Coach Matthew Mitchell – Photo by UK Athletics
Wildcats drop 73-71 overtime decision to Arizona State
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Sophomore guard Maci Morris scored a career-high 29 points, but it wasn’t enough to push the No. 15 Kentucky women’s basketball team past No. 23 Arizona State as the Sun Devils pulled out a 73-71 win in overtime at Rupp Arena.
A season-high 13,225 fans packed into Rupp Arena and saw the Sun Devils take the lead 73-71 with just over five seconds left in the OT session, as Sophie Brunner threw up a shot with her left hand that swished in and put ASU up two. Kentucky then called a timeout with 5.3 seconds left in the overtime session to advance the ball, and Makayla Epps’ 3 at the buzzer from straight away fell short.
Kentucky (7-3) also had a chance to win the game in regulation with the ball out of bounds in front of the bench, but a Makenzie Cann 3 at the buzzer fell short to send the game into overtime. The game saw 12 ties and seven lead changes, with six of the seven lead changes coming in the fourth quarter or overtime.
Arizona State (6-2) was led in scoring by Brunner, who had 18 points in the game, including the game-winner with five seconds left in overtime. The Sun Devils won the battle of the glass in a big way, grabbing 41 rebounds, compared to UK’s 32 and ASU turned 14 offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points.
In the first half, Kentucky came out hot from deep, as Morris, who ended up with 29 points eclipsing her career-high by 10 points, had 19 points at halftime and Kentucky took a seven-point lead into the break at 31-24.
The Wildcats had three players score in double-figures, with Morris leading the way with 29 points. Sophomore guard Taylor Murray continued her hot play of late with 16 points and also added in four rebounds and four assists in the game as well. She had a critical put-back and-one opportunity late in OT with a chance to give UK the lead at 72-71, but the free throw was too strong and rolled off the back iron.
Epps also had a solid second half, scoring 14 points after a scoreless first half on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor and grabbing seven rebounds.
Kentucky will take the next week off to focus on fall semester finals before returning to the court on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 18 at 2 p.m. ET against Radford. The game at Memorial Coliseum will be shown live on the SEC Network+, ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app.
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, follow @KentuckyWBB on Twitter and Facebook, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.
