The No. 5 Louisville Cardinals had to fight hard to hold off the upset bid of the No. 12 Drake Bulldogs in their opening game of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night. Led by a sensational late-game performance from Hailey Van Lith, the Cardinals secured an 83-81 victory in a thrilling encounter.
Despite being heavily favored heading into the game, Louisville were pushed to the limit by a determined Drake team who refused to go down without a fight. The Bulldogs, who have appeared in the NCAA Tournament four times in the last seven seasons but are yet to secure a win, started the game strong and kept the Cardinals on their toes throughout.
Drake’s early success was largely down to their well-executed backdoor cuts, which led to a series of easy layups. Louisville struggled to adjust to this tactic early on and found themselves trailing for much of the game.
However, the Cardinals eventually found their rhythm and started to mount a comeback in the second half. With the game in the balance, it was the freshman Van Lith who stepped up to deliver when her team needed her most.
Van Lith scored an impressive 13 points in the final five minutes of the game, including five in a row in the last 16 seconds, to help Louisville secure the win. Her clutch three-point play off a layup out of a timeout put the Cardinals up by four, before Drake answered with a 3-pointer by Sarah Beth Gueldner. Van Lith then made two more free throws to all but seal the victory for her team.
The young guard finished the game with an impressive 26 points, while Mykasa Robison also had a strong showing with 14 points. Louisville will now move on to face the winner between No. 4 Texas and No. 13 East Carolina in the second round on Monday.
Despite the victory, Louisville will need to improve defensively if they hope to make a deep run in the tournament. The Cardinals were caught sleeping a bit by Drake’s backdoor cuts too often and will need to tighten up their defense moving forward.
Drake has nothing to be ashamed of by coming up short against the Cards. With senior Grace Berg set to return next season, the Bulldogs will be hoping to build on this performance and secure their first NCAA Tournament win in the near future.
For Louisville, this win marks their sixth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16. The team will be looking to build on their previous successes in the tournament, which include two appearances in the Final Four in 2009 and 2013.
Overall, it was a thrilling game that showcased the best of March Madness. Both teams fought hard until the final buzzer, with Louisville ultimately coming out on top thanks to the heroics of their young star Van Lith and some incredible coaching down the stretch by Coach Walz.
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