Junior Laura Meadows finishes with 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in loss.
HARTFORD, Conn. (Nov. 26, 1999) — The University ofKentucky women’s basketball fell early to theClemson Tigers and could not recover, dropping70-65 in the consolation round of the Coaches vs.Cancer Challenge on Friday.
The Cats, coming off a near defeat over top-rankedUConn on Wednesday, fell behind by as many as16 points in the first half, shooting a dismal10-of-33 (30.3 percent) from the floor.” UK wouldhead to the lockerroom down 37-25 at the half.Junior Laura Meadows was the only offensivethreat, netting 10 points.” The remaining four UKstarters combined for a total of 12 points.
“We are a much better team than we performedtonight,” UK Coach Bernadette Mattox said. “Iliked the way we fought back at the end of thegame, but I wished we would have fought like thatthe entire game. It’s very disappointing.”
UK came out more aggressive in the second half,cutting the lead to three, 66-63, with :16 secondsremaining in the game.” The Cats were fueled by theinside game of post players Shantia Owens andTanesha Seaton.” The duo helped UK score 42points in the paint compared to Clemson’s 26points.
However, the Cats were outrebounded on theoffensive board 25 to 18 and Clemson nailed27-of-38 from the charity line, includingfour-of-four in the final seconds to seal the victory.
“We can’t give up 25 offensive rebounds andexpect to win,” Mattox said. “We also got in foultrouble early which hurt us and we turned the ball over way too many times.”
UK outscored Clemson 40-33 in the second half, despite five Cats withthree or more fouls. UK committed 19 total turnovers compared to eightClemson turnovers.
Meadows led all scorers with 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.” Itwas her seventh career double-double.” Owens also netted 16 points whileSeaton added nine.
Three Tigers scored in double figures with Erin Batth and Amirah Leonardleading with 15 points apiece. Datishella Byrd recorded 10.
The Cats return home on Wednesday, Dec. 1 to rekindle the interstate rivalwith Western Kentucky. Game time is slated for 7 p.m. in MemorialColiseum.
