TCU tops Notre Dame as Hailey Van Lith impresses to reach fifth career Elite Eight
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – TCU’s historic season survived a nail-biting 71-62 win over No. 3 seed Notre Dame on Saturday.
The win sends the Horned Frogs (34-3) to their first Elite Eight in program history and continues a remarkable turnaround season for coach Mark Campbell after finishing 21-12 and missing the NCAA Tournament last season.
In what was expected to be a back-and-forth game, TCU hung with the Irish (28-6) even when they went down by nine points with 5:51 left in the third quarter. The Horned Frogs used the free-throw line to cut into that third-quarter deficit, making 8 of 8 shots from the line and turning up the physical play.
Led by a wealth of experience from their transfer-heavy team, the Horned Frogs outscored the Irish 14-6 to end the third quarter and trailed by one point. Hailey Van Lith led TCU with 26 points and had a key steal and block to spark the third-quarter turnaround.
“Yeah, I think at this point I just have ultimate confidence and faith in myself to compete at an intense level,” Van Lith said. “What I’ve learned through my experience in these tournaments is you can’t always ask yourself to make every shot, but if you’re willing to compete and lay it all out there every game, you’re giving yourself a better shot than a lot of other people are out there.”
Van Lith’s offensive game was on full display, as she made 10 of 21 shots, but it was her defense that sparked a turnaround in the third quarter.
With TCU down nine points, she made two straight baskets, forced a steal on Notre Dame’s Sonia Citron and had a block on the next defensive possession.
“I think Hailey is a dog, regardless if it’s the offensive end or defensive end regardless, she is going to do anything it takes to win. She has a competitive edge,” Madison Conner said. “She knows what it takes to win at an extremely high level, and she doesn’t care if she makes all of her shots … defensively we know we can count on her.”
Van Lith has been TCU’s leader all season and showed up again in a big way. The Washington native scored 18 of her 26 points in the second half.
Texas holds off Tennessee
The frantic pace of the Sweet 16 matchup between top-seeded Texas and No. 5 Tennessee subsided only after the final buzzer. It took until the last horn to allow either SEC team to breathe.
When it was over, when there was no press left to break and no transition opportunities waiting to be taken advantage of, the Longhorns (34-3) could finally rest easy. Having posted a 67-59 win over Tennessee (24-10), Texas is marching on to the Elite Eight for the fourth time in five years.
Longhorns star Madison Booker scored a game-high 17 points and added six rebounds. Texas senior center Taylor Jones added 12 points and eight rebounds, and freshman point guard Bryanna Preston scored a career-high 12 points in a career-high 27 minutes off the bench.
“The best press attack is a great point guard. It isn’t how many press plays you run,” Texas coach Vic Schaefer said Saturday. “It’s just having a good point guard.”