KENTUCKY WILDCATS (12-11, 6-3 SEC)
at No. 25/RV Vanderbilt Commodores (18-6, 7-2 SEC)
Thursday, Feb. 13 ? 1:00 p.m.
Nashville, Tenn. – Memorial Gym (14,168)
RADIO: Big Blue Sports Network
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LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Kentucky women?s basketball team heads to Nashville, Tenn., on Valentine?s Day Thursday, looking for a little more love than they?ve received on their last 11 trips. The Wildcats hope to snap an 11-game losing streak in the Music City and capture their first road win over No. 25 Vanderbilt in 22 years. The game will be broadcast live on the Big Blue Sports Radio Network with Neil Price from Memorial Gymnasium at 8 p.m. EST.
UK?s last win in the Music City was in 1986 when the Cats defeated Vanderbilt, 79-70, on Feb. 5. Overall, the Wildcats have lost 11 consecutive games to the Commodores, their last victory coming on Jan. 7, 1999 in Lexington.
?Memorial Gymnasium has a unique setup and it is a tough place to play,? UK Coach Matthew Mitchell said. ?It is going to be important for us to get off to a good start. We have to knock down shots in order to make their defense less aggressive. They are a very good defensive team and it certainly will be a challenge for us.?
The Cats have won four of their last six league games and have proven to be impressive on the road this season in SEC play as they are 3-1 away from home. Their only road loss came at No. 2 Tennessee.
UK currently ranks fourth (12-11, 6-3 Southeastern Conference) in the SEC standings, while Vanderbilt (18-6, 7-2 SEC) is third.
With both true point guards (Carly Ormerod and Amber Smith) sidelined with injury, Mitchell has been relying on a committee of players to step in at the point. Seniors Chant? Bowman (Detroit) and Samantha Mahoney (Detroit) did a solid job in the 59-54 win over Ole Miss last week.
?Being without a true point guard is concerning at Vanderbilt because it?s tough to communicate with your team during the first half,? Mitchell said. ?I think we?ve had a good week of practice and our play in the Ole Miss game proves that we can handle the pressure if we are patient.?
Mahoney is UK?s leading scorer, averaging 13.6 points per game (7th in the SEC). Senior center Sarah Elliott (McKee, Ky.) follows with 11.1 points and leads UK in rebounding with 6.6 rpg. She is coming off a double-double vs. Ole Miss with 14 points and 12 rebounds. The reigning SEC Freshman of the Week and Nashville native, Victoria Dunlap, is close behind in both categories, averaging 7.8 points and with 6.3 rebounds per game.
Vanderbilt has won nine of its last 11 games, including five straight. Like Kentucky, the Commodores? only conference losses came against nationally-ranked Tennessee and LSU. They are 12-2 on their home court, 4-0 in SEC play.
Consistent with Vanderbilt teams of the past, this year’s Commodore team is capable of piling up a lot of points, as its 73.4 points-per-game average demonstrates. The Commodores shoot a blistering .474 percent from the field (1st in the SEC) and lead the league in three-point field goal percentage (.382). They also are an impressive defensive team this season, ranking second in field goal percentage defense (36.2).
Junior guard/forward Christina Wirth leads VU in scoring, averaging 13.6 ppg. She is shooting a SEC-high 42.1 percent from beyond the arc, hitting 51-of-121 three-point attempts. Senior center Liz Sherwood follows with 12.3 ppg and is netting a league-leading 65.7 percent from the field. Junior guard Jennifer Risper is the team?s leading rebounder with 5.9 rpg. She also leads the team in steals (70) and ranks second in the SEC in that category, averaging 2.96 per game.
The Cats return to Memorial Coliseum Sunday, Feb. 17 to ?Think Pink? vs. Alabama at 1 p.m. EST. Fans wearing Pink can purchase a general admission ticket for just $1 while supplies last.
The ?Think Pink? initiative is a global, unified effort for the Women?s Basketball Coaches Association’s (WBCA) nation of coaches to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond. All of UK?s coaches, players, and staff will be donning Pink to help raise money for breast cancer research. All single-game ticket sales will be donated to UK?s Markey Cancer Center.
Sunday also is Alumni Day for Kentucky as over 20 former Wildcats return to Memorial Coliseum. They will be recognized at halftime.
CAT SCRATCHES
A UK win would give the Cats a 7-3 mark conference play, marking the most SEC wins since going 9-5 during the 2005-06 season; give UK its first win in Nashville since 1986; snap an 11-game losing streak to Vanderbilt; give UK its third win over a ranked opponent this season; give UK its fourth SEC road win, the most since winning five in 2005-06.
Freshman Victoria Dunlap has been named the SEC Freshman of the Week three times this season, the most for any Wildcat freshman in school history. Dunlap, who averages 7.8 points per game, is nearing the 200-point mark as she has totaled 179 points in 23 games.
UK has held 26 of its last 28 opponents to 50 percent shooting or less, dating back to last season. The Cats have held 13 opponents to under 40 percent this season, including nine of the last 12. UK?s defense has held three of its last four opponents to under 30 percent, including 28.3 by Georgia.
UK has won eight of its last 12 games and in those 12 games, the Wildcats have allowed only two opponents (Tennessee – twice and LSU) to shoot over 35.7 percent from the floor.
In the last 14 games, UK has seen seven different scoring leaders and eight different leading rebounders. No player has led the Cats in scoring in back-to-back games in the last 14 games.
In SEC play, Kentucky is 6-0 when the game is decided by 10 or fewer points; 5-0 when it is decided by five or fewer; 5-0 when scoring more points in the paint than the opponent; 4-0 when leading at halftime; 3-0 when scoring 60 points or more.
In 23 games this season, UK has used 10 different starting fives.
Senior Samantha Mahoney needs 17 points to move up to No. 7 on UK?s all-time scoring list. Mahoney currently ranks seventh in the SEC in scoring (13.6 ppg – all games) and fourth in minutes per game (33.3). She has scored in double-figures in all but seven games this season.
Senior Sarah Elliott needs 16 points to move up to No. 10 on UK?s all-time scoring list.
Senior Sarah Elliott is sixth in the SEC in blocks (1.65 bpg). She holds the school record for blocks in a career with 177.
Senior Chelsea Chowning has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District First Team as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
UK blocked a season-best 11 shots vs. Mississippi State. That mark broke the MSU school record for most blocks by an opponent.
UK has had two freshmen honored this season four times as the SEC Freshman of the Week in Victoria Dunlap (three times) and Amber Smith.
UK currently ranks 16th nationally and second in the SEC in average attendance, bringing in 5,360 fans per game. No. 2 Tennessee leads the nation with 15,172 per game. The Wildcats have ranked in the top 20 in national average attendance three consecutive seasons. Last year UK averaged a school record 5,863 fans per game and ranked 13th nationally.
UK was picked to finish sixth in the Southeastern Conference by the media and league coaches at SEC Media Days in Birmingham, Ala. Kentucky finished the 2006-07 season seventh in the league.
The 2007-08 season marks the 34th season of varsity basketball for Kentucky and the first year for head coach Matthew Mitchell.
Four seniors (Chant? Bowman, Chelsea Chowning, Sarah Elliott, and Samantha Mahoney) are in their final season of eligibility.
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES – FEB. 13
UK Hoops Head Coach Matthew Mitchell
Opening Statement ?
?We are going down to Vanderbilt to face one of the best teams in our conference. They are going to be a difficult matchup for us because they play very strong defense with a nice matchup zone. It really puts a lot of pressure on your offense to find the open player in that type of system. We have been playing really hard and I have been really pleased with our practices leading up to this game. It is another challenge for us on the road in the SEC. It will be tough, but I am very pleased with the way this team has prepared for this game.?
On being ranked behind Vanderbilt in the SEC ?
?I think to the outside observer it probably provides an extra punch for this game. For our aspirations in the league we certainly want to finish as high as we can in the league. It is not something we have talked about with the team. Our team has done a very good job of staying focused on the goal in front of us. We don?t see any reason to change that as a coaching staff. It is not something we are putting a lot of emphasis on. If we can get this win it obviously puts us in very good position with four games left.?
On playing in Vanderbilt?s gym ?
?It is a very unique set up and you never coach that way except when you are in that gym. For us, this year especially, it makes us stop and think before we go into the game because we are playing without out true point-guard. We are working our way through that. In the first half we really have to make sure our starters on the court are ready to really be in tune with one another. Normally the coaches are trying to get the point-guards attention to call the play but now we are trying to get the other play callers. It is always easier to just have the attention of your point-guard. It is always important to get off to a fast start for us. Those are the things I have been thinking about for this game. I was watching last night?s game and I think Vanderbilt?s coach was not having a hard time communicating with his team as they were going away from him and they must be used to that but we are not. I have been on teams in the conference where we have won in that gym but it is a tough place to play. I just think that the way it is set-up makes it so unique and challenging. I will scream very loud and try to project my voice as much as possible. It is interesting to talk about but the most important thing is going to be for us to get into our offensive rhythm but I don?t think the gym will be a reason for why we win or lose. Vanderbilt always has big crowds also.?
On the game tomorrow night ?
?Vanderbilt is a very good basketball team and very good defensively. I have a lot of respect for the way they play because they do some really good things. It is going to be challenge for us, but like I said in my opening statement our group has worked very hard this week. I think everyone is available for tomorrow night?s game besides Amber Smith and Carly Omerod. I think having the weekend off helped us more mentally than anything with not having to turn around and prepare for a Sunday game. It was a nice break. We have handled getting prepared for each game pretty well. We took Friday off and had a light practice Saturday morning then we had Sunday off also. We have now had three consecutive days to prepare for Vanderbilt and when you are going against a team like that it is a good thing.?
On the point-guard position ?
?The extra days off gave us a little more time to look at players to fill that position. I would think that from the looks of practice yesterday that if we continue to progress today then Chante? Bowman and Samantha Mahoney will see the bulk of time at that position. Carly Morrow had some good moments running the point yesterday and she is getting better. Morrow will be ready to fill that spot if someone needs a rest or gets into foul trouble. I think it is important for us to have that third option.?
