Louisville Cardinals hold off Michigan Wolverines to complete women’s Final Four field

WICHITA — With 5 minutes, 40 seconds left, Michigan’s women’s basketball team was within two points of Louisville with a trip to the Final Four on the line. But that’s when the Cardinals’ defense slammed the door shut on the Wolverines’ hopes.

One ACC No. 1 seed suffered Elite Eight heartbreak Monday, but the other is headed to the Final Four.

Louisville, the top seed in the Wichita Regional, held off a gritty third-seeded Michigan team that was making its first appearance in the Elite Eight. With the 62-50 victory, the Cardinals head to their fourth Final Four; they lost in the championship game in 2009 and 2013 to UConn, and in the semifinals in 2018 to Mississippi State.

Louisville will face No. 1 overall seed South Carolina in Friday’s first semifinal (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Target Center in Minneapolis.

“52-50 with the ball — I’m going to have nightmares about that for the next eight months until we play again,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said of the Wolverines being held scoreless for the last 5:40. “Louisville is a great team. They did what they do best: They forced us into some turnovers, which resulted in some easy points for them.”

Indeed, defense has been what the Cardinals have done best this season. But they also have had a strong offensive tournament from sophomore guard Hailey Van Lith, who led the Cardinals with 22 points Monday.

She is the first Louisville women’s player to have four consecutive 20-point games in the NCAA tournament. Van Lith was named the region’s most outstanding player; Louisville is 11-0 in games in which she has scored at least 20 points.

“Our kids — what effort they gave,” Louisville coach Jeff Walz said. “We had to guard. We ended up turning them over 22 times, and coming up with 24 points off…