Late Rallies a Sign of Improvement for UK Women
When the Kentucky women’s basketball team met South Carolina in January, the Wildcats were struggling. Leading scorer Maci Morris had missed the team’s previous game, a 70-55 loss at Vanderbilt. Head coach Matthew Mitchell and his team were looking for answers.
The game against the 10th-ranked Gamecocks did not start well. Kentucky trailed 34-20 at halftime and appeared to be on the verge of being blown out.
However, in the second half, Kentucky hit its stride. The Wildcats scored 28 points in the third quarter and 16 in the fourth period. But Kentucky could not catch up, largely due to the fact that South Carolina shot an incredible 79.2 percent from the floor in the second half.
Despite the loss, the Wildcats started a trend that has continued more often than not. Kentucky has become a dangerous team in the second half, and specifically in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats used big fourth quarters to beat Alabama and Auburn, and to nearly come from behind to beat LSU. Last Sunday, the Wildcats outplayed No. 2 and unbeaten Mississippi State in the second half. And in its most recent game, Kentucky outscored Arkansas 21-10 in the fourth quarter to seal a victory on Thursday night.
“I think it is just the improvement of the team and a bit of maturity developing in the team where we are able to make some adjustments and turn things around and dig deep when things are going poorly,” Mitchell said. “We had done a good job in the Arkansas game and then they went 11-0 on us and we were able to turn that around and so that has happened in a few games for us. I just think it is the overall improvements of the team.”
The Cats have a rematch with South Carolina on Sunday, and Mitchell knows he has a more confident team this time around.
“I do think they have made so much improvement in trying to stick together and keep their poise and trying to go out and make plays,” Mitchell said. “You cannot manufacture confidence. It has to come through achievement. I do think their confidence has grown as we try to play better this second half of the season.”
With four games left in the regular season, Mitchell knows that his team still has much to accomplish, but that the Wildcats will face a difficult road.
“Victories right now are important there is no doubt about that, but we have a very difficult final three games,” Mitchell said. “Two out of the three are against top ranked teams that are at the top of our conference and then another road game. So it is a difficult stretch. Our players just continue to get better. It is a fun group to work with right now, they are very passionate about playing and getting better and working hard. We are trying to get the most we can out of our practices.”
The late-season improvement of this Kentucky team has shown that the Wildcats can play with anyone, even if it takes a late rally to do so.
