LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team saw its 2016-17 season come to a close in the first round of the NCAA tournament with an 82-62 loss to Louisville at the KFC Yum Center.
The Mocs (21-11) answered almost every Louisville run and trailed 58-49 heading into the fourth quarter, but the Cardinals (28-7) started the final period on a 14-4 run to blow the game open.
UTC was led by Lakelyn Bouldin's 16 points on 5-for-13 shooting. She, along with Queen Alford and Chelsey Shumpert, made three 3-pointers as the Mocs finished 10-27 from long range Saturday. Alford had 15 points, while Shumpert finished with 13, six assists and two steals.
Jasmine Joyner had 11 points and seven rebounds.
The Mocs jumped out to an 8-5 lead that was answered with a 15-0 Louisville run. The home team led 20-14 after a period and stretched their lead to 11 points before UTC used 3s by Alford and Bouldin to cut the lead to 32-28.
The visitors then cut into a 12-point Louisville third-quarter lead, but the Cardinals' Asia Durr scored nine points in the fourth while Myisha Hines-Allen added four in the decisive run to pull away.
Durr had 27 points on the day, including 5-for-9 from 3. Hines-Allen had 16 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, while Jazmine Jones scored 14 off the bench. Kylee Shook added 10, while Mariya Moore had 10 assists to go along with six points.
The Cardinals shot 61 percent from the field on the game and pounded the interior for 46 points. They also had 22 points off 15 UTC turnovers and 14 fast-break points.
For a full story, read Sunday's Times Free Press.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.