2021–22 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team

The 2021–22 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team represented the University of Kentucky during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wildcats, led by second-year head coach Kyra Elzy, played most of their home games at Memorial Coliseum and two at Rupp Arena and competed as members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

2021–22 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball
SEC tournament champions
NCAA tournament, first round
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 22
AP	No. 15
Record	19–12 (8–8 SEC)
Head coach	Kyra Elzy (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Niya Butts Gail Goestenkors Amber Smith
Home arena	Memorial Coliseum Rupp Arena
Seasons ← 2020–21 2022–23 →

2021–22 SEC women's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 1 South Carolina	15	–	1		.938			35	–	2		.946
No. 9 LSU	13	–	3		.813			26	–	6		.813
No. 18 Tennessee	11	–	5		.688			25	–	9		.735
Ole Miss	10	–	6		.625			23	–	9		.719
Florida	10	–	6		.625			21	–	11		.656
Georgia	9	–	7		.563			21	–	10		.677
No. 15 Kentucky †	8	–	8		.500			19	–	12		.613
Missouri	7	–	9		.438			18	–	13		.581
Arkansas	7	–	9		.438			18	–	14		.563
Alabama	6	–	10		.375			20	–	14		.588
Mississippi State	6	–	10		.375			15	–	14		.517
Texas A&M	4	–	12		.250			14	–	15		.483
Vanderbilt	4	–	12		.250			16	–	19		.457
Auburn	2	–	14		.125			10	–	18		.357
† 2022 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

In the January 27 loss to Vanderbilt, senior guard Rhyne Howard scored the 2,000th point of her college career. Howard became the third Wildcat to reach that benchmark.^[1]

Previous season

The 2020–21 Wildcats finished the season 18–9 (9–6 SEC) to finish tied for fifth place in the conference. The Wildcats were invited to the 2021 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament where they defeated Idaho State in the first round before losing to Iowa in the second round.

Offseason

Departures

Kentucky departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Notes
KeKe McKinney	3	F	6'1"	Senior	Knoxville, TN	Transferred to Charlotte
Tatyana Wyatt	14	F	6'2"	Senior	Columbus, GA	Graduated
Chasity Patterson	15	G	5'5"	Senior	Houston, TX	Graduated
Erin Toller	20	G	5'7"	Freshman	Louisville, KY	Dismissed from team
Kameron Roach	23	G	5'6"	RS Junior	Hopkins, SC	Transferred to Charlotte
[2][3][4]

2021 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Jada Walker G	Richmond, VA	Henrico HS	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)	N/A
	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 91
Kristen Crenshaw-Gill G	Youngstown, OH	Valley Christian School	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	N/A
	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources:

Roster

2021–22 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown C 00 Olivia Owens 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) RS Jr Niskayuna HS Maryland Albany, NY G 1 Robyn Benton 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Sr Greater Atlanta Christian School Auburn Conyers, GA G 3 Jazmine Massengill 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Sr Hamilton Heights Christian Academy Tennessee Chattanooga, TN G 4 Kristen Crenshaw-Gill 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Fr Valley Christian School Youngstown, OH G 5 Blair Green  6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Sr Harlan County HS Harlan County, KY G 10 Rhyne Howard 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Sr Bradley Central HS Cleveland, TN G 11 Jada Walker 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Fr Henrico HS Richmond, VA G 12 Treasure Hunt 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) So Hamilton Heights Christian Academy Chattanooga, TN F 21 Nyah Leveretter 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) So Westwood HS Blythewood, SC G 34 Emma King 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Jr Lincoln County HS Stanford, KY F 44 Dre'una Edwards 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) RS Jr Liberty HS Utah Compton, CA	Head coach Kyra Elzy (Tennessee) Assistant coach(es) Niya Butts (Tennessee) Gail Goestenkors (Saginaw Valley State) Amber Smith (Kentucky) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: June 9, 2024

Schedule

Memorial Coliseum during Kentucky's season-opening win against Presbyterian

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
November 4, 2021* 7:00 p.m.	No. 13	Lee	W 95–51		21 – Edwards	8 – Edwards	7 – Massengill	Memorial Coliseum (1,505) Lexington, KY
Non-conference regular season
November 9, 2021* 7:00 p.m., SECN+	No. 13	Presbyterian	W 81–53	1–0	20 – Edwards	9 – Hunt	7 – tied	Memorial Coliseum (3,321) Lexington, KY
November 11, 2021* 7:00 p.m., SECN+	No. 13	North Alabama	W 98–56	2–0	27 – Edwards	10 – tied	5 – Walker	Memorial Coliseum (3,444) Lexington, KY
November 14, 2021* 5:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 13	at No. 8 Indiana Rivalry	L 67–88	2–1	23 – Howard	9 – Howard	2 – tied	Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (5,394) Bloomington, IN
November 21, 2021* 2:00 p.m., SECN+	No. 19	Winthrop	W 92–47	3–1	22 – Howard	10 – Howard	10 – Howard	Memorial Coliseum (3,587) Lexington, KY
November 27, 2021* 8:30 p.m., SECN+	No. 20	La Salle	W 74–52	4–1	22 – Edwards	11 – Edwards	7 – Massengill	Memorial Coliseum (3,383) Lexington, KY
December 1, 2021* 7:00 p.m., SECN+	No. 16	West Virginia Big 12/SEC Challenge	W 83–60	5–1	27 – Howard	10 – Edwards	9 – Massengill	Memorial Coliseum (3,587) Lexington, KY
December 5, 2021* 2:00 p.m., SECN+	No. 16	Merrimack	W 90–56	6–1	21 – Howard	11 – Edwards	8 – Massengill	Memorial Coliseum (3,541) Lexington, KY
December 9, 2021* 7:00 p.m., SECN	No. 14	DePaul	L 85–94	6–2	22 – Benton	7 – tied	5 – Massengill	Rupp Arena (4,906) Lexington, KY
December 12, 2021* 1:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 14	at No. 7 Louisville Rivalry / Jimmy V Classic	L 58–64	6–3	14 – tied	14 – Edwards	4 – Edwards	KFC Yum! Center (12,167) Louisville, KY
December 17, 2021* 7:00 p.m., SECN+	No. 19	Morgan State	Canceled					Memorial Coliseum  Lexington, KY
December 19, 2021* 2:00 p.m., SECN+	No. 19	USC Upstate	W 67–44	7–3	22 – Howard	12 – Edwards	4 – tied	Memorial Coliseum (3,521) Lexington, KY
SEC regular season
January 6, 2022 7:00 p.m., SECN+	No. 21	No. 15 Georgia	W 84–76	8–3 (1–0)	30 – Howard	6 – Edwards	5 – Edwards	Memorial Coliseum (3,013) Lexington, KY
January 9, 2021 1:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 21	at No. 1 South Carolina	L 54–74	8–4 (1–1)	11 – Benton	8 – Howard	6 – Howard	Colonial Life Arena (12,327) Columbia, SC
January 16, 2021 3:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 19	at No. 5 Tennessee Rivalry	L 58–84	8–5 (1–2)	24 – Howard	6 – tied	3 – Howard	Thompson–Boling Arena (10,012) Knoxville, TN
January 20, 2022 7:00 p.m., SECN	No. 23	Florida	L 52–77	8–6 (1–3)	17 – Howard	10 – Howard	3 – Howard	Memorial Coliseum  Lexington, KY
January 23, 2022 7:00 p.m., SECN	No. 23	Ole Miss	L 54–63	8–7 (1–4)	24 – Howard	10 – Howard	2 – Massengill	Rupp Arena  Lexington, KY
January 25, 2022 8:00 p.m., SECN+		at Auburn	W 67–55	9–7 (2–4)	29 – Howard	9 – Howard	4 – Massengill	Auburn Arena (1,780) Auburn, AL
January 27, 2021 8:00 p.m.		at Vanderbilt	L 57–65	9–8 (2–5)	25 – Howard	10 – Howard	6 – Massengill	Memorial Gymnasium  Nashville, TN
January 30, 2021 2:00 p.m., SECN		at No. 12 LSU	L 69–78	9–9 (2–6)	23 – Howard	12 – Howard	3 – tied	Pete Maravich Assembly Center (8,734) Baton Rouge, LA
February 6, 2022 12:00 p.m., ESPN2		Texas A&M	L 64–73 OT	9–10 (2–7)	19 – Howard	10 – tied	5 – Massengill	Memorial Coliseum  Lexington, KY
February 10, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN		South Carolina	L 50–59	9–11 (2–8)	21 – Howard	9 – Howard	4 – tied	Memorial Coliseum  Lexington, KY
February 13, 2021 2:00 p.m., SECN		at Alabama	W 67–63	10–11 (3–8)	24 – Edwards	9 – Howard	5 – Massengill	Coleman Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, AL
February 15, 2022 5:00 p.m., SECN+		Mississippi State Rescheduled from January 3	W 81–74	11–11 (4–8)	23 – Edwards	11 – Howard	6 – Howard	Memorial Coliseum  Lexington, KY
February 17, 2022 7:00 p.m., SECN+		Vanderbilt	W 69–65	12–11 (5–8)	20 – Edwards	7 – Edwards	9 – Massengill	Memorial Coliseum  Lexington, KY
February 20, 2021 2:00 p.m., SECN		at Arkansas	W 78–55	13–11 (6–8)	29 – Howard	13 – Edwards	3 – Edwards	Bud Walton Arena  Fayetteville, AR
February 24, 2021 8:00 p.m., SECN+		at Missouri	W 78–63	14–11 (7–8)	30 – Edwards	12 – Howard	7 – Massengill	Mizzou Arena  Columbia, MO
February 27, 2022 4:00 p.m., SECN		Auburn	W 90–62	15–11 (8–8)	32 – Howard	9 – Walker	10 – Massengill	Memorial Coliseum (5,268) Lexington, KY
SEC tournament
March 3, 2022 7:00 p.m., SECN	(7)	vs. (10) Mississippi State Second round	W 83–67	16–11	21 – Walker	14 – Edwards	7 – Massengill	Bridgestone Arena (6,500) Nashville, TN
March 4, 2022 7:00 p.m., SECN	(7)	vs. (2) No. 6 LSU Quarterfinals	W 78–63	17–11	32 – Howard	10 – Edwards	8 – Massengill	Bridgestone Arena (7,704) Nashville, TN
March 5, 2022 7:30 p.m., ESPNU	(7)	vs. (3) No. 18 Tennessee Semifinals / Rivalry	W 83–74	18–11	24 – Howard	9 – Howard	7 – Howard	Bridgestone Arena (9,072) Nashville, TN
March 6, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN	(7)	vs. (1) No. 1 South Carolina Championship	W 64–62	19–11	27 – Edwards	9 – Edwards	6 – Massengill	Bridgestone Arena (7,997) Nashville, TN
NCAA tournament
March 19, 2022 4:00 p.m., ESPN	(6 B) No. 15	vs. (11 B) No. 25 Princeton First round	L 62–69	19–12	17 – Howard	12 – Edwards	3 – tied	Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (6,389) Bloomington, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. [5]

See also

• 2021–22 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team

References

1. Letcher, Tim (January 27, 2022). "Howard Scores 2,000th Career Point but Cats Fall at Vandy". UK Athletics. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
2. "Niners Add Kentucky Transfer Roach to 2021-22 Roster". charlotte49ers.com. April 5, 2021. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
3. "Consuegra Bolsters Lineup with Grad Transfer McKinney from Kentucky". charlotte49ers.com. April 15, 2021. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
4. Hale, Jon (October 8, 2021). "Former Sacred Heart star Erin Toller dismissed from UK women's basketball team". courier-journal.com. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
5. Crane, Evan (September 8, 2021). "Kentucky WBB Announces 2021-22 Schedule". ukathletics.com. Retrieved November 3, 2021.