‘Step up and grow.’ Inside Saniah Tyler’s breakout season for Kentucky women’s basketball.

Not many players make as substantial a jump from their freshman to sophomore seasons as Kentucky’s Saniah Tyler.

In her second season with UK women’s basketball, Tyler is averaging 9.5 points in 27.4 minutes over the course of 18 games, including nine starts.

It’s a night-and-day difference from her freshman campaign, during which she played a total of only 25 minutes in nine appearances. Now, standing as one of three remaining members of head coach Kyra Elzy’s six-person 2022 recruiting class, Tyler has established her importance to the Wildcats’ roster through her resolute defensive effort and her affinity for the 3-point shot. She has launched 105 shots from beyond the arc, connecting on 34 of them for a team-high 32.4% success rate. Tyler sinks 1.9 3-pointers per contest to rank eighth in the Southeastern Conference.

And for Tyler, confidence is key.

“The coaches have really challenged me to step up and grow,” Tyler said. “Like when things aren’t going a certain way, I have to channel my emotions onto something else. I think I’m still trying to work on that a lot. Because last year, I really didn’t have this much time on the court. So I’m kind of still learning and growing, but I think I’m getting a little bit better with that.”

Elzy has called Tyler a “two-way player” who “can bring the heat” on defense, “but she can also score at three levels” and those skills have been on full display during Tyler’s sophomore season. But it took Tyler a while to get here.

‘I kept second guessing myself’

When it became obvious that Tyler was going to be a necessary component of the team’s success, Elzy made a point to mention that, as a freshman last season, Tyler quickly lost her confidence. When asked recently about that experience, Tyler said it all came down to one question — “Am I even able to play at this level?”

The Florissant, Missouri, native and former four-star prospect was a 1,000-plus point scorer at Incarnate Word Academy, a three-year starting point guard who helped guide her team to two state championships and chose UK over both Arizona State and Tennessee because of Elzy — “Kyra Elzy is kind of just like a mom away from home” — and her ties to Cadiz, Kentucky, where her family is from.

When she arrived in Lexington, Tyler was matched up against former starting guard and key contributor Jada Walker (now in her first season with Baylor as a transfer), who presented difficulties Tyler hadn’t faced in her basketball career up to that point.

“Coming in as a freshman, you were the best player in high school,” Tyler said. “So when I got to practice, Jada Walker, she was giving me all type of problems during practice every single day, and I’d never had that. I lost my confidence. … I kept second guessing myself.”

After her freshman season, during which the Wildcats finished with an overall record of 12-19 and 2-14 in SEC play, Tyler was determined to get in the gym and physically see her shots find the basket in pursuit of the knowledge that, yes, actually, she is capable. Not only of playing SEC basketball, but serving as a real contributor for the Kentucky Wildcats.

So when Tennessee junior transfer point guard Brooklynn Miles showed up at workouts in the summer, Tyler was prepared — both physically and mentally — for the challenge. Tyler even worked on some of the things she’d learned from going against Walker, and used them to get past Miles.

“I didn’t lose as much confidence,” Tyler said. “Because I’m like, ‘I’ve been through this before, so I know how to get past this.’”

Not only did Miles’ entrance reflect a serious point of growth for Tyler and her game, but it was also the start of a close friendship — “We kind of just clicked. We have that … I don’t know what it’s called, but we have it.” — one that has resulted in several highlight reel-caliber assists when the duo shares a backcourt. For example, the Miles-to-Tyler connection in the fourth quarter of UK’s double-digit victory over Samford on Dec. 31 when Miles passed the ball between her legs to give Tyler an open layup on a fast break.

“We always point at each other when we make a pass,” Tyler said. “And she makes the shot, or I make the shot. We just have that chemistry with each other.”

Late nights, early mornings

Tyler is leaps and bounds past the basketball player she was last season, but with a significant increase in playing time comes new hurdles and lessons. In order to keep her confidence up and stay prepared, Tyler has a rule: Don’t get comfortable.

Following the team’s disappointing, back-to-back losses against Minnesota and Louisville — during which Tyler scored eight and five points, respectively — Tyler delivered the two strongest performances of her career so far. In a win against Furman on Dec. 17, Tyler scored 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting and was a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line. In the next game, a Dec. 21 victory against Lipscomb, Tyler finished with 22 points on 8-for-15 shooting including 3-for-8 from long range.

After the Furman game, senior guard Maddie Scherr said so much of Tyler’s success is rooted in confidence.

“What I love about Saniah is she’s gonna keep shooting it,” Scherr said. “And I tell her all the time, ‘Please, keep shooting that ball because you can shoot.’ And I think with (Tyler) it’s just more of a mental game, you know, but when you get out of that, it shows. She can play.”

After the Lipscomb game, Elzy noted that Tyler — after her then-career high game against Furman — was in the gym late at night and early in the morning, continuing to work hard and push for growth.

“Because there’s always somebody else out working,” Tyler said. “And so I have to keep working on my game, just so I can be at the top of my game.”

Tyler specified that this mentality stemmed from the Louisville game, and pointed to a moment where she took a wide-open 3-pointer and missed it.

“That can’t happen again,” Tyler said. “I’m never going to get that wide open, so when I’m that wide-open, I need to capitalize and make those shots.”

Another shift that Tyler said has helped? Moving from a starter to a spark off the bench. Elzy said after the Furman win that Tyler coming in off the bench takes some of the pressure off her. “Let her just come in and play basketball.”

When asked about whether it really made a difference, Tyler said it did, and that having the chance to see the game and how opponents are setting screens before subbing in allows her to prepare to make an impact. Sure enough, Tyler’s last start was against Louisville.

“I know what I’m going to be given when I get out there, so I can adjust and know what’s happening rather than starting,” Tyler said. “I mean, starting is not a big deal. Like you can still get time, and still be an aspect in the game. So I don’t really look at starting as like, oh a major thing. But yeah, like she said, it’s a major eye-opener for me and I feel like I play better coming off the bench. We need the spark off the bench, so somebody has to be that. And I think I’m good at that spot right there.”

Though four of Tyler’s six double-figure scoring games happened when she was in the starting lineup, Tyler’s attitude is consistent with the culture Elzy has worked so hard in her four seasons at the helm to instill — regardless of whose night it is or who gets the shine, any victory is a team victory.

“I think that everybody’s happy for one another,” Tyler said. “Whether they get the credit or somebody else gets the credit, we just love to, you know, let somebody else get the shine and help us get the win.”

Next game

Missouri at Kentucky

When: 2 p.m. Sunday

Where: Rupp Arena

TV: SEC Network+ (online only)

Radio: WLAP-AM 630

Records: Kentucky (8-10, 1-3 SEC), Missouri (10-7, 1-3 SEC)

Series: Kentucky leads 11-5

Last meeting: Kentucky won 77-54 on Jan. 29, 2023, at Memorial Coliseum