Longhorns’ Sweet 16 path leads back to Louisville
AUSTIN — Texas and Louisville already met once this season, back in a November tournament in the breezy Bahamas.
The Cardinals got the better of the Longhorns that day, when both were ranked in the Top 10 and penciling in expectations for deep runs in the NCAA Tournament.
After a long season with ups and downs for both, they meet again Monday night on the Longhorns’ home court with a lot more at stake: a trip to the Sweet 16. And it promises to be one of the most physical games of the tournament.
“Both teams have that aggression in them,” Texas guard Rori Harmon said. “Its part of their culture, that’s how we both play.”
Fourth-seeded Texas (26-9) has advanced to the Elite Eight in each of the past two seasons. Fifthseeded Louisville (24-11) has reached the Elite Eight or Final Four in each of the last four tournaments.
Louisville players say they know the first meeting between the teams, which the Cardinals won 71-63, is now mostly meaningless. For starters, the Longhorns were missing Harmon, the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and the spark plug for everything they do on both ends of the court.
Harmon missed the first five games of the season with a toe injury, and Texas lost three in a row without her. Everything she does for the Longhorns was on full display in their firstround win over East Carolina when she had eight assists in the first half alone.
Texas shooting guard Shaylee Gonzales, a transfer from BYU, handled the point the first time Longhorns and Cardinals met. She’s much happier now roaming the wings for open 3-pointers
“We were all new, we had never really played with each other,” Gonzales said. “Obviously super glad that she’s back because I was super stressed to be thrown into that position.”
Louisville’s backcourt of Hailey Van Lith and Mykasa Robinson will be challenged by Harmon’s quickness, but Van Lith seemed to relish the matchup.
“Rori changes their team a little bit in the fact she has elite court vision,” Van Lith said. “Wearing her out in the backcourt, full court defense is going to be big for us.”
Van Lith took over the fourth quarter in the first round against Drake, scoring 13 points over the final four minutes to rescue the Cardinals from their first opening-round loss since 2006.
She and Robinson will have some big bodies to contend with under the basket against Texas.
Even with that size, Texas coach Vic Schaefer said he’ll push his post players to be ready for a fight.
“We’ve got the biggest team in the Big 12, and so even in the NCAA Tournament, we’ve got to take advantage of that,” Schaefer said. “We cannot be bullied. So I’ve challenged our kids to not let that happen. You’ve got to fight back. You just do.”