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Hailey Van Lith Addresses Possibility of NCAA Tournament Matchup vs. Louisville

Stephen Douglas

Holly Rowe interviews Hailey Van Lith on selection Sunday.
Holly Rowe interviews Hailey Van Lith on selection Sunday. / Women Hooping / YouTub
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The TCU Horned Frogs are 31-3 so far this year, winning both the Big 12 regular season and conference tournament titles. That was good enough to earn them a home game in the first round of the NCAA women's basketball tournament and the No. 2 seed in Regional 3.

If they beat Fairleigh Dickson in the first round they could find themselves in a second round matchup against the Louisville Cardinals. TCU star Hailey Van Lith played the first three seasons of her college career in Louisville where they went to two Elite Eights and a Final Four.

Van Lith and TCU coach Mark Campbell joined Holly Rowe on ESPN on Selection Sunday and Rowe asked Van Lith if the potential matchup against her former team would be "fun, spicy or loving." Van Lith did not give her the Cardinals anything that could go on their bulletin board.

"I think that I’m excited to play a first round game at home and you know after that the thing about me is I’m going to play," said Van Lith. "It could be a 16 seed, it could be a one-seed and I’m gonna bring the same energy and the same passion and be the same type of player so no matter who it is on the other side you’re going to get the same Hailey.

If TCU wins both those games they'll be well on their way. And if they can go really far there's a chance that Van Lith could also end up playing LSU, Van Lith's other former team, in the national championship game. It's a long shot, but you never know.

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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