Rhyne Howard named National Player of the Week

As Kentucky Women’s Basketball continues to build its case for the NCAA Tournament, so does its star player for another run at National Player of the Year honors.

On Tuesday afternoon, for just the second time in her career, Rhyne Howard was tabbed as the Naismith Trophy Player of the Week for her performances during Kentucky’s three contests last week. The two-time reigning SEC Player of the Year was spectacular in a trio of wins for the Wildcats, averaging 20.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 3.7 assists. Her best outing was a 29-point, 10-rebound outing in a dominating road win over Arkansas on Sunday.

On the season, Howard is putting up All-American numbers once again for Kentucky. She’s posting 20.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.5 steals per game on a shooting split of 43.6/35.0/79.7. Even when her offensive isn’t grooving, like in the 16-point comeback win over Mississippi State where she shot just 4-19 from the floor, Howard always finds a way to lead her teammates when they need her the most.

Howard is up to 2,134 career points during her time in Lexington, the second-most in program history for both the men’s and women’s programs. While she likely won’t be in final consideration for the National Player of the Year award — mainly due to UK’s overall record — she continues to prove why she’ll likely hear her name called among the first two picks in the upcoming WNBA Draft.

This news comes on the heels of Kentucky rookie Jada Walker being named the SEC’s Freshman of the Week, which was also announced on Tuesday. The optimism doesn’t stop there, either. ESPN’s Charlie Creme bumped UK into the “Next Four Out” category as the team rides a four-game win streak into Thursday night’s game against Missouri on the road. That matchup is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. EST on the SEC Network+.