Kentucky WBB looks to stop downward spiral against Ohio Bobcats

On3 image — Photo by Eddie Justice | UK Athletics

Kentucky women’s basketball has received a lot of coal in its stocking lately. Nonetheless, the ‘Cats are holding out hope for a last-second gift.

On Wednesday morning, UK (7-4) will face off against the Ohio University Bobcats (2-7) at 11 a.m. in Memorial Coliseum. Kentucky has dropped three-straight games, most recently falling to Florida Gulf Coast on Sunday. Ohio will be Kentucky’s final opponent before marching into the SEC gauntlet.

WEDNESDAY MATINEE. 😻

We host Ohio tomorrow at 11 a.m. ET in Memorial Coliseum, our final nonconference game before @SEC action.

It is ✨family day✨, be sure to join us!#GameOn
— Kentucky Women’s Basketball (@KentuckyWBB) December 20, 2022

However, before the ‘Cats can worry about the big, bad wolves on the horizon, they must take care of the Bobcats directly in front of them. Here’s what you need to know about Kentucky’s northern foes.

All about Ohio

If you’re an upset Kentucky fan, be thankful you don’t root for the Bobcats. Ohio has had an ugly start to the season, losing games by 11 points on average. Of course, 30-point blowouts by Ohio State and Cincinnati don’t help this figure.

The Bobcats struggle to take care of the ball, committing 17.3 turnovers a night. This poor pattern leaves the team with a tragic .69 assist-to-turnover ratio. As a result, Ohio struggles to score. Yaya Felder is the only Bobcat who scores double digits regularly.

Felder stuffs the stat sheets, averaging 18.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.3 steals per outing. The sophomore guard isn’t as talented from deep though and is only connecting on 25.6% of her 3-point attempts this season.

Caitlyn Kroll scores the second-most on the team with 9.2 points a night. As a redshirt senior, Kroll brings veteran experience to the squad. She’s a 34.2% 3-point shooter — best on the team.

While Ohio’s record isn’t imposing, their height is impressive. The Bobcats only have one player shorter than 5-foot-10 in their starting lineup. For reference, nearly half of Kentucky’s contributors fall below that mark.

Ohio isn’t a great team, but neither was Murray State or FGCU. The ‘Cats have their work cut out for them.

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Keys for Kentucky WBB

Kentucky needs to play a complete game on Wednesday. Against Murray State, the ‘Cats lacked both skill and passion. In the team’s loss to FGCU, the ‘Cats played harder but still couldn’t buy a basket. On Wednesday morning, the ‘Cats must will themselves to a win. Perhaps the best motive to do so is developing a hatred for losing.

“I just want to win. I know I shot terrible from the field today and I was aware of that, but I want to win. That means doing everything else for my team, even if I’m not hitting shots,” Maddie Scherr said after the team’s loss on Sunday. “It’s just a mindset and I think, as a team, we don’t hate losing enough.”

Some @madd1escherr streaks…

2+ asts in eight straight games
2+ blks in four straight games
5+ rbs in four straight games
3+ stls in two straight games

And perfect from the line in five straight games attempting a FT.

Stuff the stats. 😤 pic.twitter.com/cTkCwK9uWO
— Kentucky Women’s Basketball (@KentuckyWBB) December 19, 2022

Head coach Kyra Elzy backed up her starting guard.

“Obviously, we don’t hate [losing] enough because we haven’t figured out how to win yet. So, I back her in that statement and I actually love it. That’s a competitor. We hate to lose. You know, this program is built around winning and that is the standard,” Elzy said during the postgame press conference.

Of course, the team needs more than motivation. As covered in an article from Monday, UK must step up their 3-point shooting, rebounding efforts and ball control. Elzy realizes this and is demanding more than intensity from her squad.

“We had better effort and energy. But what I told the team in the locker room is that, that’s the price of admission. That’s the expectation. We should do that all the time,” Elzy said on Sunday. “It can’t just be effort and energy when we’re trying to win. I was proud that we got to the free throw line 25 times and made 23 of them. We’ve been looking for that 80 percent. I thought we rebounded the ball well, but at the end of the day, 20 turnovers and they scored 32 points off of it.”

Kentucky will look to right the ship on Wednesday as they take on Ohio at 11 a.m. inside Memorial Coliseum. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network+.