Kentucky WBB drops sixth straight, falls 78-50 at Auburn

Turnovers were the name of the game in Kentucky’s sixth straight loss of the season season. And shooting, and rebounding, and mostly everything else.

On Thursday night, Kentucky Women’s Basketball fell to Auburn on the road, 78-50. At this point, Kentucky has yet to win a road game this season and is now 9-16 (2-9 SEC) overall. With only two away games left in the season, it’s very possible the ‘Cats go winless on the road.

The ‘Cats let Auburn run away right out of the gate with a 22-4 run to begin the game. In fact, at the end of the first quarter, Kentucky was only shooting 2-19 (10.5%) from the field, one of the worst margins of the season. At the half, the ‘Cats had turned the ball over 12 times, which the Tigers turned into 18 points — Kentucky’s point total throughout the entire two quarters.

That’s right, Auburn led Kentucky 40-18 at halftime.

Final. pic.twitter.com/udAIESLl1O

— Kentucky Women’s Basketball (@KentuckyWBB) February 16, 2024

Ajae Petty seemed to be the only Wildcat to have her head in the game during Thursday’s matchup. The senior got off to a slow start but picked up the pace midway through the first quarter. Petty had a team-high six points and seven rebounds at the half. The forward finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds (marking her 13th double-double of the season). Unfortunately, Petty committed seven of the team’s turnovers.

Besides the fact that the ‘Cats went on a mini-run to start the third quarter, there wasn’t much else that happened. This game was just ugly all around. Kentucky was outrebounded 45-40, committed 26 turnovers, and shot only 19-58 (32.8%) from the field. Off the Wildcats’ miscues, the Tigers scored 38 points and had 18 points off turnovers in the first quarter alone.

While Auburn committed 19 turnovers, the ‘Cats weren’t able to capitalize off of them as well. In the fourth quarter, Kentucky scored 15 points off Auburn’s miscues, but it wasn’t enough to make a difference in the outcome. In fact, the Tigers’ lead didn’t fall under 15 points since the middle of the first quarter.

Honesty Scott-Grayson led Auburn in scoring with 22 points. While there were four players in double-digits, the scoring across the rest of the roster was evenly distributed. However, both teams only made one three-pointer apiece, going a combined 2-21 (9.5%) from the perimeter. The fact that Auburn was able to score the majority of their points in the paint (46) speaks to the inability of Kentucky to play defense under the basket.

As usual, there was a pretty small portion of players who seemed to make an impact. Cassidy Rowe took her 20th charge of the season, Janae Walker recorded her first career start, and Maddie Scherr finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. However, late in the fourth quarter, the ‘Cats were visually frustrated, which ended in a technical foul for Kyra Elzy and sealed the deal on the loss.

Up next, the ‘Cats return to Rupp Arena for the program’s 50th Anniversary Celebration and Alumni Day on Sunday. Tipoff against Florida is at 12:00 p.m. EST and will be streamed on the SEC Network.