LEXINGTON, Ky. – LEXINGTON, Ky. – Rhyne Howard scored 24 points as the 11th-ranked Kentucky women’s basketball team topped No. 12 Texas A&M 76-54 on Thursday night at Memorial Coliseum.
The game was the seventh straight in which Howard has scored at least 20 points. The last UK player to accomplish that feat was Maci Morris, who did so in seven straight contests from February 8 through March 1, 2018.
Howard made nine of 19 from the field, including three of 10 from behind the arc. The sophomore was three of four at the line and tied her season high with 11 rebounds in the game.
Kentucky (15-2, 4-1 SEC) got 15 points from Sabrina Haines and 13 from Blair Green, who tied her career high in the game. The Cats got a big night from the bench, outscoring A&M 17-2 in bench points. Kentucky forced just 14 turnovers, but scored 23 points off those A&M miscues.
The game was tied 2-2 early before Howard scored on a jumper and one, giving the Cats a 5-2 lead. But the Aggies answered in the same fashion as Ciera Johnson made a layup and a free throw to tie the game at five apiece.
Kentucky then got four consecutive points from Sabrina Haines, on a basket and two free throws, to lead 9-5 with 5:21 left in the first. However, Kentucky would go cold at that point and A&M would take an 11-9 lead. In fact, the Cats would not score for nearly five minutes, until Jaida Roper hit a three with 29 seconds left in the period. But the Aggies got a layup from N’dea Jones with 16 seconds to play in the period and A&M would lead 13-12 after 10 minutes of play.
In the second period, Kentucky scored five in a row to grab a 17-13 advantage. After a pair of free throws by A&M’s Jones, the Cats would score five consecutive points, including a three from Blair Green, to extend the lead to 22-15 and force an A&M timeout.
Out of the timeout, A&M’s Kayla Wells hit a three, but was answered by UK’s Haines, making the score 25-21. Wells would hit another three, and UK again had a response, this time from Green, to give the Cats a 28-21 advantage with 3:09 left in the half. The Cats would get a three from Chasity Patterson and a layup by Nae Nae Cole to close the first half, and UK took a 33-21 lead into the break. Green and Howard each had eight points in the first half for the Cats.
In the third period, both teams came out hot, with A&M making three of its first four shots, while Kentucky hit four of its first six. Kentucky led 41-29 after the early exchange that included a pair of baskets from Howard. A&M would chip into the lead, getting within nine on three occasions, but each time, the Cats had an answer. Kentucky would lead 49-40 after three periods of play.
Kentucky scored the first five points of the fourth period to lead 54-40. But A&M fought back, scoring four in a row to make it 54-44 with 8:12 to go. But a 20-6 run in the fourth blew the game open. The Cats would eventually lead by as many as 24 before claiming the 22-point victory.
Texas A&M (14-3, 2-2) played without All-SEC performer Chennedy Carter, who missed the game due to an injured ankle. Wells and Williams each had 18 points for the Aggies.
Kentucky returns to action on Sunday, visiting Baton Rouge to take on LSU. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on the SEC Network.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on Twitter, Instagram andFacebook.
UK ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
NO. 11 KENTUCKY VS. NO. 12 TEXAS A&M
THURSDAY, JANUARY 16
MEMORIAL COLISEUM – LEXINGTON, KY.
No. 11 Kentucky 76, Texas A&M 54 – FINAL
Team Records and Series Notes
- Kentucky is 15-2 (4-1 SEC), while Texas A&M is 14-3 (2-2 SEC).
- Kentucky is 838-542 all-time, including 457-157 inside Memorial Coliseum.
- UK is 170-31 all-time in Memorial Coliseum under Matthew Mitchell, including 9-0 this season.
- This was the 11th all-time meeting between Kentucky and Texas A&M in women’s basketball.
- The Aggies lead the all-time series in games played 6-5, including a 3-2 mark in games played in Lexington. This snapped a three-game home losing streak to TAMU for Kentucky.
- Matthew Mitchell is in his 13th season as the head coach of the Wildcats.
- Mitchell is 326-156 overall in his career and 296-127 during his tenure at Kentucky.
- Kentucky is ranked 11 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 and No. 11 in the latest USA Today/Coaches Top 25.
- UK has 53 wins against ranked foes under Matthew Mitchell, including a 2-2 mark this season.
- Thursday’s win was UK’s first over a top-12 ranked team since defeating No. 11 Texas A&M on Feb. 28, 2016 in College Station.
Team Notes
- Kentucky used the starting combination of sophomore guard Rhyne Howard, senior guards Sabrina Haines and Jaida Roper, junior forward Tatyana Wyatt and sophomore guard Blair Green.
- This was the third time this season that UK has used this starting combination, sitting 3-0.
- UK lost the tip for the eighth time this season.
- Sophomore guard Blair Green scored first for Kentucky, marking the first time she has been the first to score this season.
- Junior forward KeKe McKinney is still listed day-to-day with a severe migraine-like headache.
- The Wildcats jumped out to a 9-5 lead in the game but after Sabrina Haines hit a jumper with 5:47 to go in the first quarter, UK went 1-of-9 from the field scoring just five points. TAMU went on a 6-0 run after the Haines jumper to take a 11-9 lead. Roper hit a 3-pointer late to put UK back on top but TAMU hit a layup towards the end of the period to take a 13-12 lead into the second quarter.
- Kentucky outscored Texas A&M 21-8 in the second quarter, including ending the stanza on a 8-0 run.
- UK went 8-of-15 from the field in the second quarter, including 5-of-7 from 3.
- Blair Green scored six points in the quarter hitting two big 3s.
- The Aggies were 2-of-11 from the field in the second quarter and had six turnovers.
- The Wildcats scored eight points off turnovers in the second quarter alone.
- Six of UK’s eight fast-break points came in the second quarter.
- TAMU missed each of its last five shots and was held scoreless for the final 3:39of the period.
- The Wildcats held Texas A&M to 21 first-half points which was the Aggies fewest point total in the first half this season. The previous low was 30 against Georgia Tech.
- UK is 4-1 this season and 2-1 in league play when it trails at the half.
- This was the third time this season that TAMU has trailed at the break, sitting 1-2 in those games.
- The Aggies outscored the Wildcats in the third quarter 19-16 as Kentucky hit one of its last seven field goal attempts.
- Kentucky outscored Texas A&M 27-14 in the fourth quarter to secure the win.
- The Wildcats went 10-of-12 from the field in the fourth quarter, including 5-of-6 from 3.
- Texas A&M’s 54 points in the game tied its fewest point total of the season.
- UK scored 23 points off Texas A&M turnovers, marking the 14th time this season UK has scored 20 or more points off opponent turnovers.
- Kentucky hit 11 3-pointers in the game, marking the ninth time this season UK has hit 10 or more 3s in a game. The Wildcats are 8-1 in those games.
- UK limited Texas A&M to just 37.3 percent from the field, while the Wildcats went 28-of-57 for 49 percent.
- UK is 10-0 this season when it shoots a higher percentage than its opponent and 15-0 when an opponent shoots worse than 50 percent from the field.
- The Aggies entered the game averaging 43.6 rebounds per game with a +11.9-rebounding margin but the Wildcats out rebounded TAMU 33-29.
- This is the second game in a row that the Wildcats have won the rebounding margin.
- Kentucky has now won back-to-back SEC games by 20+ points for the first time since 2012-13 when UK did it three times against Missouri, Mississippi State and Auburn in mid-January.
- The Wildcats went 9-of-10 from the free-throw line in the game.
Player Notes
- Sophomore guard Rhyne Howard scored a game-high 24 points adding 11 rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
- This was the third double-double of the season for Howard and the eighth of her career.
- Howard has scored 20 or more points in seven straight game, the longest streak since Maci Morris scored 20+ in seven straight games in 2017-18.
- Howard has scored in double figures in every game but one this season, including 20 or more points in 12 games.
- Howard has 930 career points needing just 70 more to join the 1,000-point club. She is on pace to be the second fastest to 1,000 in program history.
- In 49, career game Howard has recorded some impressive numbers:
- Hit at least one 3 in 43 career games
- Made three or more 3s in 21 games
- Made five or more 3s in 9 games
- Scored 10+ points in 42 games
- Scored 15+ points in 34 games
- Scored 20+ points in 22 games
- Scored 25+ points in 13 games
- Scored 30+ points in 3 games
- Led UK in scoring in 30 games
- Led UK in rebounding in 27 games
- Senior guard Sabrina Haines scored 15 points in the game, going 5-of-8 from the field, 3-of-5 from 3 and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line.
- Haines has scored 10 or more points in 11 games this season.
- Haines went 3-of-5 from long range in the game and has a 3 in every game but two.
- Haines has hit three or more 3s in seven games.
- Sophomore guard Blair Green tied a career high with 13 points in the game, going 5-of-8 from the field and 3-of-5 from 3.
- Green had eight points in the first half, including two huge 3s in the second quarter.
- Junior guard Chasity Patterson scored nine points in the game with a 3-pointer.
- Senior center Nae Nae Cole came off the bench to play 22 huge minutes for the Wildcats, scoring four points with two rebounds, a steal and a block.
- The 22 minutes is a career high for Cole.