Nov. 27, 2008
LEXINGTON, Ky. – After three straight home games, the Kentucky women’s basketball team hits the road to the Big Apple to participate in Long Island’s Courtyard LaGuardia Turkey Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y. this weekend. UK’s first road test is Friday, Nov. 28 against first-time opponent and Ivy League member Yale. Game time is set for 4 p.m. ET in LIU’s Wellness, Recreation and Athletic Center. The game will be broadcast live on the Big Blue Sports Radio Network with Dick Gabriel. Long Island and New Hampshire meet in the opening game at 2 p.m. ET.
Kentucky (2-1) is coming off back-to-back wins over Cincinnati and George Washington in Memorial Coliseum. The Wildcats erased an eight-point second-half deficit and sophomore Victoria Dunlap (Nashville, Tenn.) scored 17 of her career-high 22 points and grabbed all six of her rebounds in the second half to help lead UK to a 58-55 win over the Bearcats. Senior forward Eleia Roddy (Columbus, Ohio) just missed a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Against George Washington, sophomore Amani Franklin (Stone Mountain, Ga.) helped lead a balanced attack as four Wildcats scored in double-digits in a 67-48 rout. Franklin dropped in a season-high 16 points while Dunlap charted her second season and fifth career double-double with 13 points and a career high-tying 14 rebounds. UK outrebounded the Colonials by 20 (50-30) and shot a season-high 33.0 percent from the field.
Dunlap leads UK and ranks third in the Southeastern Conference in scoring, averaging 18.0 points per game. She also leads UK and ranks second in the league in rebounding with 10.0 rebounds per game.
“We arrived in New York yesterday and we had a productive two-hour practice at St. Francis College today,” UK Hoops Coach Matthew Mitchell said. “We want to use this trip as an educational experience for our players but we also are here to win games. Yale is a very good team and it’s important that we keep our focus this week.”
Yale (2-2) is coming off a runner-up finish in the Subway Classic hosted by Minnesota last week. The Bulldogs stunned North Carolina State in the opening round (65-61) before falling to the Gophers in the championship game (87-63). Yale started the season 1-0 after defeating Holy Cross, 65-63. The Bulldogs only other loss came at the hands of Holy Cross in their home opener by just three points, 73-70.
Junior Melissa Colborne leads two players in double-figure scoring, averaging 17.0 points per game. Junior Haywood Wright follows with 10.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. The leader on the glass is 6-2 forward Mady Gobrecht with 7.5 rebounds per game.
This is UK’s first meeting against a team from the Ivy League. UK is 81-36 all-time in regular-season tournaments with 26 tournament titles. UK’s last tournament title was in 2006-07 at the Wells Fargo New Year’s Classic in San Antonio, Texas.
For ticket information contact the Long Island ticket office at 718-488-1018 or visit the website at liusports.com.
