March 23, 2009

RICHMOND 59, INDIANA 57

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Sophomore Brittani Shells scored a team-high 19 points, including the game-winner with two seconds left, as the Spiders defeated James Madison 59-57 Sunday in the Robins Center.

"Any time you get to play another game it's a positive thing," said head coach Michael Shafer. "I am extremely proud of our girls."

The Spiders called a timeout with 16 seconds left.Shells came out of the timeout, dribbled around the perimeter and drained a long two-pointer with two seconds left to seal the win.

"I was nervous," said Shells. "But I just thank my coaches and teammates for having faith in me to take that shot."

Both teams traded baskets in the first half, before Richmond went on a 6-0 run to take a comfortable 29-23 lead with 4:58 remaining. Two free-throws from James Madison's Dawn Evans closed the gap to 30-27 at the break.

"We came out with a little rust," said Shafer. "We were able to make some adjustments at the break and came out in the last half ready to play."

Richmond went up 35-30 after a Danielle Bell lay-up with 15:55 remaining. JMU battled back to a 40-39 deficit after an Evans three-pointer with 12:53 remaining. The Spiders responded with an Abby Oliver jumper 30 seconds later. Oliver finished with a career-best 13 points.

"We played well," said Oliver. "I just let the game come to me. I came out relaxed but ready to attack."

Richmond went ahead 55-52 with 4:03 left, thanks to a Johanna McKnight lay-up. Another lay-up by Oliver a minute later pushed the lead to 57-52. Dukes forward Sarah Williams hit a three-pointer with 2:11 left to cut the lead to 57-55. Two James Madison free-throws by Jalissa Taylor tied the game at 57-all before Shells hit the game winner.

The Dukes were led by Evans' 19 points.

"We're excited to keep playing basketball," said Shells. "It was a great win for us tonight."

The win marks the first victory for the Spiders in post-season play since 2004. In that year, Richmond won three games before falling to Creighton in the WNIT semifinals. Richmond plays at Georgetown Thursday. Tip is slated for 7:30 p.m.

FLORIDA 70, TEMPLE 57

STORRS, Conn.- Sha Brooks led three Florida (24-7) players in double figures with 18 points as the Gators defeated the Temple women's basketball team (21-10), 70-57, in the First Round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament on Sunday. Florida, who improves to 6-1 against Temple, advances to face top-seeded UConn in the Second Round on Tuesday. Seniors Shenita Landry and Shanea Cotton scored 13 and 12 points, respectively in their final game as a Temple Owl.

Kristen McCarthy netted12 points, while Jasmine Stone nearly missed a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds. LaKeisha Eaddy dished six assists and had four steals.

Temple struggled to make shots all day, especially from long range, where the Owls were 0-for-12. Florida couldn't miss in the first half, shooting an incredible 60.7% from the field, while the Owls missed several open lay-ups. Stone was a force in the paint, leading the Owls with 10 points and six rebounds in the first half. The Gators cooled off a bit in the second half but still finished with a 46.4% shooting clip.

Temple won the tip and Eaddy got the Owls going with a lay-up at 19:55, sparking a 4-0 run. Florida answered with a 6-0 run of their own to take a 6-4 lead at 17:36. The teams traded the lead for the next few minutes, with neither team able to get more than four points ahead of the other. Temple began to struggle against Florida's pressure defense, allowing the Gators to take a 25-19 advantage with 7:43 remaining. The Owls had various chances to take the lead but missed multiple open lay-ups, allowing the Gators to stay in control. Florida continued to force turnovers and extended its lead to 12 points (31-19) with 14:30 remaining. Shenita Landry finally broke the Temple three minute scoring drought with a lay-up at 6:19 but Florida continued to roll and took a 34-21 lead with just under five minutes to play. Stone began to take over, getting her team going on both the offensive and defensive ends, allowing the Owls to go on a 7-0 run and cut the lead to just five points (34-29) with 1:43 remaining. Florida put together a 5-2 run in the final minute to take a 41-33 lead going into the break.

McCarthy began the second half with a jumper to make it 41-35 but Florida followed that up with an 11-4 run to take a double-digit lead yet again (52-39) at 15:49. Temple's offensive struggles continued but its defense held strong and the Cherry and White were able to close the gap to five points (54-49) with eight and a half minutes to play. Cotton was unstoppable during that stretch, going a perfect four-for-four for eight points. Just when it seemed that the Owls were poised to make their run, Florida sank back-to-back three-pointers to make it 60-51 with 6:41 left. Temple never seemed to recover, as Florida went on an 8-2 run over the next five minutes to take a 68-53 lead with 2:15 remaining. Cotton's lay-up at 2:03 gave TU its first basket in four minutes but it was too little, too late, as Florida advanced to the Second Round with a 70-57 win.

Steffi Sorenson finished with a double-double of 13 points and 13 boards for Florida, while Marshae Dotson had 13 points.

INDIANA 59, DAYTON 57

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The University of Dayton women's basketball team saw one its best seasons in program history end in dramatic fashion. With a last second tip-in by Indiana the Flyers lost their second round Women's National Invitation game, 59-57.

Dayton never led in the game and was defeated in the final second after a long pass from Kim Roberson and tip-in by Whitney Thomas. Junior Kendel Ross who finished the game with eight points and seven rebounds, made a pivotal three with 0.8 seconds on the clock to tie it up, but UD never got the chance to battle it out in overtime.

"I'm disappointed that our season ends like this," said head coach Jim Jabir. "It's not fair to our kids. I felt that in spite of our youth we were good enough to win the game. We overcame their pressure and our turnovers. The officials did not give me any explanation.

"I am very proud of our youngsters and it's unfortunate that an inadvertent whistle with 0.6 seconds left called the game. It was an amazing pass and shot but it should have never got to that."

UD closes the campaign with a 21-14 record for its second back-to-back 20-win season and one of its most successful since turning Division I.

The Flyers were led by three players in double figures including Kristin Daugherty (14 points), De'Sarae Chambers (10 points), and Kayla Moses (10 points). The team held a commanding lead in bench points 22-2.

For Indiana, Jaime Braun led the way with a game-high 16 points, while teammate Whitney Thomas led all rebounders with 14 boards.

The first half was slow to start as the score was knotted for two minutes at 4-4. Indiana's Braun and Amber Jackson would score a basket each for a four-point IU lead.

From that point on the score was tied up three times in the frame, but Dayton would never lead in the half. IU had its largest lead by four points three times, but would only take a two point advantage into the break, 24-22.

The Flyers struggled from three-point range in the first, going a season-low 0-for-8 from beyond the arc. Turnovers also hindered UD as the Flyers committed 11 to IU's seven.

Kristin Daugherty would bury a jumper 30 seconds into the second frame, but Whitney Thomas would get a shot up on the next possession to tie it up once again.

The two teams would tie it up twice more before the Hoosiers would make their first run on a 7-0 spurt behind Braun who sank a trey and hit two free throws. A fast break lay-up from Lindsay Enterline would move the score 35-28 with 14:23 remaining.

After being scoreless for over three minutes, Ross made UD's first three-pointer of the game. Fellow teammate Kalya Moses scored on a shot the next time down to close the gap 38-25 with 10 minutes to go.

But the Hoosiers were relentless with another 7-0 spurt.

Dayton brought it to within three points behind Patrice Lalor who sank a three at 6:30, but Davis answered back to move the score 47-42 with six minutes left in the game.

Back-to-back treys from IU's Davis and Kim Roberson would give Indiana its largest lead of the game by nine points, 53-44 with 3:43 left in the game.

But Dayton continued to chip away as Chambers hit two consecutive three's and Daugherty would score two straight to bring the score within one point with under a minute to go, 55-54.

Jackson would get two more points up for the Hoosiers, but Ross would knock down a three to tie it up, 57-57.

An inadvertent whistle by the officials gave IU the ball at mid-court with less than a second on the clock. A long pass from Roberson and tip-in from IU's Thomas would win the game for Indiana, 59-57.