Seniors Steadying Injury-Riddled Wildcats

The Kentucky women’s basketball team has seen a revolving door of players in (and out) the lineup this season. Head Coach Matthew Mitchell has seen a number of players miss time due to injury, including Taylor Murray (broken finger), Jessica Hardin (concussion) and Makenzie Cann (broken nose). 

To fill the void created by the absence of the injured players, some new faces have been forced into playing significant minutes, ones that they might not have played if everyone had been healthy. Specifically, freshman guards Jaida Roper and Paige Poffenberger have seen their playing time increase dramatically in recent weeks out of necessity.

Despite the seemingly constant lineup and player combination changes, there have been two constants for the Wildcats. And, not surprisingly, they are the two players Mitchell would expect to lead the team.

Seniors Evelyn Akhator and Makayla Epps have become even more important to this year’s team, not only because of their respective talents, but because of their experience, which Mitchell knows has been huge for this year’s Kentucky team.

“When we win, it seems like either one of them has a really big game,” Mitchell said. “Or both of them have a collective game like last night (against Missouri) with 30 points between them.”

In Thursday’s game, the Wildcats escaped with a 64-62 win over Missouri at Memorial Coliseum. Epps had 17 points, five rebounds and five assists in the win, while Akhator had 14 points and a team-high eight boards.

Earlier this season, both Akhator and Epps were named to the Watch List of 50 players being considered for the Naismith Award, given to the nation’s top women’s basketball player by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. Having two such high-caliber players is helping to bring the rest of the Wildcats along.

“Our other players are again in unfamiliar roles,” Mitchell said. “Everybody, whether they were here last year and played or not, everybody is in an unfamiliar role.”

It comes as no surprise that Epps leads the team in scoring, averaging 15.8 points per game. The senior from Lebanon, Kentucky, is also leading the team in assists (4.0 per game), is third on the team in rebounding (4.5) and is second on the team in steals (19). While teams have shifted their defenses to keep Epps from scoring, she has found other ways to help the team.

“I think what (opposing) teams were doing to her affected her and she wants to win so badly,” Mitchell said of Epps. “She loves her team and loves Kentucky. She really wants her senior season to be special.”

Likewise, Akhator has been a steadying force for this year’s Kentucky team. The senior from Lagos, Nigeria, leads the team, and is third in the SEC, in rebounding, averaging 10.3 boards per contest. Akhator is third on the team in scoring, at 13.1 points per contest, and leads the team in steals (23) and blocked shots (12).

“Those two seniors can help steady us when they do their jobs,” Mitchell said. “Both of them have to stay focused and be our emotional leaders.”

The Wildcats (10-5, 1-1 SEC) return to action on Sunday, hosting Texas A&M at 2 p.m. at Memorial Coliseum. It will be yet another game in which the team needs its star seniors to play well.

“Those two have to be making plays, smiling, having fun because it settles everybody else down,” Mitchell said. “It also gives them confidence that they can do their jobs. So they are very important to us.”

And as the SEC schedule progresses, there is no doubt that these two players need to continue to be the rock of this team’s foundation.