‘I challenged them.’ Kentucky women’s basketball 2-0 after defensive shutdown of Morehead.

The University of Kentucky women’s basketball team leaned on its veterans and a stifling defense to take down an in-state rival on Friday night.

Maddie Scherr, Blair Green and Robyn Benton scored in double figures, and the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team improved to 2-0 on the young season with a 73-48 victory over Morehead State in Memorial Coliseum.

Kentucky opened the game with a 13-0 run, forced 30 turnovers and limited the Eagles to 32.7 percent shooting from the field.

The Eagles, in their second season under head coach Cayla Petree, fell to 0-2. Sophie Benharouga led Morehead State with 17 points, the only Eagle to score in double figures.

Scherr, who transferred to the Wildcats this past offseason from Oregon, led the Wildcats with 14 points. Green, playing her second game after missing all of last season with a ruptured Achilles, finished with 13 points. Benton, one of five holdovers from last season’s UK SEC Tournament championship team, added 11 points and six steals.

Scherr toyed with a triple-double Friday night, producing nine assists and six rebounds to go along with her 14 points. She also blocked three shots.

“A huge part of everyone’s game is the mental game, so I think I kind of came in this year with that confidence,” said Scherr, Kentucky’s 2020 Miss Basketball at Ryle High School. “In knowing (that) I gotta keep reminding myself, you know, even if that’s during the game, keep shooting, keep shooting. I got my coaches and my teammates in my ear telling me the same thing.”

Kentucky also got eight points from freshman Amiya Jenkins, last season’s Kentucky Miss Basketball at Anderson County.

South Carolina transfer Eniya Russell had seven points, three assists and two rebounds before leaving the game late in the third quarter with what appeared to be an ankle injury.

The Wildcats improved to 33-4 all-time against Morehead State and have won the past 16 meetings, dating to 1990.

Kentucky was slow to get started offensively. Guard Jada Walker picked up two quick fouls and played only four minutes in the first half, after which the Wildcats led 26-14.

“We missed her in that first half, what she’s able to do on both sides of the basketball,” Kentucky Coach Kyra Elzy said of the sophomore. “She can wreak havoc guarding the basketball but she also plays downhill. We missed her playmaking ability in the first half.”

Walker’s return, and another lineup adjustment by Elzy, sparked a speed and energy in the Wildcats in the third quarter unseen for most of the first half. Kentucky opened the second half with a decisive 18-2 run to expand its lead to 44-16 with 5:37 left in the period.

“I just challenged them defensively (at halftime),” Elzy said. “I didn’t think we were flying around, playing with the energy that we needed to play with. I started Ade (Adebola Adeyeye) in the third quarter. I thought she brought the energy and intensity that we needed defensively. Then Robyn hits a three-pointer and I just felt like it became contagious. It was good to see us make a run. That’s the spark and energy that we need to put together for four quarters, and then we’ll be in business.”

Kentucky generated 38 points off its 30 forced turnovers. The Cats limited the Eagles to 17-for-52 shooting from the field, including 1-for-11 from three-point range. Adeyeye, a transfer from Buffalo, led Kentucky with seven rebounds and also made three steals.

Two areas of concern emerged for Elzy in addition to the injury to Russell. The Wildcats were outrebounded 38-27 by Morehead State, including 13-4 on the offensive glass. Also, the Wildcats made only three of their 11 free throws.

Kentucky made 30 of 58 shots from the field (51.7 percent) and 10 of 23 three-point attempts (43.5 percent). Scherr connected on all four of her three-point tries, tying a career high for makes in a game from beyond the arc.

“We’re looking for transition threes. We’re looking for dribble-drives, kick-outs, open threes — we can knock those down,” Elzy said. “Good to see the ball go in the basket at Memorial Coliseum tonight with 10 threes.”

Both teams took the floor with rosters looking vastly different from last season, when the Wildcats finished 19-12 and won the Southeastern Conference Tournament and Morehead State ended up 1-27.

Kentucky brought in 10 newcomers — including six freshmen and four transfers — to join five holdovers.

Morehead State’s makeover was considerably more extreme.

Only one player returned from last season’s 10-player roster, and 14 newcomers joined her this offseason. The new group includes seven transfers and seven freshmen.

The Eagles’ roster also boasts an international flair it lacked last season. The 2021-22 Eagles had one player from a foreign country. This year’s Morehead State squad has eight, including athletes from Austria, Chile, France, Nigeria, Spain and Taiwan.

Next game

Coastal Carolina at Kentucky

When: 1 p.m. Sunday

TV: SEC Network Plus (online only)

Radio: WLAP-AM 630

Records: Coastal Carolina 0-1, Kentucky 2-0

Series: First meeting

This story was originally published November 11, 2022 at 8:02 PM.