Without head coach, UK women stage furious rally from 14 down to knock off Indiana
In a matchup of top-15 teams that was among the premier showdowns of the young women’s college basketball season, it was the Wildcats who came away with bragging rights on Sunday after staging a furious rally.
After trailing by 14 points in the second quarter, No. 11 Kentucky outscored No. 13 Indiana 28-14 in the fourth to pull out a 72-68 victory in Memorial Coliseum.
Robyn Benton’s three-pointer pulled UK within 59-58 with 3:22 to play. She hit a pair of free throws on the next possession to give UK a 60-59 lead, its first since the opening quarter.
Dre’una Edwards gave the Cats a 62-61 edge with a pair of free throws. A jumper by Rhyne Howard pushed the lead to three, and Benton’s layup made it 66-61 Cats.
UK hit six straight free throws down the stretch to thwart a heroic effort from Indiana’s Grace Berger, who scored 10 points in the fourth. Berger, a junior guard from Louisville who starred at Sacred Heart, led the Hoosiers with 21 points and seven rebounds.
Howard, who struggled in her first game of the season last week, fought through foul trouble against Indiana and led the Cats with a game-high 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Edwards had 14 points and 10 rebounds — her third straight double-double — while Benton added 12 points. Chasity Patterson scored 13 points to go along with six assists.
Kentucky’s day got off to an awkward start when about two hours prior to tip-off it was announced interim head coach Kyra Elzy would miss the game for “health reasons that are not related to COVID-19.” Associate head coach Niya Butts led UK in Elzy’s absence.
The Wildcats got off to an awkward start once the game was underway, as well. UK struggled to get into an offensive flow, but built a 12-9 lead after five straight points from Rhyne Howard and a bucket from Olivia Owens. For the rest of the half, it was all Hoosiers.
Indiana went on a 14-0 run that was finally halted by Patterson’s floater in the lane to pull Kentucky within 23-14, but the Hoosiers’ Jaelynn Penn immediately answered with a three-pointer.
Indiana was able to use its length to neutralize Kentucky’s heralded defense while making things difficult for the Cats on the offensive end. In the first half, the Hoosiers turned the ball over just three times while holding UK to 32 percent shooting and forcing six UK miscues.
The second half got off to tough start when Howard turned over the ball on UK’s first possession, but the junior star pulled the Cats within 32-23 with a three-pointer midway through the third quarter. Shortly after, Howard picked up her third foul — all offensive — and went to the bench.
Kentucky again got within single digits when Edwards swiped a steal and went coast-to-coast for a layup to make it 42-34 Hoosiers, but Danielle Patterson responded with a layup to push Indiana’s advantage back to 11.
After a timeout, Howard returned and immediately nailed a deep three to get the Cats within 45-37, but Indiana scored back-to-back buckets off UK turnovers to go up 12.
Kentucky forced Indiana into five straight misses as the Cats made their move late in the fourth.
Next game
Marshall at No. 11 Kentucky
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
TV: SEC Network Plus (online)
