KENTUCKY WOMEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
2017 NCAA Tournament First Round
No. 18/24 Kentucky vs. Belmont
Memorial Coliseum – Lexington, Ky.
March 17, 2017
FINAL SCORE: #18/24 Kentucky 73, Belmont 70
Team Records and Series Notes
– Kentucky improves to 22-10 overall, while Belmont falls to 27-6 overall.
– The Wildcats own a 4-1 advantage all-time vs. Belmont, 1-0 in the NCAA Tournament.
o UK snapped Belmont’s 21-game winning streak. Before today, the Bruins’ last loss came on Dec. 14, 2016 vs. Minnesota.
– UK is now 20-13 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, 16-7 under Matthew Mitchell.
o UK is 11-3 in the first round, including 8-0 under Mitchell.
– Matthew Mitchell is in his 10th season with Kentucky. Mitchell is now 271-128 overall as a head coach, and 241-99 during his tenure at Kentucky.
– UK will face the winner of Ohio State and Western Kentucky on Sunday, March 19.
Team Notes
– Kentucky used the starting five of Taylor Murray, Makayla Epps, Evelyn Akhator, Maci Morris, and Alyssa Rice
o UK is now 19-7 this season with that starting-five combination.
– UK jumped out to an early 11-4 lead paced by eight straight points by Akhator. Epps also was on a shooting spree, hitting her first three shots and ending the first quarter with a team-high 10 points.
o UK hit 9-of-13 (69.2 percent) from the floor in the first quarter and led by as many as 12 points (23-11), while holding Belmont to 6-of-15 (40.0 percent).
– UK cooled off in the second quarter, hitting just 5-of-16 (31.3 percent) and allowing Belmont to outscore the Cats 23-12.
o Trailing all but the final 27.4 seconds to play in the opening stanza, Belmont took a 36-35 lead at the half.
o Belmont junior forward Kylee Smith took over in the second quarter, scoring 16 of her 18 first-half points in the second stanza and grabbing a game-high tying six rebounds.
o Epps had 14 first-half points, while Akhator added 12.
o UK was outrebounded 19-9 by Belmont in the first half.
o UK is now 3-8 when trailing at the half this season.
– Kentucky opened the third quarter on a 13-0 run.
o UK held Belmont to an 0-of-8 start and limited the Bruins without a field goal until 3:52 to go in the third.
o With UK leading by 11 (53-42), Belmont answered with a 7-2 run to close within six at the third-quarter break, 55-49.
o The Wildcats outscored Belmont 20-13 in the quarter, shooting 81.8 percent (9-of-11).
o UK was led in the third by Epps with 12 points. She entered the fourth quarter perfect from beyond the arc (5-of-5).
– Leading by seven, 66-59, in the fourth quarter, Belmont hit back-to-back buckets to pull within three, 66-63, with 37.1 seconds to play.
– Morris hit two crucial free throws to push the lead back to five but Belmont drained another 3-pointer with 28.9 to play.
– Morris hit 1-of-2 free throws to give UK a 69-66 advantage before Belmont’s McCabe hit two free throws with 13.0 to go, pulling the Bruins within one, 69-68.
– Morris drained two free throws with 10.5 seconds to play, giving UK a 71-68 leads.
– Belmont answered with a layup with 3.2 seconds left to make it 71-70 Kentucky.
– Morris again stepped up and drained two free throws to push UK’s lead back to 73-70 and the Wildcats would hold on for the win.
– Morris hit 7-of-8 free throws in the final 37 seconds.
– UK is now 5-2 in games decided by five points or less.
– UK forced 13 Belmont turnovers, resulting in 19 points for the Wildcats. The Cats had just seven turnovers in the game, the fewest since committing a season-low five miscues vs. Tennessee on Jan. 1.
– Both teams shot 46 percent from the field. UK was 26-of-56, while Belmont was 27-of-59.
– UK hit 7-of-15 from the 3-point line (47 percent), while Belmont hit 9-of-20 (45 percent).
– UK was 14-of-19 from the free-throw line (73.7 percent), while Belmont was 7-of-9 (78 percent).
Individual Notes
– Makayla Epps scored a game-high 30 points on 11-of-18 shooting, including 5-of-8 from beyond the arc.
o The five 3-pointers were a career high.
o The senior also had five rebounds and played the entire 40 minutes.
o It was Epps’ third 30-point game of the season and her second straight. She had 31 vs. South Carolina in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament.
o Marked her 13th game of the season with 20 points or more.
o Epps’ 1,769 career points ranks fifth in UK history. She needs just 28 more to move up to No. 4 with Leslie Nichols (1,797).
o Epps now has six career games of 30 or more points, which ranks third most in program history.
– Evelyn Akhator had 22 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double.
o It was her 17th double-double of the season and second straight.
? Akhator now has 30 career double doubles.
o Led the Wildcats on the boards for the 25th time this season.
– Maci Morris added 15 points and four assists.
o Scored 10 of her 15 points in the second half.
o It was her 22nd game in double-digit scoring this season, fourth straight.
o Hit a huge 3-pointer in the fourth quarter with UK clinging to a four-point lead with 5:20 to go.
o Hit 7-of-8 from the free-throw line in the final 37.1 seconds.
– Alyssa Rice added important minutes for UK, scoring two points and grabbing six rebounds, the second-highest on the team.
– In her first game back since being sidelined with whiplash during the semifinals of the SEC Tournament, Taylor Murray added four points and a game-high six assists.
