Chasity Patterson was one of our Wildcats in double figures with 16 points
Kentucky Interim Head Coach Kyra Elzy
Kentucky guard Chasity Patterson
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Chasity Patterson scored 16 points to lead a balanced scoring effort as the ninth-ranked Kentucky women’s basketball team blasted Samford 88-54 on Sunday afternoon at Memorial Coliseum.
In addition to Patterson’s 16 points, Kentucky got double-figure scoring efforts from Dre’una Edwards, who had 15 points and grabbed six rebounds, Rhyne Howard, who had 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and Blair Green, who had 10 points and three assists.
Kentucky (6-0) forced 21 Samford turnovers in the game and turned those into 32 points on the offensive end. The taller Cats also controlled the rebounding battle (34-28), points in the paint (36-24) and second-chance points (18-7).
Kentucky started the game quickly, with a Howard basket in the lane on the first possession of the game. Samford would answer with a three from Raven Omar to lead 3-2. That would be Samford’s only lead of the game.
The Cats answered with nine points in a row, including baskets from KeKe McKinney, Patterson, Edwards and Green, to lead 11-3. After Samford got a three from Natalie Armstrong to make it 11-5, Kentucky went on an 8-2 run to take a 19-8 lead with 2:31 left in the first quarter. UK would lead 23-14 after one period of play.
Early in the second period, Samford would cut the UK lead to seven on a pair of occasions. But with the Cats leading 26-19, it was a 6-0 UK run that put the Cats up 32-19 with 6:52 to play in the half. Edwards had a pair of layups in the run and Green added a pair of free throws.
Samford would cut the UK lead to 35-24 on an Andrea Cournoyer three-pointer, but the Cats would answer with a 15-4 run to take a 50-28 lead with 1:02 to play in the half. Howard had five points during that stretch that allowed Kentucky to take command of the game.
The Cats would lead 50-31 at the break, with Edwards scoring 15 first-half points and Howard adding 10. Kentucky forced 11 Samford turnovers in the first half and converted those into 15 points. UK also held big advantages in second-chance points (16-2) and points in the paint (24-8) in the first 20 minutes.
In the third quarter, Kentucky got it going from behind the arc. In fact, the Cats’ first three field goals of the period were threes from Green, Howard and Patterson. Those baskets made up a 9-0 run that gave Kentucky a 59-31 lead.
Samford answered with a 7-2 run to cut the UK lead to 61-38 with 6:15 left in the quarter. But Kentucky closed the period with a 12-3 run to lead 73-41 after three periods of play.
In the fourth quarter, Samford scored the first four points to cut the UK lead to 73-45 with 8:34 left. Kentucky went scoreless until Patterson hit a corner three with 7:44 to play, extending the UK lead to 76-45.
Kentucky returns to action on Wednesday, visiting Chicago to face DePaul. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. ET and the game can be heard on the UK Sports Network.
#10 Rhyne Howard, G
On the depth of this team…
“We do have a lot of depth, like you said. Everyone is looking to create for others, and make sure that everyone can get the easier shot. So, instead of taking a good shot, we’re looking for the great shot. We’re starting to build more chemistry as a team, so we’re starting to know what kind of shots everyone is looking for and what kind of shots they like to take – if they’re around the basket or from 3 – we’re making sure that we’re finding them. Everyone is a threat, so it is hard for teams to be able to guard us, or just focus on one player like they have in the past. Even if one person is having an off night, there definitely is going to be someone there to pick it up.”
On Chasity Patterson running the point…
“She is definitely a great player, and it is just great to have her out on the floor. Especially with her being as fast as she is, she is stopping the ball on defense and making the plays on offense. She is looking to create for others often time, and she can also create for herself and knock down the open shots, as she did a couple of times today. So, it’s good to have her out there to make sure we are in the right spots and get us into something quick if we need it.”
On creating your own shot, but also distributing to your teammates…
“Well, I know if I am having an off game, or if I am not shooting as well as I would like, then I’m going to try to find whoever has the hot hand, or I am going to try to create for others and make sure that they’re able to knock down the wide open shots that they’re getting. I just like to be active in other aspects rather than just scoring because we obviously have a lot of people who can score. Like, this is the third straight game, as Evan (Crane) said, so we’re looking for the people that can do the other things, like get the rebounds or steals or assists.”
On developing chemistry with Dre’una Edwards…
“She is definitely a big body down in the post. She’s going to look to work hard and get the easy buckets around the rim. So, whenever I give it to her, I know she’s either going to score it, or she’s going to look for me relocating because teams are starting to double team her whenever we give it to her, so, just be able to play with her is something special. Like, she calls herself a dawg and she has proven that thus far.”
On being more talkative nowadays…
“I have been working on it and I am showing a little bit more personality, but, over the summer I had meetings with like Holly Rowe, LaChina Robinson, and they were just telling me about how I need to voice myself in interviews and let the interviewers know how I am feeling after games or what is going on, so you know, just being more vocal and being more open.”
#15 Chasity Patterson, G
On if you feel bad about “picking on” ballhandlers all game…
“When I am coming into the game, my mindset is just to be aggressive on the ball and put pressure on the other point guard. So, that’s my mindset coming into every game, just forcing turnovers and making it easier on my team in transition and score off the defensive plays. When we step on the court, you know, it’s just straight ball, and I’m competing, so I don’t.”
On how much it helps having offensive components like Dre’una Edwards and Rhyne Howard…
“It definitely frees up my game. I am trying to get everybody involved as a point guard, but having that post presence, and then having Rhyne (Howard), we can all get on the ball and get off the ball, and that really frees up everybody to be aggressive, and it just makes it harder on our opponents.”
On the confidence you have in your teammates to be able to make tougher passes…
“I’ve definitely noticed that in practice, that we have people that can catch passes like that in practice, so yeah, I’m definitely always trying to look up and give them the ball as quick as I can, so yeah, we focus on that in practice every day, trying to get them the ball and making sure they’re running up the court.”
On if you consider yourself a defensive leader on this team…
“Yes, I would definitely say that I am one of the defensive leaders. We can all say that we’re defensive leaders, it’s just the will to put in the effort and be aggressive for 40 minutes of the game. You know, sometimes we can slip away from our defensive intensity, but I think everybody can be a defensive leader on this team.”
On turnovers…
“I definitely feel like we had a few unforced turnovers, but our goal is to have 12 or less, so we don’t want to have too many. We did good in that first half, but it kind of got away from us in the second half, and I feel like those are unforced, so, we’ve got to get better at that the next game, for sure.”
On if you were surprised as the offensive efficiency today…
“One of the things that we have been working on is offensive execution, and I’ve said from the very beginning, we’re going to play team basketball, share the basketball, and we’re not going to take just good shots, we’re going to take great shots, so we did execute, we made the extra pass, 23 assists today, 42 percent from the 3-popint line, so yes, I am ecstatic about how we shot the ball.”
Interim Head Coach Kyra Elzy
On having someone like Chasity Patterson running the point…
“You know, Chasity is extremely talented, and we’re so happy that she is a Wildcat. She fits our system, pushes the ball, up-tempo. I mean the speed that she has is just extremely dangerous, on top of, she can score at all three levels. She can get to the rim and finish, she had an and-1 today, that’s something she and Coach Amber (Smith) work on in their position work. She can shoot in the midrange, and then she can knock down the three, so you have to play her honest and I think she is playing with so much more confidence offensively. She knows what we’re looking for offensively. I like the fact that she is willing to come in, watch film, she wants to know what I am looking for, and I think that has helped her game tremendously, studying the game.”
On what you want to hammer down on over the next few practices…
“Well, I am so proud of our defense. Our goal was to hold Samford to 55 points or less, they had 54. You know, we’ve really worked hard on our 1-on-1 defense, keeping the ball out of the middle, denying one pass away and flooding the help side. I am so proud of KeKe McKinney, she is our emotional leader, she is our defensive energy on the court. For her to step in and take a charge today, I thought that really got us going. Rhyne Howard did an unbelievable job of getting her hands on the basketball, so I want us flying around, we want to be the toughest team, the most resilient, and make you play uncomfortable for 40 minutes.”
On the inside presence…
“Well, having an inside presence changes the dynamic of our offense. You know, a year ago, we couldn’t finish in the paint consistently, so we really had to rely on the outside shot, so when it was going great, it was a good night for the CATS, however, whenever we struggled to shoot the ball, it really hurt us at times. So, you know, having Dre’una Edwards in the paint, and Olivia Owens, and even KeKe (McKinney), stepping out , you know, the defense really has to play honest, and you saw tonight, um, we would pound the ball inside, they would suck in, we could kick out, and now you’re getting open shots rather than contested jumpers.”
On Kameron Roach…
“Well, I am so glad that you mentioned Kameron Roach. We had a hustle player of the game award starting today, and Kameron Roach actually won the award, so, I’m so proud of her. She is the epitome of buying into your role, and her role is to come in, get us in an offense, take care of the ball, and bring the defensive energy. We want her to pick the ball up 94 feet, make hustle plays defensively, and she played her role to a T today, and that will be vital to the success of our program this year.”
On seeing so much zone early on…
“Yes, we have seen a lot of zone. But that’s good. Anytime that you see changing of defenses in the non-conference, that will help you prepare for our conference season. So, you know, we’ve played against the 1-3-1, the 3-2 and now the 2-3, so we really had to spend a lot of time in our zone offense, but really had to talk to our players about getting in the gaps of the zone, not just passing around the parameters, jacking up outside shots. But, tonight, you really saw Blair Green, she penetrated the gap of the zone, you know, make them suck, kick out, so you have to play aggressive offensively against the zone as well, and which, they’re playing the zone to slow you down, but when you’re hitting outside shots, it does play to your favor, but I think we’re confident and comfortable against the zone, and we are still a working progress, and we will continue to work in our zone offensive execution.”