Amiya Jenkins takes advantage of extra minutes with career-best outing

Kentucky Women’s Basketball fell to 2-2 on Sunday after losing to its second ASUN opponent of the season, Florida Gulf Coast University, 59-48.

Despite the fact that sophomore Amiya Jenkins and senior Ajae Petty scored 18 and 15 points, respectively, it wasn’t enough for the ‘Cats to come out on top. The Eagles showed off their no-quit attitudes, shooting 30 three-pointers in Sunday’s game, even though they only made five. Kentucky on the other hand? They seemed lackluster until the fourth quarter. Before then, UK had only scored 31 points compared to FGCU’s 55.

Kentucky started off the game extremely slow, allowing FGCU to go on an 11-0 run to start the first quarter. That was until Jenkins made the first two shots for Kentucky — a layup and a three-pointer — to get her team on the board. Jenkins finished the game with 18 points in 36 minutes, which both led the team and marked her career-highs. She also had six rebounds, an assist, and a steal in the game.

Senior Maddie Scherr is still considered “day-to-day” with an ankle injury, so head coach Kyra Elzy said she challenged Jenkins to fill Scherr’s role ahead of Sunday’s game.

“She [Jenkins] and I talked and, you know, we need her all the time, but we really needed her today,” Elzy said in the postgame press conference. “To attack, go downhill, get to her mid-range jumper. I told her, ‘Don’t worry about mistakes, we’re just going to play the next one.'”

Jenkins had some mistakes in Sunday’s game though, going 7-17 from the field and committing three turnovers. But her confidence never seemed to waver. Like Elzy said, “We’re just going to play the next one.” Jenkins kept shooting, kept rebounding, and kept playing hard throughout the matchup. The 6-foot guard will definitely be a crucial piece for Kentucky as they head into the rest of the season.

Meanwhile, Petty recorded her third double-double of the season and her second straight, posting 15 points and 13 rebounds. The senior forward also added two blocks, one assist, and one steal. Petty is continuing to do her job as Kentucky’s leading scorer, averaging 16.3 points per game despite being triple-teamed in Sunday’s matchup.

If it weren’t for Kentucky’s slow start and lack of tough defense, the ‘Cats definitely could’ve beaten FGCU. The Eagles scored 28 of their points off of Kentucky’s 18 turnovers. Kentucky only scored 14 points off of FGCU’s 12 turnovers. The difference in Sunday’s game was FGCU capitalizing off of turnovers and the Wildcats slow defense.

Although the results weren’t what Kentucky wanted, it could be what they needed. Using this game as motivation going into this week’s Paradise Jam will be crucial as the ‘Cats face No. 5 Colorado, No. 14 NC State, and Cincinnati. Maybe getting beaten by the second ASUN team in a row will be a wake-up call for Elzy and her team. They will need to be tough and play the entire 40 minutes of every game if they want to be more successful than last season’s 12-19 disaster.

The Wildcats are back in action against No. 14 NC State for a Thanksgiving game on Thursday, Nov. 23, at 3:15 p.m. EST. It will be the first of a three-game, three-day stretch at the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel for press conferences, interviews, original shows, fan features, and exclusive content.