Girls Basketball Drops Sectional Vs. Green, Finishes 19-4

By Leopard Nation · Published February 13, 2016 · Updated June 22, 2017

Sarah Lairson Louisville Leopards Girls Basketball Tournament Vs. Green Bulldogs

Green 57, Louisville 40

The #6 Seed Louisville Leopards Girls Varsity Basketball team fell to the visiting #7 Seed Green Bulldogs 57-40 Saturday Afternoon in the DI Walsh University Sectional Semifinals. With the loss, Louisville finishes the 2015-16 season with an overall record of 19-4.

Emily Hollifield led the Leopards with a game-high 15 points and Sabryna Benzel also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with 9 points. Sarah Lairson also added 8 points and Abby Beaver dished out 4 assists for Louisville.

The two teams battled back and forth into the third quarter. The Leopards would go ahead 29-26 with 6:58 left in the third quarter via a lay-in by Hollifield plus a free throw after being fouled on the play. Louisville would fail to score again in the period as Green would shut them out for 7:39 of game-time during a 13-0 run.

Any hope of a Leopard comeback was foiled by the Bulldogs who entered the bonus early on in the final period. Green would make 14 of 22 free throws in the final frame to seal the deal.

Jenna Trainer scored 11 of her 13 points in the fourth quarter to ice the game for Green who improves to 11-12 on the season. Savanna Maynard also scored a team-high 14 points, grabbed a team-high 9 boards, & had 2 blocks, Abbie Pearce scored 11 points & recorded 4 assists, and Madison Jackson also pulled down 9 boards & broke double digits with 10 points for the Bulldogs.

The battle on the glass was even between the both teams as each grabbed 30 rebounds a piece. Green shot 40% (16 of 40) from the field compared to Louisville who shot 30% (17 of 56) from the floor. The charity stride is what determined the game though as the Bulldogs made 23 of 33 (69%) shots from the line, while the Leopards converted just 5 of 13 (38%) free throws.

With the loss, Green has now defeated Louisville in 4 of their past 5 meetings against each other. The Bulldogs now lead the all-time series 5-3, which includes a 2-1 mark in tournament games. The Lady Leopards have now lost 6 straight tournament games and fall to 42-40 all-time in state tournament play.

Green will travel to Perry to take on the 4th seeded Panthers on Thursday, February 18 at 7:00 PM in the DI Walsh University Sectional Finals.