Mike Siroky’s SEC Report: South Carolina Begins to Separate
By Mike Siroky
Three wins by No. 4 South Carolina kept mostly a two-game separation in the best conference in women’s basketball – the Southeastern , which started the week with seven ranked teams.
Tennessee and Texas A&M are one back.
Every ranked SEC team has played 13 games, which is the NCAA minimum right now for consideration in the elimination tournament.
LSU and Florida have also hit the minimum games played requirement with a month to go.
No teams fell out, Tennessee with an otherwise inconsequential loss to No. 3 UConn then took care of then-No. 12 Kentucky at home and moved up to No. 20.
Student/athletes were celebrated with earning degrees at the December break.
Among the women basketball players in the SEC 350 are Yasmeen Ratliff, Taylah Thomas and Macy Weaver (Arkansas); Arianna Henderson (Georgia, a sixth playing graduate); Andra Espinoza-Hunter (Mississippi State); Shug Dickson (Missouri).
No. 12 Michigan has shut down its program for now due to Covid. All Wolverine sports are on a break.
Cam Newbauer of Florida is isolated due to Covid protocols. The team celebrated the win at Ole Miss with him in the locker room via a cellphone link.
In the SEC tournament, if the season makes it that far, Vandy’s closedown keeps them last in the standings.
The No. 11 finisher earns an opening bye. Finishers 12 and 13 have the only play-in game.
This happened in 2013 when Auburn was ineligible for post-season.
South Carolina: Arkansas nay not have been afraid at No. 4 South Carolina, but the loss was inevitable.
Still, it really cost them, four poll spots to No. 19.
This is the part of the season when the Gamecocks remind everyone who is the best team, with three wins.
Arkansas was not much of a challenge, but then that happens to almost all of SC’s opponents, ranked or not.
The Texas A&M game to end the regular season – if the season extends that far – may be the only real conference challenge left and could be revisited if the needless conference tournament is played.
The March Madness of the playoffs all in one place will offer some fun at last.
The Gamecocks had fun in this one, once they found the range.
Each side nervously missed early shots.
N’dea Jones started her rebound work for Arkansas.
Zia Coke hit two free throws for the home team.
Chelsea Dungee – of course – opened Razorback scoring. Brea Beal hit an SC 3. Aliyah Boston scored two layups for SC, sandwiched around a Dungee 3.
Makayla Daniels and Destinee Henderson each scored jumpers for SC.
It was a 13-7 quarter when Boston scored again. Arkansas was hitting a third of its shot, SC almost 50 percent.
If this truly was a stage for the two active players battling for league player of the year – Dungee and Boston – no one could have been disappointed.
Dungee’s posse needed to step up. She had a steal and a layup. Boston missed two. Finally, Amber Ramirez scored for Arkansas.
Dungee made a layup to cut it to 19-17.
More misses and fumbles on both side before Victoria Saxton hit back-to-back layups and Laeticia Amihere hit the next one.
SC led, 25-17, at the first break.
The game trend was set. SC had plenty of scorers.
Arkansas would live and die with Dungee. She had nine. But every SC starter had scored.
The Gamecocks had three 3s to two for the visitors.
The second quarter kept the trend going. The lead was as few as two when Daniels converted a steal into a 3 inside of a minute.
Boston had a double in 16 minutes, 11 points, 11 rebounds with five blocks. Dungee had 14, 2-of-2 3s.
Arkansas caused 10 turnovers.
Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors said of Boston, “I hope she doesn’t come out in the second half, but she probably will. We have to shoot it before we get to her. We had two rebounds we kicked out of bounds. We are gonna need a little bit of luck.
“I’m really proud of how our kids have played.”
Brea Beal had 20 for SC by the end of the 70-61 third, another career record.
Boston had 26, with 16 rebounds, 10 defensive. Henderson had a career-best 10 assists.
Dungee had 22, one of four Razorbacks in double figures. But even with four scoring well the game was no longer on doubt. Maybe SC could get 100.
They could, with the reserves, and a minute left. The final was 104-82. SC was 10-1. Arkansas was 11-5, four conference losses.
SC had but three second-half turnovers, 66 percent from the floor after half.
“We had some plans to have them drive to the basket and I was just there,” said Boston of her defense.
Only two other players in league history have had similar game statistics.
“It’s exciting,” she said. “My mindset coming in is knowing the difference in size, was to take my time finishing.
In the fourth quarter, I was really feeling it (tired). They are just a great team.”
Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors said, “Before we started the game, I was stopped by an usher, a security guard and a concession guy who thanked me for making this safe.
“Those guys just wanted to thank me for our safety effort. I needed our kids to hear that.
“You kinda worry when you see how fast they play, how well-conditioned they are, that’s what they do. And that’s OK. Last year I thought they were on their way to a national championship and this team is that good.
“Boston, she is the best post player. If we did something different, it would just be another one of their players. We need more of those, our best women athletes.
“What I took out of it is how we look doing it. We have not put together 40 minutes on the road. The fact we got off 71 shots is a victory.”
Neighbors also said his kids want to lead the nation in games played, so he is scrambling to find a fill-in for Vandy’s absence, to avoid 13 days without a scheduled game.
He found it, adding UConn this week.
A suspected loss was not as important as a good challenge.
“We are so proud of our team for wanting to play against the best teams in the country,” Neighbors said. “They embrace the challenge of playing against the team that has set the standard for play in our game over the past 25 years. We are thrilled for our fans, too. They get to see another high-quality matchup inside Bud Walton Arena.
“Thanks to our administration for providing our student-athletes the opportunity to make a game of this magnitude happen so quickly. Coach Auriemma has been nice to me since my first year in college basketball and we can’t thank him and his staff enough for making this game happen.”
All-American A’ja Wilson had a statue dedicated to her outside of the arena, the first in the SEC. In her acceptance speech, she said her family once was not allowed to even walk on campus and now there is a statue there.
Neighbors tweeted a picture of it before the game. All the players mentioned it post-game.
Back to game comments, Dawn Staley said, “I am happy for Bree. She has had to work in the shadows. The thing is, she has never stopped working.
“As Destinee goes, we go. She plays heavy minutes and she is just that reliable.
To reduce them down to 13 3s, that’s a stat I can point to. It is hard to compare Arkansas to anyone else; they are just that different. Being connected from the defensive standpoint.”
Comparing Boston to Wilson, the player who jumpstarted the program, Staley said, “The statistics speak for themselves, It’s right there, in step.”
It was Arkansas’ only game of the week.
Georgia, which jumped into the national rankings at 22, was the next visitor, so it was back-to-back ranked teams that didn’t look like it against SC.
Guard Sarah Ashlee Barker was the league rookie of the week, the first Bulldog to win the award twice in one season since 2016.
Georgia had lost 12-straight in the series and has not defeated a top 5 team since 2013, under the previous administration.
It was Georgia’s only game of the week.
The big focus was Jen Staiti in the middle, the only other true center in the league against Boston. She is an all-SEC performer.
Georgia is second in the league with 80 total blocks, with 37 by Staiti.
SC is first in America in blocked shots per game, 7.6, fourth in total blocked shots, 84. Georgia is 11th in blocked shots per game, 6.2, fifth in total blocked shots, 80.
SC leads the nation with 52 rebounds per game. They average 77 points per games against ranked teams.
Irregardless of the statistics, Boston won the battle as SC won the game, 62-50.
Boston tripled with 16 points, 10 blocks and 11 rebounds. Zia Cooke also scored 16.
Staiti and Que Morrison each scored 15 for Georgia.
They had 23 turnovers and lost rebounds by 10. They only got to the line six times and hit five.
SC started out 15-10, Victoria Saxton made the first layup.
Boston had a steal and two blocks, with four rebounds. Staiti had three rebounds, a layup and a foul.
Cooke led all scorers with eight. Team rebounds were even at 12.
Early in the second, Beal and Saxton each had two fouls.
SC is two teams deep, as in Laeticia Amihere and LeLe Grisset would be starters on other SEC teams and came on in.
South Carolina pushed the lead to 10.
Then came a 15-8 second quarter SC was in control to stay, 30-18.
Boston had 11 and Cooke 10. SC had nine steals and Georgia had 15 turnovers.
SC pushed the lead to 40-24 in the third.
Georgia could not find answers. It was a 20-10 third.
The end was as expected by Georgia coach Joni Taylor.
“We just had to take of the basketball and we just didn’t do that,” she said. “ Every time we gave them the ball, it was points for them.
“It is attributable to Carolina and their defense. When you’re playing a team like that, you cannot have lulls in your offense. When you’re down by 12 already, you cannot let them have a 20-point third quarter.”
The Bulldogs fell to 4-2 in conference, four games behind SC and already playing for second in conference. It was their only game of the week. Arkansas visits next.
Cooke said, “I definitely had some deep conversations with coach to see what I needed to be doing. Coach told us the defense is what we had to work on. So that was our focus. They’re used to transition and easy buckets, so that’s how we stopped them.”
SC allowed just seven points off their 20 turnovers.
Boston’s triple double is the first in program history in a conference game.
“I had no idea,” she said. “In fact when I went back in late we thought I needed another block and then I came out without one. But they discovered I had already done it.”
She had several blocks on one Staiti possession, which a video review found.
Staley said, “Georgia’s defense was pretty good. But our defense settled us down.
“It was that type of game. It wasn’t a smooth game. Aliyah Boston is probably the smartest one out there on the floor.
“But we couldn’t draw that third foul on Staiti. They are much improved. They’re committed to pushing the ball down the floor.
“We have to do a better job.”
Despite the loss, Georgia stayed at No. 22.
SC then was at usually inconsistent LSU to finish its trifecta week. LSU was among the group two back of SC in conference.
The Gamecocks could never pull away because LSU would not let them and they lost the second quarter by three.
The Ben-Gals were competent enough to stay even after that. In the first couple of minutes of the fourth the real SC showed up to take a five-point edge with a 9-2 run.
Was LSU out of gas?
SC showed no nerves. They were competently in rhythm.
LSU was suddenly limited to one-and-done possessions. Two free throws made it a three-point game.
Boston spun for a close-in jumper. She already had a double, 15 points and 12 rebounds.
But Khayla Pointer drove for a layup.
Then Karli Seay made a steal and drove the length for another layup. In a one-point game, Zia Cooke missed a jumper and LSU claimed the rebound with 4:41 left.
Staley was very active on the sideline, trying to transfer her energy to her team. They needed a stop more than points.
They got one, LeLe Grisset streaked down court ahead of the defense for a basket. Tiara Young answered for LSU.
Down to three minutes, LSU got back-to-back rebounds but could not convert.
SC had 23-6 fast break points.
Young hit again, Boston answered with a 15-footer.
Another fast break basket and the lead was the largest for either side, 64-57 with 1:40 left.
Grisset had eight points in the closing minutes, six straight field goals for the visitors.
A contested call on a charge turned it back to the home team.
LSU was inefficient at coming back, almost moving in slow motion compared to SC’s transition game.
Faustine Aifuwa was1of-7, losing the center battle with Boston, which hurt LSU. Khayla Pointer scored 18.
Boston had 20 points with 14 rebounds. She had doubled in the first half.
Four others were in double figures. But they struggled at the line, 13-of-25. LSU was 13-of-17 at the line.
It ended 69-65, 26 SEC wins in a row for SC.
"I think when you aren't putting the ball in the hole, and I said this to them, 'If we are not on the offensive glass and we are not back in transition, then where are you?' There was too much spectating, too much looking and not sprinting and getting back,” said LSU coach Nikki Fargas.
“ They were obviously very adamant about pushing tempo. The layups were coming from them being able to rebound it and then kick it ahead.
“Whenever you are playing a team that is doing that, you have to have everyone committed to getting back and I didn't feel like we had that commitment."
“It was just that, to go small and go quicker,” said Staley. “We needed to pick the pace up. There was a huge benefit in putting LeLe in there, with her runouts.
“Aliyah beats herself up and that’s why she gets better. She was probably tired, but that comes with wanting to play perfectly, embracing the physicality.
“Putting Destiny Henderson on the wing, playing some zone at the end of the game is something we can use in the future.
“I told them in the locker room, I am probably tougher on them than they’re used to. In the foxhole, they were surprised the way I was yelling at them. We cannot play at their pace.”
SC has winnable games against Alabama and Auburn before a national showdown with UConn.
Tennessee started its week with a competitive game against No. 3 UConn.
The loss was expected but it took until the fourth on national cable to get to the 67-61 finish.
The last quarter was UConn’s only quarter it won, 22-12. This is actually a rebuilding year for UConn, a team with no seniors.
Kellie Harper played in earlier games of the series and is the initial UT player to take them on as a coach.
The late Pat Head scuttled the powerhouse series in a recruiting tiff with Geno Auriemma. He has since surpassed all the Head records.
Perhaps this one showed the UConn rust of a young team, having only played six games due to all the Covid kerfluffle.
Despite the previous season’s blowout at UConn, Harper was ready for a rematch.
In her two short seasons she has yet to defeat more than one ranked team in each which now means ranked above them.
“I think we are a better basketball team, overall,” Harper said. “We have grown; everybody is a year older and a little bit more mature.
“We have had some pretty good games this year that we have been excited about. So, I am hoping that the experience that we have had in the last year will help us.
“A lot of people worked hard to make this a big game for women’s basketball nationwide. And to have those games in our sport, I think is really good because people tune in and people watch.”
She sees comparisons to UConn teams she played against.
“I think they are so similar because they are just so sharp and fundamentally sound on both ends of the court at every position. And to me, when you see their team play, they are identified by those characteristics. That has not changed.
“That, for me, some of the biggest memories are just the fans and how passionate both sides are and how much they enjoyed not liking the other team. They loved that part.
“Both sides could really have a lot of passion and a lot of emotion in that game. And obviously, just some specifics of talented players on both ends and some fantastic games with big plays made, because there were some good ones.”
“We haven’t yet gotten into too much detail with our team, but I think the first thing is to guard the entire court with them. They are so fundamentally sound, so you have to be able to guard all people on the court all the time.
“Offensively for us, it’s taking care of the basketball. Making sure we get good looks, I think, is going to be really important.
“So, for us, we are just going out to be the best team we can be and be as prepared as we can be to walk out there, and we are excited about competing.”
Against UConn, both sides had an early 3 and the score was tied at 5.
In the previous season, both centers had gotten in foul trouble early.
This was a guard game to start.
Nothing exciting was happening.
Starting guard Paige Bueckers, the national recruit of the year, drove deep on an early possession but was stifled. She scored nine in this one. She took time out in the fourth to have her left ankle retaped but returned to finish.
Evina Westbrook , the transfer from UT, also starts in her first season at UConn. She scored 15, 3-of-5 3s.
Coach Geno Auriemma is a fan of both of his primary guards. UConn’s Audrey Griffin had taken three 3s all season but took two in the first quarter, hitting one.
UT scored twice inside and led by two but UConn answered, Griffin on a drive and a free throw, making it 12-all.
Rae Burrell and Tamari Key split UT’s points.
UT’s Rennia Davis was lacking, 0-for-5, and sitting with two fouls.
She responded to score 11, but is far from the player she was projected to be before Harper’s system arrive.
UConn was going with its starters for the quarter.
Tennessee missed its final two shots, but did gain two free throws from senior center Kasiyahna Kushkituah and led, 17-16, at the first stop.
UConn had never trailed after one in its first six wins.
Neither side could lead by more than three.
The usual Tennessee advantage, 11 players more than six feet tall, was keeping it tight.
Auriemma gave his forward line permission to shoot from outside, playing the halfcourt game.
Griffin and Christyn Williams each had two fouls and sat down. Westbrook hit her first basket as a visiting player in Knoxville, part of an 8-0 UConn run.
But she only scored four more in the final quarters. Burrell stopped that with her 14th point, including all three 3s.
Tennessee was also leading rebounds by nine, eight by Tamari Key.
She had three blocks in the half.
Tennessee only averages five made 3s per game, but had that many in the half.
UConn, trailing for a second quarter, was led by Westbrook’s eight in the half.
“The game doesn’t resemble what it used to resemble, for both teams, the last time we were here (2006), said Auriemma.
“We’re not changing anything because we can’t get any bigger. Things that we can do is like somebody make a free throw (5-of-12), somebody make a wide open shot. Right now, we can’t shoot. If we start making shots in the second half, we’ll be OK.”
UConn still trailed at the end of three, 49-45, after shanking the last two shots. Williams had scored 15.
She finished ahead of everyone with 20 points.
The Huskies opened the fourth with a demoralizing 7-1 run, yet Tennessee only trailed by two, 52-50 with 7:53 left. Davis tied it with a jumper on the next possession.
Westbrook was not to be denied. She hit back-to-back 3s as part of a 9-0 run that gave UConn a 61-52 lead.
Maria Suárez started a final UT run with a long-range 3 with 4:26 to.
The Lady Vols scored six unanswered and the lead was two with 55 seconds to go.
They forced UConn to use most of the shot clock..
The magnificent freshman, Bueckers, hit a 3 as it was about to expire, off a feed from Westbrook.
“When that one came off her hand, we all knew it was going,” Westbrook said. “She knew it, the bench knew it. I felt like the crowd knew it.”
That was the kill shot, with 25 seconds left. UConn could focus on free throws for the win.
“It was a difficult game for Paige,” Auriemma added. “I always say, you don’t lose the game on one play. But one play, one big play, can win you the game. And we had some really big plays.
“They’re just so hard to play against, man,” Auriemma said. “They’re just so big. They’re so big, so big.
“Those first three quarters, it would have been really easy for us to just let it get away and leave here with an L. But games like this are somewhat rewarding.”
Westbrook concluded, “Especially when we’re hitting shots, we had to nail down on the defensive end,” she said. “Everyone knew that.
“Talking in the huddle, it was like, ‘Hey, shot goes up, we have to box out. There’s just no other way. We have to box out. We have to get the rebounds. We have to try to get them off the boards as much as possible.’
“Even though our offense wasn’t flowing like we would have wanted it to, our defense came in, we got stops when we needed to, rebounded when we needed to, make shots when we needed to, too.”
Harper said she was disappointed, of course.
“It’s probably going to be one of the best environments of the year for women’s basketball. We felt like we had a pretty good game plan. Our players were confident. Obviously in the fourth quarter, we could not find a bucket. They changed their defense a little bit and that threw us off.
“When you’re not scoring, like we were in the fourth. Connecticut is a god basketball team.”
UConn scored 14 points off 16 turnovers.
“We want to cut down on those; we had 27 last year,” Harper said.
“Individually, the players are thinking what can they do. The good thing is the losses we have had, we have come out of it better.
“I will never get complacent, accustomed to losing. But we can grow.”
With Kentucky rescheduled, Harper had the opportunity for four straight home games.
“Any time you can stay home and play, I think it’s good,” she said. When you’re on the road, you have a lot of control over your players.
“You know where they’re at, they’re in the hotel. It’s just different, but I do like a homestand.
“You get maybe a little bit more rehab in and do some different things at home. It will be nice because we’re starting classes up as well, so they can really be here and use the resources here on campus for their classes.
“On the flip side, at some point we will have some road games down the stretch. If that’s the next game up, it’s the next game up.”
Off the court, her team has the highest grade point average in program history.
“Our staff did an unbelievable job. Our staff really monitors things academically and keeps our players on track, I’m really proud of their effort, because these are tough times with Covid, online classes and how you have to stay up to date and current.
“The players have to communicate, so I’m really proud of them.
“I’m also proud of my staff because our players know that we emphasize the academic piece. Our players know that’s really important. We talk about it. We’re there to support our academic staff as much as possible. I’m really proud of the Thornton Center, our staff, but extremely proud of our team.”
Jordan Horston has emerged as the team leader.
“Jo has really stepped her game up,” Harper said.
“She had really taken a big (leap) from last year to this year, and I’m so excited for her.
“One thing she does well that I really enjoy is that she communicates well. She’ll be on the court, and she’ll come over and ask me what I’m seeing.
“ I enjoy that communication, and I think you have to have that.
“She’s calling a lot of shots out there when she’s on the court, and she needs to know how I’m thinking and what I’m thinking.
“We’ve been in practice a few times recently and in the middle of a drill, she is saying what we say. She is repeating the language that we have. It’s a simple drill. She’s saying, ‘Grab the ball with two hands.’
“ It’s a very simple drill, but now we’re starting to hear our coaching points come out of the players’ mouths.
“That’s when you know you’ve taken a big step forward when we’re all trying to do the little things together.”
For UK, it was on to rival Tennessee in a rescheduled game, and a possible trap game.
UK moved 6-4 sophomore Olivia Owens into the starting lineup to combat Tennessee height advantage but gave up points with her 5.0 average.
A key matchup was 5-5 spark Chasity Patterson and 13 points a game against UT’s Jordan Horston, 6-2 and nine points per game.
This rivalry was deferred earlier this month, when UT was on Covid lockdown.
The Lady Vols were coming off an excruciating loss to No. 3 UConn, also in Knoxville.
At 9-4, UT was already a game ahead of UK, 2-1 vs. 3-1 in conference.
One of them would be two games behind South Carolina after this.
Tennessee wanted to protect home court.
In recent seasons, only the team that wins all of its league home games wins conference.
The instability of the Covid era makes each game irreplaceable.
A national cable audience had the broadcast for two nationally ranked teams, No. 25 vs. No. 12 at tipoff, with former UT grad assistant Carolyn Peck on the call.
Rennia Davis only recently has shaken her season-long inconsistencies for UT, playing better in conference, 17 points and eight rebounds per game in league play as her potential games dwindle in the senior countdown.
For UK, Rhyne Howard was in her second game after missing one for UK due to a severely sprained left ankle, averaging 20 points and seven rebounds per game.
UT’s best is Rae Burrell, also at 17 points per game.
McKinney started it with a 3 after UT hit an initial free throw, but UT responded with the next 12.
Suarez tied it after a rebound, then Davis hit a 3 after each side contested possessions.
More contentious misses and Davis scored again, then Tamari Key after a feed from Jordan Walker.
UK was shooting 20 percent against the taller Lady Vols. UT was hitting better than 70 percent from the field.
The ESPN commentators had predicted UK would “get after it with a killer mentality.” Not so much so far. Rhyne Howard was 1-of-5.
This was the first coaching matchup between former UT teammates Kyra Elzy and Kellie Harper,
UK rallied to cut it to 18-12.
There would be no runaway yet.
No Kat had more than three.
Davis had seven and Key six.
Neither could seize control in an ugly 10-9 second quarter, UT ahead.
The Lady Vols scored the first six of the third, all by Key, and were ahead by 11.
Key was in double figures for the fifth straight games.
UT was winning in the paint, 23-12.
Howard only had five. She had never lost to her home state school.
Davis moved to her sixth double, 35th career, 10 points and 13 rebounds.
The 22-9 third for UT dismissed the Kats. Davis had 15 defensive rebounds as part of a career-best 20 rebounds. The entire UK team had 25.
No All-American in this one, Howard was 2-of-13 from the field, leading to UK’s 26 percent shooting.
The lead remained at 18.
The announcers somehow discovered they had been wrong in the pregame in praising UK and began a UT lovefest on commentary as if they knew it all along.
Davis popped a 3.
There was plenty of time left.
Kasiyahna Kushkituah drove and scored.
The Lady Vols have 34 or more points inside every game. She scored 11 off the bench.
UK had 39 points with four minutes left, a program low.
They were 2-of-13 on 3s at that point.
Key was pulled with a career-best 19 points, 8-of-10 from the field. She had led the defense on Howard.
UK was exposed as one-dimensional.
It mercifully ended 70-50.
The Lady Vols dribbled out the clock, Tennessee stayed one game back in the standings, as close as anyone.
UK was no longer No. 12 in the nation. Tennessee moved into the Top 20.
Harper had first defeated ranked teams for the third time in her short coaching career here.
UK coach Kyra Elzy said, “We got knocked down tonight. We did not match their intensity. I will reevaluate myself as well as the team.
“ We didn’t generate any points off of our defense.
“It was just unacceptable.” They dropped three spots to No. 15 with the loss.
Key said they used as motivation not finishing well against UConn. “We work hard on rebounding, something we really take pride in. Our biggest thing was we were not boxing out against UConn, so we wanted to correct that today.
“We wanted to not let Rhyne have a game today.”
Davis said, “Just knowing what my team needed me today, I needed the boards. It’s just a mindset and effort.
“This year, especially in the locker room, we will not lose two in a row. We needed to change the way we play in the third quarter. We have a common goal of simply wanting to win.”
Harper said she is happy to show America their resume, that she is very pleased.
“I wasn’t as happy at halftime,” she said. We are now fun to watch. Good players make coaches look good.
“I am happy and proud of our team. We are playing with great confidence. We are fun to watch.
“I would have enjoyed sitting down and watching that pretty third quarter.”
UT plays next after a week off, with two winnable games, against Ole Miss and Florida.
UK had won three straight in the series, the program’s best.
They will rematch in Lexington on Feb. 11.
Kentucky: The Kats started with an uninspirational win at Auburn which is circling the drain at 5-8, 0-fer the conference.
This is another team that should walk away now, saving travel money and not risking Covid exposure.
This is one of those go teams which may be scheduled for a regime change.
Junior Blair Green scored 18 as then-No. 12 Kentucky held on at Auburn, 76-71.
Green hit 7-of-9 from the field, including 2-of-3 3s.
Rhyne Howard, testing a twisted left ankle, started with three first-half points but finished with 14 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals and a blocked shot.
Robyn Benton and Dre'una Edwards each had 10 points for the Kats.
UK’s 3s were critical. They made 10, twice as many as Auburn.
Kentucky won its 11th overall and remain two games back of South Carolina, 4-2.
UK opened the scoring on a right-side 3 from Chasity Patterson but Auburn scored the next four .
The Kats answered on a 3 from KeKe McKinney, then Auburn scored four in a row.
Jazmine Massengill hit a 3 to give UK at 9-8 lead and the lead kept bobbling.
Then Kentucky put together a 9-2 run to take an 18-12 lead with 2:26 left.
Howard hit a 3 and fed Tatyana Wyatt’s layup. Edwards scored two layups and UK had won the quarter, 22-17, with seven scorers.
The second quarter kept the back-and-forth going. with the UK lead staying between four and seven.
Green’s 3 with 4:34 left in the half made the difference eight.
After Auburn got a 3 from Jala Jordan, Kentucky scored six in a row, four more by Green, to lead 38-27 with 2:41 left in the half.
But Auburn would score five of the last seven points in the half.
Kentucky won the quarter and led, 40-32.
After the break, Green stayed hot, hitting a 3. UK stretched the lead to as much as 14.
Auburn would not fold.
The Tigers went on a 10-2 run to cut the lead to 54-48 with 3:01 left in the third, prompting a UK timeout.
That's when Howard struck, hitting a 3, then a layup to give the Cats a 59-48 lead with 1:28 left in the third quarter. UK won a third consecutive quarter, 19-18 and led.
Green kept Kentucky going in the fourth, hitting a jumper inside the paint to extend the UK lead to 61-50.
Auburn would get a Unique Thompson basket before Howard drilled a 3 to give the Cats a 64-52 lead with 9:04 to play.
A McKinney layup with 2:43 to play gave UK an 11-point advantage.
Auburn responded with a 7-1 run to cut the UK lead to 72-67 with 67 seconds to go.
The Kats finished with four free throws inside the final minute.
Even though the home team won the quarter, 21-17, it was not enough. Auburn is still winless in the league.
Elzy said, “It’s a great win, any win in the SEC, especially on the road, is a great win.
“Great to have Rhyne Howard back on the floor. She gives us composure. She’s a great passer on the night she is struggling.
“We preach team basketball, not just a good shot but a great shot. We have a lot of people who can score in many positions.
“Moving forward, we have to start playing much more intense defensively. I didn’t think we handle the press well tonight. We floated the ball too much. It’s always going to be a dogfight in the SEC. The ability to close games is so important.”
Then came the slapdown at Tennessee. They have three winnable games to recover before UT comes to Lexington.
Texas A&M was at lowly Missouri for its only game if the week.
Mizzou is going nowhere for the second straight season, now 5-5, 1-4 in the SEC.
It took a while for the No. 8 Aggies to get interested.
They allowed the Tigers to start 11-7.
Cierra Johnson grabbed a defensive rebound but fumbled it out of bounds.
Players were falling all over the floor, but not many fouls were called.
A&M hung in, down by five as the quarter waned. A&M hit a third of its shots in the quarter.
The Aggies need to shake off the rust, though Blair did not look concerned as they played down to their opponents’ level.
A Destiny Pitts 3 gave the Aggies its first lead, part of a 15-0 start to the quarter.
She then missed two straight.
There was an overall two-minute scoring drought. Missouri time out.
LaDazhia Williams made a jumper to break the Tiger scoring drought.
But Pitts hit a 3.
It was 38-30 (a 25-12 quarter) at the half.
They had allowed a six-point bailout -- two 3s in the final minute and a half.
Jones had eight points and nine rebounds at half. Cierra Johnson had 10 points.
Williams led Mizzou with eight. Alexis Moore was available for A&M, having missed four games due to injury, but Blair said she needed to earn back playing time.
Missouri was off ti a hot start in the third, but A&M recovered.
Blair ditched the suitcoat to start really coaching with as one-point lead.
Eight 3s vs. three for A&M kept it close.
The quarter vacillated to a 55-50 A&M lead. Jones got her program-best 36th double.
In the fourth, a Williams layup for the Tigers tied it at 60 with 4:30 left. Nobody could seize control. Jones and Johnson had 14 each for A&M.
Missouri drove for its first lead since the second quarter.
Blair put Jordan Nixon in to control the ball.
Kayla Wells tied it at 62 on a drive. Jones took her 16th rebound but fumbled it.
Wells scored off a feed by Nixon, then scored again Jones got another rebound with a two-point lead and a minute left.
In that final minute, Nixon’s four free throws were the only Aggie points. Wilson, a 69 percent free throw shooter, missed two.
Missouri’s failure to inbounds gave A&M the ball with five seconds left.
A&M won, 70-66.
Jones and Johnson each scored 14, Jones moved to second on the all-time program list with 922 rebounds.
At one point, she had three straight rebounds on one possession. Williams scored 20 for Arkansas, eight above her average. Two others were held below their averages.
“It’s hard to feel like a winner, but they just didn’t make a play,” Blair said. “We only had nine turnovers to their 16. We made some mistakes Sometimes, you got to learn how to win ugly, especially on the road.
“When you’re not on, just take the ball inside. You have got to have a little street ball in you. We have no excuses. We are not pleased, the players are not pleased.”
The 14 wins lead the nation.
Coach Robin Pingeton is closing in on the end of her Tiger career.
A&M’s next game, at Auburn, is equally winnable, then they’re home for Georgia.
Mississippi State: They somehow dropped two spots, to No. 21 with a week off, anticipating South Carolina’s visit this week.
posted by Mel Greenberg | 5:11 PM
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