FINAL: Kentucky WBB falls to NC State 84-55 in Paradise Jam opener

Just like Kentucky’s previous outing against the FGCU Eagles, Thursday’s game was decided by the conclusion of the first quarter. The Wolfpack were up 31-16 after 10 minutes of play, and things quickly went from bad to worse. A lot worse.

Kentucky was absolutely rocked by No. 10 NC State on Thanksgiving Day, losing 84-55 in the Paradise Jam opener down in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Wolfpack advanced to 5-0 on the year, while the Lady ‘Cats fell to 2-3. Head coach Kyra Elzy and her team are in the midst of a three-game skid. Now, they have to prepare to take on No. 3 Colorado in less than 24 hours. A quick, grueling turnaround for Kentucky.

NC State won the rebounding battle 45-28. Coming into the game, it was going to be imperative that Kentucky was competitive on the boards. The Wolfpack are among the best teams in the nation when it comes to rebounding, and that held true again on Thanksgiving. It was a blowout from the first possession until the final buzzer.

Final. pic.twitter.com/17Wj8nPJZq

— Kentucky Women’s Basketball (@KentuckyWBB) November 23, 2023

UK was hardly competitive against a team that already has a top-5 win (No. 2 UConn) under its belt this season. The rebounding was the biggest glaring difference, but the shooting was just as bad. Kentucky didn’t make its 10th shot of the game until the 8:39 mark in the fourth quarter. They finished the first half making just one of their last 17 shots.

On top of Kentucky missing almost every shot they took, NC State made almost every shot they took. The Wolfpack went 34-62 (54.8%) from the field and 7-19 from deep (36.8%). It was just an awful, awful day of basketball for UK. Ajae Petty, Eniya Russell, and Saniah Tyler led the way for the ‘Cats in the scoring column with nine points apiece.

If there was anything positive to take away from Thursday’s game, it was the return of senior guard Maddie Scherr. Scherr missed the two previous games with an ankle injury she suffered against USC Upstate.

However, she did not make much of an impact against NC State. Scherr finished with just seven points on 2-10 (20%) shooting. To be fair, no one really made much of a positive impact for Kentucky. The ‘Cats will now face the No. 3 Colorado Buffaloes on Friday at 1:00 p.m. EST. Hopefully, UK can put up a better fight than they did against the Wolfpack.