Stanford rallied from a 14-point deficit in the second half Tuesday night to defeat Louisville 78-63 and advance to the Final Four.

Louisville punched Stanford first and it took a half for the Cardinal to get back up, remember they're the No. 1 overall seed, and punch back. Louisville couldn't regain its footing after a 17-2 run by Stanford redirected their travel plans from the airport to a matchup with South Carolina Friday afternoon.

Louisville led by 12 at the break after they shot 51.6% from the field and made six of ten three-pointers. Stanford shot an abysmal 27.8% and appeared so shaken that they missed a dispiriting number of layups.

Head coach Tara VanDerveer said after the game that she did not recognize the players wearing Stanford's jerseys in the first half. Kiana Williams was pressing so hard that she could have turned coal into a diamond.

VanDerveer admitted after the game that she came down hard on Williams and a couple other players during halftime.

The Cardinal needed a spark. Enter Ashten "Big Red" Prechtel. She did not play in the first half but in 16 breakthrough minutes she scored 16 points and was perfect from the field (6-of-6 and 3-3 FGA).

Prechtel has played a complementary role at a high level in the tournament and the former Sixth Player of the Year in the conference has the ability to go off. She seemed impervious to the bad shooting bug that a couple of her teammates were trying to shrug off at the start of the half.

Her first three-pointer got Stanford within one. Her second put Stanford up one after the first possession of the fourth quarter — on a play called for her to get a shot. Her third three-pointer was a devastating gut shot after Anna Wilson delivered one to the chin the previous possession with her own three-pointer.

Stanford shot 62.5% in the second half, made six of eight three-pointers and only had two turnovers after seven in the first half. The final piece was to get Williams back to being the key.

The first half was a nightmare for Williams, but VanDerveer knew she her star point guard could play her way out of it. Step by step, "Skippy" emerged out of the anxious version of Williams who played in the first 20 minutes. She made two dagger three-pointers.

Good shooting is often called contagious in basketball and so is effort. Prechtel injected much needed juice into the offense, but it was Lexie Hull who set the standard on defense from the jump.

She led the team with 21 points but it was it her fight on the boards (she gabbed nine), lockdown defense and opportunistic play (three steals) that had VanDerveer describing her as the "engine" of the Cardinal.

Hull's aggressiveness earned her nine shots from the free throw line and she made eight of them.

Haley Jones dialed up her intensity on defense and she put together a stellar second half: eight points (4-of-4 FGA), seven rebounds, two assists and one block in 19 minutes.

Cameron Brink did not play for most of the second half but she provided most of the rare offensive highlights in the first. She was slowed by a foot injury but VanDerveer said she could have played in the second half. She chose not to put Brink back in because VanDerveer didn't think she was getting back on defense.

Brink did not pick up a foul in 19 minutes but blocked four shots and scored six points. Her ability to affect shots is fast out special and will be a key factor against the big, talented lineup from South Carolina.

Fran Belibi gave the Cardinal valuable minutes in the first half when the offense was completely out of rhythm. She had six rebounds (four on offense) and scored five points.

VanDerveer rode with Williams, Jones, Lexie Hull, Prechtel and Wilson for pretty much the entire second half to close out one of the most thrilling wins in program history.

Williams was overcome with emotion after the game and couldn't contain just how much she loves her teammates. They get to play at least one more game together.