It all started with a glimmer of hope. Amelia Hassett canned the very first shot of the game, drilling a three-pointer from the corner to give Kentucky an immediate 3-0 lead.
And then, the wheels completely fell off.
Due to incredibly poor transition defense, that early three-point advantage was the last time the Wildcats would even be in this one. Kentucky was missing shots on the offensive end, but more importantly, they didn't care enough to get back on defense. Texas immediately capitalized, rattling off a 15-0 run built entirely on easy, uncontested layups.
Kenny Brooks was forced to burn an early timeout to stop the bleeding, but the break in action did absolutely nothing to slow the Longhorns down.
A disastrous cascade of mistakes
Coming out of the timeout, Kentucky tried to establish Clara Strack inside. She immediately turned the ball over and then surrendered a brutal offensive rebound on the other end of the floor. That sequence was followed by a careless turnover on a bad pass from Jordan Obi. Another Obi turnover moments later allowed the Texas run to balloon before Teonni Key finally stopped the drought with a much-needed jumper.
The rebounding disparity early on was staggering. During the first quarter, Texas grabbed six offensive rebounds on seven missed field goals. It was honestly one of the worst-played quarters of the entire season.
Kentucky played like a team that was just happy to be there. Texas came out like they wanted to win. And that should never happen.
This Wildcats roster simply is not built to orchestrate massive comebacks, and they let Texas race out to a blistering start, trailing by 18 points in the first quarter alone.
The Cats would finish with 24 turnovers and 24 made shots.
The uncharacteristic Tonie Morgan struggles
"Texas is on a different planet right now... we are not competing, we just have to step up."
That was Kenny Brooks' blunt assessment during the game, and it was devastatingly accurate. The ladies looked timid and completely shocked. They stood by watching helplessly as Texas outscored them 36-14 over an 11-minute stretch in the first half. You simply cannot allow those kinds of massive runs against a team as elite as the Longhorns.
A massive part of that run was fueled by unforced errors from Kentucky's point guard. It is hard to pinpoint exactly what happened to Tonie Morgan, but she became an absolute turnover machine.
Yes, the Texas pressure is legit, but Morgan was uncharacteristically terrible with the basketball in the last two games. She had 4 turnovers against West Virginia, and today she ended up with 8 of the team's 22. She threw the ball directly to Texas defenders at least three times in the first quarter alone, racking up seven of Kentucky's 11 1st half turnovers.
As much as it hurts to say it, those stretches were genuinely embarrassing to watch. It also raises a tough personnel question for Brooks. Morgan is the only true point guard on the roster, but you simply cannot keep a player on the floor when they commit seven turnovers in a single half while running the offense. Sometimes, you have to force them to sit on the bench and mentally reset.
A brutal ending sparks a bright future
If you were hoping for a magical locker-room adjustment and a massive second-half surge, you were quickly disappointed. This Kentucky team just had no juice left. There was no life; they got it to 15 with a small run in the 4th, but a 7-0 run from the Longhorns ended that.
After taking that initial 3-0 lead, Kentucky would not get within 10 points for the remainder of the contest.
It was a terrible, frustrating end to what has undeniably been a great season. However, this specific type of blowout exit should serve as massive offseason fuel. It should have every returning player ready to fight from the opening tip in every single game next year.
Brooks just guided this program to its first Sweet 16 in a decade, and he has three McDonald's All-Americans stepping onto campus next season. The ending hurt, but the future of this program has the potential to be even better.
But the effort has to be much better than it was today. Texas wins 76-54.