Kentucky WBB, a product of bad luck or poor preparation?
Kentucky Women’s Basketball is currently a shell of its former self.
This fact was never more apparent than on Thursday night when No. 23 Kentucky suffered a 77-52 loss to unranked Florida. The 25-point blowout is UK’s worst loss at home since Tennessee beat UK 65-40 on Jan. 17, 2008.
The final score wasn’t the only unbelievable statistic from the embarrassing loss. For the majority of Thursday night’s contest, Kentucky played with seven healthy players. Nonetheless, the first loss of the night occurred before a single second ticked off the clock.
Avalanche of issues
An hour before tip-off, Kentucky Women’s Basketball announced Dre’Una Edwards would be out due to disciplinary matters. Edwards’ absence can’t be overstated as the star forward is averaging 15.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per contest this season.
Second-year head coach Kyra Elzy refused to elaborate on the redshirt junior’s absence.
“It’s a disciplinary action that we’re dealing with, and we’re dealing with it internally and no further comments from there,” Elzy said during the postgame press conference.
Although the blow was stunning, it wasn’t fatal to the ‘Cats. Kentucky battled early and headed into the second frame only trailing 20-16. However, things were about to get much worse for UK.
Three minutes into the second period, Robyn Benton went down with a leg injury. Coming into the contest, Benton was Kentucky’s third-leading scorer this season, contributing 11.3 points a night.
Benton did not return to the contest. Moreover, Elzy was not able to give much information about her status.
“Right now the medical team will examine her, and she’ll be day-to-day, so still have not received an update. So I’ll check on her when we leave here.”
The media was unable to receive any further comments on Benton’s injury as no players spoke to the media after the contest. Nonetheless, it’s hard to blame them for being upset. Bad luck has been hiding around every corner this season.
On Oct. 8, 2021, the program announced it was dismissing sophomore Erin Toller. On October 30, Blair Green suffered a torn Achilles tendon. Just 10 days later, Nyah Leveretter was sidelined due to a non-COVID-related illness.
This past week, Kentucky Women’s Basketball was reportedly searching for new practice players due to injuries. Tonight, the media spotted UK’s lone walk-on, Kristen Crenshaw Gill, in a boot. The list is endless.
Kyra Elzy on the team’s bad luck
As long as Kentucky’s list of misfortunes may be, the list for why they shouldn’t be losing SEC games by 20+ points is longer. The Wildcats looked discouraged from the jump on Thursday night. By the time Florida took a double-digit lead, the ‘Cats were ready to throw in the towel.
If there’s one thing Kentucky hates, it’s surrender. Has Kentucky WBB had a spell of tough breaks? Sure. Are there things the team and coaching staff can do to overcome these obstacles? Absolutely.
In all fairness, Elzy isn’t making any excuses for the team’s performance.
“Right now, we just go back to blue-collar, you go back to work. My message to the team, we are not victims. Obviously, we were dealing with some adversity, but so are other teams in the country and we just have to bull up, step up to the challenge, and that’s what we’ll do.”
Elzy called her shot. Only one question remains: will she hit it?
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