By Kindsey Bernhard
NKyTribune intern
Junior transfer Makenzie Cann scored a career-high 20 points while leading Kentucky women to a 92-43 win over the New Hampshire Wildcats on Thursday afternoon.
The Lexington native spent one season at the University of Cincinnati before transferring home to play for Kentucky. After sitting out last season due to NCAA transfer rules, Cann has established herself as head coach Matthew Mitchell’s sixth player off the bench.
Cann’s hot hand led the way for the Cats in their rout of New Hampshire. She finished 6 of 8 from three-point range, shooting 67 percent from the field for the game. Cann added five rebounds and four assists to her impressive stat line.
When one three-pointer falls, Cann said confidence helps the other ones fall as well.
She credits her extra work with assistant coach Kyra Elzy for her confident shooting.
“She works with me every day to keep my confidence up,” Cann said.
Cann, who is 6’1’, plays the four position, but her versatility allows her to play both out on the wing and in the post.
“The thing I think that makes her very dangerous is you have to go out there and guard her, but then she can put the ball on the floor,” Mitchell said. “So she got to the basket some today. She had some really nice passes. So she has a great feel. “
Cann said her versatility at the four, a position she had never played, has shown how much she has progressed since arriving at Kentucky.
“Coming out of high school I was known as ‘stand over there and shoot’,” Cann said. “So it’s definitely been a big progression, and that’s what I always wanted. And that’s one of the reasons I chose to come to UK, because I knew that Coach Mitchell believed I could be more than a shooter.”
This team has a lot of players who can hit from three-point range, which can make them dangerous. Cann was not the only one hitting from long range Thursday. Kentucky finished 12-of-25 from three-point land; four players contributed.
“Obviously the sky is the limit if we keep putting the work in,” Cann said.
“I think we’ll need to be a good three-point shooting team to be successful,” Mitchell said. “And clearly, today we had some open looks. I thought when Cann got going, I think it just takes a lot of pressure off everyone else.”
At Cincinnati, Cann played in 31 games averaging 7 points per game. As a Bearcat she shot 34.6 percent from the field and 36.7 percent from the three-point line. Cann hit at least one three-pointer in 25 of 31 games for UC.
The Cats hit the road for the first time this season as they head to Boulder to take on the University of Colorado on Saturday at 9 p.m. EST.