How Kentucky and Idaho State match up — with a game prediction
How the women’s NCAA Tournament River Walk Region No. 4 seed Kentucky Wildcats (17-8) and No. 13 seed Idaho State Bengals (22-3) match up at each position — with a game prediction:
Small forward
▪ Kentucky star Rhyne Howard (20.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.3 steals) has been chosen as the SEC Player of the Year and an AP first-team All-American for a second straight season. The 6-foot-2 junior from Cleveland, Tenn., has excelled in tournament play. In five career SEC Tournament games, Howard has averaged 25.0 points and 6.4 rebounds. In two NCAA tourney games as a freshman in 2018-19, she averaged 18 points and six boards.
▪ Idaho State’s Estefania Ors (10.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 42.7% three-point shooting) is one of four guards in the Bengals’ starting lineup. The 5-10 graduate student from Altura, Spain, was scalding hot in Idaho State’s 84-49 beatdown of archrival Idaho in the Big Sky Conference Tournament finals — she hit eight of nine field goals, four of four treys, and had 21 points. Ors scored 11 points in each of Idaho State’s two regular-season games against power-conference foes, a loss to Nebraska and a win at Kansas State.
Advantage: Kentucky
Power forward
▪ Kentucky’s KeKe McKinney (6.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 39.7% FGs) hit eight of 15 treys in a four-game stretch from Jan. 3 through Jan. 17. In the 12 games since, she has gone 8-for-28 on three-pointers. The 6-1 senior from Knoxville, Tenn., had nine rebounds and two blocked shots in UK’s 78-66 loss to Georgia in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals while going scoreless.
▪ A 5-9 junior, Idaho State’s Callie Bourne (10.0 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists) has been a force on the boards when the Bengals have faced larger foes. The junior from Canberra, Australia, had nine points and 14 rebounds in the loss to Nebraska and eight points and 12 boards in the win at Kansas State. Bourne had eight points, three rebounds and two assists in the Big Sky finals win over Idaho.
Advantage: Even
Center
▪ Kentucky’s Tatyana Wyatt (3.9 points, 2.7 rebounds, 40% treys) was reinserted into the starting lineup 10 games ago. As a starter, the 6-2 senior from Columbus, Ga., is averaging 6.0 points and 3.7 rebounds. Wyatt played well in the NCAA Tournament two seasons ago, averaging 9.5 points and 5.0 rebounds in a win over Princeton and a loss at North Carolina State.
▪ Idaho State’s Delaney Moore (9.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 53.8% FGs) was part of the Bengals’ torrid shooting (38-for-65) in the Big Sky tourney finals. The 6-foot senior from Gilroy, Calif., hit eight of 10 shots and had 16 points and 6 rebounds in 19 minutes. Moore did not fare well against the two power-conference foes Idaho State played, going a combined 3-for-12 from the field vs. Nebraska (1-for-8) and Kansas State (2-for-4).
Advantage: Even
Shooting guard
▪ Kentucky’s Chasity Patterson (12.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.8 steals) has scored in double figures in 18 of UK’s 25 games. The ball-hawking 5-5 senior from Houston, a transfer from Texas, is finishing out a UK career that engulfed only three semesters of eligibility. Rather than use the “free year” of eligibility the NCAA granted because of COVID-19 to play next season for Kentucky, she plans to pursue a pro career.
▪ Idaho State’s Dora Goles (12.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, 37.9% treys) was a first-team All-Big Sky Conference selection. A 5-7 redshirt senior from Split, Croatia, Goles did not play well in the loss to Nebraska (1-for-5 three-point shooting, six turnovers) but played very well in the win over Kansas State (18 points on 7-for-11 shooting, 4-for-7 three-pointers).
Advantage: Kentucky
Point guard
▪ Kentucky’s Jazmine Massengill (4.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists) was inserted in the starting lineup late in the season. In her six games as a starter, the 6-foot junior from Chattanooga, Tenn., is averaging 7.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists. The transfer from Tennessee had six points, four rebounds and four assists in the SEC tourney loss to Georgia. As a freshman at UT in 2018-19, Massengill had three points and five rebounds in a NCAA Tournament round of 64 loss to UCLA.
▪ Idaho State’s Diaba Konate (11.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 2.4 steals) is a second-team All-Big Sky Conference choice. A 5-7 redshirt sophomore from Paris, France, Konate lit up Idaho in the league tourney title game, hitting nine of 13 shots, two of three treys, en route to 20 points. Konate did not fare well vs. the power-conference foes, shooting a combined 4-for-19 vs. Nebraska and K-State.
Advantage: Kentucky
Bench
▪ Kentucky’s Treasure Hunt (4.3 points, 2.2 rebounds) has provided a late-season spark. In the past three games, the 6-1 freshman from Chattanooga, Tenn., has averaged 7.7 points and made nine of 17 shots. … UK needs to get the rest of its key bench players reignited … Utah transfer Dre’una Edwards (9.5 points, 6.1 rebounds) averaged 15.5 points and 8.9 rebounds in UK’s first seven games. The 6-2 sophomore has averaged 6.2 points and 4.3 rebounds in the 18 games since. … Robyn Benton (7.0 points, 2.5 rebounds), a 5-9 junior transfer from Auburn, averaged 9.5 points in her first 15 games. Over the past nine, she is averaging 2.8 and has made nine of 32 field goals. … Harlan County product Blair Green (5.9 points, 1.7 rebounds) had 40 points in back-to-back games vs. Vanderbilt (22) and Auburn (18). She has scored 21 total points in the 11 games since.
▪ Idaho State gets bigger when it substitutes. Montana Oltrogge (6.7 points, 3.0 rebounds), a 6-foot junior, had 11 points and two rebounds in the win at Kansas State. … Ellie Smith (6.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 69.2 FG%), a 6-2 redshirt junior, has a team-high 34 blocked shots. … Tomekia Whitman (3.0 points, 2.3 rebounds), a 5-10 sophomore guard, had seven rebounds in the Big Sky tourney finals.
Advantage: Kentucky
Intangibles and history
▪ Kentucky Coach Kyra Elzy will be making her NCAA Tournament head-coaching debut. As a player, Elzy played on Tennessee teams that won the national title in 1997 and 1998 and finished as national runner-up in 2000.
▪ Idaho State Coach Seton Sobolewski has led the Bengals to the NCAA tourney for the second time in his coaching tenure. The initial trip was in 2012. Overall, Idaho State is 0-3 in the NCAA tourney.
▪ Kentucky is 21-15 all-time in NCAA Tournament games. After going to three Elite Eights and five Sweet 16s from 2010 through 2016, UK has not been out of the first two rounds since.
Advantage: Kentucky
Prediction
Kentucky 78, Idaho State 64
