Up next for TCU women’s basketball in Sweet Sixteen? Notre Dame on Saturday, March 29
TCU is headed to the first Sweet Sixteen in school history after Sunday’s 85-70 win over Louisville at Schollmaier Arena.
The Horned Frogs will play the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in a rematch of the Horned Frogs’ 76-68 win on Nov. 29, 2024, the Cayman Islands Classic.
Head coach Mark Campbell said his team is ready to meet the challenge and playing a team you’ve seen before helps your team’s composure.
“Now that you’re going to go back to a sweet 16, play a team that you’ve already played, win or lose, you’re comfortable,” Campbell said after Sunday’s win. “These kids, I’ll tell you what, they’re not scared of anybody, of any team, of any moment they live for it. And so I do think there’s just an advantage of all right, we’ve already laced it up against these guys, and we understand their personnel and how that game unfolded. You know? I mean, we had a monster fourth quarter. We hung 30 plus in the fourth quarter to come back and get that win.”
Hailey Van Lith talked about what the November meant to her teammates and the university’s women’s basketball program.
“I mean, that win was huge for us, it was a way for us to prove ourselves to the basketball community,” Van Lith said. “People weren’t necessarily doubting us, they were just waiting for us to go do something unexpected, and we pulled that off earlier in the year. They’re obviously an incredible team, they have a lot of talented players, but we’re very talented as well, so kind of I think it’s going to be a great game. It’s going to be so good for women’s basketball.”
Campbell echoed Van Lith’s comments about the confidence that the win over Notre Dame installed in the Horned Frogs.
“That first win kind of galvanized the group,” he said. “Gives you belief that we are really good, and you need some of those wins early on as a brand new group is trying to figure each other out. And so when you go back into that environment you know, you played a South Carolina, you played the Notre Dame.”
The Horned Frogs and Irish will meet on Saturday, March 29. The winner advances to the Elite Eight on Monday, March 31.
The rematch outlook:
TCU
Season recap: TCU came into the season with high expectations, adding Hailey Van Lith to a team that had shown promise before injuries derailed coach Mark Campbell’s inaugural season. The Horned Frogs won their first nine games of the season, one of which was over then-ranked No. 3 Notre Dame, and never looked back dominating on their way to a 31-3 record.
TCU finished the season winning their first regular and post-season Big 12 titles while Van Lith became the first player in school history to win Big 12 Player of the Year.
Sunday’s win was the program’s 23rd straight win at Schollmaier Arena.
Player to watch: Van Lith has been everything TCU hoped for when she transferred. Her ability as a scorer and a playmaker will be necessary against a Notre Dame team with the fourth-highest-scoring offense in the NCAA. On Sunday, she scored 16 points and had 10 assists in the win over Louisville.
X-factor: Donovyn Hunter helped change things for the Horned Frogs when she was inserted into the starting lineup, taking pressure off Van Lith by making it more difficult for teams to send double teams her way. She had 18 points on Sunday.
The Horned Frogs will need Hunter to have a similar impact in the Sweet Sixteen.
Hunter will also be crucial in slowing down Fighting Irish All-American Hannah Hildago, who has averaged 22.5 points, 4.0 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.5 steals through two games while shooting 59% from the field.
NCAA Tournament journey: TCU started slow but finished strong in their opening-round victory over Fairleigh Dickinson. Against Louisville, Van Lith’s former team, TCU again started slow but used a 27-9 run to take a 20-point lead into the half and never relinquished the leader for the remainder of the game.
Notre Dame
Season recap: For most of the year, the Fighting Irish had one of the best seasons of any team in the country and were ranked No. 1 in the country in early February. However, consecutive losses to North Carolina State and Florida State, coupled with a loss to Duke in the ACC Tournament, had some questioning Notre Dame’s national championship chances.
Player to watch: Hannah Hildago is coming off her second straight All-American season and is one of college basketball’s best players. This year Hildago averaged 24.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game on her way to being selected as ACC Player of the Year.
X-Factor: WithTCU’s Sedona Prince’s paint presence, Maddy Westbled will be a key player to watch for the Fighting Irish. Prince will have a major size advantage over Westbled and TCU will look to take advantage of that mismatch early and often. Prince had 20 points and 20 rebounds in the win over the Irish in November.
NCAA Tournament journey: Notre Dame limped into March Madness losing three of their last five games but the Fighting Irish have looked their best in the first two rounds. Notre Dame won their first two games, over Stephen F. Austin and Michigan, by an average margin of 36.5 points.
This story was originally published March 23, 2025 at 7:09 PM.
