‘We are never scared.’ UK women still confident in ability to beat nation’s best teams.
In the underbelly of the KFC Yum Center, sitting in front of a black curtain and just minutes removed from a close, emotional loss to Kentucky’s most bitter rival for the fifth straight time, Dre’una Edwards exuded confidence.
UK had just lost consecutive games for the first time this season and Sunday’s six-point defeat at Louisville showcased several of Kentucky’s best and worst qualities as a basketball team: An offense that can turn stagnant with ball control that can be sloppy, a defense that can be resolute and a cast of players who can all contribute.
But after a 64-58 defeat that dropped Kentucky to 6-3 on the season, Edwards was steadfast in the belief that this Wildcats team has grown in the last month.
“I’m going to bet on us every time, and I’m not just saying that because I’m a Kentucky player,” Edwards said. “I’m saying that because I know we’ve got dogs and we always got fight in us and regardless of the situation, regardless of how much we’re down, regardless of who we’re playing, we always bring that fight mentality. We are never scared to go against anybody.”
Kentucky is 1-3 this season in games against teams who are currently projected by ESPN’s Charlie Creme as NCAA Tournament teams.
First came a 21-point road loss at Indiana in UK’s third game of the season, which was UK’s worst team performance of the season to date. What followed was a course correction with a 23-point home win over West Virginia that showcased the best of Kentucky’s versatility on offense and controlled chaos on defense.
Thursday’s nine-point loss at home to DePaul featured the worst defensive performance of the Kyra Elzy era at Kentucky, but the result comes with an asterisk as Edwards missed the game while serving a one-game team suspension.
Which brings us to Sunday in Louisville, where UK committed a season-high 21 turnovers, hardly scored in the third quarter and got just nine points from star guard Rhyne Howard, and still led Louisville with less than three minutes remaining in the game.
“We’re dogs and we’re going to continue to fight. We’re not going to lay down for nobody and I think we did that today and we showed the crowd that,” said Edwards, who recorded her fourth straight double-double Sunday with 14 points and 14 rebounds in front of more than 12,000 fans, mostly clad in red.
Kentucky has just two games left until Southeastern Conference play begins at Auburn on Dec. 30. Those contests — Friday night against Morgan State and Sunday afternoon against South Carolina Upstate — won’t add anything to UK’s non-conference résumé, unless a shock UK loss were to occur.
This means UK’s body of work is basically complete in out-of-conference play. While the tangible win-loss results aren’t great, the Wildcats are hoping the progress made along the way will pay dividends during a 16-game SEC schedule.
There was the emergence of freshman guard Jada Walker, who quickly became a trusted part of the UK rotation thanks to her explosive drives to the rim, tenacity on defense and overall speed.
Senior guard Robyn Benton has found her scoring touch, with eight games of double-figures scoring and a 13.2 points per game average for the season, living up to the preseason expectations placed on her by Elzy.
Sophomore guard Treasure Hunt has stepped up to the challenge of playing in the post as an oversized guard to help with UK’s lack of frontcourt depth, while also being a scoring threat. Her 2-for-18 conversion rate from three-point range will need to improve, though.
Meanwhile, Edwards and Howard continue to lead UK in rebounding and scoring, often providing the Wildcats with timely buckets and possessions.
Then, there are the elements of this UK squad that will need to significantly improve as UK plays in what Elzy calls “the toughest conference.”
UK is making just 62.6% of its foul shots, and Hunt — the player with the second-most free-throw attempts on the team with 46 — is shooting just 47.8% from the line.
Seven players dominate the UK rotation right now, and neither junior guard Emma King nor sophomore forward Nyah Leveretter played in the Louisville game. Leveretter missed the first five games of the season with a non-COVID illness.
In Kentucky’s four high-major games this season, the Wildcats have had five scoring droughts of three minutes or longer, including twice Sunday at Louisville.
“I think we took a big step forward today,” Elzy said Sunday. “There’s no moral victories, not the outcome we wanted. We came here to win, so very disappointed that we didn’t. But when you look at our Indiana game to this game we’ve taken big steps forward and this team is going to be OK.”
“We showed today that we can compete,” Elzy continued. “We came to compete and we’re going to be in a lot of big games, that’s part of it.”
When Selection Sunday rolls around March 13, Kentucky’s non-conference résumé will hardly be eye-catching, and in fact it may hurt the Wildcats in the selection committee’s eyes.
But Elzy and her team are confident that the learning experience from these games in November and December will pay dividends come the spring.
“You can definitely see our progress from the Indiana game,” Edwards said. “We keep progressing and keep growing. The more we practice and the more we work we’re just going to keep getting better. So I’m excited, I think we’re in a good spot.”
Next game
Morgan State at No. 19 Kentucky
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Live video broadcast: SEC Network Plus (online only)
This story was originally published December 13, 2021 at 7:58 AM.
