Kentucky’s last game of the year was a disappointment, but it didn’t take away from a sweet finish.
A late season push carried the Wildcats to the Sweet Sixteen but Kentucky couldn’t sustain the momentum in an 85-72 loss to Washington in the NCAA Lexington Region semifinals Friday night at Rupp Arena.
“It was a disappointing night for us,” Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell said. “We would have loved to have done better. We had some opportunities in the game and so you just don’t ever want it to end. You want to win the last game and that was our goal with this team.”
After losing three straight Southeastern Conference games, including a 78-68 setback at South Carolina on Feb. 4, Kentucky regrouped and won 10 of its last 12 games. Although not deep, the Wildcats used a rotation of eight players to weave their way through a rugged schedule, finishing with a 25-8 record.
“This was one of the greatest experiences of my coaching career, working with this group of young women who really became a team,” Mitchell said. “(They are) high-character people, came to practice every day and improved, to where we started on Oct. 1 to what we’ve finished up tonight. The disappointment of one game just cannot diminish how proud I am of our team. (On) Feb. 3 we could have gone a lot of different directions and we chose a path of standing in the Sweet Sixteen. We are disappointed, but we are proud of our season.”
Senior Janee Thompson and junior Makayla Epps provided Kentucky with the leadership it needed to overcome the unexpected departure of three players during the preseason that left the Wildcats short-handed for most of the season.
It was the play of Epps that kept the Wildcats from falling apart against a Washington team that hit 11 shots from long range and reached the regional finals for just the third time in school history.
Hobbled by a nagging shoulder, Epps scored a season-high 30 points against the Huskies and finished the season by scoring double figures in 10 straight games. In what turned out to be the finale, Epps wasn’t hindered by her shoulder and didn’t allow it to be a determining factor in the season-ending loss.
“When I got out there, I didn’t think about my shoulder,” she said. “When the ball went up, all I was worried about is if I had to play the game through injury (and) I was going to do that for my team. I came back and faced Oklahoma for my team. Everything I did tonight was for my team. At the end of the day, it’s not how many numbers I put up. As long as Kentucky’s winning, I’m happy about that. Tonight, it just didn’t happen for us.”
The effort by Epps wasn’t enough to overcome Washington’s toughness plays and the ability to make crucial stops during critical moments in the contest.
“Washington had moments where they out-toughed us,” Epps said. “I just hope we can look ourselves in the mirror and learn from it. We’ve got a lot of people coming back (and) we have a young team.”
Thompson, the team’s lone senior, enjoyed being part of a close-knit group and watching the Wildcats scratch and claw their way to the regional semifinals for the fourth time in the past five years.
“It’s been very fun,” said Thompson, who closed out her career with 1,015 points. “I’ve become really close to this team and they’re like my family. They’re like my sisters. I’m really proud of how far we’ve come and how much better we’ve gotten. I wouldn’t rather be out here with anybody else. It’s been a fun ride.”
Keith Taylor is a columnist and senior sports writer who covers University of Kentucky athletics for KyForward.com