Rhyne Howard leads Schio to Italian Cup victory, named event MVP

It doesn’t matter which country she’s playing in, Rhyne Howard is going to put on a show.

The former Kentucky Wildcats’ most recent major accomplishment came on Saturday with her European club, Famila Wuber Schio, where she helped power her squad to the franchise’s 14th Italian Cup (Coppa Italia) victory and third in a row. Howard finished the game with 20 points, including five consecutive made triples in the second quarter alone, during a 73-62 win over Umana Reyer Venice, earning MVP of the eight-team tournament in the process.

Howard’s squad won three games over the course of three days to lock up another Italian Cup title. She was also tabbed the MVP of Schio’s quarterfinal matchup — an 87-78 overtime win over Passalacqua Ragusa — on Thursday when she posted 18 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.

MVP 🏀 Techfind Coppa Italia • Final Eight La Molisana 🏆@howard_rhyne – @familaschio 👏👏👏#LBFLIVE pic.twitter.com/DmgWoi6Rmz

— Lega Basket Femminile (@legabasketfem) April 2, 2023

MVP 🏀 @howard_rhyne #LBFLIVE pic.twitter.com/otK4tIOdWi

— Lega Basket Femminile (@legabasketfem) April 1, 2023

Howard, who was named the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year and a WNBA All-Star in her first season, has been thriving overseas in her international debut. Through 17 Euroleague games played for Schio, she’s averaging 11.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per outing while shooting 47.5 percent from the floor and 34.4 percent from long range. Howard has been equally as dangerous against Italian Serie A1 competition, posting per-game averages of 12.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists across 21 contests while shooting 41.7 percent overall and 34.5 percent from distance.

Howard’s run in Italy isn’t quite done yet though. She’ll finish out the season with Schio in hopes of winning the Italian League Championship before returning to her WNBA franchise, the Atlanta Dream, which is set to begin its 2023 season on Saturday, May 20 against the Dallas Wings.