Dec. 7, 2002
Lexington, Ky. –
Rita Adams scored a career-high 29 points and Bowling Green native SeSe Helm recorded her first double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to send the Kentucky women’s basketball team past visiting Western Kentucky as it fell, 88-83, at Memorial Coliseum Saturday night.
The teams traded leads to start the game before Western’s Kristina Covington drilled the first of her four three-pointers to give the Lady Toppers a 7-5 edge and a lead they would not relinquish.
Owning the hot hand, Adams carried the Cats on her shoulders in the first half. The senior point guard, who entered the contest second on the team in scoring at 12.0 points a game, owned all four UK baskets at the 12-minute media timeout as the Cats trailed 16-9.
Kentucky (2-3) fell behind by eight, the largest of the half at 19-11, when Covington buried another trey with 10 minutes to play before intermission. The Cats then turned up the heat and went on a 6-0 run, highlighted by Keiko Tate’s 15-footer, to slice WKU’s edge to 19-17.
The Lady Toppers (3-1) clung to a two-point edge for the majority of the first half as the teams went back-and-fourth trading baskets. Jenny Pfeiffer hit a pair of free throws at 4:12 to make the score 29-27, but Western came back with a six-point lead, 36-30, late in the half. UK pressured and showed aggressiveness on the offensive end toward the end of the period. After Helm hit on four-straight free throws, Adams buried a three-pointer at the top of the key to bring the Cats to within two, 40-38, to send the teams to the lockerrooms.
“I hate to lose as much as anyone, but we have to take a look at all the positive things that came out of this game for us,” UK Coach Bernadette Mattox said. “We played a solid game and I can see that we are starting to come into our own as a basketball team. Tonight gives our team the confidence that we can play with anyone when we put two halves together.”
In the second stanza, Sara Potts, who entered the game as the Cats’ leading scorer with 17.3 points per game, put the Cats to within three at 46-43 when she drilled her first three-pointer of the night with 18 minutes to go. Helm nailed two more free-throws to cut the margin to one at 46-45, but Logsdon sank her third trifecta of the game to claim a four-point lead.Logsdon wasn’t finished firing from long range, launching a 20-foot jumper behind the arc that gave WKU a six-point cushion, 54-48, with 15 minutes left. Adams answered with a three of her own to cut the lead to 54-51 before the Lady Toppers regained control.
A driving layup by Tiffany Porter-Talbert resulted in a three-point play at 11:56 when she was fouled. The freshman’s free throw upped the Hilltoppers’ lead to 65-57, but Adams proved resilient once again and chalked up her third three-pointer to cut it to 65-60.
“I can’t say enough about the play of Rita Adams,” Mattox said. “Rita has been solid all year long. She’s really matured as a basketball player and become a leader. We’ve moved her around into a few different positions, but she’s stepped up to the challenge and done everything we’ve asked her to do. We moved her back over to the point guard tonight and I think we’ll stick with her there for the time being. She gave a fantastic effort tonight.”
Lineberry connected on two from the charity stripe after being fouled by Shambrica Jones to send the junior to the bench with five fouls as 5:30 showed on the clock. However, the Cats put a run together without their starting forward with Adams leading the attack. Adams added a bucket and free throw to slice the lead to 77-74, and a Jennifer Humphrey layup cut it to one at 77-76 with three minutes to go in the game.
Adams, who also dished out eight assists in the game, again worked her magic and drove the lane uncontested to pull UK within one, 79-78, with 2:20 on the clock. However, WKU went back to its bread-and-butter and Logsdon buried a three behind the top of the key to put the Lady Toppers up 82-78 with one minute in regulation.
Western pulled away in the final minute as the Cats were forced to put the Tops on the line. Helm gave UK a breath of life with 21 seconds remaining when she knocked down her first three-pointer of the season to cut Western’s lead to 86-83. Two Covington free throws ended the scoring as UK lost its third straight contest.
“It’s important to keep in mind that Western Kentucky has a very good basketball team,” Mattox said. “They also beat the No. 10 team in the nation, so they obviously are a talented group. I’m excited about the energy and intensity that we put together as a team for two halves.”Following Adams and Helm in the scoring column was Pfeiffer with a career-high 12 points. Potts charted eight points and a career-high eight boards while Humphrey and Jones added seven points apiece.
Western was led by Logsdon’s 23 points and Covington contributed 22. UK shot 41.9 percent (31-of-74) from the field, while the Lady Toppers connected on 27-of-65 for 41.5 percent. WKU buried 9-of-20 from behind the arc to UK’s 6-of-21. The Lady Toppers were outrebounded for the first time this season, 45-42.
The Wildcats still own the overall series record, 14-12, including a 9-6 mark in Lexington.
UK will next be in action on Saturday, Dec. 14 when it travels to the Hawaii Invitational to face host Hawaii at 12 a.m. ET. WLXG Sports Radio 1300 will carry the game live in Honolulu.
