Dec. 20, 2008
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Fresh off a resounding 65-45 win over Alabama A&M on Friday, the Kentucky women’s basketball team has no time to rest on their laurels as they face first-time opponent UC Santa Barbara Sunday, Dec. 21 in Memorial Coliseum. The game will tip off at 2 p.m. EST and be broadcast live on the Big Blue Sports Network (radio) with Neil Price.
Single-game general admission tickets are available for $5 adults/$2 senior citizens and children 6-18. Ages five and under are admitted free. UK students, faculty and staff also are admitted free with valid identification based on availability. For ticket information, log on to ukathletics.com or call the UK ticket office at 859-257-1818 or 1-800-928-CATS (2287).
“We got back in the gym to this morning to prepare for a very good UC Santa Barbara team,” UK Hoops Coach Matthew Mitchell said. “They historically are a very strong program who have played well in their conference and made it to 13-straight post season tournaments. They are a proud program that I know will be looking for a win. It will be a good game and we are looking forward to meeting them for the first time in our program’s history.”
Kentucky (6-5) bounced back from a two-game losing skid to defeat Alabama A&M by a 20-point margin on Friday. Senior center Eleia Roddy (Columbus, Ohio) continued dominating on both ends of the floor by charting her third consecutive double-double with a game- and career high-tying 17 points and 12 rebounds. She was followed by sophomore forward Victoria Dunlap (Nashville, Tenn.) and junior guard Amani Franklin (Stone Mountain, Ga.) who netted 15 and 14 points, respectively.
Overall, Dunlap is team’s leader in scoring, averaging 11.7 points per game while Roddy, who ranks second in the Southeastern Conference in rebounding, leads the battle on the boards with 8.9 rebounds per game.
UC Santa Barbara (3-5), located in Santa Barbara, Calif., travels to the Bluegrass State after a tough 61-59 loss to Harvard on Wednesday.
Senior guard Lauren Pedersen leads the Gauchos in just about every category, pacing the team in points (11.9 per game), rebounds (5.6 per game), assists (5.0 per game) and steals (3.0 per game). She also leads the Big West in free-throw shooting percentage at 94.4 percent.
The Gauchos, who finished 23-8 overall and led the Big West with a 15-1 conference mark last season, were picked to finish second behind UC Riverside in both the coaches and media poll. They are coached by first-year head coach Lindsay Gottlieb.
This is the first meeting between Kentucky and UC Santa Barbara but the Cats are 3-0 all-time vs. teams from the Gauchos’ Big West Conference. UK is 1-0 vs. Cal St. Northridge, Long Beach State and Pacific. The last meeting between UK and a member of the Big West was in 2002. The Cats defeated Pacific (77-61) on Nov. 29 in the first round of the Seattle Times Husky Classic.
Game day parking is available in the “E” lots surrounding Memorial Coliseum, including the Martin Luther King Parking Lot and the Student Center Parking Lot. The “R” lot north of Memorial Coliseum and the Joe Crafter center also will be open until Jan. 12. Due to the holiday break, Parking Structure 5 will be closed during women’s basketball games and there will there be no shuttle bus service.
