HONOLULU ? Kentucky dropped its second consecutive game in the 29th Annual Jack in the Box Rainbow Wahine Classic as No. 21/22 Texas defeated the Wildcats, 72-60, on Saturday in the second-round of the consolation bracket. Senior guard Samantha Mahoney (Detroit) led three players in double-figures with 12 points.
UK will face Lipscomb in the seventh-place game Sunday, Nov. 25 at 4 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast live on the Big Blue Sports Network with Neil Price.
Senior center Sarah Elliott (McKee, Ky.) added 11 points and nine rebounds and freshman forward Victoria Dunlap charted a career-high 10 points to complement four steals.
?Turnovers killed us today,? UK Coach Matthew Mitchell said. ?They were bad turnovers too. They led to layups and we have to stop throwing the ball to the other team. I did think we competed hard in the post but we just shot ourselves in the foot today with turnovers.?
The Wildcats (2-3) trailed by just one, 19-18, with 8:30 remaining in the first half, before Texas used a 14-2 run to pull ahead 31-22. The Longhorns (3-2) went into halftime leading 31-24, led by 10 points from Ashley Lindsey. The Wildcats had 11 turnovers at the break and Texas scored 15 points off those miscues.
Kentucky came out in the second half, looking to get the ball inside. Elliott, who touched the ball only once in the first half, helped the Cats pull back to within single digits, 59-53, scoring nine of her 11 points in the second half. The Longhorns continued using their size and speed to push the lead back to 11, 69-58, with 3:18 left to go in the game. Another jumper by Elliott pulled UK within nine, 67-68, at the three-minute mark but UK would get no closer, as Texas held on for the 72-60 win.
Texas scored 21 points off 19 UK turnovers and out-rebounded the Wildcats 45-39. Texas was led Brittainey Raven who led all scorers with 17 points while Lindsey added 16.
UK falls to 0-2 vs. Texas in the all-time series and 4-7 vs. teams from the Big 12 Conference.
Kentucky will meet Lipscomb Sunday for the first time in school history. The Lady Bisons were defeated by Hawaii (85-51) and UAB (67-51) in their two games.