One bad quarter dooms Kentucky women in hard-fought SEC-opening defeat at Missouri

On the same basketball court where Kentucky’s men’s team lacked grit, timely defense and crisp offense one night earlier, Kentucky’s women’s team displayed a capacity for all three elements Thursday night in Columbia, Mo.

However, at the end of the game the result was the same: a defeat in a Southeastern Conference opener.

Where Kentucky’s men seemed dazed and confused after a 14-point defeat, Kentucky’s women departed Thursday night’s 74-71 loss just as disappointed but with reason for hope.

After finishing non-conference play as one of the nation’s least-productive three-point shooting teams, the Wildcats made 10 from beyond the arc on Thursday night, matching their season high. Defensively, UK forced Missouri into 25 turnovers and scored 36 points — more than half its total — off those Tigers miscues. Kentucky even shored up its troublesome free throw shooting, sinking 13 of 15 attempts.

One bad quarter was the Cats’ undoing Thursday night. As a result, UK’s 10-game Southeastern Conference winning streak dating to last season came to an end.

Notorious for slow starts this season, Kentucky (8-5 overall, 0-1 SEC) opened with a bang Thursday night. Blair Green scored eight points to power the Cats to a 19-10 lead after the first 10 minutes.

In the second quarter, Missouri outscored Kentucky 29-11, creating a deficit from which the Wildcats never recovered. UK went ice cold from the field (3-for-14) just as the Tigers caught fire. Missouri made five three-pointers and 10 of 11 free throw-attempts in the quarter. At halftime, Missouri led 39-30.

Outside those fateful 10 minutes, the Wildcats outscored the Tigers 60-45.

In the second half, Kentucky repeatedly carved into Missouri’s lead but was never able to take the lead. The Cats closed within 43-41 in the third quarter but trailed 58-52 with 10 minutes left to play. The fourth quarter was more of the same until Kentucky at last knotted the score 66-66 when Jada Walker capped a 10-0 UK run with a driving layup with 3:06 to play.

Twice in the final three minutes, the Wildcats had the ball with the chance to take the lead but came up empty. The Tigers (12-2 overall, 1-0 SEC) made several clutch free throws in the closing moments to secure the victory.

The Cats’ final gasp came with 3.4 seconds to go. Robyn Benton made the first of two free throws to close the gap to 73-71 then intentionally missed the second in hopes of creating a game-tying put-back opportunity. However, Benton’s attempt fell harmlessly out of bounds.

Benton led all scorers with a season-high 22 points and contributed six steals defensively. Walker added 15 points and six assists but committed five turnovers. Green ended up with 13 points and Maddie Scherr added 11 points to go along with five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Kentucky Coach Kyra Elzy kept the Wildcats’ rotation tight for the SEC opener, with seven players soaking up the bulk of the minutes.

Hayley Frank and Lauren Hansen scored 20 and 18 points, respectively, to lead Missouri, which outscored Kentucky 32-18 in the paint and outrebounded the Wildcats 41-27.

“This was a big win for us,” Missouri Coach Robin Pingeton said afterward. “I’m really proud of our girls. The fact that we got down early and showed some resiliency and mental toughness to be able to stay in the fight. ... Just the way we battled together.”

Pingeton made note of the fact Kentucky is operating with 10 new players this season, combining six freshmen with four transfers and five holdovers.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for Kentucky,” the Missouri coach said. “I think Kyra’s done an incredible job with that program. I think they’re still finding their identity a little bit with so many from the transfer portal, but she does a tremendous job.”

Kentucky will get another crack at Missouri on Jan. 29 when the Tigers visit Memorial Coliseum.

New Year’s Day basketball

On Sunday, 24th-ranked Arkansas visits Memorial Coliseum for a rare New Year’s Day game against the Wildcats.

The 2 p.m. tip-off will be Kentucky’s first New Year’s Day game since 2016-17 and its sixth in the history of the program.

The Wildcats are 4-2 all-time on the holiday, having defeated Florida (2011-12), Mississippi Valley State (2009-10), North Carolina A&T (2008-09) and Morehead State (1980-81) and lost to Tennessee (2016-17) and Xavier (2007-08).

Scouting the Razorbacks

Kentucky defeated Arkansas 78-55 in Fayetteville, Ark., last season in the teams’ only meeting of 2021-22. Since that time, the Wildcats have undergone a nearly complete roster transformation while the Razorbacks have been a model of stability.

Eleven players have returned this season from last season’s Arkansas squad that finished 18-14 overall and 7-9 in the SEC and lost in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

Coach Mike Neighbors’ squad is 13-3 overall and 0-1 in the SEC this season after losing its league opener against No. 9 LSU 69-45 on Thursday night in Fayetteville.

Entering Thursday night, 5-foot-7 sophomore guard Samara Spencer led four Razorbacks averaging double-figure scoring at 16.3 points per game, joined by 6-foot-2 senior Erynn Barnum (15.8), 5-8 senior Makayla Daniels (14.1) and 6-1 senior Chrissy Carr (11.4).

Arkansas won its first 13 games this season before dropping back-to-back games in the San Diego Invitational to No. 17 Oregon on Dec. 20 and South Florida on Dec. 21.

Next game

No. 24 Arkansas at Kentucky

When: 2 p.m. Sunday

TV: SEC Network Plus (online only)

Radio: WLAP-AM 630

Records: Arkansas 13-3 (0-1 SEC), Kentucky 8-5 (0-1)

Series: Kentucky leads 26-14

Last meeting: Kentucky won 78-55 on Feb. 20, 2022, at Fayetteville, Ark.

This story was originally published December 30, 2022 at 12:13 AM.