UK women celebrate success, stress work still to be done as NCAA path is revealed
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Selection Sunday: Both UK teams headed to Indiana for NCAA Tournament
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Selection Sunday.
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For the 17th time in program history, the Kentucky women’s basketball team is going to the NCAA Tournament.
This fact was confirmed last weekend, when UK won the Southeastern Conference Tournament in stunning fashion with a 64-62 last-second win over No. 1 South Carolina.
From the moment Dre’una Edwards’ winning three-pointer went in, UK fans have been waiting to see how the NCAA Tournament selection committee would evaluate Kentucky, a team far outside of the postseason picture just one month ago, but that has ended the season with 10 straight wins.
Now, UK’s postseason path has been revealed.
Kentucky is a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will play No. 11 seed Princeton from the Ivy League in the Round of 64.
The game will be played Saturday in Bloomington, Indiana.
The winner of UK-Princeton will play the winner of No. 3 seed Indiana (the host school) and No. 14 seed Charlotte in the round of 32 on Monday.
When all of this was revealed Sunday night during the Selection Show — which aired on ESPN — the UK women’s basketball team was gathered together at Malone’s Prime in Lansdowne Shoppes in Lexington for a team watch party.
Seated in chairs in front of a projection of the television feed, the UK players and coaching staff erupted into cheers and applause when the Cats were revealed as a No. 6 seed.
The bracket reveal placed Kentucky into a Bloomington pod filled with familiarity.
UK played Princeton in the round of 64 in the 2019 NCAA Tournament, with both schools also seeded No. 6 and No. 11. Kentucky won that game, 82-77, before losing to North Carolina State in the round of 32.
Indiana and Kentucky played earlier this season on Nov. 14 in Bloomington, a game Indiana won convincingly, 88-67.
Even No. 14 seed Charlotte boasts plenty of story lines: Former UK players guard Kameron Roach and forward Keke McKinney are both now on the 49ers team.
Roach is a rotation player, while McKinney has started all 31 games for Charlotte this season, averages more than eight rebounds and two blocks per game and was named the Defensive Player of the Year in Conference USA.
“It will just add a lot of fun to the games, a lot more fun,” star senior guard Rhyne Howard said. “We played Princeton my freshman year, so just for it to come back full circle is like, ‘Wow.’”
But despite these swirling story lines, UK head coach Kyra Elzy didn’t discuss much beyond the Princeton game when speaking with media members after the watch party.
“It’s March Madness. It’s called, survive and advance,” Elzy said. “One game at a time, that will be our focus. So Princeton is the most important game on our schedule because they are next.”
Kentucky enters this year’s NCAA Tournament full of momentum, having won 10 straight games and four games in four days last week during the Cats’ run to the SEC Tournament title.
This recent form — which came after being 9-11 overall and 2-8 in SEC play — helped earn the Wildcats their No. 6 seed, according to comments made Sunday night by Nina King, the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee chair.
“Their run through the SEC Tournament, a very, extremely strong conference, they have been playing really well,” King said. “Seeding, we really focus on how a team is playing now.”
Despite this somewhat surprising love from the NCAA Tournament selection committee — most projections had Kentucky as a No. 7 seed — Howard said she still doesn’t feel UK is getting the respect it deserves.
“I still think that people don’t believe in us and believe what we can accomplish,” Howard said. “We’re only going to use it to motivate us more and just keep doing what we’re doing.”
What do Elzy and Howard think UK’s current form can do for a team in the NCAA Tournament?
“We are a hot team,” said Elzy, who won three SEC Tournament titles as a player at Tennessee. “What we did defensively in Nashville, that’s the type of defensive intensity that we need. The three ball, rhythm shots, I thought we shared the basketball.”
“I would say this year we have a lot more confidence in ourselves,” Howard added. “We’re having a lot more fun … we’re on a roll.”
While anything can and usually does happen during March Madness, it’s hard not to glance toward a potential round-of-32 meeting between Indiana and Kentucky.
The rematch of the November game would be a chance for revenge for the Wildcats. The two teams have played in each of the last two regular seasons, with the home team winning each time.
Howard oozed confidence when asked by the Herald-Leader about a potential postseason meeting between the Cats and Hoosiers.
“Oh, we are going to win. If we get there, we’re going to win,” Howard said. “It’s as simple as that.”
Kentucky’s tournament opener
No. 6 seed Kentucky vs. No. 11 seed Princeton
What: NCAA Tournament Bridgeport Regional.
When: About 4 p.m. Saturday.
Where: Bloomington, Ind.
TV: ESPN.
Records: Kentucky 19-11, Princeton 24-4.
ABOUT PRINCETON
Location: Princeton, N.J.
Enrollment: 5,267.
Nickname: Tigers.
School colors: Black and Princeton Orange.
Head coach: Carla Berube (50-5 in two seasons at Princeton and in Division I overall).
Conference: Ivy League.
NCAA berth: Automatic (Princeton won the Ivy League regular season and tournament championships).
All-time series: Kentucky leads 1-0. The Wildcats defeated the Tigers 82-77 on March 23, 2019, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Raleigh, N.C.
Common opponents with Kentucky this season: None.
Other notable games this season: Princeton played three teams in this year’s NCAA Tournament field this season — Villanova, Florida Gulf Coast and Texas. The Tigers won at Villanova 59-42 in their season opener on Nov. 10, won at Florida Gulf Coast 58-55 on Dec. 1 and lost to Texas 70-53 at home on Dec. 22. Princeton was supposed to play UCF on Dec. 29 but that game was canceled because of COVID-19.
This story was originally published March 14, 2022 at 8:00 AM.
