Louisville will play in the Final Four for the first time in a year after defeating Michigan. (1:45)
The Michigan women's basketball team was within two points of Louisville with 40 seconds left in the NCAA tournament. The door was slammed shut by the defense.
The other is going to the Final Four despite being the No. 1 seed.
The third-seeded Michigan team that was making its first appearance in the Elite Eight was held off by the top-seeded Louisville team. In the last three Final Fours, the Cards have lost in the championship game to Connecticut, and in the semifinals to Mississippi State.
South Carolina will face Louisville in the first semifinal on Friday. Target Center is in Minneapolis.
Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said that he would have nightmares for the next eight months because of the 52-50 loss to Louisville. They forced us into some turnovers, which resulted in some easy points for them.
The defense has been the best part of the season for the Cards. The sophomore guard led the team with 22 points in the tournament.
She is the first Louisville woman to have four 20-point games in a row. Louisville is 11-0 in games in which Van Lith has scored at least 20 points.
Louisville coach Jeff Walz said that the kids gave their all. We came up with 24 points off the 22 turnovers. The half court was guarded very well by Michigan. It was difficult to score.
It was no contest when the two teams met in December. The game was dominated by the Cards, who won 70-48. There was no change in personnel in the two teams after four months. The game on Monday was very different.
Louisville and Michigan battled for a first half that ended with the Cards up 30-27.
It seemed like Louisville was in control for most of the game, but the Wolverines were never far behind. Michigan won the rebound battle thanks to All-American senior post player Naz Hillmon.
Michigan couldn't find a way to break Louisville's defense in the closing minutes.
Hillmon said the biggest thing that they wanted to do was try to execute and not turn the ball over.
Hillmon has four double-doubles in this NCAA tournament. She has the option to return for a fifth season, even though she is expected to enter the draft. She did not indicate that she had made a decision after the game.
I have been putting a lot of my focus on what was at hand. Hillmon said that he needed a bit of time to think about it.
Louisville was upset by a last-second shot by Miami in the league tournament quarterfinals and finished behind NC State in the conference.
The Miami game pushed Louisville to be more focused in the fourth quarter, said senior forward Emily Engstler, who led Louisville with 16 rebound and six steals.
The last women's team in the conference is the Cards. The other three teams that are going to Minneapolis have at least one NCAA title.
It is electric. It feels like we accomplished something amazing and I think we can win a national championship.
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