LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Louisville women's basketball team's path to trying for a second-straight Final Four was set on Sunday night.
Louisville is the No. 5 seed in the Seattle 4 region. The Cardinals will face No. 12 Drake on Saturday in Austin, Texas.
They could face Texas for a second time this season in the second round.
Jeff Walz's group fell one win short of an ACC Tournament title, losing to Virginia Tech. UofL is 23-11 on the season and has seen an up-and-down campaign.
Louisville started the season 5-4 after playing a challenging non-conference schedule. Conference play saw the Cardinals go 12-6 in the ACC, but a 68-57 loss to Wake Forest on Jan. 26 saw them make a major change.
The Cards changed their starting five, inserting Nyla Harris, Norika Konno and Mykasa Robinson for CC Carr, Liz Dixon and Morgan Jones to go with Hailey Van Lith and Olivia Cochran. They went 6-2 with that lineup before putting Carr back in the starting lineup for the ACC Tournament.
Defense proved to be key for UofL in the conference tournament and figures to be so again for the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals forced 23 turnovers in two ACC Tournament wins.
Van Lith is the team's leading scorer at 19.2 points per game with Carr behind her at 11.4 points. Carr has proven to be one of the best deep shooters in the country, shooting 43.2% from three. Robinson is a top defender, making the ACC's All-Defensive Team and also leading as Louisville's distributor with 125 assists.
Louisville enters the NCAA Tournament as one of the elite programs in the country in March. Jeff Walz has led the Cardinals to four Final Four appearances, seven Elite Eight berths and 11 trips to the Sweet 16. UofL has gone to at least the Elite Eight in four straight tournaments.
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