By Kevin Erpenbeck | UK Hoops columnist

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When the Cats first met Baylor University back in December, they were riding high off of an undefeated start to the season. They were playing nearly flawless basketball.

That all culminated to a 133-130 quadruple-overtime victory over the Bears in what is considered one of the greatest women’s college basketball games ever played.

But since that game, UK had changed. It lost what made them winners and suffered from a midseason slump that consisted of poor shooting and below-average defense.

The Cats fixed those issues near the end of their season, winning five of their last six regular season games and advancing to the SEC Finals.

All seemed to be mended come NCAA Tournament time. They finally started to resemble the team that beat Baylor nearly four months ago.

But after 90-72 blowout defeat in their rematch with the Bears, the Cats saw a mirrored image of their ugly selves.

The midseason ghosts came back to haunt them. And now, they’re going home.

The poor shooting plagued UK from the moment the game began. Missing 14 of its first 17 shots in the game, the Cats were down big early and often. They were never able to go on the run they needed to shake off their old ghosts and repeat that December outcome over the Bears.

The opportunities were there. They held Baylor senior guard Odyssey Sims to 3-of-10 shooting early in the first half and kept the defensive pressure intense on the rest of her teammates.

But all of that intensity broke down in the second half. Sims finished with 25 points, and Baylor became the only team to score over 90 points or more on the Cats all season.

It was too much for UK to overcome.

The 2014 senior class saw their run end at UK. They hold the second-most wins in program history and brought an era of success to the program.

But for these Cats, their post-December ghosts did them in. Baylor earned its revenge, and UK is going home earlier than expected.

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