LEXINGTON, Ky. – A turbulent week for the University of Kentucky’s No. 17 women’s basketball team, which has seen several delays and travel problems due to the inclement weather in the southeastern region of the country, hopefully will find normalcy on Sunday as Wildcats travel to face No. 2 from South Carolina for a tip at 3 pm ET inside the Colonial Life Arena.
The game against South Carolina will be broadcast on ESPN with Ryan Ruocco and Rebecca Lobo on the conference call. The action can be checked by WatchESPN on computers, smartphones or tablets. Darren Headrick will make the call on the UK Sports Network at 630AM WLAP in Lexington. Live statistics and free live audio will be available online at UKathletics.com.
Kentucky (15-5, 8-4 Southeastern Conference) started the weekend with a strong victory on Monday in Florida, scoring 88 points and hitting 53.7 percent on the field. The Wildcats then had to stay an extra night in Gainesville due to the weather, before having their Thursday LSU game postponed to Friday before being postponed again on Thursday afternoon. The postponement caused Kentucky to focus directly on the highly ranked Gamecocks as it entered the weekend.
In its last performance in Florida, Kentucky presented one of its best offensive performances of the year. The United Kingdom scored 88 points in the game, which was the second highest number of points scored in an SEC game this season, second only to the 92 points the United Kingdom scored in its two-time thriller in the state of Mississippi. The Wildcats threw 53.7 percent of the field in the game, which was their best kicking performance in an SEC game since January 25, 2018 against Alabama. It was also the UK’s best shooting performance in an SEC street game since January 31, 2016 in Florida. The Wildcats had a 40-32 lead in paint points, which was the highest number of paint points the UK scored in an SEC game this season. Kentucky is 6-0 this season, when it reaches more than 50 percent.
Rhyne Howard led the way to Kentucky, scoring 31 points with four 3s made, nine rebounds and two steals. The performance makes Howard the fourth player in the school’s history to have had at least six 30-point career games and the first player in the school’s history to have three career 30-point games against SEC opponents. Howard now has 1,493 career points, making him 11th in the UK at all times, needing just nine more to reach the top 10 of all time in scoring. The Cleveland native, Tennessee, is the only SEC player this season to lead her team in scoring, rebounds and assists, averaging 19.7 points per game with 7.2 rebounds per game and 64 assists. She also reached the team’s best mark in 38 of 3 points and is the second of the team with 67 steals.
Senior Guard Chasity Patterson has an average of 13.1 points per game and is leading the team and the country with 67 steals. Patterson also has 59 assists and 28 3s. Second year advanced Dre’una Edwards has an average of 10.6 points per game with 6.8 rebounds per game and 21 blocks with the best team.
South Carolina (17-3, 12-1 SEC) is coming out of its first league loss of the season, Thursday, in Tennessee’s Top 25. The Gamecocks led 37-25 at the break, but Lady Vols scored 50 points in the second half to return and win the 75-67 victory. Second-year pivot Aliyah Boston scored 17 points with 16 rebounds, adding a block to the game. Guards Zia Cooke and Destanni Henderson each scored 15 points and three rebounds, with Henderson adding six assists.
As a team, South Carolina averages 79.3 points per game, while limiting teams to 60.1 points per game. Gamecocks have an average of 44.9 percent of the field and 33.0 percent of 3. South Carolina has a rebound margin of +16.1 and averages 7.3 blocks per game.
Sunday will be the 69th all-time meeting between Kentucky and South Carolina in women’s basketball. Gamecocks have won 12 of the last 13 games in the series. The United Kingdom lost three consecutive games to the Gamecocks. The Wildcats’ last win against SC was 65-57 in Columbia on February 21, 2019. Gamecocks lead the 19-11 series in games played in Columbia.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.