Hailey Van Lith has impressive tournament as Louisville falls short in Elite Eight

Junior guard Hailey Van Lith led the Louisville Cardinals all the way to the Elite Eight but fell to the Iowa Hawkeyes, who are led by their own superstar, Caitlin Clark. The last time Iowa lost was on February 21st to Maryland, who blew them out with a massive 96-68 win.

Ever since then, the Hawkeyes have been unbeatable and that’s in large part due to Caitlin Clark. She led her squad through the Big Ten Tournament and won in convincing fashion over challenger Ohio State. Next up, was the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, and Iowa has only lost by single digits one time.

In four games, Clark has averaged 30.0 points per game, 5.8 rebounds per game, and 11.0 assists per game, while shooting 48.7% from behind the arc. To say she’s been dominant in the tournament would be an understatement. And her performance against the University of Louisville was not any less impressive.

She finished the game with a 40-point triple-double: 41 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists. Her performance proved to be too much for the Cardinals, even with Hailey Van Lith’s 27-point outing. The next closest Hawkeye to Clark was McKenna Warnock, who finished with 17 points. Caitlin Clark dominated Louisville in convincing fashion and ended the hopes of another Final Four appearance for Head Coach Jeff Walz and the Louisville Cardinals.

Louisville kept it close heading into halftime, only trailing by five points. But, an explosive third quarter by Iowa put them in the driver’s seat for the rest of the game. Clark scored 12 of her 41 points in the third quarter alone, which was just four points shy of the entire Louisville roster’s contributions.

Head Coach Lisa Bluder and company spoiled Hailey Van Lith’s homecoming with a loss. But, prior to this loss, the Cardinals superstar did not leave the tournament without leaving her mark on it.

She not only led the Cardinals to three straight wins but conducted a master performance by Louisville to defeat the Texas Longhorns and crush a Sonya Morris-led team for the second time with the first time being when she was on DePaul.

Louisville’s season is officially over, but it was another great run by this team. The Cardinals will most definitely be back in the postseason and it won’t take long.