No. 13 Kentucky Travels to No. 8 Indiana Sunday on ESPN
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 13 University of Kentucky women’s basketball team returns to action Sunday for the third time in six days as it travels to Bloomington, Indiana, to square off against top-10 ranked Indiana at 5 p.m. ET inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
The game will be nationally televised on ESPN with Courtney Lyle and Carolyn Peck on the call. Darren Headrick will have the play-by-play on the UK Sports Network while free live audio and live stats will be available online at UKathletics.com.
Kentucky (2-0) is coming off two wins to start its season, defeating both Presbyterian and North Alabama inside Memorial Coliseum. Both games followed a similar script, with the Wildcats a little slow out of the gate but pouring it on in the second half to sail to the victory. UK led by just one at halftime over Presbyterian, but outscored the Blue Hose 43-16 in the second half. The Wildcats scored the first 19 points of the second half as part of a 22-0 run to take control of the game.
Against UNA, the Wildcats led by four at halftime before taking complete control of the game out of the locker room in the second half, outscoring the Lions 63-25. Kentucky’s second-half surge against North Alabama was large part due to UK’s dominance inside. After just 18 paint points in the first half, UK recorded 40 in the second half. The 58 paint points were a season high for UK. Kentucky had 30 second-chance points in the game, which was the most for a UK team since also having 30 on Nov. 19, 2014 vs. Morehead State. UK’s 24 offensive rebounds was its most since it had 24 vs. Alabama State on Nov. 7, 2018. The 63 points in a half was just one off the school record of 64.
Redshirt junior Dre’una Edwards has been the star in the early going for Kentucky, averaging 23.5 points per game with 5.5 rebounds per game. The native of Compton, California, is hitting 72.4 percent from the field and is 1-of-5 from long range. Preseason National Player of the Year candidate Rhyne Howard has also shined, averaging 17.5 points per game with seven rebounds per game. She leads the team in assists, steals, blocks and in made 3s. Howard earned her 18th career double-double against North Alabama with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard Robyn Benton has been impressive in the early going scoring in double figures in both games this season, averaging 13.0 points with five assists and four steals. Sophomore forward Treasure Hunt leads UK in rebounds with 9.5 per game, setting and then besting a career high in rebounds in each game this season.
Overall, UK is averaging 89.5 points per game while limiting opponents to just 54.5 points per game. Kentucky’s first half and second half splits are remarkable. In the first half, UK has scored 73 points while allowing opponents 68 points. In the second half, UK has scored 106 points and allowing opponents just 41. In the first half, UK is shooting 40% from the field (28-70), while opponents are hitting 46% (23-50). In the second half, UK is shooting 63% (46-73) from the field, while opponents are hitting just 33% (17-51) from the field. UK is averaging 53 points in the second half, while opponents are averaging 20.5. UK has 15 first-half turnovers this season and just eight in the second half.
Indiana started its season on the road, earning a hard-fought 86-63 victory at Butler to open the season. Led by eighth-year head coach Teri Moren, the Hoosiers are one of the most experienced teams in all of college basketball this season returning all five starters and nine total letterwinners from last year’s Elite Eight squad.
Graduate transfer Nicole Cardano-Hillary scored 29 points and hit seven 3s to lead the Hoosiers to victory. She also added six rebounds and five assists. She is joined by senior guard Grace Berger, who scored 18 points with three assists. Seventh-year graduate student Ali Patberg is also back for IU and started where she left off last season with 10 assists in the opener. Junior post Mackenzie Holmes scored 11 points and had eight rebounds in the opener.
Kentucky leads the all-time series between games played with Indiana, 14-12. Last season, UK defeated Indiana in come-from-behind fashion inside Memorial Coliseum. The win snapped a six-game losing streak by the Wildcats to the Hoosiers. UK has lost four straight games in the series in Bloomington. UK’s last road win in the series was Dec. 3, 1986. UK is 5-5 all-time in Bloomington vs. Indiana.
Last season, Kentucky rallied from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter to beat No. 13 Indiana 72-68 inside Memorial Coliseum. Kentucky outscored Indiana 28-14 in the final 10 minutes of the game. Howard led all scorers with 22 points in the contest, but Kentucky got big efforts as well from Edwards and Benton. Edwards had 14 points and 10 rebounds while Benton came off the bench to score 12 points, including nine crucial points in the fourth quarter.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
