Rhyne Howard Named SEC Freshman of the Week

LEXINGTON, Ky. – After tying the program record with seven 3-pointers in a game and becoming the first freshman in four years to score 25 or more points in a game, University of Kentucky freshman guard Rhyne Howard has been tabbed the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week, the league office announced Tuesday.
 
Howard becomes just the 11th player in program history to win SEC Freshman of the Week honors and the first since Dorie Harrison earned the honor last season. Howard joins Victoria Dunlap, A’dia Mathies and Bria Goss as the only UK players to earn the honor in the first month of their rookie seasons.
 
Howard has had an impressive start to her career scoring 15 points with six rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals against Alabama State before 29 points with seven 3-pointers and four assists against Southern. The guard is hitting 53.6 percent from the field, 62.5 percent from long range and averaging 5 rebounds per game so far.
 
Her 15 points against Alabama State were the fifth most in a player’s varsity debut in program history while her seven 3-pointers vs. Southern tied the program record for most 3s in a game. Howard is the first freshman to hit seven 3s in a game.
 
The native of Cleveland, Tenn., is the first UK freshman to score 25 or more points in a game since Alexis Jennings scored 27 vs. Tennessee State in December of 2014. Her 29 points were the second most points scored by a UK freshman in a single game in the Matthew Mitchell era bested only by Mathies, who scored 32 points vs. Liberty on Mar. 20, 2010.
 
Howard’s strong play has led Kentucky to a 2-0 start as the Wildcats won consecutive games by 50 or more points for the first time in program history.
 
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