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Senior center SeSe Helm earned her ninth career double-double and helped Mickie DeMoss earn her first win as the head coach at Kentucky as the Wildcats downed IPFW, 79-59, on Friday in Memorial Coliseum. Helm led UK with 20 points and 10 rebounds in the season opener for both teams.
?SeSe Helm has a world of talent,? DeMoss said. ?With her, it?s just a matter of coming out and playing hard. I thought she played well and I have a better feel for what the team can do. I tried to focus on our execution and things that we needed to improve.?
One of the areas the Cats have drastically improved is pressure defense. UK?s aggressive, in-your-face defense forced 27 Mastodon turnovers, 20 coming in the first half. The Cats capitalized by scoring 26 points off those miscues.
?We played hard and forced them into a few turnovers, especially in the first half,? DeMoss said. ?I was really proud of the way we played.? Led by Shambrica Jones? four steals and Helm?s 10 points, UK cruised to a 38-25 halftime lead. The Cats led by as many as 14 in the first half.
IPFW matched the Cats? intensity out of the locker room, knocking down five unanswered points and cutting the lead to 52-40 with 11:42 remaining on the clock. The Cats would answer, pulling out a 14-2 run of their own to push the lead back to 14, 66-42. Senior Kristen Grassi put the final touches on the victory, hitting a jumper from the top of the key at the buzzer for the win. A crowd of 4,352 Wildcat fans witnessed the victory.
?I thought the crowd was amazing,? sophomore guard Jenny Pfeiffer said. ?It gets everyone pumped up and everyone was excited because they know that we can do great things.?
UK?s front court led the way, outscoring the Mastodons 34-12 in the paint. Helm led the charge, while Jones and Jennifer Humphrey added eight and six points, respectively. Joining Helm in double figures was Sara Potts and Pfieffer. Potts was 6-of-10 from the field for 15 points with one three-pointer while Pfeiffer was 3-of-7 from beyond the arc for 13 points.
IPFW was led by Courtney Nicley with 15 points. Amy Geralds and Leisha Walker added 14 and 11 points, respectively.
The Cats are now 23-7 in season openers, including wins in the last six. UK is 19-2 when opening the season in Memorial Coliseum.
UK?s next game is Sunday, Nov. 23, at 2 p.m. vs. Big 10 opponent Northwestern. The Wildcats are coached by former Auburn assistant June Olkowski.
