Kentucky-Texas A&M Women's Basketball Postgame Notes

UK ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
KENTUCKY VS. TEXAS A&M
SUNDAY, FEB. 11, 2024
RUPP ARENA AT CENTRAL BANK ARENA – LEXINGTON, KY.
 

Texas A&M 61, Kentucky 44 – FINAL
 
Team Records and Series Notes  

• Kentucky is 9-15 overall and 2-8 in the Southeastern Conference in 2023-24, while Texas A&M is 17-6 overall and 5-5 in the conference this season.
• The University of Kentucky women’s basketball program is in its 50th season.
  • UK has a 903-603 (.599) all-time record.
• Kyra Elzy is in her fourth season as the head coach of the Wildcats, holding a 58-55 (.513) overall record.
  • She has a 21-36 overall record in the SEC.
• The Aggies remain the leader over the Wildcats in the all-time series, 10-5, and in Lexington, 5-2.
• Kentucky will play at Auburn in Auburn, Alabama, on Thursday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. ET.
  • The game will be broadcast on SEC Network.

Team Notes

• Kentucky used the starting combination Brooklynn Miles, Maddie Scherr, Saniah Tyler, Emma King and Ajae Petty for the fifth game this season.
  • UK is 2-3 when using that starting combination.
• The Wildcats lost the opening tip for just the eighth game this season.
• Maddie Scherr was the first player to score for Kentucky for a team-high tying sixth game this season.
• Eniya Russell was the first substitute off the bench for Kentucky for a team-high 10th game this season.

How It Happened

• Kentucky trailed Texas A&M, 17-12, at the end of the first quarter.
  • UK made just four field goals in that period, shooting 26.7 from the field. However, three of those four field goals were 3-pointers, including two by Maddie Scherr and one by Eniya Russell.
    • Meanwhile, TAMU shot 61.5 percent (8-of-13) in that period, and put together a 10-0 through the middle of the first quarter.
  • The Wildcats turned up their defense in the second quarter and put together a 7-0 run to tie the Aggies, 24-24, at halftime.
    • In that period, the Cats held the Aggies to 15.8 percent from the field (3-of-19), while shooting just 33.3 percent themselves, but forming a 7-0 run just under the five-minute mark to take a lead, 24-22, at 1:39.
      • UK scored seven points off TAMU’s eight turnovers in the first half.
    • Texas A&M outscored Kentucky, 23-10, in the third quarter, as Texas A&M led the game at the end of the period, 47-34.
      • Texas A&M had 10 second-chance points in the third quarter, grabbing 11 boards in that period compared to Kentucky’s two.
    • The Aggies knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, creating a 55-38 lead that was too much for the Wildcats to overcome down the stretch.
      • That was the only back-to-back field goals that either team made in the period, as Kentucky would drop to Texas A&M, 61-44.

Player Notes

• Ajae Petty, a senior forward, led Kentucky with 11 points and seven rebounds.
  • She has scored 10+ points in 18 games this season and 28 games in her career.
  • She added two assists, two blocks and two steals.
    • She has had at least one assist, one block and one steal for the last three straight games.
    • She has had at least two steals in 12 games this season and 17 games in her career.
  • Maddie Scherr, a senior guard, had 10 points in a team-lead 39 minutes and 46 seconds.
    • She has scored 10+ points in 15 games this season and 36 games in her career.
    • She added five rebounds, two steals, one block and an assist.
      • She has had at least two steals in 11 games this season and 51 games in her career.
    • Eniya Russell, a senior guard, had seven points.
      • She added four rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
    • Cassidy Rowe, a sophomore guard, had six points on a pair of 3-pointers.
      • She added two rebounds, an assist and her 19th drawn charge of the season.