Kentucky WBB looks to rally against No. 24 Arkansas

For the first time in over 10 days, Kentucky Women’s Basketball is back on its home hardwood.

On Sunday afternoon, the Wildcats (8-5) will take on the No. 24 Arkansas Razorbacks (13-3) in Memorial Coliseum at 2 p.m. Kentucky lost its first SEC contest of the season to Missouri on Dec. 29. The loss is UK’s fourth over the past five games. Despite the team’s spell of misfortune, head coach Kyra Elzy is confident in her team’s ability.

“We have to be resilient. I’ve talked to [the team] in the locker room. I just let them know we’re competitors,” Elzy said after UK’s loss to Missouri. “We have to take away the good things that we did tonight because we actually did some good things even though it didn’t turn out in our favor.”

While Kentucky can focus on the positives, the Razorbacks will aim to expose the Wildcats’ weaknesses.

🎊TOMORROW🎊

"Kick Off the New Year" with us tomorrow at 2 p.m. ET as we play host to No. 24/23 Arkansas. Wear your best pair of "kicks," and also enter to win a free pair of custom shoes!!! 🎉👟

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— Kentucky Women’s Basketball (@KentuckyWBB) December 31, 2022

All about Arkansas

The Wildcats aren’t the only ones that have been struggling lately. Arkansas is on a three-game losing streak, falling to No. 17 Oregon, USF and No. 9 LSU. The Razorbacks’ most recent loss was the worst. LSU humiliated Arkansas by a final score of 69-45.

Despite Arkansas’ recent stumble, a team doesn’t win their first 13 contests on accident. The Razorbacks have four players regularly scoring double figures, led by sophomore Samara Spencer. The 5-foot-7 guard averages 16.3 points and 4.4 assists per game, most among her teammates.

Erynn Barnum certainly enjoys Spencer’s dime delights. The 6-foot-2 powerhouse averages 15.3 points and 6.5 boards per outing while shooting a ridiculous 62.1% from the field. Luckily for the ‘Cats, Barnum isn’t a threat from deep and has only connected on four buckets from distance this season.

The same can’t be said for Makayla Daniels. The senior sharpshooter is contributing 13.8 points per contest, drilling 39.1% of her attempts from range. Chrissy Carr doesn’t trail far behind. The 6-foot-1 combo guard adds 11.1 points a night to the Razorbacks’ effort.

Simply put, Arkansas is loaded. In fairness, Elzy never claimed winning in the SEC was easy.

Keys for Kentucky WBB

UK has its fair share of bad losses this season, falling to Murray State and Coastal Carolina in embarrassing fashion. Kentucky’s loss to Missouri does not fall in this category, though. The ‘Cats won every quarter except the second, where they were outscored 29-11.

In the toughest conference in the nation, complete games are a necessity. Kentucky will desperately need to replicate flashes of greatness to defeat the talented Razorbacks. Elzy believes confidence is key.

“We just talked about playing fearless. I really wanted them to let loose, have fun, play basketball and be confident in their shots,” Elzy said following UK’s first SEC loss. “It was just a tough second quarter for a plethora of reasons.”

One of those reasons was countless failures to close possessions. In the second frame, Missouri scored 12 second-chance points compared to Kentucky’s mere five. While Kentucky’s players on the floor must box out, they must also put their best rebounders on the court.

Ajae Petty, who leads the team on the glass with 5.7 boards per game, only played five minutes against Missouri. It doesn’t take a mathematician to understand why Kentucky lost the battle of the boards. After the loss, Elzy discussed the team’s shortcomings in the paint.

“At the end of the day, we have to find a body. There’s five of them and five of us,” Elzy said. “We have to finish our defense, which we talk about all the time.”

Hopefully for the ‘Cats, they had time to talk about the issue a little more in their two days between games. Kentucky will tipoff against Arkansas at 2 p.m. in Memorial Coliseum. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network+.