UK wilts in second half at No. 8 Texas A&M. See how things got away from the Cats.
Facing a brutal schedule to open the Southeastern Conference season, the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team acquitted itself well with a pair of wins over top-15 opponents. On Thursday, the Cats came up short in another tough matchup.
In one of the premier clashes in women’s hoops so far this season, No. 8 Texas A&M pulled away in the second half to topple the 10th-ranked Wildcats, 77-60, in College Station, Texas.
The teams traded blows in the first half and headed to the locker room tied 31-31, but the Aggies outscored the Cats 46-29 after halftime. Texas A&M (11-0, 2-0 SEC) went on a 14-0 run between the third and fourth quarters to pull ahead by 12 and never looked back.
“Just across the board; bench, starters, we did not play the game that we wanted to play. Not the showing that we want to have,” UK Coach Kyra Elzy said. “It’s a long season. Tonight is a very rough night. Obviously we wanted to win, disappointed that we didn’t. So we’ll go back to Lexington and get back to work tomorrow.”
The Aggies took advantage of a major disparity at the free-throw line, knocking down 18 of 19 foul shots while UK hit four of seven. Kentucky (9-2, 2-1 SEC) was whistled for 20 fouls and A&M nine.
Rhyne Howard led UK with 22 points on 10-of-17 shooting but hit just one of five shots from the perimeter and one of four free throws. She added six rebounds and five assists.
Texas A&M Coach Gary Blair was thrilled with the job the Aggies did defending UK’s superstar.
“The difference on Howard was we simply tried to tire her out,” Blair said. “How many times (are) you gonna hold Howard to 22 and realize you did a great job defensively?
“That one three she hit (was an) unbelievable shot. That’s why she might be the best player in the country. I’m just trying to be the best particular team on the day that we play somebody.”
KeKe McKinney was the only other Wildcat to reach double-figure scoring with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting to go along with five rebounds. UK was beaten on the boards 35-26.
The Cats shot 46 percent from the field but went just 4-for-17 beyond the arc. A&M shot 48 percent and hit five of 11 from downtown. Jordan Nixon led the Aggies with 19 points, while 6-foot-4 center Ciera Johnson had 14 points and eight rebounds and made life miserable for UK’s post players underneath.
Dre’una Edwards has been among UK’s most valuable players this season but the sophomore forward had a tough night on Thursday. She finished with two points, no rebounds and six turnovers, including five traveling violations.
“She’s frustrated and disappointed,” Elzy said of Edwards’ mindset after the game. “As a coaching staff we’ll keep talking to her and give her confidence. We have 100 percent confidence in her ability on the court ... She’ll learn from this and be better.”
The Cats struck first when quickly after the Aggies won the tip Edwards came up with a steal and found McKinney for a three-pointer. Howard’s jumper made it 5-0 half a minute into the game.
But Nixon put A&M on her back early, scoring the Aggies’ first 11 points, punctuated by a three-pointer to give them an 11-9 lead. The teams exchanged blows throughout the first quarter, trading the lead five times. With five seconds to go, Chasity Patterson stole the ball and fired ahead to Jazmine Massengill who hit a layup at the buzzer to give UK a 21-18 lead.
The Cats led by as many as seven in the second quarter with Howard hitting an 18-foot jumper in the opening seconds to get things rolling. UK had a chance to open up a commanding advantage but was hamstrung by a slew of careless errors. The Cats turned over the ball nine times in the first half and 16 total.
The Aggies came out hot after halftime, hitting a pair of early three-pointers and pushing ahead 45-39 on a Ciera Johnson jumper. But UK reclaimed the advantage, 47-45, thanks to an 8-0 run that included three-pointers from Howard and McKinney.
Little went right for the Cats the rest of the period. Texas A&M closed on an 8-0 run and held the Cats scoreless the final 4:31 to take a 53-47 lead into the fourth.
Honors continue for Howard
On Thursday, Howard was one of 25 players named to the John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 Watch List, which tracks candidates vying to become national player of the year.
The Wooden Award All American Team will be announced the week of the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight. The winner will be named following the NCAA Tournament in April. Last season, Howard was named a Wooden Award All-American and was one of five finalists for the award.
Gamecocks game in limbo?
No. 5 South Carolina paused team activities and postponed its game with Georgia on Thursday night because of coronavirus protocols. The team announced that a combination of a positive coronavirus test, contact tracing and quarantine led them to halt things until further testing is done.
The Gamecocks are scheduled to play at No. 10 Kentucky on Sunday. As of late Thursday night, that game had not been postponed or canceled.
Sunday
No. 5 South Carolina at No. 10 Kentucky
When: 5 p.m.
TV: ESPN
Radio: WLAP AM-630
This story was originally published January 7, 2021 at 10:41 PM.
