Six seniors will be honored in a pregame ceremony as they play their final home stretch at Kentucky.
Kentucky will celebrate the careers of six seniors on Sunday, Feb. 22 when the Wildcats play host to Alabama at 2 p.m. ET in Memorial Coliseum. Racquel Ellis, Jenerrie Everette, Kristen Grassi, SeSe Helm, Shambrica Jones and Danyelle Payne are the members of the 2004 senior class.
UK (9-15, 1-10 Southeastern Conference) is coming off a hard-fought battle at Arkansas. Danyelle Payne scored a career-high 20 points but it wouldn?t be enough as the Cats fell to the Lady Razorbacks, 69-58. Alabama, who was idle on Thursday, also meet the Lady ‘Backs in its last game and defeated Arkansas by three points, 68-65.
“This will be an emotional day for our six seniors and our entire team as we honor these six players,” UK Coach Mickie DeMoss said. “Hopefully we will rise up to the challenge against a good Alabama team as well. They?ve had a week of rest to get ready for us and we must take care of the basketball.”
Alabama currently ranks ninth in the conference with a 12-12 overall record, 4-7 in the SEC. The Tide is coming off a three-point victory over Arkansas at home on Sunday. Monique Bivins posted a career-high 26 points in the win, including six three-pointers. Dee Merriweather pulled down a career-best 16 rebounds and led Bama to a 52-28 advantage on the boards. Bivins and freshman guard Novanda Moore lead Alabama in scoring with 14.1 and 10.6 points per game, respectively.
Coach Rick Moody is in his 14th season at the helm of the Tide. He has guided Alabama to eight 20-win seasons and 11 consecutive postseason appearances.
With two three-pointers vs. the Lady ‘Backs, Sara Potts tied Stacey Reed (1991-95) for the school record for most threes in a career with 176. Potts needs just one trifecta to become the all-time leader. She is UK?s leading scorer, averaging 16.5 points per game. Helm follows with 15.0 points and a team-best 7.3 rebounds per game.
Thursday, Feb. 26 is the final home game of the season. UK will face South Carolina at 7 p.m. ET in the teams? second meeting this season. UK defeated the Gamecocks on the road earlier this season, 75-61.
