March Madness: Hailey Van Lith's takeover lifts TCU to first-ever Elite Eight — 'She's in the fight ... and she loves it'

Yahoo

29-03-2025

March Madness: Hailey Van Lith's takeover lifts TCU to first-ever Elite Eight — 'She's in the fight ... and she loves it'
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — You don't invite a fight if you don't know with absolute certainty you're the top dog. And Hailey Van Lith is all dawg.
'At the end of the day, I think in my DNA I impact winning,' Van Lith said on Friday, an understatement on a collegiate career still acquiring accolades.
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Playing the Notre Dame program known as 'Guard U,' the fifth-year guard showed out as the best one on the floor. In the first quarter, she put on moves to beat Hannah Hidalgo on the baseline. In the third, she stood stock still in a silent flex of a brick wall after blocking Hidalgo's drive into the lane.
By the time Van Lith threw her arms in the air at the final buzzer and chest-bumped Sedona Prince at halfcourt, she had blood on her left elbow and right knee.
'Hailey's our competitor,' Prince said. 'She's in the fight. If you've ever seen her arms all season, it's every game [they're scratched up] and she loves it. She is ready to fight and fight out wins for us.'
Hailey Van Lith had plenty of reasons to celebrate after leading TCU to its first-ever Elite Eight. ()
(Greg Fiume via Getty Images)
Van Lith led all scorers with 26 points in a 71-62 win that extended the program's record tournament run to the Elite Eight. She turned the aggression up in the fourth quarter when she scored 12 points, disrupted the Irish defensively and led a 20-10 frame that ended Notre Dame's season.
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'Hailey is a dawg, regardless if it's the offensive end or defensive end,' Madison Conner said. 'Regardless, she is going to do anything it takes to win. She has a competitive edge.'
A year ago at LSU, Van Lith drew the tall task of primarily guarding Caitlin Clark in the Elite Eight loss to Iowa. Clark, the NCAA's all-time leading scorer, went off for 41 points and Van Lith took the brunt of the blame.
On Saturday, she had a steal and a block and contributed to a long 10-of-44 day for Notre Dame's heralded guard trio of Hidalgo, Miles and Sonia Citron. The 31.9% outing as a team is the worst of Notre Dame's season, barely edging out its November loss to TCU. That was Notre Dame's first loss of the year.
'One of the narratives with Hailey coming into the year at the highest level is can she defend?' TCU head coach Mark Campbell said. 'I mean, gosh dang, she is an elite defender. I don't know where that came from, but with us she laces them up and she wants to guard the other team's best player and she does it. It's not like you're trying to hide Hailey.'
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No. 2 seeded TCU is heading into its first Elite Eight, where it will play either No. 1 Texas or No. 4 Tennessee, but Van Lith is well versed in the ways of a regional final. She's never missed the round in her five-year career that spanned Louisville, LSU and the Horned Frogs.
'Five Elite Eights at three different schools is insane,' Campbell said, interrupting his three star players on the post-game interview dais. 'There's no way that's ever been done.'
It hasn't, on either the men's or women's side as the era of an extra COVID year comes to a close. A total 663 points in a single season wearing a TCU jersey also hasn't been done. Neither has 202 assists, a career-high for Van Lith.
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Van Lith spoke at length on Friday about her newfound confidence as a member of the Horned Frogs. How it took a minute for Campbell to patiently tap through a wall.
'She's so much more confident now,' Prince said. 'At the beginning of the year, she hesitated on shots, or you could tell she was maybe kind of in her head a little bit. It was a constant thing of keeping [her shooting]. Keep doing your thing like you are. You are her, like you were a baller. You are so deeply talented.'
Said Van Lith, 'At this point I just have ultimate confidence and faith in myself to compete at an intense level.'
Van Lith has always been a dawg who will pour in 26 points. She'll stare a shooter down on the perimeter in a way that can shake their confidence. Then she'll turn drain a massive 3-pointer and backtrack down the court throwing a chef's kiss.
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It led her to five Elite Eights, one Final Four and potentially by Monday night, another trip to the final weekend. This team might be the most well constructed to make that run, with a veteran who has learned how to balance lifting her own game and that of those next to her.
'I've evolved into someone who just loves to win,' Van Lith said. 'So I really think that's my essence.'