Kentucky Women’s Basketball Postgame Notes
No. 15/12 Kentucky vs. No. 25/rv Missouri 
Memorial Coliseum, Lexington, Ky.
 
No. 15/12 Kentucky 52, No. 25/rv Missouri 41 – FINAL
 
Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky moves to 17-3 on the season and 4-2 in the league while Missouri is now 15-6, 4-3 in the SEC.
  • The Wildcats will return to action Sunday at No. 24 Texas A&M at 5 p.m. ET inside Reed Arena. The game will be televised on the SEC Network while Darren Headrick will have the call on radio on the UK Sports Network.
• Kentucky leads the all-time series against Missouri, 7-3.
  • UK owns a 5-0 mark all-time against Missouri in games played in Lexington.
  • Missouri had won each of the last two meetings between the two teams before tonight. 

• UK is now 815-535 all-time in its 45 years as a program.
  • Matthew Mitchell is in his 12th year with the Wildcats and holds a 273-120 record. Mitchell is 303-149 overall in 14 years as a head coach.
• Kentucky is ranked No. 15 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 12 in the USA Today/Coaches Top 25.
• Missouri is the fifth ranked opponent that Kentucky has played this season.
  • The Wildcats own a 3-2 record against ranked teams with wins against Missouri, South Florida and Tennessee and losses to Mississippi State and Louisville.
  • Kentucky is in a three-game stretch of facing ranked foes beginning with Missouri tonight. UK will travel to No. 24 Texas A&M on Sunday before hosting No. 19 South Carolina next Thursday.

 
Team Notes

• Kentucky used the starting combination of senior guard Taylor Murray, senior guard Maci Morris, freshman guard Rhyne Howard, sophomore forward KeKe McKinney and sophomore forward Tatyana Wyatt.
  • The Wildcats are 15-2 with those starting five this season.
  • This was the first time UK has used this lineup combination since Jan. 10 at Tennessee. Howard and Murray missed the LSU game due to injury and Morris missed the Ole Miss game with an injury.
• After hitting its first shot attempt of the game, Kentucky finished the first quarter just 3-of-14 from the field. Missouri went 6-of-19 from the field to start the game and took a 12-10 lead into the second quarter.
• Kentucky was held to a season-low 18 first-half points, while Missouri scored 21 points which was their second lowest first-half scoring output this season.
  • UK shot just 28% from the field in the first half (7-of-25).
• UK started the second half on a 6-0 run – all six points scored by Taylor Murray – to grab UK’s first lead of the game.
• Kentucky outscored Missouri 18-7 in the third quarter thanks to 13 points from Taylor Murray alone. The senior guard added four steals in the third quarter.
• UK turned up the defense in the third quarter, forcing Missouri into nine turnovers and scoring 12 points off those miscues.
• The Wildcats outscored the Tigers 34-20 in the second half.
  • UK limited Missouri to 12 or fewer points in three quarters and have now held opponents to 12 points or less in 34 quarters of play this season.
• UK outscored the Tigers 26-8 in the paint, 21-8 in points off turnovers and 17-3 in second-chance points.
  • Kentucky’s 26 points in the paint and 17 second-chance points tonight were its best performance in an SEC game in those two areas this season.
• The Wildcats had only five assists in the game, which marked only the second time this season UK hasn’t had 10 or more assists in a game. 

 
Player Notes

• Senior guard Maci Morris scored four points on 2-of-9 shooting with two blocks. 

  • Morris now has 1,519 career points, which ranks ninth most in program history. She needs 44 more point to tie Sara Potts for 8th all-time in school history in points scored.
  • Morris has 226 career 3-pointers made which ranks second in program history. She needs 45 more 3s to tie Sara Potts for most all-time.
  • Morris did not hit a 3 in the game, which broke a streak of 31 straight games with a 3-pointer made.
• Senior guard Taylor Murray returned from injury and scored a game-high 21 points with two assists, four rebounds and four steals.
  • Murray went 8-of-14 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line.
  • Murray scored 18 of her 21 points in the second half with all four steals coming in the final 20 minutes. 
  • Murray now has 1,203 career points and ranks 21st all-time in points scored. She needs 12 more to tie Stacy McIntyre for 20th all-time.
  • Murray has 397 career assists which ranks ninth most in program history. She needs three more to tie Rita Adams for eighth.  

• Sophomore forward Tatyana Wyatt scored 11 points with six rebounds.

  • Wyatt went 3-of-7 from the field and 4-of-6 from the free-throw line.
  • It was the second time this season Wyatt has scored 10 or more points and the fourth time she has had six or more rebounds.