The longest in-season break of Kyra Elzy’s head coaching career will soon come to an end.
By Thursday, it will have been 18 days since the Kentucky women’s basketball team played a game, dating back to a Dec. 19 home win against South Carolina Upstate.
Positive COVID-19 test results forced the postponement of both of UK’s opening Southeastern Conference contests.
Three of UK’s last four games overall have been postponed due to COVID, although only the most recent of those postponements came due to positive tests in the UK program.
But, Kentucky’s return to competitive action is on the horizon.
Kentucky is set to finally start SEC play on Thursday night in Memorial Coliseum, with a 7 p.m. tip-off against No. 15 Georgia.
UK is one of just three SEC teams (along with Ole Miss and Vanderbilt) yet to play a conference game.
Elzy said Wednesday afternoon that she expects UK to have “full availability” for Thursday’s game.
This covers any players in COVID protocols related to Monday’s postponed and now rescheduled game against Mississippi State, as well as an ankle injury for senior guard Robyn Benton that kept Benton out of the South Carolina Upstate game.
Elzy also said that on Dec. 26 Kentucky played a closed-door scrimmage against NAIA school Campbellsville University.
“Obviously it’s uncertain times while we’re dealing with COVID and not being able to take the floor, but we’re not the only team that’s had to deal with this,” Elzy said. “We have really focused on remaining resilient, tough … adaptability and flexibility is extremely important. Controlling the things that we can control.”
“We can control our attitude, we can control our effort,” Elzy continued. “We can control our work ethic and how we respond.”
UK’s return to competitive action will see the Wildcats play some of the best teams in the country.
Between Thursday and Jan. 16, a span of 11 days, Kentucky will play four games. Three of those contests will come against teams ranked in the top 15 of the latest Associated Press Top 25 Poll: No. 15 Georgia on Thursday, No. 1 South Carolina on Sunday and No. 7 Tennessee on Jan. 16.
The lone game in this stretch against a team that isn’t ranked is a rescheduled contest at home against Mississippi State set for Jan. 13.
Kentucky hasn’t been the only SEC school affected by postponements and having players unavailable due to COVID-19.
Georgia (12-2 overall, 1-1 SEC) has been without sixth-year center Jenna Staiti for both of its SEC games due to COVID-19 protocols.
The 6-foot-4 Staiti leads the team in scoring at 14.2 points per game, rebounding (7.3) and blocks (2.5).
Staiti has played four career games against Kentucky, with per-game averages of 15 points, seven rebounds and 2.25 blocks.
One of Staiti’s best college performances came against UK in the quarterfinals of last season’s SEC Tournament, as she recorded 20 points, 12 rebounds and made 10 of 11 free throws in a 12-point Georgia win.
The 11 free throws that Staiti attempted in that game were more than the entire UK team attempted (10).
“She’s extremely skilled. Obviously she has great size on her so she can score around the rim, but she can also block shots,” Elzy said. “We have to be physical. We have to meet her early, try to jam her up, not let her get two feet in the paint. When the shot goes up we must find a way to box her out and get her out of the paint.”
Staiti is an old foe for Kentucky, but the challenge of leading a team through SEC play as a head coach is still relatively new for Elzy.
She’s described the whirlwind of last season to the Herald-Leader as a “baptism by fire.”
But now, a year removed from her first SEC games as a head coach, Elzy is trying to use the lessons she’s learned as the Wildcats get set to begin conference play once again, with COVID still omnipresent.
“Just to ride the waves,” Elzy said of something she learned from last season. “Not get too high, not get too low, you’re thrown different things every day. As a leader I’m just trying to remain consistent along with this staff. Let them know everything’s going to be OK. These are the cards that we were dealt, but we will make it through it.”
Thursday
No. 15 Georgia at No. 21 Kentucky
When: 7 p.m.
Online: SEC Network Plus
Radio: WLAP-AM 630
Records: Georgia 12-2 (1-1 SEC), Kentucky 7-3 (0-0)
History: Georgia leads the series 38-21, including a 14-11 lead in games played in Lexington.
Last meeting: Georgia won 78-66 on March 5, 2021, in Greenville, S.C., in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.