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Lexington, KY 12-21-22
All I want for Christmas is a Kentucky WBB win! Ask, and you shall receive. The ‘Cats came into Wednesday mornings game on a three-game losing streak but ended that skid with a 95-86 win over the Ohio Bobcats. The dreadful three-game stretch by the ‘Cats featured losses to Louisville (86-72), Murray State (51-44), and FGCU (69-63). The ‘Cats entered Wednesdays game with a 7-4 record on the season while the Bobcats entered with a record of just 2-7. The game looked to serve as a “get right” game for the ‘Cats, and after the first half, the ‘Cats did just that. Some keys to the game for the ‘Cats continued to be limiting turnovers (17 per game), establishing an offensive rhythm, three-point shooting (24.1% for the season), and establishing a post presence (Petty, Leveretter). For the ‘Cats, Benton leads the offensive scoring with 15.5 PPG, with Walker just behind at 13.1PPG. Scherr serves as the mainstay averaging 7.4 PPG, 5.5 RPG, and 5.5 APG. The key for the ‘Cats defense was limiting Felder’s (18.6 PPG) opportunities on the offensive end for the Bobcats.
Coach Elzy continued with the same starting five for the ‘Cats even after three consecutive losses. The starters for the ‘Cats were Walker, Benton, Scherr, Green, and Leveretter.
Game Recap:
The scoring started with a mid-range Green jumper to give the ‘Cats the first points of the game. Good passing from the Bobcats resulted in some easy scoring opportunities for Ohio around the basket as they went on a 6-0 run before Walker hit two free-throws to bring the score 6-4 Ohio. With a faster pace of play to start the game than the previous two matchups for the ‘Cats, scoring opportunities for both teams came early and often as the Bobcats took a 13-10 lead into the media timeout with 4:59 remaining in the first quarter. Ohio started the game 6 for 7 shooting from the field. A strong driving layup by Benton ended a 4-minute ‘Cats scoring drought and brought the score to 16-12 Ohio. A steal by Russell led to a transition a transition opportunity where Benton found Petty for an and-one chance to bring the score to 16-15 Bobcats. A 7-0 ‘Cats run to end the quarter, in unison with a 3-minute Bobcats scoring drought, saw the end of the first quarter finish with a ‘Cats lead, 17-16. Walker led the ‘Cats with 6 first quarter points, while Petty mixed in 5 points and 5 rebounds.
The second quarter started with an Ohio layup to give them a 18-17 lead. The ‘Cats offense quickly responded with a corner three by Russell for the ‘Cats first three-pointer of the game. Back-to-back Bobcat layups, followed by a good transition find by Walker to Petty saw the ‘Cats re-take the lead 23-22. Ohio converted an and-one opportunity on their next trip down the floor. A 6-0 ‘Cats run, featuring two mid-range jumpers from Scherr and Walker, pushed the ‘Cats back in front 29-25 at the media timeout in the second quarter. An 8-0 ‘Cats run was ended by an Ohio corner three. Russell flashed her court vision by finding Adeyeye for an easy layup down low. Both the Wildcats and the Bobcats offenses got hot during a stretch in the second quarter (a sign of things to come in the second half) when the Bobcats went 6 for 8 shooting and the ‘Cats 5 for 6 shooting to bring the game score even at 33. That score held for the final 2-minutes of action as Ohio and Kentucky entered the half knotted at 33 apiece. The ’Cats shot 40% from the field in the first half, hitting just 1 three-pointer. Turnovers continued to be an issue for the ‘Cats in the first half of action as they accumulated 9 in the first 20-minutes of the game. Petty and Walker led the ‘Cats in scoring in the first half with 8 points apiece.
The second half scoring started with a Scherr jumper to give the ‘Cats a 35-33 lead. The ‘Cats finally started a quarter with hot shooting as they jump started the second half with an 8-0 run in the first 2-minutes to give them a 41-33 lead. A nifty move by Walker found a cutting Green to continue the ‘Cats scoring to begin the half. The Bobcats responded with an and-one opportunity to bring the score to 43-38 with 6:48 to play in the quarter. The offenses continued to explode in the third quarter for both teams. Benton started the third quarter shooting 4 for 4 from beyond the arc while the ‘Cats consistently executed on offense nearly every trip down the floor. The Bobcats offense also started to click mid-way through the quarter, as their offense also accumulated 4 threes to bring the Kentucky lead down to 56-52 with 2:52 left to play in the third. The score at the end of the third quarter was 62-57 Kentucky. The ‘Cats shot a scorching 64% from the field in the quarter on 9 of 14 shooting, 50% from three-point range (4 of 8), and 88% from the charity stripe (7-8 FTs) on their way to 29 third quarter points. The ‘Cats finally protected the ball for an extended period as well in the quarter, as they committed 0 (!!!) turnovers in the third. Benton collected 14 third quarter points for the ‘Cats.
The fourth quarter scoring began with a pair of Ohio free-throws to narrow the ‘Cats lead to 3, 62-59. Russell responded for the ‘Cats with a mid-range jumper on the other end. Russell continued her hot shooting by nailing a contested three the next trip down the floor for the ‘Cats to extend the Kentucky lead to 67-59. The ‘Cats finally reached a double-digit lead by a score of 71-61 with a pair of Green free-throws with 8-minutes remaining in the game. Russell stayed on the offensive attack any time she touched the ball, consistently displaying strong drives towards the bucket and confidently launching jumpers. Another and-one opportunity for Petty brought the ‘Cats lead to 9 with 4:30 to play. Green converted and easy layup off another strong drive to the paint by Russell to bring the score to 82-74 Kentucky. A nice cut to the basket by Benton allowed Petty to find her for another layup conversion to bring the score to 86-78 ‘Cats. The crunch time free-throws began with 26-seconds left to play and the ‘Cats up 89-83. A Bobcats three brought Ohio back within 5 with a score of 91-86, but the ‘Cats continued to sink their free-throws down the stretch on their way to a 95-86 win to end their three-game skid.
The Bobcats shot an incredible 62% from the field in the game (43% from three-point range). The ‘Cats ended the game shooting 48% from the field and 28% from beyond the arc. The ‘Cats dominated the boards by a count of 36-20. Kentucky also had just 2 second half turnovers (11 for the game). Five ‘Cats scored in double figures in the game in Benton (22), Petty (15), Green (14), Walker (14), and Russell (14). Petty led the rebounding effort in the game for the ‘Cats with a team-high 8. Walker excelled distributing the ball on Wednesday morning with a team-high 8 assists. The plus/minus leader for the ‘Cats was Benton, posting a +14 in 31-minutes. Benton scored 18 of her game-high 22 points in the second half, while Russell posted 11 second half points in just 8-minutes of action.
The ’Cats get over a week to enjoy the holiday and rest up before they take on the Missouri Tigers on Thursday, December 29. Tip-off is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. for the ‘Cats first SEC game of the season. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.
