‘We gave up 91 points.’ UK women’s basketball’s defensive struggles continue at Alabama.
Following the Kentucky women’s basketball team’s 91-74 loss at Alabama on Sunday evening, head coach Kyra Elzy made it clear that — regardless of what her players accomplish offensively or how badly they may want to win — defense is a non-negotiable.
“There’s a difference between wanting to win and doing the things it takes to win,” Elzy said. “And the thing it takes, either we need to score 92, or we’re gonna have to buy into the defensive end and get the stops that we need consistently and be able to sustain it.”
For the third time this season, and the third time in five games, the Wildcats have given up at least 90 points. Each of those losses (to Vanderbilt, South Carolina and now Alabama) were decided by, at best, 17 points, and, at worst, 62, and brought Kentucky to a disappointing overall record of 9-11, including 2-5 in Southeastern Conference play.
Against Alabama (16-6, 3-4 SEC), in their 20th game of a rocky, inconsistent season, the Wildcats had their most complete offensive performance against Power Five competition to date; five players — Brooklynn Miles (14), Saniah Tyler (14), Amiya Jenkins (13) Eniya Russell (11) and Maddie Scherr (11) — scored in double figures. Kentucky hadn’t had five double-digit scorers in a game since November in its season-opening victories against Eastern Tennessee State and South Carolina Upstate.
After the Wildcats took a 20-16 lead through the first quarter over the home team, UK appeared confident. In the first 10 minutes in Tuscaloosa, Kentucky shot 61.5% from the field, including 80% from 3-point range, carried largely by Tyler’s perfect 3-for-3 shooting from long range. Kentucky’s shooting percentage peaked in the first period, though, as the team shot 41.2% in the second, including a killer 22.2% in the third and 61.1% in the fourth.
“We shot the ball extremely well,” Elzy said. “But no matter what happens, even if they make a run … we can’t panic offensively. One pass, when we were moving the ball early, pushing the transition, we were scoring. And then when we got down, the ball started sticking, which we got to keep the ball moving.”
Offensively, Elzy said, UK did enough to secure a victory against the Crimson Tide. But, on a team with the phrase “Commit to It” as a core piece of its culture’s foundation, Elzy said she isn’t “for sure” that commitment fully extends to defense at this point in the season.
“We gave up 91 points,” Elzy said. “You know, we just have to be able to sustain for 40 minutes. This league is a gauntlet and it’s hard to play defense, and I think I’m confident that this team wants to win, but we got to be able to do the things that it takes to win on the defensive side. And so, even with having five people in double figures, it’s not enough.”
The Sarah Ashlee Barker show
Through the first half, Alabama graduate guard Sarah Ashlee Barker had nearly half of her team’s 46 points. She finished with a career-high 34 on 12-for-18 shooting from the field and a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line. Additionally, she recorded the third double-double of her career by pulling in 10 rebounds. Barker also tacked on two assists and four steals.
At no point during Barker’s 30 minutes of playing time, even through “starring her” in attempted defensive adjustments, did the Wildcats manage to find a way to combat her efficiency, and Elzy said “she exposed us defensively.”
“Sarah Barker. Tough, physical,” Elzy said. “We gave her 21 — we didn’t give her 21, she scored 21 — in the first half, and I thought her physicality and toughness really drove them today.”
Alabama’s roster features three players averaging double digits in scoring, but, other than Barker and standout freshman Essence Cody, a five-star recruit who had 10 first-half points, the Crimson Tide’s typical contributors weren’t causing the Wildcats many issues. So, when in the second half, the other shoe dropped and the remaining members of Alabama’s core started connecting on offense, UK’s defensive holes were all the more apparent. Barker’s impressive performance was no longer carrying the Crimson Tide, it simply anchored it.
When all was said and done, 10 of the 11 Alabama players to see the floor on Sunday had scored — with Aaliyah Nye (15) and Cody (14) joining Barker in double figures.
And, though Alabama does pose a height mismatch for a notably small UK roster, Elzy said she doesn’t think that plays as large a role as her team’s intensity.
“Well, we’ve always been undersized at Kentucky, that’s nothing new,” Elzy said. “The difference is we haven’t brought the defensive intensity that we need consistently to turn people over and make you play up-tempo, and so we need to get back to that and when we have this season it’s been good to us, so we need to be better there.”
Rebounding woes
Alabama’s offense was only bolstered by its domination of the boards; the Tide outrebounded the Wildcats 47-29. There, too, Barker and Cody had their way with UK, combining for 20 of Alabama’s 47 boards. Elzy said she didn’t like her team’s inconsistent finish when it came to rebounding.
“I thought they were relentless on the boards,” Elzy said. “So I thought they crashed the boards extremely hard. We didn’t finish with a box out consistently, we gave them second and third chances. They had 17 offensive rebounds, which is way too many, but 47-29, we didn’t battle like we needed to battle on the boards, end of the story.”
In addition to Alabama’s 17 offensive rebounds, the Crimson Tide pulled in 30 defensive rebounds to the Wildcats’ 19. Elzy complimented Alabama’s tenacity, and said she thought UK could take that lesson out of Sunday’s loss.
“I think we could take that from them,” Elzy said. “Making sure we’re crashing the boards with four people every time the shot goes up offensively and crashing the boards with five defensively.”
After a disappointing back-to-back losses on the road against Arkansas and Alabama, the Wildcats will look to get back on track at home on Thursday against Mississippi State (16-5, 3-3 SEC) — a team ranked fifth in the SEC in points per game at 76.9 and fifth in rebounds per game at 42.9.
Next game
When: 7 p.m. Thursday
TV: SEC Network+ (online only)
Radio: WLAP-AM 630
Records: Kentucky 9-11 (2-5 SEC), Mississippi State 16-5 (3-3 SEC)
Series: Kentucky leads 31-23
Last meeting: Kentucky lost 77-76 on Jan. 22, 2023, in Starkville, Miss.
