UK women's Goss hopes 'freshman wall' a momentary roadblock

Matchups

No. 6 KENTUCKY (21-2, 10-0)

Starters: A'dia Mathies, 5-9, Jr., G (15.2 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.8 spg); Bria Goss, 5-10, Fr., G (11.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg); Amber Smith, 5-6, Sr., PG (5.3 ppg, 3.2 apg, 1.9 rpg); Kastine Evans, 5-8, So., G (7.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg); Brittany Henderson, 6-2, Jr., F (3.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg)

Key reserves: Keyla Snowden, 5-7, Sr., G (9.6 ppg); Samarie Walker, 6-1, So., F (7.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg); Samantha Drake, 6-3, So., F (6.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg); Azia Bishop, 6-3, Fr., F (5.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg): Bernisha Pinkett, 5-7, So., G (5.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg); Maegan Conwright, 5-8, So., G (4.4 ppg)

LOUISIANA STATE (14-8, 4-5)

Starters: Adrienne Webb, 5-9, Jr., G (9.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg); Jeanne Kenney, 5-8, So., G (5.2 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.7 apg); LaSondra Barrett, 6-2, Sr., G (12.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 2.7 apg); Swayze Black, 6-3, Sr., F (1.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg); Courtney Jones, 6-2, Sr., F (8.9 ppg, 5.9 rpg)

Key reserves: Bianca Lutley, 5-11, Jr., G (5.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg); Krystal Forthan, 6-4, Fr., F (6.2 ppg 3.4 rpg); Shanece McKinney, 6-4, So., F (2.4 ppg); Theresa Plaisance, 6-5, So., F (4.1 ppg); Taylor Turnbow, 6-2, Sr., F (3.3 ppg , 2.5 rpg)

Bria Goss probably smiles in her sleep.

The freshman guard for Kentucky rarely goes more than a few minutes without laughing out loud.

"It's just who I am," Goss said a few weeks ago. "It's what I do."

But even Goss has her limits.

Even smiling was starting to feel exhausting.

It's hard to smile as you crash into a wall, even if it's a metaphorical one.

"There is a freshman wall," she said on Friday. "I probably hit that last week. ... I just figured out that our season is much longer and tougher (than high school)."

The travel to and from Southeastern Conference cities every few days, the class schedule, the practice schedule.

Goss was flying high two weeks ago at Georgia, scoring a career-best 22 points.

Then she hit a lull, scoring just six points in the next two games. The player who had scored in double figures in all but four games before that flew straight into the freshman wall.

UK assistant coach Kyra Elzy picked Goss up off the ground.

"February is always so tough because they're tired," Elzy said. "They're not trying to look forward, but they are."

Elzy told UK's three-time SEC Freshman of the Week that the shortest month of the year is the longest month of the year, even for coaches.

"The other day I had my own mental breakdown, I was like, 'I just can't watch any more film,'" Elzy said, banging her hands on her desk for emphasis.

Elzy told Goss to trudge through February like it's a foot of snow, with eyes toward March.

"You'll get it back," Elzy said she told Goss. "There's nothing like March."

The assistant coach told Goss to think about her state championship runs in high school (where she lost just three games in four years).

"Times that run by 50, the excitement," Elzy told Goss.

Goss brushed herself off, pasted the smile back on her face and decided to focus on March.

On Thursday night against Mississippi, she put in a March-like performance with a game-high 19 points, three rebounds and three steals.

Despite Goss's lull/wall in those two games, the freshman is averaging 11.7 points in SEC games, the most by any rookie in the league. In conference games, she ranks fourth in three-point percentage at 41.9 percent.

After the SEC-leading Cats (21-2, 10-0 SEC) get back from a trip to Louisiana State (14-8, 4-5) on Sunday, they will have a bye week, with no game until an all-important trip to Knoxville and a rematch with Tennessee on Feb. 13.

Goss is looking forward to that break, even if it's a short one.

"It's a whole other chance to refocus," she said. "Eight days to get our bodies back right and practice hard."

After that, Goss will be able to see up over the wall and see March clearly ahead, her assistant coach promised her.

"You've done the hard work: run the suicide after suicide, the grueling practices," Elzy said she told Goss. "It will start to taper down.

"Then it's go time, it's show time."