Kentucky WBB slides past Samford, 72-59 in third straight win

Following a 10-day break, Kentucky WBB returned to Transylvania’s Clive M. Beck Center with a 72-59 victory over Samford on Sunday. After a slow first half, Kentucky finally found their groove starting in the third quarter, and managed to secure a victory. Kentucky is now 4-0 at the Beck Center, and 7-7 on the season. Now, the ‘Cats are heading into their first conference game of the year against Arkansas on Jan. 4 with a three-game win streak.

Going into Sunday’s game, the ‘Cats were coming off an 87-80 win over Lipscomb, with three players in double-digit scoring: Maddie Scherr (25), Saniah Tyler (22), and Amiya Jenkins (20). Sunday’s game couldn’t be more different. Rather than three players doing the majority of the scoring, almost every player who hit the floor scored at least two points for the ‘Cats.

Leading Kentucky in scoring was Ajae Petty, the only Wildcat with more than 20 points. The forward scored 22 points on 9-17 (52.9%) shooting and 13 rebounds, marking her seventh double-double of the season and her ninth game with at least 15 points. The senior added two blocks, two steals, and two assists.

Senior Maddie Scherr stayed consistent today, with a 14-point performance on 4-12 (33.3%) shooting, including 1-3 (33.3%) from the perimeter. Five of Scherr’s points came from the free throw line, where she went 5-6 (83.3%). During the first half, Scherr only scored three points, contributing to the ‘Cats slow start, but in typical fashion, scoring began to pick up in the second half. The guard also had eight rebounds, five assists, one steal, and one block.

Brooklynn Miles had her best game of the season on Sunday, finishing with 13 points and a rebound. Miles had been averaging just 5.2 points per game before Sunday’s performance. Considered the pace-setter for Kentucky’s offense, while Miles isn’t a renowned shooter, she always makes an impact on the defensive end. But Sunday, the junior stepped up and scored points when her team needed her. The guard added six assists and three steals.

As a whole, the Wildcats only had eight turnovers, well under head coach Kyra Elzy’s goal of 12. Luckily for the ‘Cats, Samford didn’t really capitalize off of Kentucky’s miscues, only scoring 10 points from them. Kentucky, on the other hand, scored 22 points off of the Bulldogs’ 22 turnovers.

Samford’s Masyn Marchbanks led her team in scoring with 19, but was only one of two Bulldogs in double-digits. The other was Carly Heidger, with 15 points. The Bulldogs combined for 21 fouls committed, contributing to the 12 points Kentucky scored from the free throw line.

The ‘Cats are back in action on Jan. 4 against Arkansas, for the first game of SEC play. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at Rupp Arena and can be watched on SEC Network+.