LOUISVILLE, Ky. — No. 3 seed Louisville and No. 6 seed Alabama will meet for just the fourth time since the start of the 2001-02 season on Monday at 12 p.m. ET in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
To get there, the Cardinals defeated No. 14 seed Vermont 72-52 and the Crimson Tide defeated No. 11 seed Rhode Island 68-55.
No. 3 seed Louisville
The Cardinals trailed by 1 point after the first quarter, led by 4 points going into halftime and outscored the Catamounts 40-24 in the second half.
Head coach Jeff Walz was pleased with how his team bounced back in the second half as Louisville began to tire out Vermont, which allowed them to capitalize on their offensive rebounds and get second-chance points. The Cardinals scored 9 second-chance points in the third quarter after scoring just 3 in the first half.
“I thought the first half was good basketball,” he said. “We missed some shots. We did not shoot it extremely well. But credit them also. And then we kinda got ourselves back. And I thought we came out defensively and did a better job in the second half. And then we got some shots in transition. We posted up. We reversed the ball well.”
Sophomore forward Mackenly Randolph led the team with a career-high 20 points and senior forward Laura Ziegler (12), sophomore guard Tajianna Roberts (12) and sophomore guard Imari Berry (10) also scored in double figures. Randolph also added 11 rebounds, recording her fourth double-double in five games.
Leading up to the game, Louisville had been focusing on its defense in practice and Roberts has seen the team continue to work on getting stops consistently to help them separate from their opponents. The team is consistently effective on the offensive end and has the 12th-best offensive rating, points scored per 100 possessions, in Division I (110.0).
Randolph has seen the team’s defensive intensity grow as the season has progressed, especially ball pressure and knowing where they’re supposed to be in rotations.
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In the first half, the Cardinals shot 36.4%, nearly 10% lower than their season average of 46.1% (21st in Division I). Roberts said after the game that they took great shots, but they just didn’t fall, and so the team tried to stay consistent with what they can control, defense and rebounding the ball well.
Randolph doesn’t think there was a turning point in the game; the Cardinals just kept playing the same way, one possession at a time.
“We’re not playing for the score,” she said. “We’re kinda just playing to make sure we’re doing the right things — the rotations, defense, ball pressure and all those things.”
No. 14 seed Vermont
In her opening statement, head coach Alisa Kresge said she couldn’t be more proud of her team — who finished the season with a 27-8 record — and how they represent Vermont, themselves and their families.
“The second half got away from us,” Kresge said. “I think we were pretty exhausted, all that we did in the first half. We had a thin bench this year, which is on me and something we’re gonna be ready for next year. … But a lot to be proud of. And as I told our players, we’re gonna … hold our heads high and … be really, really thankful for everything this group has done for us, our program, our university, our state.”
Before walking off the court, senior center Nikola Priede blew the Vermont fans a kiss, gave them heart hands and bowed.
“They’ve always been there for us,” Priede said after the game. “Especially this year, I got really close with them. … And the pep band and the dance team, they’re always supporting us. … [They’re] super cheerful people. And I just love talking to them. And being so far from Vermont and so many people show up, obviously it’s amazing.”
Senior guard Keira Hanson added that the fans make Vermont special and that they welcomed her with open arms from day one, noting she feels like she has 20 grandparents now.
The Catamounts played a six-player rotation for most of the game and Priede, Hanson and redshirt senior guard Jadyn Weltz were three of the four players to score.
Priede went 8-for-11 from the floor for 16 points, Hanson scored a game high 22 points (4-for-9 from behind the arc) and Weltz went 3-for-5 from behind the arc and made both her free throws to score 11 points.
Kresge credited Priede and Hanson for staying after not playing much as freshmen and only getting into the team’s first-round game against UConn in 2023 for 51 seconds.
“Being bought in, staying in an age [where] it’s easy to move on. And wanting to do it with people they love. It’s just been so remarkable,” Kresge said. “ … [They] came into a culture that was really set and there was a strong foundation. But they continued to elevate us, and that’s really impressive because it was in a good place. So to be able to elevate it even more says a lot about them. … I’m so grateful for them. I’m so grateful they stayed and they’ve given everything to Vermont.”
Keira’s younger sister, freshman guard Lia Hanson checked in with 40 seconds left and Keira said it was like symbolically handing off the torch.
“It makes me proud that I’ve come a long way,” Keira said. “So hopefully Lia and the rest of the freshmen take this as inspiration for the years to come, and it shows them what they’re capable of.”
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Keira has enjoyed spending her senior season with her younger sister.
“I feel like the luckiest girl in the world,” Keira said. “… It just makes all the memories even more special. Seeing her interact with my teammates. It just makes everything more like family. So, it’s been one of the biggest blessings of my life.”
No. 6 seed Alabama
Heading into Saturday afternoon, junior forward Essence Cody had made 25 3-pointers in her career, including 10 this season. Against Rhode Island, she went 3-for-4 from behind the arc, setting a new career-high in made 3-pointers in a single game and season.
After the game, she said she’s been working on her 3-point shooting her whole life. Cody also went 3-for-4 on 2-pointers and knocked down all four of her free throws, scoring 19 points total.
She picked up her third foul 1:12 into the third quarter and was subbed out, not returning until the final second of the period.
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Redshirt senior guard Jessica Timmons, who scored a game-high 21 points, credited Cody for her start to the game and how she kept playing after she picked up her third foul.
“We always tell ourselves teams are gonna go on runs,” Timmons said. “It’s the mindset we have to keep playing. We know, if we play together, play within our system and listen to our coaches, we’re gonna … end up on top. But we just kept playing. She got back in the game, continued to play the way she’s supposed to play. So we just kept playing.”
Rhode Island head coach Tammi Reiss said Alabama’s ability to attack the paint and shoot 3-pointers well makes them difficult to play, and they decided to try to take the three away.
“[Attacking the paint is] the first best thing they do, then they shoot the 3 ball,” Reiss said. “So you gotta pick your poison. I thought, if you give ‘em nine or 10 3s, you’re losing the game.”
The Crimson Tide attempted a season-low 10 3-pointers and made four of them. Timmons said that if teams run them off the 3-point line, they’re going to score in the paint, and on Saturday afternoon, 42 of Alabama’s points came in the paint.
“We’re built for this, having been in our league, and we see this a lot,” head coach Kristy Curry said. “And I just thought our kids did a nice job of countering with their decision-making offensively down the stretch.”
No. 11 seed Rhode Island
Senior guard Ines Debroise picked up her third, fourth and fifth fouls in the span of 15 seconds late in the fourth quarter.
After she checked out of the game for the final time in a Rhode Island uniform, she embraced Reiss, who spoke to her about the journey they’d been on from their first conversation that lasted two minutes, where she couldn’t speak English and Reiss couldn’t speak French, to the present moment nearing the end of the team’s second-ever NCAA Tournament game.
“I truly believe that I was put in here for a reason,” Debroise said. “Like God really put me here for a reason. And [I] just really [fell] in love [with] Rhode Island. And for me just staying four years was just a part of my journey and the process. And I believe that, when you start something, you need to finish it. And I think … that was the goal for me.”
Reiss described Debroise as “our culture.” Debroise is the only player on the roster to have spent all four years at Rhode Island. During that time, she was voted captain three times, recorded the second most assists in program history, and tallied the most wins and the most games played.
After the game, Debroise said she was proud of her team and grateful to be with them on the NCAA Tournament stage, but acknowledged the team is very competitive and wanted more.
Senior forward Palmire Mbu said playing in the NCAA Tournament with the team meant everything.
“It was our final goal,” Mbu said. “So I mean it’s just great to be here and represent our university. … Of course, we wanted to do better and get another game and another one, but we’re still very proud. Looking back at this season, I think we did great things. … It’s just amazing to be here and [I’m] very grateful to be here today.”
Reiss said that she’s never been prouder of a group of young women, and the loss Saturday afternoon doesn’t take anything away from their accomplishments this season. The Rams won a program-record 28 games, won their first A-10 Tournament championship and earned a share of the regular season title for the second time.
“I thought we competed today,” Reiss said. “… They left everything they had on the floor for each other. We just didn’t shoot the ball well. You gotta be able to put the ball in the hole and score a little bit more. I thought we got good shots. But we just couldn’t put it in the hole today. But … took care of the basketball for the most part. Offensive rebounded, which was really a big concern of mine, and we ended up having more offensive rebounds than an SEC team.”
Debroise and Mbu scored a team high 11 points, and the Rams shot 32.8% from the floor, third lowest this season, and 26.1% from behind the arc. Reiss believes if they had shot 40% from the floor and 32% from behind the arc, they’d still have had a shot at winning the game if they defended the three well.
Rhode Island pulled within 4 points three times in the first 2:59 of the third quarter before allowing a 12-0 run over the next 3:28. Less than two minutes into the run, junior guard Sophia Vital, who Reiss said has to be on the floor for the team, picked up her third foul and was subbed out shortly after.
In the fourth quarter, Alabama’s lead got up to 21 and Rhode Island couldn’t get closer than 11.
“In the fourth quarter, we made that run; it was going back and forth, but we were putting the ball in the hole. So it looked like a much more competitive game,” Reiss said. “But the whole game it was … the inability to score, to put the ball in the hole. … On this stage, you’re gonna have to score.”
Recruiting character is important to Reiss and she said this is the highest character team she’s ever coached and believes it contributed to the team’s success this season.
“I told them in the locker room after the game, I’ve never had a more satisfying season, not because of how we won, but because of who we are together,” she said. “And it was a season full of joy, full of … compete, full of chemistry and culture. And above all, from our practice guys to our managers to our coaching staff to our players, a season full of love. And I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.”
