Kentucky Falls at Arkansas on Thursday

Eniya Russell scored 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds but the Kentucky women’s basketball team lost at Arkansas 88-61 on Thursday night.

For Russell, it was her second straight game with 20 points. She also had 20 points in UK’s win over Missouri on Sunday.

Amiya Jenkins scored 11 points for the Cats, while Ajae Petty had only six points, but grabbed 16 rebounds.

Kentucky (9-11, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) got off to an extremely slow start on Thursday. The Cats missed their first six shots and had five turnovers over the game’s first seven minutes. During that span, Arkansas built an 18-0 lead.

UK finally got on the board when Maddie Scherr drove to the basket for a layup with 3:05 left in the period. That basket started a 7-2 run for the Cats, which ended with a basket and free throw from Eniya Russell. However, Arkansas held a 29-10 lead at the end of the first period.

In the second period, Kentucky, specifically Amiya Jenkins, scored the first seven points of the period, cutting the Arkansas lead to 29-17. The Razorbacks scored the next 10 points to lead 39-17. The Hogs would lead 44-23 at the half.

Kentucky’s Brooklynn Miles scored the first four points of the third period but Arkansas would continue to hold a big lead. The Cats would get five points in a row from Russell to cut the deficit to 52-36. However, the Hogs would lead 66-46 after three quarters.

Arkansas would lead by as many as 29 points in the fourth quarter before settling for the 27-point victory.

Kentucky returns to action on Sunday, visiting Tuscaloosa to face Alabama. Tipoff is at 5 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on the SEC Network.