Women’s basketball to face Arkansas in SEC Tournament.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (February 21, 1999) — Point guard Erica Jackson netted a career andseason-high 30 points to lead Kentucky past South Carolina, 93-65, its lastregular season conference game in Memorial Coliseum on Sunday.
The Cats (18-9, 7-7) recorded their seventh Southeastern Conference win,the most in school history, by jumping to a 50-24 halftime lead on a 21-pointshooting spree from Jackson. She came out on fire in the first half, hitting8-of-10 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from the three-point line. Jackson,who hit the game-winning shot at the buzzer two weeks ago versus the LadyGamecocks in Columbia, also recorded a game-high seven steals.
“Whenyou play a team the second time, great players learn from the first time anduse that to their advantage,” UK Coach Bernadette Mattox said. “Erica sawhow South Carolina defended her the first time and she took advantage.That’s the mark of an outstanding player.”
Jackson ended the LadyGamecock massacre, shooting 12-of-15 from the floor, 4-of-5 from thethree-point line and 2-of-3 from the charity stripe. UK outrebounded theLady Gamecocks 42-23 as sophomore Laura Meadows and freshmanLaTonya McDole led with eight rebounds apiece. McDole also scored 14points while Meadows and junior Tiffany Wait added 10 points each.Freshman guard Jocelyn Penn paced USC (11-15, 0-14) with a team-high20 points and seven rebounds.
Lone senior Jaye Barnes recorded six pointsand six rebounds in her last regular season game in Memorial. A season-high5,533 fans were in attendance for UK’s Senior Day ceremony and matchupwith the Lady Gamecocks.
“Kentucky is definitely one of the better teams in this league and this townshould definitely be proud,” USC Coach Susan Walvius said. “They aregetting ready for the NCAA’s and they deserve to be there.”
The Cats willhave to prepare for the SEC tournament first in Chattanooga, Tenn. UK, thesixth-seeded SEC team, is slated to play No. 11-seed Arkansas in the firstround at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 25. UK fell to Arkansas in regularseason action in Fayetteville, 74-69, in overtime.
The Cats are 1-1 versusthe Lady Razorbacks when playing in the SEC tournament are 5-6 in theall-time series. The winner of Kentucky and Arkansas will meetNo.3-seeded Georgia on Friday, Feb. 25 at 9:30 p.m. All games are playedat the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Arena.
