FINAL: Kentucky WBB upsets No. 6 LSU, advances to SEC Tournament semis
Make that EIGHT straight wins for the red-hot Wildcats.
On Friday evening, 7-seeded Kentucky Women’s Basketball pulled off a major upset in the quarterfinals of the 2022 SEC Tournament, dominating the 2-seeded LSU Tigers (ranked No. 6 in the country) by a final score of 78-63. With the victory, UK will take on the winner of Friday night’s Tennessee-Alabama matchup in the semifinals, which is set for Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. EST on ESPNU. Kentucky held a 20-point lead at the half before cruising to the victory down the stretch.
The ‘Cats were led by All-American Rhyne Howard, who shined as she always does in the postseason, dropping a season-high-tying 32 points, three rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. Dre’Una Edwards and Treasure Hunt both added 13 points each as Kentucky shot 45 percent from the floor and 9-19 from beyond the arc.
Kentucky shot right out of a cannon, still feeling the rhythm from Thursday’s beatdown of Mississippi State.
Howard came alive from the tip, overcoming a minor ankle twist in the opening minutes. She rattled off three consecutive 3-pointers before Robyn Benton banged home one of her own. In the blink of an eye, UK was ahead 22-10 as LSU head coach Kim Mulkey was forced into a timeout. At one point, the ‘Cats were on a 14-2 run before settling on a 25-13 lead heading into the second quarter behind 13 points from Howard.
The second quarter started out as an all-out scoring avalanche for Kentucky. The 3-pointers continued to rain down as the ‘Cats built a 20-point lead midway through the period, 39-19. The scoring outburst would simmer before the half, though, but UK still held an impressive 45-25 advantage over LSU. Kentucky shot 54.8 percent overall from the field and an elite 8-13 from distance while holding the Tigers to just 33.3 percent shooting.
But LSU wouldn’t fall that easily. More specifically, Khayla Pointer wouldn’t let them. The graduate student point guard scored 11 points in the third for the Tigers as the UK lead was cut to single-digits with 90 seconds left in the period. A 13-2 LSU run eventually forced Wildcat head coach Kyra Elzy to take a timeout. But Kentucky responded out of the short break to push the lead back to double-digits at 57-46 heading into the final 10 minutes.
Elzy made one slight change during that break, which proved to be significant. Kentucky switched to a 2-3 zone on defense that immediately caused LSU issues in the fourth quarter. But even more notable, Howard decided to put the game on her shoulders. She dropped in another 11 points in the final frame, plus six more from Edwards, as UK was able to ride its way to the 15-point win and a shot at the SEC Tournament title.
This win was arguably Kentucky’s most impressive of the season. Elzy has her Wildcats peaking at the perfect time.
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