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PREVIEW: Kentucky WBB get ready to face North Alabama

Grant Grubbs Profile Pictureby:Grant Grubbs•11/11/21•

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Photo via @KentuckyWBB/Twitter

If Kentucky Women’s Basketball was hoping for a breather after a wild night of Tuesday sports, they’re out of luck. The ‘Cats won’t have much time to rest as they face the University of North Alabama Lions at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Kentucky’s battle against the Lions will serve as the midpoint of this week’s gauntlet of games.

Kentucky won their season-opener 81-53 over Presbyterian College on Tuesday night. They will play #8 ranked Indiana on the road this upcoming Sunday. While it may be easy for the ‘Cats to overlook this middle-ground game, they can’t. Let’s talk about why Kentucky better take North Alabama seriously.

Let’s learn about those Lions

The ‘Cats aren’t the only team coming off a recent victory. On Tuesday, North Alabama dominated Blackburn College to win their season-opener 114-52. Six Lions scored in double digits and the team scored 48 points from beyond the arc. North Alabama may not be a big name, but they’ve got loads of skill.

Although the team is talented, they’re surprisingly young. The Lions have five freshmen on their roster compared to Kentucky’s lone first-year ‘Cat Jada Walker. Those who aren’t freshmen on North Alabama are still new to the program. The Lions have five transfers suiting up for them this season. Despite being new to the program, the Lions are looking to make their mark.

5-foot-7 grad transfer Patrycja Jaworska certainly left a memorable first impression on Tuesday night. The star guard stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Fellow grad transfer Julia Strachan did her thing, as well. The 5-foot-9 guard dropped a team-high 20 points.

While the Wildcats’ guards have their work cut out for them, the UK bigs should have free reign over the paint.

The Lions are the shortest team the ‘Cats will have faced, coming in at an average team height of a little over 5-foot-8. For reference, the ‘Cats only have one player under 5-foot-8: freshman Jada Walker.

Nevertheless, the Lions will find ways to use their lack of height to their advantage. The team flies around on the defensive end and constantly looks for steals. In their first game, North Alabama squeezed a ridiculous 34 turnovers out of their opponent. Even with their defensive prowess, most fans will overlook the Lions. A fair warning to ‘Cats fans, that’s exactly what this team wants you to do.

“One thing that excites me the most about this team is I think we’re gonna be the underdog most nights and I think we’re gonna surprise a lot of people,” North Alabama head coach Missy Tiber said in a preseason interview.

Keys for Kentucky WBB

Kentucky Women’s Basketball looked fantastic in the second half against Presbyterian on Tuesday night. The same can’t be said for the first 20 minutes of the contest. Let’s hope the ‘Cats can find consistency on Thursday.

With plenty of sharpshooters on North Alabama’s roster, Kentucky can’t afford to let the Lions have an early offensive explosion. The first key for the ‘Cats will come in the first moments of the game.

As easy as it may be to hound the ‘Cats for what they did wrong, let’s focus on what they did right. Kentucky Women’s Basketball played a nearly flawless third period against Presbyterian. As usual, perfection began in the paint.

Kentucky came into the second half with a new offensive mentality: find interior shots. The simple strategy led to extraordinary results. The ‘Cats shot 73% from the field in the third period, began the quarter on a 19-0 run and nearly doubled their first-quarter point total. If this game plan worked against Presbyterian, it will excel against the shorter North Alabama squad.

Kentucky’s offense wasn’t the only thing that noticeably changed in the third frame, though–their defense too. Following a rousing halftime speech from Elzy, the ‘Cats delivered a noteworthy defensive performance.

In the third period, the Wildcats forced eight opponent turnovers and scored 14 points off Presbyterian’s mistakes. Looking at North Alabama’s statistics, the Lions may be in for an even worse fate than Presbyterian. During the Lions’ first game against inferior competition, they had 23 turnovers. There’s no telling what the ‘Cats could do to them.

Finally, the ‘Cats have to continue to have multiple scoring sources. In Kentucky’s season opener, four ‘Cats reached double-digit scoring. If Kentucky can hit this mark again, the Lions are in for a long night.

Closing thoughts on upcoming Kentucky WBB cat fight

Barring all hell breaking loose, the ‘Cats should be able to dominate the Lions on Thursday evening. Kentucky is bigger, stronger and, quite frankly, more talented. Nevertheless, things can always go awry.

With only eight scholarship players healthy, Kentucky Women’s Basketball is in dangerous territory for the foreseeable future. However, a ‘Cat backed into a corner is a dangerous one.

Fans will get their chance to see how UK responds on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET against North Alabama. The game will be in Memorial Coliseum and broadcast on the SEC Network+.

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2025-04-06