Stanford turns back Louisville 78-63, advances to 14th women’s Final Four

If at first you can’t hit a 3, try, try, try again. Specifically, try a different player — like maybe one off the bench. 

Ashten Prechtel came off the Stanford bench to score 16 points, including 3-of-3 from deep, to lift the Cardinal to the Women’s Final Four, beating second-seeded Louisville 78-63. It is top overall seed Stanford’s first Final Four since 2017 and 14th overall. 

The Cardinal will play South Carolina on Friday at 6 p.m. ET.

It was a 27-point swing for Stanford, which trailed 38-26 in the first half. The Cardinal, led by Prechtel, Lexie Hull (21 points, nine rebounds) and Kiana Williams (14 points, five assists) outscored Louisville 52-25 in the second half. 

Louisville came out on fire in the first half — at one point they’d hit 6-of-8 from 3 (they finished the first half 6-of-10). The Cardinals were terrific from midrange and made Stanford pay every time it went under a screen, hitting 16-of-31 from the field for a 38-26 lead. 

Meanwhile, Stanford couldn’t have thrown a basketball in water if the Cardinal was standing on a boat. The Cardinal was 1-of-9 from 3 and shot just 28% (10-of-36) from the field. Ten offensive rebounds, which turned into just nine second-chance points, helped them stay within striking distance. 

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