Mykasa Robinson flashed to the elbow, received a pass from Merissah Russell, faked a dribble to her right, and then cashed a jumper to put Louisville up by 12 early in the fourth quarter.
After the ball went through the net, the fifth-year senior — who has taken all of 40 non-paint 2-point jumpers all season — turned to her coach Jeff Walz and winked. “Like she does it all the time,” Walz joked postgame.
The No. 5 seed Cardinals would go on to defeat No. 8 seed Ole Miss 72-62, never letting the lead dwindle below five after that Robinson score. Now in the Elite Eight for the fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament, everything’s turning up Louisville, even midrange jumpers for a traditionally shot-averse guard.
It’s a good day to be a Cardinal! #MarchMadness x @LouisvilleWBB pic.twitter.com/hUncPtpAEb
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) March 25, 2023
From the outside, the Cardinals have been viewed as a team in transition this season, a group that couldn’t quite figure out how to meld its new pieces together. After graduating Emily Engstler, Chelsie Hall, and Kianna Smith, Louisville brought in three transfers to fill in the gaps: Chrislyn Carr, Morgan Jones, and Josie Williams, but the process wasn’t nearly as seamless as integrating Engstler and Hall a year…
