UK women’s basketball might have found its identity during its trip to the Bahamas
The Kentucky women’s basketball team emerged from its two-game trip to the Bahamas for the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship with a 1-1 record, but the Wildcats might have found an identity while abroad.
In an eight-point loss to No. 11 Virginia Tech on Monday, Kentucky forced 20 turnovers and held a 29-14 advantage in points off turnovers.
A similar theme played out Wednesday night, when UK defeated Dayton 70-44.
The Wildcats forced the Flyers into 29 turnovers, and head coach Kyra Elzy’s team held a 28-9 advantage in points off turnovers.
For the Cats, now 5-1 overall on the season after Wednesday’s win over the winless Flyers (0-6), this defensive pressure and ability to translate turnovers into points could become a calling card as UK’s schedule increases in difficulty and SEC play arrives.
Wednesday marked the fourth time this season that UK has forced an opponent to commit at least 25 turnovers.
“We have to rely on our defense. That’s what this team is made of, that’s what this program is built around, defensive intensity,” Elzy said after the Dayton game. “It helps us generate offense.”
Four Kentucky players had multiple steals in Wednesday’s win over Dayton, led by four from junior guard Maddie Scherr, an offseason transfer from Oregon who also dished out a career-high 11 assists in Wednesday’s game.
Scherr tied a career-best with eight rebounds against the Flyers.
Graduate guard Robyn Benton led Kentucky in scoring against Dayton with 15 points, including two three-pointers. Benton has scored in double digits in all six UK games this season.
Of the 15 players on Kentucky’s roster, 13 appeared in the 26-point win.
The only ones who didn’t play were freshman post player Tionna Herron — who underwent open-heart surgery in August and continues to progress toward a return to basketball activities — and freshman guard Kennedy Cambridge.
Cambridge didn’t play in UK’s first two games of the season because of “personal reasons,” according to Elzy, but also hasn’t appeared for Kentucky in any of the four games since.
Shooting still a struggle for Kentucky
One of the reasons to focus on UK defensive strengths during the early part of the season is because the Wildcats are still struggling to shoot the ball consistently.
In the games against Virginia Tech and Dayton — both of which made the NCAA Tournament last season — Kentucky shot a combined 57-for-145 (39.3%) from the field and 8-for-30 (26.7%) from three-point range.
For the season, UK is shooting 42.1% from the field and 23.5% on three-pointers.
If shooting remains an issue for the Wildcats, or at least something that can’t be relied on consistently, it will only add importance to UK’s ability to turn up the defensive heat and force opponents into mistakes.
During a one-on-one interview with the Herald-Leader before the start of the season, Elzy specified two things when discussing her expectations for what Kentucky should look like to start the season: On-court intensity and transition offense.
“We have goals that we need to reach defensively that we go over every day,” Elzy said. “I never thought we played with that intensity level consistently last year. Now, when we did, we rattled off 10 in a row and won an SEC (tournament) championship. So looking for that type of intensity more consistently.”
To the transition offense point, Kentucky held a commanding 18-3 advantage in fast-break points Wednesday against Dayton.
That margin was 12-5 in favor of Virginia Tech on Monday.
Next game
UNC Greensboro at Kentucky
When: 1 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4
Online: SEC Network Plus
This story was originally published November 23, 2022 at 8:20 PM.
