Kentucky women’s basketball (11-18, 4-11) was defeated by the Ole Miss Rebels (21-7, 11-4) on Thursday night 75-45.
Heading into their final game at Rupp Arena – their temporary home for the season – the Wildcats looked to bounce back after being throttled by No. 1 South Carolina four days prior while Ole Miss sought to add a fifth tally onto its four game win streak.
In an effort to win, Kentucky rolled out a starting five consisting of Cassidy Rowe, Amiya Jenkins, Maddie Scherr, Emma King and Ajae Petty.
Grabbing the games first points was Ole Miss’ Madison Scott, who sank back-to-back mid-range jump shots to get herself and the Rebels a quick four points. She went on to lead Ole Miss with 16 points.
The following play, Kentucky got on the board when Jenkins sank one of the two free throws that she was awarded after being fouled.
Ole Miss then went on an 8-2 run, forcing Kentucky head coach Kyra Elzy to use an early timeout, a common theme seen this season.
“I thought we started flat defensively,” Elzy said. “We gave them way too many open shots.”
Out of the timeout, the Wildcats were only able to pick up five more points while the Rebels’ offense kept firing, resulting in a 20-7 Ole Miss lead heading into the first break.
In the second quarter, the Wildcats’ offense picked up and scored 15 points, however, their defense didn’t adjust as well, resulting in the Rebels tacking on 17 more points.
At halftime, the score read 37-22 in favor of Ole Miss.
Out of the break, Kentucky was able to add ten points through the first 4:28, however it failed to score after that, closing the quarter on a 5:42 scoring drought.
At the start of the fourth-and-final quarter, the Wildcats trailed 60-32 and, as expected, were unable to do any damage with that much of a mountain to climb.
Up next, the Wildcats head down to the bayou on March 3 to finish their regular season against the defending National Champions and the currently ranked No. 9 LSU Tigers.
“We’re going into a tough environment at LSU, but it’s another game and another opportunity before we head into the SEC tournament,” Elzy said.
Tip-off for that game is set for 2 p.m. ET and can be viewed on the SEC Network.
