Second half struggles prove to be UK womens’ downfall at Duke
Freshman guard Taylor Murray (24) dribbles the ball during the game against the Arkansas Razorbacks on Sunday, February 21, 2016 in Lexington, Ky. Kentucky won the game 77-63. Photo by Hunter Mitchell | Staff
December 29, 2016
The No. 17 UK women’s basketball team traveled to No. 15 Duke looking for its first road win of the season before Southeastern conference play, but instead the Cats will return to Lexington empty handed as they fell to the Blue Devils 69-54.
“I thought our team really hustled and played through some adversity there in the first half,” head coach Matthew Mitchell said.
Coming out of intermission trailing 37-32, the quick and competitive UK team that played well in the first half vanished. The Cats would miss their first eight shots coming out of halftime, allowing Duke to open up a nine-point lead at the 6:02 mark in the third.
Then in the fourth quarter, the Cats would miss their first 15 shots, and would not score a single point until Makayla Epps scored a pair of free throws with 5:06 left in the game.
At that point, Duke led by 13, and would continue building that lead to 20 with less than two minutes remaining. The Cats finished the fourth quarter shooting just under 17 percent, while getting outscored 20-10 in the quarter.
“When the ball doesn’t go in the basket, we have a hard time staying with it defensively and finding a way to tough through the difficult time,” Mitchell said. “I thought we got really deflated on defense, gave them some easy opportunities. If we could’ve battled through that time, maybe it would’ve been different.”
Despite the loss, there was one positive the Cats could take home with them, and that was Taylor Murray returning from injury.
Murray would take her normal starting role back and contribute immediately, scoring 16 first half points off 6-7 shooting. Murray would finish with 18 points to go along with four rebounds.
“I really appreciate her coming out when she clearly is not 100 percent,” Mitchell said. “She gave us a chance to be in the game.”
The loss concludes a brutal non-conference schedule that saw the Cats take on five ranked teams. Despite the four losses, Mitchell has optimism heading into conference play.
“Our teams has done a heck of a job against one of the toughest schedules in the country,” Mitchell said. “We’re excited about our team, excited to head into conference play.”
