After earning consecutive top-15 wins vs. Southeastern Conference opponents for the first time in program history last week, the No. 10 University of Kentucky women’s basketball team continues its difficult stretch of games by traveling to No. 8 Texas A&M on Thursday for an 8:30 p.m. ET tip inside Reed Arena.
The game vs. Texas A&M will be televised on SEC Network with Eric Frede and Tamika Catchings on the call. The action can also be seen through WatchESPN on computers, smartphones or tablets. Darren Headrick will have the call on the UK Sports Network on 630AM WLAP in Lexington. Live stats and free live audio will be available online at UKathletics.com.
It was an impressive week overall for Kentucky, who began its first week of league action under first-year head coach Kyra Elzy with back-to-back wins over top-15 ranked opponents. After starting with a 75-64 win over No. 10 Arkansas, the Wildcats claimed an overtime thriller Sunday at No. 12 Mississippi State, 92-86. The Wildcats won both games in different ways, defeating Arkansas with its best defensive performance of the year, while it claimed the win against Mississippi State with an impressive offensive performance.
Against Arkansas, UK held the Razorbacks to a season-low tying five 3s and a season-low in points. Arkansas was limited to less than 20 points in every quarter for the second time on the year. Against Mississippi State, UK scored 92 points, going over 90 for the second time this season. The Wildcats recorded 15+ assists for the sixth straight game and won the rebounding margin for the sixth straight game. UK hit 10 3s against Arkansas and followed with a season-best 14 against Mississippi State – the first time this season it has hit 10 or more 3s in consecutive games. The Wildcats had a season-high eight blocks against Arkansas. In all, five different UK players scored in double figures during the week.
The consecutive top-15 wins has given the Wildcats and junior guard Rhyne Howard national praise. Howard, who led UK in scoring in both games with 24 against Arkansas and 33 against Mississippi State, has been named the espnW National Player of the Week, Naismith Trophy National Player of the Week, College Sports Madness National Player of the Week and SEC Player of the Week. Elzy was named the espnW National Coach of the Week and overall the Wildcats were tabbed the first-ever USBWA National Team of the Week.
Howard is leading the Wildcats this season by averaging 18.8 points per game with 7.3 rebounds per game and a team-best 23 3-pointers made. Howard is second on the team with 29 assists and 14 steals. Junior guard Chasity Patterson is averaging 13.8 points per game and leads UK with 32 assists and 44 steals – her steal total also leads the nation. Sophomore forward Dre’una Edwards is averaging 13.5 points per game with a team-best 8.8 rebounds per game and team-high 10 blocks.
Texas A&M enters Thursday’s game with a 10-0 record and ranked No. 8 in the latest Associated Press Top 25. The Aggies started league play with an impressive 92-67 win at Florida after their league opener vs. Tennessee was postponed due to COVID-19 issues within the UT program. The Aggies have defeated both ranked teams they have played this season, taking down then-No. 19 DePaul 93-91 and then-No. 25 Texas, 66-61 – both away. As a team, Texas A&M is averaging 83.2 points per game and limiting opponents to 60.6 points per game. The Aggies are hitting 50.8 percent from the field and 41.4 percent from long range with a +9.9 rebounding margin and +1.9 turnover margin.
TAMU has four players averaging over double figures this season, paced by Aaliyah Wilson who is averaging 13.5 points per game with 5.4 rebounds per game and a team-best 22 steals. N’dea Jones is averaging 13.3 points per game with 10.0 rebounds per game and is hitting 58.1 percent from the field. Ciera Johnson is averaging 11.1 points and 7.8 rebounds per game while Alexis Morris is averaging 10.1 points per game.
Thursday will be the 12th all-time meeting between Kentucky and Texas A&M in women’s basketball with all 12 meetings coming after the Aggies joined the Southeastern Conference. UK trails the all-time series 5-6 against the Aggies, but leads the series 3-2 in College Station. Kentucky had lost four straight in the series before earning a 76-54 win in Lexington last season. It was the largest margin of victory for either team in the series. Seven of the 11 meetings have been decided by 10 points or less, including four by 4 or less. This will be the 10th all-time meeting that both teams have been ranked in the top 25. UK is 5-4 all-time in those games. This will be the second game in the series with both teams ranked in the top 10. The first meeting was Feb. 18, 2013 in College Station. UK was No. 9 and TAMU was No. 10. Kentucky won the game 70-66.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
‑ GO CATS –
For more information contact:
Evan Crane