Kentucky WBB searches for a road win against Vanderbilt
Despite loss after loss, the Kentucky women’s basketball team is hopping on the highway with hope.
On Sunday, Kentucky (10-15; 2-11 SEC) will hit the road to face off against the Vanderbilt Commodores (11-16; 2-11 SEC) at 3 p.m. The teams sit at the bottom of the conference barrel, both competing for late-season pride and SEC seeding.
Kentucky head coach Kyra Elzy knows the program deserves better than the Cats’ recent play.
“There’s pride in this program. Obviously, the expectation is winning, which we are not doing now. But, there’s no quit. We’ve got to continue to fight. We got to press on and find a way to continue to scrap and see if we can get to the other side,” Elzy said following Kentucky’s loss against Georgia on Feb. 16.
Kentucky isn’t the only team hoping to get to the other side, and Vanderbilt plans on beating the Cats there.
Catchin’ up with the Commodores
Vanderbilt is entering Sunday’s contest on a two-game losing streak, most recently falling to Alabama in an 88-70 blowout. The subpar season certainly isn’t going the way second-year head coach Shea Ralph envisioned.
While most of the Commodores failed to meet expectations this year, graduate student Ciaja Harbison exceeded them. The 5-foot-6 guard leads the team with 19.3 points and 4.4 assists per game. Before transferring to Vanderbilt, Harbison became St. Louis’ second-leading all-time scorer with 1,688 points.
Harbison isn’t the only Commodore with collegiate experience. Marnelle Garraud played four years at Boston College and recorded 944 points before transferring to Vanderbilt. The 5-foot-7 guard has been just as successful with the Commodores, averaging 13.9 points and 3.3 boards per outing.
Vanderbilt’s third and final player who averages double figures provides the group with some much-needed youth. Sophomore forward Sacha Washington averages 10.7 points and 7.1 boards a night.
Washington’s game has aged like wine. In the Commodores’ latest contest, Washington exploded for a career-high 26 points and 11 rebounds on 11-15 shooting.
Washington’s attacks on the boards is a lonely war. No other Commodore averages more than five rebounds per game. Furthermore, the team grabs a mere 31.9 rebounds per contest, ranking 336th in the nation.
Keys for Kentucky WBB
The Wildcats aren’t typically paint dominant, but they can crush the Commodores down low. In Kentucky’s embarrassing 50-40 loss against Georgia, UK’s frontcourt was one of its few bright spots.
The Cats out-rebounded the Bulldogs 43-30 and nearly doubled the team’s offensive rebound total. Adebola Adeyeye snagged 10 boards alone. Elzy was happy with the progress her frontcourt showed.
“We talked about next woman up,” Elzy said during the postgame press conference. “The post did deliver. We’ve been challenging them all year.”
Specifically, Elzy challenged her bigs to record a combined 12 points and 15 rebounds per game. They finally met this lofty goal last contest. Unfortunately, even new highs couldn’t save the team from the loss of its two best players.
Just before shootaround against UGA, Elzy informed the Cats that Maddie Scherr (illness) and Robyn Benton (ankle) would not be playing against Georgia. Despite the pregame warning, Kentucky was in code red during the game.
The team’s offense looked lost, scoring a season-low 40 points. Before Kentucky can do anything on the court, they need the right players out there. Thankfully for BBN, Elzy seemed hopeful about her stars return to the court.
“It’s day to day, letting the medical team take care of them and hopefully have them back soon.”
We can only hope so. Watch the Wildcats take on the Vanderbilt Commodores at 3 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network+.
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