Junior guard Blair Green scored a career-high 17 points in UK’s 79-45 win
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Junior Blair Green scored a career-high 17 points as the ninth-ranked Kentucky women’s basketball team beat Marshall 79-45 on Wednesday night at Memorial Coliseum.
Kentucky (5-0) got a balanced scoring effort in the contest. In addition to Green’s 17 points, UK got 13 points and eight rebounds from Dre’una Edwards and 13 points, five rebounds and five assists from Rhyne Howard. Olivia Owens was the fourth Wildcat in double figures, scoring a season-high 10 points. All 11 players who played for Kentucky in the game scored at least two points.
After struggling on offense at times early in the season, Kentucky found its rhythm on this night. The Cats made 33 of 61 (54.1 percent) from the floor, including seven of 22 (31.8 percent) from behind the arc in the game. Meanwhile, the Cats held Marshall to 14 of 46 (30.4 percent) from the field and just three of 20 (15 percent) from behind three-point territory.
Kentucky outscored Marshall 18-8 in points off turnovers and 13-4 in second chance points. The Cats also dominated the rebounding battle (40-26) and points in the paint (40-18).
The Cats got off to a very fast start, hitting their first four field goals, including two three-pointers from Howard, to race to a 10-0 lead. After missing a shot, the Cats extended the lead to 13-0 on a three from Blair Green with 5:30 left in the quarter, prompting a Marshall timeout.
Marshall (1-1) finally got on the board on an Alexis Johnson layup with 4:41 to play in the first. The Herd would cut the UK lead to 15-6 before Robyn Benton rattled home a three from the left side to extend the UK lead to 18-6. Kentucky would lead 22-7 after the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Marshall would try to chip away at the UK lead but each time they did, the Cats would answer the score. Kentucky’s first five baskets in the period came from six different players (Green, Patterson, Edwards, Tatyana Wyatt, Benton and Olivia Owens). The Herd would cut the UK lead to eight, 34-26, on a basket by former Kentucky Miss Basketball Savannah Wheeler, but Kentucky scored the last seven points of the half to take a 41-26 lead into the break.
Eight different Wildcats scored in the first half, led by Green’s nine points and eight from Howard.
Marshall would score the first three points of the second half, on three free throws, to cut the UK lead ot 41-29. But the Cats scored five of the next seven points to grab a 46-31 lead with 7:43 to play in the third. From there, Kentucky closed the quarter on a 17-3 run to lead 63-36 with 10 minutes of action remaining.
In the fourth quarter, Kentucky would continue to stretch the lead with the 34-point final margin being the largest lead of the game.
Kentucky returns to action on Sunday, hosting Samford at Memorial Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on SEC Network Plus.
Interim Head Coach Kyra Elzy
On what you saw in the game tonight….
“Thank you, I’m glad to be back. I’m so excited for our team today. We got off to a great start offensively. I thought we shared the ball, and shot the ball extremely well, 54 percent from the field, so that’s a great start.”
On four players scoring in double figures…
“We slowed down offensively. I thought we did a better job of executing in the half court, sharing the ball, really taking the time to see what the defense gave us, and capitalizing on it. Rhyne Howard had five assists, Dre (Dre’una Edwards) had five assists, so really moving the ball – great ball movement.”
On shooting the ball well and how huge Blair Green was…
“Blair was huge tonight, so happy for her. Just to see her hard work pay off, but also, Blair has really bought into her role. You know, a year ago, she was really set on how she was supposed to score. It was supposed to look a certain way. We really challenged her to let her know that she can score in a variety of way and to not box herself in as you got to see tonight. She ran in transition, she was so active defensively, proud of her defense, so she scored points off of her defense, she hit open shots, so it was a great night for Blair, and we hope to see more of that from her.”
On how important it was to get off to a great start…
“Well, it’s always great to get off to a great start and shoot the ball, obviously that gives you a lot of confidence, you’re not pressing offensively, so I thought we had a better offensive flow. We’re coming off of a big win against Indiana, and I was so proud of our fight and heart and resilience, however, you have to put that game behind you and move forward. What you do next is the most important thing, so I was proud that we stayed intense and we stayed focused in order to get a win tonight.”
On how to learn from your team in situations where the outcome isn’t necessarily in question…
“Well, you continue to challenge yourself and work on your deficiencies. You know, one of our challenges tonight was to hold Marshall to 55 points or less, that was a focus of ours. You know, try to stay intense defensively. We had a goal of 16 offensive rebounds. We got to 12, so we did not reach that goal, but you know, just making short term goals to help you move forward to get better as a team. Obviously, we have goals that we are trying to reach and achieve, and you have to get better every day.”
On transition defense…
“Well, Coach (Niya) Butts is right – transition defense, transition defense, transition defense. You know, I thought we started the game great. Chasity Patterson, we challenged her to pick the ball up early, everybody sprint back. You know, we did give up some easy layups when we had a sub, but some of those are newcomers or are freshmen that are still learning. But overall, I was happy about our transition defense. We still have to get better at one-on-one defense, too many straight-line drives. The intensity is there, now it is just working on the proper technique.”
On when Emma King and KeKe McKinney might return…
“Well, Emma is still out for COVID protocol, and KeKe, we look forward to having her back, but she is day-to-day right now with her shoulder.”
On Marshall cutting the lead to eight in the first half…
“Well, we took the timeout, we were not organized defensively. We were not, too many straight line drive, we were not playing in the proper position, as far as help, so we just really challenged them. One-on-one, go back to the things that we worked on in practice, so we took a step forward to actually getting to help, but then stepping in to take a charge instead of trying to block the shot, and then just challenge them offensively. All game, we wanted to push the tempo, really play in our early actions, try to get the step up screen, try to rescreen, try to go in our gun action, and try not to reset every time so we’re not putting as much pressure on our half-court offense.”
On where you see Nyah Leveretter fitting in this season…
“Yeah, well, it was good to be able to play our bench tonight. They will be an X factor. With COVID, you never know who you’re going to take to the court with practice or games, so preparing your bench to be ready when your name is called is important. Our freshmen are extremely talented, but they’re still lacking experience, but was so proud of Nyah tonight. She plays so hard as you can see. She’s like a pogo-stick, she can jump out of the gym, has a great knack for basketball, so just challenging her to slow down in the paint. Take her time. Try to finish. We challenged Treasure (Hunt) just to play hard defensively, I thought she tried to make some hustle plays, get some 50-50 balls. As you can see, Erin Toller is gifted offensively, she has great court vision and she can score, so I’m excited about the future of our freshmen.”
On how often you and Matthew Mitchell talk…
“Well, we always talk. We’re brother and sister, so we always stay connected. He sends wonderful texts and words of encouragement. He is always here if I need him. He is part of the Wildcat family forever, so he will always be involved.”
#10 Rhyne Howard, G, Jr.
On jumping out to a quick lead against Marshall…
“We knew we had to come out with high intensity and good defensive effort because when we get to tougher games than what we had tonight, it’s going to matter in the long run, so we knew we had to set an example from the beginning.”
On your performance coming off the Indiana game…
“I do definitely feel comfortable, especially being back out with my team, like you said. I feel like I made good plays, or I got everyone involved, or when I needed to take the shot, I took the shot. I think I am finding a groove, like you said, so I am really excited for the rest of the season.”
On how good it was to see Blair Green play like she did…
“It was great seeing Blair come out and play like that, especially when I’m looking to give it to her every time because she has the hot hand, that she can capitalize on it and make good plays, it’s great.”
#5 Blair Green, G, Jr.
On getting into a rhythm tonight…
“Yeah, this year I really feel like my confidence is up. I’ve put in a lot of work. The last game, I didn’t shoot very well, but it didn’t put my confidence down, I just knew I had to come back out and be more aggressive tonight.”
On how important it was to set the tone early, especially after the Indiana game…
“Stepping up to this game, I mean, we can’t take any game – I mean everyone is tough that we play, so we really wanted to make a statement that we’re supposed to be where we’re supposed to be and not back down from anyone. So, just coming out with all of the intensity and bringing our defense to the plate really shows a lot about us.”
On this team stepping up and scoring…
“Yeah, everyone on this team is a really great player. I mean, we can all score, we can all rebound. I think that is what makes us really tough and really dangerous about our team. We can all play, and every night is someone else’s night and it is even better when we can all pitch in and get in double figures.”
On Coach Kyra Elzy calling a timeout when Marshal cut Kentucky’s lead to eight points…
“She pretty much just told us that we’re not playing Kentucky defense, and we’re not playing the way that we’re supposed to play. We really took that to heart and we came back out with more intensity because we should not be within eight points of that team, so I think we showed up.”
On guards that can help you on a break…
“Oh, a lot. I mean, that’s what we work on in practice and that makes the game a whole lot more fun when we can do that. So, we take transition to heart, so when we can have runs like that, it makes the game that much more fun.”
On if the game is slowing down for you with experience…
“Oh, definitely. I mean, you’re mind just slows down and you just have to take a deep breath once you get that serious into it, and yeah, it is definitely slowing down, just through all the practices and all the work that we’ve done, so yeah, it slows down quite a bit.”
On transition defense…
“Yeah, transition defense is definitely something we try to take pride in and just picking up the ball and full-court press, so I think we did a great job with the intensity. A few times we let them get a few runs, but I thought we came back and really stepped it up and started playing Kentucky defense.”
No. 9 Kentucky 79, Marshall 45 – FINAL
Team Records and Series Notes
- Kentucky is 5-0 on the year, while Marshall is 1-1.
- This was Marshall’s first road game of the season.
- This was game two of a three-game homestand for Kentucky. UK is 2-0 on this stretch.
- This was the 17th all-time meeting between Kentucky and Marshall in women’s basketball with UK owning a 15-2 lead in the series.
- UK holds a 10-0 mark in Lexington.
- This was only the fourth meeting between the two schools since 2003.
- Kyra Elzy is in her first season as interim head coach at Kentucky.
- Elzy is now 5-0 as head coach of Kentucky.
- Elzy’s strong start ties the second-most wins to start a season for a first-year head coach in program history. Sharon Fanning started 5-0 in her first year in 1987-88, while Terry Hall holds the program record with a 9-0 start in her first season in 1980-81.
- UK is now 850-548 all-time in its 47th year of varsity women’s basketball.
- The Wildcats have had great success in Memorial Coliseum, sitting 465-159 overall in the historic building
- Kentucky has won 27 straight non-conference home games inside Memorial Coliseum dating back to December of 2017 when it lost back-to-back games to UofL and Cal.
- Kentucky is ranked No.9 in the latest AP Top 25 and USA Today/Coaches Top 25. This is Kentucky’s highest ranking since 2015-16.
- UK is 17-6 all-time as the No. 9 team in the nation.
- Kentucky will return to action Sunday, Dec. 13 at 2 p.m. ET vs. Samford inside Memorial Coliseum. The game will be streamed on SEC Network+.
Team Notes
- Kentucky used the starting combination of senior guard Chasity Patterson, sophomore forwards Dre’una Edwards and Olivia Owens, junior guard Blair Green and junior guard Rhyne Howard.
- This was the first time this season that UK has used this starting combination.
- This was the first career start for Olivia Owens.
- Rhyne Howard scored first for Kentucky in the game – the first time this season she has been the first Wildcat to score.
- Kentucky started the game on a 13-0 run, which was its longest run of the season.
- UK has had at least a 10-0 in every game this season.
- UK outscored Marshall 22-7 in the first quarter, going 8-of-15 from the field and 4-of-7 from 3.
- UK’s 22 points was its second highest in the first quarter this season, while limiting Marshall to seven points was the lowest output by a UK opponent in the first quarter this year.
- Marshall doubled their scoring total from the first quarter in the first two minutes of the second quarter. Overall, the Thundering Herd and Wildcats were tied 19-19 in the second quarter.
- UK ended the second quarter on a 7-0 run thanks to an and-one from Robyn Benton, jumper by Blair Green and then a steal and layup by Green.
- Marshall’s 19 points in the second quarter were the most UK has allowed an opponent this season. The previous was 15 by Indiana.
- Marshall went 7-of-11 from the field in the second quarter.
- Eighteen of Marshall’s 26 first-half points came in the paint or at the free-throw line.
- UK turned it back up in the third quarter, outscoring Marshall 22-10. The Wildcats ended the quarter on a 17-3 run and included in that was a 13-0 run.
- After a Marshall field goal with 5:36 to go in the third quarter, the Thundering Herd were held the next 12:36 without a field goal. The field-goal streak was ended with 1:48 to go in the game.
- Marshall went just 1-of-12 from the field in the fourth quarter.
- Kentucky shot a season-high 54.1 percent from the field in the game.
- UK was 33-of-61 from the field and 7-of-22 from 3.
- UK recorded a season-high 20 assists in the game.
- Kentucky had 40 points in the paint in the game and outrebounded Marshall 40-26 with 12 offensive rebounds.
- The 34-point margin of victory is the largest of the season for Kentucky.
- UK’s 79 points is its second most of the season, while limiting Marshall to 45 points is the fewest points scored against Kentucky this season.
- All 11 Wildcats that played in the game scored. This is the first time this season that UK has had 11 players score a point in a game.
Player Notes
- Junior guard Blair Green scored a career-high 17 points adding a rebound and two steals.
- Green had tied her career high of 13 points four times, including in the season opener, finally breaking through in the game tonight with 17.
- Green also set career highs in field goals made with eight and tied a career high in field goals attempted with 13.
- Green hit a 3 in the game and has hit a 3 in every game but one this season.
- Green went 8-of-13 from the field and 1-of-4 from 3.
- Junior guard Rhyne Howard scored 13 points with five rebounds, five assists, a block and a steal.
- Howard went 5-of-11 from the field and 3-of-7 from 3 in the game.
- Howard has made 164 career 3s, which ranks seventh most in school history.
- Howard has 1,201 career points as a Wildcat, which ranks her 22nd all-time in scoring at UK.
- Howard needs 14 point to tie Stacy McIntyre for 21st all-time with 1,215 points.
- In 62 career games, Howard has …
- Hit at least one 3 in 55 career games, including twice this season.
- Made three or more 3s in 28 career games, including twice this season.
- Made five or more 3s in 11 career games.
- Scored 10+ points in 54 career games, including twice this season.
- Scored 15+ points in 44 career games, including once this season.
- Scored 20+ points in 32 career games, including once this season.
- Led UK in assists in 17 career games, including once this season.
- Led UK in blocks in 22 career games, including once this season.
- Sophomore forward Dre’una Edwards snapped her streak of three straight double-doubles, finishing just short with 13 points and eight rebounds.
- This is the fourth time Edwards has led UK in rebounds as she tied Nyah Leveretter with the team lead with eight.
- Edwards has hit a 3-pointer in every game but one this season, going 1-for-1 tonight.
- Junior guard Robyn Benton scored eight points and hit a three in the game.
- Benton has hit a 3 in every game but one this season.
- Junior forward KeKe McKinney did not play in the game due to a shoulder injury. She is listed day-to-day.