Kentucky players celebrate after Wednesday’s win. (UK Athletics Photo)
Kentucky was without Maddie Scherr — out due to concussion protocol — and has had a long, difficult season with just four conference wins going into Wednesday’s Southeastern Conference Tournament game against Georgia in Greenville, S.C.
But give Kentucky credit. Coach Kyra Elzy’s team credit. Kentucky jumped on Georgia early, built a 14-point lead and went on to beat Georgia 64-50. It was Kentucky’s biggest margin of victory against a SEC team this season and a lot different from some of the one-sided losses the Cats have suffered.
Kentucky won its first game in the SEC Tournament for the fifth straight season and held Georgia to the fewest points it has allowed in a SEC tourney game since 2013.
It also held Georgia without a 3-point field goal, something that had not happened in a SEC tourney game since UK held LSU without a 3-pointer in 2012.
Eniya Russell had 19 points — her eighth game with 15 or more points this season — and was 6-for-12 from the field. She also had four rebounds, three assists and one steal.
Q. Coach, you talked a lot about consistency this year with this team because they’ve had a lot of good starts. We’ve seen what they’re capable of. They were consistent in this one. Are there any areas, especially at the start of the third quarter, that you want to hone in more on?
KYRA ELZY: “Well, yeah, I’m proud of this team overall. We went into the game talking about how we had to bring our defense and rebounding. Defensive intensity was extremely important. The first game we let four players go above their average. We talked about that pregame along with the rebounds, 43 to 23. We just set a goal of 60 or less. “Was so proud of this team for doing so. I thought Brooklynn Miles came out early with
the defensive intensity to just set the tone. Consistency is the name of the game. This is a new season. It’s post-season play. We survive and advance. Just so proud of what we did today for 40 minutes.”
Q. Just talk about bench scoring. You outscored them 26-7. Talk about how important that was today.
KYRA ELZY: “Well, it’s huge. We had balanced scoring today, which I’m so proud. Every game we talk about 15-plus points from the bench. Pretty consistently we were able to get that. As we mentioned, I thought Eniya Russell came in and gave us a big spark off the bench, Saniah with seven.
“Day in and day out, we prepare for this moment. We’ve done that all year. But Brooklynn Miles, I can’t say hename enough. Really challenged her at the point guard position to be the leader. We’ve had to play without Maddie this year, unfortunately. But she stepped up big for us.”
Q. I’d like to ask you more specifically about Brooklynn and controlling the pace of this game, how you saw her do that, how that benefited you?
KYRA ELZY: “Well, go back and look at the last two games. I thought she has really grown up. We’ve talked about and watched film along with her position coach and Coach Huth. When you have numbers, let’s attack. You have to be able to deliver the ball on time, on target. If we do not get the ball out, get us in an offense so we’re playing at a good pace. I thought she’s really grown up the last two games with that. “Along with MeMe Jenkins, I thought she made big plays when we had to have them today. What I love about this team, they’re young, and we’ve been under the fire, and they’ve had to grow up on the job. Just so proud of what they were able to do when the spotlight was on them today.”
KYRA ELZY: “Well, yeah, we won the boards. That was one of our keys going in, that we had to win the boards. Team rebounding. We’re undersized. But it was about heart, hustle, who wants it more. We were disappointed in our showing as far as boards.
“One of the other things we keyed in on was finishing in the paint. We left 36 points on the board the first time that we played them. We got the layups, we just didn’t capitalize. It was good to see us capitalize today.”
Q. Despite Eniya Russell’s day, she just had 28 minutes today, did you find yourself looking ahead today?
KYRA ELZY: “No, it’s one game at a time. We’re not looking ahead. The minutes balance out how they do. I’m more of a feel, gut, how the flow of the game is going, how she’s playing, when we need to rest her, who is playing well at that time. That’s more of a gut feel. I usually don’t say, ‘Oh, she’s played 20 minutes, let me sit her down.’ It’s just a feel of the game.”
Q. Now that we can look ahead to the next game, a lot of lessons after Tennessee earlier in the season. How has your team grown to the point that you feel they’ll be better prepared?
KYRA ELZY: “We’re just a better team. We’ve had time to grow up. We’re still going to make some mistakes. I think we have learned along the way. I thought we went to Knoxville, put up a tough fight. Obviously came out losing by 18, but a lot of lessons learned there. “At the end of the day, we’re going to fight tomorrow. We’re going to give our best. We’ll go back and watch the film.One of the things we know we have to do against Tennessee is rebound and defend. So nothing has changed there.”
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Kentucky will plays Tennessee in the SEC Tournament second round Thursday at 2:30 p.m. on the SEC Network.
