FINAL: Kentucky WBB takes down Arkansas 73-63 in SEC opener

On Thursday night at Rupp Arena, Kentucky women’s basketball’s Southeastern Conference opener got off to a very, very slow start. But the ending was well, well worth the ugly beginning.

To end the first quarter, Arkansas led the ‘Cats 8-6 as both teams were a combined 5-30 (17%) from the field and 0-6 from three. Additionally, both teams had five turnovers apiece after the first 10 minutes of play. However, during the second quarter, Kentucky managed to go on a 12-0 run to build a 20-10 lead with 2:36 left to go in the half. The Razorbacks would fall behind even more as the score at halftime was 26-14.

All the momentum swayed in favor of the ‘Cats.

Arkansas standout guard Taliah Scott was 1-7 from the field with a whopping two points at halftime. She was also 0-4 from deep. In our Arkansas game preview, we noted that when Taliah Scott is cold, Arkansas as a whole is cold.

That was the case on Thursday night as well. Scott would finish the game with 11 points, going 5-16 (31%) from the field. Arkansas a team shot 33 percent from the field and 4-27 from deep. As a result, Kentucky won the game 73-63. The ‘Cats are now winners of four straight as they now sit at 8-7 on the season and 1-0 in the SEC.

⚡️1-0 in 2024.
⚡️1-0 in the SEC.

LET'S GO CATS. 😻😻😻 pic.twitter.com/xBYKeVIiAB

— Kentucky Women’s Basketball (@KentuckyWBB) January 5, 2024

Ajae Petty looked great against her first SEC foe of the season as she put up yet another double-double to lead the way for Kentucky. Petty had 22 points, going 11-19 (58%) from the field as she grabbed 19 rebounds to round out her performance. The senior big needs to maintain this level of success if Kentucky is going to add more wins to their record by season’s end.

Other than Petty, scoring didn’t come so easy for the ‘Cats at times. Fifth-year senior Emma King hit some big shots to get the ball rolling Kentucky’s way as she would finish with 10 points on 3-5 (60%) shooting. Despite a rough start to her season, King has come around very nicely to contribute to this team.

Maddie Scherr had a rough going as she was in major foul trouble midway through the third quarter. With just 3:07 left in the third, Scherr had four fouls and had to take a seat on the bench. Ultimately, she would foul out with 2:47 left in the game. The senior guard finished with just three points and committed six turnovers. She also didn’t take a single shot from the field.

Hopefully, this was just one bad game from Kentucky’s leader. The good news? UK still beat a tough opponent without a big game from Scherr. Regardless, Kentucky came out on top to get the SEC slate started on a good note.