Nov. 22, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 9/8 Kentucky women’s basketball team will play host to intrastate rival Morehead on Friday, Nov. 23 in the second annual “Terry Hall Memorial Classic” at 4 p.m. ET in Memorial Coliseum.
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| Kentucky vs. Morehead State Fri., Nov. 23 – 4:00 p.m. ET Lexington, Ky. Fan Guide Game Notes: UK  | MSU |
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Gameday Live : Live audio, blog, and stats Radio: UK IMG Live Video (subscription) Live Audio Gametracker Text Updates |
The Wildcats (2-1) are offering a special doubleheader deal as any fan with a ticket to the men’s basketball game in Rupp Arena set for Friday at 7 p.m. ET vs. Long Island-Brooklyn will receive free admission to the UK Hoops game.
Single-game reserved tickets are also available at a cost of $9 for all ages. General admission tickets for adults are $8 while single-game general admission tickets for seniors and children (ages 6-18, 65 and over) are only $5. Children ages five and under are admitted free in the general admission seating area.
Season tickets are also still available for $65. Lower-level chair back seating ($80) is sold out.
The game can be heard live on the UK IMG Sports Radio Network with Neil Price calling the game. In Lexington, the game will be carried on 1580 AM (WWTF). Fans can follow the UK Hoops team on Twitter at @UKHoopCats and use #UKHoops to comment on the game. A live video stream is available on the subscription video portion of www.UKathletics.com.
Kentucky introduced the “Terry Hall Memorial Classic” last season to honor Terry Hall, the all-time winningest coach in UK Hoops history.
Hall coached the Cats to seven consecutive winning seasons from 1980-87, charting a 138-66 overall record (67.7%). She owns the most wins and the best winning percentage of any coach to guide the program. She started with a 25-6 record in 1980-81 and a trip to the second round of the AIAW national tournament before falling by one point to Maryland. The NCAA welcomed women’s basketball into its ranks the following year, and that historical season ended with the Cats falling to eventual national champion Louisiana Tech in the Midwest Regional finals on the Lady Techsters’ home floor. After the Cats failed to make the NCAA tournament in 1986-87, Hall left coaching for the business sector. But three years later, she accepted the head coaching job at Wright State University, where she coached for seven years before succumbing to cancer in 1997.
“I want to wish everybody a happy Thanksgiving,” UK Coach Matthew Mitchell said. “It’s been a real good week for us preparation wise. We needed to take some steps forward and I think that we have. The game against Morehead State will be very interesting to see how much progress we have made. We are looking forward to that game and it should be a fun day of basketball with us playing at 4:00 p.m. and the guys playing that night. It’s good day for Kentucky basketball.”
The Wildcats are coming off a commanding 80-46 win over High Point last weekend. UK hit 50 percent from the field (30-of-60) and forced 32 turnovers on season-high tying 19 steals. Senior guard and All-America candidate A’dia Mathies (Louisville, Ky.) once again led the way, scoring all 17 of her points in the first half. Junior forward Samarie Walker (West Carrollton, Ohio) pulled down a season-best 12 rebounds to go along with six points, three assists and three steals.
The Wildcats are now an impressive 50-2 at home over the last three seasons, having won 22 in a row which ranks as the third-longest home winning streak in program history. They also have won 33 straight nonconference games as home, dating back to Dec. 19, 2008.
Morehead is 1-3 after falling 73-58 to Xavier on Wednesday in Cincinnati. The Eagles are led by junior Terrice Robinson and sophomore Almesha Jones who averaged 14.8 and 10.0 ppg, respectively. The team’s leading rebounder is sophomore Casey Ryans with 4.8 rebounds per game.
Friday will mark the 30th meeting between the programs since UK became a varsity sport in 1974-75. Kentucky leads the all-time series with Morehead 25-4, including a 17-1 advantage when playing in Lexington. UK has won the last eight meetings, including a 96-60 victory last season in Morehead.
Spectator parking is located in the following areas:
- All E-lots surrounding Memorial Coliseum beginning 3 hours prior to tip-off
- Parking Structure #5 (adjacent to Kennedy’s Bookstore).
- Lexington Authority Transit Center Parking Garage (new for the 2012-13 season).
- The Lexington Parking Authority Transit Center Parking Garage, located between High Street and Vine Street, is available for parking after 5 p.m. ET during the week and all day on the weekends. Additionally, a free shuttle service will pick up in the LR Cooke Lot near the corner of High Street and Martin Luther King beginning 1.5 hours prior to tip.
- Handicap parking is available in the E-Lot (Employee Lot) north of the Craft Center, adjacent to the metered spaces running along the frontage of the Craft Center with a valid, state issued handicap tag. These spaces (typically 20-30 stalls) are available on a first-come, first-serve basis until full.
Please note: parking is prohibited in any R (Residential) lots. Vehicles parking in Residential lots without a proper permit, along yellow curbs, grass spaces, or other non-specified and unapproved areas may be subject to ticket and/or tow.
Shuttle Information:
- Shuttles are available beginning 1.5 hours prior to tip off from Parking Structure # 5 located off Limestone and Upper Street and the Transit Center Parking Garage located off High Street and Vine Street.
- Parking Structure # 5 (blue route) picks up/drops off on Administration Drive, at the end of the pedestrian sky bridge accessed from the 3rd floor of the parking garage.
- Transit Center Parking Garage (green route) picks up/drops off near the corner of High Street and Martin Luther King.
- Shuttles will start back up 1.5 hours after tip-off (to return guests to their parking areas).
- See the attached shuttle map and route information diagrams for additional information.
Game day Information:
- Doors to the Coliseum will open one (1) hour prior to tip-off.
- UK Athletics encourages women’s basketball fans to arrive early to ease traffic and parking congestion around the Coliseum.
Surface event lots (i.e. Student Center, Joe Craft Center North and Good Samaritan Surface Lot) typically reach capacity approximately 45 minutes prior to tip-off, at which point, vehicles should proceed to Parking Structure #5 (PS#5) or the Lexington Authority Transit Center Parking Garage.
For more information on parking around Memorial Coliseum and other game-day questions visit www.ukathletics.com/wbbgameday
Media Opportunity – Nov. 21, 1012
Kentucky Head Coach Matthew Mitchell
Opening Statement…
“I want to wish everybody a happy Thanksgiving. We are looking forward to this week. It’s been a real good week for us preparation wise. We needed to take some steps forward and I think that we have. The game against Morehead State will be very interesting to see how much progress we have made. We are looking forward to that game and it should be a fun day of basketball with us playing at 4:00 p.m. and the guys playing that night. Good day for Kentucky basketball.”
On where progress needs to be made for his team…
“We are trying to make some progress at our point guard position. That is something that needs some work, so we have been looking at some different people in practice. I’d like to see us run a little more efficiently on offense. We have been turning the ball over a lot. The last couple of days we have turned it over a lot in practice and we just have to get better and get that straightened out. They are trying to play at a fast tempo, they are trying to learn some new things offensively, so some of that is understandable, but we just have to show greater improvement in that area.”
On A’dia Mathies playing point guard…
“It’s a possibility. I think it’s too soon for that, but it’s a possibility. I think we still have a chance to be a very good team. Trying to get some young players in the mix there with Janee Thompson being a freshman, Jen O’Neill coming off a redshirt year, Maegan (Conwright) has not played the position full time, she’s played in spurts here. Just trying to have some patience but at some point you can’t have an infinite supply of patience so A’dia is always a real good option for us. I think whatever happens there will be times this season where she will be at the point.”
On as a coach when you know a change is needed at a position…
“Some of it is a gut feel but it’s more based on what’s going on in practice. We can keep telling them to give a good effort and everything is going to work out and try to be positive, but at some point you have to perform. You have to make plays and you have to show you understand what needs to happen. It’s more of what’s happening in practice than a gut feel.”
On the team’s Thanksgiving plans…
“We will practice in the morning and then we will go have a good meal here in Lexington. We will go out for that meal and that will be a fun time together and then they will get the rest of the afternoon to enjoy themselves, and get a little bit of a break. It’s been real hectic for them and the weeks ahead are hectic all the way up to Christmas. We will try to give them a good meal that afternoon and give them that afternoon off before we play on Friday.”
On the focus being on offense more than defense this season…
“We have a veteran team in a lot of areas that I think is familiar with what we like to do defensively. We’ve just noticed it when we won the SEC championship last year, and that was a great accomplishment for us, we’ve been in some big games late in the season where our offense has been not what we wanted. This preseason I would say that we definitely have tried to emphasize our offense and like I said it’s a work in progress and one of these games pretty soon you are going to see us reap some of the benefits of all of the hard work. I would say that we have placed a greater emphasis on trying to help the players make more plays instead of teaching them how to run a certain play. I think that is an accurate assessment for what’s been happening.”
On Azia Bishop’s play early on this season…
“Leading up to our closed scrimmage, she was not performing well and she did not seem to have much energy. Really for all of them when you are not doing well here at Kentucky, it’s usually because your energy level or your attitude. We will help you through mistakes and help you play through mistakes, but you watched us play over the years and energy is a big part of it. She just was not there and then I had a long talk with her after that closed scrimmage. She didn’t do very well and didn’t perform very well and we sat down and had a long talk. We were off on Sunday and she came back up on Monday and her attitude was different and she took control of her situation. I have been very pleased with her and she has a long way to go in a lot of aspects as a basketball player but just her being energetic and aggressive changes her game. She’s so athletic and long and she can go get some things done for us that are very important. She’s been getting better every day so now we can spend more time teaching her about what she needs to do instead of yelling at her about what she’s not doing, and I think that is paying off big benefits for her. That is a positive sign for our team.”
