#23 KENTUCKY VS. RV OLE MISS
SUNDAY, JANUARY 23, 2022
RUPP ARENA – LEXINGTON, KY.
Kentucky Head Coach Kyra Elzy
On turning the season around…
“I thought we showed fight today. You know I asked them to earn their blue, and that was leave your heart on the floor, hustle. We had to make 50/50 plays that were hustle plays on the floor, get on the boards lets battle there, fight and get to the free throw line. I thought we did some things that we needed to do. We came up short today, and to turn it around, I think our margin of error is so small, there’s some free throws that we need to be able to knock down, there’s some layups that we have to be able to hit. We’re getting there, we just have to be able to hit. My message to the team is that we have to weather this storm, there’s no quit in us there’s no lay down, we have to figure out a way to get the job done.”
On Emma King’s game…
“I’m very proud of Emma, I gave her a hug in the back. Emma and I had a heart to heart, and she asked me what she needed to do for this team. One of the things that I told her is that I love her work ethic, I love her toughness, she loves this program and understands the importance of playing at the University of Kentucky. What I asked her to do is step up and produce, get in the game, play as hard as she can play defensively, be confident in her shot, and make hustle plays and take charge. I needed her to be my hustle player and I thought she stepped in and did that today.”
On defensive intensity…
“I thought we gave great defensive intensity; you know we missed the assignment here or there but overall, it wasn’t a lack of effort. That’s the thing that upsets me is when we don’t play hard, but we didn’t have a lack of effort today, we brought the intensity. Are there things that we should clean up? Absolutely, but it’s a lot easier to clean up mistakes when you are playing hard.”
On the busy schedule…
“One game at a time. I told them that is our focus, one game at a time, go back to work tomorrow. Start to prepare for Auburn and we can’t look ahead. One game at a time, this is our focus, and we need to put all our effort into one game, 1-0.”
On positives to take on the road …
“I thought we battled on the boards. I thought we took it personal and really wanted to find a body. We were able to box out, and we said from the very beginning we were undersized, but we must rebound by committee. I thought we stayed together through the good and the bad today. We weathered the storm. I thought we answered some runs which has me encouraged, but all the things that probably made us come up short. What has me encouraged is that we can go back and fix those things. We can continue to work on free throws, we can work on layups, so all of those things we can fix, which keeps me optimistic.”
On turnovers…
“I think one or two of the turnovers during that period we were too casual with the basketball. We didn’t pass fake, we threw a lazy pass or we didn’t meet the pass and they’re aggressive defensively, which forced turnovers.”
UK Student-Athletes
#10, Rhyne Howard, Senior, Guard
On how difficult it is to only play with 7 players…
“It is difficult, when you don’t have as many subs, but you have to make it work somehow. We like can’t just focus on how many players we have. We just have to focus on how hard we work.”
On how tough it will be to produce good performances in multiple games in a stretch of upcoming days…
“I think it’s really more mental with us, you know, we obviously have enough. Like I said, if we keep believing in ourselves and just keep staying positive, things will work out for us and I think we’ll keep pushing and keep fighting.”
On potentially wanting the ball in the last two minutes of the game…
“I mean, obviously I wanted the ball in my hands, but you know everyone in the gym also knows that I want the ball in my hands and at that point, you have to find who’s open. Everyone on our team can produce, so I trust Jada can get to the basket. I trust if Treasure gets it. You know, obviously things don’t work out the way you want them to, but you know if everyone is looking at me then somebody else is going to be open.”
On Emma King’s performance …
“I’m super proud of Emma King, like you said she came in and made some big plays for us and she gave us great minutes you know. Whenever something was going on I would look up and see her there, and I’m just glad she’s staying confident in herself. I just keep telling her ‘we need you, we need you’ and stepping up to the plate and performing.”
Ole Miss Head Coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin
On keeping their composure throughout the entirety of the game…
“I really could have done a better job, even controlling it then. But I just think it is very important. There are moments where I have to give my team a chance to figure things out on their own. So that is what I did in the first half, and still we were able to defend at a high level. That just goes to show that this is who we want to be. Because offensively, the shot may not go in all the time, but that is how we were able to continue to stay consistent. We talked at halftime about the things that we were seeing and how we needed to handle that pressure better, and I thought our team responded well.”
On how the win will take the team to the NCAA tournament…
“Five wins is not going to get us in the NCAA Tournament and we have so much more work to do, but I thought this was a character check for us. And I am really glad we succeeded. I think it’s important to note that a lot of success has been happening very quickly in this season. For our team and the way these young ladies have handled it and have been mature about it, you know just makes me just be even more proud as a coach.”
On Snudda Collins and her performance…
“Snudda is a sophomore and sophomores go through a range of emotions. One minute they’re happy, one minute they want to quit, one minute they want to be the best. We have worked with Snudda to manage all of those emotions in her sophomore year, her and Madison (Scott). I think this is going to give Snudda the confidence to know that this is the tool that she’s going to need to open up countless more, because God has given her a gift. She’s very talented and I’m not surprised. When I saw Snudda in the back gym it took me five minutes to offer her, you know, and so I know what she can be for our program. She has been great coming off the bench, and I am really excited about our program and our team.