April 17, 2000

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Senior guard Erica Jackson received the prestigious Top CatAward on Saturday at the annual women’s basketball banquet hosted by theUK Victory Club.

Jackson (Lexington, Ky.) led the Cats in assists and steals the past two seasons, while averaging 11.1 points per game. She is toutedby Coach Bernadette Mattox, as one of the main reasons for the positiveturnaround of the Kentucky women’s program, helping lead the Wildcats toback-to-back winning seasons for the first time in six years. TheLexington native averaged 10.7 ppg in the 1999-00 campaign and was namedto the Coaches vs. Cancer Challenge All-Tournament team in November forher performances against eventual national champion Connecticut.

A total of six awards were presented by Mattox and assistantcoaches Rick Griffith, Leslie Nichols and Meghan Burke. Sophomoreforward LaTonya McDole (Dayton, Ohio), who led the Cats in scoring thisseason with 11.6 ppg, received the Leading Scorer Award along with theMost Improved Player Award. A complete list of the post-season awardsfollows: