– Player Diary

SeSe Helm tied a career-high 26 points and freshman Angela Phillips added a career-high 19 points to lead the Kentucky women?s basketball team over Duquesne 90-83 in the first round of the odwalla Classic in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday. UK will face the winner of San Francisco and Davidson in the championship game on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 11 p.m. ET.

UK (3-1) came out sluggish in the first half, falling behind 13-8 to the Dukes. After a 10-0 run with 7:48 to go, UK built a 20-point lead and went into the locker room at the half ahead 45-27. The Cats shot 63.6 percent from the floor in the opening stanza compared to the Dukes? 34.4 percent.

?I?m very proud of how the bench reacted to give us a boost in the first half,? UK Coach Mickie DeMoss said. ?I am exceptionally pleased with the shooting tonight. If we continue to shoot at that pace we?ll win a lot of games this year.?

Kentucky used its frontcourt advantage of Helm, Shambrica Jones and Keiko Tate to take control of the game. The trio combined for 55 points as the Cats shot a season-high 59.3 from the floor. The Cats only hit 1-of-2 from behind the arc. Sara Potts, who posted 17 points, did not hit a trey, breaking a 15-game streak of at least one three-pointer in a game. Jones and Tate added 10 and eight points, respectively.

Helm?s 26 points tied her previous high and with a team-high nine rebounds was one rebound away from a double-double for the third straight game. Phillips, who came off the bench after starting against North Carolina, was 4-of-6 from the field and 10-of-12 from the free throw line, making all 10 in the second half. She also dished out a career-high seven assists.

The Duke?s leading scorer Candace Futrell was held to a mere three points in the first half points after averaging 20.3 points on the season. Futrell bounced back and almost single-handedly took over the game. Her 13 straight points brought the Dukes to within eight, 79-71, with 1:10 remaining in the game.

?I didn?t like how we got off to a slow start and I?m disappointed that we didn?t defend penetration in the second half. Duquesne?s Candace (Futrell) saw her team had nothing to lose and she began to take the game into her owns hands.?

Futrell had 29 points in the second half en route to a game-high 32 points. Nicole Sinclair and Aiga Bautre finished with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

UK connected on 25-of-31 from the charity stripe for 80.6 percent while Duquesne was 14-of-22.

UK is 74-31 in regular-season tournaments with 24 tournament titles. UK has won at least one tournament title in three of the past six years.

The Cats are now 2-0 in the all-time series vs. Duquesne. The teams first met in Lexington, Ky., on Nov. 24, 1990. UK defeated the Dukes 101-56. UK has never met San Francisco or Davidson.

Postgame Notes
Kentucky vs. Duquesne
Odwalla Classic First Round
Friday, November 28, 2003

Score: Kentucky 90, Duquesne 83

• Kentucky improves to 3-1 while Duquesne falls to 2-2 on the season.
• Kentucky is now 2-0 vs. Duquesne in the all-time series. The Cats defeated the Dukes in their first meeting, 101-56 on Nov. 24, 1990. UK is now 17-7 vs. teams from the Atlantic 10 conference.
• Kentucky shot a season-high 59.3 percent from the field, its highest showing since shooting 68.0 percent vs. Ohio State on Nov. 19, 1998. UK defeated the Buckeyes 92-84.
• Kentucky’s 90 points were the most since putting up 106 vs. Morris Brown (32) on Dec. 23, 2002.
• SeSe Helm tied her career-high 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting. She also had a team-high nine rebounds, marking the third straight game she was just one rebound shy of a double-double. The last time a UK player scored more than 25-plus points was Helm vs. Cincinnati on Feb. 19, 2002.
• Helm now has 1,176 career points, tying her with Patty Jo Hedges (1979-83) at No. 14 on UK’s all-time scoring list. She needs just five more to move ahead of Lea Wise at No. 13.
• Freshman Angela Phillips scored a career-high 19 points, hitting 4-of-6 from the floor and 10-of-12 from the free throw line. She also dished out a career-high seven assists.
• Sara Potts had 17 points without hitting a three-pointer. She was 7-of-8 from the floor, 3-of-4 from the charity stripe. It marked the first time in 15 games she has not hit at least one three-pointer.
• Keiko Tate came off the bench to score eight points and pull down a season-high seven rebounds.
• The Cats are now 74-31 in regular-season tournaments.