Louisville Outlasts Drake in NCAA Tournament Opener

AUSTIN, Tex. - Traveling down to the Lone Star State to kick off their run in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, the Louisville women's basketball program fought off a valiant effort from Drake in their tournament opener, capturing a thrilling 83-81 victory at the Moody Center.

The fifth-seeded Cardinals (23-11) were fueled primarily by a determined Hailey Van Lith, who finished with a game-high 26 points on 10-of-20 shooting, including 13 in the fourth quarter. She scored 11 of Louisville's final 12 points, which included five clutch free throws, a go-ahead layup with under a minute to go and a beautifully drawn up and-one with 16 seconds left.

Louisville moves to a perfect 14-0 in the first round of the Big Dance under head coach Jeff Walz, and now await the winner of No. 4 Texas vs. No. 13 in the Round of 32 on Monday night.

The two teams shot evenly for the overall game, 51.8 percent for Drake and 51.6 percent for Louisville, but it was a tale of two halves. The 12th-seeded Bulldogs (22-10) shot 62.5 percent in the first half to 43.8 percent in the second, whereas Louisville went 43.2 percent before halftime and 63.0 percent after it.

Despite Drake assisting on 21 of their 29 made field goals, that also came with 19 forced turnovers by Louisville. The Cards also committed 11 of their own, while losing the rebounding battle 33-28.

On top of the clutch performance from Van Lith, Mykasa Robinson also stepped up for the Cardinals, pouring in 14 points, a game-high seven assists and five rebounds - including the one that sealed the victory following a missed Drake free throw.

The Bulldogs had four players finish in double figured, including 20 from Katie Dinnebier. However, Maggie Bair, their leading scorer and rebounder for the season, was held to just five points and six boards. Louisville also held them to just 11 bench points.

The first half, particularly in the first quarter, was fast-paced on both ends of the floor and tightly contested. It featured seven ties and eight lead changes, with the lead only stretching beyond two possessions just once. As you can imagine, it was a defensive half that Louisville would have liked to forget.

While the Cardinals did force 14 turnovers for 14 points before halftime, Drake also abused UofL on backdoor cuts, shooting 15-of-24 for the half and 12-of-17 on layups. Conversely, Louisville was incredibly streaky shooting the ball, primarily due to the fact that Van Lith had to sit for most of the second quarter due to foul trouble. That being said, Louisville still closed the half on an 8-3 run to make it even at 39 a piece going into the locker room.

When the two teams returned, the hot shooting from Drake stayed behind. In the third quarter, the Bulldogs cut down on their turnovers, but went just 7-of-18 from the field. Meanwhile, the Cardinals also connected on seven field goals - just on six less shots.

The fourth quarter was the highest-scoring period of the game, with both sides pouring in 27 points, and each team responding to whatever punch the other threw at them. It was also Louisville's most efficient shooting quarter, going 10-of-15 -- including 5-of-7 from Van Lith -- to counter a 7-of-14 output from Drake.

(Photo of Hailey Van Lith: Sam Upshaw Jr. - Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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