March 24, 2010

Lexington, KY – Kentucky women’s basketball signee Sarah Beth Barnette of Lexington, Ky., has been named the 2010 Kentucky Miss Basketball, announced Wednesday at Lexington Christian Academy by the Kentucky Lions Eye Foundation. The award is chosen by the state’s high school coaches.

Barnette will be the eighth Kentucky Miss Basketball to play for the Wildcats, including the second straight and the fourth in the last six years. She joins 2009 winner A’dia Mathies (Louisville) and 2007 winner Rebecca Gray (Georgetown) on the UK squad next season.

Barnette, the first Miss Basketball from Lexington, led the Lexington Christian to an overall 127-29 mark during her career, including a 22-7 record this past season. She averaged a squad-best 23.6 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.4 steals, 2.2 assists and 1.9 blocks per game as a senior for the Lady Eagles and concluded her prep career with 1,928 points and 1,076 rebounds.

The 6-1 forward, who also won the Gatorade Kentucky Player of the Year honor earlier this month, will wear the No. 1 jersey for Kentucky when it faces Indiana in the states’ annual all-star games. Contests are set for Friday, June 11 at Bellarmine University’s Knights Hall and Saturday, June 12 at Indianapolis’ Conseco Fieldhouse.