What’s going on with Kentucky women’s basketball?
The Kentucky women’s basketball team lost its eighth straight game on Sunday, shooting just 20.4 percent in a 56-42 home loss to Georgia.
After an 8-1 start, the Cats are now 8-9 overall and 0-3 in the SEC heading into Thursday’s game at Florida, who is 8-8 overall and 0-3 in the SEC.
So what’s happened to Matthew Mitchell’s team? Now in his 11th season as the UK coach, Mitchell has guided the Cats to eight straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including Elite Eight finishes in 2012 and 2013. His team has not posted a losing record in conference play since 2008-09, his second season on the job. That streak appears in jeopardy this year.
To get some answers I talked with my Herald-Leader colleague Jennifer Smith, who covers UK hoops. We talked about the factors leading up to the fall, the prospects for a turnaround this season and the future of the program.
Jennifer also talked to Georgia coach Joni Taylor about the UK program and how the problems it faces are similar to the one Taylor faced in trying to turn the Bulldogs around.
You can find the Herald-Leader podcasts on Soundcloud and iTunes. Leave us a review and rating on iTunes. And e-mail me with any feedback you have about these podcasts.
Check out all of Jennifer’s UK women’s basketball coverage.
She also does a great job covering UK football, which received some good news on Monday.
You can check out my podcast with Mark Story earlier this week where we discuss UK football and basketball, as well as the women’s team.
John Clay: 859-231-3226, @johnclayiv
SEC women’s basketball standings
Team | SEC | Overall | Home | Road | Neutral |
Mississippi State | 3-0 | 17-0 | 10-0 | 3-0 | 4-0 |
Tennessee | 3-0 | 15-0 | 9-0 | 3-0 | 3-0 |
Missouri | 2-1 | 14-2 | 7-1 | 3-0 | 4-1 |
Georgia | 2-1 | 14-2 | 8-2 | 6-0 | 0-0 |
South Carolina | 2-1 | 13-2 | 7-0 | 4-1 | 2-1 |
Texas A&M | 2-1 | 13-4 | 9-2 | 3-1 | 1-1 |
Alabama | 2-1 | 12-4 | 8-1 | 4-1 | 0-2 |
LSU | 2-1 | 10-4 | 5-1 | 4-2 | 1-1 |
Ole Miss | 1-2 | 11-5 | 9-1 | 1-3 | 1-1 |
Auburn | 1-2 | 10-5 | 7-1 | 2-2 | 1-2 |
Arkansas | 1-2 | 10-6 | 8-1 | 1-5 | 1-0 |
Florida | 0-3 | 8-8 | 5-5 | 2-2 | 1-1 |
Kentucky | 0-3 | 8-9 | 6-4 | 2-5 | 0-0 |
Vanderbilt | 0-3 | 4-13 | 2-6 | 2-5 | 0-2 |
Kentucky women’s basketball 2017-18
Date | Opponent | UK | Opp | Dec | Rec | SEC |
11/10 | Sacramento St | 101 | 70 | W | 1-0 | |
11/12 | Gardner-Webb | 72 | 34 | W | 2-0 | |
11/16 | @Montana | 71 | 54 | W | 3-0 | |
11/19 | @Washington St | 73 | 68 | W | 4-0 | |
11/22 | Morehead State | 86 | 53 | W | 5-0 | |
11/26 | Marshall | 69 | 39 | W | 6-0 | |
11/30 | @Baylor | 63 | 90 | L | 6-1 | |
12/3 | Tenn Tech | 82 | 54 | W | 7-1 | |
12/5 | Evansville | 100 | 62 | W | 8-1 | |
12/8 | @Florida Gulf Coast | 64 | 70 | L | 8-2 | |
12/10 | @Miami | 54 | 65 | L | 8-3 | |
12/17 | Louisville | 63 | 87 | L | 8-4 | |
12/21 | California | 52 | 62 | L | 8-5 | |
12/28 | @Middle Tenn | 57 | 62 | L | 8-6 | |
12/31 | Tennessee | 49 | 63 | L | 8-7 | 0-1 |
1/4 | @Texas A&M | 70 | 74 | L | 8-8 | 0-2 |
1/7 | Georgia | 42 | 56 | L | 8-9 | 0-3 |
1/11 | @Florida | |||||
1/15 | @Vanderbilt | |||||
1/21 | South Carolina | |||||
1/25 | Alabama | |||||
1/29 | @Arkansas | |||||
2/1 | Auburn | |||||
2/4 | LSU | |||||
2/8 | @Missouri | |||||
2/11 | @Miss State | |||||
2/15 | Arkansas | |||||
2/18 | @South Carolina | |||||
2/22 | @Ole Miss | |||||
2/25 | Miss State |