Women’s NCAA Tournament live updates: Latest bracket, results, Friday’s games

Louisville is one game away from heading back to the Final Four.

After a bumpy regular season, the fifth-seeded Cardinals used their trademark defense to beat No. 8 seed Ole Miss, another defensive-throttling team, 72-62, in the Sweet 16. Hailey Van Lith started the game by blowing a kiss into the crowd, where hundreds of family and friends from her Washington hometown traveled to watch her compete in the Seattle Regional. She finished with 21 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Mykasa Robinson, who averages 6.1 points, supplied 11 points with seven rebounds and five assists, while Morgan Jones came off the bench to add another 11 points.

Ole Miss, which shot only 37.1 percent, suffered 12 turnovers and missed 11 of 14 3-pointers, saw its Cinderella run come to a close. This was the first trip to the Sweet 16 for the Rebels since 2007.

Ole Miss’s Cinderella run came to end in the Sweet 16 as Louisville’s offense proved too much for the Rebels’ defense to overcome. Van Lith scored a game-high 21 points and added five rebounds and four assists for the Cardinals, who won 72–62. Friday night marked just the second time since Feb. 1 that Ole Miss allowed 70 or more points.

The Rebels were aggressive in the half-court but they scored just nine points of turnovers. With the win Louisville moves on to its fifth consecutive Elite Eight, where it will face Iowa.

Louisville has opened up its largest lead of the night, up 52-42 at the end of the third quarter, as the backup wing tandem of Russell and Jones continues to make things happen.

About the only thing that hasn’t gone right for the duo was a failed lob attempt to Jones, but they’ve combined for 17 points and nine rebounds, making up for slow-scoring nights from Carr and Nyla Harris in the starting lineup.

Meanwhile, Ole Miss just can’t make shots, shooting 4-of-13 from the field and 5-of-9 from the foul line in the period.

After starting slowly in the first half, the Louisville starters have redeemed themselves in the second, at least playing Ole Miss even through the 3:40 mark of the third quarter.

Robinson has four points, an assist, an offensive rebound, and a drawn charge in the period, while Olivia Cochran just followed up a spectacular block on one end with an easy finish on the other