Cats get scare from Butler, overwhelm Bulldogs in the end

By Nick Craddock

In their opening weekend, the Cats twice dominated the dogs.

After defeating the Boston Terriers on Friday, the UK women’s basketball team turned its attention to the Butler Bulldogs on Sunday and pulled away for a 87-66 win in front of 4,014 fans at Memorial Coliseum.

The Cats’ up-tempo offense went into hibernation for the first seven minutes of the second half, but after Butler came back to force a 52-52 tie, the Cats woke up thanks to a bucket from freshman Brittany Henderson. That was followed by three straight threes for the Cats to swing momentum in their favor and pave the way to the 21-point win.

“Brittany Henderson made a hustle play, an offensive putback when we were struggling mightily,” UK head coach Matthew Mitchell said. “I told (the team) you never know what’s going to ignite the rally, you never know what’s going to ignite the run. Then (junior guard) Amber (Smith’s) three was huge…Rebecca Gray’s threes were big. Those plays were outstanding.”

Although the momentum swing essentially quelled any hope for a Butler comeback by energizing the home fans, junior forward Victoria Dunlap kept her team afloat with clutch plays, earning her second consecutive and 15th career double-double with a career-high 33 points and 18 rebounds.

Dunlap scored the first nine UK points of the second half. After the game, she received praise from her teammates and opponents.

Butler head coach Beth Couture said she tried to double team Dunlap, but that someone like her can’t be easily contained.

“Well, I’m ecstatic that (Dunlap) was on our team and not their team,” Mitchell said. “She’s taken her responsibility of being a go-to player and has exceeded my expectations.”

Dunlap was a bit surprised by her performance.

“I just thought I’d have a normal game,” she said.

The game’s first half was a continuation of the offensive muscle UK displayed against Boston, as the Cats knocked down over 50 percent of their shots, and every UK player who saw action scored.

The Bulldogs’ attack was spearheaded by junior Brittany Bowen’s 7-of-7 shooting and 16-point performance in the first half to limit the UK lead to nine at the break.

However, Butler expended so much energy to tie the game that the Bulldogs never managed to get over the cusp and take a lead.

Other than the slow start of Sunday’s second half, UK’s offense didn’t appear to show any blemishes all weekend.

“(Offensively this is) exactly what you want to do as a team,” Gray said. “The chemistry this year has been a lot better than it has been in years past and I feel like we are clicking a lot better. It’s got to be a lot of fun for the fans to watch.”