No. 9 UK women suffer first loss at No. 24 DePaul. See what went wrong for the Cats.
Just days after she was officially made full-time head coach, the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team suffered the first loss of the Kyra Elzy era.
The ninth-ranked Wildcats (6-1) struggled to hit shots from the perimeter and come up with defensive stops, falling at No. 24 DePaul, 86-82, in Wintrust Arena in Chicago.
It was a tough follow-up to the news of the elevation of Elzy, whose interim tag was removed this week. On Monday it was announced that Elzy had signed a contract to lead the Wildcats through the 2025-26 season.
“It is a disappointing loss. You always play to win,” Elzy said. “But you have to handle failure just like you handle success ... Hats off to DePaul, they made some big plays down the stretch.”
After shooting well in its last several games, UK struggled against DePaul’s pressure defense. The Cats knocked down just six of 24 three-point shots. The Blue Demons (3-2) hounded Rhyne Howard on the perimeter as the sophomore star went 2-for-8 from three-point range, missing her first five tries.
UK had a chance late, trailing by just three after a putback by Dre’una Edwards. But DePaul’s Deja Church came up with a big offensive rebound on the next possession and hit two free throws to ice the game.
DePaul shot 50 percent from the field and hit seven of 18 three-point shots. The Blue Demons did major damage in the transition game, frequently getting into the post for easy buckets. DePaul scored 50 points in the paint despite being out-rebounded by the Cats, 46-31.
“Our transition defense just gave up too many layups down the stretch,” Elzy said. “We just didn’t lock in for 40 minutes. It was one-on-one defense, we (gave up) some backdoors, we had too many baseline cuts ... just did not have the intensity that we needed consistently, and that’s on me. We will go back to Lexington and work on that.”
Church was one of five Blue Demons to score in double figures with 18 points on 6-for-12 shooting. Sonya Morris led all scorers with 23 points, hitting three of four shots from the perimeter.
Howard and Edwards both turned in double-doubles for UK. Howard had 18 points and a team-high 12 rebounds, while Edwards scored 18 points to go along with 11 boards. Chasity Patterson led the Wildcats with 22 points on 8-for-16 shooting. Robyn Benton pitched in 12 points and six rebounds off the bench.
Edwards said Elzy’s conversation with the team after its first setback of the season was upbeat.
“It was a very positive and encouraging message,” Edwards said. “She told us to keep our heads high, it’s OK, it happens. But we’ve just got to work. We’re going to look at the film and do what we’ve got to do.”
King back with team
Sophomore guard Emma King has returned to team activities with the Wildcats after missing four games because of COVID-19 safety protocols. King traveled to DePaul but was unavailable to play against the Blue Demons as she’s working her way back into game condition, according to a UK spokesperson.
King started Kentucky’s first two games while Rhyne Howard served her two-game suspension to open the season.
More help coming
Another weapon is on the way for the Wildcats following the NCAA Division I Council’s decision on Wednesday to grant all transfers eligibility this season.
Junior guard Jazmine Massengill can now suit up immediately for the Wildcats after transferring from Tennessee following last season, during which she averaged 6.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game for the Volunteers.
Massengill was rated by ESPN as the No. 25 overall player in the 2018 class. As a high school senior in Chattanooga, Tenn., Massengill was a McDonald’s All-American and participated in the Jordan Brand Classic.
Last tune-up
Next up for the Wildcats is their final non-conference contest of the regular season. UK hosts Wofford in Memorial Coliseum on Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Terriers enter Saturday’s matchup 3-2 on the year following a well-fought loss at Xavier last time out. Wofford rallied from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit and had a chance to tie or take the lead with less than two minutes to play, but the Musketeers held on for a 70-64 win.
Jackie Carman, a 5-foot-8 guard, scored a team-high 14 points against Xavier. Alexis Tomlin, a 6-foot-1 junior forward, scored 13 to go along with nine rebounds and three blocks.
Wofford went 15-15 overall last year and 8-6 in Southern Conference play, finishing tied for fourth in the regular-season standings and falling to Furman in the opening round of the league tournament.
Next game
Wofford at No. 9 Kentucky
When: 1 p.m. Saturday
Live video broadcast: SEC Network Plus (online only)
This story was originally published December 16, 2020 at 5:29 PM.
