‘I loved their fight.’ UK women’s basketball ‘did grow up’ in OT loss to Mississippi St.

Coming out of a timeout with 16 seconds to play in the overtime period of its 77-74 loss to Mississippi State on Thursday night, Kentucky women’s basketball got two strong looks beyond the arc in hopes of tying the game.

The first look for the Wildcats (9-13, 2-6 SEC), just as head coach Kyra Elzy drew it up, went to senior leader Maddie Scherr. The second chance was granted by a huge offensive rebound by sophomore guard Saniah Tyler, who returned the ball to Scherr before getting it right back for the opportunity to tie it.

“I had a good look, you know, and didn’t knock it down,” Scherr said. “I thought the second one — when Saniah passed it back out to me — I thought she was gonna fly by and I could get another one off because we got the O-board. And then, kicked it to Saniah, I thought she had a pretty decent look, too, so. But, you know, sometimes you just don’t find the bottom of the net.”

It was a heartbreaking ending to a game where UK delivered a tenacious second half against an experienced Mississippi State (18-5, 5-3 SEC) roster that, just Monday, toppled No. 9 LSU in Starkville, Miss., and was predicted to be a 9 seed by Charlie Creme in Tuesday morning’s edition of his bracketology.

“Even the last play, to draw that up and come out …,” Elzy said. “You know, at the end of the day, you want to be able to get looks, get the shot off. We were able to get two of those. Unfortunately, they didn’t go in.”

The Wildcats’ defensive effort (which Elzy criticized following Sunday’s loss at Alabama) was key in keeping them competitive against the Bulldogs, and very nearly carried them to victory. Following a slow-shooting first half — during which UK took a seven-point deficit after hitting only 29% (10-for-34) of its shots from the field and failing to limit graduate center Jessika Carter — the Wildcats emerged from the locker room a more cohesive and consistent unit on both ends of the floor.

In the second half, UK improved its shooting to 47% (16-for-34) from the field, including three 3-point baskets. By the end of the game, Kentucky had four players in double figures in scoring: Scherr (19 points), senior guard Eniya Russell (15), Tyler (14) and senior forward Ajae Petty (11). Petty also recorded her 12th double-double of the season with a team-high 10 rebounds.

Defensively, UK forced 24 Mississippi State turnovers and drew 18 personal fouls; head coach Sam Purcell’s leading scorer, Jerkaila Jordan, had her night end earlier than he had hoped when she committed her fifth foul late in the fourth quarter, down four, as Scherr stole the ball with 1:44 to play in regulation.

The Wildcats won the second half 44-37, and they took a lead as large as six points with just under a minute left in the fourth quarter before Mississippi State, who led for nearly 30 minutes of the victory, worked its way back. If not for a driving layup from Russell with three seconds remaining in regulation, the Bulldogs would’ve wrapped their second hard-fought win of the week in 40 minutes of play.

Elzy said after the loss that, despite the disappointment, her team rose to the challenge.

“I loved their fight, and that’s what they needed,” Elzy said. “And we talked about staying together. We only had each other, and I thought they fought and sold out … we got to be able to finish out, but we did grow up in this game and that’s what we needed.”

A lesson in game management

Prior to his arrival in Starkville in March 2022, Purcell spent nine seasons as an assistant coach under Jeff Walz at the University of Louisville. When breaking down the Bulldogs’ comeback victory, Purcell gave credit to Walz, who “taught me how to manage the game,” and “taught me how to keep a team together.”

So, when Petty gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the game with a pair of made free throws, Purcell wasn’t worried in the slightest.

“There was just a look about us, that we’ve done it in practice,” Purcell said. “… I’m just fortunate to coach a group of young women …who are upperclassmen that know there’s plenty of time on the clock. And with timeouts, all we got to do is get a stop-score.”

Despite Mississippi State finishing with three players in double figures in scoring — including a 25-point, 13-rebound double-double from Carter — and the Bulldogs entering Thursday’s matchup ranked third in the conference in 3-point field goal percentage (35.8%), the team didn’t make a single basket from beyond the arc until the final minute of the fourth quarter.

Purcell, who said he likes to save his timeouts until the end of a game, called one as soon as Petty’s free throws put Kentucky up by six. Out of that timeout, senior guard Darrione Rogers made a wide-open 3 in the corner, cutting the Wildcats’ lead to three.

“We over-rotated our defense,” Elzy said. “Which took us out of position, which gave us the one open 3 in the corner.”

The teams traded turnovers, and Carter sent Petty to the free-throw line. Petty made one of her two attempts, giving UK a 64-60 lead with 32 seconds to play in regulation. Immediately, Purcell called another timeout, and, out of that timeout, sophomore guard Debreasha Powe drilled a second-chance 3 and cut the deficit to one, forcing Elzy to call a timeout.

“And here’s the other part that was in my favor,” Purcell explained. “I had the jump ball. So at the end I told them — because what most people do at the end of the game, they think we’re gonna foul … I went to the ref and I said, ‘Listen, tell your crew right now, we’re not going to slap down. We’re gonna go for the jump ball, and I’m gonna get it back.’”

Out of the UK timeout, Purcell’s players swarmed Scherr as soon as she received the inbounds pass, and Scherr fell to the ground, turning it over with 13 seconds remaining.

“And then I was like, ‘Oh, it’s on, now,’” Purcell said.

Four seconds later, Powe made another long-range dagger, and Mississippi State took a 66-64 advantage before Russell’s equalizing layup sent the game to overtime.

“The defensive strategy,” Elzy said, “… defend the 3-point line, we didn’t want to give up open 3s, obviously. We had the lead. We had fouls to give. We said, ‘If, you know, we drive the ball, we could foul on the floor, don’t foul on the shot.’ But when you over-rotate your defense and you have an open three, you’re not going to foul it. So, you know, we got to be more solid, just keep them in front, defend the 3-point line. If anything, we have to make them put the ball down and lay it up. Where twos are better than 3s. But, you know, that’s where we’ll learn and grow, and shout out to my team for battling.”

Powe made the Bulldogs’ fourth and final 3-pointer of the night at the 3:35 mark in overtime (their only overtime attempt from long range), and Mississippi State finished the night beyond the arc below its average, hitting 30.8% (4-for-13). Scherr made three (one in overtime) of Kentucky’s five made 3-pointers in the loss, and Kentucky ended with a 21.7% (5-for-23) success rate, nearly 7% lower than its 28.4% 3-point average ahead of the game.

The Wildcats will face the Bulldogs again on Feb. 22 on the road.

Next game

Kentucky at Georgia

When: Noon Sunday

TV: SEC Network

Radio: WLAP-AM 630

Records: Kentucky 9-13 (2-6 SEC), Georgia 10-11 (1-7)

Series: Georgia leads 40-22

Last meeting: Georgia won 50-40 on Feb. 16, 2023, in Lexington