Kentucky Falls at Tennessee on Sunday
Ajae Petty recorded her ninth double-double of the season, but the Kentucky women’s basketball team lost at Tennessee 87-69 on Sunday.
Petty scored 14 points and pulled down 14 rebounds to make it three double-doubles in a row. Eniya Russell came off the bench to lead UK in scoring with 16 points. Maddie Scherr had 13 points, five assists and four rebounds for the Cats, while Saniya Tyler scored 10 points.
Kentucky (8-8, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) created 16 Tennessee turnovers and turned those miscues into 17 points. But Tennessee made 19 of 25 at the line, while Kentucky made just five of eight, which proved to be the difference in the game.
Tennessee (9-5, 1-1) scored the first basket of the game but Kentucky got baskets from Scherr and Brooklynn Miles to take a 4-2 lead. After the Lady Vols tied the game at 4-4, the Cats got buckets from Tyler and Petty to again lead by four, 8-4.
The Cats would go up by as many as six points in the first period but were held scoreless for the final 4:31 of the quarter. Still, Kentucky held an 18-14 lead after 10 minutes of play.
Tennessee scored the first three points of the second period to get within one, 18-17. But UK got a three from Cassidy Rowe, sparking a 15-5 run that gave the Cats a 33-22 advantage. After Tennessee got a basket from Rickea Jackson, Kentucky got a Russell layup, and five consecutive points from Tyler to build a 40-24 lead.
Kentucky would go up by 17 points, 45-28, on a Russell three-pointer. But Tennessee scored six straight to cut the deficit to 45-34. The Cats would hold a 49-39 lead at the half.
Tennessee would begin to chip away at the UK lead in the third quarter. Kentucky would lead 55-44 before the Lady Vols scored 11 in a row to tie the game at 55-55 with 4:39 left in the third. After a UK timeout, Scherr snapped the UT streak with a jumper in the lane.
However, Tennessee scored the next four, all on free throws, to lead 59-57. Kentucky answered with a Russell layup and free throw to take the lead back, 60-59, with 1:44 left in the third quarter. But the Lady Vols scored the final seven points of the period to take a 66-60 advantage into the final 10 minutes.
Tennessee would continue to stretch its lead in the fourth quarter, with the final margin being UT’s biggest lead of the game.
Kentucky returns to action on Thursday night, hosting Vanderbilt at Rupp Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on SEC Network Plus.
