‘We are going to have a great team.’ UK women’s basketball set to begin new era.
After a wild offseason that saw curve ball after curve ball tossed its way, the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team is finally set to get back to competition.
Ranked No. 11 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll, the Wildcats will tip off the season against Murray State in Memorial Coliseum on Wednesday at 1 p.m. It will mark UK’s first game under interim head coach Kyra Elzy, who was promoted from associate head coach this month when Matthew Mitchell abruptly retired because of ongoing complications from brain surgery.
As if adjusting to the myriad lifestyle changes prompted by a coronavirus pandemic that cut short their previous season wasn’t challenging enough, the Wildcats must now quickly get acclimated to life under a new leader. But UK has a jump start on that process.
Elzy had been Mitchell’s top lieutenant for the previous four seasons and was essentially acting head coach of the Wildcats over the summer while Mitchell attempted to recover. After Mitchell’s retirement, Elzy said, “He’s already laid the blueprint for this program ... and I will follow suit.”
Elzy inherits a UK team that on paper appears to be among the deepest and most talented in program history. It’s a roster the 42-year-old LaGrange, Ky., native was instrumental in building.
The Wildcats will aim to improve upon last year’s 22-8 overall record and third-place finish in the Southeastern Conference. Their main weapon in that mission will be junior star Rhyne Howard, who was voted SEC preseason player of the year by the league’s coaches following a dominant sophomore season in which she was second in the nation in scoring (23.4 points per game) and set a program record for most three-pointers in a season (84).
That’s a pretty good foundation on which to begin her head-coaching career, and Elzy plans to take advantage.
“The best advice that I have received thus far; if all else fails, put the ball in Rhyne Howard’s hands and let her do what she does best,” Elzy told the media after she was introduced as interim head coach.
Howard is expected to be a top contender for national player of the year. She was a finalist for the award last season and two weeks ago became the first Kentucky women’s basketball player to be voted a First Team preseason All-American by The Associated Press.
But Howard won’t have to shoulder the load alone, a prospect which excites the 6-foot-2 native of Cleveland, Tenn.
“I don’t really feel any pressure because I don’t feel a reason to be pressured,” Howard said. “I have my teammates behind me and we have a great team this year. I got Chasity (Patterson) on the point and like KeKe (McKinney) said, I got her and Olivia (Owens) and the newcomers, we got all them.”
Patterson was UK’s second-leading scorer last year (11.5 ppg), adding a dangerous new element to the team after becoming eligible midseason. McKinney and Tatyana Wyatt return to the frontcourt for their senior seasons, and Owens should bring a new dynamic to the post after the 6-foot-4 transfer from Maryland was granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA.
“We are going to have a great team and they are there to lift the pressure off of me and if I do get pressured I know I can go to them or go to my coaches and they will make it easier for me,” Howard said. “They can make sure I am staying focused on making the right plays for my team.”
Murray State is coming off a season in which it went 14-16 overall and 7-11 in the Ohio Valley Conference, but the Racers have experience on their side.
The team returns all five of its top scorers from last season, led by junior guard Macey Turley, who averaged 16.6 points per game. A former star at Murray High School, Turley was voted to the All-OVC First Team last year after earning Freshman of the Year honors the previous season.
Junior guard Alexis Burpo, a teammate of Turley’s in high school, averaged 10.3 points last season on her way to All-OVC Second Team honors.
As of now, attendance in Memorial Coliseum will be capped at 15 percent of the arena’s capacity. Fan attendance has been limited to season ticket holders who requested seats by Nov. 13. UK does not plan to sell single-game tickets this season.
Wednesday
Murray State at No. 11 Kentucky
When: 1 p.m.
Where: Memorial Coliseum
Live video broadcast: SEC Network Plus (online only)
