KENTUCKY WILDCATS (4-4, 0-0 SEC)
vs. MICHIGAN WOLVERINES (4-3, 0-0 BIG TEN)
Saturday, Dec. 8 ? 6 p.m. EST
Ann Arbor, Mich. ? (13,751)
TV: Big Ten Network
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The Kentucky women?s basketball team looks to put together back-to-back wins for the first time this season when it takes on Big Ten opponent Michigan Saturday, Dec. 8 at 6 p.m. EST in the Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich. The game will be broadcast live on the Big Blue Sports Network (radio) and specifically in the Lexington area on MKJ-FM 105.5. The Big Ten Network also will televise the game live.
The Wildcats (4-4) are coming off a resounding 75-44 win over William & Mary on Tuesday and are now looking for their first true road win of the season and first win over a Big Ten opponent since the 2004-05 season. Michigan, which won its season-opener at home vs. Akron, is returning to its home court for just the second time this season after playing six straight road games.
?We are looking forward to getting back on the road and heading up to Ann Arbor,? UK Coach Matthew Mitchell said. ?Michigan is a great place to go play. It?s always good to step out of the conference and test yourself against teams from a great conference like the Big 10. They remind me a lot of us at this point in time. They are under a new head coach [Kevin Borseth], they have a similar type make-up of their team and they?ve had some good wins. We are looking forward to going and testing ourselves on the road.?
Senior guard Samantha Mahoney (Detroit) is leading the way for Kentucky, averaging 17.3 points per game which ranks tied for third in the Southeastern Conference. Senior center Sarah Elliott (McKee, Ky.) follows Mahoney in the scoring column with 12.6 ppg. She also pulls down a team-high 7.3 rebounds. Elliott has swatted 154 blocks in her four-year career and needs just two more to tie the school record of 156 set by Valerie Still from 1979-83. She has charted at least two blocks in six of eight games, including a season-high four vs. WKU.
Michigan (4-3), under the direction of first-year coach Kevin Borseth, looks to snap a two-game losing streak after falling to Texas A&M (69-41) and nationally-ranked Notre Dame (77-46) last week.
Kentucky?s front court will have to contend with 6-6 sophomore center Krista Phillips who is coming off the bench to lead the team in scoring with 10.3 points per game while shooting an impressive 64.4 percent (29-of-45) from the floor. That mark that leads the Big Ten in field goal percentage. She also is the team?s leading shot-blocker with nine on the season. Following Phillips in the scoring column is senior guard Janelle Cooper with 9.4 ppg. She is a solid three-point shooter and ranks second in the Big Ten in three-point shooting percentage, netting 43.8 percent.
?I think that Krista Phillips is really an imposing figure,? Mitchell said. ?She?s a very, very physical player. She has great size and if you let her get close to goal, she?s very, very good. She also has the ability to pop out to the 15-foot range ? the free-throw line area ? so she moves well for a player her size and is very, very productive. She?s a player of great concern for us and we need to do a good job on her.?
This is just the third all-time matchup between Kentucky and Michigan. UK defeated the Wolverines 98-71 in the teams? first meeting on Jan. 23, 1981 in Lexington. The last time the teams met was in 1996 at the Western Michigan Tournament. UK lost 68-54 to the Wolverines in the opening game of the tournament. This is the first meeting between the teams in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Kentucky is 28-38 all-time vs. teams from the Big Ten Conference, 0-1 this season. The Wildcats met Minnesota in the first round of the Rainbow Wahine Classic on Nov. 23 and fell 92-80.
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES – DEC. 7
Head Coach Matthew Mitchell
?We are looking forward to getting back on the road and heading up to Ann Arbor. Michigan is a great place to go play. It?s always good to step out of the conference and test yourself against teams from a great conference like the Big 10. The Big 10, year in and year out, always has very good women?s basketball teams. Michigan is no exception. They remind me a lot of us at this point in time. They are under a new head coach [Kevin Borseth], they have a similar type make-up of their team and they?ve had some good wins. I know they are looking forward to trying to get a win vs. the Cats. We are going to try to do everything in our power to prevent that from happening. We are looking forward to going and testing ourselves on the road.?
On combating the size of Michigan?s 6-foot-6 player Krista Phillips?
?I think that Krista Phillips is really an imposing figure. She?s a very, very physical player. She has great size and if you let her get close to goal, she?s very, very good. What we have to do is make sure that we are not allowing her to get too deep or close to the goal because it?s generally two points when she gets inside the paint. She also has the ability to pop out to the 15-foot range ? the free-throw line area ? so she moves well for a player her size and is very, very productive. She doesn?t play a lot of minutes, but scores a lot of points. She?s a player of great concern for us and we need to do a good job on her. Our Achilles heal has been low-post defense, so we have worked very hard in practice trying to make sure that we?re improving in that area. I think we have and tomorrow will be a good measuring stick of whether we have or not.?
On returning to the home state of seniors Chant? Bowman and Samantha Mahoney?
?I think that any of our players are always happy to go back close to home. Sam and Chant?, I know, will have a lot of family and friends there so, certainly, that will be special for them. Both of those players have been back to the area before and both of their families have been very supportive and have come down here, so I don?t know if it will be as big of a factor as it may be for somebody who is going back to their area for the very first time. It?s not anything I have sensed has been a big factor in the game. What we have worked on, quite frankly, is taking care of what we can take care of at Kentucky in getting better as a team. But, I?m sure they?re looking forward to seeing some family and friends at the game.?
On the team?s injuries?
?On the injury front, we are certainly a bit banged up. Carly Ormerod has really had no movement in her situation. She?s just going to be out for a number of days. It could be weeks. We?re just kind of waiting and seeing. It will probably be about two weeks before I make another assessment on her. She is doing fine and conditioning. One great thing about being at Kentucky is that we have a state-of-the-art training facility and the resources our training staff has to rehabilitate a player with this kind of injury is great, so we are working hard to get her back. Lydia Watkins is improving everyday with her hyperextension of her knee. We look for her to start playing sooner rather than later. Eleia Roddy is making good progress. We?re still probably a few weeks away from her playing, but we?re on the right track there. I think the players are in good physical condition, the ones that are healthy right now. I have been pleased with our conditioning and the way we have been able to handle ourselves in games from a conditioning standpoint, so we?re looking forward to a great day tomorrow.?
On freshman forward Victoria Dunlap?
?Victoria is a player that I am grateful to be coaching. I know everyone at Kentucky is just ecstatic to be representing our program. The one thing I would say about her is that she plays the way we want our players to perform. She competes very, very hard. She works hard in practice. She wants to get better. She has a good attitude and plays with a good level of toughness. We?re really pleased with her and hope that she will continue to improve like she has. I think the game she had against William & Mary is something that she could do against a lot of teams. Our plan for her is to help her to improve. She certainly works hard enough to do that. We are glad Victoria Dunlap is wearing the Blue and White for Kentucky.?
