Volunteers Outlast Cats
[caption id="attachment_172471" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Photo via UK Athletics[/caption]
For the first time since 2011, Kentucky falls to Tennessee in Lexington, 73-72. Coming off a road win in Columbia against Missouri, the Cats lose their third game in their last five, by a combined 14 points in the three losses. UK is now 16-5 on the season, 5-3 in the SEC, good enough for fifth in the conference.
The Cats followed this season’s narrative once again with a slow start in the first half, hitting only one of their first eight shots. However, four three pointers for Kentucky, compared to UT’s 0-5 from behind the arc, were able to help lift UK to a six point, 31-25, lead going into halftime.
Near the end of the first half, Tennessee’s Isabelle Harrison became the 39th Volunteer to score 1,000 points in their career. Harrison was also the Vols’ leading scorer tonight as well with 19 points on 8-12 shooting, also chipping in 10 rebounds. Afterwards Mitchell called her a great player, but also blamed his “mystifying” defense for allowing her to catch the ball in the high post so easily.
“Tough game to lose. It’s a tough match-up, both teams wanted to win. It’s an important game and I wish we could’ve won it… We just had a stretch there where I thought we had the ability to control the game and just stopped playing defense,” head coach Matthew Mitchell said post-game. Offensively, however, Kentucky played solid, putting up the second-most points Tennessee has allowed all season.
The second half was much like the first with lead changes and ties taking place frequently, but the intensity somehow picked up even more. In a nearly full Memorial Coliseum (attendance: 7,407 — largest of the season), the crowd was loud and on their feet for most of the game, especially following the buzzer, where the fans booed the refs out of the gym.
Makayla Epps scored last 10 points for UK including two HUGE three pointers in the last two minutes to cut Tennessee’s lead to just one. In the final minute, the Lady Vols were unable to match Epps’ shots after Jelleah Sidney came up with a huge block, giving UK the ball with 46 seconds on the clock. A missed three pointer by O’Neill was erased after a Goss offensive rebound, turning the shot clock off, giving UK the final possession. Epps’ hot streak ended at the wrong time, as she missed a jumper with 4 seconds left, but luckily the rebound was tipped out of bounds off of Tennessee. Coach Mitchell called a timeout to set up Alexis Jennings with the final shot, but she was unable to convert with 2 seconds left on the clock. Tennessee escaped.
Kentucky will return to Memorial on Sunday for Alumni Day to face the no. 21 Georgia Bulldogs. The game can be seen on the SEC Network at 1pm.
@armonnett
Photo via UK Athletics[/caption]
For the first time since 2011, Kentucky falls to Tennessee in Lexington, 73-72. Coming off a road win in Columbia against Missouri, the Cats lose their third game in their last five, by a combined 14 points in the three losses. UK is now 16-5 on the season, 5-3 in the SEC, good enough for fifth in the conference.
The Cats followed this season’s narrative once again with a slow start in the first half, hitting only one of their first eight shots. However, four three pointers for Kentucky, compared to UT’s 0-5 from behind the arc, were able to help lift UK to a six point, 31-25, lead going into halftime.
Near the end of the first half, Tennessee’s Isabelle Harrison became the 39th Volunteer to score 1,000 points in their career. Harrison was also the Vols’ leading scorer tonight as well with 19 points on 8-12 shooting, also chipping in 10 rebounds. Afterwards Mitchell called her a great player, but also blamed his “mystifying” defense for allowing her to catch the ball in the high post so easily.
“Tough game to lose. It’s a tough match-up, both teams wanted to win. It’s an important game and I wish we could’ve won it… We just had a stretch there where I thought we had the ability to control the game and just stopped playing defense,” head coach Matthew Mitchell said post-game. Offensively, however, Kentucky played solid, putting up the second-most points Tennessee has allowed all season.
The second half was much like the first with lead changes and ties taking place frequently, but the intensity somehow picked up even more. In a nearly full Memorial Coliseum (attendance: 7,407 — largest of the season), the crowd was loud and on their feet for most of the game, especially following the buzzer, where the fans booed the refs out of the gym.
Makayla Epps scored last 10 points for UK including two HUGE three pointers in the last two minutes to cut Tennessee’s lead to just one. In the final minute, the Lady Vols were unable to match Epps’ shots after Jelleah Sidney came up with a huge block, giving UK the ball with 46 seconds on the clock. A missed three pointer by O’Neill was erased after a Goss offensive rebound, turning the shot clock off, giving UK the final possession. Epps’ hot streak ended at the wrong time, as she missed a jumper with 4 seconds left, but luckily the rebound was tipped out of bounds off of Tennessee. Coach Mitchell called a timeout to set up Alexis Jennings with the final shot, but she was unable to convert with 2 seconds left on the clock. Tennessee escaped.
Kentucky will return to Memorial on Sunday for Alumni Day to face the no. 21 Georgia Bulldogs. The game can be seen on the SEC Network at 1pm.
@armonnett
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