Cardinal reach Final Four after thrilling second-half comeback
Sophomore Ashten Prechtel came off the bench Tuesday to lead Stanford to another Final Four showdown against South Carolina.
The 6-foot-5 Prechtel made all six of her field goals to score 16 points and lift the No. 1 overall seeded Cardinal to a 7863 victory over Louisville.
It took a brilliant second-half rally for Stanford (29-2) to reach its 14th Final Four.
The Cardinal will face South Carolina (26-4) on Friday in the first game of the national semifinals in San Antonio. Connecticut, which finished the regular season as Associated Press’ No. 1 team, plays Arizona in the second game.
Stanford suffered through a coldshooting first half to trail by 12 points. Kiana Williams, Stanford’s leading scorer, made only one of 11 shots and the Cardinal was 1 for 9 from the 3-point arc.
But Stanford responded in the third quarter to take its first lead on Williams’ jumper to highlight a 17-2 run. Prechtel’s 3-pointer opened the final period to put Stanford ahead 51-50. The Cardinal kept pushing with a 10-0 start to take a 58-50 lead.
Lexie Hull had 21 points and nine rebounds, Williams scored 14 and Haley Jones had 10 points and 10 rebounds to lead Stanford to its 17th consecutive victory.
In 2017, Stanford lost to South Carolina 62-53 in the semifinals in the Cardinal’s last Final Four appearance. Stanford looked in control until senior star Karlie Samuelson suffered an ankle injury in the second quarter while driving to the basket.
Louisville All-American guard Dana Evans led all scorers Tuesday with 24 points.