Memorial Coliseum was rocking early on as number 7 Vanderbilt and number 16 Kentucky got off, it was probably the biggest crowd of the year. The Cats got off to a hot start, leading 6-2, giving the raucous crowd something to really cheer about. The teams traded 3-point shots, with the Cats leading 11-9, but another 3 Justing Pissott gave Vandy the lead heading to the first media timeout.
The turnover bugaboo that has plagued this team at times reared its head in the first quarter with Kentucky turning it over 5 times. Against a good team, you can't give them extra possessions. The Cats trailed the Dores 19-16 after 1 with 6 of those points coming off Kentucky's turnovers.
That issue continued in the early 2nd, with the Cats trailing by two Strack grabbed a rebound and tossed it to Morgan who was telling her to go to Asia Boone. That turned into an easy 3, and then Strack fell going to the rim and it led to a Vandy runout. Suddenly the Cats were down 7 and looking rattled. An Amelia Hassett 3 brought Memorial back to its life, before another turnover quelled the momentum again. Somehow the Cats had 10 turnovers and gave Vandy 11 points off them, and still were down only 3 with 2:48 to go in the first half. An Asia Boone 3 got one of the loudest pops all year putting the Cats back on top 33-32. The Cats got the last shot of the half and it was again Asia Boone raining down a deep one to send Kentucky to the locker room up 38-34.
Amelia Hassett was 3 of 4 from deep leading the Cats with 9 points, while Clara Strack had 7 and 9.
The second half was a mirror image of the first, sloppy
Vandy hit a 3, and Kentucky predictably turned it over on their first possession, allowing Vanderbilt a chance to retake the lead, and they didn't waste any time doing so. They found Sacha Washington in the lane for an easy layup; she also had a little something to say to Clara Strack on the way back down the court. Vanderbilt opened the second half on a 7-0 run before a Teonni Key layup cut it back to 1.
The Cats kept making shots when they could get them, shooting a scorching 54% from the floor; the problem was they just couldn't stop coughing it up. As good as Clara Strack is, 6 turnovers from a player who handles the ball a lot is just too much. The Cats stretched out to a 9-point lead with 02:49 to go, but it wouldn't last.
With the Cats up 56-50, Clara Strack took a shot to the face from Mikayla Blakes. The refs spent about 5 minutes over at the monitor before they kept it a common foul. Blakes was coming through the lane off a cut, and her arm got up in Strack's neck. To me, it's a flagrant 1 by the letter of the law. But I also get why they kept it a common foul; it didn't look intentional. The Commodores closed the gap 58-54 heading to the 4th.
A Mikayla Blakes basket cut the lead to 2, and now the Cats had all the game pressure. That turned into 2 consecutive turnovers, and 5 quick points for the Commodores, giving them a 3-point lead as they open the 4th with a 7-0 run. And worse, Tonie Morgan went to the bench holding her thigh. That stretch brought Kentucky to 17 turnovers, only 3 for Vandy, and the Dores have scored 20 points off turnovers.
If the Cats were going to win, they needed a big stretch and they'd have to do it without Tonie Morgan on the floor. After coming back in, she picked up her 4th foul with 8 minutes to go and Kentucky found themselves down 66-60. The Cats couldn't inbound the ball and a turnover gave Vandy a chance to really put the hammer down, which Blakes did as she nailed a 3 to give Vandy it's biggest lead of the night. A Teonni Key layup brought it back to 7, before Blakes again canned a long 3 to put the Commodores up 10 with just 6 minutes to go.
An Amelia Hassett 3 cut it back 7, and Teonni Key had a chance to bring the Cats closer from the line. She did just that, making both. A great pass found Amelia Hassett in the corner witha chance to cut it to 2, but it rimmed out. She got the steal, and it led to an offensive rebound from Clara Strack, who was fouled. Unlike Key, she could not convert both from the line, leaving the Cats down 72-68 with 4 to go.
Another steal and a Teonnie Key layup brough memorial to its feet, but a foul on Key allowed Vandy a chance to regain composure at the line. Mikayla Blakes as she has done all night, calmly stepped up and made both, extending the lead back to 4. With every possession now a big one, the refs whistle suddenly got tight against the home team as they called Key for an illegal screen that was questionable at best. It led to a Sacha Washington post-up, and Vandy had staved off the Cats' run. 76-70. Tonie Morgan lost the ball off her shoe, and it kicked out of bounds. The call on the floor was Kentucky ball, but Vandy challenged.
It was a good challenge, and Vandy had all the momentum. The Cats again cut it to 2, but Mikayla Blakes once again crushed any dreams of a comeback with a huge 3 with 46.9 to go. They were up 5 before another Amelia Hassett 3 cut it back to 2. Asia Boone fouled Mikayla Blakes, she missed the first but drained the second. Blakes, who finished the night with 37, was the bane of Kentucky's existence Thursday night.
A Teonni Key layup cut it back to 1. The Cats were forced to foul to extend the game, but Vandy didn't miss 1 this time. With 19.5 to go, Kenny Brooks called his last timeout.
Tonie Morgan made a layup, and Vandy called their last timeout with 13 seconds to go and up 1.
Galvan was again fouled and the ball didn't touch the rim on either. 11 seconds to go. Hassett was forced to throw up a bad 3, which was off, Key cleaned it up but time ran out on the Cats.
The fans showed up, but turnovers doomed the Cats on a night when they were the better team.
Kentucky shot 53% from the floor, 52% from deep, and they had 15 more rebounds than Vandy. But they turned it over a whopping 20 times, leading to 25 Vandy points.