Elzy became the fifth coach in league history to win the tournament title in the first two seasons on the job, joining Joe Ciampi (Auburn), Jim Foster (Vanderbilt), Melanie Balcomb (Vanderbilt) and Holly Warlick (Tennessee). 1 South Carolina, 64-62, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 6, 2022. Elzy led Kentucky to its second SEC Tournament title in program history, and its first since 1982, when it defeated No. Before earning their second straight bid to the tournament, the Wildcats accomplished something perhaps even more exciting under her tutelage. In her first two seasons at the helm in 2020-22, Elzy became the first head coach in program history to lead Kentucky to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in their first couple of seasons. In the process, Elzy also tied the SEC Tournament record for the best eight-game start of any head coach in SEC history, after boasting a 7-1 record through her first eight games at the conference championship. 6 Alabama in a pair of double-digit upsets. Elzy led Kentucky to its 14th straight appearance in the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals, which was the longest active streak among all league programs at the time. In 2022-23, she had another exciting stretch at the Southeastern Conference Tournament. In just three seasons as the head coach, she has crafted an unprecedented resume.

12, 2020, after Matthew Mitchell retired from coaching, and the interim tag was removed just one month later.Įlzy enters her 12th season at Kentucky and her fourth season at the helm of the program in 2023-24. UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart named Elzy the interim head coach on Nov. Kyra Elzy, an Oldham County, Kentucky, native, has spent more than a decade building the Kentucky women’s basketball program into a national power.įor eight seasons, she served as an assistant coach and an associate head coach for the Wildcats (2008-12, 2016-20), before being named the eighth head coach in program history in 2020.

2009 10 kentucky basketball roster