Aug. 7, 1999
LEXINGTON, Kty.–Purdue, Tennessee, Connecticut, Old Dominion, Clemson and Xavier highlightthe 1999-00 University of Kentucky women’s basketball schedule in what willbe one of the most competitive in UK women’s basketball history. TheWildcats, who return all five starters, could face 15 teams in their newschedule that played in last season’s NCAA Tournament, including eightteams ranked in The Associated Press Top-25 Poll.
“To say our schedule will be challenging is an understatement,” UK CoachBernadette Mattox said. “It is a very competitive schedule for us becausewe are still young and developing, but with the ongoing improvement of ourbasketball program we felt it was time for us to start playing a tougherschedule.”
Kentucky tallied a 21-11 overall record last season, its first 20-winseason in ten years, while advancing to the second round of the NCAATournament, the first appearance since 1991. After two exhibition games in early November, the Cats begin theirchallenging non-conference slate with a trip to the Coaches vs. CancerChallenge in Hartford, Conn., Nov. 24-26. UK, along with powerhousesUConn, Clemson and Old Dominion, will face off on espn2 during theThanksgiving holidays. All three possible opponents advanced to the Sweet16 in last season’s NCAA Tournament.
A two-game homestand will tip off regular season action in MemorialColiseum when state rival Western Kentucky and first-time opponent Hamptonvisit Lexington on Dec. 1 and Dec. 4, respectively. The Cats then embarkon a four-game road trip that takes them from Albuquerque, N.M., toLynchburg, Va. UK will battle the Lobos of New Mexico for the first timeon Dec. 6 before traveling to Liberty on Dec. 11. The 1999 NationalChampion, Purdue, also await UK for the first time in its history in adouble-header with the Boilermaker men’s team on Dec. 18 at Market SquareArena in Indianapolis, Ind. The Cats then travel to Cincinnati on Dec. 22before a short Christmas break.
UK will return home from the holiday break with Ohio Valley Conferenceopponent UT-Martin on Dec. 28. The turn of the century will be celebratedon Dec. 31 in Memorial Coliseum at 7 p.m., with a first-time matchup withXavier, a team that led the nation in three-point field goal percentagelast season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for thefirst time. The Cats will end their pre-conference slate on Jan. 3 whenWinthrop travels to Lexington.
Launching the conference schedule will be Auburn on Jan. 6 in Lexington.This season the Cats will face the 1999 SEC Champions of Tennessee twice ina seven-day span, playing host to the Lady Vols in Lexington on Jan. 23before traveling to Knoxville on Jan. 30. UK will also play host toArkansas on Jan. 16, Georgia on Feb. 17 and will mix in non-conferenceopponent Louisville on Feb. 22 at in Lexington. The Wildcats’ Senior Nightopponent will be Mississippi State on Feb. 27. The league schedule alsoincludes road games at Florida on Jan. 10, Alabama on Jan. 27 and Ole Misson Feb. 24.
Other highlights of the season include:
Altogether, UK could face five teams for the first time in history:Clemson, New Mexico, Purdue, Xavier, Winthrop.
Ten of UK’s opponents this season won their first-round game in the NCAATournament, including five opponents who reached the NCAA TournamentRegionals last season (UConn, Clemson, Old Dominion, LSU and Purdue).
The rotating SEC 14-game schedule, the Cats will face Tennessee, Arkansasand South Carolina in home-and-home series. UK will play UT and Arkansasin a home-and-home series until 2001. South Carolina will remain as theCats’ permanent home-and-home opponent.
The complete schedule follows:
1999-2000 University of Kentucky Women’s Basketball Schedule
Date Opponent Site TimeNov. 10 (Wed.) Foreign Exhibiton LEXINGTON 7 p.m.Nov. 14 (Sun.) PREMIER PLAYERS SELECT LEXINGTON 7 p.m. Nov. 19 (Fri.) @ Austin Peay Clarksville, Tenn. 7 p.m.Nov. 22 (Mon.) @ Miami Ohio Oxford, Ohio 7 p.m.Nov. 24-26 Coaches vs. Cancer Challenge (N1) Hartford, Conn.(Wed.-Fri.) UConn, Clemson, Old Dominion (espn2) TBA
Dec. 1 (Wed.) WESTERN KENTUCKY LEXINGTON 7 p.m.Dec. 4 (Sat.) HAMPTON LEXINGTON 7 p.m.Dec. 6 (Mon.) @ New Mexico Albuquerque, N.M. TBA Dec. 11 (Sat.) @ Liberty Lynchburg, Va. 7 p.m. Dec. 18 (Sat.) vs. Purdue (N2) Indianapolis, Ind. TBADec. 22 (Wed.) @ Cincinnati Cincinnati, Ohio 7 p.m.Dec. 28 (Tues.) UT-MARTIN LEXINGTON 7 p.m.Dec. 31 (Fri.) XAVIER LEXINGTON 7 p.m.
Jan. 3 (Mon.) WINTHROP LEXINGTON 7 p.m.Jan. 6 (Thurs.) AUBURN LEXINGTON 7 p.m.Jan. 10 (Mon.) @ Florida Gainesville, Fla. 7 p.m.Jan. 13 (Thurs.)@ Vanderbilt Nashville, Tenn. 7 p.m.Jan. 16 (Sun.) ARKANSAS LEXINGTON 2 p.m.Jan. 20 (Thurs.)LSU LEXINGTON 7 p.m.Jan. 23 (Sun.) TENNESSEE LEXINGTON 2 p.m.Jan. 27 (Thurs.)@ Alabama Tuscaloosa, Ala. 7 p.m.Jan. 30 (Sun.) @ Tennessee Knoxville, Tenn. 2 p.m.
Feb. 6 (Sun.) @ Arkansas Fayetteville, Ark. 2 p.m.Feb. 13 (Sun.) SOUTH CAROLINA LEXINGTON 2 p.m.Feb. 17 (Thurs.)GEORGIA LEXINGTON 7 p.m.Feb. 20 (Sun.) @ South Carolina Columbia, S.C. 2 p.m.Feb. 22 (Tues.) LOUISVILLE LEXINGTON 7 p.m.Feb. 24 (Thurs.)@ Ole Miss Oxford, Miss. 7 p.m.Feb. 27 (Sun.) MISSISSIPPI STATE LEXINGTON 2 p.m.
March 2-5 (Thurs.-Sun.) @ SEC Tournament (N3) Chattanooga, Tenn. TBA
N1-Hartford (Hartford Civic Center)N2-Indianopolis (Market Square Arena)N3-Chattanooga (UTC-Arena)
All Times Eastern and subject to change
