Wounded Kentucky women’s basketball team drops to bottom of SEC after loss to Texas A&M

The current reality that Kentucky women’s basketball finds itself in is littered with injury, illness and a terrible inability to make the ball go into the basket.

That combination is precisely how the Wildcats have fallen to their lowest of lows, losing 74-67 on Thursday night at Texas A&M. At 2-13 in Southeastern Conference play, Kentucky and the Aggies now share last place in the league with one game remaining in the regular season.

The loss was the sixth in a row and the eighth in nine games for Kentucky, which fell to 10-17 overall. Previously doomed to their first losing regular season since 2017-18, the Cats are now exploring depths not seen since the 2003-04 team finished 11-17 overall and 3-11 in SEC play. No Kentucky team has won fewer than 11 games since the 2001-02 Cats wound up 9-20 and 1-13.

On Thursday night, Texas A&M (7-18, 2-13) found a way to answer every time UK challenged. Even when a momentum shift seemed to be brewing, UK couldn’t get out of its own way.

This concept was perfectly encapsulated when, with three-and-a-half minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Adebola Adeyeye grabbed a defensive rebound. She passed it in transition to Blair Green, only for Green to lose the location of the ball. Texas A&M guard Mya Petticord, however, knew precisely where the ball was. Petticord gained possession and hit Janiah Barker for a jumper to extend the Aggies’ lead to 66-54.

Kentucky trailed 21-16 after one quarter and 36-30 at halftime — never really in it but never really out of it.

The Wildcats failed to score much, shooting 41 percent; struggled to rebound, losing the board battle 46-29; and rarely defended, allowing the Aggies 38 points in the paint. Kentucky was down to two regular post players in Adeyeye and Ajae Petty after starting forward Nyah Leveretter tore an ACL on Sunday.

Petty, who missed Sunday’s game with an ankle injury, kept UK competitive Thursday with 10 points, seven boards and four steals.

“I thought Petty stepped up,” Kentucky head coach Kyra Elzy said. “... I thought she answered the call. We needed another post to step up with Nyah. I think, what we still need to work on is, obviously we miss her post defense, her ability to guard multiple people, and then, when we get in foul trouble with two posts, that does pose a problem. We’ll definitely miss her in the rotation.”

Adeyeye ended up with two points and four rebounds before fouling out. For several games now, foul trouble has hindered the Wildcats. Elzy said that the team has taken time in practice to emphasize clean defense.

“We blow the whistle in practice non-stop,” Elzy explained. “So they have a feel when we’re playing defense aggressively but we need to be smart. We have several managers, coaches. We’re constantly calling fouls, keeping up with fouls. So we need to be aggressive, but we also have to be disciplined.”

Texas A&M, the SEC’s lowest-scoring team at 54 points per game, enjoyed a rare offensive explosion against Kentucky. Three Aggies posted double-doubles in Kay Kay Green (14 points, 10 assists), Sahara Jones (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Aaliyah Patty (12 points and 15 rebounds), and Barker also scored in double figures (16 points).

For the second game in a row, Elzy believes the Cats’ defense was the main factor in their loss.

“We continue to let our offense affect our defense,” Elzy said. “I thought we got some good shots against the zone. They weren’t going. We just have to find a way to hang in defensively when the shot’s not going. We got out-rebounded by 17. I thought they pursued the ball. We’ve gotta find a body, go get the rebound so we can get the rebound and run. That was one of our game plans, transition defense. No matter what is happening, we have to sell out defensively.”

Kentucky’s Robyn Benton, who came in off the bench, led all scorers with 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field, including 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. Maddie Scherr, who missed UK’s previous two games due to illness, returned to score 18 points.

“It was good to have Maddie back,” Elzy said. “She does bring us a calmness and a steadiness offensively, but she brings a competitive spirit. I’m just glad to see that she’s healthy, being able to make it through a game, which she hadn’t been able to do. So, grateful that she’s in a healthy spot.”

With Senior Day against Tennessee at Memorial Coliseum on Sunday, UK will have one final regular season opportunity to find answers ahead of next week’s SEC Tournament.

Next game

Tennessee at Kentucky

When: 2 p.m. Sunday

TV: SEC Network

Radio: WLAP-AM 630

Records: Tennessee 20-10 (12-3 SEC), Kentucky 10-17 (2-13)

Series: Tennessee leads 57-16

Last meeting: Kentucky won 83-74 on March 5, 2022, in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament at Nashville

This story was originally published February 23, 2023 at 10:04 PM.