LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Central Arkansas couldn't have asked for a better performance to start off its debut in the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship, as the 14th-seeded Sugar Bears had 3rd-seeded Louisville down by as many as six in a first quarter that ended with the Sugar Bears up 25-22.

But unfortunately for the upset-minded Sugar Bears (28-4), the 8th-ranked Cardinals (26-7) – on their home floor – overpowered the smaller Central Arkansas team behind ACC Player of the Year Myisha Hines-Allen, outscoring the Sugar Bears 29-9 in the period to pull away before eventually winning 87-60 in front of 5,823 at the KFC Yum! Center in the Tournament's opening round.

"I just want to say this has been an amazing experience for our program," said Central Arkansas head coach Sandra Rushing. "I'm really, really proud of these young ladies. They fought extremely hard all year long. I'm proud of them this afternoon. Looking at my seniors, they laid the foundation. This team has just supported each other, supported the coaching staff. Again, just really, really proud of them."

The loss keeps 14 seeds winless all-time against 3 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, and ends the Sugar Bears' historic season with a program record 28 wins and first Southland Conference tournament championship among many other superlatives.

"I'd like to congratulate Central Arkansas on a great season," said Louisville head coach Jeff Walz. "It's quite an accomplishment to go 28-4 on the year. I was very, very impressed with their ballclub, with how hard they fought, how scrappy they were. A team that just never quits, and that's one thing we tried to explain to our kids before the game started. … They came out, I thought, for a first period and punched us in the nose. I was just really impressed with them. I told Coach [Rushing] as we shook hands there at the end, that I was just really impressed with her ball club, what she does with them. I think they're well coached. And I told all the kids as we went by just how impressed we were with how hard they play. You know, it was a very, very good basketball team, and there is a reason they won their league, and you can see that."
 

Sophomore Taylor Baudoin  led Central Arkansas with 13 points and 10 rebounds – the first double-double for a Southland Conference player in the NCAA Tournament since McNeese State's Martika Hull in 2012, and Baudoin's team-leading fifth of the season, matching her 13 and 10 performance earlier this season at Tennessee.

In her final game at Central Arkansas, senior Kendara Watts had 12 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists for the Sugar Bears, while Jameka Watkins wrapped up her four years in a Sugar Bear uniform with a team-high 6 assists and 4 rebounds. Senior forward Taya Novokreshchenova finished her Central Arkansas career with 2 points in 3 minutes of action, knocking down her first shot after checking into the game late in the final quarter.

First team All-Southland guard Maggie Proffitt added 11 points, and junior Sandy Jackson had 9 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists. In all, Central Arkansas recorded 14 assists on its 23 field goals.

The Cardinals distanced themselves largely on the shoulders of their go-to player in Hines-Allen, who had 19 of her game-high 25 points in the first half, including 11 in the second quarter. The 6-foot-2 sophomore shot 12 of 17 from the field, and led the Cardinals with 7 rebounds.

After giving up 25 to the Sugar Bears in the first quarter – their highest 1st-quarter total allowed all season – Louisville took over in the second quarter and closed out the first half on a 19-2 run, pulling away after the Sugar Bears had fallen into foul trouble with Proffitt and Baudoin on the bench after being whistled for two and three fouls, respectively. 
 

After shooting 52.9 percent in the first quarter with 9 field goals, the Sugar Bears struggled to match that offensive output the rest of the way as they were held to 14 field goals over the final three quarters.

The win was the ninth consecutive opening-round NCAA Tournament win for the Cardinals, who get their 26th win of the season for their fourth straight year to win at least 26.

In the loss, the Sugar Bears scored their most points in a Division I postseason tournament game after putting up 51 against Oklahoma State in the 2012 WNIT and 54 against UAB in the 2011 WBI. The 60 points is the most for a Southland team in the NCAA Tournament since Oral Roberts' 62 in 2013.

"This was our first time on the big stage, but we sure would like to get back here," Rushing said. "This is great for our program that we can go back and we'll break down the film and compare. We know where we want to be at Central Arkansas, and it takes time. But these players have laid the foundation. They've been here. We've got to continue to work. I think UCA is a great place and a great school. If we can get people on campus, we can sell it. These young ladies right here are just so wonderful to be around. They bleed purple."