There’s an age-old saying that the best defense is a good offense. The UK women’s basketball team might have flipped that script in the first game of the 2009-10 season.The Cats lit up the scoreboard for the second game in a row – coincidentally, one of the UK scoreboards short-circuited in the second half – but it had more to do with the defense than the offense. With a relentless full-court press and suffocating half-court pressure, the Cats forced Boston into 29 turnovers. In turn, the UK Hoops team opened its season – and the entire women’s college basketball season for that matter – with an easy 92-58 win over Boston University. UK defeated Bellarmine 117-57 on Monday in the lone exhibition of the season.”We don’t have a lot of size but we do have some athleticism,” head coach Matthew Mitchell said. “The farther away we can make you start your offense from the basket the better it will be for our defense. That is our game plan and that’s going to be a formula for success is to try and make people earn their baskets.”
To post anything near 90 points a season ago would have been just short of a miracle. UK was offensively challenged, limited in depth and a nightmare from behind the 3-point line.With the additions of Kentucky Miss Basketball A’dia Mathies, sharpshooting transfers Rebecca Gray and Keyla Snowden, and the development of its upperclassmen, UK has gotten remarkably better offensively.  But it’s been the defense that has generated a large chunk of the sudden outburst. UK produced 30 points, 12 in the fast break, off the near-30 Boston mishaps. Had the Cats not missed several layups in the paint and controlled the ball better in their half-court sets, that number would have likely pushed UK over the centennial mark.”I thought Kentucky played a great defensive game from the get-go,” Boston head coach Kelly Greenberg said. “Their press and defensive pressure put us out of our comfort zone early. It took some of our players out of their game and we became pretty tentative. I give their defense a lot of credit because it set the tone for the game.”Greenberg said most women’s basketball teams don’t use full-court pressure for one reason or another, but she said it’s generally a recipe for success when teams decide to apply it. Because it’s used so infrequently, players aren’t used to the pressure and freeze when they have a player in their face underneath their own basket.That was the case often and early in Friday morning’s affair. UK offered Boston a personal wake-up call, putting on-the-ball pressure from baseline to baseline.Boston clearly wasn’t ready for it as it turned the ball over six straight times and seven of its first nine possessions. That helped the Cats jump to a 12-2 lead in the first five minutes of the game. “When the ball handler is having a hard time seeing what decisions she needs to make, her chances for success decrease, obviously,” Mitchell said. “You have to put pressure on the basketball. We talked about guarding the post 30 feet from the basket. You have to put pressure on the ball so they can’t find an open person.”There rarely was Friday in Memorial Coliseum. When UK was clicking defensively, the Terriers must have thought six defenders were on the court. “This needs to be our style,” Mitchell said. “I don’t think we can walk the ball up and let the other team  walk the ball up, especially if they have a really big post presence. We need to speed the game up. One thing I thought was good for us today is the kids kept running.”The Cats came away with 15 steals on the day, the most since Jan. 2, 2007, in addition to 25 deflections. Junior forward and preseason All-Southeastern Conference selection Victoria Dunlap had her hands on a large portion of those, coming away with 13 deflections and five steals.Mitchell said she set the tone for UK on both ends.”It all started with Victoria Dunlap,” Mitchell said. “I was so pleased to see that. I finally had to get her out of the game because she was going to hurt herself out there. She’s just so intense. It was great to see her contribute in all areas.”Dunlap’s defense led to a game-high 24 points (her 12 rebounds notched her 14th career double-double). Most of those baskets were uncontested layups off of steals. Asked if she’s ever thought about dunking when she’s by herself after a steal, Dunlap said it’s crossed her mind.”I think about it,” said Dunlap, who has dunked in practice before. “Everybody’s saying all the time, ‘Dunk it, dunk it,’ but not yet. It’s possible (it could happen in the future).”If UK continues to press and force turnovers like Friday, she’ll have plenty of opportunities.”It’s pretty important for people to recognize the kind of effort we have on the court,” Dunlap said. “Mainly when we’re out there we’re thinking of going as hard as we can and just keeping that tempo the entire game.”