Robyn Benton, Maddie Scherr Were Scoring Bright Spots in Kentucky's Loss to Louisville

Kentucky women’s basketball went up against in-state rival, Louisville, on Sunday afternoon at Rupp Arena. After a physical and inconsistent game, Kentucky found themselves with their second loss of the season as the Cardinals won 86-72.

Kentucky’s scoring issues

A lot of different elements went into the loss, such as poor free-throw shooting and the inability to rebound. However, what hurt the ‘Cats more than anything was the fact that two out of their top three scorers could not find the basket.

Kentucky’s sophomore guard, Jada Walker, finished the game with just three points. Walker ranked the highest in points per game for the team coming into the matchup.

When asked after the game what his strategy for playing against Walker was, Louisville head coach Jeff Walz said, “We tried to use length on her which was really effective”.

Graduate student Blair Green finished with just three points in the Wildcats’ matchup against the Cards. She also averages one of the highest points per game on the team with 10.

Some scoring relief from two ‘Cats

The only other player on Kentucky’s squad who averages double digits in points per game this season is graduate student Robyn Benton. Benton ended the game with 20, which was the most by any UK player.

It was clear that Coach Walz set his sights on taking out the other two main scorers in Walker and Green. They were swarmed by the Cards’ defense all game long.

Although Walz was able to hold those two from getting their normal double digits, he could not stop junior guard Maddie Scherr.

Scherr finished the game with 18 points, six assists and five rebounds for the ‘Cats. Her average points per game this season was at 6.0 coming into the contest.

Before this season, Scherr had played two years at Oregon, but she’s a Kentucky native, so she decided to transfer back to her home state during the offseason

Anyone watching the rivalry game on Sunday could tell that Scherr wanted to win this one a little bit more.

During the postgame interview, Scherr said, “We don’t want to lose any game, but especially losing to Louisville, it just sucks“.

Struggles from the FT line

Overall, the Cards were able to oust the ‘Cats due to shooting 85% compared to Kentucky’s 48% from the free throw line.

Kentucky head coach Kyra Elzy said, “We put them on the line too much, when they’re shooting 39 and make 33 of those that’s ball game,” when asked about their struggle from the line.

Even though the ‘Cats went down with a loss of 86-72, it was still promising that Benton and Scherr were able to step up in big moments.

If Kentucky can get other players in double digits, there is potential to this offense.

With the loss, the Wildcats’ record is now 7-2 on the season. Looking ahead Kentucky will face Murray State at Memorial Coliseum on Friday, December 16th at 7 pm which can be seen on the SEC Network.