Does Kentucky have what it takes to beat the No. 1 team? ‘It will be a good game.’

The University of Kentucky women’s basketball team is faced with an extremely difficult but not impossible task on Sunday: Beat the No. 1 team in the nation.

South Carolina brings a 20-game winning streak to Memorial Coliseum. The Gamecocks have won all 13 of their Southeastern Conference games. They demolished Kentucky 99-72 on Jan. 2 in Columbia. And South Carolina has won seven of its last nine meetings against the Wildcats.

Where does Kentucky look for hope? A couple of places.

South Carolina has been beaten once this season. Indiana (20-7 overall, 10-5 Big Ten) got the job done, 71-57, during the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands on Nov. 28. Maybe the Gamecocks were listless for a Thanksgiving Day game in a tropical environment. Foul trouble most certainly played a major role, as did some brutally cold shooting (36.9 percent overall, 2-for-19 on three-pointers).

The point is, defeating the Gamecocks (26-1) can be done. And that is the belief a Kentucky team that knocked off then-No. 6 Mississippi State in Memorial Coliseum last week will take into Sunday afternoon’s contest.

“We need every win we can get and this obviously would be helpful in so many ways in the conference race and national landscape,” UK Coach Matthew Mitchell said Friday. “I thought the energy in the Coliseum was very helpful and extremely powerful last Sunday. I am telling you, in a game like this we want to play as hard as you can and when you have a big crowd behind you that enables you to fuel your enthusiasm. … We would really like for a big crowd to come out Sunday afternoon. It will be a good game.”

Kentucky (20-5 overall, 9-4 SEC) enters Sunday tied with Texas A&M and Arkansas for third place in the league, That trio trails South Carolina and Mississippi State. The top four finishers receive byes to the quarterfinal round of the 14-team SEC Tournament next month.

Mitchell said Kentucky was lacking one key trait the first time it faced the Gamecocks this season that it has since acquired.

“We were not very tough that night,” said Mitchell, whose team was outrebounded 40-20. “That was a big compliment that I would pay the team is that we worked hard after that to address those issues and didn’t run from those and I think we have toughened up since then.”

‘Big, physical, skilled’

South Carolina is winning with defense, limiting teams to 55.3 points per game and just 33.1 percent shooting from the field. The Gamecocks outrebound foes by 12.5 per game.

The Gamecocks’ 6-foot-5 freshman post player, Aliyah Boston, hit the Cats for 14 points and six rebounds in January and leads South Carolina with averages of 13.2 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game. Senior forward Mikiah Herbert Harrigan averages 12.6 points and 5.6 rebounds. Senior guard Tyasha Harris puts up 12.0 points and 5.4 assists. Freshman guard Zia Cooke is also in double figures at 12.0 points.

“They are very deep, really deep,” Mitchell said. “Aliyah Boston is playing at a really high level and she is hard to match up with but she is just one of many really big, physical, skilled, athletic post presences they have.”

The other obstacle the Wildcats face is the coaching of Dawn Staley, Mitchell said.

“Dawn has them playing extremely hard. If you are really talented and play really hard, it is a lethal combination.”

Kentucky’s Rhyne Howard, who leads the SEC in scoring at 23.1 points per game, is playing well despite wearing a brace protecting a finger she broke earlier this season.

“She has done a remarkable job because it is hard to play with your hand bandaged up and braced,” Mitchell said. “She is doing a good job with it. I think that South Carolina will be very aggressive. … She has to be smart in the positions she gets herself in.”

Sunday

No. 1 South Carolina at No. 14 Kentucky

When: 2 p.m.

TV: ESPN2

Radio: WLAP-AM 630

Records: South Carolina 26-1 (13-0 SEC), UK 20-5 (9-4)

Series: UK leads 34-32

Last meeting: South Carolina won 99-72 on Jan. 2 in Columbia, S.C.

This story was originally published February 22, 2020 at 10:28 AM.