Howard's Triple Double Leads No. 19 Kentucky Past Winthrop
LEXINGTON, Ky. – All-American Rhyne Howard had 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, recording the third triple-double in school history, as the 19th-ranked Kentucky women’s basketball team thumped Winthrop 92-47 on Sunday at Memorial Coliseum.
Howard, who is among the greatest players to ever play at Kentucky, joined elite company with her performance on Sunday. Only Leslie Nichols (1986 vs. Louisville) and Makayla Epps (2015 vs. Morehead State) had previously recorded triple-doubles in the history of the Kentucky program.
The Cats also got 20 points and seven rebounds from Dre’una Edwards and 14 points from Robyn Benton. Treasure Hunt had 11 points and eight rebounds, while freshman Jada Walker had 10 points.
Kentucky (3-1) forced Winthrop into 28 turnovers in the game and the Cats turned those into 36 points. Kentucky also dominated points in the paint (52-20), steals (16-5), assists (25-11) and second-chance points (27-6).
Kentucky started quickly, hitting three of its first four shots from the floor on the way to a 6-0 lead. After Winthrop got a basket from Leonor Paisana, UK got a three from Robyn Benton and a putback by Edwards to lead 11-2.
After Winthrop got a three from Jaelyn Royal to cut it to 11-5, Kentucky went on a 14-1 run, using pressure defense to disrupt Winthrop, to take a 25-6 lead. But Winthrop scored the last eight points of the period, making it 25-14 Cats after 10 minutes of play.
Kentucky would start the second period on an 18-2 run, including 16 in a row, including seven by Howard, to extend the lead to 43-16 with 5:01 left in the half. Winthrop would only be able to get within 25 but UK would score the final three points of the period to lead 50-22 at the half.
Howard led all scorers with 14 points, while Edwards has 12. UK forced Winthrop into 18 turnovers, scoring 24 points off of those miscues.
Winthrop got a pair of free throws from Royal to start the third period, but the Cats then scored 10 in a row, including threes by Howard and Jazmine Massengill, to lead 60-24 with 7:18 left in the period.
Winthrop would briefly play the Cats even thanks to six points by Myra Strickland. However, Howard and the Cats closed the period on a 13-2 run to lead 77-32 with 10 minutes left in the game.
Kentucky would stretch the lead to as many as 53 in the fourth quarter before settling for the 45-point win.
Kentucky returns to action on Saturday, hosting LaSalle at Memorial Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 8:30 ET and the game can be seen on SEC Network Plus.
