‘Locked in.’ Eniya Russell lifts Kentucky women’s basketball over Florida in ‘Alumni Game’
Eniya Russell stepped up to the free-throw line with 40 seconds to play in the Kentucky women’s basketball team’s 81-77 home victory against Florida on Sunday afternoon as the program celebrated its 50th anniversary with an “Alumni Game.”
Thanks to a fourth-quarter surge spearheaded by Russell herself, the Wildcats (10-16, 3-9 SEC) had come back from as many as seven down to overtake the Gators with less than three minutes left. Russell, who up to that point was 4-for-4 from the free-throw line and had already scored 21 points was the perfect candidate to add to UK’s 76-73 lead and ice the game.
But Russell missed the first attempt. And the second. Ajae Petty rebounded the miss to save the possession and swung the ball back to her childhood teammate, and Florida (13-11, 4-8 SEC) sent Russell to the line once more. She made one of two.
“Once I missed the first two, Petty got the rebound, threw it up and I grabbed it again,” Russell said. “I missed the third one and I made (the following), and I just looked at Coach (Kyra) Elzy and she was telling me like, ‘You make them all the time.’ So in practice, we practice free throws. Before we leave out the gym, we got to make 150 every day. So just going up to the line, just believing in myself. Staying confident, just letting the misses go and keep shooting.”
Russell’s successful fourth attempt gave the Wildcats a 77-73 advantage, which was quickly sliced in half with an easy layup from Florida senior guard Zippy Broughton, who was the Gators’ leading scorer on the day with 18 points.
Elzy called her second-to-last timeout with 26 seconds to play, and Florida senior guard Leilani Correa sent — who else — Russell to the free throw-line almost immediately after play resumed.
This time Russell paused and sank them both, returning the Wildcats’ lead to two possessions.
“Once the game come to me,” Russell said, “I just, I don’t know, I just be dialed in, you know, locked in. I always could do it, so y’all just seeing it now. So it’s just natural. I just gotta let the game come to me defensively, and then my offense be flowing in.”
The final 15 seconds (of a game with 52 personal fouls called and three players fouling out) lasted several minutes but was won on the back of two free throws — on two separate trips — made by point guard Brooklynn Miles.
The final play of the game? Russell blocked a last-ditch 3-point effort from Correa. Rupp Arena, packed with a UK Athletics-reported 4,692 fans, erupted as Kentucky snapped its six-game losing streak and secured a much-needed victory that was also in front of more than 90 women’s basketball alumni, according to UK.
Russell led all players in scoring with a career-high 24 points, five rebounds, three assists, one block and two steals in 24 minutes of playing time off the bench.
“She had a great game,” Elzy said. “And that’s what we expect and need from her all the time, but I thought she was really steady. Didn’t get too high, didn’t get too low. I thought, you know, her ability to finish in the paint on balance, she is a mismatch problem when she does that, but thought she was solid all day. … That’s a great day of work, and now I told her, ‘Don’t tease us, we expect that all the time.’ But I thought she was great today.”
Three other Wildcats joined Russell in double figures in scoring. Maddie Scherr contributed 14 points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal prior to fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Amiya Jenkins scored 10 points and added seven rebounds and one assist. Petty finished with her 14th double-double of the season — 10 points and 11 rebounds plus one assist.
Following a disappointing loss at Auburn on Thursday where the Wildcats struggled to reach 50 points and contain a Tigers offense led by three players in double figures, Russell said the difficult practices since prepared the Wildcats to handle the adversity sure to come their way. Especially in the third quarter, where Florida responded to a 36-34 halftime deficit with a series of scoring runs in an attempt to put away the home team. But, each time, UK answered with momentum of its own.
“It was just about who wanted it more,” Russell said. “And I think we obviously wanted more. And our grit and physicality showed up today. It’s been showing up in practice against our practice guys. They’re very hard to guard. So it’s hard in practice, but it’s fun in the game. So we had a lot of fun today. It’s fun watching it from the bench, it’s fun experiencing it first-person, firsthand.”
With their victory on Sunday, Kentucky surpassed its 2022-23 SEC win total (two), and avoided tying the longest losing streak under Elzy (seven games).
Former Wildcats return as Gators
From early program pioneers like Ann French Thomas and Carol Hartlage to 1982 SEC Tournament champions Patty Jo Hedges-Ward, Valerie Still and Lea Wise Prewitt to modern icons Selia “SeSe” Hammond (Helm), Makayla Epps and Blair Green, each generation of Wildcats was proudly represented and honored through on-court recognitions over the course of the Alumni Game.
One of the beloved present alumni, however, just so happened to be wearing orange and blue. Rhyne Howard, second on the program’s all-time points list and UK’s only first overall pick in the WNBA draft and WNBA Rookie of the Year (2021). She arrived in Lexington with the Florida Gators as a first-year assistant coach and director of player personnel. And, when UK honored its alumni from 2000-present, Howard checked with Florida head coach Kelly Rae Finley before running over to join the group of Wildcats with a smile on her face. She wore Kentucky blue and white sneakers that said “RHY BALL” and “10” on the sides.
Sunday’s game not only marked Howard’s first time facing her former team since she left, but also former director of player development Daniel Boice’s, who swapped Lexington for Gainesville this offseason after seven seasons with the same title at UK.
“Both Dan and Ryan are tremendous assets to our program,” Finley said. “When you’re looking to surround your student-athletes with people who can inspire and challenge them, and are living exactly what their dreams are, it’s a good opportunity as a head coach. And so, when we found out that Rhyne was interested in potentially getting into coaching, it was just a no-brainer. And then Dan is somebody we had known for quite some time. And just his character, his work ethic, his knowledge for the game most definitely makes our program better.”
Elzy joked about Howard having a remaining year of eligibility and said she offered the young assistant the opportunity to suit up again ahead of the matchup.
“Rhyne Howard, obviously on the other bench,” Elzy said. “When I went down for pregame I said, ‘Now Rhy, you still have a COVID year. If you would like to use it, I would allow that and you don’t even have to practice!’ I said we’ll just take you on game day.”
‘Prideful for the program’
Elzy, an Oldham County native who served as an assistant coach at UK from 2008-12 and 2016-20, said the chance to celebrate all the cherished program alumni presented an opportunity for her team to “come in and play with pride.”
“Pride for the program,” Elzy said. “Pride for the state. Pride for yourself and pride for the alumni.”
And, after earning their first win since Jan. 21 against Missouri, Elzy said her players have plenty to be proud of, whether it be winning the battle of the boards by 12, forcing 15 turnovers or capitalizing at the free-throw line (22-for-33).
“They are super excited, and they need to be,” Elzy said. “They earned this one. It’s hard to win in this league. And we talk about wanting to win and doing the things it takes to win, and today we did the things that it takes to win. Rebounds, defensive stops, hustle plays, free throws, layups, we did those things, and we knew we had to have them. We were in desperate need of a win, and so we’re going to celebrate this one all day, hard-fought, and enjoy it.”
Next game
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday
TV: SEC Network+ (online only)
Radio: WLAP-AM 630
Records: Kentucky 10-16 (3-9 SEC), Mississippi State 20-7 (7-5)
Series: Kentucky leads 31-24
Last meeting: Mississippi State won 77-74 in overtime on Feb. 1 at Rupp Arena.
This story was originally published February 18, 2024 at 7:33 PM.
