Hailey Van Lith invokes Kobe Bryant, powers Louisville past Michigan into Final Four
Hailey Van Lith is having herself a March.
The sophomore guard posted her fourth straight 20-point NCAA tournament effort on Monday to lead top-seeded Louisville past No. 3 Michigan and into the Final Four. The Cardinals needed everything they got from their All-ACC guard as Michigan kept the pressure on until the final minutes of the 62-50 Louisville win.
The game was a far cry from Louisville's 70-48 blowout of Michigan on Dec. 2. But the end result was the same, this time with the Wichita regional championship on the line. The Wolverines had multiple chances late, but couldn't solve a swarming Louisville defense that held them without a field goal for the final 6:40. The result was a 10-0 Louisville run to end the game.
What would Kobe say to Hailey?
Van Lith led Louisville with 22 points, three rebounds and two steals while shooting 9 of 15 from the field. With the effort, she became the first Louisville player to score 20 points or more in four straight NCAA tournament games.
"I just want to win, man. I"ll do anything to win," Van Lith told ESPN after the game. "At first they were denying me touches in the first half. But I wasn't gonna stop because I knew my time was gonna come."
She trained with Kobe and Gianna Bryant as a high schooler and invoked the late Los Angeles Lakers great in her postgame interview with ESPN when asked what Kobe would have said to her before the game:
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) March 29, 2022
Cardinals put the clamps on
While Van Lith led the scoring effort, it was defense that defined Louisville's win as it has for much of the season. The Cardinals held the Wolverines to 34.8% shooting from the field and 21.4% from 3-point range while forcing 22 Michigan turnovers. A 5:40 Michigan scoring drought to end the game was a fitting cap to the Louisville victory.
Fellow All-ACC performer Emily Engstler struggled mightily on offense, tallying five points while shooting just 1 of 9 from the field. But she made up for on it on the other end with six steals and a block while pulling down a game-high 16 rebounds. A late drawn charge on Michigan's Laila Phelia beyond the 3-point line helped fuel Louisville's decisive defensive stand.
With the win, Louisville advances to face No. 1 overall seed South Carolina in next weekend's national semifinal. No. 2 seed UConn beat top-seeded NC State earlier Monday to claim the Bridgeport region and advance to a matchup with No. 1 seed Stanford on the other side of the bracket.
