{"id":131557,"date":"2025-03-30T03:45:05","date_gmt":"2025-03-30T07:45:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=131557"},"modified":"2025-03-30T03:45:28","modified_gmt":"2025-03-30T07:45:28","slug":"hailey-van-lith-makes-elite-eight-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/03\/30\/hailey-van-lith-makes-elite-eight-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Hailey Van Lith Makes Elite Eight History"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hailey Van Lith<\/a> continues to redefine success in college basketball. Hailey Van Lith has made NCAA<\/a> history by leading three different programs to the Elite Eight. She first accomplished the feat with Louisville in 2021, 2022, and 2023, then repeated it with LSU in 2024. Now, she has done it again at TCU in 2025. No other player, male or female, has ever reached five Elite Eights with three different schools. She has rightfully earned the nickname ‘Miss March’.<\/p>\n

Hailey Van Lith Makes Elite Eight History<\/h2>\n

Van Lith’s latest achievement came in TCU\u2019s 71-62 win over Notre Dame in the Sweet 16. She delivered a dominant performance, scoring 26 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Her final-quarter effort was particularly impressive, as she outscored Notre Dame 12-10 on her own.<\/p>\n

The Impact of the Transfer Portal<\/h3>\n

The NCAA\u2019s evolving transfer rules have played a significant role in Van Lith\u2019s journey. In 2021, the NCAA allowed players to transfer once without penalty. By the end of 2023, a federal judge ruled that athletes could transfer as many times as they wanted. This change reshaped college basketball, allowing players like Van Lith to find the right fit without restrictions.<\/p>\n

TCU coach Mark Campbell embraced this new era, aggressively using the transfer portal to rebuild the Horned Frogs. He took over a struggling program in 2023 and immediately added six transfers. A year later, he brought in six more, including Van Lith.<\/p>\n

“The portal allows you to get old really quickly,” Campbell said<\/a>. “It allows you to get talent really quickly, but a lot of people try it and it doesn\u2019t work. We value our culture. We value getting the right personalities, egos, alphas. As you put together a team, you have your basketball piece and your style of play\u2026 but you\u2019ve got to get the locker room right. You\u2019ve got to get the people part right.”<\/p>\n

A Defining Moment Against Notre Dame<\/h3>\n

Van Lith\u2019s performance against Notre Dame showcased her elite skill and competitive fire. With TCU trailing in the third quarter, she made a game-changing defensive play. As Notre Dame\u2019s Hannah Hidalgo drove to the basket, Van Lith blocked her shot, grabbed the ball, and stared down her opponent before making the outlet pass.<\/p>\n

That moment shifted the momentum. Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey recognized Van Lith\u2019s rising confidence as the game progressed. “I feel like she saw the ball going in and she kinda rose,” Ivey said<\/a>. “You could tell her energy, her confidence was getting stronger, play by play.”<\/p>\n

TCU\u2019s defense also played a crucial role. The Horned Frogs held Notre Dame to just 31.9% shooting from the floor and 20% from three-point range. Their fourth-quarter defensive stand limited the Irish to just 10 points, their lowest in any quarter all season.<\/p>\n

The Next Chapter: WNBA Bound?<\/h3>\n

Van Lith has already cemented her legacy in college basketball. Now, she prepares for the next step. The 5-foot-9 graduate student recently won a bronze medal with Team USA in 3×3 basketball at the Paris Olympics. With her strong performances at TCU, she is projected as a first-round pick in the upcoming<\/a> WNBA draft.<\/p>\n

Whether she\u2019s making history in college or preparing for a professional career, Van Lith has proven she thrives under pressure. Her journey is far from over, but she has already left an indelible mark on the game.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hailey Van Lith continues to redefine success in college basketball. Hailey Van Lith has made NCAA history by leading three different programs to the Elite Eight. She first accomplished the feat with Louisville in 2021, 2022, and 2023, then repeated it with LSU in 2024. Now, she has done it again at TCU in 2025. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5018,"featured_media":131560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,773,3],"tags":[902,49156,50027,4266,4263,2901,4562],"class_list":["post-131557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-college-basketball","category-news","tag-elite-eight","tag-hailey-van-lith","tag-ncaa-transfer-portal","tag-ncaa-womens-basketball","tag-ncaa-womens-tournament","tag-tcu-horned-frogs","tag-wnba-draft"],"modified_by":"Frederick Okocha","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131557"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131561,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131557\/revisions\/131561"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}