Kentucky comes up just short in 60-58 defeat at Tennessee

Kentucky vs. Tennessee. Blue vs. Orange. It’s a rivalry that goes back several decades. In women’s basketball, the Lady Vols have dominated the series historically, but last season, Kenny Brooks‘ squad flipped that script, beating Tennessee 82-58 in Historic Memorial Coliseum. However, it was going to be difficult for the Cats to replicate that same success on the road this year.

In the end, Kentucky just couldn’t pull out the win in the Food City Center, falling to Tennessee 60-58. After starting the year 15-1, Kentucky has lost three of its last five games, now sitting at 17-4 (4-3 SEC). Additionally, Kentucky is now 3-4 in Quad 1 games. Miami dropped to a Quad 2 in the latest NET Rankings update.

To the surprise of probably not many people considering how things have gone as of late, Kentucky was ice cold to begin the game. After going just 3-14 (0-3 3PT) to start the game, the Lady Vols led 11-7 at the conclusion of the first quarter. The Cats’ defense was strong, but again, Kentucky just couldn’t hit shots in order to take advantage.

Those shooting woes carried over to the second quarter, and all it took was a few open looks for the Lady Vols to create some separation on the scoreboard. Again, the bench just wasn’t able to provide anything. Lexi Blue had 10 minutes of playing time in the first half, but she didn’t shoot the ball once. Kaelyn Carroll at least attempted a shot in her three first half minutes, if that makes things any better. Kentucky trailed 29-22 at the break.

Kentucky desperately missed Teonni Key again on Thursday. Last year, she had 18 points on 8-13 shooting, 10 rebounds and two blocks and two steals against Tennessee. She was able to break Kim Caldwell’s press and really dismantle the Lady Vols in the transition game, but with her unavailable against Tennessee this time around, it was just harder for Kentucky to get any rhythm.

Tennessee got up by as much as 10 in the third quarter, but the Cats clawed back to make it a pretty close game with just the fourth quarter remaining. It was 41-40 Tennessee after three. All night long, it felt like all Kentucky needed was to see a shot or two in a row go through the net in order to maybe take control of the game.

However, Kentucky just couldn’t find a way to win, making this the first time this season that the Cats have lost back-to-back games.

On Sunday, Kentucky returns home to take on the Georgia Lady Bulldogs, who are currently 16-3 overall and 2-3 in the SEC. Last season, the Cats went 2-0 against Georgia, and they’ll look to keep their good momentum against Georgia rolling. That game is set for noon ET on SEC Network.