Kentucky Falls at Auburn on Thursday
Ajae Petty had 13 points and 13 rebounds, recording her 13th double-double of the season, but the Kentucky women’s basketball team lost at Auburn 78-50 on Thursday night inside Neville Arena.
Kentucky (9-16, 2-9 Southeastern Conference) got 11 points and seven rebounds from Maddie Scherr, who was the only other UK player in double figures.
The Cats made just 19 of 58 (32.8 percent) from the floor and committed 26 turnovers in the game. Auburn scored 38 points off of those UK miscues.
Kentucky missed its first eight shots from the floor and Auburn was able to take an 8-0 lead. The Cats got on the board when Petty made a layup to get UK within six. However, UK would make just two of 19 from the floor in the first quarter and Auburn led 22-4 after 10 minutes of play.
Petty would score a couple of baskets early in the second period but Auburn went on a 7-2 run to lead 31-10. However, UK’s woes from the floor continued and Auburn would lead 40-18 at the half.
Auburn (16-8, 5-6) extended the lead to 45-20 early in the third period before the Cats mounted a run. Petty and Scherr led the Cats on a 13-4 run to make it 49-33 with 4:11 left in the third. UK would get within 15 late in the quarter but Auburn led 57-38 through three periods.
Early in the fourth quarter, Kentucky got baskets from Brooklynn Miles and Amiya Jenkins to cut the deficit to 57-42. However, the Cats would get no closer.
Kentucky returns to action on Sunday, hosting Florida at Rupp Arena. Tipoff is set for noon ET and the game can be seen on the SEC Network.
