Louisville's Season Ends to South Carolina in Final Four
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Louisville women's basketball's quest for their first national title will have to wait another year.
Taking on South Carolina for a monumental showdown in the Final Four, the Cardinals were unable to pull off the upset against the vastly favored Gamecocks, falling 72-59 Friday at the Target Center.
No. 1 seeded Louisville concludes their season with a record of 29-5 and 16-2 in ACC play, just shy of their fifth 30-win season in program history. At 34-2, No. 1 overall seed South Carolina now heads to the national championship to face either No. 1 Stanford or No. 2 UConn.
The Cardinals shot just 42.9 percent from the field, only 1-8 on threes, and committed 15 turnovers that led to 16 Gamecock points. Like in their previous game against Michigan, they only made seven trips to the free throw line to 17 for South Carolina, while also getting out-rebounded 36-33.
USC also had 15 turnovers, but countered with a 47.4 shooting percentage and a 6-17 effort from long distance. All five of their starters finished in double figures, including a fantastic 23 point and 18 rebound effort performance from Naismith Player of the Year Aliyah Boston.
As for Louisville, they had three double digit scorers, led Emily Engstler's 18 points and nine rebounds. Olivia Cochran and Kianna Smith both had 14, and Hailey Van Lith - who had at least 20 points in every preceding NCAA Tournament game - finished with only nine.
Early on, Louisville found themselves struggling against South Carolina's size, and took a little bit of time to get settled in. They connected on just two of their first 13 shots of the game, committed five first quarter turnovers, and allowed the Gamecocks to dictate the pace on both ends of the floor.
It wasn't until the second quarter that the Cardinals found their groove. After South Carolina scored the first basket of the period to go up nine, Louisville then went on a 12-0 run, fueled mainly by Engstler and Smith, to briefly jump in front. The Gamecocks did have a 34-28 lead at the half, but Louisville looked much more poised and locked in heading into the locker room than they had starting the game.
South Carolina was about to land the knockout punch in the third quarter, pulling ahead by 15 midway through the period, but Louisville fought back to make it a six-point game in the quarter's final seconds.
What was perhaps the tipping point for the Gamecocks happened with 4.2 seconds left in the third. Engstler picked up her fourth foul of the game, hacking Boston who drained the shot and free throw to go up nine to start the fourth.
Unfortunately for Louisville, this proved to be all the momentum that South Carolina needed, as they were unable to go on any sort of late run and get over the hump.
(Photo of Hailey Van Lith: Matt Krohn - USA TODAY Sports)
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