LEXINGTON, Ky. — What a way to close things out on your home floor!
Rhyne Howard reminded everyone inside of Memorial Coliseum Sunday why she is cemented as a Kentucky Legend. In front of the biggest home crowd of the season, with her parents and loved ones in attendance, Howard put on a show. The senior guard scored a season-high 32 points, while breaking two school records in the process: Most three pointers made in a half (6) and most three pointers made in a single game (8).
Kentucky closed out the regular season in style, winning their sixth straight game beating Auburn 90-62. The Wildcats best game of the season was arguably their final one against the Tigers. UK made 32 of 63 shots (50.8%), were 10-20 (50%) from three-point range, and 16-20 (80%) from the charity stripe. It doesn't get much better than that. The only statistical category the Cats didn't do well in was on the boards. The Tigers outrebounded UK 49-35.
Thanks to Kentucky's fast start, it didn't matter. The Wildcats had their highest-scoring period of the season, dropping 30 points in the first quarter. Howard scored 16 of the 30, single-handedly outscoring Auburn who had 15 in the first frame.
Howard had plenty of backup too. Her running mate, Dre'Una Edwards, scored 25 points, grabbing seven rebounds off the bench, while freshman point guard, Jada Walker, chipped in 15 points and grabbed a career-high nine rebounds.
With the victory, Kentucky secured the seventh seed for the SEC Women's Basketball Tournament. The Wildcats will now play 10th-seeded Mississippi State in the second round of the tournament Thursday, March 3rd at 6 p.m. The game is slated to air on the SEC Network.
