No. 10 N.C. State dominates Kentucky women’s basketball in first game of Paradise Jam

Kentucky women’s basketball struggled to keep up with a 10th-ranked North Carolina State roster that looked every bit as good as advertised — if not better — in its 84-55 loss to the Wolfpack on Thursday. This was the first of three games in three days for the Wildcats (2-3) as part of the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and their third-consecutive loss.

Against a Wolfpack team featuring four players averaging double-figure scoring, head coach Kyra Elzy went with a starting lineup of Brooklynn Miles, Maddie Scherr, Amiya Jenkins, Ajae Petty and Zennia Thomas. This marked Scherr’s first appearance since injuring her ankle in the Nov. 11 victory against USC Upstate.

“(Scherr) played 21 minutes after not playing several games,” Elzy said. “So having her back on the floor definitely helps us offensively. But, you know, when we have three games in three days, still have to be smart with her.”

Despite being outscored 31-16 in the first quarter, the Wildcats would not have a higher-scoring period than that until the fourth quarter, during which UK slowed down the Wolfpack’s bench players and scored 21. Though the Wildcats’ preferred offense involves taking advantage in transition and working through the post, N.C. State (5-0) wouldn’t allow Petty to make much of any opportunity in the paint. UK had only 10 combined shots from its post players.

“I think they didn’t guard certain people,” Elzy said. “So I thought we started the game playing really hesitant, even though we had talked about, ‘We needed to make the extra pass, make them work defensively.’ I thought our shot selection early when they weren’t guarding people, which in turn ignited their transition offense.”

Even when the Wildcats were pushing to score in transition, they never seemed to be on the same page. Several times, Petty — or whichever post was responsible while she sat on the bench due to early foul trouble — wouldn’t be in the right spot in order for the team to take advantage, forcing a contested outside shot which, most of the time, did not land. The Wildcats shot just 27.1 percent on 16-of-59 shots from the field.

“Right now, in order to help Petty offensively,” Elzy said. “We’ve got to be able to hit some shots from the outside consistently early. And then when we pass to Petty, we’ve got to cut off of her, make them guard the layup first.”

Wire to wire, N.C. State was efficient on offense — rendering any UK attempt to lock down the Wolfpack useless, regardless of defensive strategy. With an impressive guard core of Madison Hayes, Aziaha James and Saniya Rivers, plus the one-two frontcourt punch of Mimi Collins and River Baldwin, N.C. State got out to a 31-point lead at the half on 22-of-38 from the field.

The Wolfpack twisted the knife in the third quarter, dropping 21 points on 9-of-11 from the field. N.C. State outrebounded the Wildcats 45-28. They also won the battle in the paint, outscoring UK 42-10. The Wolfpack was led by Hayes, who finished with 15 points, Rivers (13), Baldwin (11) and Collins (10).

Petty, Saniah Tyler and Eniya Russell each finished with nine points. Petty also pulled in two rebounds and dished one assist. Jenkins scored eight points and recorded six rebounds and one assist.



Elzy also used freshman forward Janae Walker a career-high 17 minutes, during which she recorded four rebounds and two blocks.

“One of the things that we’ve been talking about with Janae,” Elzy said, “be solid defensively. She had a blocked shot, got some rebounds. She took some charges, to be able to do the dirty work. It might not always show up in the stat sheet, but she can bring the intangibles that we need and also be able to give Petty a breather with another physical post.”

The Wildcats were to face another highly touted opponent on Friday at 1 p.m. EST when they were to suit up against No. 3 Colorado (5-0), which defeated Cincinnati 77-60 in its opening game of the holiday event.

“We just talk about our mental toughness and then just try to infuse confidence in them,” Elzy said. “... Obviously, very disappointing day, but we might be able to have a short-term memory and bounce back in this type of environment. Three games in three days. It’s gonna show us what we’re made of.”