Harrison’s Career High Leads Kentucky Past Arkansas
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Dorie Harrison scored a career-high 16 points and four other Wildcats scored in double figures as the Kentucky women’s basketball team beat Arkansas 76-65 on Monday night at Bud Walton Arena.
Harrison, the 6-3 freshman from Nashville, set her career high in points for the third straight game, hitting five of her 14 field goal attempts and all six of her free throw tries.
Kentucky (11-11, 3-5 SEC) won its second consecutive game in a contest that was not nearly as close as the final score would indicate. The Wildcats got 12 points apiece from Makenzie Cann and Taylor Murray, while Maci Morris added 11 and Amanda Paschal had 10. Freshman KeKe McKinney had six points and a career-high 12 rebounds for the Cats.
The Wildcats held significant advantages in several statistical categories. Kentucky forced 18 Arkansas turnovers, and the Cats turned those into 25 points. Kentucky won the rebounding battle 35-33, while holding a 31-10 advantage in bench points. The Cats also led in points in the paint (36-20) and fast break points (8-2).
After Kentucky scored the game’s first points on a basket by Morris, Arkansas scored five in a row to lead 5-2. The Razorbacks would extend the lead to 12-7 before Kentucky ran off 12 straight points to take a 19-12 lead. The Wildcats would hold a 21-14 lead after one period.
In the second period, the margin remained the same until Kentucky went on a 10-0 run to extend the lead to 35-18 with 4:39 remaining in the half. Kentucky would lead by as many as 22 before Arkansas scored the last five points of the half, making the halftime score 43-26. Kentucky had a balanced scoring effort in the first half, as Morris and Murray each had nine points, Harrison had eight and Cann added seven.
Kentucky continued to extend the lead in the third quarter, as the Wildcats led 59-31 with 2:51 left in the period. Arkansas would cut into the lead, but Kentucky still led 64-41 after three periods. Harrison had eight points in the third quarter for Kentucky.
In the fourth period, Kentucky would stretch its lead to 71-45 with 6:35 left in the game. The Wildcats would see Arkansas chip away at the lead, scoring the game’s final eight points to provide the final margin of victory.
Kentucky returns to action on Thursday, as the Wildcats host Auburn at Memorial Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on SEC Network+.
