Aug. 17, 2001
The Kentucky women’s basketball team opens its 2001-02 schedule with a first-time meeting against Temple and head coach Dawn Staley, Kentucky athletics director Larry Ivy announced today. The Wildcats’ schedule also highlights matchups with North Carolina, Western Kentucky and Miami (Fla.) The Cats could face 14 opponents that advanced to post season play last March, including eight teams ranked in the national polls.
“Opening the season with Temple and Coach Dawn Staley, a WNBA All-Star, will be an early test for our team,” UK Coach Bernadette Mattox said. “Our schedule is tough, but we try to make it that way in order to get ready to play in the Southeastern Conference. We are excited about our nonconference slate with the renewing of the matchup with Western Kentucky. In addition, our series with Louisville and Cincinnati are always exciting to watch.”
After two exhibition games in early November, UK opens its demanding non-conference slate with a home game versus the Temple Owls on Nov. 17. The Cats will spend the Thanksgiving Holiday at the Lady Tiger Classic in Memphis, Tenn. Possible opponents include host Memphis, Sam Houston State and Missouri-Kansas City. Following the tourney, the Cats will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., to face the Tar Heels on Nov. 28. The game will mark the teams’ first meeting since 1993.
UK returns to Lexington for a matchup with Miami (Fla.) on Dec. 1 before embarking on a three-game road trip to Miami (Ohio), Western Kentucky and Virginia Commonwealth. The Cats have not met the Lady Toppers of WKU since a nail-biting 66-64 overtime win in 1997.”The Western Kentucky game will be special, not only because of the renewal of the state rivals, but because SeSe (Helm) will have a chance to return to play in her hometown. It will be special for us and her family in Bowling Green.”
A two-game homestand against another state rival, Louisville, and first-time opponent Evansville will take place on Dec. 19 and Dec. 22, respectively. The Cats will travel to Hanover, N.H., on Dec. 28-29 to face Southern Mississippi in the first round of the Blue Sky Classic, Lafayette will battle host Dartmouth in the second round.On Jan. 3, Mississippi State will visit Memorial Coliseum to open conference play for the first time since 1993. UK has new home-and-home Southeastern Conference partners this season in Vanderbilt and Alabama. UK also will play host to Auburn on Jan. 13, LSU on Jan. 24, Georgia on Feb. 3 and South Carolina on Feb. 10. The Cats will mix in non-conference opponent Cincinnati on the road on Feb. 19.
The past two seasons Kentucky’s schedule has been ranked in the nation’s top 10 with last year’s schedule rated sixth.
Other highlights of the schedule include:
?UK’s schedule highlights first time games against with Temple, Evansville, Southern Mississippi in UK history.
?Fourteen of UK’s opponents advanced to post-season play, including six teams who won their first-round game in the 2001 NCAA Tournament.
?In the rotating SEC 14-game schedule, the Cats will face Vanderbilt, Alabama and South Carolina in home-and-home series. UK will play Vandy and UA in a home-and-home series until 2003. South Carolina will remain as the Cats’ permanent home-and-home opponent.
