RECAP: Takeaways from Kentucky WBB season-opener

Kentucky Women’s Basketball did a few things wrong during their season-opener, but did far more things right. UK fans got their first look at their ‘Cats on Tuesday night when Kentucky defeated Presbyterian 81-53. For most, the game served as a satisfying appetizer before diving into a mouthwatering season.

While the ‘Cats have a promising year in front of them, an equal amount of adversity lies ahead. The Wildcats’ roster was cut down to nine scholarship players after senior Blair Green was injured in a preseason scrimmage against EKU. To make matters worse, the program announced last night sophomore Nyah Leveretter is out due to a non-COVID-related illness; not ideal, to say the least.

Unfortunately for the ‘Cats, they don’t have long to mourn their losses. Tuesday night’s game was the beginning of a week-long gauntlet of contests. On Thursday, the ‘Cats face the University of North Alabama and are set to play #8 ranked Indiana this upcoming Sunday. With such little time to prepare, let’s talk about some of the key observations from Tuesday evening’s contest.

Starting out slow

Two times is a coincidence. Three times is a pattern. For BBN’s sake, let’s hope the Wildcats’ slow starts aren’t the latter.

Against both Lee and Presbyterian, Kentucky failed to jump out to early leads and even trailed in the opening minutes of both games. Of course, in both contests, Kyra Elzy would call a timeout to wake her team. But, should it really take a timeout for the ‘Cats to stop sleepwalking?

Elzy, for one, doesn’t think so. On Tuesday night, the ‘Cats struggled to come alive up until the end of the half, heading into the break with only a one-point lead. Elzy let the media in on what she told her team during halftime.

”I just told them ‘I don’t know what Kentucky team this is but let’s leave them wherever they are, and bring out the real Kentucky team’,” Elzy said. “We had more in the tank than we showed.”

Kentucky may be able to get away with these sluggish starts against teams like Presbyterian, but Indiana will be a different story. If the ‘Cats don’t come out of the gates hot, Indiana will ice the game before it even begins.

Treasure Hunt makes Kentucky WBB ‘different offensively’

If there was one player who stood out during Kentucky’s season-opener, it was Treasure Hunt. The sophomore forward dropped a career-high 18 points and shot an efficient 7/11 from the field. As if that wasn’t enough, Hunt snagged a career-high nine boards. The stretch forward was seemingly everywhere for the ‘Cats.

Fans weren’t the only ones to notice Hunt’s spectacular performance. Elzy rewarded Hunt by starting her in the second half, a change that could easily become the norm considering Kentucky’s troublesome starts.

Hunt is a spark plug who can turn games around. For reference, Hunt led the ‘Cats in +/- against Presbyterian with an insane +34. Though success hasn’t come easily to the highly-touted recruit, Elzy believes Hunt is a star in the making.

“Treasure was a marquee player. Treasure was a program changer. It was a tough transition for her, but give credit to Treasure, she has stuck with the process,” Elzy said. “She’s just gifted offensively — has a great feel for the game. She can score at all three levels, has great size. So, she makes us different offensively.”

Elzy spoke all summer about this team being built around versatility. If Elzy is looking for a Swiss Army Knife player, she needs to look no further than Hunt.

Kentucky WBB can’t fall in love with the 3-pointer

Maybe the biggest difference Hunt made during Tuesday night’s contest, was grounding the ‘Cats back in the lane. Kentucky began the game with a seemingly endless green light from deep. Though the shots were open, it appeared the ‘Cats were forgetting sometimes it’s easier to just park in the paint.

Of the Wildcats’ 33 shot attempts in the first half, 15 of them were 3-pointers. Even worse, only four of their 3-point attempts fell. Kentucky star Rhyne Howard wasn’t immune to this 3-ball fever. Despite being one of the most prolific slashers in the country, 75% of Howard’s shot attempts in the first half came from beyond the arc.

Per usual, all it took was a few halftimes words from Elzy for the ‘Cats to wisen up. In the second half, the Wildcats only attempted five shots from deep. After the game, Howard discussed the team’s halftime realization.

“When we did get into the paint, when we did get two feet in there or let Treasure touch it, it was always something good happening,” Howard said. “They really couldn’t stop us from getting in there. So, we just had to lock in.”

Elzy seconded her star player’s thoughts.

“We fell in love with the 3-point line early instead of attack the gaps. But, when we start playing inside-out, getting the ball at the nail, we had great scoring opportunities,” Elzy said.

Thoughts heading into Kentucky WBB’s game on Thursday

Thursday’s game against the University of North Alabama may be another lesson for the ‘Cats, but Sunday’s ranked matchup against Indiana will be an exam. Kentucky must learn as much from its mistakes as possible over the next several days to be adequately prepared.

Whether it takes late-night film sessions or two-a-day practices, Kentucky will have to learn fast. UK will face North Alabama at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday. The game will be in Memorial Coliseum and broadcast on the SEC Network+.