by LEXINGTON, Ky. – No. 12 Oklahoma suffered its first loss of the season Thursday night, falling 82-68 on the road to No. 17 Kentucky in the 2016 SEC/Big 12 Challenge at Memorial Coliseum.
Despite four Sooners (5-1) scoring in double figures, OU could not overcome the Wildcats’ (6-1) .492 (29-of-59) shooting percentage from the floor. Peyton Little led Oklahoma with a season-high 19 points and five 3-pointers, while Gioya Carter added in a season-best 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting along with five rebounds.
Vionise Pierre-Louis logged her third double-double of the season, finishing with 15 points and 13 rebounds in 25 minutes. Chelsea Dungee (Cherokee Nation) scored in double figures for the second consecutive contest, recording a career-high 12 points and adding in four rebounds.
OU led at the half as Little, who eclipsed the 1,000-point mark between her career with the Sooners and Texas A&M, knocked down a long-distance trey to give the Sooners a 39-37 advantage after two quarters. In a game that featured six ties and 12 leads changes, OU hit eight first-half treys and used a 10-0 run to close the second quarter to take the lead at the break.
The Sooners finished season-high 11 3-pointers on the road, their most in a single game since hitting 10 triples at Baylor last season. OU won the rebounding battle, 35-34, and finished with a season-best 19 assists against the Wildcats.
Kentucky’s Makayla Epps led all scorers with 30 points on 12-for-19 shooting, while Maci Morris hit three of UK’s seven triples and finished with 19 points. Evelyn Akhator (11 points) and Makenzie Cann (10 points) also finished in double figures. The quartet combined to score 70 of UK’s 82 points.
The Wildcats outshot the Sooners, .492-.410, from the field, .438-.367 from the 3-point range and .850-.467 from the free throw line. UK outscored the Sooners, 45-29, in the second half and posted a .517 clip from the field in the final two quarters.
Oklahoma returns home Sunday to take on in-state foe Oral Roberts at 2 p.m. CT. Tickets for the game are available for as low as $5.
