Kentucky WBB needs to provide Ajae Petty with more help

In Tuesday night’s 68-63 loss against Austin Peay, Kentucky women’s basketball (2-1) shot a season-low 31.4 percent (22-70) from the field. Senior forward Ajae Petty made seven of those shots for her team, tying a career-high with 19 points — over 30 percent of the Wildcats’ overall scoring. Petty also recorded her second double-double of the regular season, adding on 14 rebounds. AND, she did all of that while double-teamed for the entire 35 minutes she played.

“I think like coach said, finding my open shooters because I have a lot of great guards on this team that can also score the ball when I’m getting doubled,” Petty said in response to the double-teaming likely continuing into conference play.

“Score the ball,” is an interesting way to put things, considering Kentucky shot 4-20 from the three-point line against Austin Peay. Sophomore Saniah Tyler made three of those in a row during the second quarter. After that, the perimeter shooting stopped until the final minutes. Emma King knocked down a three (putting her at 1-6 on the season), which marked the last one of the game for Kentucky.

Following Kentucky’s win against USC Upstate earlier this season, senior Eniya Russell was asked about their 2-18 performance from the three-point line. “I wouldn’t say it’s a concern,” Russell said. “In practice, we definitely take pride in shooting. We have significant three-point shooters… Our three-point shooters are very high maintenance in practice, so I don’t think it’s really a concern, but it’s something that we can work on.”

If what Russell said is true, then those significant three-point shooters have yet to make themselves known. Maybe the ‘Cats should be concerned about their three-point shooting, especially with Maddie Scherr considered day-to-day after an ankle injury she suffered on Saturday. But at the same time, Scherr has gone 1-9 on shots from deep this season so far.

Even Cassidy Rowe, who we saw make three after three in open practice, isn’t living up to those expectations, albeit in limited minutes. If Kentucky is making those shots in practice, they have to be able to carry that momentum over to the real thing. There is no one on this team that Petty can kick the ball to who will ensure points from the perimeter. At least not right now.

Even still, the Wildcats can’t rely on Ajae Petty to win them games. She is a phenomenal, SEC-caliber athlete, who plays her part and does her job as a forward. Her stats through the first three games prove that — 16.7 points and 12.0 rebounds per contest. Unfortunately, basketball isn’t a one-person sport. It takes an entire team effort to win games, and so far, we aren’t seeing that from Kentucky.

“Just continuing to stay in the paint and doing my work early that way I can score easily,” Petty continued in Tuesday night’s post-game press conference. The forward has proved that she is Kentucky’s best player. She’s versatile, fast, aggressive, and a big body that Kentucky desperately needs. But she can only do so much. If Petty is double-teamed, she needs shooters she can rely on to make baskets.

The Wildcats will need something to change as they head into their first away game at Florida Gulf Coast on Sunday. Then, three days later, Kentucky heads to the Virgin Islands for the Paradise Jam, where they’ll face No. 7 Colorado (who just took down the then-No. 1 team in the country, LSU) and No. 18 NC State (who took down then-No. 2 UConn).

Hopefully, with five days in between Tuesday night’s disaster and their next game, Kyra Elzy can get something going with her team.