Cards oust UT, land in Final 4
Lady Vols come up short
OKLAHOMA CITY — One mammoth upset wasn’t enough for Shoni Schimmel and plucky Louisville. Going through two of the sport’s powers, the Cardinals are Final Four bound.
Schimmel scored 24 points and Louisville beat second-seeded Tennessee 86-78 Tuesday night to earn the school’s second trip to the Final Four.
Two nights after taking down Brittney Griner and defending national champion Baylor, the fifth-seeded Cardinals (28-8) built a 20-point lead and then withstood a second-half comeback by the powerhouse Lady Vols (27- 8) before celebrating another big victory.
When it was over, the Cardinals huddled at center court and celebrated. Tennessee headed home with a third straight loss in the regional finals, failing to make the Final Four for a fifth straight year.
“We ruined the entire party,” Louisville coach Jeff Walz said. “We’re the ugly ducklings that ruined the party. No one gave us a chance and we shocked everybody. It’s a journey and we’re going to continue.”
Taber Spani led the Lady Vols with 20 points, and Meighan Simmons and Kamiko Williams chipped in 12 apiece.
Louisville joined the school’s men’s team in the Final Four, marking the 10th time that a program had both teams make it that far. Only Connecticut has won both titles in the same season, in 2004.
The Cardinals became only the second No. 5 seed to reach the national semifinals, joining Southwest Missouri State’s 2001 team that featured guard Jackie Stiles, the all-time leading scorer in NCAA history.
Only seven teams outside of the top four seeds have ever made it to the Final Four since the NCAA tournament started in 1982.
No team seeded higher than fourth has ever won a game at the Final Four.
But the seemingly impossible hasn’t stopped this group of Cardinals yet.
First, they took down Griner and her Baylor team that had lost just once in 75 games. Then, it was the eight-time national champion Lady Volunteers.
“No one wanted to see us beat Baylor and Tennessee and we did both of those and now we’re going to the Final Four,” Schimmel said.
Next up is a Sunday showdown in New Orleans against California, the Spokane regional champion.
The Cardinals’ only other Final Four trip was in 2009, ending in a loss to Big East rival Connecticut in the championship game.
Louisville rode a hefty rebounding advantage and another solid 3-point shooting outing — especially when compared to UT’s 0 for 9 start — to take a 49-29 edge 90 seconds after halftime following back-to-back 3s from Antonita Slaughter and Schimmel.
Spani finally broke Tennessee’s 3-point drought right after that, and the Lady Vols were able to chip away at the 20-point deficit.
Their full-court pressure, which wasn’t tight enough to prevent overthe-top passes for layups in the first half, started to be effective. But it wasn’t to be for the Lady Vols.