Feb. 20, 2000
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The University of Kentucky women’s basketball team lost its second straight Southeastern Conference game, falling to South Carolina on Sunday 63-51.
The Wildcats, who defeated the Lady Gamecocks last Sunday in Lexington 73-71, never led the Lady Gamecocks who outscored Kentucky (12-12, 4-8 SEC) 34-24 in the second half. Senior Tiffany Wait led UK with 13 points while Shantia Owens charted 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds. UK leading scorer LaTonya McDole, was held to six points, but tied her career-high of six steals.
“It was an ugly basketball game and it is very disappointing to have my players not show up for this basketball game,” Coach Bernadette Mattox said. “We knew what was on the line for this game today and the energy wasn’t there. We came out very flat from the start.”
South Carolina (13-13, 3-10 SEC) forced 20 turnovers and outrebounded the Cats 33-24. UK connected on 4-of-7 from the charity stripe compared to USC’s 15-of-21. The Cats shot 36.8 percent from the field while South Carolina shot 44.7 percent.
Sophomore Jocelyn Penn led all scorers with 16 points while her older sister, Annie Lester, netted 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds in her final home game.
USC, who celebrated its Senior Day at the Frank McGuire Arena, netted six three-pointers in the first half to take a 27-19 lead. Senior Natalie Martinez came off the bench, nailing two three-pointers of her own to cut the lead to 30-27 at the intermission. Martinez finished with eight points.
UK leads the all-time series 16-8, but is 4-6 when playing in Columbia. The Cats snapped a three-game win streak over the Lady Gamecocks.
Kentucky returns to action on Tuesday, Feb. 22 when it plays host to instate rival Louisville at 7 p.m. in Memorial Coliseum.
