Mathies guides UK Hoops to Sweet 16
March 27, 2013
By Boyd Hayes | @KernelHayes
After scoring five points with no field goals in a win over Navy on Sunday, UK senior guard A’dia Mathies scored a career-high 34 points Tuesday to push No. 2-seed UK Hoops past No. 7-seed Dayton, 84-70.
The Cats advanced to their third Sweet 16 appearance in four seasons.
They will face No. 6 seed Delaware on Saturday for a spot in the Elite Eight.
Mathies, the AP SEC Player of the Year and a Wooden Award finalist, is not new to 30-point-plus performances in the NCAA Tournament.
As a freshman, she set a UK NCAA Tournament record, scoring 32 points against Liberty in the first round.
Against the Flyers, Mathies’ 15 first-half points and Dayton’s 14 turnovers helped the Cats to a 40-31 halftime lead.
UK had led by as much as 16 points, but a 9-2 Dayton run helped close the gap before the halftime buzzer.
Junior center DeNesha Stallworth, UK’s second leading scorer, spent much of the first half on the bench with two personal fouls.
Five minutes into the second half, Dayton had cut UK’s lead to three.
As the Cats tried to pull away, the Flyers momentarily hung with them and were within two points of the Cats before an 11-2 UK run put the Cats up, 57-46, with 10:59 to play.
Once the Cats regained control of the game, they firmly kept it and the final buzzer sounded, signaling UK the victors, 84-70.
Mathies set two career highs on the night, hitting six 3-point field goals and 13 field goals total.
She shot 6-of-7 (85.7 percent) from 3-point range, and 13-of-17 (76.5 percent) overall.
Joining Mathies in double-digit scoring were Stallworth (14 points and five rebounds), and sophomore guards Bria Goss (11 points) and Jennifer O’Neill (11 points and five assists).
Junior forward Samarie Walker added seven rebounds for the Cats.
Dayton sophomore guard Andrea Hoover scored 22 points and pulled down six rebounds for the Flyers, as junior center Cassie Sant scored 13 points.
Senior guard Samantha MacKay scored 12 points, and sophomore forward Ally Malott scored 10 points, pulled in eight rebounds, and added five assists and four steals.
UK’s Sweet 16 clash with Delaware will be played in Bridgeport, Conn., on Saturday.
The time of the tip is to be announced.