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Hailey Van Lith Dazzles, Leads TCU to First Elite Eight Appearance in Program History

Van Lith will make her fifth Elite Eight appearance while leading the Horned Frogs to their first.

Blake Silverman

TCU Horned Frogs guard Van Lith goes up for a layup while playing Notre Dame during the Sweet 16 at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala.
TCU Horned Frogs guard Van Lith goes up for a layup while playing Notre Dame during the Sweet 16 at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala. / Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Hailey Van Lith is off to the Elite Eight for the fifth time in her collegiate career, helping lead TCU to their first appearance in program history. The fifth-year senior led the Horned Frogs with 26 points Saturday on the way to a 71-62 win in the Sweet 16 over No. 3 seed Notre Dame.

She had 18 points in the second half, which helped TCU overcome an early third-quarter run from the Fighting Irish.

"I read [Notre Dame's] ball-screen coverage a lot better," Van Lith said of her second-half performance postgame Saturday on the ESPN broadcast. "They were trying to mix it up with different bigs that had a lot of different personnel. And I just tried to take what they gave me."

She had nine rebounds and four assists on top of her game-leading scoring outburst. She made a huge three-pointer to put TCU up six points in the fourth quarter, which her dad and Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs loved.

Van Lith helped TCU reach their first-ever Sweet 16 last week by taking down Louisville, her former team, in the round of 32. She transferred to TCU this year after one season at LSU. She spent her first three collegiate seasons at Louisville.

Now, she becomes the first player in men's or women's NCAA tournament history to take three different programs to the Elite Eight, according to ESPN.

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Blake Silverman
BLAKE SILVERMAN

Blake Silverman is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, he covered the WNBA, NBA, G League and college basketball for numerous sites, including Winsidr, SB Nation's Detroit Bad Boys and A10Talk. He graduated from Michigan State University before receiving a master's in sports journalism from St. Bonaventure University. Outside of work, he's probably binging the latest Netflix documentary, at a yoga studio or enjoying everything Detroit sports. A lifelong Michigander, he lives in suburban Detroit with his wife, young son and their personal petting zoo of two cats and a dog.

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