Kentucky WBB Drops 3rd Straight After Falling to Florida Gulf Coast

Kentucky Women’s Basketball (7-4) fell to the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (9-2) on Sunday afternoon at Memorial Coliseum.

This loss rounds out a tough week of play for the ‘Cats.

Tough week for Kentucky

One Sunday ago, UK lost to in-state rival Louisville and on Friday they fell to Murray State.

With these two losses in the past week, taking on Florida Gulf Coast would have been a much-needed victory for Kentucky, however, they were unable to find it.

The same issues plagued the ‘Cats as they continued to come out slow against their opponents.

Another Slow Start

Just one minute into the game, Kentucky allowed the Eagles to go on an early run and found themselves down 6-0.

Wildcat head coach Kyra Elzy tried many different lineups in the first quarter and finally found some rhythm with freshman guard, Kennedy Cambridge.

After checking into the game, Cambridge scored two quick baskets to end the first quarter. This still left the ‘Cats with a six-point deficit as the score was 18-12 in favor of the Eagles.

Kentucky remained in that six- to seven-point deficit area until the end of the first half due to their inability to find the basket and keep their opponents out of the paint.

Coming out of halftime, there was more energy from Kentucky’s side of the court.

Energy out of the half

Graduate guard Robyn Benton was able to get a quick foul on the Eagles. She drained both of her free throws to put the ‘Cats within four points of Florida Gulf Coast.

The main area of improvement in the third quarter for Kentucky came on the defensive end.

With about three minutes left in the third quarter, UK guard Maddie Scherr came up with some big steals which allowed for a drive and score. This allowed the ‘Cats to cut the deficit to one.

Not even a minute after Scherr’s steal, another Kentucky defensive stop gave Blair Green the green light.

‘Cats able to find the lead

Green took advantage of the space and made a short eight-foot jumper. Green’s bucket gave the ‘Cats their first lead of the afternoon at 40-39.

Although Kentucky outscored the Eagles 16-14 in the third they were still down by two going into the fourth.

The fourth quarter was back and forth until the seven-minute mark when the Eagles went up by six off of an and-one.

This lead did not get the ‘Cats all the way down though. They were able to find a stop and cut the deficit to three.

Inability to shoot from anywhere but the free throw line

Even with the stop, the ‘Cats were unable to find the basket and fell 69-63 to the Eagles.

Benton led the team with 18 points. Walker fouled out after scoring 14 while Green was the third leader with nine.

One positive coming out of the loss was the free-throw shooting by Kentucky.

The ‘Cats shot 23-25 (92%) from the line, which is a huge reason why they were able to make a run late in the contest.

Although they played a hard-fought game, the ‘Cats losing streak is now at three after just one week.

Kentucky will look to bounce back and find a much-needed win on Wednesday as they will face Ohio University at Memorial Coliseum at 11:00 a.m. EST