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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES  
RV/RV ALABAMA AT NO. 15/14 KENTUCKY 
THURSDAY, JAN. 28, 2021  
RUPP ARENA AT CENTRAL BANK CENTER – LEXINGTON, KY.  
  
No. 15/14 Kentucky 81, RV/RV Alabama 68 – FINAL  
  
Team Records and Series Notes  

• Kentucky is 12-4 on the year, 5-3 in the SEC, while Alabama is 12-3, 5-3 in the league.   
• This was the 51^st all-time meeting between Kentucky and Alabama in women’s basketball.   
  • Kentucky leads the series, 34-17, including 10 in a row and 19 of the last 21 meetings.   
  • UK leads in games played in Lexington, 16-6. 
• Kyra Elzy is in her first season as head coach at Kentucky and holds a 12-4 record.  
• UK is now 857-552 all-time in its 47th year of varsity women’s basketball.   
• Kentucky is ranked No. 15 in the latest AP Top 25 and No. 14 in the USA Today/Coaches Top 25.   
• The Wildcats are currently scheduled to return to action Sunday, Jan. 31 at 1 p.m. ET at home against Missouri. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.  

  
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 senior forward Tatyana Wyatt.   
  • With Wyatt making her first start of the season, it is the first time the Wildcats have employed this starting lineup.  
  • Howard scored on UK’s first possession – the fifth time this season she has been the first Wildcat to score.   
  • Dre’una Edwards and Robyn Benton were the first subs for Kentucky – it was the 10^th time this season that Benton has been the first sub, fourth time for Edwards.    
  • Alabama won the tip, marking the 12^th time this season that UK has lost the opening tip.  
• An evenly played first quarter was appropriately tied, 17-17, at the end of the period. Howard led the Wildcats with eight points. 

• Kentucky opened the second quarter with a 17-3 spurt to make it 34-20 and the Wildcats never trailed again. 
• Alabama responded with eight straight points but Benton blunted the Tide surge with five straight of her own and the Wildcats went to halftime ahead 39-28. 
  • Eight Wildcats reached the scoring column in the first half, led by Howard’s eight points and four assists. 

• Kentucky opened the second half with the original starting lineup. 
• Leading 45-36, the Wildcats went on a 15-2 run that took them to a 60-38 advantage, their largest lead of the game. 
  • UK ended the period ahead 60-42, with Howard and Benton pacing the scoring with 12 and 10 points, respectively. 
• Alabama refused to go away and a strong start to the fourth quarter pulled the Tide to within 62-50, forcing a UK timeout at the 8:12 mark. 
• The Tide continued to chip away, cutting it to 66-58 and coaxing another UK timeout at 4:48. 
• Ahead 69-61 with 4:11 to go, Massengill made the play of the game, blocking an apparent easy Alabama layup, scooping the loose ball, starting a fast break, and finding Benton in the right corner for a crucial 3-pointer. 
  • That started a 7-0 run for a 76-61 lead that safely put the game in the hands of the Wildcats with 2:31 remaining. 
• UK coasted to the finish at 81-68.  
• Kentucky is 29-19 all-time in Rupp Arena. 
• After struggling on the backboards Sunday at Tennessee, Kentucky rebounded – literally and figuratively – with a 37-26 edge on the glass. 
• Rebounding and defense helped UK blunt Alabama’s fastbreak offense as the Wildcats won fastbreak points 11-0. 
• Kentucky made 52.6 percent from the field, its second-highest percentage of the season. 
• Kentucky made a season-high 55.6 percent from 3-point range, 10 of 18. 
  • It is the sixth time this season that UK has made double-digit 3s. 
  • UK is now 8-0 this season when it hits more than eight 3s in a game.   
• UK tied its season high for assists with 23.  The Wildcats 8-0 this season when having 16 or more in that category.   

Player Notes  

• Rhyne Howard had a magnificent all-around effort. Despite frequent double-teams, she led the Cats with 16 points and eight rebounds, while tying her career high for assists with seven. 

• Playing on her birthday, Robyn Benton had 15 points, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range, while adding four rebounds. 

  • She had two huge 3-pointers in the game, late in the second quarter and late in the fourth quarter that dammed Tide runs (see details above). 
• Dre’Una Edwards played 13 efficient minutes totaling 10 points and four rebounds.  
  • It is her 11^th double-figure scoring game of the season. 
• Jazmine Massengill played an effective floor game with a season-high seven points, a season-best six rebounds, and a season-high-tying seven assists. 
• Chasity Patterson chipped in 10 points, her 12^th double-figure game of the season, including 2 of 3 from long range. 
  • She had one steal, improving her nation-leading total to 61.