Kentucky Looks to Keep Momentum Alive Thursday at Vanderbilt
AUBURN, Ala. – Fresh off getting back in the win column Tuesday at Auburn, the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team will look to keep its momentum alive Thursday as it travels to play Vanderbilt at 8 p.m. ET inside Memorial Gymnasium.
Thursday’s game will be streamed on SEC Network+ with Andrew Allegretta and Drew Maddux on the call. Darren Headrick will have the call on the UK Sports Network (630 AM in Lexington). Live stats and free live audio will be available online at UKathletics.com.
Still shorthanded with only seven available players, Kentucky (9-7, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) put together a solid performance on both sides of the ball to get back in the win column vs. Auburn on Thursday. UK defeated Auburn 67-55 thanks to a 26-15 fourth quarter. Although UK got production from all seven players, it was senior guard Rhyne Howard that turned it up in the fourth quarter to help power UK to the much-needed win. Howard scored 13 points in the first half and was held scoreless in the third quarter. The guard answered with 17 points in the fourth quarter, going 4-of-7 from the field, 3-of-4 from 3 with four rebounds. Howard was also 6-of-6 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter. UK won the paint points 24-22 and the rebounding margin 43-34.
That scoring spurt in the fourth quarter powered UK to end the game on a 17-2 run. UK went 8-of-14 from the field in the fourth quarter, hitting five of its last six field goals. Senior guard Jazmine Massengill and junior guard Emma King scored in double figures. King had career-highs in minutes, field goals made and assists. Sophomore forward Nyah Leveretter had two blocks, which was a career high. Freshman guard Jada Walker had a career-high five steals while redshirt junior center Olivia Owens had seven rebounds and three blocks.
Howard is leading Kentucky this season by averaging 20 points per game with seven rebounds per game. The native of Cleveland, Tennessee, leads Kentucky with 27 3s made, while she has 57 assists, 46 steals and 21 blocks. Redshirt junior forward Dre’una Edwards, who has not played since the Tennessee game due to a disciplinary matter, is averaging 15.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. UK’s third leading scorer, junior guard Robyn Benton, has not played since limited minutes in the first half vs. Florida. She is averaging 10.4 points per game and is hitting 36 percent from 3. Walker is averaging 10.1 points per game with 14 3-pointers and 34 assists. Massengill has scored 10 or more points in five of her last seven games and is averaging 7.5 points with a team-best 61 assists.
Thursday is the 57th all-time meeting between Kentucky and Vanderbilt in women’s basketball with the Commodores holding a 30-26 all-time lead in the series. Vanderbilt leads in games played in Nashville, 16-8, and have won the last two meetings. UK’s last win in Memorial Gymnasium was 71-55 victory on Valentine’s Day in 2016. Kentucky has won 14 of the last 18 meetings, including two of the last three. The two teams met once last season with UK earning a 80-73 victory on Jan. 17 in Lexington.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
