Three takeaways from No. 19 Kentucky women’s basketball’s win against USC Upstate
After Friday’s home game was postponed due to COVID-19 issues in the Morgan State program, the Kentucky women’s basketball team had just one opportunity to snap a two-game losing streak before starting Southeastern Conference play on Dec. 30.
Kentucky made no mistake on Sunday afternoon, defeating South Carolina Upstate 67-44 inside Memorial Coliseum.
The victory was achieved after a disastrous first-quarter offensive showing from the Wildcats, who were down a starter as senior guard Robyn Benton was out with an ankle injury. Benton is day-to-day with the injury.
Head coach Kyra Elzy chose to start Jada Walker in Benton’s place, just as she did when forward Dre’una Edwards was suspended against DePaul on Dec. 9. Walker recorded 13 points in the second start of her college career.
Kentucky 67, South Carolina Upstate 44
The star: Rhyne Howard scored 13 points in the third quarter, all during an 18-0 scoring run for UK that helped decide the game. Howard finished the game with a team-high 22 points.
The stats: Also scoring in double figures for Kentucky were Walker (13), Jazmine Massengill (11) and Edwards (11 points and 12 rebounds).
The status: Kentucky improved to 7-3. South Carolina Upstate fell to 8-3.
Three takeaways
1. KENTUCKY SNAPS LOSING STREAK.
The most basic goal of Sunday’s non-conference finale against South Carolina Upstate was for Kentucky to get back in the win column.
The Wildcats entered Sunday’s game having lost consecutive games for the first time this season, at home against DePaul and at No. 7 Louisville.
While it wasn’t pretty — particularly in the first half — against South Carolina Upstate, UK avoided the first three-game losing streak of the Elzy era and will enter SEC play on a winning note.
UK is now 14-4 in regular season non-conference games under Elzy.
2. UK GOT THE WIN AFTER ANOTHER SLOW START.
Slow starts have become commonplace for the Kentucky women’s basketball team this season.
After a week off, Kentucky came out incredibly slow on offense and trailed the Spartans, 14-5, after the first quarter.
UK made just two shots from the field in the first quarter and missed all six of its three-point shots in that frame.
“I thought we took some quick shots offensively, did not get in rhythm and just didn’t have the intensity that we needed defensively,” Elzy said. “But I thought we turned it on in the second quarter and that was more of the Kentucky team that I was looking for.”
Kentucky didn’t take the lead until there was 2:58 left in the first half. This continued a pattern of slow offensive starts, as the Wildcats have trailed after the first quarter to the likes of Presbyterian, West Virginia, DePaul, Louisville and now South Carolina Upstate so far this season.
But the Wildcats were able to course correct in the second and third quarters on their way to a win.
UK outscored South Carolina Upstate 49-16 across the middle 20 minutes of Sunday’s game, with an 18-0 scoring run in the third quarter being the standout moment.
“As a coach you never want to start slow. The first four minutes are very important to the game, but sometimes it does happen and you have to play through it,” Elzy said. “In the second and third quarter I thought intensity-wise that was more of what we were looking for. But we have to be better, and we have to get off to a better start on both sides of the basketball.”
Kentucky forced 27 South Carolina Upstate turnovers in Sunday’s game, and the 44 points allowed by Kentucky were the second-lowest total of the Elzy era.
3. WHILE RHYNE HOWARD PLAYED, HER PRO FUTURE MIGHT HAVE BEEN DETERMINED.
During Kentucky’s game, the WNBA held its lottery for the 2022 draft, which will be held in April.
Howard, a senior guard, is a candidate to be the No. 1 pick.
The Washington Mystics won the draft lottery, with the Indiana Fever getting the No. 2 pick, followed by the Atlanta Dream and the Dallas Wings.
The remaining order for the first round of the draft is the New York Liberty (No. 5), Chicago Sky (No. 6), Dallas (No. 7), Minnesota Lynx (No. 8), Seattle Storm (No. 9), Indiana (No. 10), Las Vegas Aces (No. 11) and Connecticut Sun (No. 12).
Representatives from both the Fever and the Sun were in attendance to watch Kentucky’s game at Louisville last weekend.
Howard broke out of a mini-slump during Sunday’s game, finishing with 22 points on 8-for-18 shooting from the field after a slow start in which she missed all five of her first-quarter shots.
Up next
Kentucky had a week off following the Louisville game, and now the Wildcats will get even more rest before starting SEC play. Kentucky won’t open conference action until Dec. 30 on the road at Auburn. It will be just the third road game of the season for UK, and the Wildcats lost both of their previous road contests at No. 10 Indiana and No. 7 Louisville. Auburn is currently 7-3 on the season and has a five-game winning streak. Auburn will play Kennesaw State on Monday afternoon, then get a break before facing UK.
Next game
No. 19 Kentucky at Auburn
When: 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 30
TV: None (online via SEC Plus)
This story was originally published December 19, 2021 at 4:05 PM.
