Louisville basketball is going back to the Elite 8 after holding off No. 4 seed Tennessee

WICHITA, Kansas The Louisville women's basketball team is going back to the Elite Eight for the fourth straight season.

The Cardinals, who defeated No. 4 seed Tennessee 76-64 in Saturday's Sweet 16 matchup, were led by a stellar outing from Emily Engstler (20 points and 10 rebounds). Hailey Van Lith had 23 points and a career-high six assists and Kianna Smith had 12 points despite sitting the entire second quarter.

Louisville had a 15-point lead in the first half, but it dwindled away as Tennessee's offense woke up in the second half. The Vols had shot 66.7% from deep in the third quarter and cut Louisville's lead to just two points with 9:36 left in the fourth quarter.

Unlike the loss to Miami and NC State, Louisville held onto its fourth-quarter lead and topped Tennessee on the back of its press.

Louisville will play the winner of No. 3 Michigan and No. 10 South Dakota on Monday night.

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Defense forces Tennessee into a frenzy

Louisville's defense gave Tennessee problems throughout the game.

The Cardinals enter the Elite Eight with one of the best defenses in the country. Their success is partially due to the detailed scout the team does for games, but also the lenth and versatility they have on the press.

Engstler is the star of the defense, with 56 blocks and 82 steals this season, but everybody got into the action on Saturday. Kianna Smith led the way with four steals, a season high, but Van Lith, Engstler and Payton Verhulst also had a steal. Olivia Cochran had two steals along with Mykasa Robinson

The defense came up especially big in the fourth quarter when Tennessee cut the lead to two points. Kianna Smith came up with a steal that led to an Engstler basket on the next possession. Louisville forced four straight turnovers to take its lead to 10 points and take control again.

Louisville forced 18 turnovers in the game and had 21 points off those turnovers. That's what Louisville is known for and it turned the pressure up when it needed to against the Vols.

Chelsie Hall takes over the third quarter

The graduate transfer from Vanderbilt took over the game in the third quarter when Tennessee when on its run.

Hall, who is averaging 6.6 points this season, had nine points and two rebounds in the quarter when Louisville needed them most. Tennessee outscored Louisville in the quarter, 22-16, but if it weren't for Hall, Louisville may not have won that game.

Playing in her first NCAA Tournament, Hall had a performance some players dream of and is now a win away from a Final Four.

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Louisville gets strong bench production in first half

Louisville has need production from its bench all season and it struggled in the opening weekend of the tournament. It came alive on Saturday.

With foul trouble up and down the roster, Louisville had to turn to its bench and found production from Payton Verhulst, Mykasa Robinson, Ahlana Smith, Liz Dixon and others.

Verhulst finished the game with seven points in the game and Dixon had two points, four rebounds and three blocks.

Cameron Teague Robinson CTeagueRob@gannett.com; Twitter: @cj_teague;

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: March Madness: Louisville hold off Tennessee to earn Elite Eight berth