Rhyne Howard and Kyra Elzy honored with weekly national awards

Following a monster week for Kentucky Wildcats women’s basketball, espnW named Kyra Elzy the National Coach of the Week and Rhyne Howard the National Player of the Week on Monday.

In addition, Howard was named the SEC Player of the Week and Naismith Trophy National Player of the Week on Tuesday.

In her first season as a collegiate head coach, Elzy has already led UK to back-to-back wins over top-15 ranked opponents, the first time the school has accomplished this since December 2013 and the first time ever vs. SEC opponents.

After starting with a 75-64 win on Thursday vs. No. 10 Arkansas, the Wildcats scored an overtime win at No. 12 Mississippi State on Sunday, 92-86.

Against Arkansas, Howard recorded 24 points with 10 rebounds and four assists. Then she dropped a season-high 33 points with 10 boards and six assists in Starkville. She scored 25 of her 33 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Howard actually scored 25 of Kentucky’s final 31 points in the game, including 10 of the team’s 14 overtime points as she alone outscored the Bulldogs 10-8 in the extra period.

Howard is the first player in school history to score at least 33 points with 10 rebounds and six assists against an SEC opponent and the second player to accomplish the feat against any opponent, joining Belitta Croley.

The preseason favorite for national player of the year, Howard is now averaging 18.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. She leads Kentucky with 23 triples made and is second on the team with 29 assists and 14 steals. She now ranks fourth all-time in career threes made with 181, while her 1,308 career points rank 21st all-time.

This is the second espnW National Player of the Week honor for Howard, who was also named the CollegeSportsMadness National Player of the Week on Monday.

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