Louisville Plays South Carolina in Final Four on Friday

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – University of Louisville women's basketball squares off against South Carolina on Friday night at 7 p.m. ET at the Target Center in Minneapolis with a trip to the national title game on the line. The game will broadcast on ESPN and 790-AM WKRD.

Louisville advanced to its fourth Final Four with a 62-50 win over Michigan. In head coach Jeff Walz's 15-year tenure, every four-year player has played in a Final Four. With four Final Fours since 2009, Louisville is tied for the fourth most in the country. Walz is one of 11 coaches to reach four Final Fours.

The Cardinals are seeking their third ever appearance in a national title game (2009, 2013).

Hailey Van Lith was named Wichita Region Most Outstanding Player after putting up 20 points in all four NCAA Tournament games with 20 against UAlbany, 21 against Gonzaga, 23 against Tennessee and 22 against Michigan. She is the first ever UofL player to score 20 points in four straight tournament games. Asia Durr did it in three straight with 27, 23 and 21 against Chattanooga, Tennessee and Baylor in 2017. The last UofL player to have 20-plus points in five straight games overall was Dana Evans, who did it twice last year.

Van Lith has eight 20-point games this season, six of which have come in the last eight games. She has 11 career 20-point games and UofL is 11-0 in those games. She is averaging 21.5 points per game in the NCAA Tournament. On the season, she leads the team in scoring with 14.5 points per game, which is the highest her scoring average has been since she averaged 15.0 points after the first two games.

Emily Engstler was named to the All-Region team after averaging 13.5 points, 11.0 rebounds, 4.8 steals, 2.5 assists and 2.0 blocks in the first four games. She had a season-high 16 rebounds against Michigan, which marked the most rebounds by a UofL player since Myisha Hines-Allen had 16 against Pitt on Feb. 25, 2018. It's the second most rebounds ever by a UofL player in the NCAA Tournament. Candyce Bingham had 20 against North Carolina in 2008. She also added six steals and four assists.

She has 19 steals in four NCAA Tournament games, which is the most ever by a Louisville player in the NCAA Tournament. She has recorded at least five steals in three of four games. She leads the ACC and ranks 20th in NCAA with 2.7 steals per game, ranks third in ACC with 9.4 rebounds per game and ranks fifth with 1.8 blocks per game. She has led UofL in rebounds in 30 of 33 games.

Engstler leads the NCAA Tournament with 19 steals, ranks second with eight blocks, third with 44 rebounds and two double-doubles and sixth with 17 made free throws. Van Lith's 68 field goal attempts are the most in the tournament, her 86 points rank second, her 32 makes rank third and her 139 minutes rank fifth. Kianna Smith ranks third with 25 3-point attempts and ninth with eight 3-point makes.

Louisville leads the NCAA Tournament with 54 steals and 21.0 turnovers forced per game. They rank second with a +11.8 turnover margin, seventh with a 16.2 scoring margin, eighth allowing a 22.5 3-point percentage and ninth with a 1.39 assist-to-turnover ratio and allowing just 56.0 points per game.

Chelsie Hall averaged 9.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists, while shooting 52 percent from the floor and 5-11 from deep in the first four NCAA Tournament games. In the win over Michigan, she tied a season-high 15 points, she also had 15 vs. Kentucky, 13 of which came from the first half. She shot 3-4 from beyond the arc, while recording four steals. She had nine points in the win over Tennessee, all of which came in the third quarter. She added four assists.

Leading 52-50 with 2:52 remaining against Michigan in the Elite 8, Olivia Cochran scored six straight points to build the lead to 58-50 with 33 seconds left. She finished with nine points, on 4-7 shooting, and four rebounds in 20 minutes. She is averaging 8.3 points on 14-21 (.667) shooting, while pulling down 4.0 rebounds per game in NCAA Tourney play. She had 11 points, on 5-8 shooting, while adding five rebounds and three assists in the win over Gonzaga. She had 10 points and four boards vs. UAlbany.

UofL has two wins over AP No. 1 teams in its history - a 72-62 win over No. 1 Oregon on Nov. 30, 2019 at the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands and a 82-81 victory over No. 1 Baylor in the 2013 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.

ABOUT THE GAMECOCKS

South Carolina (33-2) advanced to the Final Four with wins over 16-seed Howard (W, 79-21), 8-seed Miami (W, 49-33), 5-seed North Carolina (W, 69-61) and 10-seed Creighton (W, 80-50). The Gamecocks' two losses this season are a 70-69 overtime loss at Missouri on Dec. 30 and a 64-62 loss to Kentucky in the SEC Tournament title game. South Carolina leads the NCAA with 7.6 blocks per game, a +17.9 rebounding margin and a 32.7 field goal percentage defense. They rank second with a +20.6 scoring margin, third with 50.5 rebounds per game, 17.2 offensive rebounds per game and 50.5 points allowed per game, fourth with 30.9 defensive rebounds per game and sixth with 688 free throw attempts. All-American Aliyah Boston leads the team with 16.8 points per game. She leads the country with 28 double-doubles, ranks fifth with 12.2 rebounds, seventh with 8.3 defensive rebounds per game and 14th with 2.5 blocks per game. Destanni Henderson (11.1 ppg) and Zia Cooke (10.7 ppg) are their other two double-digit scorers.

Series History - UofL is 4-17 all-time against South Carolina, but the two teams have only squared off once in the past 30 years. This will mark the first ever matchup in the NCAA Tourney.

GAME FACTS
Date: Friday, April 1
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Site: Minneapolis, Minn. | Target Center (19,356)
TV: ESPN (Ryan Ruocco, play-by-play; Rebecca Lobo, analyst; Andraya Carter & Holly Rowe, sideline)
Radio: 790-AM WKRD (Nick Curran, play-by-play; Adrienne Johnson, analyst)
Last Meeting: L, 83-59 (Nov. 27, 2016 in Springfield, Mass.)
Series History: 4-17 (L1, 1-8 home, 2-7 away, 1-2 neutral)

For the latest on Louisville women's basketball, visit GoCards.com, follow the team's Twitter account at @UofLWBB or on Facebook at facebook.com/UofLWBB.

Louisville Plays South Carolina in Final Four on Friday

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Players Mentioned

Olivia Cochran

Emily Engstler

Dana Evans

Chelsie Hall

Kianna Smith

Hailey Van Lith

University of Louisville Athletics