How Kentucky WBB is using loss at Indiana as learning lesson

Coming off a painful loss against No. 4 Indiana, the Kentucky Women’s Basketball Team is ready to redeem itself. The Wildcats face Winthrop at 2 p.m. this Sunday on the SEC Network+; a perfect canvas to put this week’s hard work on full display.

With a ranked opponent coming up 10 days after the Winthrop contest, Kyra Elzy is doing everything she can to assure her team’s success. The second-year head coach discussed her learning mentality at a news conference on Thursday morning.

Elzy on learning from the loss

“It’s an opportunity to learn and grow. We went back to the fundamentals of defense,” Elzy said.

The fundamental building blocks of defense are exactly what the ‘Cats need after Indiana’s offensive demolition this past Sunday. Kentucky gave up 88 points to the Hoosiers. For reference, the Wildcats didn’t allow an opponent to score 88 points in a single game last season.

🎥 Highlights from the win over No. 13 Kentucky#iuwbb | #DoTheWork pic.twitter.com/9OiSS2nzhP

— Indiana Women’s Basketball (@IndianaWBB) November 15, 2021

Not only did Indiana shine as a team, but individual Hoosiers went off as well. Kentucky allowed three Indiana players to score more than 15 points. While the Hoosiers outplayed Kentucky in many aspects, Elzy noticed two gaping cracks in her team’s foundation.

“Two points of emphasis: Transition defense, our boxing out and 50/50 balls,” Elzy said.

After examining the stat sheet, Elzy is spot-on. Indiana nearly doubled Kentucky’s fast-break points on Sunday evening. Furthermore, Indiana recorded 20 second-chance points compared to Kentucky’s mere 13.

Some fans point to Kentucky’s exhausting stretch of games as the reason behind the Wildcats’ poor performance. After all, Indiana was Kentucky’s third opponent in just six days. With a full week to prepare for Winthrop, Sunday will be a better representation of what the ‘Cats are capable of.

A change of pace for Kentucky WBB

Although Elzy refused to make any excuses for her team’s poor showing against Indiana, she acknowledged contests are certainly easier with adequate time to prepare.

“The benefit [of a week off] is we get to go back to the practice floor and really clean up some things. You know, when you’re playing that many games, you’re prepping then playing,” Elzy said. “It’s given us the opportunity to watch a lot of film and then hone in on the things that we need to clean up.”

Typically, rewatching film of an 88-67 beatdown of your team is a cruel punishment. Nevertheless, there are occasional silver linings. If anybody was going to find these buried nuggets of positivity, it’s Elzy.

“When you go back and look at it, it was the third quarter that got away from us. It was a six-point game with about 3:52 left and it got away from us from there,” Elzy said. “All the things we watched on film as a staff and as a team, they’re all fixable and that’s why you go back to practice to get better.”

Once again, Elzy is right. The final score may represent a blowout loss, but anybody who watched the game knows the ‘Cats were going shot-for-shot against the Hoosiers most of the contest. It wasn’t until the Hoosiers took a 12-point lead heading into the fourth period that the Wildcats fell apart.

Kentucky WBB turning their focus on the future

If Kentucky can mend their mindsets, their games will follow suit. Their first opportunity to make a statement will be against Winthrop at 2 p.m. on Sunday in Memorial Coliseum. Elzy, for one, still believes in her team.

“Our schedule is set up. We’re going to be in big games again and it’s a process. It’s a journey and every day we have to get better so we’re ready for the moment.”