LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – The focus in the pregame was TCU’s Hailey Van Lith against her old team. Perhaps there was a bit too much focus on the wrong shooting guard.
Louisville’s Jayda Curry turned in the greatest NCAA Tournament scoring performance in school history, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a nightmarish second quarter in an 85-70 TCU victory.
Curry scored 41 points and dished out five assists to will Louisville back into the game after a disastrous second-quarter left them down 19 points at the half. Her point total surpassed the previous NCAA record of 35 scored by Angel McCoughtry in a 2008 tournament game.
"I want to just commend how Jayda Curry competed tonight," Louisville coach Jeff Walz said. "I thought she absolutely fought for 40 minutes and really just played some impressive basketball."
Louisville, the No. 7 seed, threw a big punch to open the game, taking a 15-10 lead on a flurry of scoring by Curry, who had 15 in the first quarter. But TCU, seeded second and ranked No. 6 in the nation, scored the last seven points of the first quarter and the first 13 of the second to open a lead.
Louisville’s scoring drought stretched to six minutes between the two quarters, and Louisville shot just 3-for-19 in the second quarter.
"We didn't make any shots," Walz said of the decisive period. "I mean, we had good looks, and the ball just didn't go in. . . . It's not as easy as it looks to make those shots, but at the end of the day, that's what it comes down to. We went 3-of-19 in the second quarter, and then for us, we were very poor defensively in that quarter, and allowed them to go 11-for-14. That's what it was."
In the second half, TCU’s lead got to as much as 21, but Louisville gathered itself, found some energy on defense, and began to claw back.
Behind Curry’s scoring, Louisville pulled back within eight points with 2:47 left, but it could get no closer.
TCU made 11 of 18 three-pointers and shot 63 percent in the game. Louisville, which made just 3 of 19 shots in the second quarter, shot 33.8 percent for the game and made 8 of 24 three-pointers.
Emma-Nnopu led TCU with 23 points, Prince had 19, Hunter had 18 and Van Lith had 16 points and 10 assists.
Curry’s 41 points came on 13 of 28 shooting, including 6 of 12 from three-point range. It was the second-most field goals and three-point field goals in an NCAA game in program history. She made all nine of her free throws, Olivia Cochran had 15 points and six rebounds in her final game as a Cardinal.
Louisville, which fell short of its 13th Sweet 16, finishes the season 22-12.
"I thought we came out in the second half and really played like I thought we could the entire game," Walz said. "So, you know, it's a tough one. You hate to lose. But as I told our kids, I mean, we started the year 6-5, and I'm not sure anybody thought we'd even get as far as we have to finish as one of the last 32 standing. Was that our ultimate goal? No, but I'm pretty proud of them."
TCU (33-3) advanced to its first playing in front of a program-record crowd of 7,494. It will face Notre Dame in the Birmingham 2 Regional.
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