Junior forward Victoria Dunlap was hardly needed in UK’s ninth consecutive victory to start the season. Without Dunlap, who suffered a concussion in practice on Saturday, the Cats rolled 91-39 over Florida A&M.

However, with Louisville next on the schedule (Dec. 20 at 1 p.m. in Memorial Coliseum), UK is hoping she can return quickly.

Head coach Matthew Mitchell expects to have her back for the annual rivalry game, which, fortunately for Dunlap and the Cats, is a full week away.

“It’s a mild concussion, so we don’t anticipate it causing any problems,” Mitchell said after Sunday’s win. “She possibly could have gone today, but then you risk it getting worse if she got hit. I thought it was best to not discuss it, because I had confidence in our players. We needed to make certain Vic is safe and has time to recover. I expect her back practicing within the next couple of days. We just need to check with the doctor.”

UK didn’t miss a beat without its leading scorer and rebounder Sunday, scoring its third-highest point total of the year behind a stingy defensive effort (28 turnovers; 24.2 opposing field goal percentage) and hot shooting (50.0 percent).

“I was very calm when I got the news, and the reason I was is because the players had prepared at a very high level this week,” Mitchell said. “If they would focus and do what we had talked about in preparation for the game, I was confident in them. They proved me right. It all came from Lydia Watkins who had a fantastic week in practice, Brittany Henderson who worked extra this week, and Rebecca Gray and Keyla Snowden who worked extra on their defense this week. I would certainly rather have Vic, but I was happy we were able to get that kind of win without her. It’s a real credit to our players for coming out and staying focused.”