Monday night was a mostly elementary affair for Louisville women’s basketball.
Led by 21 points from All-American honorable mention Hailey Van Lith, the No. 4 seeded Cardinals dispatched the Texas Longhorns 73-51 with ease. Now in the Sweet 16, Louisville is just two victories away from a second consecutive Final Four appearance.
However, before Van Lith and Co. could start preparing for the next round, the point guard first contended with an uncomfortable moment in the postgame handshake line. As Van Lith came up to Texas’ Sonya Morris, the Longhorns’ guard appeared to be very unhappy and said something to that effect.
Van Lith would listen and nod for a moment before shrugging Morris off to the side:
I don't know what was said here. But here is Hailey Van Lith going through the handshake line with Texas. Sonya Morris was first in line for the Longhorns to talk to Van Lith. pic.twitter.com/YqvnmwiRdn
— Tyler Greever (@Tyler_Greever) March 21, 2023
Phew. The handshake line is supposed to be an ultimate moment of sportsmanship — where both teams offer each other respect regardless of what happened between the lines. But whatever occurred during the game seemed to irk Morris enough that she had to confront Van Lith right away.
For what it’s worth, Van Lith took the (somewhat) diplomatic high road after the game:
Here is Hailey Van Lith on this moment: "I have all the respect in the world for Texas. No hard feelings. Sports can get chippy, you play in the heat. At the end of the day, I'm gonna let it go. No hard feelings, I assume that they'll do the same." https://t.co/WsodgeKACy pic.twitter.com/JilL1DfRtV
— Tyler Greever (@Tyler_Greever) March 21, 2023
For all those inquiring, I asked Hailey Van Lith what was said in the postgame handshake line and here was her response. FWIW, midway through the question, Olivia Cochran yells out, “We got your back!” pic.twitter.com/MRbwS2d42r
— Alexis Cubit (@Alexis_Cubit) March 21, 2023
Lip-reading college basketball fans had lots of guesses as to what Morris told Van Lith in this uncomfortable exchange. (Warning: NSFW guesses/responses below.)
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