Cards beat Michigan 62-50 to advance to Final Four

(WAVE) - Hailey Van Lith scored 22 points and Emily Engstler pulled down 16 rebounds as #1 seed Louisville used a late 10-0 run to beat #3 seed Michigan 62-50 in the final of the Wichita Region.

The Cards are headed to the Final Four for the fourth time in school history.

“It’s fantastic,” UofL head coach Jeff Walz said. “I got a group of kids that have fought all year long, and I love every single one of them. I’m tough on them, but it’s because I care about them and love them because we want to get to this situation. We had every opportunity to fold, but we didn’t.”

Michigan closed to within 52-50 on a Naz Hillmon free throw with 5:40 left, and the Wolverines did not score again.

Engstler found a cutting Olivia Cochran for a lay in with 2:50 remaining to make it 54-50. Then Cochran drove down the lane for two more with 1:57 left.

Van Lith’s 22 points marked the fourth straight NCAA game that she has scored at least 20 points.

“We might be happy for the one night, but we got work to do and this team is capable of so much and we’re not gonna sell ourselves short, so we got work to do,” Van Lith said.

UofL guard Chelsie Hall scored 13 of her season-high equaling 15 points in the first half.

The Cards (29-4) will face South Carolina (33-2) on Friday at 7 p.m. in Minneapolis, Minnesota. UConn (29-5) will face defending National Champion Stanford (32-3) in the second game around 9:30 p.m.

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