‘Can’t afford to stay where we are.’ UK women look for lessons after loss to ASUN school.
After Kentucky women’s basketball’s puzzling, season-low 31.4 percent shooting performance in the Wildcats’ 68-63 loss to Austin Peay at Georgetown College on Tuesday night, head coach Kyra Elzy stated three areas in which a winning team handles its business.
“You win with layups, free throws and good defense,” Elzy said.
In Tuesday’s loss — the Wildcats’ first of the season — UK (2-1) missed 28 layups and made only 22 of its 70 field goal attempts. The Wildcats made 68 percent of their free throws (15 of 22) but couldn’t figure out how to defend a previously winless Governors roster; Austin Peay shot 53 percent from the field (27-of-51) and made six of its 17 three-point attempts.
“I didn’t think we settled in offensively,” Elzy said. “We didn’t execute well, and that’s on me. You know, we talked about taking the ball side to side, getting a reversal, our shot selection was very important today. Didn’t do a good job on that and that’s on me.”
Austin Peay (1-2) finished the 2022-23 season 17-12 (11-6 ASUN) and, after defeating Kentucky, head coach Brittany Young said this year’s roster was due for a return to form — and UK just so happened to be on the wrong end of that come-up.
“Both of our first two games have been very uncharacteristic of who we’ve been,” Young said. “If you look at it across the board, I mean, we’ve been typically ranked nationally in terms of three-point percentage defense, we typically hold teams to about 55 points or less. It was simply just about getting back to who we are. Kentucky just happened to be the next opponent tonight.”
Austin Peay guard Anala Nelson scored a game-high 21 points and recorded eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. Cur’Tiera Haywood contributed 15 points, nine rebounds, four assists and one steal.
In both of UK’s wins this season against East Tennessee State and USC Upstate, the Wildcats endured offensive dry spells lasting minutes at a time. However, those stretches were limited to — at the most — a quarter of action. On Tuesday against Austin Peay, that stretch lasted for nearly the entire game.
Due to what Elzy called a “day-to-day” ankle injury sustained in Saturday’s win over USC Upstate, typical starter Maddie Scherr did not suit up Tuesday night. Senior guard Eniya Russell, fresh off a 14-point performance Saturday, stepped up and made her first career start in Scherr’s place. Russell, as well as usual starters Ajae Petty and Saniah Tyler, each scored in double figures in Tuesday’s loss.
Petty finished with a double-double of a career high-tying 19 points and a career-high 14 rebounds to lead the Wildcats. Tyler finished with 11 points and a career-high three steals, but made only 3 of her 13 three-point attempts. Russell added 11 points, seven rebounds and one block.
The only exception to UK’s cold-shooting night arrived in the fourth quarter, when the Wildcats rallied from trailing by as many as 13 with 7:40 to play in the game to pull within two. Austin Peay answered with a 5-2 run to ice the victory.
“When we come in we have to play for 40 minutes straight,” Petty said. “We can’t pick it up at the end and expect to come back because anybody on any day can beat anybody, so just coming in, playing hard from the tip. It starts even before tip, the mindset.”
Though the Wildcats have now bounced between three “home” venues in Rupp Arena, Transylvania University and Georgetown College, they’ll face their first true road test Sunday against Florida Gulf Coast (2-1). The Eagles handed UK a disappointing loss last December, and, though this matchup should be the Wildcats’ toughest challenge yet, Elzy said there’s plenty to learn from their first loss of the year.
“You can take something from every game,” Elzy said. “We’re going to go back and learn from it. Obviously not how we wanted to show up tonight, but we’ve got to learn from it. You either learn and grow or you stay where you are, and we can’t afford to stay where we are. We will use this tape, learn and we’ll be better because of it.”
Next game
Kentucky at Florida Gulf Coast
When: 2 p.m. Sunday
Where: Alico Arena in Fort Myers, Fla.
TV: ESPN+ (online only)
Radio: WLAP-AM 630
Records: Kentucky 2-1, FGCU 2-1
Series: FGCU leads 2-0
Last meeting: FGCU won 69-63 on Dec. 18, 2022, at Memorial Coliseum
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