Dec. 1, 2009
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Kentucky Head Coach Matthew Mitchell
Opening Statement …
“It was a fantastic night for us. Watching film, I thought that Miami had the capability to come in and be tough tonight. We just played some terrific basketball. We played very hard and the defensive intensity in the first half was where we want it. We also got on track tonight shooting the three-point shot. I thought that it was coming on. I don’t know if I thought that we were going to have a night like tonight, because tonight was an unbelievable night from the three-point line. I think that we can be a really good three-point shooting team. It was a good combination of very tough defense and good offense. I am happy to win and happy to take it to 7-0.”
On the impressive shooting …
“I think that we gained a tremendous amount of confidence from executing against their zone early. It was all about making the extra pass and sharing the basketball. We were moving bodies and moving the ball and when that happens we are pretty good. That is something we had lacked this past Saturday and it really makes you feel good as a coach when the players come out and execute. They were receptive to what we wanted to do and that got us off to a great start. The first four minutes we scored 13 points and it was a really productive offense start for us. There is no doubt that you feel better when shots are going in and it relaxes people and gives them confidence in the shots that they are making.”
On what it is like to sit on the sidelines when a team is shooting like that …
“Well, it is a lot of fun and I have been through some (games) where that didn’t happen so I was very happy to be in this one tonight as a coach. It was great and for the most part we were really flowing through the offense. We turned it over a little bit too much there in the second half, but it was great to see the players push the tempo in transition and execute in the half court.”
On if Kentucky did anything wrong tonight …
“I think that we lost our intensity a little bit. We really wanted to try to come out in the second half and keep up our intensity level. I was glad that after not having it to begin the second half we really got it back and finished the last three four-minute segments well.”
On the unselfishness of this team …
“It was a season high in assists and the reason for that is because earlier in the season we have been a little hurried on offense. Tonight, we got deep in the clock on offense and really moved the ball. Amani Franklin was big on that for us tonight. In our offense the four player needs to move the ball from one spot on the floor to the other and I thought that she did a better job of that tonight than Saturday. That really got us off to a good start.”
On the balance of this team this season …
“We just have some players that are very capable. Amber Smith is setting a great tempo for us and when she can set the tempo and get to the basket, now they have to worry about her opening the offense for everybody else. It starts with her and I thought that she was just tremendously aggressive in the first half and made some spectacular plays there. Victoria is obviously a great weapon as well. We have some pieces and some very talented offensive players right now. I think that the challenge is going to be when a night doesn’t go like tonight, can we continue to play defense and hang our hat on our defense intensity. Although we had a great offense tonight, I was very pleased with our defensive intensity and thought that we were fantastic in that aspect.”
On Amani Franklin …
“I would like to see her certainly be a productive offensive player from a scoring stand point but what she needs to do to help our team is to come out every night and rebound great and move the ball from the high post. She is talented enough that offense will come to her. If you look at the games where she has been good and hasn’t been good, the rebounds start with her effort and intensity. She was great defensively and had a lot of deflections tonight. She was tough tonight and a big key for us to put it together and be a good team.”
Kentucky Player Quotes
#34, Victoria Dunlap, F
On if it makes it easier on her when shots are being made from the outside …
“It opens up a lot and takes a little pressure off me to score. It’s a great thing for our guards to make those shots because the other team either has to guard the outside or the inside.”
On taking pride in the defense …
“That’s pretty much all Coach talks about going into practice and in preparation for games. Moving in certain situations and knowing where people have to be. In practice if we don’t get stops or are in the wrong position we have to run and we don’t want to do that. So that’s how we keep it (the defensive tempo) up on the court.”
#25, Amani Franklin, F
On her performance tonight …
“I think I did pretty good. I did alright. This is what I was looking for. Coach has just been telling me to focus on rebounding and the rest will come and tonight it did.”
On if this was what she expects the team to do every night from the three-point line …
“Definitely. I hit a couple threes, Rebecca, Keyla, everybody is knocking them down and Carly she’s been shooting really well lately. I think if we play like we did tonight it’s going to be very hard for other teams to beat us.”
#34, Amber Smith, G
On scoring so well tonight …
“It felt really good. We were just making everything. We couldn’t miss and that’s what it was. It just felt great.”
On if hitting shots is contagious …
“I guess in a way but we have to be mentally strong so if we come out and miss a couple shots we still have to be confident and keep at it. It’s all mental. It’s how we approach it. If we say were going to miss the next one we will so we just have to be mentally strong and I think we are.”
Miami Head Coach Maria Fantanarosa
On the loss to Kentucky…
“Kentucky came out strong and they are obviously athletic. We were tentative and we could never get anything going. We would miss a shot, either a layup or open look, and we would start to panic. You have to give Kentucky credit. They have some shooters and (Victoria) Dunlap inside. You have to worry about her all of the time. Really, it wasn’t them scoring and us not being able to stop them, it was bad on both ends. We let them shoot 57.1 percent and we shot 26.8 percent, and that’s a big difference.”
On Miami…
“After Courtney Osborn we are guessing who our next offensive and defensive player is. We don’t know who our two and three players are. It’s not that we don’t have them, but we aren’t using them in a confident way to get into any kind of rhythm. It doesn’t matter where it comes from. Rachael Hencke was 0-5, and she has to show up on the stat sheet with more than four rebounds.”
On Kentucky’s defense…
“They did a great job of containing Courtney Osborn. It was one of those games where they were out to prove something, and we weren’t fit to step up to the attack. We talked a lot about going back door, but Kentucky did a great job defending the back doors. We are pretty good if we are not playing a Southeastern Conference team and press, so I’m not going to worry too much about that.”
