By Spencer Laws
The Madness Continues
In a night that saw many top seeds going down, the Cards dominated the Texas Longhorns on their home floor from buzzer to buzzer pulling what is considered to be upset.
Louisville women’s basketball punched their ticket into the next round of the NCAA Tournament Monday, beating the Longhorns 73-51. The team will face off with eighth-seeded Ole Miss this Friday, in Seattle in the Sweet Sixteen.
This match-up comes as somewhat of a surprise; top-seeded Stanford fell to Ole Miss in dramatic fashion on Sunday, 54-49.
Horns Down
On Monday, the Cards finished the first quarter all tied up at 16 with the Longhorns. The other three perfectly displayed what makes the team such a force.
Hailey Van Lith led the way for the squad, leading all scorers with 21 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists while playing the whole 40 minutes of the game. Morgan Jones added 10 points off the bench, shooting 5 of 5 from the floor in 16 minutes of playing time.
After that, the team saw six players add 5 or more points, looking like the team we thought it could be at the beginning of the season.
Head Coach Jeff Walz and company again seem to get the train rolling at the right time and have everyone hitting on all cylinders.
On Monday it seemed as if the Cards simply just wanted it more. They were jumping on loose balls and out-hustling the Longhorns during the entirety of the match.
Post Game Theatrics
Hailey Van Lith and Texas Guard Sonya Morris ended the game with some fireworks.
Van Lith was going through post-game ceremonies when Morris exchanged some thoughts. Van Lith had no part in the drama and just walked off.
“I respect the Texas players. I don’t really want to speak on what happened at the end because I don’t want it to dim down the fact that we played really, really well. I have all the respect in the world for Texas, no hard feelings,” she said in her post-game presser.
This is Jeff Walz and the program’s sixth straight Sweet Sixteen appearance. Walz was questioned about the accomplishment after the game. He answered the question with some laughter, first stating that it is all due to the coaching staff. He corrected himself, saying it’s all due to his players, their ability to buy into the program, and the process.
Throughout the entire game, you could see the visible emotion and reactions from Walz to the way his team was performing.
The Cardinals take on the Rebels Friday, March 24th, at 10 P.M. on ESPN.
Photo Courtesy// GoCards.com //
