LEXINGTON, Ky. – Rhyne Howard scored 32 points and grabbed seven rebounds, but the 10ºKentucky’s women’s basketball team dropped to 5th place in South Carolina by 75-70 on Sunday at the Memorial Coliseum.
Kentucky (9-3, 2-2 SEC) had 12 points and seven rebounds in Dre’una Edwards and 12 points of Chasity Patterson.
The Cats forced 18 hits in South Carolina and turned those bets into 22 points. But Gamecocks dominated the rebound battle, grabbing 46 compared to just 31 for Cats. South Carolina had 23 points for a second chance, compared with just 10 for Kentucky and Gamecocks had 56 points for painting, compared with just 34 for Cats.
For Howard, it was the second time she scored at least 30 points in a game this season and the fifth time in her UK career. Howard changed to 17º place on the UK career scoring list on Sunday, passing Belitta Croley, Kristi Cushenberry and Taylor Murray. Howard now has 1,362 points in his three-year career in the UK.
After the combined teams missed their first eight shots, five from Kentucky and three from South Carolina, the Gamecocks entered the board on a Victaria Saxton tray. Kentucky responded with Howard’s driving tray, and a free throw, to take a 3-2 lead. After a basket from South Carolina, Kentucky got a tray from Patterson to take a 5-4 lead.
South Carolina would score four consecutive points, taking an 8-5 lead in the process. But Howard would score six consecutive points for the Cats, with the UK taking an 11-8 lead with 4:05 remaining for the first. Those were the first points in a 14-4 run that gave Kentucky a 19-12 lead. The UK would lead 19-15 after a period.
South Carolina scored the first three points in the second quarter, reducing the UK lead to 19-18. But the Cats responded with three of Blair Green and a Howard jumper to lead 24-18. After South Carolina stayed within two, 24-22, the Cats went for a 7-2 run to take the lead from 31-24 with 3:37 remaining in the period.
The Gamecocks then started a series of 7-2 to reduce the UK lead to 33-31 with 2:09 remaining for the break. But the Cats closed the quarter with an 8-1 streak, including the six end points of the break, to grab the 41-32 lead at the break. Howard led all scorers with 19 points at halftime.
South Carolina started the second half with an 8-2 run to reduce the UK’s lead to 43-40 with 7:20 to end the third. Kentucky then scored five of the next six, including Howard’s three-point play, to increase the lead to 48-41.
Kentucky would lead 56-48 at the end of the third game, before South Carolina scored the nine end points of the period to score 57-56 in the last 10 minutes.
Howard scored the first basket of the fourth period to give the UK a 58-57 lead, but South Carolina would lose eight consecutive points to grab a 65-58 lead with 7:21 left, forcing a timeout for the Kentucky.
Kentucky took a basket from Howard in the timeout, but South Carolina got four consecutive points from Destanni Henderson to grab his biggest advantage of the game, 69-60, with 4:29 to play.
The Cats wouldn’t leave, especially Patterson. Houston’s senior guard scored eight consecutive points, including three consecutive points, to reduce the deficit to 69-68 with 2:31 left. The Cats would have a chance to take the lead in their next possession, but Howard missed an open top three.
South Carolina extended the lead to 73-70 on a LeLe Grissett tray with 1:54 to play, but Howard recovered the Cats with one, 71-70, on a pair of free throws with 1:30 to play.
After South Carolina lost two free throws with 25 seconds left, the Cats had a chance to tie. Howard’s three imbalances failed, as did Edwards’ attempt to retreat and the Gamecocks managed to rebound.
South Carolina’s Zia Cooke was fouled with 10.3 seconds left and made both free throws to give the Gamecocks a 75-70 lead. That would be the final score.
Kentucky returns to action on Thursday, visiting Auburn for a SEC contest. The game is scheduled to start at 8:30 pm ET and can be viewed on the SEC Network.