It's amazing the difference a few minutes can make.

Just a few extra seconds to sit on the bench and take deep breaths can work wonders.

A few extra minutes for one player might even mean the difference between a win and a loss.

Kentucky struggled mightily with depth last season, with six different players having to play 27 or more minutes a game.

This season, No. 20 UK has only two players averaging more than 27 minutes in A'dia Mathies (30.8) and Victoria Dunlap (29.9).

"It feels great this year to have some depth," Coach Matthew Mitchell said last week.

Having the extra productive bodies has helped Kentucky win six straight in the tough Southeastern Conference and rise to national prominence.

"As long as we'll keep getting better and progressing, the depth on our team is quality enough that it can play a factor in this conference race," Mitchell said.

Last season, with just six players playing a bulk of the minutes, UK staggered into the post-season. Mitchell said those players played as hard as they could but by the time they got to the WNIT, it was clear they had run out of gas.

That team might not have made it through the new, extended 16-game SEC schedule, especially without a bye.

The way the schedule worked out this season, UK's bye week was the first game of conference play, so the Cats are playing 16 straight.

Ole Miss Coach Renee Ladner, whose Rebels fell to UK on Thursday night, said the Cats' depth was a factor.

Kentucky's bench outscored the Rebels reserves 23-9.

"They're playing full throttle," Ladner said. "(Mitchell's) got a team of athletes. He's got positions one through five, and he's got depth. ... They're pretty good players."

This season, UK's bench is outscoring other teams' reserves 22.5 points a game to 17.4.

The Cats have eight players playing 15.8 minutes or more a game. Even in rigorous conference play when most coaches start to drastically pare down their rotations, Mitchell is playing nine different players at least nine minutes a game.

That depth also allows them to play the up-tempo style and defense that has helped UK become the most prolific scoring team in the SEC with an average of 77.5 points per game.

"We're not just based around one player; we have a lot of versatile, athletic players who can step in," point guard Amber Smith said. "Any given night, different people can step up."

All of the players in the Kentucky rotation are giving good minutes, Mitchell said.

"Hopefully, it will allow us to win games, to get into position to play in the post-season and if we get into post-season, we're a little bit crisper because you don't have people in that 35-minute range," he said.

UK's reserves have combined to contribute at least 26 points in 10 games. Last season, UK had only two games where the bench put up those kinds of numbers.

This season, 10 different players have scored 10 or more points at least once. Seven different players have led the team in scoring in a single game.

Dunlap has scored in double figures in 19 of 20 games this season, and 25 of her last 26.

The junior forward is averaging nearly five more points a game despite playing three fewer minutes.

Getting some extra rest has been a key.

"She benefits greatly by having someone like Brittany Henderson who can come in and give productive minutes," Mitchell said. "Whether it's nine minutes or five minutes or 14 minutes, those are crucial minutes."

He said getting rest for point guard Amber Smith has also been critical this year.

Smith's playing four fewer minutes a game but is averaging a little more than two extra points. The junior is only 26 assists away from matching last year's total after 32 games.

"She's one of the greatest beneficiaries of our depth," Mitchell said. "When she can be fresh mentally, she can be one of the best in the league. When she has to pace herself, it brings her down a level or two."