MSU falls to No. 5 Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Mississippi State could not match the offensive firepower of firth-ranked Kentucky Thursday night.

A 24-7 run to end the first half provided the separation as the Bulldogs dropped a 100-45 decision to the Wildcats in a Southeastern Conference women's basketball game played at Memorial Coliseum.

"Obviously Kentucky is very good," MSU head coach Vic Schaefer said. "In the first half, we tried to spread them out and get in some one-on-one situations. Anytime you screened, we knew they were going to double us. (UK coach) Matthew (Mitchell) has done a great job at Kentucky. They have great players, a great system and their kids play really hard. In this game, it's not what you do, but how you do it that separates you from a lot of people."

Kentucky improved to 17-1 overall and 5-0 in league play. MSU fell to 8-10 and 0-5. The defending league champions have won six straight in the series.

The Bulldogs hung tough in the early stages.

After falling down 11-2, MSU battled back with six straight points. The Maroon and White trailed 16-12 after a Candace Foster layup with 13:16 left in the half.

MSU continued to shoot well early and closed within 22-17 on an old-fashioned 3-point play by Kendra Grant with 9:10 left in the half.

Kentucky turned the up the full-court pressure and scored the game's next 11 points. The Wildcats forced 16 first-half turnovers and led 46-24 at the intermission.

From there, the Wildcats opened the second half on a 19-2 run and cruised to the victory.

"We lost to a good team today," Schaefer said. "I was proud of several of my kids because I thought they competed most of the night. Right now at Mississippi State, we are trying to teach our kids competing and toughness."

For the contest, the Bulldogs hit 18 of 39 shots from the field (46.2 percent), 3 of 4 shots from 3-point range (75 percent) and 8 of 14 shots from the foul line (57.1 percent). The Wildcats hit 37 of 74 shots from the field (50 percent), 7 of 17 shots from 3-point range (41.2 percent) and 19 of 24 shots from the foul line (79.2 percent).

Kentucky held a 46-20 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had nine assists and 35 turnovers, while the Wildcats had 18 assists and 19 turnovers.

Grant led MSU with 11 points, while Carnecia Williams added 10 points.

UK received 25 points from DeNesha Stallworth, 21 points from A'dia Mathies, 13 points from Bria Goss and 12 points from Kastine Evans.

MSU is off this weekend. The Bulldogs host Texas A&M at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Humphrey Coliseum.