The absence of its most potent weapon on offense turned out to be too big a hurdle for the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team to overcome in Memorial Coliseum on Sunday.
Playing without star senior Maci Morris, the 16th-ranked Wildcats struggled and fell to Mississippi 55-49.
Kentucky (15-3, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) was dialed-in on defense for most of the afternoon, holding the Rebels to 35.8-percent shooting and forcing 19 turnovers on the day.
But the Cats couldn’t contain Rebels guard Crystal Allen. The senior scored a game-high 28 points and hit several clutch shots to keep the Rebels within striking distance of the Wildcats, who took the lead two-and-a-half minutes into the game and didn’t surrender it until late in the fourth quarter.