Dec. 4, 2008
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky women’s basketball team fell to intrastate rival Western Kentucky, 66-57, on Thursday night in E.A. Diddle Arena. Junior guard Amani Franklin (Stone Mountain, Ga.) led UK with 16 points while senior center Eleia Roddy (Columbus, Ohio) followed with a season-high 15 points and 11 rebounds, her fifth career and first double-double of the season.
“I am disappointed in the outcome,” UK Hoops Coach Matthew Mitchell said. “We turned the ball over way too much to be successful. We had inexperienced players in critical positions and not having Carly (Ormerod) was a huge blow to us. Amber (Smith) also got in foul trouble which was unfortunate but this is a good learning experience for us.”
The Wildcats (4-3) were forced to play without senior Carly Ormerod (Louisville, Ky.) due to soreness in her left foot. The point guard battles sesamoiditis and turf toe, a condition that caused her to miss 16 games last season. Sophomore point guard Amber Smith (Winter Haven, Fla.) committed three fouls in the first half and fouled out with 5:59 to go. Without their starting point guard, the Cats turned the ball over 19 times and WKU scored 17 points off those miscues.
“This is a difficult situation that I put our team in, playing six games in eight days with not a lot of prep time,” Mitchell said. “I was proud we kept fighting though. We are young at key positions but we played a good team tonight in a tough atmosphere.”
The game remained close during the first half as the score was knotted at 21 with 5:18 remaining. The Lady Toppers used an 11-2 run to close out the first half and led 32-24 at the break. Kentucky struggled from the floor for the third straight games, shooting just 25 percent (8-of-32) in the first half.
WKU (5-2) took advantage of UK’s shooting woes, using a 19-9 run to take a 21-point lead (58-37) with 6:21 left in the game. The Lady Toppers led by as many as 22 points (55-33) before UK closed the gap and finally dropped a nine-point decision.
The Cats shot just 31.3 percent from the field (20-of-64) for the game and outrebounded the Lady Toppers, 52-47. WKU hit 36.9 percent and outscored UK 36-30 in points in the paint.
Four WKU players scored in double-digits led by Dominique Duck and Kenzie Rich with 15 points apiece. Arnika Brown followed with 12 points and 16 rebounds while Hope Brown added 10 points.
UK is now 15-14 all-time against the Lady Toppers, 6-7 when playing in Bowling Green, Ky.
Kentucky returns home Saturday, Dec. 6 against Furman at 2 p.m. EST in Memorial Coliseum.
