Kyra Elzy explains what Kentucky must do to hold off Georgia in 4Q of SEC Tournament game

The Kentucky Wildcats are looking to hold off the Georgia Bulldogs in the first round of the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament as the two go into the fourth quarter. For head coach Kyra Elzy, she knows it won’t be an easy task.

While speaking to the SEC Network ahead of the fourth quarter, Elzy explained that winning the game and closing out Georgia starts on the defensive end for Kentucky.

“I want us to hang our hat on the defensive end,” Kyra Elzy said. “We’ve gotta go one shot and out. We’ve got to fly around and move. When we have an advantage in transition, we’ve got to take it. If not, we’ve got to set up and run our offense.”

Javyn Nicholson has been Georgia’s best player and came into the fourth quarter with 20 points on the game, 10 of which were scored in the third quarter. Because of that, Kyra Elzy is focusing that defensive effort on her.

“We’ve got to deny her the basketball, contest the shots on the perimeter, box her out down low,” Elzy said.

In the first half of the game, Kentucky was a dominant force on the defensive side of the ball, holding Georgia to just 22 points at the break. A massive part of that was the rebounding discrepancy in the first half, which saw the Wildcats out-rebound the Bulldogs 26-13.

As the half, Kentucky forward Ajae Petty explained how the Wildcats created that gap by denying Georgia’s best players the ball.

“Just being aggressive, moving around a lot,” Ajae Petty said. “Just making sure that the players that usually go for a lot of points aren’t touching the ball.”

This is the second time that Kyra Elzy and the Wildcats have taken on the Bulldogs this season. In their first meeting, Kentucky traveled to Georgia, losing by seven points. It was a very frustrating loss too, which saw Kentucky jump out to a big first quarter lead, only to let it slip away from them.

A win in the first round of the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament would send Kentucky forward, keeping their hopes alive. It would also set up a clash with the Tennessee Volunteers in the next round of the tournament.

For her part, Kyra Elzy has been the head coach at Kentucky since 2020. During that time, she’s taken the Wildcats to two NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournaments. However, the last two seasons have been difficult, going just 23-38 over that time period.