UK ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
NO. 12 KENTUCKY AT AUBURN
THURSDAY, JAN. 21, 2021
AUBURN ARENA – AUBURN, ALA.
No. 12 Kentucky 76, Auburn 71 – FINAL
Team Records and Series Notes
- Kentucky is 11-3, 4-2 in the SEC on the year, while Auburn is 5-8, 0-5 in the league.
- This was the 51st all-time meeting between Kentucky and Auburn in women’s basketball.
- Auburn leads the series, 26-25, although UK has won six in a row and 16 of the last 19 meetings.
- UK has won the last three meetings in Auburn and the series is tied at 11 in games played on The Plains.
- Kyra Elzy is in her first season as head coach at Kentucky and holds an 11-3 record.
- UK is now 856-551 all-time in its 47th year of varsity women’s basketball.
- Kentucky is ranked No. 12 in the latest AP Top 25 and No. 12 in the USA Today/Coaches Top 25.
- The Wildcats are currently scheduled to return to action Sunday, Jan. 24 at 2 p.m. ET at Tennessee. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
Team Notes
- Kentucky used the starting combination of senior guard Chasity Patterson, senior forward KeKe McKinney, junior guard Blair Green, junior guard Rhyne Howard and sophomore forward Olivia Owens.
- This was the second time this season that UK has used this starting combination. UK is 1-1 with this starting combination.
- Patterson scored first for Kentucky in the game with a 3-pointer on UK’s first possession – the third time this season she has been the first Wildcat to score.
- Dre’una Edwards, Robyn Benton and Jazmine Massengill were the first subs for Kentucky – it was the ninth time this season that Benton has been the first sub, fourth time for Massengill, and second time for Edwards.
- Auburn won the tip, marking the 11th time this season that UK has lost the opening tip.
- Kentucky’s first three baskets were 3-pointers by Patterson, McKinney and Massengill.
- Trailing 12-11, Kentucky went on a 7-0 run and the Wildcats never trailed again.
- Taking a 22-17 lead, UK went 4-of-7 beyond the arc in the first quarter, with four different Cats making a long ball.
- With the help of a 6-0 spurt, Kentucky lengthened the lead to 11 points at 38-27 before settling for a 40-32 advantage at halftime.
- All nine Wildcats who played also scored, paced by Benton and Green with seven points each. All seven of Green’s points came in the second quarter.
- UK is now 9-3, 4-2 SEC when leading at the half.
- In the third quarter, Kentucky built a 14-point lead at 52-38 before the home squad rallied and cut the margin to nine at the end of the quarter, 59-50.
- Green made all three shots and scoring seven points in the period.
- In the fourth quarter, Kentucky led by 10 points, 72-62 with 1:54 to go.
- Auburn rallied with five straight points, pulling within 72-67, but two free throws each by Green and Howard kept the homestanders at bay.
- The Wildcats hit 10 3-pointers in the game. It is the fifth time this season, and second game in a row, that Kentucky has hit double-digit 3s in a game.
- UK is now 10-1 this season when it hits more than six 3s in a game.
- For the ninth time this season, Kentucky recorded 15 or more assists in a game. The 20 assists tied for the second-highest of the season.
Player Notes
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For the second straight game, junior guard Blair Green led the Wildcats in scoring. After notching a career-best 22 Sunday against Vanderbilt, she followed up with 18 points tonight.
- She made 7 of 9 from the floor, including 2 of 3 on 3-pointers, and sank two crucial foul shots when Auburn made a run in the final minute.
- After going scoreless in the first quarter, Green warmed to the task by tallying all 18 points in the final three stanzas.
- Returning to her previous school, junior guard Robyn Benton had 10 points. It is her fifth double-figure game of the year.
- Redshirt sophomore forward Dre’Una Edwards came off the bench for 10 points, making 5 of 6 shots, while nabbing five rebounds.
- Today marked her 10th game of the season with double-digit points.
- Senior forward KeKe McKinney led the Cats with eight rebounds and added five points.
- It marked her fourth game of the season with double-digit points.
- McKinney had one blocked shot and has 94 career blocks, which ranks her eighth all-time in program history.
- Returning to action after missing a game because of injury, junior guard Rhyne Howard scored 14 points, including 3 of 7 on 3-pointers, adding five rebounds, four assists and two steals.