Auburn women’s basketball fell to No. 16 Kentucky 63-56 Thursday night, marking its ninth loss in its last 10 games.
“They’re a really good basketball team, and they’re probably going to do some special things in the postseason,” Auburn head coach Larry Vickers said. “Our seniors, we want to celebrate. Not everybody wants to join a program year one, especially in the SEC. I appreciate them for that. I felt like this was one we could’ve sneaked today.”
The Wildcats jumped out to an early 10-2 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Their largest lead of the game was 19 points in the fourth quarter.
Amelia Hassett led the way for Kentucky with 15 points on 62.5% shooting from the field. The Wildcats shot 46.2% as a team.
All of the Tigers’ offense came from Khady Leye and Harissoum Coulibaly, who combined for 33 of Auburn’s 56 points. Leye’s 20 points tied her career high.
Khady Leye (6) shoots against Kentucky in Neville Arena on February 26, 2026.
Leye, the Senegal native, wasn’t just scoring tonight, but she was doing it efficiently. The sophomore was 9 of 12 from the field.
“The last three weeks, Khady’s begun to separate herself and say 'y’all can come to me,' offensively,” Vickers said. “She’s starting to separate herself from a scoring component, and that’s good to build on moving forward.”
Kentucky cooled off in the fourth quarter, allowing the Tigers to go on a 14-2 run that lasted nearly five minutes. However, it was a little too late, as the run began when Auburn trailed by 19 points.
“We’ve been a resilient group, from playing behind,” Vickers said. “We’re going to continue to fight and compete. We did a good job with Kentucky’s size of competing and fighting.”
This loss drops Auburn to a 14-15 record on the year, so barring a miracle run in the SEC Tournament, the Tigers will be watching March Madness from the Plains.
Vickers and his squad will look to end the season on a high note when they take on Arkansas in the season finale. Tipoff Sunday is set for 1 p.m. CST, and the game will be televised on SECN.
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Rory is a sophomore majoring in journalism sports production. He started with The Plainsman in the spring of 2025.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @RorymGarvin
