‘This is motivation.’ Howard piles up points but slow start dooms UK in SEC tourney.
The University of Kentucky women’s basketball team’s first foray into the 2021 postseason came to a rough end on Friday.
The fifth-seeded Wildcats could not recover from a brutal offensive start and were beaten by No. 4 Georgia 78-66 in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C.
Now, the Wildcats await their NCAA Tournament draw when the field is revealed Monday, March 15, at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
Kentucky (17-8) scored just 20 points in the first half and trailed by 15 at halftime. The Wildcats twice pulled within nine points in the fourth quarter but got no closer. A three-pointer from Georgia’s Que Morrison with five minutes to go made it 67-53 Bulldogs.
Rhyne Howard had another huge game for the Wildcats, scoring 33 points on 13-for-24 shooting and grabbing five rebounds.
Howard and Treasure Hunt combined to go 7-for-11 from the field in the first half. The rest of the team went 1-for-17. Georgia (19-5) held UK to 29 percent shooting and forced the Cats into three scoring droughts of more than two and a half minutes before halftime.
“We dug ourselves a hole early in the first quarter and then they just stayed on our necks,” Howard said. “This is motivation. We knew that we were good enough to win this game and we should have won this game, in my opinion. We know we’re a better team than what we showed today so we’re gonna prove it next time we step on the court.”
Georgia center Jenna Staiti was dominant down low, scoring 20 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. She hit 10 of 11 free throws. Maya Caldwell had 20 points and six boards in the win.
Georgia’s pressure defense suffocated the Wildcats in the first half. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 15-2 lead before Howard got on the board with a driving layup followed by a three-pointer to pull UK within 15-7. A late three from Hunt made it 17-10 Georgia after one quarter.
Georgia’s Caldwell scored seven points in the second quarter as the Bulldogs built a 35-20 halftime lead. Howard scored 12 points in the first half on 5-for-8 shooting. Hunt scored six first-half points on a pair of three-pointers. Dre’una Edwards was the only other Wildcat to score in the first half, hitting one of four shots for two points.
“I thought Georgia started off extremely aggressive with us, made us play faster than we wanted,” UK Coach Kyra Elzy said. “I thought we settled for some quick outside shots early instead of playing downhill, so we were one shot and out.”
In UK’s 62-58 win over Georgia in Athens on Feb. 25 the Wildcats tied the Bulldogs on rebounds and points in the paint. In the first half Friday, Georgia outrebounded the Cats 24-15 and outscored them in the paint 16-8. UK fared better in the second half but went on to lose the rebound battle 40-32 and score 28 points in the paint to 32 for Georgia.
The Cats came out of the locker room looking like a different team. Jazmine Massengill converted a layup early then knocked down a jumper following a steal by Howard. UK opened the second half on a 9-1 run, pulling within 36-29 on a Chasity Patterson three followed by a layup from Tatyana Wyatt. But the Bulldogs responded with a 7-0 run that included another three from Caldwell to push ahead by 14.
Patterson heated up early in the second half. She scored all 11 of her points in the third quarter, including a pair of threes. After scoring 10 points in each of the first two quarters, UK scored 27 in the third and headed into the fourth trailing 58-47.
“I thought we clawed our way back in the third quarter but at the end of the day, we just couldn’t get some crucial stops to get over the hump,” Elzy said.
“We’ll go back and watch this game film, learn from it and see what adjustments we need to make as a coaching staff. We still do have the NCAA Tournament, so right now we’ll focus on Kentucky. Go back and fine-tune some things offensively and clean up what we need to clean up defensively as well.”
Aggies roll into semis
In Friday’s first quarterfinals matchup No. 1 seed Texas A&M avenged its only loss of the season by rolling past No. 8 LSU 77-58. Five Aggies scored in double figures, led by senior guard Kayla Wells who made four of nine shots from the field for 16 points. Alexis Morris scored 13 points while N’dea Jones, Jordan Nixon and Ciera Johnson each had 12.
Texas A&M outrebounded LSU 44-34 and forced 15 turnovers. The Tigers beat the Aggies 65-61 in overtime on Jan. 14. The Aggies have won 10 straight since.
Texas A&M will meet Georgia in Saturday’s first semifinal at 4 p.m.
Second-round rewind
In Thursday’s second-round night session seventh-seeded Alabama knocked off Missouri 82-74 behind 22 points and 10 rebounds from Ariyah Copeland. Alabama was scheduled to meet No. 2 South Carolina in the first game of Friday’s night session.
11th-seeded Mississippi pulled off the first upset of the tournament in Thursday’s final game, dropping sixth-seeded Arkansas 69-60 thanks to a 29-point, 13-rebound effort from forward Shakira Austin. The Rebels held the Razorbacks to 32 percent shooting.
Ole Miss was scheduled to face No. 3 Tennessee in Friday’s late game.
SEC Tournament
When: Through Sunday
Where: Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C.
TV: ESPNU (Saturday’s semifinals); ESPN2 (Sunday’s finals)
SEC Tournament results, schedule
Wednesday
No. 12 Florida 69, No. 13 Auburn 62
Thursday
No. 8 LSU 71, No. 9 Mississippi State 62
No. 5 Kentucky 73, No. 12 Florida 64
No. 7 Alabama 82, No. 10 Missouri 74
No. 11 Mississippi 69, No. 6 Arkansas 60
Friday
No. 1 Texas A&M 77, No. 8 LSU 58
No. 4 Georgia 78, No. 5 Kentucky 66
No. 2 South Carolina vs. No. 7 Alabama, (n)
No. 3 Tennessee vs. No. 11 Mississippi, (n)
Saturday
4 p.m.: No. 1 Texas A&M vs. No. 4 Georgia
About 6:30 p.m.: No. 2 South Carolina or No. 7 Alabama vs. No. 3 Tennessee or No. 11 Mississippi
Sunday
2 p.m.: Championship game
This story was originally published March 5, 2021 at 3:50 PM.
