Louisville women’s basketball star Haily Van Lith caught fire as the Cards ran away from Clemson. Reliving her magical night.
The list of Louisville women’s basketball greats has grown exponentially since the arrival of head coach Jeff Walz.
Angel McCoughtry, Shoni Shimmel, Myisha Hines-Allen, and Dana Evans headline an insane crop of talent that have come through Louisville in the last decade-plus.
The next in line to become a nationally recognized name? Well, it was supposed to be Hailey Van Lith.
Most Louisville women’s basketball fans know her story. The uber-talented sophomore from Cashmere, Washington was as high profile as recruits get and saw national acclaim due to her unlikely bond with the Late Koby and Gianna Bryant.
Van Lith’s arrival at Louisville was overshadowed a bit by a COVID-shortened season that heavily featured Evans at point guard.
2021-22, though, brought a lot of promise and potential for HVL after Evans left a massive void behind in the UofL backcourt.
However, the storybook breakout season didn’t go as planned. Van Lith often struggled early in the season, especially trying to find her shot. Van Lith was just 5-for-33 from beyond the arc in Louisville’s first 10 games of the season.
While she had 19 and 16-point outputs against Arizona and Belmont, she also only scored 2 and 4 against UT Martin and Colorado State.
There are plenty of ways to impact the game outside of scoring, but as the most talented player for Louisville women’s basketball and a potential national star, HVL is seen as a player who should be looked to to grab buckets at crucial times.
Van Lith was one of the stars in a statement win over UConn in December, and has upped her offensive game as the season has progressed.
Her breakout game, and a performance that may ratchet things to the next level for Louisville women’s basketball- happened on Thursday night.
After scoring 10 points in the first half at Clemson, Van Lith exploded for 24 points in a 10-minute stretch.
Van Lith finished with 34 points and 4 assists on 13-for-16 shooting, including 6/6 from beyond the arc.
Check out the full highlights here:
One thought on “Louisville women’s basketball: Relive Hailey Van Lith’s epic night”