Published: March 27, 2008 04:28 pm            

Lady Cardinals bow out of national tournament, fall 81-60 to Shelton

SALINA, Kan. — An uninspired performance in the consolation semifinals at the 2008 NJCAA Women's National Basketball Tournament resulted in an uncharacteristic finish for the Trinity Valley Community College Lady Cardinals.

An 81-60 loss to the Shelton State (Ala.) Lady Buccaneers Friday afternoon at the Bicentennial Center ended the season for the Lady Cardinals and marked the first time in 27 years a TVCC team failed to win at least two games in the tournament.

Eighth-year Lady Cardinal coach Michael Landers could only watch in frustration as his squad did little right to finish the tournament with a 1-2 record and close the year with a 37-7 mark. The last Lady Cardinal team to go 1-2 at the event was in 1981.

Shelton State, which appeared far more excited to still be playing in the tournament, upped its record to 30-5. The Lady Bucs will take on Western Nebraska in the consolation title game Saturday at 1 p.m.

The Lady Cardinals never led. The score was tied briefly at 2-2. After that, it was all Shelton State.

TVCC, which shot the ball poorly in all three of its tournament games, hit just 2 of its first 11 shots. As a result, the Lady Bucs assumed a 14-4 lead.



Shareese Ulise knocked down a three-pointer and Stephanie Madden scored on a putback for TVCC to get the Lady Cardinals with five, 14-9, at the 9:13 mark. But their chilly shooting, inability to protect the ball and porous defense eventually caught up with them. The Lady Bucs began connecting for three-point range and the game took on the semblance of target practice.



Ayla Guzzardo and Marquisha Loper fired in successive three-pointers to move Shelton State into a 35-16 lead with 4:17 left in the half.



Shelton State owned the boards. At one point on their final two possession, the Lady Bucs attempted and missed 11 straight shots. For the game, Shelton State outrebounded the Lady Cardinals 47-36.



The Lady Bucs were up 39-24 at the half.



The Lady Cardinals returned to the floor in the second half with far more energy than at any point the first 20 minutes. They got the Shelton State lead down to 10, 39-29, on a pair of Darika Hill free throws and Hill three-pointer.

But Shelton State went on an 11-0 run in which four different players scored to prevent TVCC from shifting momentum. The Lady Cardinals got within 11, 52-41, two minutes later, but never any closer.

TVCC was led by its three sophomores. Stephanie Madden had 15 points and nine rebounds. Ashley Walker finished with 14 — all late in the game. Hill netted 12.

Darnisha Lyles was Shelton State's top gun with 19 points. Margaret Bell and Guzzardo tallied 13 each and Tucker 12.

Both teams hit seven three-pointers, but the Lady Bucs outshot TVCC 31-23 from the floor and was 12-of-17 from the free throw line.

TVCC turned the ball over 22 times. The Lady Bucs had 12 turnovers.

The Lady Cardinals played without 6-3 freshman post Jasmine Nelson. She suffered a knee injury less than 30 seconds into Thursday's 68-64 win over Georgia Perimeter.



LADY BUCS 81, LADY CARDS 60



SHELTON STATE (81) -- Lauren Tucker 12; Margaret Bell 13; Alya Guzzardo 13; Darnisha Lyles 19; Joi Walker 3; China Antoine 2; Carmesha Bullard 9; Marquisha Loper 10



TVCC (60) -- Brittany Brumfield 2; Shareese Ulis 3; DeShawna Banks 7; Darika hill 12; Brianna Goss 4; Ashley Walker 14; Stephanie Madden 15; Ebony Black 2



Halftime Score: Shelton State 39, TVCC 24



Three-Pointers: Shelton State 7-27 -- Tucker (2), Bullard (2), Loper (2), Guzzardo. TVCC 7-29 -- Walker (3), Hill (2), Ulis, Banks



Turnovers: Shelton State 12. TVCC 22



Free Throws: Shelton State 12-17. TVCC 6-9



Team Fouls: Shelton State 10. TVCC 14



Fouled Out: Shelton State-none. TVCC-none



Technical Fouls: Shelton State-none. TVCC-none



Season Records: Shelton State 30-5. TVCC 27-7



Estimated Attendance: 400

        

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