Kentucky WBB could end non-conference play with one loss for first time since 2020-21 season

Non-conference play has been a bit of a struggle lately for Kentucky women’s basketball, to say the least. The Louisville game has always been a challenging one for the Cats, but even outside of that, it seems like the “gimme” games haven’t been so “gimme” recently.

Just last season, Kentucky dropped a game to Austin Peay at home. Well, it was at Georgetown College due to the renovations to Historic Memorial Coliseum, but it was technically a home loss for Kentucky. They also lost all three of their games in the Paradise Jam when they faced NC State, Colorado and Cincinnati in The Bahamas.

Oh, and they lost to Florida Gulf Coast on the road in between as well. Point being, non-conference play hasn’t treated the Cats kindly.

It’s been a while since Kentucky has been able to roll into SEC play without already being completely battered down. The last time the Cats finished non-conference play with just one loss was the 2020-21 season — Kyra Elzy’s first season as head coach. The loss was to No. 24 DePaul on the road.

As it stands right now, Kentucky is 10-1 with a loss to No. 17 North Carolina. They face Mississippi State on January 2nd, but first, they have to get through WKU on Saturday. Hopefully, Kentucky can win that game to move to 11-1 on the year with a brutal SEC schedule coming at the start of the new year.