By Joshua Huff

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Dayton turnovers, foul trouble and 29 points from UK guard Makayla Epps were not enough to derail a Flyers team that shot 61 percent from three and 57 percent from the field to bring UK’s season to an end, 99-94, in the NCAA Tournament.

Though the Cats won the turnover margin 24-5 and points in the paint margin 40-24, the inability to contain Dayton’s Ally Malott and Amber Deane doomed UK, which was already without the services of suspended senior forward Azia Bishop.

The game went as head coach Matthew Mitchell said it would on Friday: a fast-paced contest between two talented offensive teams. The missing component for UK was the lack of consistency and passion, though.

“Malott had a fantastic day and Deane had a fantastic day,” Mitchell said. “We didn’t ever seem to have that fire in our belly to advance. Dayton beat us.”

Malott and Deane combined for 51 of Dayton’s 99 points, but it was the contribution of the Flyer’s bench that helped erase an eight-point UK lead with 12 minutes remaining in the game. Dayton had 33 bench points compared to UK’s 21.

“It speaks to the kids who came off the bench,” Dayton head coach Jim Jabir said. “A lot of people contributed in a lot of ways.”

After UK pulled ahead by eight points, the Flyers rallied behind clutch free throw shooting and back-to-back threes from Malott and Deane with 10 minutes left to pull within two. From there out, it was a back and forth game that saw nine lead changes.

But missed free throws and missed opportunities hampered UK down the stretch.

“It’s mental breakdowns and you just let them back in it,” Mitchell said. “We could’ve had some double-digit leads, we could’ve had a six-point lead with a missed layup off a steal … it was a tough game.”

The loss is a tough pill for UK to swallow after Dayton had three players foul out and two others with four fouls. The Flyers refused to back down though, using the dribble-drive to kick it back out to the perimeter, as they were 11-for-18 from three.

“If you just let them drive the ball and don’t stop them getting to the rim, they can really hurt you,” Mitchell said.

With Bishop on the bench, UK needed a big game from its post players. Senior forward Jelleah Sidney stepped up with nine points and freshman forward Alexis Jennings had eight points, but UK had no answer for Dayton’s perimeter game. Time and again, the Flyers made numerous clutch shots, with the two biggest coming with less than five minutes in the game that sealed it for Dayton.

“We gave them way too many open threes all day long,” Mitchell said. “They did a great job of making them.”

With the loss, UK is knocked out of the NCAA Tournament ending what was a turbulent season for the Cats. A season summed up with the suspension of Bishop due to violation of team rules.

“It was an interesting situation out there today,” Mitchell said. “With our lack of tenacity. It’s funny, all year, there are just a few games where you can tell by their body language … it just didn’t happen.”