FINAL: Kentucky WBB falls in OT to Texas A&M; drops 3rd straight game
Kentucky Women’s Basketball desperately needed a win in the worst way possible on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, a victory wasn’t in the cards.
In a game that needed an extra five minutes to decide a victor, the Texas A&M Aggies (13-9, 3-7 in SEC) managed to overcome a subpar shooting performance to take down Kentucky (9-10, 2-7 in SEC) inside of Memorial Coliseum, winning 73-64 in overtime. UK’s star player, Rhyne Howard, dropped her third consecutive double-double and seventh of the season with her 19 points and 10 rebounds. 12 of her points came in the fourth quarter, although she attempted just one shot in overtime.
Kentucky went for 26 points in the first quarter but scored just 38 the rest of the entire game. The loss marks the third in a row for UK and the seventh over its last eight.
Kentucky broke out of the gate playing arguably its best offense of the season. UK rattled off an 11-2 run throughout the middle of the first quarter to take a 16-10 advantage at the 5:02 mark.
The momentum continued up until the second quarter, as Kentucky ultimately took a double-digit lead at 26-15 once the first 10 minutes were up. Freshman Jada Walker was powering UK with nine points on a perfect 4-4 shooting.
The second period, however, was a complete 180 for the ‘Cats. Kentucky went nearly eight minutes without scoring a point before forward Dre’Una Edwards knocked in a pair of free throws. Luckily for UK, the defense stepped up. Despite the extended scoring drought, A&M never got closer than six points before halftime. Kentucky would take a 32-20 lead into the break.
After scoring just six points in the second quarter, the offense wouldn’t get any better for the ‘Cats. Kentucky added a mere nine points in the third period as Texas A&M clawed its way back into the game with 19 points of its own. Despite that, a timely 3-pointer near the end of the third from sophomore forward Treasure Hunt put the Wildcats back in front 41-39 as we went into the final frame.
However, Texas A&M would strike first to start the fourth, taking a 49-46 lead at the midway point. Out of the media timeout though, UK fought back. The Aggies would go on a mini-scoring drought that provided an opportunity for the ‘Cats. Led by Howard, Kentucky tied the game up at 53 apiece before a pair of free throws put them up by two with just 36 seconds remaining.
But Texas A&M wasted no time responding, quickly going inside for an easy score at the rim to tie the game at 55 with 29 seconds left in regulation. Howard had a tough look right ahead of the buzzer that would have given UK the win, but it fell short as the game went into overtime.
The extra period was all Aggies. Texas A&M pounced on UK early, winning the overtime 18-9 to secure the win. Kentucky finished the afternoon shooting 39 percent from the floor and 5-17 from distance to go along with 24 turnovers.
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