Hailey Van Lith scored 26 points, 12 in the fourth quarter, to lead TCU to a 71-62 win over Notre Dame in the NCAA women’s tournament Sweet 16. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
(Carmen Mandato via Getty Images)
TCU is on to the Elite Eight of the NCAA women’s tournament after defeating Notre Dame in a thrilling, back-and-forth contest in the Birmingham 3 region on Saturday afternoon.
Hailey Van Lith was determined to lead the No. 2 seeded Horned Frogs past the No. 3 Irish to victory, scoring her team’s last six points of the third quarter and added 12 in the closing 10 minutes. The senior guard finished 26 points, nine rebounds and four assists, shooting 10-of-21 to lift TCU into the next round, outdueling the Irish’s Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles in a marquee backcourt clash.
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Van Lith is in the Elite Eight for the third consecutive season, also advancing to a tournament regional final with Louisville and LSU.
Sedona Prince added 21 points, six rebounds, four assists and six blocks for TCU in a tough clash of her own against Notre Dame’s Liatu King. She made 11-of-12 free throws. Madison Conner added 13 points, shooting 2-of-4 on 3-pointers. As a team, the Horned Frogs blocked 10 shots in the game with Agnes Emma-Nnopu notching three.
TCU got off to a scorching start, hitting six of their first seven shots with two 3-pointers, and ran out to a 16-9 lead. However, the shots that weren’t falling for Notre Dame despite open looks starting going through as the Horned Frogs cooled off and the Irish took a lead that they held onto through halftime.
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Notre Dame maintained that lead into the third quarter as the Irish consistently beat TCU down the floor with King and Hidalgo finishing shots, set up frequently by deft passing from Miles.
King led Notre Dame with 17 points and 10 rebounds, hitting eight of her nine shots. Hidalgo followed with 15 points and four steals, but hit only 3-of-19 shots. She missed a free throw with 24 seconds remaining in regulation that would have cut TCU’s lead to six points. Miles also had a rough shooting game, going 3-of-10 from the floor, though she knocked down 2-of-3 3-pointers.
TCU will face the winner between No. 5 seed Tennessee (24-9) and No. 1 Texas (33-3) in an Elite Eight matchup on Monday at 7 p.m. ET.
