the first minutes of the fourth quarter. It was 50-43 Cards, but Michigan roared back to cut the Cards lead to two at 52-50 with 5:42 left in the game.
The Cards switched strategy and started going to Cochran. Her 6-0 run pushed Louisville's lead to 58-50 with 33 seconds to play. The defense was keeping Michigan at bay offensively and the Cards sank four free throws (two each by Van Lith and Engstler) to end the game and complete the 10-0 run to beat the Wolverines 62-50.
Michigan did not score in the final 5:42 of the game.
Kim Barnes Arico's thoughts on the fatal fourth quarter:
''That was stinky: 52-50 with the ball. I'm going to have nightmares about that for the next eight months until we play again,'' Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said. ''Louisville is a great team. We knew it would be a game of runs.''
Emily Engstler on coming to Louisville to play for Jeff Walz:
'He's meant the world to me personally. He lets you be yourself and he protects you and you can trust him, and that's hard in this industry. I'm going to do whatever I can to get him a national championship.''
Jeff Walz on the 2021-22 team:
'I treat these kids as my own,'' Walz said. ''I love all of them and I'm just so excited for every single one of them.''
The Cards ended up shooting 43% from the floor for the game, Michigan 35%. The big discrepancy came from fouls and free throws. Louisville was whistled for 17, Michigan 12. The Wolverines went 15-20 from the free throw line (Hillmon was 10-13) and Louisville 7-9.
These Cardinal Birds are still flying and will land in Minneapolis sometime tonight to take on #1 in the NCAA WBB South Carolina on Friday, who disposed of Creighton 80-50 on Sunday. Joining the two in Minneapolis are UConn, who took a double-overtime thriller over NC State 91=87 and Stanford, who sent Texas back to Austin with a 59-50 final.
--sonja--
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