Kentucky WBB outmatched by No. 24 Arkansas at home, falling 71-50

The ‘Cats came out of the gates strong, but suffered another disappointing loss at home.

On Sunday afternoon in Memorial Coliseum, Kentucky women’s basketball (8-6; 0-2 SEC) fell in a blowout loss to the No. 24 Arkansas Razorbacks (14-3; 1-1 SEC) by a final score of 71-50. It was the worst offensive performance of the season so far for the Wildcats, as they shot just 26 percent overall from the floor and turned the ball over 23 times, which Arkansas flipped into 33 points.

Kentucky was led by 14 points from graduate student Blair Green and 13 points from sophomore Jada Walker. Junior Maddie Scherr chipped in eight points (on 1-11 shooting) and 10 assists, as well, but the ‘Cats were outmatched for the vast majority of the contest.

Graduate student Robyn Benton, the team’s leading scorer at 16.5 points per game, did not play due to an injury she suffered in Kentucky’s previous loss to Missouri on Thursday.

Cats fall to No. 24/23 Razorbacks, 71-50. pic.twitter.com/TKreYwqwhM

— Kentucky Women’s Basketball (@KentuckyWBB) January 1, 2023

If you only watched the first five minutes of this game, you’d have thought Kentucky would be in a position to win down the stretch. The ‘Cats and Hogs were trading baskets early as the score was knotted at 8-8 midway through the opening frame. Then the turnovers began to shift momentum.

Kentucky, which came into Sunday averaging 16.3 turnovers per game, had already racked up 10 miscues in the first quarter. To make matters worse, the ‘Cats did not score over the final 5:33 of that period while Arkansas rattled off an 8-0 run to go in front 16-8 heading into the second quarter.

It wouldn’t get much better for Kyra Elzy’s group either. UK scored just 11 points in the second quarter on 5-17 shooting (with seven of those points coming in the final 1:50 of the half) while turning the ball over four more times. At the break, Kentucky trailed 34-19 behind a poor 8-29 mark from the field. Arkansas’ Erynn Barnum was lighting up the ‘Cats with 12 points on a perfect 6-6 shooting clip.

Out of the locker room, Walker injected some life into Kentucky, scoring back-to-back shots in the paint to make it 34-23. But the good vibes quickly dissipated from there. Arkansas put together a 12-2 run that extended the lead out to 21 at the third-quarter media timeout and put the game away for good.

It only got worse for UK from there, too. The ‘Cats would finish the third frame with just nine points and went into the final 10 minutes down 53-28.

Kentucky was finally able to put together a string of successful possessions, starting the fourth period on an 8-2 run. The ‘Cats even scored 22 points in the fourth — the most by either team in any quarter — but the effort was too little and far too late. In the end, UK dropped its sixth game of the season and moved to 0-2 in SEC play.

Next up for Kentucky is a matchup on the road against Georgia on Thursday, Jan. 5 at 7:00 p.m. EST on the SEC Network.