Having been defeated by the Missouri Tigers just 30 days prior, the Kentucky womens basketball team entered Sunday’s matchup with a hunger for revenge.

From the opening tipoff the Cats looked strong, collective and passionate, immediately creating havoc for Missouri’s shooters.

In just the opening minutes alone, graduate student Robyn Benton nabbed four steals and went 3-5 from the floor, quickly leading the team with eight points. 

Kentucky head coach Kyra Elzy’s game plan was simple: disrupt the Missouri shooters and maintain a good transition offense.  This plan, much to the Tigers’ dismay, worked exceptionally well, with the first quarter ending 22-9 in favor of Kentucky.

The Cats continued to have good looks all game long with Missouri seeming content with playing deep man-to-man defense, which gave Kentucky’s shooters, notably Benton and Maddie Scherr, time to fire off their shots. 

On top of that, even when shots didn’t fall Kentucky’s front-court pair of Nyah Leveretter and Adebola Adeyeye were present to snatch offensive rebounds and convert second chance looks. 

Head coach Kyra Elzy was incredibly pleased with the frontcourt’s performance against Missouri.

“They work extremely hard, and they want to help this team win,” Elzy said. “They don’t get to go to the press conference or the radio show or they’re not in the headline of the paper, but (they do the) dirty work (and) we need them to do in order for us to be successful.” 

Leveretter, who finished with eight points and six rebounds, was a focal point in both UK’s quick transition offense and interior defense, setting the tone for the physical interior game.

“The focus for us has just been to be active on the boards,” Leveretter said. “She (Elzy) tells us, ‘12 points and then 15 rebounds,’ as a post group. Our guards get a lot of the attention, a lot of the points, but we gotta understand that we have to contribute too and that’ll help the goal of winning for the team.” 

The second quarter saw the Cats ease up on the offensive pressure, but after a quick reorganizing timeout, they quickly got back on track. 

The end of the first half saw the Cats take a comfortable 41-22 lead over the Tigers into the break, a lead they ultimately never gave up. 

The third quarter even saw an eruption from sophomore Jada Walker, who went 3-4 from the field with two of those shots being from beyond the arc. 

Her performance across the board, not just on the offensive side of the ball, earned her high praise from Elzy. 

“That defensive tone that she set. All gas, no breaks,” Elzy said. “Love that mentality about her along with Maddie Scherr. Pure toughness.” 

The third quarter saw the Cats pull away even further, exploding for 28 collective points to inch closer to victory. 

While only scoring eight total points in the fourth quarter, the Cats refused to back down defensively, denying any chance of a Missouri comeback. 

The Cats shot an exceptional 52% from the field, while also shooting 53% from three, a stat line that saw the Wildcats take home just their second SEC victory of the season 77-54. 

While the Cats are sure to relish the victory, there is little time for rest as the No. 1 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks are up next on the schedule for the Wildcats’ squad. 

“How are we going to rewrite our story, like how are we going to be remembered?” veteran Blair Green said. “Not everyone remembers the beginning of the season, but how are they going to remember us in the end? That’s our biggest thing right now.” 

The Cats travel down to Columbia, Missouri, on Thursday, Feb. 2, in a revenge match against the Gamecocks. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST and will stream live on the SEC Network.