UK Athletics Photo
Kentucky had to come from behind in the second half to beat East Tennessee State 74-66 Tuesday night and give coach Kyra Elzy her 50th career win.
Sophomore guard Amiya Jenkins led Kentucky’s balanced offense with a career-high 16 points, her first double-figure scoring game, and also had four rebounds and one steal. Sonia Tyler, another sophomore guard, had 14 points, also a career high and her fist double-figure scoring game.
Senior Maddie Scherr had trouble making shots early but also finished with 14 points along with five rebounds, three assists and one steal. Senior Ajae Petty had her third career double-double with 12 points and a team-lead and career-high 13 rebounds. Junior guard Brooklynn Miles had 10 points, a team-lead four assists, three rebounds and one steal.
“I was just proud of this team with their resiliency. We got down, but we kept talking in the huddle, [we] kept fighting defensively — even when we were making mistakes but the proudest thing for me, when our shots weren’t going in… we hung in defensively until we could get it back going,” Elzy said after the game which was played at Transylvania University.
Here is more of what Elzy said after UK’s season-opening win:
On your message to the team at halftime to rally them…
“We started with our offense. You know, those shots were gonna go in. We had some good looks. We had to move the ball — we had to get more movement. We were settling for ‘one pass’ [and] quick shots, so we needed to get some movement. They were changing up [defenses] man and zone, so getting into our offense quicker, and making sure we were penetrating the gaps by playing downhill [off screens]. But the biggest thing is… I said guys we have to quick fouling, so we can get out and run. You have to either get a defensive stop or quick fouling so we can get the tempo that we wanted to get. I thought it was slower than we wanted it in the first half.”
On what you liked from Amiya Jenkins tonight…
“Well, five players in double figures, which I’m very proud of. That means we’re sharing the ball and have a balanced attack. But I thought Mimi [Amiya] Jenkins came up big for us today. Her ability to drive to the rim and finish with contact. I thought when we didn’t have anything going, her finishing around the rim was huge for us but also her defense. She’s able to guard the 1 through the 4 — which helps us. So, when we went small, I thought she made some big plays for us defensively.”
On the advantages of a hard-fought game…
“I would love to enjoy some breathing room but they tested us early. ETSU is a very good basketball team. They won 25 games last year and were picked to win their conference this year. Putting us in pressure situations as we’re starting Brooklyn Miles, Eniya [Russell], and even [Ajae] Petty playing minutes and not just playing them we are asking them to produce which they didn’t have to do a year ago besides Maddie [Scherr]. So a lot of people playing new roles. So getting tested early definitely helped us.”
On how they have improved on committing fewer turnovers since the exhibition game…
“That is a victory for us. Out of all the things I said in the locker room, when I said seven turnovers they started screaming because we have been harping on that. We have talked about not making the home run plays and just making the easy pass. Make the pass, short the pass, no home run plays, and we did that today so taking care of the ball is huge for us in order to play how we want to play.”
On the atmosphere of this home away from home…
“I thought the atmosphere was amazing. Big Blue Nation fans thank you for coming out. Great atmosphere today, loved playing here. We told the players any gym is home so right now we have three homes, Transy, Georgetown, and Rupp Arena. So we will enjoy all of them and it’s been a different experience trying to get into routines today but our players are business as usual.”
