Kentucky-Alabama Postgame Notes

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
KENTUCKY VS. ALABAMA
THURSDAY, FEB. 9, 2023
MEMORIAL COLISEUM – LEXINGTON, KY.
  

Alabama 72, Kentucky 65 – FINAL 
 
Team Records and Series Notes   

• The University of Kentucky women’s basketball program is in its 49th season with an 892-582 (.605) all-time record.    
  • The Wildcats are now 10-13 overall and 2-9 in the league.  
  • The Crimson Tide are now 18-6 overall and 7-4 in the league. 

• Kyra Elzy is in her third season as the head coach of the Wildcats, holding a 47-34 overall record.   
  • She has a 19-23 overall record in the SEC. 
• Kentucky remains the all-time leader against Alabama, 35-18, in a series that began in 1978. 
  • UK leads UA, 16-7, in games played in Lexington. 

• Kentucky will face Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi, on Monday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. ET on SEC Network. 

Team Notes   

• Kentucky used the starting combination Jada Walker, Maddie Scherr, Robyn Benton, Blair Green and Nyah Leveretter for the 17th game this season. UK is 7-10 using that starting combination.   

• • Alabama won the opening tip.  
  • Blair Green was the first Kentucky player to score. 
  • Adebola Adeyeye was the first substitute off the bench for Kentucky for the 14th time this season. 
• Kentucky trailed Alabama, 15-13, at the first quarter media timeout (3:49). 
  • Including one bucket before the media timeout, Kentucky used the last four minutes and 43 seconds of the first quarter to go on a 9-0 run. 
    • That series included a 5-0 run by Jada Walker alone on a pair of layups, including an and-one play.  
    • Kentucky led Alabama, 20-15, at the end of the first quarter.  
      • The Wildcats were shooting 53.3 in the first quarter, holding the Crimson Tide to 31.6 percent from the floor.  
• The second quarter began with a game of runs.  
  • The Wildcats stretched their 9-0 run into a 15-0 run to start the second quarter, which was capped by a coast-to-coast layup from Eniya Russell. 
  • That scoring run prompted the Crimson Tide to call a timeout. Out of that timeout the Tide went on a 9-0 run off three straight 3-pointers to get within two points of a tied game.
  • That scoring run prompted the Wildcats to call a timeout. Out of that timeout, the two teams traded buckets the rest of the second quarter, going 7-7 during that timeframe.  
  • Kentucky led Alabama, 33-31, at halftime.  
• Neither team scored a field goal for the first three minutes and 33 seconds of the third quarter, but Nyah Leveretter did draw a foul and knocked down a pair of free throws during that stretch. 
  • Alabama broke the silence with a layup at 6:27, which turned into a 9-0 run over the next three minutes. 
  • Scoring was back-and-forth over the next two minutes (3:22-1:17), until Alabama turned a 3-pointer into a 6-0 run. 
    • Kentucky called a timeout with a minute remaining the third quarter after that run.  
  • Out of the timeout, Robyn Benton drained a 3-pointer to get within six points. 
    • She got fouled on the Crimson Tide’s inbound on the next possession, as the Tide knocked down one of their two shots. 
  • Alabama outscored Kentucky, 18-9, in the third quarter, leading UK, 49-42, at the period break.  
• The Crimson Tide scored off a turnover to begin the fourth quarter. Two possessions later, the Tide scored a 3-pointer to draft a 5-0 run. 
  • The two teams would go back-and-forth in scoring over the first five minutes and 39 seconds of the fourth quarter, with neither team going on a run larger than two possessions.  
  • Kentucky snapped that tit-for-tat with a 5-0 run for themselves, beginning with a layup by Adebola Adeyeye at 4:21 and ending with a free throw by Maddie Scherr at 2:48. 
  • Alabama scored on an and-one play, before Kentucky knocked down a free throw and back-to-back 3-pointers to get within six points right under the minute mark. 
  • Alabama drew a foul on its very next possession, going to the free throw line and knocking down two.  
    • UA would score seven points off free throws the rest of the game, as Kentucky attempted to gain possession.  
    • Despite both Scherr and Benton scoring 3-pointers during that final 30-second stretch, Kentucky lost to Alabama, 72-65. 
• Kentucky outscored Alabama in pointed off turnovers (16-13), points in the paint (28-16), second-chance points (17-2) and bench points (17-15). 
  • The Wildcats also went 10-of-12 at the line, while the Crimson Tide went 13-of-21 at the line. 
  • A difference maker in the game was at the arc, as the Cats were 7-of-21 and the Tide was 13-of-28 from long range. 
• UK and UA tied, 33-33, in rebounds. 

Player Notes   

• Sophomore guard Jada Walker led Kentucky with 15 points. 
  • She added four rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. 
    • Walker, who leads the conference in steals, has had at least one steal in 10 straight games. 
      • It is the longest active streak on the team. 
    • She has dished out at least two assists in three straight games.  
• Graduate guard Robyn Benton had 14 points, including going 4-of-7 from the arc. 

• • She has scored in double digits in all 22 games she has played in this season. 
  • She made at least one 3-pointer for the 17th straight game.  
  • She also logged three rebounds, two assists and a steal. 
    • Benton has dished out at least one assist in nine straight games.  

• Junior guard Maddie Scherr had 11 points. 
  • She has now scored at least 10 points in nine straight games.   
  • She added three rebounds and an assist. 

• Junior guard Eniya Russel scored four points to go along with a career-high tying five rebounds.  
  • She also added a career-high tying four assists, a block and a steal. 
• Graduate forward Adebola Adeyeye nearly recorded a double-double, logging a season-high nine points and a season-high tying nine rebounds.  
  • She also had a season-high three blocks and an assist.