Patterson’s coming-out party pushes UK to 5th-straight win over Florida
The newest addition to the active roster for the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team picked the perfect time for a coming-out party.
Junior guard Chasity Patterson came off the bench and provided a much-needed injection of offense, scoring a career-high 20 points as the 14th-ranked Wildcats pulled away for a 65-45 victory over Florida in Gainesville on Sunday. Kentucky (14-2, 3-1 SEC) has now won five straight against the Gators.
“Scoring, she’s really good at that, really gifted,” UK Coach Matthew Mitchell said of Patterson’s performance on the UK Radio Network postgame show. “(She) made some plays, clearly on a day where we needed it … So happy for her.”
The seeds of Sunday’s showcase were sown when UK successfully recruited Patterson to Lexington after the No. 1-ranked point guard in the class of 2017 decided to leave the University of Texas one game into her sophomore season.
“When I came on the visit, I loved it.” Patterson said. “I was very comfortable with the coaching staff and also with the team … I saw myself in Coach Mitchell’s system and it fit perfectly for me.”
Patterson, playing in her fifth game since becoming eligible in mid-December, rescued the Wildcats during a first half in which little went right. Kentucky missed its first four three-point tries and started 1-for-7 overall from the field. Rhyne Howard scored just four first-half points, hitting one of four shots while dealing with foul trouble and a Florida defense intent on denying her the ball.
Howard did find her footing in the second half, scoring 18 of her game-high 22 points. But without Patterson’s early efforts the Cats might have found themselves forced to dig out of a hole. Kentucky shot well under 30 percent from the field in the first half. Thanks in large part to Patterson, UK managed to build a 28-23 lead going into the break.
Patterson scored 13 of UK’s 28 first-half points. She gave the Cats their first lead of the game with a three-pointer shortly after checking in. She swiped a steal — one of four for her in the game — and made a run-out layup to stretch the lead to 13-8, but the Cats couldn’t press the advantage.
Florida (11-6, 2-2) went on a 7-0 run to reclaim the lead while UK went cold. But Patterson stopped the bleeding with two more three-pointers, the second of which put the Cats up 26-21.
Patterson started the second half.
Kentucky got a huge scare in the third quarter when Howard went down hard after getting tangled up with a defender. She remained on the floor clearly in pain, favoring her right knee. Trainers helped her to her feet and she limped to the bench. After receiving some treatment, Howard returned late in the third. She scored 11 points in the fourth quarter as UK outscored the Gators 23-11 in the period to pull away.
Howard finished with six rebounds and Patterson had five. Sabrina Haines scored 12 points to go with four rebounds. Howard, Patterson and Haines combined to hit 19 of 34 shots from the field. The rest of the Cats went 3-for-36.
While UK struggled on offense for the most part, its defense flustered the Gators. The Wildcats forced 25 Florida turnovers and turned them into 31 points. They held Florida’s leading scorer, Lavender Briggs, to just two points. Kentucky turned the ball over just six times and won the rebound battle 38-36, with half of those coming on the offensive glass.
Next game
No. 10 Texas A&M at No. 14 Kentucky
6:30 p.m. Thursday (SEC Network)
This story was originally published January 12, 2020 at 2:22 PM.
