Kentucky Women’s Basketball’s season starts in approximately five months — that is, if you go off of the Nov. 11 season opener from 2023. Before you say anything, I know it’s too early to be making predictions. I know we don’t have much to go off of. But what we do have, are rosters, and an SEC schedule.
So, this is KSR’s Way-Too-Early Kentucky Women’s Basketball SEC home game results. A renovated Memorial Coliseum is going to see some excitement this season.
Alabama – L
Alabama has had some really impressive development over the past two seasons. From 2022 to 2023, the Crimson Tide had three returning players improve their single-digit scoring to double digits. The star of Alabama, Sarah Ashlee Barker, was extremely difficult for Kentucky to contain. The now-graduate student scored a whopping 34 points over the ‘Cats. Plus, freshman Essence Cody nabbed a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Even though Kentucky had five players in double-digits, Alabama seemed to dominate this game. To me, this could go either way, but if Barker and Cody have a repeat performance, it’s going to be hard for the ‘Cats to keep up.
Arkansas – W
Last season, Kentucky played Arkansas in the SEC home opener. The ‘Cats escaped the Razorbacks by a 10-point margin, a game they probably weren’t supposed to win. The on-paper rankings definitely reflected later in the season, when the two teams met in Fayetteville. There, the ‘Cats fell 88-61. The Razorbacks added a new assistant coach in May, but other than that, they weren’t really successful in the transfer portal. Arkansas is really lacking in height, something that Kentucky picked up in the offseason. I think the ‘Cats will easily come away with this home win.
Auburn – W
Auburn picked up a crucial part of Arkansas’ 2023-24 roster: Taliah Scott. The guard herself said that she wants to make Auburn a championship team, but I’m not sure I see that happening in one season. Scott earned SEC All-Freshman honors last season, but other than that, Auburn doesn’t have a star player. However, the War Eagles smacked Kentucky last season, 78-50, in Auburn. They managed to hold Kentucky’s former center Ajae Petty to only 13 points. The good news, though, is that there are four new Wildcats that are at least [Petty’s] 6-foot-3 or taller. Plus, Auburn only added three players from the transfer portal, including Scott. Last season’s biggest weapon, Honesty Scott-Grayson took off to the WNBA this year, so Kentucky has a great chance at coming out on top.
Georgia – W
Last season, Kentucky held a 1-1 record against Georgia, playing them once in the regular season and beating them in the SEC Tournament. In fact, Kentucky beat the Bulldogs by 14 in the tourney, likely shocking women’s basketball fans everywhere. Of course, this season’s Kentucky team is nowhere near the same as last season’s, so I’m confident that the ‘Cats will come out on top. Funnily enough, Georgia plays Virginia Tech in the SEC-ACC Challenge, which is as close as Coach Brooks and the rest of the Hokie transfers will get to their old team. AND, Georgia landed Nyah Leveretter in April. Leveretter played three seasons for Kentucky before tearing her ACL. The transfer sat on the bench for her entire senior year but is getting a fresh start as a Bulldog. I don’t think Kentucky will let that hold them back though, the ‘Cats are gonna win this one.
LSU – W
Ah, good old LSU. Last season, the Tigers had a slew of well-known players: Haley Van Lith, Angel Reese, and Flau’jae Johnson to name a few. Now, Van Lith is at TCU with ex-Wildcat Maddie Scherr, and Angel Reese plays for the WNBA’s Chicago Sky. Johnson stuck around, along with Aneesah Morrow and Amani Bartlett. Unless LSU struck gold with some kind of prodigy transfer, I’m sure Kentucky will come out on top. Johnson, though, scored 21 points the last time the ‘Cats and Tigers met, so she’ll be a force to be reckoned with.
Mississippi State – W
Kentucky played Mississippi State twice last season and managed to split the series. Kentucky might’ve been the better team in this circumstance, but that doesn’t take anything away from the talent that the Bulldogs had. Funnily enough, one of last season’s best Wildcats, Eniya Russell, transferred to Mississippi State. The guard averaged 10.1 points and 3.6 rebounds per game as a ‘Cat, and we can expect her to do the same in Starkville. Thankfully, the Bulldogs will be traveling to Lexington this season. With that being said, I don’t think the ‘Cats will have trouble overcoming Mississippi State.
Tennessee – W
Tennessee has been in a similar boat as Kentucky for the past few months. The Volunteers saw a coaching change after former head coach Kellie Harper’s team came up short. Now, Kim Caldwell (Marshall) leads the Vols in for a new (and probably improved) season. However, Caldwell didn’t really hit the ground running in the same way that Kenny Brooks did. Caldwell landed a few players from the portal, like Ruby Whitehorn (12.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg), a 5-foot-11 guard from Clemson. But, the majority of the roster seemed to stay the same. Only one former Vol entered the portal and Rickea Jackson now plays for the Los Angeles Sparks, but Jewel Spear and Sara Puckett decided to return to Tennessee. Plus, Caldwell was sort of in the hypothetical conversation to be Kentucky’s new head coach. I feel confident that Kentucky will come out on top, but I can’t wait to see what tricks Caldwell has up her sleeve.
Texas – L
Well, you can’t win them all. With Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC this year, Kentucky hasn’t had any experience with the Longhorns. Texas did land a No. 8 recruit in the 2024 class this offseason, plus, forward Madison Booker was named Big 12 Player of the Year. The kicker though, is that Booker was the first-ever freshman to do so. Texas also snagged a couple of gems in the transfer portal. Laila Phelia, a 6-foot guard from Michigan averaged 16.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game last season. She’ll be joining the Longhorns, along with Treasure Thompson (Eastern Michigan, 5.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg). I do think this game will be a close one, but I think that the lack of Big 12 experience might be enough for Kentucky to fall just short.
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