PREVIEW: Kentucky WBB prepares for in-state foe Morehead State
After a subpar performance in the season opener, Kentucky Women’s Basketball is looking to make a statement against an in-state opponent.
On Friday night, the Wildcats will take on the Morehead State Eagles at 6 p.m. in Memorial Coliseum. In honor of Veterans Day, the contest will be Kentucky’s annual Salute to Veterans Game, featuring special programming while honoring past, present and future service members of the United States Armed Forces.
Kentucky has won 15-straight games against the Eagles, last defeating them 79-54 in 2019. While Friday night shouldn’t be stressful for the ‘Cats, there are no guarantees. The ‘Cats narrowly defeated Radford 82-78 on Nov. 7. Nonetheless, before discussing what Kentucky needs to improve upon, let’s talk about the Eagles.
More about Morehead
The Eagles aren’t exactly flying high into Memorial Coliseum. South Florida dominated the Eagles in an 87-40 blowout on Monday. In the loss, no Morehead player scored double figures. Moreover, the team didn’t shoot above 50% from the field, beyond the arc, or even the charity stripe.
The Eagles’ performance isn’t the ideal start to first-year head coach Cayla Petree’s career. The Eagles hired Petree this offseason after Petree led Gulf Coast State College to the National Junior College Athletic Association Women’s Basketball National Tournament in her lone season as head coach.
Morehead is hoping Petree can make another miracle happen. The Eagles were historically bad last season, winning only one of their 28 contests and failing to defeat a single conference opponent. As expected, the rough season didn’t entice many players to return.
Sophomore Janay Rose is the only returning player from last year. In her debut campaign, Rose averaged a mere 1.9 points and 1.2 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-3 center recorded four points and two rebounds against South Florida.
Stony Brooke transfer Veronica Charles led the Eagles against South Florida, scoring a team-high nine points. Despite leading the team in scoring, Charles shot a poor 4-14 from the field and 1-9 from 3-point range. Freshman Hallie Rhodes possibly had the standout performance, scoring seven points while shooting 50% from the field.
Morehead State certainly isn’t a Goliath obstacle standing in Kentucky’s way. Nonetheless, they could have a David-like upset story if Kentucky isn’t prepared for the battle.
Keys for Kentucky WBB
If you happened to listen to the Kentucky Women’s Basketball postgame press conference on Monday, one word stuck out: defense. As a team who prides itself on swarming defense, the ‘Cats were not satisfied with their opening night performance.
The ‘Cats gave up 78 points in the contest and, further, allowed four Radford players to score double-digits. When asked what the team needs to improve upon before facing Morehead State, one subject was on sophomore Jada Walker’s mind.
“Locking in on defense for the whole shot clock. They kind of made us work a little bit for the whole entire time. We just have to work on that,” Walker said during the postgame press conference.
Graduate student Robyn Benton shared her point guard’s sentiments.
“I got scored on a couple of times. I need to be a better defender through the shot clock and just collectively as a whole play better on the defensive end.”
While defense is at the forefront of the players’ minds, it’s not the only place Kentucky has work to do. Despite dishing out 20 team assists, the ‘Cats only had two players score 10 or more points. This issue is largely due to subpar 3-point shooting.
The ‘Cats were 2-18 from downtown against Radford, including an 0-4 performance from sharpshooter Blair Green. Head coach Kyra Elzy still believes in her team’s shooting ability.
“We’ll just go back to practice, shoot more 3’s in Memorial so they can feel the rims,” Elzy said after the win. “We are a better 3-point shooting team than what we’re showing right now.”
If Kentucky can fix these two minor issues, they’ll have a major win on Friday. The ‘Cats will face the Eagles on their home turf at 6 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network+.
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