The No. 16 Cats (23-5, 11-4 Southeastern Conference) were defeated by No.4 Tennessee (26-2, 14-1) 81-65 at Thompson-Boling Arena in the only meeting of the season between the two teams.

The loss ends UK’s chances of sharing the regular season SEC title with Tennessee. A piece of the SEC crown would have been a possibility with a UK win against the Lady Vols and a win at Auburn on Sunday, in addition to a Tennessee loss in their final game with Ole Miss.

UK’s size disadvantage was one of the biggest concerns for UK head coach Matthew Mitchell heading into the game, but Tennessee’s hot shooting and UK’s lack of bench scoring turned out to be deciding factors too.

Down by 21 points on two occasions in the first half, UK used an eight-point spurt just before halftime to chip the Lady Vols’ lead to 14. Tennessee shot 50 percent from the field in the first half compared to UK’s 29 percent, but held only a slight 22-19 rebounding edge on UK.

Tennessee sophomore center Kelley Cain, standing 6-foot-6, was limited to three minutes in the first half because of foul trouble. When Cain returned for action in the second half she collected 11 points, six rebounds and six blocks. The final rebounding margin stood at 42-31 in favor of UT.

The Lady Vols’ superior team size even disrupted reigning SEC Player of the Week Victoria Dunlap’s play. Dunlap finished with 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, but UT forced her to the free-throw line 11 times.

Tennessee’s bench outscored the Cats’ 26-8. The Cats had zero bench points in the first half.

This season had seen UK halt other longtime losing streaks, ending a decade-long skid against LSU and an 11-year drought against Vanderbilt. After being upset by UK in Lexington last season, Tennessee’s quest for revenge was not going to be denied.

Despite the loss, UK has secured second place in the SEC and will be the No.2 seed in the SEC Tournament.