PREVIEW: Kentucky WBB prepares for youthful Minnesota squad

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On3 image — Photo by Eddie Justice | UK Athletics

Forget Whac-A-Mole. Kentucky Women’s Basketball wants to smack some Gophers.

On Wednesday night, the Wildcats (6-1) will face the Minnesota Golden Gophers (5-3) at 8:00 p.m. EST in Minneapolis. The Golden Gophers are only Kentucky’s second Power Five Conference opponent this season; the other being Virginia Tech, which the ‘Cats lost to by eight points on Nov. 21. Moreover, the contest is Kentucky’s first true road game.

Despite the obstacles, the ‘Cats are confident. UK is on a two-game win streak, most recently destroying UNC Greensboro in an 82-56 blowout. This week will be Kentucky’s most challenging yet. After traveling to Minnesota, the ‘Cats will immediately return to Lexington to prepare for their Sunday matchup against Louisville in Rupp Arena.

However, before UK can dream about grounding the high-flying Cardinals, they need to take care of business in Minnesota.

First true road game of the season.#GameOn 🤟🎸
— Kentucky Women’s Basketball (@KentuckyWBB) December 6, 2022

What’s going on with the Gophers?

The Gophers are entering Wednesday on a four-day break, and they needed every minute of it. On Dec. 3, the team pulled out a grueling 98-96 double-overtime win against Penn State. A close game is nothing new to Minnesota. The team’s past four contests have finished within an average of five points.

Perhaps Minnesota’s grit comes from head coach Lindsay Whalen. The four-time WNBA champion was named a finalist for the Women’s Basketball Hall Of Fame earlier this year. With personal achievements out of the way, she wants her team to win.

Mara Braun will be instrumental in achieving this goal. The 6-foot freshman is one of the best rookies in the country, averaging 20.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. The talented guard has already won Big Ten Freshman of the Week multiple times.

The freshman guard, who averages 20.6 points, scores almost half of them in the fourth quarter or overtime. https://t.co/lbbI547KjN
— Star Tribune Sports (@StribSports) December 7, 2022

Braun isn’t the only young star finding success. Sophomore forward Alanna Micheaux is averaging 12.6 points and a team-high 7.6 rebounds per game. Thankfully for the ‘Cats, the 6-foot-2 stud is not a threat from the outside and has not attempted a 3-pointer this season.

If you expected me to mention a veteran player next, you’d be wrong. Minnesota’s third, fourth, and fifth-leading scorers are all freshmen. Amaya Battle, Katie Borowicz and Mallory Heyer regularly add a combined 32 points per game to Gophers’ offensive effort.

Minnesota is young and hungry. Wildcat is on the menu, and it’ll be a tasty treat if Kentucky comes out lackadaisical.

Keys for Kentucky WBB

Luckily, Kentucky has been anything but lackadaisical lately. The team shot a season-high 58% from the field during their most recent victory. Elzy attributes the team’s selflessness to their newfound burst of offense.

“Our ability to share the basketball, push in transition. I think we’re taking rhythm shots, sharing the basketball. It is great to see the ball go in the net but 82 points on the board, we’ll take it,” Elzy said during the postgame press conference on Dec. 4.

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Only two players in the @SEC have logged a game this season with at least 10 assists.

You're looking at them. ⤵️@jadawalkr11, @madd1escherr pic.twitter.com/b9qrzZdF88
— Kentucky Women’s Basketball (@KentuckyWBB) December 6, 2022

UK’s ball movement is deadly. The ‘Cats are averaging 18 assists per game and have cut back on their turnovers. The Gophers can’t say the same. The inexperienced squad is averaging 16.6 turnovers per contest, including a 26-turnover performance in their most recent outing.

The latter stat is music to Elzy’s ears. UK’s defense is 40 Minutes of Hell. The team is forcing over 25 opponent turnovers per game, ranking them seventh in the nation. In case you were wondering, this defensive success isn’t luck.

When asked about conditioning after UK’s win over UNC Greensboro, sophomore guard Jada Walker’s response was blunt.

“That is an everyday thing. We push the pace. We do a lot of drills where we have to get the rebound and run. If we don’t, we have to run as a consequence,” Walker said. “Preaching that every day in practice and it’s making it easier in games for us to just get [opponents] down, push and beat teams and then forcing them to just cough the ball up.”

Kentucky’s conditioning won’t be the only key to victory. Simply put, the ‘Cats must use their experience to their advantage. Minnesota’s oldest starter is a sophomore. Kentucky starts three graduate students. If the ‘Cats capitalize on their age difference, a prominent point differential will be the result.

Kentucky will take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers at 8 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten+.