Box Score
LEXINGTON, Ky. – If Kentucky is home to some of the world’s finest horse-racing facilities, then the IUPUI women’s basketball team played the role of a speed horse in Tuesday night’s 82-60 loss to Kentucky at Memorial Coliseum. The Jaguars started out each half strong, but faded down the stretch, allowing the Wildcats to pull away for the win.
IUPUI (6-6) opened the first and second halves on 4-0 and 8-1 runs, respectively, only to see Kentucky (8-5) settle into their offense and frustrate the Jaguars with their tenacity. For the game, the Wildcats had 51 rebounds, 24 on the offensive glass. The 24 offensive boards led to 17 second-chance points for Kentucky.
“I thought we didn’t match Kentucky’s intensity as the game went along,” head coach Shann Hart said. “[Kentucky’s] strength is on the inside, and we didn’t do a good enough job of boxing out and fighting for those rebounds, which led to them wearing us down.”
For the Jaguars, Jernisha Cann extended her double-double streak to 11 games, the 14th-longest mark in NCAA history. Cann tied former Kentucky stand out Valerie Still on the register.
In the opening minutes of the contest, the Jaguars were the aggressor, using persistent ball pressure to force Kentucky into turnovers and build a 6-2 lead two minutes into the game. Working the ball into the paint, Cann and Julia Whitted scored the first eight points of the game for the Jaguars.
Kentucky began to flex their muscles thereafter, building a six-point advantage while Whitted was stuck to the bench with two early fouls. Whitted reentered the game with 11:28 to play in the first half, and helped IUPUI on a 9-3 run that tied the contest.
Cann brought IUPUI within four with a layup and found Whitted on the ensuing possession to cut the deficit in half; after a Kentucky basket made it 21-18, Nicole James drained her only three of the game to knot the game at 21 and momentarily silence the 4,251 in venerable Memorial Coliseum.
However, the Jaguars would score a total of four points over the last 7:56 of the half, closing the opening stanza by shooting 2-for-11 from the field. The missed field goals, combined with Kentucky’s stingy rebounding, limited IUPUI’s chances to stay in the game.
Crisp ball movement allowed the Wildcats to close the half on a 21-4 run, as three Kentucky three-pointers fueled the surge and brought the fans to their feet.
Trailing 42-25 at intermission, the Jaguars regrouped and raced out of the starting gate again, only to fade in the final 10 minutes of play due to the exertion required to come back from the 17-point deficit.
Cann got the rally started with a layup, and James pulled in a heave from Cann to race in for a breakaway layup to make it a 13-point game. Brittany Ransom followed with a three from the corner to cause murmuring among the Wildcat faithful.
After a free throw gave the Wildcats their first tally of the half, Janna Eichelberger drained a three from the right corner, cutting the IUPUI deficit to 43-35. However, two Kentucky offensive rebounds led directly to a three from Amber Smith and Kentucky regained momentum.
The Jaguars had one more push in them, as Cann banked in a layup to bring the deficit into single digits with 16:01 on the clock; after a defensive stand, IUPUI had a good look at a layup to further whittle into their deficit, but the ball spun off the rim.
Kentucky answered with a layup from Eleia Roddy to rebuild an 11-point lead; Cann continued to climb the IUPUI record books with another jumper to give the Jaguars life, but Smith hit another jumper to make it a 50-39 game with 14:15 to play. The Jaguars would not close within nine points the rest of the contest.
Whitted finished with 14 points, 10 of which came in the first half. Laura Blaydes finished with a career-high 7 points. Five Wildcats finished with 10 or more points, with Roddy and Amani Franklin each posting double-doubles.
With 12 boards, Cann sits five shy of becoming IUPUI’s first 1,000-point, 1,000-rebound performer.
The Kansas City, Mo.-native will get her first crack at the mark when the Jaguars return to The Jungle after a 28-day road swing. IUPUI will host Southern Utah on Saturday, January 5. Tip-off from The Jungle is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
