Kentucky women’s basketball reveals schedule for upcoming season
The road map for one of the most highly anticipated Kentucky women’s basketball seasons in recent history was officially unveiled Wednesday afternoon.
The Wildcats announced their entire Southeastern Conference schedule as well as non-conference matchups Wednesday, about two months ahead of Kyra Elzy’s second season as head coach.
Wednesday’s schedule announcement came in addition to the previously announced resumption of Kentucky’s intra-state rivalry series with Louisville, which is scheduled for Dec. 12 at Louisville as part of the Women’s Jimmy V Classic.
In the SEC this season, Kentucky will play home games against Mississippi State, Georgia, Florida, Ole Miss and Texas A&M, and road games against Tennessee, LSU, Alabama, Arkansas and Missouri.
Both home and road games will be played against Auburn, South Carolina and Vanderbilt to complete a 16-game conference schedule.
Among the highlights of the non-conference games announced Wednesday are matchups at Indiana and at home against West Virginia.
The game at Indiana will be Nov. 14 and will serve as Indiana’s home opener at Assembly Hall.
The game against West Virginia, scheduled for Dec. 1, features a similar opponent to Kentucky in that West Virginia was also a No. 4 seed in last season’s NCAA Tournament before losing in the second round.
The Wildcats will play one exhibition game prior to the regular season, at home against Lee University, a Division II school from Cleveland, Tennessee, on Nov. 4.
Kentucky’s season opener, and also its home opener, will be against Presbyterian on Nov. 9, and the Wildcats begin conference play Dec. 30 at Auburn.
Big Blue Madness will again serve as a formal introduction of the men’s and women’s UK basketball teams along with basketball-themed entertainment. It is scheduled for Oct. 15 at 7 p.m.
“We have a solid slate in place that will challenge our team from start to finish,” Elzy said. “I’m proud of the hard work that our team has put in this summer. That strong work ethic has transitioned into preseason practice as well.”
Kentucky finished last season 18-9 overall, 9-6 in conference play and with a trip to the NCAA Tournament second round, in a season affected by both the coronavirus pandemic and the abrupt departure of former head coach Matthew Mitchell just two weeks before the season began.
It was a frenetic start to life as a head coach for Elzy, who told the Herald-Leader in July that last season she was “baptized by fire.”
“There are some things that you just do not know until you sit in that seat,” Elzy said of her debut as a head coach. “I had been in the business for 18 seasons, so a lot of it was going off gut instinct, a lot of it was going off experiences as an assistant coach at different schools. Some of it was, ‘OK, here you are, this is your time and you have the final decision.’
“Some things I got right, and some things I did not, and you have to be able to evaluate those things, honestly, and learn from them.”
Team cohesion has been an offseason focus for the Wildcats, who lose four players from last season’s team, including three end-of-season starters in guard Chasity Patterson, an SEC All-Defensive Team selection in 2021, and forwards KeKe McKinney and Tatyana Wyatt.
The Wildcats only brought in one new player this offseason: Freshman guard Jada Walker.
Kentucky is holding open tryouts Sept. 13 for any full-time female students at UK interested in joining the team, although the tryouts are not related to a lack of players.
The linchpin to Kentucky’s success, as it has been for the last three seasons, remains senior Rhyne Howard, a two-time SEC Player of the Year who averaged 20.7 points per game and 7.3 rebounds per game in 24 games last season.
Howard told the Herald-Leader in July that this season’s UK team has already shown an improved ability to trust each other on the court.
“Listening to each other and listening to what we have to say, and taking it better than last year and knowing how to handle it and going out and actually utilizing what somebody said to you and doing it on the court,” Howard said.
Elzy also made several adjustments to her coaching staff this offseason.
Niya Butts is now the associate head coach, former UK player and assistant coach Amber Smith now serves as the recruiting coordinator for the program, Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame member Gail Goestenkors joined Kentucky as an assistant coach and Lee Taylor is the program’s new strength and conditioning coach.
2021-22 Kentucky women’s basketball schedule
(Home games in all capital letters)
Oct. 15: 1-BIG BLUE MADNESS, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
Nov. 4: x-LEE UNIVERSITY, 7 p.m. (TBA)
Nov. 9: PRESBYTERIAN, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Nov. 11: NORTH ALABAMA, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Nov. 14: At Indiana, 5 p.m. (ESPN)
Nov. 21: WINTHROP, 2 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Nov. 27: LA SALLE, 8:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Dec. 1: 2-WEST VIRGINIA, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Dec. 5: MERRIMACK, 2 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Dec. 9: 1-DEPAUL, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
Dec. 12: 3-At Louisville, 1 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 17: MORGAN STATE, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Dec. 19: USC UPSTATE, 2 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Dec. 30: At Auburn, 8 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Jan. 3: MISSISSIPPI STATE, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
Jan. 6: GEORGIA, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Jan. 9: At South Carolina, 1 p.m. (ESPN)
Jan. 16: At Tennessee, TBA
Jan. 20: FLORIDA, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
Jan. 23: 1-OLE MISS, Noon (SEC Network)
Jan. 27: At Vanderbilt, 8 p.m. (TBA)
Jan. 30: At LSU, 2 p.m. (SEC Network)
Feb. 6: TEXAS A&M, Noon (ESPN2)
Feb. 10: SOUTH CAROLINA, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Feb. 13: At Alabama, 2 p.m. (SEC Network)
Feb. 17: VANDERBILT, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Feb. 20: At Arkansas, 2 p.m. (SEC Network)
Feb. 24: At Missouri, 8 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Feb. 27: AUBURN, 4 p.m. (SEC Network)
Mar. 2-6: 4-SEC Tournament
1-At Rupp Arena; 2-SEC-Big 12 Challenge; 3-Jimmy V Classic; 4-At Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.; x-Exhibition game.
This story was originally published September 8, 2021 at 1:39 PM.
