Kentucky womens basketball came up just short of a win against Mississippi State, losing by single point with a final score of 77-76 on Sunday.

The fast-paced, back-and-forth game in Starkville, Mississippi, saw the Cats fight hard, but ultimately walk away with their fifth loss in their last six games.

The loss drops the Cats below .500 overall and down to 1-6 in SEC play this season.

Kentucky led for most of the first half, but struggled to keep the momentum after Mississippi State went on a 10-0 run after halftime, leading the Cats to be outscored 49-43 in the second half.

Going into the fourth quarter, Kentucky refused to back down as a jumper by Blair Green instigated a 7-2 run for the Cats, but after the Bulldogs drew a foul with three seconds remaining in a tied game, things got tense.

Once Mississippi State made one of its free throw attempts, the Cats simply ran out of time to attempt to take back the lead and the final buzzer sounded.

In light of the loss, Robyn Benton led Kentucky in scoring with 24 points and went 8-17 in field goals. She was also 7-9 on free throws.

Jada Walker was another impactful player for the Wildcats, sinking two 3-pointers to start the game and finishing with 22 points.

Kentucky made 87.5% of its free throws throughout the game, compared to 85% for Mississippi State. The Cats went 7-18 from beyond the arc while the Bulldogs went 4-for-12.

Maddie Scherr was the top rebounder for Kentucky with six in total in addition to shooting 100% (7-7) on free throws for the night.

The Bulldogs outrebounded the Wildcats 39-22, thanks in part to Mississippi State’s Jessika Carter, who totaled eight rebounds and 21 points, proving to be quite the challenger for Kentucky.

The Cats will return home to look for a bounce back win when they host Auburn on Thursday, Jan. 26, at 7 p.m. EST inside Memorial Coliseum for the annual We Back Pat game. The match can be viewed on SEC Network.