Van Lith scores 26, leads TCUs to 1st Elite Eight

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — TCU is in unchartered territory thanks to Hailey Van Lith, reaching the Elite Eight for the first time.

It sure seems like business as usual for the dynamic guard.

Van Lith scored 12 of her 26 points in the fourth quarter to help second-seeded TCU beat No. 3 seed Notre Dame 71-62 on Saturday in the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

“That game was unbelievable. That’s what March Madness is all about,” TCU coach Mark Campbell said. “Amazing team effort, incredible defensive effort. The fight and spirit this group showed in the second half is what you have to do in March.”

Sedona Prince added 21 points for the Horned Frogs (34-3), who will play Texas or Tennessee on Monday night.

With the game tied at 52 early in the fourth, Van Lith took over. She scored five of the next six points for TCU to give the team the lead. Every run that the Fighting Irish made, Van Lith and the Horned Frogs had an answer.

“My message to the girls right before we went out for the fourth quarter is we’re going to be steady, and that’s what won us the game,” Van Lith said.

Van Lith, who started her career at Louisville before transferring to LSU last season and then TCU this past year, is on her way to a regional final for the fifth time.

Notre Dame (28-6) was trying to reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 2019. The Irish have lost in the Sweet 16 the past four years.

Liatu King scored 17 points for the Irish. Hannah Hidalgo had 15 and Olivia Miles finished with 10. But the star backcourt was a combined 6 for 29 from the field.

“We literally were just missing shots that we normally make and that’s going to happen at times,” Miles said.

Notre Dame got off to a slow start before rallying for a 35-33 halftime lead. Neither team led by more than four points in the second quarter.

The teams met in November in a Thanksgiving tournament in the Cayman Islands, and the Horned Frogs came away with a victory after rallying from a 14-point deficit. The Irish were missing Maddy Westbeld and Liza Karlen for that game.

Takeaways

Notre Dame: The Irish will need to find replacements for Sonia Citron, Westbeld and Miles next season after falling short this year.

TCU: The Horned Frogs continue the best season in school history with the oldest team in the tournament. Their average age 22 1/2 years old. There are only two players on the roster under 21.

Key stat

TCU made 22 of 24 free throws, including all 16 in the second half.

Key moment

Notre Dame looked as if it would blow the game open early in the third quarter, scoring nine straight points. Miles was a big part of the run. She went behind her back while dribbling up the court in transition before throwing a no-look pass for a layup. Then she hit a 3-pointer before waving her arms in celebration as she made her way down the court.

TCU wasn’t rattled though. Van Lith made a couple of key defensive plays to keep the Horned Frogs in the game, and they trailed 52-50 going into the fourth.

“We had a great stretch in that third quarter defensively that we went up, but unfortunately tables turn, couldn’t make shots that we normally make,” Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey said. “Couldn’t get the stops and just didn’t finish the game the way we wanted to.”

TEXAS 67, TENNESSEE 59

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Madison Booker scored 17 points and No. 1 seed Texas outlasted fifth-seeded Tennessee 67-59 in a tight battle Saturday in the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

Jordan Lee scored 13 points and Taylor Jones added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Longhorns (34-3), who advanced to face TCU in the Elite Eight. The Horned Frogs beat Notre Dame earlier Saturday to reach the first regional final in school history.

Booker scored seven points in the fourth quarter, including four straight with the game tied at 54 with five minutes left. Tennessee pulled back within one on a jumper by Ruby Whitehorn, who led the Volunteers (24-10) with 16 points, before the Longhorns stretched their lead to eight.

That was Texas’ biggest advantage of the day, with Tennessee matching the Longhorns’ biggest strengths: defense, rebounding and post play. The Vols outrebounded the Longhorns 39-36, had 15 second-chance points to Texas’ five and got 36 points in the paint.

Bryanna Preston added 12 points and four assists for Texas, which got 40 points in the post.

Zee Spearman had 13 points for the Vols, who continued their run as the only school to appear in every Division I women’s tournament with their 43rd straight appearance.

Tennessee outscored Texas 17-13 in the second with Booker sitting on the bench much of the quarter after picking up two early fouls. Still, the Longhorns held a 34-30 edge at the half.

Despite what coach Vic Schaefer said wasn’t his team’s best night, the Longhorns locked down on defense down the stretch against the highest-scoring team in the country.

Texas held Tennessee to nine points in the fourth, forced four Tennessee turnovers over the final five minutes and held the Vols to no makes on their final five shots.

Full service

Late in the third, Spearman lost her shoe in the middle of a play. Guard Sara Puckett picked up Spearman’s footwear, handed it off to her teammate in transition and chased down Jones for a block on the other end of the floor.

SEC’s best

The Longhorns have gone 18-2 against Southeastern Conference opponents, including an 80-76 win over Tennessee during the regular season.

USC 67, KANSAS ST. 61

SPOKANE, Ore. (AP) — Kennedy Smith stepped into the void left by injured star JuJu Watkins, scoring 19 points to help Southern California hold off Kansas State 67-61 in the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Saturday.

The top-seeded Trojans (31-3) were considered title contenders before Watkins tore her right ACL during a second-round victory over Mississippi State. Now they’ll be underdogs in an Elite Eight rematch on Monday with Paige Bueckers and second-seeded UConn. The Huskies knocked the Trojans out of last year’s March Madness in Watkins’ first season.

Avery Howell, another freshman, scored 18 points for USC, which went on a 12-0 run during the third quarter to take a 46-39 lead, matching its biggest advantage of the day.

Kansas State (28-8) kept pushing, though, and tied it at 51-all early in the fourth on a layup by Ayoka Lee. Rayah Marshall responded with two straight buckets for USC.

A layup by Serena Sundell got the Wildcats within 60-59. Smith responded with a pair of free throws, and USC was solid enough at the foul line to close it out.

Sundell scored 22 points and Lee had 12 for the fifth-seeded Wildcats (28-8), who fell short of the program’s second Elite Eight appearance.