By Joshua Huff

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In a contest dominated by runs, it came as no surprise that the team who made the last run would come out victorious.

On Thursday, that team was Tennessee.

During a stretch that began with 2:28 remaining in the first half and ended with 11:53 left in the second half, UK held onto a slim lead against the No. 6 team in the country. But two free throws by Tennessee’s Bashaara Graves with 3:47 left in the game nullified any shred of momentum that UK was clinging to as the Cats fell 73-72 in front of 7,407 spectators in Memorial Coliseum.

“It’s about people making plays and it was a game of runs,” said Tennessee head coach Holly Warlick. “We talked about that at the half and we just kind of weathered the storm.”

Unfortunately for UK, that storm fizzled out in the second half as Tennessee took advantage of a terrible defensive performance by a UK team that prides itself on its pressure defense.

“We started letting people drive by us. A lot of it was on breakdowns,” UK head coach Matthew Mitchell said solemnly. “Give (Tennessee center) Isabelle (Harrison) some credit. She worked, caught some on the high post and made some contested shots.”

Harrison and fellow senior Cierra Burdick came into their own in the second half. Harrison dominated a smaller UK post to the tune of 19 points, 13 of which came in the second half. Burdick followed suite, scoring 12 of her 16 points after halftime as Tennessee’s mismatched rotation confused UK’s defense.

“We had some mystifying defensive possessions out there,” Mitchell said. “Where it just didn’t look like it was very important for us to win.”

UK sophomore guard Makayla Epps may have a bone to pick with her coach’s observations, though. She shook off a terrible first half and ended the game with 23 points, and most importantly, was 3-for-3 from the arc. She was clutch down the stretch, draining back-to-back threes with UK down 71-66 with two minutes left in the game.

However, despite four opportunities in 16 seconds and down one point, UK ended what would have been an instant miracle at Memorial as all four of its shots fell to the court without touching the net in a heartbreaking loss.

Despite the outcome and contrary to Mitchell’s comment about how nothing positive could be taken out of this game, kudos should be handed out to senior forward Jelleah Sidney. She scored seven points with nine rebounds in just 14 minutes of play and has stepped into her reserve role with a quiet intensity.