Middle Tennessee State defeated Louisville for the second year in a row at March Madness on Friday. The Blue Raiders’ women’s basketball team made sure the Cardinals remembered!
As soon as the clock struck zero, they slammed the ‘Ls Down’ in their faces. It was savage. MTSU, an 11-seed, won 29 games and the Conference USA Tournament to secure an automatic berth in the Big Dance. Its opponent won 24 games and gained an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as a sixth seed.
Their meeting in Baton Rouge came down to the wire!
The Cardinals led by 18 points with two minutes and 44 seconds remaining in the second quarter but were unable to hold off a comeback. The Blue Raiders seized their first lead of the game with less than a minute remaining in the third quarter and maintained the pressure into the fourth. Louisville guard Merissah Russell eventually heaved up a half-court heave as time expired. It rimmed out.
When the clock struck zero, Middle Tennessee immediately began to taunt. They seized the Louisville ‘L’ before the losers could leave the court and turned it upside down right in their faces.
‘Ls Down’ appeared everywhere. The Blue Raiders didn’t stop!
This will not be their only chance to toss ‘Ls Down’ throughout the first weekend of the competition. Middle Tennessee progressed to play the reigning national champions on their court.
Beating LSU will not be easy. It is improbable.
However, this is March! March is a month full of possibilities.
If the Blue Raiders can achieve their second win in three days, they will be unstoppable in the best way conceivable. On Sunday, everyone in America will be rooting for them — and possibly more ‘Ls Down’!