The Kentucky women?s basketball team returns home Friday when it plays host to the first of four straight home games against Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) members in Alabama State. Tip-off in Memorial Coliseum is set for 7 p.m. EST and the game will be carried live on the Big Blue Sports Network (radio and television). 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).
UK (4-3) split a pair of games last week, defeating Detroit at home 79-44 before falling to intrastate rival No. 19 Louisville, 83-75, in Freedom Hall. Junior center Sarah Elliott (McKee, Ky.) led the Cats in scoring over the Titans with 22 points, while junior guard Samantha Mahoney (Detroit) posted a career-high 27 points vs. the Cardinals.
Mahoney leads the Cats in scoring this season with 14.0 ppg and has scored in double figures in five of the team?s seven games this season. Elliott, who ranks second in the SEC in rebounding, averages 12.4 ppg and a team-high 9.4 rpg. Sophomore point guard Carly Ormerod (Louisville, Ky.) is second in the SEC win assist-to-turnover ratio, dishing out 24 assists this season with just 15 turnovers. She has had three games this season with no turnovers.
?It?s good to be back at home,? UK Coach Mickie DeMoss said. ?I think getting back out on the floor after the game at Louisville is good. We?ve been watching a lot of film this week, trying to get better, trying to get smarter and trying to get better with time of possession. I am excited to get back out on the court. Alabama State is a really athletic team. They are 3-1 right now and they?ve played hard. We certainly have to get out of the gates strong tomorrow night.?
Alabama State (3-1), located in Montgomery, Ala., was picked to finish fourth in the SWAC. The Hornets? only loss this season came at Auburn, 84-47. They are coming off an exciting 60-59 win over Stillman in their last game on Dec. 2. Freshman sharpshooter Daphne Williams hit five three-pointers to lead all scores with 25 points, including 16 in the first half.
ASU is led by sophomore guard L?Teisha Holloway and junior guard Shantae Robinson who average 14.0 and 11.0 ppg, respectively. The Hornets are coached by Freda Freeman-Jackson, who is in her ninth season at her alma mater with a career record of 144-92.
Friday?s game marks the first-ever meeting between the Cats and the Hornets. Kentucky has never faced a team in the current alignment of the SWAC, but will be facing Arkansas Pine-Bluff, Mississippi Valley State and Southern in successive contests.
Fans are encouraged to park in Parking Structure 5 located next to Kennedy?s Bookstore on Limestone Avenue. Parking within Parking Structure 5 will be available free of charge. A shuttle bus service also will be provided and begins one hour prior to game time until one hour after the game. Additional 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.
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES – DEC. 7
Head Coach Mickie DeMoss
?It?s good to be back home. We?re trying to finish out this [four-game home] stretch and the first part of this stretch is Alabama State. I think getting back out on the floor after the game at Louisville is good. We?ve been watching a lot of film this week, trying to get better, trying to get smarter and trying to get better with time of possession. I am excited to get back out on the court. Alabama State is a really athletic team. They are 3-1 right now and they?ve played hard. They?re going to play a lot like Detroit did. They have players that are really good 1-on-1 type players who can create their own shots. They don?t run a lot of complicated sets. We certainly have to get out of the gates strong tomorrow night.?
On Lydia Watkins? back injury?
?Right now, it is just kind of day-to-day. She took a charge last week in practice and landed on her back. She had extensive back surgery between her junior and senior year in high school. Anytime she takes a fall on her back like that, there is some bruising there. We have just been told to try to rest her and ice her, and practice should only be need-based. Not that she doesn?t need practice, but I?m just trying to see how that back is going to hold up. We need her for the long haul.?
On the depleted post presence?
?We finally started getting comfortable with Lydia [Watkins] there and I think she was gaining a little confidence, and then she goes down with her back. We?re kind of back to square one with [Chant?] Bowman there and we?ve moved Brittany Edelen there.?
On what she saw after watching the Louisville game on tape?
?All in all, I was pleased with a lot of things that we did. We played hard. I thought we never hung our heads. We were in the game. We had some players make some big plays. I thought Sam Mahoney played well, especially in the first half. She just hit big shots. Nastassia Alcius came in and really did some good things. I just felt like we made some mistakes at critical times that put [Louisville] at the free-throw line. I was really trying to pick that film apart and see if there was anything differently we could have done. We?re just going to have to get better. We?re trying to learn and adjust, and just try to get better at closing games out.?
On whether the players understand the difference in this year?s level of play?
?I think we?re getting it. When you look at the losses, Louisville certainly has a quality team. You look at Indiana ? they are having a good year, and Delaware ? I would be shocked if they don?t get to the NCAA Tournament. The losses that we?ve had have been against quality teams. We started the year with expectations and got beat by quality teams. Knowing the difference ? that?s why we?re learning, that?s why we had film sessions three days this week trying to get smarter and learn the difference of level of play.?
On facing four consecutive teams from the Southwest Athletic Conference?
?I don?t think any games are ?gimme games.? You can?t judge each team by the conference that they are in. I think it changes every year. We just approach each game like we?ve got to play a certain level no matter who we play. When you start comparing teams, it messes with your mind and your players? minds, because everybody matches up differently against different teams.?
On the confidence it would give the team from winning the next four games?
?I think that we need to be able to start the game and come out of the gates strong. It would allow us to gain some confidence before the break. It?s not that we don?t have confidence, but surely when you win games and finish strong, it builds confidence. It?s important that we take it one game at a time and one possession at a time. The next opponent is Alabama State.?
On the team?s attitude after three losses?
?They?re disappointed and I would probably be upset if they weren?t a little disappointed. We don?t have time to hang our heads. It?s a long season. It?s just the first of December, and there?s a lot of games left. It has been a weird pre-conference season in both men?s and women?s basketball. You can?t get too caught up right now. You?ve just got to look at your team and get them better. You have to keep your team believing and keep them together.?
Kentucky Players
#32 Jennifer Humphrey
On the frontcourt possibly having an ?identity crisis??
?I don?t think it?s causing us trouble. The only thing that causes us trouble is ourselves. We have a smaller lineup this year, as far as post players are concerned. We?re trying to get big guards to play post for us and they?re adjusting well. We?ll be alright.?
On the team?s attitude?
?We have to keep our heads up. It?s a rocky point in the road. We?re just going to have to get through it. We need to get more mentally and physically tough. We?ll have to be more aggressive in games to be able to close games out like the Louisville and Indiana games.?
On the upcoming schedule?
?We can?t let up. We should be able to handle any team we play. We can?t let up. We have to close games out. We have to do the little things throughout the games to help us win the games at the end, so it won?t be a close game at the end.?
#4 Sarah Elliott
On the team?s attitude?
?We?re going through a lot of changes right now, a lot of mental and physical changes. We?ve lost Eleia (Roddy) to a knee injury. Last year we got physical, and that was a part of stepping up. Now, it?s not as much physical as it is mental. Right now, that?s just something we?re trying to overcome and learn from and work at.?
On the close losses to Indiana and Louisville?
?It?s tough but it?s a very good learning experience. I?d rather have them now and we have time to work on them then have them later when it comes down to crunch time and it?s a do-or-die situation. We have a lot of time to work on it.?
On Chante? Bowman and Brittany Edelen moving to the power forward position?
?Everybody has to make adjustments. I?m happy that we have more post availability right now. I?m trying to be more confident toward them because they are learning a new position. You have to be very positive and very patient with them and understanding. They are learning it and they are doing very well.?
On the lack of depth in the front court?
?It?s frustrating, but it?s also good for us. There?s going to be times when Lanky (Jennifer Humphrey) and I are going to need to stay in the game because we are the biggest players in the post. For us, it?s a learning experience, and for them it?s a learning experience.
