One mammoth upset wasn't enough for Shoni Schimmel and plucky Louisville.
Going through two of the sport's powers, the Cardinals are Final Four bound.
Schimmel scored 24 points and Louisville beat second-seeded Tennessee
86-78 Tuesday night to earn the school's second trip to the Final
Four.
Two nights after taking down Brittney Griner and defending national
champion Baylor, the fifth-seeded Cardinals (28-8) built a 20-point
lead and then withstood a second-half comeback by the powerhouse Lady
Vols (27-8) before celebrating another amazing victory.
When it was over, the Cardinals huddled at center court and
celebrated. Tennessee headed home with a third straight loss in the
regional finals, failing to make the Final Four for a fifth straight
year.
"We ruined the entire party," Louisville coach Jeff Walz said. "We're
the ugly ducklings that ruined the party. No one gave us a chance and
we shocked everybody. It's a journey and we're going to continue."
Taber Spani led the Lady Vols with 20 points, and Meighan Simmons and
Kamiko Williams chipped in 12 apiece.
Louisville joined the school's men's team in the Final Four, marking
the 10th time that a program had both teams make it that far. Only
Connecticut has won both titles in the same season, in 2004 .
The Cardinals became only the second No. 5 seed to reach the national
semifinals, joining Southwest Missouri State's 2001 team that featured
guard Jackie Stiles, the all-time leading scorer in NCAA history.
Only seven teams outside of the top four seeds have ever made it to
the Final Four since the NCAA tournament started in 1982.
No team seeded higher than fourth has ever won a game at the Final
Four. But the seemingly impossible hasn't stopped this group of
Cardinals yet.
First, they took down Griner and her Baylor team that had lost just
once in 75 games.
Then, it was the eight-time national champion Lady Volunteers.
"No one wanted to see us beat Baylor and Tennessee and we did both of
those and now we're going to the Final Four," Schimmel said.
Next up is a Sunday showdown in New Orleans against California, the
Spokane regional champion.
The Cardinals' only other Final Four trip was in 2009, ending in a
loss to Big East rival Connecticut in the championship game.
Louisville rode a hefty rebounding advantage and another solid 3-point
shooting outing — especially when compared to Tennessee's 0 for 9
start — to take a 49-29 edge 90 seconds after halftime following
back-to-back 3s from Antonita Slaughter and Schimmel.
That same tandem combined for 12 of the Cardinals' 16 treys, matching
the NCAA tournament record, in an epic upset of Baylor.
Spani finally broke Tennessee's 3-point drought right after that, and
the Lady Vols were able to chip away at the 20-point deficit. Their
full-court pressure, which wasn't tight enough to prevent over-the-top
passes for layup s in the first half, started to be effective.
Tennessee gave up just one basket over an 8-minute span, and Williams'
short jumper at the end of an 18-6 rally got the Lady Vols as close as
68-65 with 4:28 remaining.
Spani missed a 3-pointer from the right wing that would have tied it
on the next possession, and Tennesee's comeback fizzled after that.
Schimmel had a pair of driving layups and sister Jude Schimmel hit a
3-poitner and set up Slaughter for a reverse layup in a 9-3 burst for
Louisville. Even when Meighan Simmons, who started out 1 for 22 in the
two games in Oklahoma City, hit three late 3-pointers, it wasn't
enough for Tennessee.
The Cardinals shouted "Louisville!" at the logo in the middle of the
court in celebration. Spani, a senior, dropped to her knees in tears
at the final buzzer.
Louisville came out firing from long range again and connected four
times in first seven attempts while building an early 21-11 advantage.
Then, it was a sticky 1-3-1 zone defense that propelled Louisville on
an 8-0 run, keeping the Lady Vols scoreless for a 5½ minute stretch,
to expand the lead out to 31-14 after Sherrone Vails' putback with
3:51 to go until halftime.
Just like in the previous round, when a 19-point lead disappeared
before Monique Reid's winning free throws in the final seconds, the
Cardinals had to hang on for dear life at the end.
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