Kentucky picks up its third loss in a week with a 79-57 setback at Vanderbilt
.jpg "Kentucky’s Amiya Jenkins (20) is guarded by Vanderbilt’s Demi Washington on Sunday in Nashville. She had seven points and eight rebounds in the Wildcats’ loss.")
If the Kentucky Wildcats needed a break at the end of a three-game week, Vanderbilt, in theory, seemed like a great draw.
Sunday afternoon’s game brought together two of the bottom three teams in the Southeastern Conference.
Kentucky (10-16, 2-12 SEC) was looking for its first win of the month, attempting to snap a four-game losing skid. Yet it was the Commodores (12-16, 3-11 SEC), on a two-game losing streak themselves, who managed to bounce back with a 79-57 win in Nashville on their Senior Day.
UK had to play without starting guard Maddie Scherr, who remains sidelined by illness and is considered day-to-day.
Additionally, reserve post player Ajae Petty was also ruled out prior to tipoff with an ankle injury. And freshman Kennedy Cambridge also did not take the floor. UK head coach Kyra Elzy said postgame that Cambridge is not injured, and that it was a “coach’s decision.”
Robyn Benton did, however, make her return to the starting lineup after an ankle sprain sidelined her in Thursday’s 50-40 home loss to Georgia.
Sunday’s game was quite the spectacle. Purely because of the Cats’ complete lack of offensive momentum.
Somehow, Kentucky seemed to have an even tougher time than usual holding on to the ball. In the first half alone, UK was responsible for 15 turnovers. The Wildcats finished with 22, which also happens to be the exact number of UK’s made field goals on the day, shooting 22 of 56 from the field.
UK entered the locker room down only two, 24-22, after a first half that saw the Cats shooting just 31 percent from the field. The Commodores outscored UK 13-7 in the second period.
But things only got worse from there. The two-point deficit quickly became 16 after Vanderbilt opened up the second half on a 14-0 run.
“I thought we did not do a good job of taking care of the ball against their trapping,” Elzy said. “We turned it over, which really had us out of sync offensively. And then, our one-on-one defense, I thought we gave them some straight-line drives, they were able to lay it up and/or get rotational rebounds. Which gave them the double-digit lead.”
And, with 4:47 remaining in the third quarter, starting post player Nyah Leveretter was carried off the floor with an apparent leg injury. It’s difficult, particularly this late in the season, for a team to remain completely healthy and avoid fatigue. But in their third game in one week, the Wildcats didn’t stand a chance.
“Nyah did go down,” Elzy said. “Our medical team is currently evaluating her and that’s where we are at this moment. And, like I told her, ‘we pray for the best, prepare for the worst.’”
Vanderbilt entered the game with only eight available players. Still, Kentucky could not keep up.
Foul trouble plagued both programs. UK post players Adebola Adeyeye and Leveretter had three fouls apiece to end the first half. Starting guard Jada Walker had two.
Benton was ejected from the game with 9:16 remaining in the final quarter following a missed bucket on which Benton felt she was fouled. This is the first game this season in which she’s not scored in double figures. Benton finished with two points, both of those coming from the free-throw line. She was 0 of 7 from the field.
Elzy was also issued a technical foul at that time.
It bears repeating that this was a two-point game at the half, before the Commodores twisted the knife in the second half and outscored the Wildcats 55-35 in the final two quarters.
“We kind of fell apart in the third,” Elzy said. “Tough day. Back to work.”
Three Commodores — Ciaja Harbison (24 points), Marnelle Garraud (23) and Sacha Washington (15) — scored in double figures. Vanderbilt finished the first half with 10 turnovers, and committed half as many after the break.
Adeyeye led the Wildcats in scoring (13) and rebounding (nine). This performance marks the first time she’s led the team in scoring and is also the second time this season she’s scored in double digits.
Freshmen Amiya Jenkins and Zennia Thomas both reached career highs. Jenkins grabbed a career-high eight boards and scored seven points, while Thomas scored a career-high six points and a career-high tying two rebounds.
“We don’t have any excuses.” Elzy said. “We didn’t win. There’s no excuse to it. You’ve gotta go back to work. When you take a team to the floor, whether we have five people, six people or a full roster, the expectation is to win. We’re not doing that right now. So we will continue to evaluate, go back to work and find a way to rally. But there’s never an excuse.”
Next game
Kentucky at Texas A&M
When: 7 p.m. EST Thursday
TV: SEC Network
Radio: WLAP-AM 630
Records: Texas A&M 6-17 (1-12 SEC), Kentucky 10-16 (2-12 SEC)
Series: Texas A&M leads 8-5
Last meeting: Texas A&M won on Feb. 6, 2022, in Lexington
This story was originally published February 19, 2023 at 5:32 PM.
