Olivia Olson and the Michigan Wolverines already had weathered a six-minute scoring drought to start the game when they scored 17 consecutive third-quarter points in their Sweet 16 meeting with Louisville.

“When we just take a breath and relax, we have so much fun,” Olson said. “So just that third quarter we were just really playing loose and having fun, and I think that’s what ignited our run.”

Olson scored 19 points, fellow sophomore Syla Swords added 16 and No. 2 seed Michigan overcame a sluggish start for a 71-52 victory over the Cardinals in March Madness on Saturday at Fort Worth, Texas.

The Wolverines had a 16-0 run in the second quarter to erase an 11-point deficit, their biggest, then broke a tie in the third with the 17-0 burst that let them cruise to their second Elite Eight, both in the past five seasons.

Michigan (28-6) tied a school record for victories and will play top-seeded Texas on Monday night for a spot in the Final Four.

“It took us a minute to settle,” coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “But then once we did, I think our confidence exploded and we just were really disruptive on the defensive end, which we pride ourselves with being, and that allowed the floodgates to open on offense.”

Elif Istanbulluoglu scored 18 points but was the only player in double figures for the third-seeded Cardinals (29-8), who shot 35% and were outscored 49-16 over a two-quarter stretch from midway through the second to the middle of the fourth.

Olson, the top scorer among a bevy of sophomores leading both teams, missed four of her first five shots, and the Wolverines didn’t score until Swords’ bucket made it 8-2 with 3:46 left in the first quarter.

Te’Yala Delfosse, who had 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocks, had a 3-pointer during the second-quarter run that she capped with a three-point play for Michigan’s first lead at 28-25.

Swords and Olson connected on consecutive 3-pointers late in the 17-0 run that put Michigan in control for good. The sophomore standouts combined to go 9 of 16 from the field in the second half.

Louisville had won both of the previous meetings in the NCAA Tournament, including a victory four years ago that sent the Cardinals to the Final Four.

Texas 76, Kentucky 54: Rori Harmon came back to Texas for another chance to win a national championship. The 5-foot-6 sparkplug point guard and the Longhorns are one win away from getting back to the women’s Final Four for the second year in a row.

Harmon got the Longhorns off to a fast start with an all-around effort, and played through a jammed right middle finger to finish with 11 points, seven assists, seven rebounds and six steals in a Sweet 16 win over Southeastern Conference rival Kentucky.

“Yeah, the urgency that I play with is that when you lose right now you’re done, so that’s constantly in my mind,” said Harmon, in her fifth and final year in the program. “There has to be a certain urgency and intensity that we play with to not let any team try to work their way back or anything. I think that’s how we came out today.”

Jordan Lee scored 18 points while All-America forward Madison Booker had 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Longhorns (34-3). They have an 11-game winning streak and are in the Elite Eight for the third year in a row.

Texas, which last year went to the Final Four for the first time since 2003 and won its only national title in 1986, will play second-seeded Michigan in the Fort Worth Regional 3 final on Monday night.

South Carolina 94, Oklahoma 68: Even after another dominant offensive effort, South Carolina’s players feel that their best is yet to come.

Ta’Niya Latson scored 28 points and Raven Johnson added 18 to help the top-seeded Gamecocks beat No. 4 seed Oklahoma 94-68 on Saturday and advance to the Elite Eight of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

“We have a lot of room to grow, we’re growing at the right time,” Johnson said. “When everyone is clicking the ceiling is high for us.”

Coach Dawn Staley also sees areas that her team can grow despite winning its first three March Madness games by an average of 45 points.

“I like for us to be a little bit better at putting the ball in the paint and scoring,” she said. “Used to having a dominant post who can alleviate some of the pressures in the half court.”

South Carolina will face TCU on Monday night for the chance to go to the Final Four in Phoenix.

The Gamecocks (34-3) have reached six of the past eight Final Fours and won three national championships during that stretch. Oklahoma (26-8) was looking for its first trip to a regional final since the 2009-10 season, which was the Sooners’ last time in the Final Four.

TCU 79, Virginia 69: Marta Suarez had 33 points and 10 rebounds as part of a nearly unstoppable duo with Olivia Miles, and No. 3 seed TCU beat 10th-seeded Virginia at Sacramento.

TCU (32-5), making its second straight appearance in the Elite Eight, will face No. 1 seed South Carolina on Monday for a trip to the Final Four.

Miles, a senior and a three-time All-American, finished with her own gaudy stat line of 28 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

A few weeks from now, Suarez and Miles will likely be WNBA draft picks, but for now, their final collegiate season and the chance they took to come to TCU has paid off.

The Horned Frogs went on 17-4 run to start the second half that put them ahead for good, even as the Cavaliers pressed aggressively and cut the lead to six points with 27.1 seconds to go.

Paris Clark scored 20 points and Kymora Johnson had 18 points, eight assists and six rebounds for Virginia (22-12), the lone double-digit seed to reach the Sweet 16.

The Cavaliers’ journey began in the First Four and continued with a road win over No. 2 seed Iowa in the second round. And Virginia looked like it hadn’t run out of magic when it took a 36-35 lead into at halftime behind 10 points each from Clark and Johnson.

Suarez had 18 points in the first half for the Frogs and Miles had 12, but the rest of the team scored only five.