Don’t mess with Texas? Louisville basketball star Hailey Van Lith is confronted by angry Longhorns senior Sonya Morris after the Cardinals’ 73-51 win in the women’s NCAA Tournament

A post-game handshake line following Louisville’s 73-51 win over Texas in the Women’s NCAA Tournament on Tuesday led to an awkward standoff between two top players.

Cardinals leading scorer Hailey Van Lith tried to make her way through the handshake line when she was stopped by the first Longhorns player she met, Sonya Morris, who clung to the Louisville guard’s hand, preventing her from proceeding.

It’s unclear what was said between the two or what the prior issue was, but Morris appeared to be delivering a pointed message to Van Lith, who responded by pushing the Texas senior to the side. Van Lith was clearly still chirping back at Morris as she continued slapping fives with the defeated Longhorns players.

The Louisville guard was asked about the confrontation afterwards, but did not offer a full explanation.

‘I wouldn’t say there was a lot of chirping going on in the game,’ she said. ‘I think it was a pretty clean game. You know, I respect the Texas players. I don’t really want to speak on what happened at the end because I don’t want it to dim down the fact that we played really, really well.

Cardinals leading scorer Hailey Van Lith tried  (center right) to make her way through the handshake line when she was stopped by the first Longhorns player she met, Sonya Morris (center left), who clung to the Louisville guard’s hand, preventing her from proceeding

It’s unclear what was said between the two or what the prior issue was, but Morris appeared to be delivering a pointed message to Van Lith, who responded by pushing the Texas senior to the side. Van Lith was clearly still chirping back at Morris as she continued slapping fives with the defeated Longhorns players

‘I have all the respect in the world for Texas, no hard feelings. You know, sports can get chippy and the moment you play in the heat — at the end of the day I’m going to let it go. No hard feelings. I assume that they will do the same, and yeah, I’m just proud of our win. I don’t want to focus on what happened at the end.’

A Texas spokesperson declined to comment about the incident to DailyMail.com.

Otherwise, the evening was stress-free for Louisville.

Van Lith scored 21 points, delivering the early punches and then the late knockout blows for the Cardinals.

‘Coach (Jeff Walz) told us, ‘How many times can you quiet down the crowd,’ Van Lith said.

Louisville didn’t host the first two rounds of the tournament for the first time since 2015, excluding the 2021 pandemic tournament played entirely in Texas. And from the opening tip against Texas, the Cardinals pushed around the Big 12 regular season co-champion and relished the silence as the Longhorns unraveled.

Van Lith scored 21 points, delivering the early punches and the late knockout blows for U of L

Texas guard Sonya Morris (11) looks for an open teammate for a pass against Louisville in a second-round college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament

Louisville guard Hailey Van Lith (10) drives around Texas forward Taylor Jones (44) during the first half of a second-round college basketball game

Louisville (25-11) led by as much as 27 early in the fourth. The win sends the Cardinals to the Seattle 4 Region to play No. 8-seed Mississippi, which upset No. 1 Stanford on Sunday. Louisville made the Final Four last season.

‘We wanted to go out and prove we’re the same Louisville tough that this program has been for a long time now,’ Van Lith said. She also scored 26 in Louisville’s first-round win over Drake.

In a matchup of two teams that began the season in the Top 10 only to fall out of the rankings before regrouping late, the Cardinals stifled Texas’ standout point guard Rori Harmon all night, stretching a 14-point halftime lead to 21 by end of the third quarter.

Harmon missed the November matchup between the teams when Louisville beat the Longhorns in November, and was never a factor in the rematch.

Harmon scored 10 points but was mostly shut down after the first quarter. Van Lith, Mykasa Robinson and Chrislyn Carr’s defensive rotations allowed Harmon three assists in the first quarter, but no more. Harmon also had five turnovers before limping off the court late in the fourth quarter with an apparent ankle injury.

‘We just really tried to wear her out,’ Robinson said.

DeYona Gaston scored 12 points to lead Texas (26-10) after sitting for nearly the entire first quarter because of an early foul.

Louisville guard Merissah Russell (13), guard Hailey Van Lith, center, and center Josie Williams, right, celebrate with fans after the team’s win over Texas in a second-round college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament in Austin