Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Cardinals end Lady Vols’ season
WICHITA, Kan. — Hailey Van Lith and Emily Engstler knew Louisville had allowed far too many leads to slip away in the fourth quarter this season, including the disheartening loss to Miami in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.
Van Lith and Engstler refused to let it happen again in the NCAA Tournament.
Van Lith poured in 23 points with six assists and was solid at the free-throw line down the stretch, while Emily Engstler had 20 points and 10 rebounds to help the top-seeded Cardinals withstand Tennessee’s frantic comeback for a 76-64 victory on Saturday that sent Coach Jeff Walz’s bunch back to the Elite Eight for the fourth consecutive time.
Kianna Smith also had 12 points for the Cardinals (284), whose 15-point lead was whittled to two in the fourth quarter before they pulled away to set up a date with third- seeded Michigan on Monday.
“We just kept reminding each other that as long as we get stops and rebounds, we’ll be up no matter what,” Van Lith said afterward, “no matter if we score or not. We were able to execute that. All of our players stepped up and got rebounds and made good plays on defense and we were able to pull away.”
The Cardinals have become one of the nation’s dominant women’s programs under Walz — much like the Lady Vols were for so many years under Pat Summitt — but they are still chasing their first national championship.
“It’s been a really long journey,” said Engstler, a transfer from Syracuse, “and I just think sometimes you have a feeling. I feel really good about this team and I think we’re going to get there.”
Rae Burrell led No. 4 seed Tennessee (25-9) with 22 points, but she didn’t get a whole lot of help from the rest of her team, which had 18 turnovers and was 5 of 21 from beyond the arc. Jordan Walker had 10 points but also had five turnovers.
“Louisville is tough. They’re so tough on both ends of the court,” Lady Vols Coach Kellie Harper said. “We needed to play with a few less mistakes at both ends of the court. But we don’t have any quit in us. We cut it to two, we gave ourselves a chance in the fourth quarter. Love ‘em for that.”
The Cardinals asserted control midway through the first, taking advantage off too many unforced errors by the Lady Vols. Kaiya Wynn’s turnover led to Van Lith’s easy transition layup, then Wynn missed a pair of foul shots and Burrell missed an open three-pointer from the corner in the waning minutes that allowed Louisville to stretch the lead.
The trouble for Tennessee really began in the second quarter.
The Lady Vols turned the ball over on four of their first six possessions, often resulting in easy baskets at the other end, and the Cardinals seized on the momentum swing by slapping on a full-court press, too. The lead ballooned to 27-13 before Harper called a timeout to rescue her team trapped in the backcourt.
MICHIGAN 52, SOUTH dAKOTA 49
WICHITA, Kan. — Naz Hillmon had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Laila Phelia scored the goahead layup in the final minute for No. 3 Michigan, which beat No. 10 seed South Dakota to reach the elite eight for the first time.
Phelia scored 14 points and Leigha Brown added 10 for the Wolverines (25-6).
South Dakota (29-6) was trying to become just the fifth double-digit seed to reach the elite eight, but fell short. Hannah Sjerven had 17 points and eight rebounds before fouling out, while Chloe Lamb, the Summit League Player of the Year who averaged 16 points per game, was held to just six points.
With the crowd overwhelmingly on its side, the Coyotes held the Wolverines without a field goal for 3:40 to start the game, and led for much of the first half.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Grace Larkins put the Coyotes ahead 25-23 in the second quarter, and they led 26-24 at the break thanks to 11 points from Sjerven. Phelia, who had averaged just under nine points per game for the season, scored 12 in the first half to keep Michigan in the game.
Michigan took a 39-38 lead into the fourth quarter, with Hillmon scoring nine points in the third.
A mid-range jumper by Lamb rattled in to tie the game at 48 with 48.5 seconds remaining.
Phelia made a layup with 22 seconds remaining, and Brown later made two free throws to put the Wolverines up by four.
South Dakota’s Maddie Krull made the first of two free throws to cut Michigan’s lead to 52-49 with 7.5 seconds left. But she missed the second free throw, and there was a scramble for the ball before it went out of bounds. It wasn’t immediately clear who the ball last touched, but South Dakota got it after the referees’ review.
The Coyotes couldn’t get a clean look, with Kyah Watson missing a three-pointer as time expired.