Kentucky’s superstar rusty in season debut, but Wildcats survive first road test
The University of Kentucky women’s basketball team got its superstar back on the court Thursday night, but it appeared she needed to knock off a little rust.
Junior forward Rhyne Howard struggled on offense as the 11th-ranked Wildcats survived a grind-it-out affair in their first road game of the season, knocking off Kansas State 60-49 in the SEC-Big 12 Challenge at Manhattan, Kan. Howard scored eight points to go along with six rebounds and two steals. She made three of 14 shots from the field and missed all seven of her three-point attempts.
Despite being dogged by shooting woes most of the night, Howard still came up big during the crucial final stretch. She hit a straightaway mid-range jumper late in the fourth quarter that put the Wildcats ahead, 56-47. That was part of a 13-3 run by UK to end the game, as the team leaned on its defense to finally pull away. UK scored 18 points off 18 Kansas State turnovers.
“So proud of our players today. They were extremely resilient,” Kentucky interim head coach Kyra Elzy said. “Obviously our shots weren’t going in at a rate that we’re used to them going in, so we had to lay our hat on our defense. They were gritty, they were tough. We made huge stops down the stretch when we had to.”
Howard, a preseason All-American and candidate for national player of the year, was suspended for the first two games of the season by Elzy “for not upholding the standards of the program.” Against Kansas State, she started and played 37 minutes. Howard missed a three-pointer on UK’s first possession, but Blair Green and Chasity Patterson hit back-to-back threes to give UK a quick 6-0 lead.
Howard missed her first three shots and got on the board by hitting a pair of free throws with 4:51 to play in the first quarter. She hit a mid-range jumper moments later to make it 14-8 Kentucky (3-0).
“It’s her first game back. She hadn’t played in a game since March,” Elzy said when asked about Howard’s night. “I thought she was locked into the game plan ... she got frustrated. Her shots weren’t going in.
“But, Rhyne is a talented player. She will work the kinks out. Those shots that she took tonight wide open, they will go in ... I commend her. Even though her shots weren’t going in, she still buckled down defensively, she got rebounds and she had some unbelievable passes to help other people score.”
After a breakout game in UK’s 70-50 victory over Belmont last Sunday, sophomore forward Dre’una Edwards again proved indispensable for Kentucky, notching her second straight double-double. She hit a three from the left wing to tie the game, 25-25, late in the first half. Edwards pulled down nine of her game-high 12 rebounds before halftime and finished with a game-high 16 points. Her rebound put-back late in the fourth gave UK its first double-digit lead, 58-47.
“Dre’ is extremely talented,” Elzy said. “She has power, she can pick-and-pop. So, her versatility does help. Defensively, I thought she did a great job with their bigs.”
On a night they struggled to make shots, the Wildcats battled hard on the boards. UK went 23-of-62 from the field and hit just five of 22 three-pointers, but won the rebound battle against a bigger Kansas State squad, 40-32. Especially important were Kentucky’s 16 offensive rebounds, two of which came during the deciding moments late in the game.
“We really just got after it at the end,” Edwards said. “We got some defensive steals, we got some hustle plays, we got some boards ... we were just doing what we’re supposed to do.”
Robyn Benton came up big off the bench for UK. The junior guard scored 11 points on 4-for-10 shooting and had five rebounds. Patterson also had 11 points.
Kansas State (1-1) lost sophomore star Ayoka Lee early in the first quarter. The 6-foot-6 forward had to be helped off the floor after it appeared she rolled her ankle. Lee seemed unable to put weight on her left foot and later limped to the locker room. She returned to the bench area after halftime with a pair of crutches and a bag of ice taped to her ankle. The team’s leading scorer finished her night with two points and four rebounds in four minutes of play.
Kansas State rallied in the absence of Lee, who was voted Big 12 Freshman of the Year last season. Taylor Lauterbach, a 6-foot-7 freshman, completed an and-one opportunity to draw Kansas State within 14-13. Kansas State then took the lead on a turnaround jumper by Ashley Ray and took a 16-14 advantage into the second quarter. Kentucky went 2-for-14 from the field during that stretch.
King misses game
Before Wednesday’s game, UK announced that sophomore guard Emma King did not travel with the team because of COVID-19 safety protocols. The school declined to provide further details. King started Kentucky’s first two games this season. The Wildcats also played without senior forward Tatyana Wyatt, who was serving the final game of her three-game season-opening suspension.
TV broadcasts, times finalized
The Southeastern Conference on Thursday announced television selections and game times for the 2020-21 SEC women’s basketball schedule. Kentucky will be featured on the ESPN family of networks 12 times.
Five of UK’s games — including Sunday’s non-conference tilt with Indiana — will air on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU. Twelve of Kentucky’s 16 league games will be featured on national television. The remaining four league games will be streamed online on SEC Network Plus.
Some highlights of the schedule include the Wildcats’ game at Tennessee on Jan. 3 (ESPN2), their home matchup with South Carolina on Jan. 10 (ESPN2), their game at Mississippi State on Jan. 24 (ESPN2) and at South Carolina on Feb. 21 (ESPN).
An updated schedule with the television assignments and tip times can be found online at UKathletics.com.
Next game
No. 13 Indiana at No. 11 Kentucky
When: 4 p.m. Sunday
TV: ESPNU
Radio: WBUL-FM 98.5
This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 9:37 PM.
