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UK womens Hoops Falls to Michigan State in NCAA Second Round

Wildcats | 30 March, 2006 14:40

After all the missed shots, Michigan State hung on.

The Spartans withstood a late-game scoring drought by holding Kentucky scoreless for more than five minutes, and beat the Wildcats 67-63 on Monday in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Fourth-seeded Michigan State, last season's national runner-up, plays the winner of Tuesday's Duke-Southern California game in the round of 16 in Bridgeport, Conn., on Sunday.

Aisha Jefferson led Michigan State with 16 points, 14 in the first half, and Liz Shimek scored 12 points on 4-for-13 shooting - after scoring 27 in the opening round against Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Her basket with 4:20 left gave the Spartans the lead for good, 62-60.

Fifth-seeded Kentucky's drought ended when Carly Ormerod hit a 3-pointer with 4.4 seconds left to cut Michigan State's lead to 66-63 spread. She finished with a team-high 15 points.

Victoria Lucas-Perry scored 13 for the ncaa Spartans, hitting the tying 3-pointer with just over five minutes left and converting 3-of-4 free throws in the final 16 seconds to wrap up the win.

Jenny Pfeiffer scored 12 for Kentucky.

Unlike Wisconsin-Milwaukee, which hung in for about 30 minutes before losing by 19 in the first round to Michigan State, Kentucky stayed with the Spartans the whole way.

The Wildcats weathered a 12-2 run that gave the Spartans a three-point lead midway through the second half, and were ahead 60-57 after Eleia Roddy's putback with 5:25 left.

But Lucas-Perry tied it, Shimek gave Michigan State the lead and the score held at 62-60 until Lucas-Perry hit two free throws with 16 seconds left.

After Ormerod missed a wild runner, Shimek hit two foul shots to make it 66-60 with 7.7 seconds left. But the Wildcats weren't quite out of it.

Ormerod raced upcourt and hit a 3-pointer to make it a three-point game. But Lucas-Perry hit 1-of-2 foul shots for the final score.

Michigan State was 14-of-19 from the line, while Kentucky was 4-for-4.

Ormerod's 3-pointer capped a 9-1 spurt to start the second half that increased Kentucky's lead to 43-34.

And it was 48-41 before Michigan State college basketball team got going.

The Spartans got four points each from Shimek and Jefferson during a 12-2 run that put them ahead 53-50. Jefferson capped the run with a block on Samantha Mahoney's short pull-up jumper and two free throws with 10:36 left.

Cats Fall to Top Seed UConn in NCAA Tourney

Wildcats | 20 March, 2006 17:08

The eagerly anticipated first meeting between Connecticut and Kentucky proved well worth the wait.

Connecticut took control early, then survived a strong comeback bid by the Wildcats in an 87-83 wagering spread victory Sunday that put the No. 1 seeded Huskies into the next round of the ncaa tournament.

Marcus Williams scored 20 points, including four clutch free throws in the final 30 seconds, and Rudy Gay had 19 for Connecticut (29-3), which next faces the University of Washington in the semifinals of the Washington Regional. The Huskies defeated Washington in the round of 16 seven years ago.

Patrick Sparks scored a career-high tying 28 points on 10-for-16 shooting for No. 8 seed Kentucky (22-13), which failed to reach the round of 16 for the third time in the last 12 seasons. The Wildcats are 3-8 against No. 1 seeds since the selection committee began using seeds in 1979.

Kentucky and Connecticut have combined for nine ncaa titles, including three of the last eight, but the two elite teams never faced each other until Sunday.

At first, the matchup appeared to be a mismatch. UConn led by 12 at halftime and 13 with 13:37 remaining, but that's when the Wildcats finally found their shooting touch.

It was 66-57 before Kentucky's Sheray Thomas scored from the baseline and Bobby Perry added a 3-pointer to get the Wildcats within four with 7:58 left.

After UConn upped the margin back to eight, Thomas hit a 3-pointer and Rajon Rondo beat the shot clock with a 3-pointer during a 10-4 spree that got Kentucky to 74-72 with 3:16 to go.

The Huskies built their lead back to eight, but Sparks hit a 3-pointer and Thomas made a layup to get the Wildcats within two with 53 seconds to play.

Williams made two foul shots before Perry hit a layup to make it 83-81. Then, after Williams made two more free throws and Perry scored on a putback, Gay iced it with two foul shots with 3.3 seconds left.

Kentucky lost despite 17-for-30 shooting in the second half, including 7-for-14 from 3-point range.

In its previous two games, a loss to Syracuse in the Big East tournament quarterfinals and a harrowing first-round win over Albany, the Huskies fell behind by 12 points. Connecticut was determined to reverse the trend against ncaa Kentucky by getting off to a good start - and did just that.

Beginning with Hilton Armstrong's dunk off the opening tap, the Huskies were sharp at the outset on both ends of the court.

In building a 25-12 lead, UConn made six of its first eight shots and got four 3-pointers from Rashad Anderson, who was held scoreless by Albany. Kentucky, in contrast, missed nine of its first 12 shots and had six turnovers in the first 11 minutes.

It was 33-20 before the Wildcats made three baskets in a 24-second span to get within seven. Minutes later, Shargari Alleyne ended Kentucky's 0-for-9 drought from 3-point range to make it a six-point game.

But UConn closed the half with an 8-2 spurt to make it 43-31.

Cats Fall to Gators on Senior Day

Wildcats | 06 March, 2006 15:33

Joakim Noah had 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 17 Florida past Kentucky 79-64 Sunday, giving the Gators a fourth straight win over the Wildcats for the first time in the 79-year history of the series.

The Gators won for the first time at Rupp Arena since 1998 and clinched second place in the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division and a first-round bye in the conference tournament this week. Kentucky, third place in the East, will have to play on the tournament's opening day for the first time since 1979.

Kentucky (19-11, 9-7) lost on Senior Day for only the fifth time in 86 years.

The Wildcats basketball team seemed to have turned their season around with an 80-78 victory Wednesday at East champion Tennessee. But Florida (24-6, 10-6), which has three near 7-footers in its lineup, presented matchup problems all afternoon for the much-smaller Wildcats.

Noah, who had a career night with 26 points and 11 rebounds when the teams last met a month ago, was again Kentucky's biggest problem. Late in the first half, he had more rebounds than the entire Kentucky team.

Joe Crawford was the star for the Wildcats with 21 points and Randolph Morris had 14 points. But Kentucky connected on only 38 percent of its shots and was outrebounded 39-27.

Florida's 14 turnovers and poor 3-point shooting early were the only things that kept the Wildcats competitive. But Lee Humphrey's back-to-back 3s midway through the second half ignited the Gators, extending the Florida lead to 14. Humphrey led the team with 17 points, including four 3-pointers.

Kentucky was trailing by three with seven minutes left in the first half when Rajon Rondo tapped the ball from a Florida player, dived to the floor after it and called timeout just before he slid out of bounds.

Rondo's hustle appeared to wake up the Wildcats. Brandon Stockton's 3-pointer on the next possession tied the game at 24, and another 3 by Ravi Moss four minutes later gave Kentucky its first lead.

But Al Horford's dunk just before halftime made it 34-33 Gators at halftime and started an 11-2 run that would stretch Florida's lead to 10 early in the second half.

Kentucky coach Tubby Smith started his four seniors - Patrick Sparks, Preston LeMaster, Brandon Stockton and Moss. All are Kentucky natives but all also are short guards, allowing bigger Florida to get off to a 5-0 lead before he could make substitutions.

Kentucky hadn't lost four straight to an SEC school since Tennessee accomplished the feat from 1979 to 1980. The Gators' 24 wins ties the 2002-03 team for the most wins in program history heading into postseason play.

With a victory, Florida plays in the SEC quarterfinals Friday night in Nashville. Kentucky basketball team faces Mississippi in the first round Thursday.