UK stumbles at Vandy, still earns double bye in SEC women’s tournament
The University of Kentucky women’s basketball team ended the regular season with a whimper on Sunday afternoon. The 15th-ranked Wildcats struggled on offense and were upset by Vanderbilt 70-64 in Nashville.
Kentucky (20-7 overall, 10-6 SEC) built a 10-point lead in the second half, but it faded in the fourth quarter. Vanderbilt (14-15, 4-11) outscored the Cats 24-9 over the game’s final 10 minutes.
Rhyne Howard scored a game-high 26 points for Kentucky, helping the Cats build a 55-46 lead through three quarters. But Howard was held without a point in the fourth as Vanderbilt stormed back. Her potential game-tying three-pointer rattled out with seven seconds to play.
The Commodores had taken the lead for good, 62-61, on a jumper by Mariella Fasoula with just under three minutes left. Fasoula scored a team-high 24 for Vanderbilt.
It was a tough way for the Cats to begin March. They had won three of four heading into Sunday’s game, the lone loss a hard-fought nine-point setback against No. 1 South Carolina.
“I just didn’t think we were ever able to get it going today,” Wildcats Coach Matthew Mitchell said on the UK Radio Network postgame show. “It seemed like we really lost focus and could not finish the game. Real disappointing day for us.”
In previous games when it’s offense struggled, Kentucky was able to lean on a ferocious defense. That wasn’t the case against the Commodores. Vanderbilt shot 50 percent from the field and turned the ball over just 13 times.
“I just thought our defense was uncharacteristically bad,“ Mitchell said. “We couldn’t generate any turnovers today … It’s what we’ve talked about all year long. When we’re a step slow it makes a huge, huge difference.”
Howard hit five of 11 three-pointers and grabbed six rebounds. KeKe McKinney was the only other Wildcat to reach double figures in scoring. She had 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting and added seven rebounds and two steals.
The silver lining: The loss to Vandy did not hurt the Cats as far as positioning for the Southeastern Conference Tournament. Kentucky would have finished third in the league outright with a win. Instead, the Wildcats finished in a four-way tie for third. A series of tiebreaker procedures went in their favor, giving the Wildcats the No. 3 seed and a double bye into the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.
Kentucky will take the court in Greenville, S.C., on Friday at 8:30 p.m. against Tennessee, Missouri or Mississippi. The Wildcats would not have to face SEC regular-season champ South Carolina until Sunday’s finals.
Despite the setback against Vandy, Mitchell is confident the Cats can rebound and make a run at an SEC championship.
“The team has proven that we are a very dangerous team in this league,” Mitchell said. “It’s like I told the team in (the locker room), everybody had the same opportunity to play the same number of games and we came out third and have a good shot here going to Greenville. We need to get our minds on winning that championship.”
SEC Tournament
When: Wednesday-Sunday
Where: Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C.
Kentucky’s opener: 8:30 p.m. ET Friday in quarterfinals (SEC Network)
Kentucky’s opponent: Sixth-seeded Tennessee, 11th-seeded Missouri or 14th-seeded Ole Miss
This story was originally published March 1, 2020 at 6:00 PM.
