Now in her second season as the head coach of the Kentucky women’s basketball program, Kyra Elzy’s Wildcats ended a two-game losing streak on Dec. 19 in what became UK’s final non-conference contest of the season.
UK recorded a 67-44 victory that day over South Carolina Upstate, and closed its 10-game non-conference slate with a 7-3 record. But Kentucky still has gaps in its NCAA Tournament résumé.
The Wildcats went 1-3 against teams currently projected by ESPN women’s basketball bracketologist Charlie Creme to be in the NCAA Tournament. There was a blowout loss at Indiana, a close home defeat to DePaul without star forward Dre’una Edwards and a narrow loss at Louisville that was UK’s fifth straight defeat to its archrival, along with a 23-point home win against NCAA Tournament bubble team West Virginia.
From the start of the season to now, Kentucky has dropped from a projected No. 3 seed to a projected No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament in Creme’s bracketology. UK is ranked No. 21 in the Associated Press poll.
What does Elzy currently like about her team?
“Right now I like our versatility offensively,” Elzy said after the South Carolina Upstate win. “I think we do a great job of sharing the basketball. We play team basketball.”
Where does Elzy think the Wildcats still need to improve?
“Rebounding is always a big issue, making sure we’re boxing out, defending dribble penetration,” Elzy said. “Then we have to consistently knock down open shots and make layups. That’s important, along with free throws.”
These areas of the game — and more — will be tested against a deep and talented SEC.
UK will face all 13 other Southeastern Conference schools in league play this season.
SEC play began last week, although several contests have been postponed due to COVID-19 problems.
This included Kentucky’s opening two SEC games at Auburn and at home against Mississippi State. The Mississippi State game was recently rescheduled for Jan. 13.
Kentucky will have been off for 18 days between the South Carolina Upstate game and its eventual SEC opener on Thursday night against No. 15 Georgia.
Here’s a brief, chronological look at who Kentucky will play over the next two months, how these teams have fared so far and the challenges ahead for UK.
Georgia
Record: 12-2 overall, 1-1 SEC.
Currently the No. 15 team in the country in the AP poll, Georgia will visit Lexington for Kentucky’s SEC opener on Thursday night.
A road win at North Carolina State has been the highlight of Georgia’s season. Georgia is led by experience, as fifth-year guard Que Morrison is fifth in the SEC in assists per game (4.9) and sixth-year center Jenna Staiti is a high-scoring big who leads the team in scoring (14.2 points per game). Staiti also leads Georgia in blocks (2.5 per game) and rebounds (7.3 per game).
Staiti has missed Georgia’s last two games, a loss to No. 13 LSU and a win over Florida, due to COVID-19.
Georgia is second in the SEC in assists per game (17.4), while Kentucky is the top assist team in the league (18.7).
South Carolina
Record: 13-1, 1-1.
Currently the No. 1 team in the country, South Carolina plays Kentucky twice this season: In Columbia, South Carolina, on Sunday and in Lexington on Feb. 10.
Wins over the likes of North Carolina State, Oregon, Connecticut, Maryland, Duke and Stanford have made South Carolina the favorite to win the national championship.
Junior forward Aliyah Boston (16.9 points and 10.4 rebounds per game on 57.5% shooting from the field) is the projected top pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft, star senior point guard Destanni Henderson returned from a lower leg injury earlier this season to help key the largest comeback win in South Carolina history. As such, the Gamecocks are the clear favorite to win the SEC regular season for the second time in three seasons.
But, all those expectations hit an early snag. South Carolina was upset in its SEC opener, losing 70-69 in overtime at Missouri last week.
Mississippi State
Record: 9-4, 0-1.
Kentucky will play Mississippi State in Lexington on Jan. 13 in a rescheduled contest that was supposed to be held Monday night.
Doug Novak was hired as an assistant coach in September and abruptly became the interim head coach at Mississippi State less than one month before the season started after former head coach Nikki McCray-Penson left her post after just one season to focus on her health.
Mississippi State is the worst three-point shooting team in the SEC (26.4%) and the second-worst free-throw shooting team in the SEC (60.5%).
The Rickea Jackson Experience is a treat, though. The junior forward is the SEC’s leading scorer at 20.7 points per game, a full two points per game better than Kentucky’s Rhyne Howard in second place.
Tennessee
Record: 13-1, 2-0.
Currently the No. 7 team in the AP poll, Tennessee will host Kentucky in a rivalry matchup on Jan. 16.
Perennial women’s college basketball power Tennessee is at it again this season, powered by Jordan Horston in the backcourt and Tamari Key on the inside.
Horston leads Tennessee with 14.8 points per game. Key is the SEC leader in blocks (3.8 per game). Both players average more than nine rebounds per game for Tennessee, which leads the SEC in team rebounding by a wide margin.
The Lady Volunteers average a whopping 17 offensive rebounds per game and lead the country in rebounds per game (50.43).
Kentucky senior point guard Jazmine Massengill spent the first two seasons of her college career at Tennessee and Kentucky head coach Kyra Elzy won a pair of national championships as a player at Tennessee, and later coached the Lady Volunteers.
Florida
Record: 10-4, 0-1.
Kentucky will play its lone game against Florida in Lexington on Jan. 20.
Florida has the third-lowest scoring offense in the conference (67.3 points per game), the second-least efficient offense in the conference (41% shooting from the field) and one of the worst three-point shooting offenses in the conference (29.3% shooting from distance).
The offense the Gators do generate comes from junior guard Lavender Briggs, the team leader in points (12.5 per game) and rebounds (5.6 per game).
Ole Miss
Record: 12-1, 0-0.
Kentucky’s only game this season against Ole Miss will be in Lexington at Rupp Arena on Jan. 23.
Ole Miss is one of three SEC teams — along with Alabama and Vanderbilt — that averages more than 10 steals per game. This has played a large part in Ole Miss having one of the best scoring defenses in the country this season, allowing just 49.5 points per game.
Ole Miss has won 12 straight games, including a ranked win over South Florida. It’s a team effort for Ole Miss, as 10 players average more than 10 minutes per game and only two players (Shakira Austin and Madison Scott) average double-digits scoring per game.
Like UK, Ole Miss hasn’t played since mid-December after COVID-19 issues forced the postponement of its first two SEC games.
Vanderbilt
Record: 9-5, 0-0.
Kentucky will play Vanderbilt twice this season, in Nashville on Jan. 27 and in Lexington on Feb. 17.
Vanderbilt has the most losses of any SEC team. The Commodores played just eight games last season before opting to stop playing games after the team’s roster was thinned by COVID-19 problems, opt-outs and injuries.
This season is the first for Vanderbilt under new head coach Shea Ralph, a former player and longtime assistant coach at Connecticut. Vanderbilt is currently last in the SEC in average points scored per game (66.2) and average rebounds per game (37.1). Senior guard Jordyn Cambridge leads the SEC in steals per game (4.1), ahead of UK’s Rhyne Howard in second place (3.3).
LSU
Record: 14-1, 2-0.
Currently the No. 13 team in the AP poll, LSU’s only game against Kentucky this season will be in Baton Rouge on Jan. 30.
LSU benefited from one of the biggest head coaching moves in women’s college basketball history this offseason when Kim Mulkey, who won three national championships at Baylor, returned to her childhood home of Louisiana to coach the Tigers.
Mulkey, a member of both the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, is looking to take LSU to its first NCAA Tournament since 2018. The Tigers are off to a good start, headlined by fifth-year guard Khayla Pointer who leads LSU in points per game (17.4), assists per game (5.2) and is second on the team in rebounds per game (6.8).
LSU already has two ranked wins in SEC play over Georgia and Texas A&M.
Texas A&M
Record: 10-3, 0-1.
Currently the No. 25 team in the AP poll, the Aggies’ lone contest against Kentucky this season will be in Lexington on Feb. 6.
Gary Blair, now in his 19th season as Texas A&M’s head coach, is the longest tenured active head coach at an SEC school. This season’s A&M team features a dynamic scorer in fifth-year guard Kayla Wells (17.1 points per game) and the SEC’s two best three-pointer shooters in Wells (53.1% from distance) and fifth-year guard Qadashah Hoppie (47.4%)
Texas A&M as a team makes 42.1% of its three-point shots, by far the best mark in the conference.
Alabama
Record: 10-3, 1-1.
Kentucky will play its only game against Alabama this season on Feb. 13 in Tuscaloosa.
Junior guard JaMya Mingo-Young, an offseason transfer from Mississippi State, averages nearly three steals per game and is third on Alabama in scoring (11.1 points per game) and second on the team in both assists (nearly three per game) and rebounding (6.3 per game).
Senior guard Brittany Davis leads Alabama in both scoring (15.5 points per game) and rebounding (6.9 rebounds per game).
Arkansas
Record: 10-4, 0-1.
UK’s only game this season against Arkansas will be on Feb. 20 in Fayetteville.
Expect points, and a lot of them, when UK and Arkansas play this season. The Wildcats (79.5 points per game) and Razorbacks (77.6 points per game) are the top two scoring teams in the SEC.
Arkansas has some of the conference’s best three-point shooters as well in guards Makayla Daniels, Elauna Eaton, Amber Ramirez and Samara Spencer, who have all made at least 19 shots from distance.
The Razorbacks lead the SEC with 126 made three-pointers and have also attempted the most three-pointers (375) of any team in the league.
Missouri
Record: 12-2, 1-0.
Kentucky’s final road game in SEC play will be against Missouri on Feb. 24 in Columbia, Missouri.
The Tigers are the most efficient scoring team in the conference (47.3% shooting from the field), the best free-throw shooting team in the conference (72.2%) and the second-best SEC team in three-point shooting (37.7%).
Missouri opened SEC play with a statement win last week at home in overtime over No. 1 South Carolina. It was the first win over a top-ranked team in Missouri program history.
The Tigers won the game with just eight available players. Among those who didn’t play was junior guard Aijha Blackwell, Missouri’s leading scorer and the SEC’s leading rebounder.
Auburn
Record: 8-4, 0-1.
Kentucky was supposed to open and close SEC play against Auburn this season. That first scheduled game on Dec. 30 at Auburn was postponed due to COVID-19 issues in the Auburn program, and a makeup date has not yet been announced. UK and Auburn are also scheduled to play in Lexington on Feb. 27.
Auburn sophomore guard Aicha Coulibaly is third in the SEC in scoring (18.2 points per game), sixth in steals (2.5 per game), seventh in shooting percentage (49.1% from the field) and ninth in rebounding (8.3 rebounds per game). This presents a tantalizing matchup against Kentucky do-it-all star guard Rhyne Howard.
Johnnie Harris is in her first season as Auburn’s head coach. Kentucky senior guard Robyn Benton spent the first two seasons of her college career at Auburn.
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