LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – The Louisville women’s basketball team’s fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA Elite Eight ran into a college basketball phenomenon. The Cardinals, in the end, couldn’t counter Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, who piled up 41 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds to lead the Hawkeyes past Louisville 97-83 in Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena Sunday night.
The first 40-point triple-double in the history of the women’s NCAA Tournament ended Louisville’s bid for a program first – a second-straight Final Four appearance. But the team’s tournament run upheld a high standard set by Louisville teams in recent years. It emerges from this season’s tournament as the only team in the nation with an active string of five straight Elite Eight appearances.
"I love these kids," Louisville coach Jeff Walz said. "They played their tails off and there was definitely no quit in them. . . . You've just got to tip your hat to them (Iowa). They scored more."
Louisville’s experience on the national quarterfinal stage showed to start the game. The Cardinals bolted to an 8-0 lead, forcing an Iowa timeout. Then the Hawkeye floodgates opened. By halftime Clark had 28 points and 8 assists, but Louisville trailed by only five.
Then the third quarter happened, and it was disastrous for the Cardinals. Offensive droughts have been a problem at times this season. Louisville experienced one, and Iowa stepped on the gas. After the Cardinals made their first two shots of the second half to pull within a point, they missed 13 of their next 15, and that was the game, for the most part.
By the end of the third quarter, Clark had 33 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, and Iowa had a 19-point lead. It wasn’t just Clark, though, who hurt the Cardinals. Gabbie Marshall hit a trio of 3-pointers in the third quarter. Louisville shot just 27.8 percent from the field in the quarter, and attempted only 2 three-point shots. They were outscored 30-16 in the period.
“We’re keeping the ball out of their scorers’ hands,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said at the end of the end of her third quarter. “Van Lith and Chrislyn (Carr) are just too good, and we’re doing a good job of blocking out.”
Iowa built its lead to 22, but Louisville kept battling. In timeout huddles with the team down big, Louisville coach Jeff Walz exhorted his team to show some pride. Olivia Cochran screamed at her teammates to keep fighting.
They did. The Cardinals cut their deficit to 10 points twice. But they could get no closer.
The game was Cochran’s best as a Louisville player. She finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds, giving her two of the 5 biggest NCAA Tournament rebounding performances in program history. She finishes the tournament tied with Candyce Bingham in third place on the school’s NCAA rebounding list.
Van Lith had 17 points at halftime, and finished with 27. She scored
After some tough losses during the regular season, Louisville played its best basketball in the postseason. But it wasn’t enough to stop a generational talent in women’s basketball, and the seasoned team around her.
"Even though we didn't get the outcome we wanted tonight, we've had a hell of. a season," senior Mykasa Robinson said after her final Louisville game. "And people can say we didn't, but we know what it is here at Louisville. I'm just super proud of this team. . . . I've been very blessed to be a part of an elite program. This run here with this team, it's going to be very memorable for me. . . . It's been a hell of a season and a hell of a career. I've enjoyed every moment of it, and I'm just thankful for this team."
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