Kentucky Women’s Basketball Postgame Notes
No. 16/17 Kentucky vs. No. 13/13 South Carolina 
Colonial Life Arena – Columbia, S.C.
Thursday, February 21, 2019
 
No. 16/17 Kentucky 65, No. 13/13 South Carolina 57 – FINAL
 
Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky moves to 22-5 on the year and 9-4 in the league while South Carolina is now 19-7, 11-2 in the SEC.
  • The Wildcats will return to action Sunday for Senior Day vs. LSU at 2 p.m. ET inside Memorial Coliseum. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network+, while Darren Headrick will have the call on radio on the UK Sports Network.
• Kentucky leads the all-time series against South Carolina 34-31.
  • The Gamecocks hold an 18-11 edge in games played in Columbia.
  • UK’s win snapped a nine-game losing streak in the series.
  • Tonight marks UK first win over the Gamecocks since March 1, 2015 (67-56) in Lexington.
  • Tonight marks UK’s first win in Columbia since Jan. 15, 2012 (66-58).
  • UK improves to 7-17 vs. a ranked South Carolina team.
  • Tonight marks UK’s second win over a top-15 team this season. UK also upset No. 13 Tennessee in Knoxville earlier this season, 73-71.

• UK is now 820-537 all-time in its 45 years as a program.
  • Matthew Mitchell is in his 12th year with the Wildcats and holds a 278-122 record. Mitchell is 308-151 overall in 14 years as a head coach.
• Kentucky is ranked No. 16 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 17 in the USA Today/Coaches Top 25.
• The Wildcats are on a five-game winning streak in the SEC, which is its longest conference winning streak of the season and the longest of any team in the league currently.

 
Team Notes

• Kentucky used the starting combination of senior guard Taylor Murray, senior guard Maci Morris, freshman guard Rhyne Howard, sophomore forward KeKe McKinney and sophomore forward Tatyana Wyatt.
  • The Wildcats are 20-4 with those starting five this season.
• UK took a 13-11 advantage in the first quarter, spreading out the scoring with six different Wildcats netting at least two points. Both teams shot 33.3 percent from the field and UK forced nine USC turnovers.
• In the second quarter, with UK leading by one, Howard went on an 8-0 run all by herself to push the Cats’ lead to nine with 4:21 to go. UK held on to a six-point lead at the half, 30-24, as Howard led all scorers with 10.
• The 24 points by South Carolina were the fewest points scored in either half this season.
• It was a back-and-forth battle in the third quarter with two ties and three lead changes. Ultimately, the quarter was controlled by the Gamecocks as they outscored the Wildcats 19-10 and led 43-40 to end the period.
• In the fourth and holding a slight 50-48 lead, Howard rattled off five straight points to push the Cats’ lead to seven, 55-48, with 4:18 to go. The lead grew to nine, 60-51, with 3:04 left thanks to a 3-pointer by Morris and two free throws by Amanda Paschal. The Gamecocks would pull within five late in the game but UK hit 8-of-9 free throws to seal the victory.
• UK held the Gamecocks to a season low 57 points.
• UK scored 19 points off 21 forced turnovers. It marks the most turnovers in conference play for the Gamecocks this season and the most since Clemson forced them into 27 miscues on Nov. 15.
• The Cats hit 13-of-14 free throws in the game (92.9 percent), their highest percentage of the season.

 
Player Notes

• Senior guard Taylor Murray led with 17 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals in 33 minutes of action.

  • Murray now has 1,292 career points and ranks 20th all-time in points scored. She needs 26 more points to tie Bria Goss for 19th with 1,318. 
  • Murray has 424 career assists which ranks seventh most in program history. She needs one more to tie Amber Smith for sixth all-time in program history.
  • Murray has 270 career steals which ranks sixth most in program history. She needs two more steals to move into the top five in program history.

• Freshman guard Rhyne Howard also led with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting in 37 minutes.

  • Howard has scored 438 points this season which ranks third most by a freshman in a season in program history. She needs 53 more point to tie A’dia Mathies for second. She needs 203 more points to tie Valerie Still for the program record.
  • Howard has hit 65 3-pointers this season, which is the most ever by a true freshman in a single season in program history.
  • She has 59 steals, which ranks tied for fourth most by a freshman in program history.
  • Her 177 rebounds is eighth most in program history for a freshman, needing eight more to move into the top 5 on that list.
  • Howard has 15 or more points in 21 games this season and had led UK in scoring 14 times and in rebounds 14 times.
• Senior guard Maci Morris added 12 points, hitting 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.
  • Morris now has 1,620 career points, which ranks sixth most in program history. She needs 170 more point to tie Makayla Epps for fifth all-time in school history in points scored.
  • Morris has 242 career 3-pointers made which ranks second in program history. She needs 29 more 3s to tie Sara Potts for most all time.
  • Morris has hit at least one 3-pointer in 105 of 124 career games played.