Rhyne Howard has monster performance in Cats’ win over No. 22 Tennessee

Matthew Mitchell’s No. 13 Kentucky women’s basketball team faced off against the No. 22 Tennessee Volunteers today in Memorial Coliseum, and the Wildcats did not disappoint in their top-25 matchup. Coming off a loss to No. 4 South Carolina to begin conference play, the Wildcats fought hard for an 80-76 win over the Vols.

Rhyne Howard, who is averaging 21.5 ppg., went off for a career-high 37 points to lead the Wildcats to victory. Howard shot 7/13 from three-point range as the entire team shot 48.1% from deep in the game. Howard was all over the floor as she stuffed the box score with 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks as well.

With six teams in the top 25, the SEC is no joke in women’s hoops. With that said, you have to like where Matthew Mitchell’s team is with an offensive weapon like Howard locked and loaded at all times.

Rennia Davis had a strong performance for the Vols with 27 points, but it wasn’t enough to get UT the win.

The Vols just couldn’t keep up from deep. They outshot the Wildcats from the field and from the free-throw line, but they only shot 27.3% from long range on 11 attempts. They outrebounded the Wildcats but had 21 turnovers on the day compared to the Wildcat’s total of 13. UT did enough to hang around, but Howard and the Wildcats got it done where they needed to to pull this one out.

Next up, the Wildcats are headed to Tuscaloosa to play Alabama.

Go follow our Twitter page and ‘like’ our Facebook page for the latest Kentucky Wildcats news and views.