Alabama Women's Basketball Overmatched in 81-66 Loss to No. 14/15 Kentucky

Jasmine Walker and Jasmine Lewis carried the offense against the Wildcats

It started off pretty well. Even after the first quarter, things looked evenly matched  between Alabama and No. 14/15 Kentucky, with the scored tied at 17 on Thursday night. 

However, the depth and experience of Kentucky took over in the second quarter as the Wildcats began to pull away from Alabama in the 81-66 win.

"I want to make sure I credit Kentucky," Alabama coach Kristy Curry said. "I thought that they look like they have nine power-five starters, and they had a lot of different ones really help them out and impact the stat sheet whether it was rebounding the ball or points."

Jasmine Walker and Jordan Lewis combined for 42 of Alabama's 68 points. Walker finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds. 

"Her effort was tremendous," Curry said. "She's got to have some help. I feel like she was one of the few that showed up tonight."

Kentucky (12-4, 5-3 SEC) had four players in double digits and seven players with at least seven points.

The second half lead got to as big as 22 for Kentucky, but Alabama was able to cut it to eight with 4:11 to go in the game. Ultimately, it was too little too late for the Crimson Tide.

Curry made it clear that she wasn't pleased with her team's effort, especially regarding the defense and rebounding, where Kentucky had a 37-26 edge.

"We got absolutely annihilated on the boards from a team that that just had that happen to them at Tennessee," Curry said. 

"We had an effort and energy situation tonight at some spots that we can't afford against a top 15 team in the country, on the road. We'll go home and work on that and teach and talk, but we'll stay positive and let this go at midnight."

Alabama fell to 12-3 (5-3 SEC) with all three losses coming against ranked opponents. 

Things don't get any easier for Alabama as its next game is on the road against No. 4 South Carolina.