Women's March Madness 2025: Hailey Van Lith stays composed to lead TCU over Louisville and into Sweet 16

The "Hailey Van Lith revenge game" was the easy narrative heading into No. 2 TCU's matchup with No. 7 Louisville in the second round of the 2025 Women's NCAA Tournament, but the fifth-year senior never took the bait. Not before, and certainly not during the Horned Frogs' comfortable 85-70 win over her former team. 

"I understand the narrative that's being painted. It doesn't necessarily align with where I'm at mentally or emotionally. And that's OK," Van Lith told the media Saturday. "I'm at a really good spot. I'm excited to play. ... TCU is looking to go to the Sweet 16 for the first time ever, so that's a lot bigger than whatever else the narrative could be."

It's easy to say the right thing in a press conference when you know the question is coming. It's a lot harder to avoid getting sucked into the emotion of the situation once the ball is tipped. 

Early on, Louisville's pressure defense got to Van Lith and forced her into two turnovers in the first 30 seconds of the game. It seemed as though it could be a long night, but to Van Lith's credit she settled down and was largely composed the rest of the way as she led TCU to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history. 

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Van Lith finished with 16 points on 6 of 11 from the field, to go along with five rebounds and 10 assists, which tied a career high. 

Louisville was intent on getting the ball out of Van Lith's hands throughout the game, but she accepted the extra attention and made the right pass time and again. On some occasions, she wasn't even the one who got the assist, but her ability and willingness to make the right pass put the Horned Frogs in 4-on-3 situations, which they exploited. 

"They actually switched up their coverage a lot," Van Lith said. "Sometimes they trapped, sometimes they switched, sometimes they just hedged. They showed us a lot. At the beginning of the game there's always a bunch of energy pent up and I think once we rode that wave a little bit I was able to just find my shooters. 

"Teams can keep doubling me and I'm gonna keep giving it to my teammates cause they're putting points on the board."

It was fitting that the shot that effectively sealed the game for the Horned Frogs with just over a minute to play came when Van Lith was trapped near midcourt and fired a perfect pass to a wide open Donovyn Hunter in the corner, who buried a triple. 

The Horned Frogs, who were seventh in the country this season in 3-point shooting at 37.5%, went 11 of 18 (61.1%) in Sunday's win, thanks in large part to Van Lith's poise and playmaking. 

TCU will now prepare for a Sweet 16 showdown with No. 3 Notre Dame, who they defeated earlier in the season. If the Horned Frogs want to keep the best season in school history going, they'll need another composed game from Van Lith against a Fighting Irish defense that also loves to ramp up the pressure.