‘Not the expectations for the program.’ Kentucky women’s basketball drops fifth in a row.

As Maddie Scherr made her career-high tying fifth three-pointer with 7:47 to play in the fourth quarter of Kentucky’s 65-41 women’s basketball loss to Cincinnati in the Paradise Jam on Saturday, the question hung in the air: Who else will step up and score for the Wildcats?

Prior to the start of what is now a 2-5 season, Scherr was expected to be the offensive leader on head coach Kyra Elzy’s roster. Other players — starting forward Ajae Petty, sophomore guards Amiya Jenkins and Saniah Tyler and senior guard Eniya Russell — have contributed double-figure scoring games this season. However, in Saturday’s loss to Cincinnati (3-3), with a starting lineup of Jenkins, Scherr, Tyler, Petty and junior guard Brooklynn Miles, no other Wildcat but Scherr, who finished with 25 points, scored more than five toward UK’s 41-point effort. Scherr also contributed three rebounds, one assist and two blocks.

“A Kentucky girl with pride,” Elzy said of Scherr. “A competitor more than anything. She left it on the floor today. I asked them to empty their tank, and she was the one that did. She stepped up and produced. She’s a competitor.”

Elzy said that after Friday’s 96-53 loss to No. 3 Colorado during which Scherr shot just 3-of-9 from the field, she challenged Scherr to have a short-term memory and play aggressive offense against the Bearcats.

“She did step out, empty her tank and lead,” Elzy said. “Now we have to follow her. She’s a veteran guard that understands what it takes to win.”

Despite the Wildcats’ 0-3 record in the Island Division of the Paradise Jam, Scherr was named to the Island Division All-Tournament Team. Scherr joined Colorado’s Jaylyn Sherrod, North Carolina State’s Saniya Rivers and tournament MVP River Baldwin, and Cincinnati’s Jillian Hayes in being honored for their play in the three-day showcase in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Against Kentucky, Hayes scored a team-high tying 13 points on 4-of-9 from the field, and grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double. Fellow Cincinnati starter Destiny Thomas and Reagan Jackson also scored 13 points.

After a fairly even matchup for the majority of the first quarter, Cincinnati’s A’riel Jackson banked in a three-pointer as time expired to give the Bearcats a seven-point lead. Cincinnati would go on to force 12 UK turnovers in the first half alone, limiting Scherr to eight points in the first two periods and Tyler and Petty to their eventual final point totals of five and four points, respectively.

At the half, Cincinnati first-year head coach Katrina Merriweather complimented her team’s energy and aggressiveness on both offense and defense to build their 31-20 lead.

“We want to use some different looks and keep them uncomfortable,” Merriweather said of Cincinnati’s zone defense. “Because I know they have some really good players that if they get into rhythm, they can score in bunches. We just don’t want to give them a chance to get comfortable.”

Despite a second-half, 16-point push from Scherr, her lack of help on offense — combined with an 11-0 run by Cincinnati to close out the third quarter — led to the 24-point loss. This marks UK’s fifth straight loss, and fourth by double-digits. Kentucky suffered through losing streaks of five and seven games last season and a pair of four-game skids the year before.

Cincinnati beat Kentucky on the boards, grabbing 38 rebounds to the Wildcats’ 33. Most notably, Cincinnati pulled in 16 offensive rebounds and scored 23 second-chance points. UK grabbed 13 offensive rebounds but scored only five second-chance points. The Bearcats’ defense also limited UK to just four points in the paint, preventing the team from finding ways into the lane and creating easy scoring opportunities.

“They were physical with us, you know, kind of pushed us out,” Elzy said. “They’re long, can block shots. I thought we played timid in the paint, missed some bunnies that we talk about that we got to get those to go. But more importantly, we got to crash the offensive board. Get easy scoring opportunities, but our defense definitely underachieved today.”

The Wildcats will now look forward to another Power Five battle. Boston College will travel to Lexington for a Nov. 30 game as part of the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge. Though the difficult journey that was the Paradise Jam showed Elzy and the Wildcats several areas in which they must improve, one of Elzy’s biggest takeaways was the importance of staying strong defensively when things aren’t going their way on the other end.

Entering Saturday, Kentucky ranked No. 237 out of 348 NCAA Division I teams in field goal percentage at 38.08 percent. After making just 12 of 46 attempts against Cincinnati (26.1 percent), the Wildcats were sure to drop further, now at 36.7 on the season. UK ranked No. 341 in three-point shooting percentage (19.39) before making 6 of 26 Saturday (23.1 percent) to improve to 20.2 percent for the season.

“Playing the type of competition that we did in Colorado, N.C. State, also Cincinnati,” Elzy said, “we’ve got to learn from all of these. How we can get better. And one thing is, you know, our defensive toughness. We’ve got to be able to hang on defensively, even when our shot is not going, until we can find some rhythm offensively. So we have a lot of room to grow, obviously. This is not where we want to be. Not the expectations for the program, and we just will continue to learn and grow from here.”

Next game

Boston College at Kentucky

When: 7 p.m. Thursday

Where: Clive M. Beck Center (Transylvania University)

TV: SEC Network

Radio: WLAP-AM 630

Records: Kentucky 2-5, Boston College 3-3

Series: First meeting