Paschal steps in for Howard, leads No. 13 Kentucky women

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Amanda Paschal stepped in for injured star Rhyne Howard and scored a career-high 18 points to lead No. 13 Kentucky to a 62-47 win over Missouri on Thursday night.

The Wildcats announced before the game that Howard, who leads the Southeastern Conference and is third in the country in scoring at 23.2 points a game, would be out until mid-February with a broken pinky finger on her left hand.

Howard was injured in the third quarter of Monday's win over Auburn but returned to finish the game.

The Wildcats (17-3, 6-2) had no problem without Howard, who accounts for 32% of their scoring, as Paschal and Sabrina Haines each made two baskets before Jaida Roper drilled a 3-pointer to cap an 11-0 run in the first quarter.

Taking an 11-7 lead into the second quarter, the Wildcats started with a 9-0 run, led off by Tatyana Wyatt's three-point play and capped by two Chasity Patterson buckets. Patterson then scored three times in an 8-0 run for a 28-11 lead.

The lead stayed in double figures the rest of the way.

Patterson scored 12 points and Blair Green had 11 for Kentucky, which went 4 of 16 from 3-point range but shot 45.5% overall.

Aijha Blackwell led Missouri (5-16, 2-6) with 17 points. The Tigers were 2 of 18 behind the arc, shot 31% overall and had 20 turnovers.

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