Kentucky WBB must keep finishing to keep NCAA Tournament hopes alive

Finally playing with its full roster, Kentucky Women’s Basketball is finding its groove.

It’s been an unexpectedly poor season for the Wildcats in 2021-22, as injuries, suspensions, and COVID-19 health and safety protocols have made continuity nearly impossible. After starting the season with a 6-1 record against non-conference foes with a mostly constant group, Kentucky has since gone 5-10, including a stretch that saw them drop eight out of nine games.

Dre’Una Edwards missed multiple contests due to suspension. Rhyne Howard, Robyn Benton, Nyah Leveretter, and Treasure Hunt have all dealt with injuries or illnesses. Stretches of four games over seven days have happened twice now. The front end of UK’s intraconference schedule featured five ranked matchups. This has been anything but a normal season after the weirdest one in history.

And yet, sitting on an 11-11 record (4-8 in SEC play), Kentucky is finally hitting its stride with just four regular-season games left. UK has won its last two outings, including an improbable 15-point comeback against Mississippi State on Tuesday night. Even in the Wildcats’ most recent loss to No. 1 South Carolina, a late push put some extra pressure on the Gamecocks down the stretch. In what isn’t a coincidence, Kentucky is finally performing up to preseason standards with all nine scholarship players in the rotation.

But even if UK were to win out, the odds of making the NCAA Tournament are slim. The only hope might be winning the SEC Tournament next month. The good news is that Kentucky is in a much better position to do that than it was just two weeks ago.

“We have to finish,” UK head coach Kyra Elzy said during her radio call-in show on Wednesday night. “We talked about that: finish in all facets. Whether it’s finish a game, finish a quarter, finish a layup, that’s just the key, finish. We have to keep our eye on the prize.”

The prize is clearly to make a postseason run, especially after such a disappointing start. And perhaps at the perfect time, Kentucky is learning to finish games. The next key will be putting together a full 40-minute effort, which will be necessary for running the table. That being said, being able to overcome a 15-point hole in a matter of seven minutes — as UK did against Mississippi State — is a testament to the team’s will to win no matter the circumstance.

“I was so proud of the resilience of this team,” Elzy added. “We answered run after run and what a fourth quarter. I told the team today: I don’t know what’s in our water bottle in the fourth quarter but I wish we would drink it in the first, second, and third. Imagine what we could do.”

Likewise, Howard isn’t sure why Kentucky has seemingly found its juice late in games, but she believes it speaks to the Wildcats’ chemistry and togetherness.

“I don’t really know. It’s like we actually wake up,” Howard said during Coach Elzy’s call-in show. “We go hard in other quarters but in the fourth it’s like bam, super hard, it’s like we have an extra boost or something. We just find a way to stay together and pull it out.”

The remaining four games won’t be a cakewalk, but Kentucky will be more than capable of winning them all. It starts on Thursday night at Memorial Coliseum against Vanderbilt (12-14) before back-to-back road matchups against Arkansas (16-8) and Missouri (16-9). The ‘Cats will close the regular season back in Lexington against the worst team in the SEC, Auburn (9-14).

Those are all winnable games that could potentially put UK at 15-11 on the season and 8-8 in league play. The NCAA Tournament isn’t completely out of the realm of possibility just yet, but Kentucky will have to make a statement (or two or three) in order to make a legitimate case.

“We know we have a lot at stake so it’s like what else can go worse?” Howard added. “Just go out there and give it our all and we’re gonna win. If we give it our all, we’re gonna win. No question.”