No. 5 Cardinals Win a Thriller Over No. 12 Drake, 83-81

Saturday, March 18

Austin, Texas

7:30 PM

University of Louisville

24-11,12-6ACC

No. 12 Drake

22-10,14-6MVC

Drake

Louisville

No. 5 Cardinals Win a Thriller Over No. 12 Drake, 83-81

March 18, 2023 | Women's Basketball

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Van Lith scored nine of the last 11 points for the Cardinals to seal the win

By: Matt Paras

AUSTIN, Texas — The No. 5 seed Louisville women's basketball team started their NCAA Tournament run with a thrilling 83-81 win over No. 12 seed Drake Saturday night at the Moody Center. In a game that had 14 ties and 12 lead changes, the Cardinals had the last word as they hit four of the last five shots to seal the win and advance to the second round for the 12th-straight tournament.

Hailey Van Lith led all scorers with 26 points on 10-of-20 shooting to go with three assists and two steals. Van Lith scored nine of the final 11 points for the Cardinals in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Van Lith's 26 points were a career-best in an NCAA Tournament game and tied for the eighth-most in an NCAA Tournament game in program history. Mykasa Robinson led the Cardinals with a team-high seven assists to go with a career-high 14 points, five rebounds and three steals. Robinson has led the Cardinals in assists in 11 of the last 12 games. Nyla Harris had a career-best four steals with five rebounds and eight points. Merissah Russell scored nine points and Liz Dixon added six points from the bench.

The Cards were playing their first game in 13 days and they got off to a slow start over the first few minutes as Drake started hot from the floor. The Cards were able to shake off the rust pretty quickly and ripped off a 6-0 run after making four-straight field goals to tie the game going into the media timeout. The lead changed hands a few more times over the final few minutes of the quarter and the Cardinals ended the first with a 25-23 advantage. Louisville was active in passing lanes and forced eight Drake turnovers over the first 10 minutes of play.

The Bulldogs continued to shoot it well in the second quarter and made 11 of their first 15 shots for the game (73.3 percent). The Bulldogs converted another layup to tie the game at 29 and forced the Cardinals to use a timeout with 7:07 remaining in the second quarter. The Cardinals were able to slow the Bulldogs pace and went on a 6-0 run to close out the second quarter. Harris converted a layup to tie the score at 39-39 heading into halftime.

Chrislyn Carr and Van Lith led the Cardinals with seven points each. Carr and Robinson led the team with three assists each and the Cardinals forced Drake into 14 turnovers in the first half.

Neither team put any distance between each other and the lead continued to change hands in the early parts of the third quarter. The Cardinals got some momentum to close out the third quarter as they hit five of their last seven shots to close the quarter. Robinson fed Dixon for a jumper to beat the buzzer and gave the Cardinals a 56-54 lead heading into the final quarter.

The Cardinals created some separation in the early part of the fourth. The Cards built their largest lead of the game of five at 65-60 and the Bulldogs called a timeout with 6:19 remaining in regulation. The Bulldogs came roaring back in the final minutes and tied the game up at 75-75 with 1:22 left. From that point on, Van Lith and Robinson scored the final eight points for the Cardinals, including a crucial lay-up and a foul from Van Lith with 16 seconds left. In the fourth quarter, the Cardinals were 10-for-15 (66.7 percent) from the field.

With the win, the Cardinals will advance to the second round for the 12th-straight tournament. Louisville will face the No. 4 seed Texas in the second round on Monday, March 20. The Cardinals and Longhorns will tip off at 7 p.m. ET and the game will be aired nationally on ESPN.