When the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team attempts to close the regular season with a revenge win in Memorial Coliseum on Sunday afternoon, it will mark the final home appearance for a pair of Wildcats.
Chasity Patterson and Kameron Roach will be honored during Senior Day ceremonies ahead of No. 19 Kentucky’s game against Mississippi. With a victory, UK (16-6 Southeastern Conference, 9-5 SEC) would lock up either the No. 3 or No. 4 seed and a double bye into the quarterfinals of next week’s SEC Tournament. It would also avenge a disappointing loss to Ole Miss (9-10, 3-10 SEC) in Oxford earlier this month.
UK announced Saturday that senior forwards KeKe McKinney and Tatyana Wyatt will return to the program next year by taking advantage of the NCAA’s decision to grant players an extra season of eligibility because of the COVID-19 pandemic. McKinney and Wyatt will not participate in Senior Day festivities Sunday. UK announced McKinney plans to play for the Wildcats next season while pursuing a master’s degree. Wyatt has not yet decided if she’ll compete next year, but the school said she will remain part of the program regardless as she continues pursuing her education.
Though just a redshirt junior in terms of athletic eligibility, Roach graduated in December with a degree in kinesiology and health promotion and plans to move on from the team following the season’s conclusion. UK announced that Patterson will forego the extra year of eligibility and pursue a professional basketball career.
Despite spending a relatively short time in a Kentucky uniform, Patterson has made a massive impact on the program. She finally hit the floor the second half of last season after transferring from Texas and sitting out the first semester per NCAA rules.
Though Patterson only played half a season as a junior, the speedy 5-foot-5 guard was so impressive she was voted SEC Sixth Woman of the Year. From the time she first took the court for the Cats, Patterson has played much bigger than her diminutive frame. Earlier this year, UK Coach Kyra Elzy described Patterson as “a tiny, power-packed peanut.”
Patterson is Kentucky’s second-leading scorer this season at 13.0 points per game and has provided a solid perimeter presence, knocking down 36.5 percent of her three-point shots. But, arguably, Patterson’s most important contribution during her time in Lexington has been her disruptive defense. Last week she was named one of 10 finalists for 2021 Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year. Patterson is first in the SEC and ninth nationally with an average of 3.2 steals per game.
In UK’s win over Wofford, Patterson recorded a rare double-double of 17 points and 10 steals. She is the only SEC player this season to record eight or more steals in a game, having done so three times. Patterson is the third player in UK history to record 10 or more steals in a game, while she joins Leslie Nichols as the only players to swipe eight or more steals in three or more games in a season.
Roach has fought through adversity the last several years of her basketball career. She missed her entire high school senior season because of injury and toward the end of her second year at UK tore an ACL, which cost Roach her junior season with the Cats.
Roach has appeared in six games this year. She’s hit both of her three-point attempts and scored a season-high five points in a December win over Samford.
Hubba Bubba
Kentucky controls its own destiny in the chase for an SEC Tournament double bye thanks to a huge win at No. 17 Georgia on Thursday in which Patterson played a big part, scoring 15 points and snagging three steals. But it was junior star Rhyne Howard who buried the Bulldogs, scoring 27 points and hitting all four of her three-pointers.
A National Player of the Year candidate for the second season in a row, Howard has at times appeared superhuman during her three campaigns as a Wildcat. There might be a low-key secret weapon contributing to her success.
Howard can nearly always be seen chomping on bubble gum throughout games. During a timeout in the tense closing moments of the Georgia win, cameras spotted her blowing a particularly sensational bubble while Kyra Elzy instructed the team. Following the win, Howard said she adopted a new favorite brand once she got to Kentucky.
“I’ve always chewed gum (while playing). It used to be … chewing gum, but when I got to college it became Hubba Bubba,” Howard said. “I always chew Hubba Bubba gum and I blow bubbles.”
Howard’s gum habit has been a revelation for her head coach.
“I have not met a player that enjoys chewing gum like Rhyne Howard,” Elzy said. “However, whatever motivates you, I’m good with it. As long as you play hard, if chewing gum helps get her motivated to play hard defensively and rebound and stay locked in, I’m for it.”
Sunday
Mississippi at No. 19 Kentucky
When: Noon
TV: SEC Network
Radio: WLAP-AM 630
Records: UK 16-6 (9-5 SEC); Mississippi 9-10 (3-10 SEC)
Series: Mississippi leads 24-19
Last meeting: Mississippi won 72-60 on Feb. 4, 2020, in Oxford, Miss.