No. 8 Kentucky women’s basketball underwhelms in loss to No. 3 Texas
Kenny Brooks and the No. 8 Kentucky Wildcats suffered their first home loss of the season Thursday night, falling 67-49 to No. 3 Texas in Memorial Coliseum.
Following a performance Brooks thought lacked toughness in the loss to Ole Miss on Monday, the Wildcats (19-4, 8-3 SEC) appeared focused and ready at the start of the top-10 matchup.
In the end, however, Kentucky was badly beaten on the boards for the second game in a row. In Monday’s 66-57 loss at unranked Ole Miss, the Rebels beat the Cats 54-33 on the glass and grabbed 27 offensive rebounds to Kentucky’s four. Thursday night was more of the same, the Longhorns outrebounding UK 45-28, including 20-5 on the offensive end. As a result. Texas outscored Kentucky 21-8 in second-chance points.
Though Kentucky shot just 30% (6-of-20) in the opening quarter, UK held the Longhorns — fresh off their upset of South Carolina on Sunday — to just 38.5% (5-of-13) shooting, and trailed by a single possession after the first 10 minutes.
After opening the second period on a 6-1 scoring run, the Wildcats struggled to make a field goal. Brooks went deeper into his rotation than he typically does, calling on junior guard Saniah Tyler and freshmen Lexi Blue and Clara Silva to help supplement UK’s offense. However, the Wildcats finished the second period by making just one of its final 11 field goal attempts.
Despite holding Texas leading scorer Madison Booker without points for the majority of the first half, she took control in the remaining 1:09; Booker scored on three consecutive possessions to give the Longhorns a 17-11 advantage in second-quarter points and set them up with a 33-25 lead at the half.
Texas (25-2, 11-1 SEC) continued exercising its control in the second half, and took its first double-digit lead of the game in the midst of a 6-0 scoring run early in the third quarter. Though a clutch 3-pointer from graduate guard Dazia Lawrence with just under six minutes to play restored the single-digit deficit, Texas answered with another 6-0 run, and limited Kentucky to zero field goals over a 5 1/2-minute span while ballooning its lead to as many as 22.
Through three quarters, only three Wildcats — Lawrence, Tyler, junior forward Teonni Key and All-America point guard Georgia Amoore — had scored. Though second-leading scorer Clara Strack fouled out in the first minute of the fourth period, Kentucky’s offense began to gel; the Wildcats opened the final period with 10 consecutive points to cut the deficit to 12 and force a Texas timeout. The Longhorns answered with a scoring run of their own, delivering 10 straight points to push their lead back to 20 and put the game away.
Amoore led Kentucky with 14 points. Key finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Lawrence added 11 points.
Booker and backup post Kyla Oldacre led the way for the Longhorns, each scoring 19 points. Starting post Taylor Jones added 15.
Next game
Georgia at No. 8 Kentucky
What: Alumni Day
When: 2 p.m. Sunday
TV: SEC Network+
Radio: WLAP-AM 630
Records: Kentucky 19-4 (8-3 SEC), Georgia 10-15 (2-9 SEC)
Series: Georgia leads 41-24
Last meeting: Kentucky won 78-64 on Jan. 19, 2025, in Athens, Ga.
This story was originally published February 13, 2025 at 9:14 PM.
