Three takeaways from No. 13 Kentucky’s women’s basketball win over North Alabama
For the second time in three days the No. 13-ranked Kentucky Wildcats overcame a sluggish first-half showing to eventually blow out an undersized non-conference opponent.
UK did on Thursday night to North Alabama what it did on Tuesday night to Presbyterian College, as this time the Wildcats outscored the Lions 36-20 in the third quarter on their way to a 98-56 victory inside Memorial Coliseum.
For the second time in as many games this season Kentucky was led in scoring by redshirt junior forward Dre’una Edwards, who finished with 27 points. Edwards had 20 points against Presbyterian.
Kentucky 98, North Alabama 56
The star: Kentucky’s Rhyne Howard scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, the first double-double of the season by a Wildcat.
The stats: Dre’una Edwards (27), Robyn Benton (14) and Jada Walker (13) also scored in double figures for UK. Edwards’ point tally was a team high.
The status: Kentucky improved to 2-0. North Alabama fell to 1-1.
Three Takeaways
1. ONCE AGAIN, UK STARTS SLOW.
Kentucky trailed for most of the first half during it’s season-opening win over Presbyterian on Tuesday night, not taking the lead until there was just 1:27 left in the first half against the Blue Hose.
UK led for almost all of the first half Thursday night against North Alabama, but it was again unconvincing from the Wildcats. Kentucky’s largest first-half lead against North Alabama was 10 points, but the margin was just four at halftime as the Wildcats led 35-31.
Kentucky made just six of its 19 second-quarter shot attempts and the home team was 2-of-7 from three-point range in the opening half.
“I thought early on we let our offense affect our defense again, so we really have to mature in that area,” head coach Kyra Elzy said. “We settled for quick shots, one pass, jack up a shot. So we weren’t letting the offense flow and taking what the defense gave us, but it also affected our defense.”
There were times when Elzy’s team looked sped up with its halfcourt offense, which was a concern of hers following the exhibition victory over NCAA Division II Lee University, and also times when Kentucky was unable to produce a quality shot against a significantly smaller North Alabama team.
“We know we’ve been basically playing around with these girls out here... we go into halftime and we’re like ‘Alright y’all, let’s just run them,’” senior guard Rhyne Howard said.
“We’re working on coming out hard and fast, it’s just a work in progress right now,” senior guard Robyn Benton said.
”Obviously we want to play extremely fast in transition offense, so we want to play 100 miles per hour,” Elzy added. “Then we want to play 100 miles per hour defensively, but when we get to the quarter-court we’re still playing 100 miles per hour instead of about 45 or 50.”
2. AND ONCE AGAIN, UK FINISHES STRONG.
The other side of UK’s opening two wins has been that the Wildcats have come out of the halftime break with energy and focus.
Against Presbyterian, UK went on a 19-0 run out of halftime to build a 20-point lead and put the game out of reach.
Against North Alabama, it wasn’t quite as dominant, but the 35-31 halftime lead held by Kentucky grew to 47-36 within three minutes of the restart and UK led by 20 points, 71-51, after three quarters.
“When we get four to five passes, when we play inside out, we get rhythm shots. Which is good for us and we can knock those down,” Elzy said.
Edwards made eight of her nine shots from the field and scored 17 of her team-high 27 points in the third quarter alone, and the Wildcats as a team made 15 of their 23 shots from the field in the period.
“My teammates just really fed me the ball and got me the ball when I was open on the post,” Edwards said. “I just went out there and did what I was supposed to do.”
“She’s fit, so that gives her a longer time on the floor (to) be able to play through fatigue, which was a struggle for her last year,” Elzy said. “But also she’s slowed down offensively. She’s actually seeing the rim, taking her time, making the right moves.”
Howard secured her double-double in the fourth quarter. She now has 18 double-doubles in her illustrious Kentucky career.
North Alabama scored just five points in the fourth quarter.
3. WILDCATS MAKE CHANGE TO STARTING LINEUP.
It’s two games into the 2021-22 season, and Kentucky has both two wins and two different starting lineups to its name.
To begin Tuesday’s home win over Presbyterian, UK went with the same lineup that began its exhibition win over Lee University: Guards Jazmine Massengill, Emma King, Rhyne Howard, forward Dre’una Edwards and center Olivia Owens.
But the lineup that began Thursday’s game against North Alabama was the same unit that started the second half against Presbyterian, and helped spark a 19-0 run that put that game out of reach: Massengill, Howard and Edwards remained, but were joined by guards Robyn Benton and Treasure Hunt.
This was Benton’s first start of her Kentucky career, after she previously played two seasons at Auburn.
Benton rewarded the decision by scoring 14 points on 50% shooting from the field and not committing any turnovers in a team-high 35 minutes of game action.
“It felt good, like James Brown good,” Benton said of her performance, referencing the American funk music pioneer.
“Once Robyn gets hot, it doesn’t stop,” Edwards added.
“I thought she was consistent, she was steady, she was aggressive offensively. I liked her shot selection,” Elzy said of Benton. “She was driving to the rim, finishing. Also on the defensive end she brought the energy that I was looking for.”
Despite having only eight scholarship players currently available, the lineup reflected the versatility with which Kentucky can still play.
Owens offers a more traditional frontcourt presence around the rim, and the hope is that King can offer a three-point shooting threat.
Hunt can play in the post as an oversized guard, and Benton’s ability to knife through defenses and knock down midrange shots gives Kentucky another player in the starting lineup with the ability to drive into the paint.
Of course, the thing about lineups is that they can be changed.
All eight scholarship players for UK played at least 14 minutes on Thursday night.
Up next
UK finishes a stretch of three games in six days with a marquee road non-conference game at No. 8 Indiana of the Big Ten Conference on Sunday (5 p.m., ESPN). The Hoosiers are 1-0, having opened the regular season with a road win at Butler, 86-63, on Wednesday night.
This story was originally published November 11, 2021 at 9:04 PM.
