UK women seek fifth straight win over Florida fresh off record-setting win at Alabama
Through the first phase of the college basketball season, Rhyne Howard has been making a strong case that she be included in any conversation about the best players in the country.
The sophomore guard has been busy scrawling her name throughout the UK women’s basketball record book and widespread attention has followed. Her next chance to turn heads comes Sunday in front of a national audience, when the 14th-ranked Wildcats face Florida in Gainesville in a matchup that will be televised on ESPNU.
“Well, we have a tough game ahead of us Sunday at Florida,” UK Coach Matthew Mitchell said on Friday. “Very dynamic team that can score. It gives you a lot of action that you have to prepare for, and for us in a very short period of time. We got in late (Thursday) after a very physical game, and we’re back on the road.”
It has been a whirlwind week for Howard. On Wednesday, she was named to the Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 Watch List, which tracks the top candidates for national player of the year. That honor came right on the heels of her being named espnW National Player of the Week after scoring a then career-high 37 points to lead Kentucky (13-2, 2-1 SEC) to victory over Tennessee. On Thursday, Howard blew past that mark. She scored 43 points to lead the Cats to an 81-71 win at Alabama.
With that effort, Howard matched the program’s single-game scoring record set by Jennifer O’Neill against Baylor in 2013. Kentucky also set a single-game team record for three-pointers against the Crimson Tide, hitting 16 shots from the perimeter.
“She is the focal point of a lot of teams’ preparations. She has really had to work hard to play well,” Mitchell said of Howard. “But, it’s not a singular effort and the team was so excited to see it and to be a part of it. We were on the bus last night after the game, and the bus driver had the TV on, and they were showing the highlights. Just the excitement on the bus of everyone really made me feel good. It was a special time.”
Now, Florida (11-5, 2-1 SEC) faces the unenviable task of drawing up a plan to slow down Howard. The Gators are coming off back-to-back SEC wins after getting blown out at Mississippi State by nearly 50 in their league opener. They’ll be looking to end a four-game losing streak in the series against Kentucky.
In pursuit of that task, Florida won’t enjoy the kind of size advantage many SEC teams do against Kentucky. Florida’s tallest starter, senior forward and Zada Williams, is 6-foot-2; the same height as UK’s Howard. Williams is Florida’s third-leading scorer at 10.9 points per game. Freshman guard Lavender Briggs averages a team-high 14.6 points and leads the Gators with 25 three-pointers.
By contrast, Howard has hit 53 treys for Kentucky. She knocked down seven of 11 on Thursday, three of them during the fourth quarter to help turn back an Alabama rally. Howard is now the third-leading scorer in all of Division I, with an average of 23.9 points per game. She’s the first first UK player to score at least 25 in five straight games.
Sunday
No. 14 Kentucky at Florida
When: Noon
Records: UK 13-2 (2-1 SEC); Florida 11-5 (2-1 SEC)
TV: ESPNU
Radio: WLAP-AM 630
