‘Stop after stop.’ UK women’s basketball ends game on 19-0 run to overtake Mississippi St.
Before Kentucky’s redemptive women’s basketball win at Mississippi State on Thursday night, head coach Kyra Elzy reminded her players that the UK team playing on Feb. 22 was not the same one that lost to the Bulldogs in overtime on Feb. 1.
“We’ve grown up a lot,” Elzy said. “And I told them coming in, ‘We are a better team than we were when we played them the first time.’ And it is a game of runs, and you have to stay level-headed, but what I like about this team tonight, they were locked in, everybody was in-tune on the bench what we needed to do defensively, what we were going to do offensively, so everything was clicking. That’s what we needed.”
In a “game of runs,” Kentucky delivered the most impressive and, ultimately, decisive one, scoring 22 of the game’s final 24 points to secure a 78-68 win in Starkville.
The victory was the second in a row for Kentucky (11-16, 4-9 SEC) following Sunday’s uplifting win over Florida on the day the program was celebrating its 50th anniversary. The defeat dealt a blow to the postseason hopes of Mississippi State (20-8, 7-6 SEC).
Kentucky’s 77-74 overtime loss at home to the Bulldogs earlier this month boiled down to executing in the final moments. The Wildcats made a late push to take Mississippi State to overtime, but couldn’t hold on for the win.
However, on Thursday, UK didn’t allow Mississippi State the opportunity to get close with the game on the line.
For the second time this season, the Wildcats struggled to stop 6-foot-5 graduate center Jessika Carter, who finished with 20 points, 20 rebounds, four blocks and two steals, and three other Bulldogs scored in double figures — Erynn Barnum (13), Lauren Park-Lane (13) and Jerkaila Jordan (10) — but Kentucky held firm in its defensive effort, and didn’t allow the Bulldogs to score a single point in the final 6 minutes and 5 seconds of the game.
“We just talked about defensively, we needed to stay locked in,” Elzy said. “Everybody get in, rebound the basketball, let’s rebound and run. We needed to play downhill. We just talked about if we had numbers, let’s attack, if we don’t, pull it out. We can get good shots. I thought we played team basketball, but just so proud of our defensive effort to get stop after stop against a really tough Mississippi State team.”
Kentucky outscored the Bulldogs 24-5 in the fourth quarter, limiting Mississippi State to 2-of-10 shooting and making eight steals.
The teams traded scoring runs the entire game, with both programs assembling — and losing — nine-point leads through three quarters. But, after a lopsided third period in which Mississippi State outscored Kentucky 29-19, the Wildcats trailed by 10 with 8 minutes and 34 seconds to play in the game.
Mississippi State head coach Sam Purcell said his team understands that any team in the SEC can win on any given night, and that his players came out prepared to fight.
“To win the second quarter 12-8, they were dialed in,” Purcell said. “And then we come out in the third quarter and put 29 to their 19. So my kids are fighting, they understand and then unfortunately, I just think it was turnovers there in the fourth quarter that got the best of us. They were aware that you know, Florida, Kentucky beat Florida. I think you were looking at a Kentucky team who’s coming hot right now. They’ve got great athletes, they got four guards on the floor.”
On the night, the Wildcats forced 17 turnovers, converting those into 17 points. UK also — for the second game in a row — won the rebounding battle, grabbing 40 to the Bulldogs’ 38.
“People committed to the defensive boards,” Elzy said. “And it was gonna be a team effort. I joked with the guards during the starting lineups, I was like, ‘guards, I need you all to join the party. (Ajae) Petty’s, the leader of the party, you all join the rebounding party,’ and so they were laughing about that, but it takes a team effort. It’s not like we have four 6-5 players. It’s everybody, and we got to get in there and battle, and we did.”
With this victory, Kentucky doubled its 2022-23 SEC win total (two) and earned its first true road win since Jan. 15, 2023, against Florida.
Saniah Tyler’s career night
Kentucky ended the first quarter with a five-point lead (and a season-high 27 first-quarter points), thanks, in part, to sophomore guard Saniah Tyler’s 4-for-4 shooting from beyond the three-point arc. Tyler led all players with a career-high-tying 22 points on 7-of-10 from the field, including a career-best 6-of-8 from long range.
“So proud of Saniah,” Elzy said. “Yes, she has been struggling but the thing about her, even on off days she’s in the gym shooting. She can shoot the basketball. She is a three-level scorer, but it’s good when she sees the ball go in the net. And when that first one went in, I was like, ‘It’s gonna be a good day for her.’ And she stayed confident, for the duration and we needed every one of them.”
Tyler, the team’s leading three-point shooter on meaningful attempts at 32.4% on the season, has now recorded 13 double-figure efforts during her sophomore campaign, and 10 games this season making at least three three-pointers.
Purcell said Tyler’s 22 points were the difference.
“In a game like this in the SEC,” Purcell said. “For Tyler to go for 22, I thought was the difference in the game. That’s a kid who doesn’t normally shoot the three as well. And tonight, we got their best punch.”
Tyler said in her postgame radio interview that her mindset was all about confidence.
“Just stay confident, stay confident,” said Tyler, who is averaging 9.7 points per game. “I’m always in the gym working on my game, so, you know, it was just time to shine for my team.”
Three Wildcats joined Tyler in double figures. Eniya Russell tacked on 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists, one block and three steals. Maddie Scherr contributed 11 points, six rebounds, seven assists and two steals. Petty recorded her 15th double-double of the season with 20 points and 12 rebounds, her third straight double-double.
Elzy praised Petty’s consistent, steady play in the win.
“I thought she was just solid, she stayed steady,” Elzy said. “You know, I thought she took great shots. She also adjusted to the double team. When they started bringing the house she started making the right pass, but I liked that she was aggressive. She just took her time, matched up, bowed up, that’s what I told her, to play physical. Finished through contact.”
Next game
No. 1 South Carolina at Kentucky
When: 3 p.m. Sunday
TV: SEC Network
Radio: WLAP-AM 630
Records: Kentucky 11-16 (4-9 SEC), South Carolina (26-0, 13-0 SEC)
Series: South Carolina leads 40-35
Last meeting: South Carolina won 98-36 on Jan. 15, 2024, in Columbia, S.C.
This story was originally published February 23, 2024 at 8:22 AM.
