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FORT WORTH, TX — Possession after possession for Texas in Saturday's first half ended in the same manner for Kentucky women's basketball.
Hanging heads. Slumped shoulders. A mix of frustration and resignation across the faces of players and coaches.
Taking down the top-seeded Longhorns always was going to be an arduous undertaking for the No. 5 seed Wildcats. Doubly so given this contest in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament was held at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, just hours from the Longhorns' Austin campus.
The highlight for UK occurred on its opening possession: Amelia Hassett swished a 3 to give the lower seed a 3-0 lead in front of the heavily partisan "neutral site" crowd.
Then, UT ripped off a 15-0 run and that was all she wrote.
Kentucky never drew within single digits again as its season ended in a 76-54 defeat.
Exactly where the Wildcats (25-11) went wrong Saturday isn't hard to solve.
There were multiple areas:
Those are raw numbers.
What doesn't show up in the stat sheet was the difference in speed between the two squads.
During the first half, the Longhorns (34-3) repeatedly got behind the Wildcats on fast breaks, leading to easy buckets in transition. In half-court offense, UT players simply took UK defenders off the dribble.
That was the most glaring difference Saturday.
Because Kentucky actually held an edge in the height department: In Hassett (6-foot-4), Teonni Key (6-5) and Clara Strack (6-5), it sported a taller lineup than Texas, whose tallest starter was the 6-4 Breya Cunningham.
UK didn't capitalize on that superiority enough: Texas dominated in the paint, ending with 2-to-1 advantage, 44 points to 22.
Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at [email protected] and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky vs Texas women's basketball score, March Madness Sweet 16
Continue reading...
Hanging heads. Slumped shoulders. A mix of frustration and resignation across the faces of players and coaches.
Taking down the top-seeded Longhorns always was going to be an arduous undertaking for the No. 5 seed Wildcats. Doubly so given this contest in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament was held at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, just hours from the Longhorns' Austin campus.
The highlight for UK occurred on its opening possession: Amelia Hassett swished a 3 to give the lower seed a 3-0 lead in front of the heavily partisan "neutral site" crowd.
Then, UT ripped off a 15-0 run and that was all she wrote.
Kentucky never drew within single digits again as its season ended in a 76-54 defeat.
Exactly where the Wildcats (25-11) went wrong Saturday isn't hard to solve.
There were multiple areas:
- They had twice as many turnovers (24) as assists (12); the Longhorns, by comparison, had 22 assists to 16 giveaways. Texas turned those miscues into 26 points.
- UT's bench outscored UK's by 13 (17-4).
- Kentucky also lost the battle on the boards, pulling down 29 rebounds, nine fewer than Texas' 38.
Those are raw numbers.
What doesn't show up in the stat sheet was the difference in speed between the two squads.
During the first half, the Longhorns (34-3) repeatedly got behind the Wildcats on fast breaks, leading to easy buckets in transition. In half-court offense, UT players simply took UK defenders off the dribble.
That was the most glaring difference Saturday.
Because Kentucky actually held an edge in the height department: In Hassett (6-foot-4), Teonni Key (6-5) and Clara Strack (6-5), it sported a taller lineup than Texas, whose tallest starter was the 6-4 Breya Cunningham.
UK didn't capitalize on that superiority enough: Texas dominated in the paint, ending with 2-to-1 advantage, 44 points to 22.
Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at [email protected] and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky vs Texas women's basketball score, March Madness Sweet 16
Continue reading...
