<p>SAN ANTONIO — Kianna Smith scored 16 points and No. 2 seed Louisville advanced to the Sweet 16 by rallying from an early 18-point deficit to beat seventh-seeded Northwestern 62-53 on Wednesday night.</p>
<p>The Cardinals (25-3) got off to another rough start, trailing 25-7 late in the first quarter. Louisville slowly started to chip away on offense and played stellar defense. The deficit was 40-28 midway through the third quarter before the Cardinals scored 17 straight points.</p>
<p>The game was tied at 40 heading into the fourth, and Louisville increased its first lead to 45-40 before Lindsay Pulliam — Northwestern’s third-ever 2,000-point scorer — got her only basket of the game.</p>
<p>The Wildcats (16-9) closed to 53-50 on Jordan Hamilton’s 3-pointer with 3:26 left. They had a chance to move closer, but Veronica Burton missed two free throws 30 seconds later.</p>
<p>Louisville didn’t miss from the line in the final two minutes as the Cardinals converted nine of 10 free throws to seal the game. </p>
<p>Northwestern blitzed Louisville right from the start, scoring the game’s first seven points and opening a 13-2 lead, leading to a timeout by the Cardinals. It didn’t get much better with the Wildcats going 4 for 4 from 3-point range on their way to a 25-10 lead after one quarter.</p>
<p>The Wildcats cooled off in the second quarter and didn’t score a point for the first 5:22 of the period. A fast-break layup by Courtney Shaw ended the drought and sparked a 7-0 run for Northwestern — the only points the team would score in the period. Louisville closed to 32-20 at the half.</p>
<p>The loss potentially ended the brilliant career of Pulliam. She had a game to forget thanks to Louisville’s stellar defense. The senior guard was 1 for 11 from the field for just four points. </p>
<p>Hamilton scored 17 points for Northwestern.</p>
<p>TIP-INS</p>
<p>Northwestern fell to 0-3 all-time against Louisville, with the other two meetings coming in 1987 and 1994. … Northwestern coach Joe McKeown took George Washington to four Sweet 16s when he was coach there before coming to the Illinois school.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Louisville will face Oregon in the Sweet 16.</p>
