‘Great teams expose you.’ Kentucky comes up short vs. South Carolina.
For the second straight game, the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team faced a top-10 opponent. And for the second straight game, a late cold streak cost the Cats.
No. 5 South Carolina, led by All-Southeastern Conference forward Aliyah Boston and speedy guard Destanni Henderson, erased a nine-point halftime deficit and knocked off No. 10 Kentucky 75-70 in Memorial Coliseum on Sunday.
Thanks to a late eruption by Chasity Patterson, UK had a chance to snatch a win. With UK trailing by nine, Patterson hit a layup, then sank back-to-back three-pointers to pull the Cats within one with 2:31 to play. Rhyne Howard’s potential game-tying three-point attempt with 17 seconds left came up short and Carolina’s Zia Cooke hit a pair of free throws to ice it for the Gamecocks.
UK Coach Kyra Elzy said the diagrammed plan in the closing seconds was to go for a quick two-point basket, but she had no problem with Howard’s three-point try.
“I trust Rhyne, she has great instincts,” UK Coach Kyra Elzy said. “I give her the freedom to make that read and take that shot. And we can live with that shot.”
Boston had a huge second half after missing much of the first because of foul trouble. She scored 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds.
Henderson led a dangerous transition offense that UK struggled to contain. She routinely sliced through Wildcats defenders for point-blank buckets, scoring a team-high 22 points along with eight rebounds. The Gamecocks outrebounded the Cats 46-31 and scored 56 points in the paint to 34 for UK.
UK (9-3, 2-2 SEC) went just three of 20 from three-point range and shot 38 percent overall. The Cats made just four of 17 perimeter shots in Thursday’s 17-point loss at Texas A&M, a game which was tied at halftime.
Howard scored 32 points against the Gamecocks, hitting 13 of 25 field goals but missing all five of her shots from long distance.
“For three and a half quarters against South Carolina tonight, against A&M, we played high-caliber basketball,” Elzy said. “However, the small mental lapses cost us and great teams expose you. So, in order for us to take that next level we have to be able to play 40 minutes.”
South Carolina (8-1, 3-0 SEC) had no answer for Howard in the first half. She got things rolling with a layup through contact and sank the free throw to give UK its first lead, 3-2. Moments later she scored six straight points, pushing the Cats ahead 11-8 with a fall-away jumper.
Howard sank eight of 13 shots in the first half, scoring 19 points.
Olivia Owens made her first career start as a Wildcat, replacing Dre’una Edwards in the starting lineup. Owens came up with an early block before Edwards subbed in halfway through the first quarter.
Edwards rebounded from a rough night during UK’s loss at Texas A&M on Thursday, when she scored just two points and failed to get a rebound while turning over the ball six times. Edwards pitched in 12 points and seven boards Sunday. Patterson had 12 points and four assists.
Kentucky benefited from Boston’s absence early on. The reigning SEC and National Freshman of the Year, Boston was limited to five minutes before halftime because of foul trouble.
Howard’s putback with two seconds to go gave UK a 41-32 halftime lead.
Bolstered by Boston’s return, South Carolina chipped away at the lead early in the third quarter. A Boston layup capped a 6-0 run that pulled the Gamecocks within 43-40. Moments later, UK’s Jazmine Massengill hit back-to-back floaters after curling off screens to push the advantage to seven but the Cats went cold the remainder of the quarter.
A Boston three-pointer was part of a 9-0 Carolina run to end the third. Laeticia Amihere’s putback gave the Gamecocks their first lead since the opening quarter, 57-56, heading into the fourth. Back-to-back buckets by Henderson capped a 17-2 run that gave the Gamecocks a 65-59 advantage with 7:17 to play.
With Sunday’s loss, the Wildcats completed the most difficult stretch in program history. The Gamecocks were UK’s fourth consecutive opponent ranked in the top 15 of the Associated Press poll. The Cats had never before faced four straight top-15 opponents.
UK went 2-2 during that gauntlet, beating No. 13 Arkansas and No. 14 Mississippi State before falling at Texas A&M.
Despite suffering the first losing streak of her head coaching career, Elzy remains bullish on Kentucky’s potential to make noise this season.
“I love the resilience of this team. We play together, we are tough, we have heart,” Elzy said. “We are a very talented team. We have the pieces. We have a chance to really take this team to the next level. There are small things we have to fix.”
Auburn game in doubt?
Kentucky is next scheduled to face Auburn on the road Thursday, but that contest could be in doubt. On Sunday, the Tigers’ home game against Missouri was postponed because of coronavirus protocols. Auburn announced that a combination of positive COVID-19 tests, contact tracing and quarantining of individuals within the program led to the postponement.
Auburn (5-6) has lost four straight games, including its first three SEC contests. The Tigers were beaten by LSU, 56-43, in Baton Rouge then were blown out by Georgia at home (76-44) before falling at Mississippi (62-58).
All-SEC senior forward Unique Thompson missed Auburn’s last three games because of medical issues but was expected to return against Missouri before that game was postponed. Thompson, who is Auburn’s only returning starter from last season, recorded her 1,000th career rebound in a loss to Belmont on Dec. 20 and is the only active player in women’s college hoops with more than 1,000 rebounds. She’s averaging 18.8 points and 15.3 rebounds per game this season.
Next game
No. 10 Kentucky at Auburn
8:30 p.m. Thursday (SEC Network)
This story was originally published January 10, 2021 at 7:17 PM.
