FINAL: Rhyne Howard scores 2,000th career point, Kentucky WBB falls to Vandy
With just six players available for the whole night, Kentucky Women’s Basketball ran out of gas down the stretch.
On Thursday night, the Wildcats (9-8, 2-5) fell on the road to the Vanderbilt Commodores (11-10, 2-5) by a final score of 65-57 in what was UK’s third game in five days. Senior guard Rhyne Howard led the way for Kentucky, finishing with 25 points, 10 rebounds, and five blocks in the contest on 8-17 shooting, including a 4-8 clip from deep.
With 25 points, the reigning two-time SEC Player of the Year closed the game with 2,000 career points, just the third player in program history to achieve that mark.
Kentucky turned the ball over a season-high 25 times, which led to 23 Vandy points. The ‘Dores also attempted 11 more shots than UK (66-55) while securing two more offensive rebounds (17-15). Dre’Una Edwards (suspended), Robyn Benton (ankle), and Treasure Hunt (undisclosed) did not play.
The night started off as a game of runs. After Vanderbilt scored the opening bucket, Kentucky came right back with a 7-0 run to take an early lead. However, the Commodores responded quickly with an 8-0 run of its own to go up 10-7 halfway through the first period. UK would stay close despite nine turnovers in the frame, trailing 17-15 after the opening 10 minutes of action.
The second quarter didn’t look much better for the ‘Cats. Kentucky turned the ball over four more times in the first five minutes of the period, but still managed to score enough to keep pace with Vandy. UK was within two at the media timeout, 24-22, before Howard finally pushed her squad over the hump with a 3-pointer that put Kentucky in front by one.
Unfortunately, Brinae Alexander got hot from distance for Vanderbilt, hitting back-to-back triples for the ‘Dores that was part of an 8-0 run. Howard did her best to keep UK in the game, but the Wildcats trailed 35-27 heading into the intermission after turning the ball over 16 times.
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Howard had 14 points through 20 minutes on 5-9 shooting, but her teammates went a combined 5-14. Alexander had 16 points at the half for Vandy.
To get the second half rolling, Kentucky continued to stay close. The score would never get within three points for the ‘Cats, but its deficit would never grow greater than 10. An additional nine points from Howard, including an insane one-handed lob pass turned made 3-pointer, kept UK alive heading into the fourth, trailing 52-46.
The minutes load began to show itself for Kentucky as the fourth quarter began, but the tired legs kept running. Vanderbilt would go up double-digits before a timely 7-0 run from UK over a four-minute span brought the ‘Cats within three at 58-55 and just four minutes left in the game.
But that was as close as Kentucky would get. Vanderbilt finished on a 7-2 run to secure the victory 65-57. Howard would record her 2,000th career point with 15 seconds left in regulation, her only points of the fourth period. Jada Walker was the second-leading scorer for UK with 10 points while Emma King finished with nine.
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