Mike Siroky’s SEC Report: No Alignment Changes Second Half

 

 

By Mike Siroky

 

Mississippi State captured its 20th (and 21st) win.

There are others in the Southeastern Conference of women’s basketball trending towards 20. 

But it is the second set of teams that are fighting for NCAA placement. 

As always, getting the 20 guarantees an NCAA ticket because no league team has ever hit 20 without being invited. 

State has likely won a Sweet 16 set of qualifiers in StarkVegas.

With 15 wins, South Carolina felt free to at least talk about a possible NCAA conflict. 

If they are in the Top 16 seeds, they will not play the first rounds at home because the men’s team has the gym that weekend. 

It will default to the No. 5 team in that opening round, hosting a higher seed. 

Wonder if any other national coaches are striving to be No. 5? 

Mississippi State once benefited from such a setting when Michigan had a home conflict a few seasons back.

The story of the season right now – likely led by the conference coach of the year – is Arkansas. 

The Razorbacks entered the week with the second-best active winning streak after Mississippi State. 

They deserve national mention in fourth place with 16 wins, 5-4 in the league. They have won at Tennessee.

But the schedule is backloaded. 

They have to win against the teams they have been scuffling with and still go to Kentucky and Texas A&M.

They are a lock for the NCAA eliminations.

Tennessee slipped into three straight wins and 15 overall. Despite what the ESPN and SEC broadcasts wonks say, they are a lock for the NCAA eliminations as well. 

Overall, they have the sixth-best record in conference. 

Attendance may have slipped to third in the league, but they still draw more than 6,000, better than half of the ranked conference teams.

With 15, the 20-win goal is still slim at the midway point of the conference, but 19 is doable.  

They may get the annual gift the league receives as an eighth team in the NCAA. Or they may get there with two SEC tournament wins, the second of which would have to be an upset.

Here’s how the league’s ranked teams in the AP Top 20 did in the fourth week.

No. 6 Mississippi State (21-1)

Coach Vic Schaefer is mixing his potion for the national run. They remain the only unbeaten league team at home.

They once again won the two road games they were expected to win against unranked foes.

Andra Ezpinoza-Hunter has fared well as the replacement starter for the sidelined Chloe Bibby. In fact, she led scoring, 16, in the 68-35 rout at  LSU. She had four 3s, 6-of-9 from the field. 

Schaefer still plays his starters deep into games, with the explanation he cannot let them get stagnant or not up to speed for the games to come when 40 minutes will be needed.

He knows what he has.

Anriel Howard, the graduate transfer from Texas A&M, was the mystery ingredient this season and once again made four senior starters.

First came LSU then Alabama.

In the bayou, State held the home team to single digits for three quarters. 

It was 59-21. 

Teaira McCowan had 16 defensive rebounds among her 18 and had doubled with 13 points.

McCowan may be the national Player of the Year, certainly the conference winner. 

With back-to-back weekly honors, she is unstoppable. Schaefer refers to her “being interested” in stunning outputs.

Jordan Danberry is averaging 13.3 points per game this season after scoring just 2.8 last season, her first after transferring in from Arkansas. 

She scored in double figures in three games last year, but has done so in 19 of 21 this season. She had 13 after three.

 Schaefer had started to use everybody. 

The sparse crowd of 2,213 barely paid attention.

No  LSU player hit double figures until less than three minutes remained.

“That first quarter was as good as we have been in a long time,” Schaefer said. “It took everything we had to deal with them, and I thought we did a nice job. When you hold someone to four points in that first quarter you are allowing yourself the chance to get off to a really good start. We certainly did that.”

Alabama was another game to stay ahead of most everyone else.

State averaged 25 more points per game than the Tide allows.

 Junior forward Hasmine Walker is the only Alabama scorer averaging double figures. The Tide is struggling to remain above .500 and earn another NIT spot. 

They are at .500 after this one. 

It was 39-27 at the half.

It was hard to realize this was a  road game because defense is not the only thing that travels. 

The State supporters were loud and proud, dominating the 3,769 attendees.

State was hitting 60 percent from the field (to 25 percent) and yet the SEC TV commentators claimed this was a sloppy game. 

McCowan was ruling the inside, with more deflections than blocks (four) or course, but Howard was 5-of-6 from the field and 5-of-7 from the lie for 15 at intermission. 

The dreaded single-digit offense made it a 20-point game at the end of three. The final was inevitable, 63-49. 

State could have not scored a fourth-quarter point and still won.

 Howard scored 25. McCowan doubled with 12 of each. State had four turnovers, Alabama was harassed into 18.

“We came to play,” “Schaefer said. “It is really hard to come to a 12 o’clock tip on the road.

“I’d a had to get them up at 5:15 for a shoot around. 

“But this team, when I told them last night we would not have a shoot around, they liked it but then they didn’t like it. I really believed we needed the extra two hours of sleep.

“I was really proud of them defensively. Offensively, we struggled on some things. We gotta get back in the gym and work on that. But that’s on me. I gotta be better. But, boy, guarding them I thought we were good.

“Jazz was really special today. 

“ Xaria Wiggins played 18 minutes and she dislocated her shoulder yesterday. It popped out.  Sure, it popped right back in, but you talk about toughness. My kids know we value toughness.

“T doubled/doubled and that cleans up a lot of messes. We need a little break and now we have one at the best time/. Praise the Lord and Go ’Dawgs!”

Howard said she is learning a lot.

 “I am so grateful for my system here,” she said. “We gave been working on our defense. Little things like turning my hip. At my previous school (three seasons at Texas A&M) we played mostly zone, so my little project is to work on defense. We have great expectations.”

State has been in the AP poll 87 straight weeks, including 52 weeks in a row in the Top 10. They have 31 straight home wins.

The ’Dawgs are the nation’s top scoring offense, averaging 90 and allowing 56.7, for the highest scoring margin (33.3) in Division I.

They represent the league in the Top 10 in the national poll.

 They take the week to prepare for Tennessee and another packed StarkVegas arena as the Lady Vols try to recover some national moxie. It oughta be an all-star showing for Howard and McCowan. UT has no inside game at this level.

 

No. 12 South Carolina (16-6)

The Gamecocks celebrated a week of preparation with Vanderbilt. Then came the tough test at Kentucky. They finished at Arkansas.

They had a nice tussle with the Commodores, actually trailing at home by two at the half.

Coach Dawn Staley figured it out and they won the second half handily, 23-10.

The 23-10 third settled it. 

It ended 80-69 with SC at No. 2 the league at 6-1. 

They drew a league best for the week, 11,166.

A career high eight rebounds by freshman reserve Victaria Saxton said as much as anything off the stat sheet.

The three point guard offense – Te’a Cooper (18 points), Tyasha Harris (14) and Bianca Cuevas-Moore – is unique to the league and the nation. 

The forward wall of Mikiah Herbert Harrigan and Alexis Jennings scored 16 each. SC  scored 50 points in the paint.

“It took shortening our bench,” said Staley. “We need to keep pressure on them and their guards. We had to play at the speed we wanted to play.

On Cuevas-Moore: “She can score the ball with best of them. But it’s defensively where she can make the difference. Full court.

“We need Te’a to do what she needs to do. She had the advantage and she felt comfortable. That’s when you let her play the way she plays. She uses 100 percent of what she works on.

“I had told (Cooper) I wanted her to be more aggressive out there on the court. We all know the excellent ball-handling skills she has, and we wanted her to try to create more shots for herself and for her teammates. 

“I thought she did a great job of finishing around the rim as well. All together I thought we played a great game offensively, and we were very disciplined defensively.”

Jennings, the oft-hobbled senior centerpiece who started her SEC career at Kentucky, said, “I try to concentrate and take my time. I know I am going to get to the basket I know I am going to make my mark.

“I just continued to bring my aggressive presence. It’s a great group to play with. When we play together, we can surprise some people. Coach Staley gave me a shot. She has made me into the young lady I am today.”

She was 7-of-8 from the field.

On came the road to Kentucky.

These are two teams in conference midseason shape. Early on, 

Maci Morris had 14 of UK’s 28 points and the Kats had a four-point lead.

 One of her 3s came off a quick release when Rhyne Howard shot too hard and it bounced out to Morris. 

At any rate, she had surpassed her season average. South Carolina was riding the steady play of Jennings, 4-of-7 from the field.

Morris had back-to-back blocks. 

But Howard picked up two fouls and was sitting as the half wound down and SC took the lead at 29-28 inside of a minute to go.

 Cooper hit a jumper and the visitors took a three-point lead into the locker room.

 Given that UK opened with a 20-10 lead, it was an impressive SC effort without panic.

It blew out to a 15-point lead before UK recovered some and rallied behind their crowd of 4,246 with a 26-19 fourth. 

But they waited until three minutes were left to really compete and an unruffled SC hung on for the 74-70 win, which allowed UK coach Matthew Mitchell to issue his standard team statement.

“They played a lot harder than us tonight,’ Mitchell said, “played with a lot more energy, a lot more effort and if we lose that category we’re going to have a hard time in SEC play, so we’re going to have to see if we can bounce back and play with some more energy

“I didn’t think we attacked consistently. When we did I think you saw we were able to make some plays, but for whatever reason we just could not get on the attack in the first half. And then, when you give up a 40-15 run, and they’re just scoring at will, it’s hard to get your break going. 

“What you’d like is to get some stops, get some defensive rebounds, long outlet, get on the attack. So defensively, tonight it was a tough night for us.  We will have to work hard on that because that really fuels your fast break.”

He had praise for his former player, Alexis Jennings.

“

She looked good and she really played well,” he said. “She’s a good player. She plays with a lot of poise. When you let her catch it deep like two at a time, she’s got an array of post skills and really played a nice game. Very good player.

Morris said, “We just need to come out and have consistent energy the entire game. If somethings not going right for us we have to be able to keep our heads about us and produce on both ends. 

“Personally, I think from my four years of playing, I’ve realized it’s just a long stretch with little rest. School has started back, so just getting back in that rhythm of balancing out your time. 

“Also, taking care of your body, you have to take care of your body cause we’re in a stretch where were playing the hardest conference. So, you’re having great competition every game you play.

“So, when you play two, three games a week you have to be able to go. Everybody is needed, it’s a dog fight.”

The Gamecocks have won nine straight games against the Wildcats, including four straight in Lexington. UK will take a trip to South Carolina on Feb. 21. Overall, they have won 10 straight.

The Gamecocks scored just at their average while the home team scored seven more than they usually allow. SC solved Morris after the early scoring.  She scored just seven after the start, did have three blocks, but also five turnovers and a lone rebound. Howard scored 16.

SC was led by Jennings’ 18 with 12 rebounds and 17 from Cooper, with two more in double figures.

 

“We adjusted to the pace of it,” Staley said. “We just tried to take Kentucky’s first punch. 

“With a team like Kentucky you have to come out and play your style of game and not make adjustments.

“ I thought we worked on their press a lot, so maybe our players came into the game more reserved and seeing how aggressive it’ll be, and how they’ll be able to pick it apart.

“It’s just been a short week for us, and we didn’t take a day off. We went from playing Vanderbilt to practicing on Tuesday and Wednesday and coming out and playing, so we’ve yet to take a day off, so this is our sixth day in a row. 

“Sometimes fatigue sets in. 

“We regrouped in the second quarter and tried to finish them off. I thought we just took a step back in trying to play not to lose rather than win the game at the end.”

 At the finish, when Kentucky made a closing run, she said, “We subbed, and sometimes when we sub we have some difficulty having the same chemistry we had with our starting lineup. 

“We had people in positions that we probably should not have had, but we also thought we built a big enough lead to which we would be able to execute at the end of the game.

“ Obviously, that didn’t happen, and it provided them with some momentum to draw up some plays and try to get some 3s off to close the gap, and they did that.”

 She does enjoy Jennings’ consistency.

“She’s playing well. She’s practicing well. She’s locked in. I don’t if everybody is as focused as Alexis. 

“I do think she has in the back of her mind she’s got two, three months left in college to play, and I think she’s just taking advantage of every opportunity whether its practice or the game to make the most of it.”

Her team does not worry about their biggest rival, Mississippi State

“No. They understand what needs to take place. When I talk to our team, I talk about all of our goals being in front of us still. 

“So, however they understand that is how they understand that. I’m not going to put too much pressure other than us being able to lock in and focus in on the task at hand and next up is Arkansas.”

 She said the inside game is the concentration

“Absolutely, that’s a point of emphasis. I feel like we do have some height and some girth as far as Alexis being able to aggressively attack the paint. 

“She’s got two feet in the paint, she’s a hard guard for anybody her size, let alone someone smaller or shorter and probably not as strong because she’s a fifth-year senior, so she’s been around the SEC for a very long time, so she knows how to maneuver, but we also wanted our guards to attack, and I thought the officiating was good.

“ I thought they let us play, and you don’t have a lot of coaches come out here and say that about the officials. 

“I thought they did a good job of just letting two teams play it out. There weren’t very many tick-tack fouls. They let us play aggressive on both sides of the ball and both teams.”

 They work on everything, including inbounding plays.

“I think it’s a process in which we’re always going try to continue to evolve in that area. It’s a tough job that not a whole lot of our players are equip to handle just being poised in that situation and obviously we tried to take Tyasha out of the game.

“ She played almost the entire game. She’s very good in those situations, and I wanted our kids to learn from it. 

“Did I think Kentucky was going to close the gap that much? No, but sometimes you just have to let them learn through those instances because you can simulate it in practice, but it’s just not the same as the game.”

 She had praise for UK’s freshman guard.

“She’s a great guard. She can score three ways, at the basket, she’s got mid-range, she’s got deep three. I think she’s a player in which she’s already made a name for herself, but she’s going to be difficult to deal with for the next – we got her for four years.  

“We got another time in Columbia and the next three years. She’s a player that we recruited too, so I don’t know how close it was as far as her making her decision between us and Kentucky. I don’t know that, but she’s found a good place that she’s able to utilize all of her skillset.”

Staley did discuss with Jennings the idea of coming back to what was once her home court one last time.

 “I mean, she’s been back here last year, so we talked a little bit about that last year, but this year is totally different. I think she has a different mindset. I think she got the jitters off, and she played Alexis-like tonight.”

Jennings said it is part of a process.

“No, I didn’t really have any emotions,” she said “It was just another game on the road and happy to get the win.

 “I think the biggest adjustment was probably just locking in, everybody playing their role and to just keep those players in front of us. Once we did that, we kind of had our way with them.

 “I would just say to continue to keep our focus. Our chemistry is flowing really well right now, and everybody is adjusting and coming into our roles and just keeping that mentality.”

This was real positioning to remain in the first four of conference. It will take a wild ride to even get even with Mississippi State.

It was on to Arkansas, a real trap game after Kentucky. The fans are not believers. They only drew 1,600.

The Razorbacks wanted a fast pace and set one because they have no effective bigs. They relied early on 5-4 guard Malica Monk. Her 3 with five minutes to go in the first made it 12-3. A minute later another 3 made it 15-3.

Still, Harris rallied the visitors. She fed a gimpy Jennings for a layup then hit a 3 at 38 seconds left in the quarter and it was only a 20-16 deficit. It stayed tight throughout the half. The home team led by four.

But Arkansas could not shake loose.

Cuevas-Moore and Cooper were each 3-of-11 when SC fell behind by five in the third.  Staley adjusted.

Freshman Destanni Henderson, second best rookie in the league behind. UK’s Rhyne Howard, scored 19 in 23 minutes as did freshman Victaria Saxton in 20. 

Both had career scoring days. 

Saxton was 7-of-7 from the field, 5-of-5 from the line, with five rebounds. Henderson had 15 second half points, Saxton 12.

Monk ended with 25 points with three 3s and played all 40 minutes. Chelsea Dungee scored 32 with two 3s. Both hit career highs.

They led at halftime, 39-33. Arkansas had been 12-1 when leading at the half.

But SC had them figured out, won the third quarter then dominated the fourth, 35-23.  The Gamecocks won easily, 87-79. 

They scored 12 points above their average. They allowed 16 more points than usual.

They didn’t lead until the fourth. 

But then they shot 57 percent from the field and had seven more rebounds than did the home team. It is the 10th straight win against Arkansas.

Staley said, “The matchup against Arkansas meant we had to go a little bit deeper. They have been our scout team. They work hard and when their opportunity came, they stepped up. They need more experience playing.

“Te’a sometimes tries so hard she takes herself out if the game. She has won so many games for us that it is nice to put her in apposition to win. I told them (in the fourth) they are going to live and die by the 3. 

“So it was up to the defense to make sure they were twoing us instead of threeing us. We’re a resilient group. This is muscle memory.

“When you can give your team a boost on any given night, that’s what you do. This is how you play the SEC.”

SC is unlikely to play three games in a week again this season. They will get the double bye in the SEC tournament and then play NCAA opening rounds in scheduled sets of two, all on the road.

This week, the only game is Ole Miss at home.

But then looms the annual confrontation with once and future No. 1 UConn. 

Like Tennessee-Notre Dame, these in-conference confrontations make little sense.

 Neither team needs the publicity. 

They’ve been in Final Fours recently.

 UConn, assured of dominating its weak conference, needs an RPI win, but a win helps neither in their leagues and a demoralizing loss is not worth the risk.

Muffet McGraw finally said the UT series would sensibly move to the fall from now on.

Coach Dawn Staley works all this out.

They stay home for Georgia and then are at Florida. 

Particularly with Georgia will be a rebound game after UConn against a dangerous team. They need to keep taking care of business in the league to stay in the top four of conference.

They moved  up four spots in the national poll, making the UConn confrontation more of a national game.

No. 18 Texas A&M (18-4)

The Aggies had two games they were projected to win and did, home for Vanderbilt, then at Ole Miss.

Scoring machine Chennedy Carter is everybody’s All-American after State’s McCowan. 

No sophomore slump is evident after being the national Rookie of the Year. 

In fact, coach Gary Blair often starts five sophs and his problem is the others are as mesmerized about Carter as are the fans; they do not always step up to help with the defensive double-teaming she gets.

In this final run of the regular season, ball distribution is what Blair seeks.

The first half against Vanderbilt was boring. Both sides only scored in single digits well into the second quarter, which allowed a 33-18 half. Cierra Johnson had already doubled for A&M, 13 points on 5-of-7 from the field and 10 rebounds.

It was enough to hold Vandy at bay. Carter erupted for 21 points in the 69-53 win. One thing the Aggies don’t do well is hit the 3s. They were 1-of-13 in this one.

Mariella Fasoula and Autumn Newby lead Vanderbilt’s frontcourt, as they combined for 28 of the Commodores’ 43 points and 19 of their 31 rebounds in the January 10 matchup.

 Fasoula leads the Commodores with 17.0 points per game, one of three Vanderbilt players with at least 10 points. She scored two.

“We were really ready to play this game,” Blair said.“You can tell by the 11-0 start. 

“Then our two best shooters go 1-14 in the first half. When things are not going well, we get to the free throw line. It is allowing my post players to play longer minutes, stop the game a little, and it puts them (the opponent) in foul trouble. 

“We did a great job tonight with Fasoula and that starts with Ciera.

“We just didn’t close out. It wasn’t our night from the perimeter, but it was our night for getting the ball inside. Our press speed them up. It didn’t create steals, but it made them speed up their offense. It was a good win, we are going to take it and get ready for Ole Miss.”

He said his guard play is on the rise.

“We are making better decisions. The zone press has been giving us problems in conference. We did well. However, it has been nice being home for a week, and we are fixing to have to go on the road to two tough places to play.

On the road, “We need to keep up our efficiency and not settling. We had a lot of open shots. You can go from good to great shots by sharing the ball. 

“Sometimes, making 4-5 passes and getting that great shot makes everybody feels like they are involved in the play. That is what we all look for on the team.”

Ciera Johnson said the coaching got them ready.

“We watched their game against South Carolina, and South Carolina had great pressure, and so we thought we could turn them over a bit with our pressure, so that’s what we decided to go with,” she said.

“The team did a great job of finding me today. I smoked (a layup) that one pass ; I was too happy. I knew I had two points and I got too happy and I missed it. They did great job of finding me, just believing that I was continue to finish inside.”

Team leader Carter said taken what was given, especially free throws, is a constant check off.

“It was big for us, we knew we had not been the shooting the best from the free throw line, but that is just something that we work on every day in practice. 

“We just got to learn to focus in and keep our eyes on the rim, we will get better and finally get going and knock down some free throws.

“It is just us building our confidence at the line and staying consistent with it. We just got to get to the free throw line a little more, getting hit a lot but we will eventually get those calls.”

And, of course, a shooter must shoot.

 “I just play to win,” she said. “If I am not shooting the best game, my team will continue to find me and eventfully the shots will fall down.

“ That’s what I did, I continued to look for Ciera Johnson and look for whoever is open and move the ball on offense to get some easy points. ”

“Coach just told us to see the bigger picture. We know that we are playing for a better seed, an SEC championship, and this win is important to us. It is one game at a time, we got this win and now we are on to the next game, where we are just trying to pick it up and go one game at a time.

“We have just stayed composed and calm. “Sometimes teams make a run on us and our team just stays calm in situations. We know that if we play together and use each other, we can fight back and get a win.

We have been down in a couple games and we have had a couple close games, but we stayed together; these are my sisters and we work hard and play hard. We are going to find a way to win.”

The seven-game win streak, best in three seasons, has raised the team to third in conference, at

midway point after Thursday’s games. 

The top four teams in the league standings receive a double-bye at the SEC Tournament, March 6-10 in Greenville, S.C. 

The six straight wins is second-best in conference behind Mississippi State’s 10.

But at Ole Miss proved an enticing trap. The Rebels, eight games below .500, took a 17-14 edge after one. 

Their 1,591 fans in attendance were exited Johnson had nine points. Following 11 from Carter, 7-of-7 from the line, the Aggies stayed right there at halftime.

It was time for Blair to coach ’em up.

He did. 

They started the second half on a 13-2 run and took the lead for good with that single-digit defensive quarter thing, 18-6. 

They won 72-60. 

The concern remains there is no Aggie bench. They got four from three reserves. Ole Miss got 29 from three extras. A&M also gas no long game, 1-of-9 in this one.

Still, Carter scored 28 with three steals. Sophomore forward N’dea Jones had 10 rebounds. Sophomore guard Kayla Wells scored 17, four above her average, a dozen in the third. Johnson scored 13.

“I thought that was a valiant effort for my group,” said Ole Miss coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin.

“There are still a lot of growing pains. When you get to February, it is all about resilience, toughness and grit. When Texas A&M needed it, they got it from some special players. I thought that was the difference in the game, but I also thought that there were some good things that we can build on for the future.”

Blair said: “I have known (Coach Yo) for a long time and wanted to hire her at one time. When you coach that hard, it is going to rub off on your players.

“Because if not, you are not going to want to come into the dressing room and face that young lady. Ole Miss has a storied history of basketball here. It is going to take time to get it back. I had to start the same way. I was 9-18 my first year. You have to build. You have to recruit. You build your fan base, you go out into the community, you talk, you do all the little things.”

Wells said: “We knew we had to pressure the ball and score off defense. I have a new role. We have so much talent on the floor. I have been stepping up. Anyone can score. So when the offense isn’t coming, we can turn up the defense.”

This week they are at Missouri, a particularly vexing game. They moved up two spots in the national poll.

  

No. 19 Kentucky (18-5)

After two straight losses to other Top 25 teams, in came the scheduled game at Rupp Arena and everyone’s favorite SEC visitor, Florida. They drew an enticing, 10,031, best in the league for the weekend.

The Kats imposed that single-digit quarter thing, a 15-9 second to establish some separation in a 30-25 half. It stayed right there to start the third. 

 Senior guard Maci Morris was all but silent so freshman guard Rhyne Howard picked it up with 12 points and five rebounds into the third.

It was still a five-point UK advantage after three, so that second-quarter effort was holding up. Morris was sill stifled, but gimpy senior guard Taylor Murray hit 8-of-9 free throws and had 10, two short of her average.

Redshirt senior guard Funda Nakkasoglu usually leads the Gators with 16.9 points per game, hitting a team-best 58 3-pointers. She had half that with two 3s.

UK started the final quarter 16-9 and it ended 62-51. Howard had 16, Murray 13 and Morris 10. Florida hit 45 percent of their shots (UK 35) but it did not matter.

This is a game the Kats were supposed to win and did, handling business in the opposite of what Tennessee did not handle during that magnificent losing streak.

Coach Mathew Mitchell said, “They had to work hard for it on a day where the ball didn’t get in the basket a whole lot. We had to rely on our defense and our energetic effort, and that was something we just didn’t feel we had (against South Carolina).

“Give the players a lot of credit for getting that turned around Friday and Saturday in practice. 

“They had a good session this morning, and then I thought we really responded well to an energetic Florida team at the beginning of the game and had a strong, strong finish to the first quarter and just kind of slugged it out the rest of the way.

He said his bench is “Very important. They really gave us a lot of energy. I don’t think we could have got it done today without the bench. 

“We needed some energetic play, and Amanda (Paschal) was incredible. Amanda really, really sparked us when we could not score. She was everywhere, flying around, rebounding the ball, on the floor.

“I thought Jaida (Roper) was just fantastic, and Blair Green maybe her best overall contribution, really was engaged today, made some defensive plays, took some shots at difficult times during the game and made them.”

He praised his injured senior, Murray.

“Well, we just needed it and I’m so happy that she was doing it because against these defenses that really try to clog up the lane and force you into outside shots and bait you into outside shots. 

“Those plays and those aggressive plays we call it just driving it north and south and juts getting it downhill, those plays are very valuable in the game and really energize the team and those were big, big plays. 

“Very small openings and a small gap you have to be decisive and have to hit it with some confidence and she really, really helped us with that today. It was a big, big day for Taylor.

“We need to win some more to position ourselves where we want to be,” he said.

“ We want to make the NCAA Tournament and we have to win some more games. The team knows that, we’ve been very transparent and open with them about what we need to do.

“So it’s great to start February off with a win, they’re hard to get. We’ve earned five of them so far, that was a tough game. We have to give Florida a tremendous amount of credit. They have not had a lot of wins this year, but that was an extremely tough game that could’ve gone anyway. 

“So a huge win to start off February and we just have to stay focused with the few remaining practices we have left. These precious opportunities to get wins in these games, we just have to keep it plugging and get it done.”

“We just did not start that game, nor consistently perform in the game with energy. Nail on the head, we do have to fight, scratch, claw, we have to be an energetic team. I am completely confident we have enough.

“We practiced as hard Friday afternoon as we did on Day 1. So, what you have to do there is…Friday was practice No. 87. 

“You just have to get in your mind that you do have enough to get it done.

“ Practices are getting shorter now, we don’t have very many practices, and the tale of this season is going to unfold for her in the month of February. 

“They do have enough in the tank, they do have the fitness to do it, and when they practice like they did Friday and Saturday, we will just continue to get better. Every team we’ve had, you hit a wall – a mental and emotional wall there at the end of January.

“ It’s hard to get through, but we just face it well.

“ We’ll stick together and I have total confidence they have what it takes to get it done.”

Howard said. “They’ve (coaches) just been emphasizing getting to the basket and being able to finish around the rim whenever I have the mismatch.

“It was a great experience seeing that many people supporting us day in and day out, so it was great.”

Murray said, “t starts with me just being able to keep my team composed and relaxed and if we do get a steal, just run a set, we don’t have to actually score on that steal, so just being composed. I’m a leader on the team on the court, so just whatever I have to do to help us out.”

 As for closing her last season well, “Yeah you think about it, but we have a lot of games to go so we just have to take those one at a time and win those games and once that time comes if we do win we will have one of those four (SEC double-bye) spots.”

 This week UK is at Auburn as they start their sweep of teams from Alabama.