KENTUCKY VS. MURRAY STATE 
FRIDAY, DEC. 16, 2022 
MEMORIAL COLISEUM – LEXINGTON, KY.  


Murray State 51, Kentucky 44 – FINAL 

  
Team Records and Series Notes  

  • The University of Kentucky women’s basketball program is in its 49th season with an 889-572 (.609) all-time record.
    • The Wildcats are now 7-3 on the season. 
    • The Racers are now 6-2 on the season. 
  • Kyra Elzy is in her third season as the head coach of the Wildcats, holding a 44-24 overall record.  
  • This marked Kentucky’s first loss to Murray State in the all-time series.
    • UK remains the leader in the all-time series with MSU, 15-1. 
  • Kentucky will return home to host NR/RV Florida Gulf Coast on Sunday, Dec. 18 at 1 p.m. ET for the program’s annual Holiday Game.
    • Fans are encouraged to join the coaches and staff in wearing their ugliest holiday sweater. 

Team Notes  

  • Kentucky used the starting combination Jada Walker, Maddie Scherr, Robyn Benton, Blair Green and Nyah Leveretter for the fifth game this season. UK is 4-1 using that starting combination.
    • Kentucky won the opening tip. 
    • Jada Walker was the first player to score for Kentucky. 
    • Ajae Petty was the first substitute off the bench for Kentucky. 
  • Both teams went scoreless for the first minute and 50 seconds in the game.
    • Jada Walker was the first player to score on either team, thanks to a jumper at 8:10 in the first quarter. 
    • Murray State answered with a 9-0 run to take a 9-2 lead. 
    • Walker snapped the scoring run with a fastbreak layup at 4:30.
      • Her score helped Kentucky go on a 5-2 run over the next two-and-a-half minutes. 
    • Both teams went scoreless from 1:37 to :27 in the first quarter. 
    • The Racers capped the period with a 3-pointer under 30 seconds. 
    • Murray State led Kentucky, 14-7, at the end of the first quarter. 
  • Maddie Scherr opened up the second quarter with a 3-pointer, helping the Wildcats get within two possessions of the Racers.
    • Murray State responded with a layup. 
    • Kentucky scored next on back-to-backlayups by Kennedy Cambridge then Ajae Petty.
      • The Wildcats’ 7-2 run to start the second quarter helped close the gap, as Murray State led Kentucky, 16-14, with seven minutes and 44 seconds remaining in the period.
    • Murray State drained a pair of free throws over the next, almost, three minutes, then Benton knocked down a 3-pointer at 5:16 to get within one point. 
    • Neither team went on a run under five minutes, just back-and-forth scoring, until the Racers made a free throw at the two minutes, followed by a layup at one-and-a-half minutes, to cap scoring by either team in the second quarter. 
    • The Racers led the Wildcats, 25-20, at the end of the second quarter.
      • UK outscored MSU, 13-11, in the second quarter, the lone quarter the Wildcats outscored the Racers. 
  • Murray State knocked down a 3-pointer at the start of the third quarter, stretching its lead to 28-20.
    • The two teams went back-and-forth in scoring after that three-point field goal, with neither team making a run more than a single bucket for the remainder of the third quarter. 
    • Murray State led Kentucky in scoring in the third quarter, 10-8.
      • Both teams went on a scoring drought down the stretch of that period, with MSU going without a score in the final six minutes and two seconds of that period and UK going without a score in the final four minutes and 18 seconds of that period. 
    • The Racers led the Wildcats, 35-28, at the end of the third quarter. 
  • Ajae Petty was responsible for the first two Kentucky scores to begin the fourth quarter,and then Benton was responsible for the next 10 Kentucky points after that.
    • Kentucky never could get a stop and get on a run greater than four points during that stretch, as Murray State had an answer for almost every make down to the last minute in the game. 
    • The Racers made six free throws under the minute mark. 
    • Petty capped the game in scoring with a layup with five seconds remaining. 
    • Murray State defeated Kentucky, 51-44. 

Player Notes  

  • Graduate guard Robyn Benton led the team in scoring with 15 points.
    • It marked the second straight game she has led the team in scoring. 
    • She has scored in double digits in all 10 games this season. 
    • She made at least one 3-pointer for the fifth straight game. 
    • She added two rebounds, two assists and one steal.
      • She made at least one steal for the fifth straight game. 
  • Junior forward Ajae Petty had 11 points.
    • She has scored in double digits for six straight games.  
    • She added nine rebounds, two blocks and a steal. 
  • Junior guard Maddie Scherr had seven points.
    • She has made a 3-pointer in two straight games. 
    • She added five rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks. 
    • She has made at least five rebounds in three straight games.  
    • She has made at least two blocks in three straight games.  
  • Sophomore guard Jada Walker made three steals, which marks the 13th straight game she has recorded at least one steal.
    • She added four points, four rebounds and a block. 
  • Junior forward Nyah Leveretter reentered the starting lineup for the first time since mid-November.
    • She had five rebounds, a season-high tying two blocks, two points and one steal. 
    • She has made at least five rebounds in two straight games.  

UK ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS 

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME QUOTES 

Kentucky Head Coach Kyra Elzy 

On if consistent slow starts are fixable … 

“It’s something we’re going to have to fix. We can’t just have a slow start every game. Whether I have to change up the lineup or what we’re doing, but we have to get off to a better start offensively and defensively.” 

On if you were trying to send a message with the changes in lineups … 

“At this point, when you’re down, you have to try to find something that is working. Find a punch, try to get a spark off the bench, a defensive stop, someone who can score. When you’re down, you have to try what you can to put yourself in a position to win. We didn’t have it tonight and that’s on me. I didn’t have them ready to go. We’ll go back and go to work.”  

On the four attempted free throws … 

“That’s part of the not attacking that we have to do a better job. We’ll go back work against the zone, show them where the gaps are and how to get into them. We did not push the ball in transition, so we’ll go back and do that. We also didn’t give ourselves any easy scoring opportunities but that shows that we didn’t attack.” 

On whether or not playing again in two days is a good thing or a bad thing … 

“Well, (it’s a) great thing because you have a chance to (play again). You have to have a short-term memory. One-day prep and you’re back on the floor. You have to find a way to bounce back and get us going. There’s an intensity that I’m looking for, a motor that I’m looking for that we just didn’t have. I thought we were flatlining again. That’s on me and I’ll go back to work and get them ready. There’s a prize for this program. We’re going to play for the name on the front of the jersey, which we did not do tonight. So, I will take that and when we roll back on the floor there is a different Kentucky team that needs to take the floor.”  

On Maddie Scherr putting her best foot forward in tonight’s game … 

“You know, I think Maddie and this team there they are competitors. It was a rough night for us, but you know I thought Maddie tried to fight. Get some stops and look to score. I thought Robyn Benton, late, hit some shots to try to get us going and then back into striking distance. But at the end of the day, we did not have the focus and intensity that we need and that’s on me as a coach.” 

Kentucky Player Quotes 

#1, Robyn Benton, G 

On the team’s slow start … 

“I think it starts with our intensity and coming out too relaxed. It’s definitely fixable and we should see a change next game. We are going to emphasize that. As a team, we have to do better. This loss is unacceptable.” 

On moving forward … 

“I think it’s a wake-up call that we’re not there yet. We have to do better, be better. We have to be better on the board—we keep saying it but we’re not doing it. I think this game will make a drastic change (to our team).” 

On your fourth-quarter scoring … 

“I’ve been scoring late in the past couple of games. I need to try to get going more early in the game. We only had like 20 points at halftime and that’s not who we are. I knew we needed scoring and we kept running the same play. They weren’t stopping it, so I kept scoring for my team.” 

#13, Ajae Petty, F 

On gaining motivation for the next game … 

“I don’t think it motivates anyone to lose. Motivation—it comes and it goes. It [the loss] shows us our weaknesses, things that we need to work on, and things that we really need to lock in and focus on, so we are not getting the same result over and over again.” 

On the quick turnaround … 

“I don’t think it matters. We just want to get better and do what we can to show Kentucky that we want to play as hard as we can for them.” 

On what you need to do differently defensively … 

“Lock in. Understanding what defense we’re in, committing to stopping the next player and being tougher than I’ve been.”