The Kentucky women?s basketball team returns to the friendly confines of Memorial Coliseum to face Mississippi State Sunday, Feb. 20 at 3 p.m. EST in the Southeastern Conference ?Game of the Week? televised by Fox Sports Net South. Tickets are $5 for adults and $2 for children ages 18 and under. Tickets may be purchased online at ukathletics.com, in person at the athletics ticket office in Memorial Coliseum or by phone at 859-257-1818 or 1-800-927-CATS. UK students, faculty and staff are admitted free with valid identification. Fans can also bring their men’s basketball ticket stub from Saturday?s game vs. MSU and receive free admission. It will be general admission seating while supplies last. The UK Hoops coaching staff will sign autographs following the game.
Fans also are encouraged to participate in Sunday?s ?Books for Children? drive. Each fan who brings a new children’s book to donate will be entered into a raffle prize drawing which includes prizes such as 2005-06 UK Hoops season tickets, Mickie DeMoss autographed basketball, etc.
The Wildcats (14-12 overall, 3-8 Southeastern Conference) look to get back on the winning track after two tough road losses last week. The Cats fell at Auburn on Sunday, 50-65, before battling top-ranked LSU on Thursday, 58-81. The Cats also are looking to halt a four-game losing skid and avenge a 72-59 loss at Mississippi State earlier this season.
?It?s good to be back home,? UK Coach Mickie DeMoss said. ?We faced some great talent last week and although we didn?t come out with the win, I was proud of the way we fought. We were outmanned in a lot of areas against Auburn and LSU and we battled defensively and on the boards. We played Mississippi State early in the conference season in Starkville and we look forward to playing here in Memorial. Tan White is leading the nation in scoring and we have to find a way to contain her.?
This is the 29th meeting between Mississippi State and Kentucky and the Cats? second matchup with the Lady Bulldogs this season. Unlike the men?s SEC format, the women do not use a division format for scheduling. Instead the 14-game schedule is setup in the following manner: single round robin (11 games) ? in-division permanent opponent in a home-and-home series (South Carolina) and two games on a two-year rotation home-and-home series (one divisional ? Georgia, and one non-divisional ? Mississippi State).
The overall series is tied at 14 apiece and UK owns a 7-5 advantage when the game is played in Lexington. MSU has won nine of the last 10 meetings, including three straight in Memorial Coliseum.
UK?s last win against the Lady Bulldogs came in the 2002 SEC Tournament, 75-72. The Cats? last regular season victory against MSU was on Feb. 15, 1998, 71-62 in Lexington.
Kentucky is the only team in the SEC that regularly starts two or more freshmen. Two of UK?s top three scorers are freshmen. Senior Sara Potts leads the way with 13.4 ppg while rookies Sarah Elliott and Samantha Mahoney follow with 10.8 and 10.6 ppg, respectively. Mahoney has led the Cats in scoring the past three games, including a career-best 22 points vs. No. 1 LSU.
Potts has totaled 1,381 career points and needs 52 more to move to No. 8 on UK?s career scoring list. She also sits at No. 10 on the SEC’s top 10 career list for 3-pt field goals made (250). She needs three more to climb to No. 9.
Mississippi State is 13-3 overall, 2-1 in league play after defeating Ole Miss on Thursday, 61-52. Senior Tan White leads MSU and the nation in scoring, averaging an impressive 22.8 ppg. Following White in the scoring column is Tiania Burns with 10.9 ppg. White also is the team?s leading rebounder with 7.8 rpg. She is coming off a 13-point, 12-rebound performance at Ole Miss. White has scored in double digits in 34 consecutive games and became just the second player in MSU history to score over 2,000 points in a career.
Former Wildcat coach Sharon Fanning in her 10th year at MSU. She has put together a 168-125 record with the Lady Bulldogs.
UK?s final home game is Sunday, Feb. 27 vs. Arkansas (Senior Day). Game time is now 1 p.m. EST to accommodate local television.
