Rhyne Howard smiled on the bench after scoring 17 points in the second half of Sunday's win. (Vicky Graff Photo)
It was not exactly the kind of win coach Krya Elzy might have drawn up for her team but maybe the way it played out will benefit Kentucky going into the start of Southeastern Conference play.
The 19th-ranked Wildcats made just two of 15 shots in the first period and fell behind underdog USC-Upstate 14-5 after one quarter. Kentucky regrouped to take a 26-23 halftime lead by turning up the defensive pressure and ended up winning 67-44 as All-American Rhyne Howard scored 17 of her 22 points in the second half. Howard also had six steals, four assists, and three rebounds.
“I really wouldn’t say tonight was a slow start for us because we were getting very good looks, they just weren’t going in,” said Howard. “I feel we came out a little bit slow, but I feel like it wasn’t what we’ve seen in the past.
“I think everyone was still very focused and locked in on both ends of the court. It just wasn’t falling.”
Elzy said her team just had to play through the horrific shooting early in the game.
“In the second and third quarter I thought intensity-wise, that was more of what we were looking for. But we have to be better. We have to get off to a better start on both sides of the basketball,” Elzy said.
Kentucky had an 18-0 run in the third quarter — Howard had 13 points — to break the game open.
The Cats forced a season-high 27 turnovers that they converted into 38 points.
“She (Elzy) definitely emphasizes 40 minutes of dread. We know that if we play very hard defensively, then it will turn into easy buckets, which it did tonight. We just try to work smarter not harder and play like we know how to play,” Howard said.
Freshman Jada Walker made her second start and had 13 points while Jazmine Massengill and Dre’una Edwards, who also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, both had 11 points.
“Right now I like our versatility offensively. We’re able to move people around. I’ve been playing with Dre , playing at the three, interchanging her and Rhyne at the three and four. So our versatility is working for us,” Elzy said.
“I think we do a great job of sharing the basketball. We play team basketball. We had 19 assists today.”
However, she knows there is still work to be done before UK opens a difficult SEC schedule Dec. 30 at Auburn.
“Rebounding is always a big issue, making sure we’re boxing out, defending dribble penetration, and then we have to consistently knock down open shots and make layups. That’s important, along with free throws,” she said.
