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Michel VoebelESPN.com
WICHITA – With 5 minutes and 40 seconds left, the Michigan girls’s basketball crew was two factors from Louisville with a visit to Last 4 on the road. However that is when the Cardinal’s protection shut the door on Wolverines’ hopes.
One of many ACC’s No. 1 seeders suffered an Elite Eight heartbreak on Monday, however the different is headed to the Last 4.
Louisville, the highest seed in Wichita Regional, halted a third-seeded Michigan crew that was making their elite eight debut. With a 62-50 win, the Cardinals head into the fourth ultimate. They misplaced within the championship recreation in 2009 and 2013 to Ocon, and within the semifinals in 2018 to Mississippi State.
Complete primary Louisville will face South Carolina within the first semi-final Friday (7 p.m. EST) at Goal Heart in Minneapolis.
“52-50 with the ball – I will have nightmares about that for the subsequent eight months till we play once more,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes-Eriko stated of the Wolverines’ recreation, which has been goalless over the previous 5:40 hours. “Louisville is a good crew. They did their finest: they pressured us to do some turnarounds, which resulted in some simple factors for them.”
In actual fact, defending has been the Cardinal’s neatest thing this season. However additionally they had a powerful offensive sort out from sophomore guard Healy van Leyth, who led the Cardinal with 22 factors on Monday.
She is the primary Louisville participant to earn 4 consecutive 20-point video games within the NCAA Championship. Van Leith was named the very best participant within the area. Louisville is 11-0 in video games which have scored not less than 20 factors.
“Our children – what an effort they put in,” stated Louisville coach Jeff Wales. “We needed to guard. We ended up flipping them 22 extra occasions, and we got here out with 24 factors from these flips. [Michigan] Superb guard within the half subject as effectively. It was a troublesome match to attain.”
When the Cardinals and the Wolverines met on December 2 in Louisville, there was no contest. The Cardinals dominated each side of that recreation, profitable 70-48. When it comes to people not less than, there was no important change within the two teams after about 4 months. However the two matches had been very completely different.
Whereas many eyes had been on the Bridgeport Regional double drama that includes second seed UConn and seeded 1 NC State and the Huskies profitable, Louisville and Michigan battled within the first inning that ended with the Cardinals advancing 30-27.
And whereas Louisville seemed to be answerable for a lot of the match, Wolverine’s crew wasn’t far behind. Led by American senior positions participant Nas Helmon, Michigan received the recoil battle — one thing the Wolverines didn’t do in December.
However within the ultimate minutes, Michigan could not discover a option to break by means of Louisville’s protection.
“I believe the most important factor we needed to do at that second was attempt to execute, not flip the ball,” Helmon stated. “They did a extremely good job of catching at random factors, which put extra strain on the ball coaches.”
Helmon completed with 18 factors and 11 rebounds, her fourth NCAA double. Many count on her to enter the April WNBA draft, however she has the choice of returning for a “tremendous massive” fifth season. She didn’t point out that she had decided but after Monday’s recreation.
“I have been actually placing a number of my concentrate on what’s at hand,” Helmon stated. “I would like a bit of time to consider this.” “While you get to the Elite Eight—one thing Michigan girls’s basketball hasn’t accomplished earlier than—and in your tummy you understand it was a visit you wish to take once more, there’s going to be some thought, and I am going to consider it.”
As for Louisville, the NC State Cardinal completed within the ACC and was upset by a last-second shot from Miami within the event quarterfinals.
“I believe the Miami recreation pushed us to do extra when it got here to the fourth quarter,” stated senior ahead Emily Engstler, who led Louisville with 16 rebounds and 6 breaches.
Now the Cardinals are the final girls’s crew standing within the ACC. The opposite three groups going to Minneapolis all have not less than one NCAA title; Cardinals are in search of the primary of them.
“It is electrical,” Engstler stated. “It is like we have accomplished one thing superb.” “I actually assume this crew can go to a nationwide championship and win it.”
