After averaging 29.5 points and hitting 57 percent from the field and 47 percent from 3 in Kentucky’s wins over Charlotte and Samford, University of Kentucky women’s basketball sophomore guard Rhyne Howard has been tabbed the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week by the league office.
This is the first SEC Player of the Week honor for Howard, who last season set a new league record with eight SEC Freshman of the Week honors. Howard is the first UK player to earn the honor from the league office since Taylor Murray claimed the award last season after an impressive performance in the 2018 Paradise Jam.
Last week, Howard shined against Charlotte and Samford averaging 29.5 points per game, 6.5 rebounds per game and 3.5 steals per game. After tying her career high in points with 29 against Charlotte, Howard set a new career high the following game with 30 points against the Bulldogs. Against Charlotte, Howard went 10-of-18 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free throw line, adding seven rebounds and four steals. She followed that performance by going 11-of-19 from the field and 5-of-8 from long range against Samford with six rebounds, three assists and three steals.
It has been an impressive stretch lately for Howard, who has scored 20 or more points in five of her last seven games. The stretch started with 24 points against Stetson before a double-double against Virginia with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Against Morehead State and Grambling State, Howard scored 24 points against Eagles hitting five 3s while she scored 27 points against Grambling with four made 3s and five rebounds. So far this season, Howard has scored 20 or more points five times becoming the first Matthew Mitchell player to post 20 or more points five times in the first nine games of a season.
Howard has been tabbed to nearly every watch list for national honors, including the Citizen Naismith Trophy Top 50, John R. Wooden Award Top 30, Cheryl Miller Award Preseason Watch List, WBCA Preseason Wade Watch List, USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Watch List and was Preseason All-SEC First Team by both league coaches and league media.
It has been a great start to the season for Howard and the Wildcats. The native of Cleveland, Tennessee, leads Kentucky by averaging 20.4 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game, while she has hit a team-best 26 3-pointers. The guard has 23 assists and team-high 22 steals while she is second on the squad with 10 blocks.
Howard is coming off an incredible first season at Kentucky where she was named a unanimous national freshman of the year by espnW, USBWA and WBCA. The national honors were added to her already lengthy list of honors last season as the SEC Freshman of the Year by league coaches and SEC Newcomer of the Year by the Associated Press. She was also named WBCA All-America honorable mention, first-team All-SEC, SEC All-Freshman Team and second-team All-SEC by the AP.
Kentucky (9-0) is currently ranked No. 14 in the Associated Press Top 25 and will continue its seven-game home stand Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET vs. Winthrop inside Rupp Arena. The Wildcats will also play host to No. 7 Louisville at Rupp Arena on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. Tickets for both games are available at UKathletics.com/tickets.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
‑ GO CATS –
For more information contact:
Evan Crane