KENTUCKY ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
KENTUCKY VS. ARKANSAS
SUNDAY, FEB. 17, 2019
MEMORIAL COLISEUM – LEXINGTON, KY.
Kentucky Head Coach Matthew Mitchell
Opening statement…
“Every win this time of the year is an awesome win. Grateful to get the victory today against a really tough Arkansas team. I think you have to give them a ton of credit for how hard they played, incredible speed they had today, incredible tempo they tried to play with and showed a lot of tenacity and a lot of heart. So, it was a very difficult game for us, it was a tough match up for us and we just found a way to make more plays and it was awesome to do that and get another victory in the Southeastern Conference. They’re very hard to come by.
On final play with Rhyne Howard…
“It’s a read there and she did a nice job. So with Maci (Morris), they jammed the hand-off for her flash. Maci was going to come off the hand-off and try to get a layup, if not if the balls there or if they blow that up then we want it in Rhyne’s hands. So, we wanted it in one of their hands at the end and so that’s what we run that for. Arkansas really did great on Maci, jammed up the handoff so she couldn’t make the handoff, but a lot of times, a player might panic and give it up, but she kept her poise and either way we wanted the last shot. We wanted no screens, we wanted to spread the floor, see if we can get somebody, either one-on-one or if somebody helped off we could kick it. We wanted the last shot and she timed it absolutely perfectly.”
On Rhyne’s steal at the end…
“Well it’s hard to get ready for everything that’s going on. With 1.3 we thought it might be hard for them to pass in and pass back. Jailyn Mason is a good shooter and hit some really good shots in the game, but she took it out so we didn’t want to let them through it in there on the block since Chelsea Dungee had such an incredible day. So we went off the ball and tried to switch the best we could and make it go backward and not let anything go toward the goal. She really timed that pass perfectly and was a great play.”
On seeing Taylor Murray fighting to get rebounds…
“It’s really impressive. All of her career she’s been able to be a very effective offensive rebounder without great size, but she has incredible, explosive athleticism, and she has tenacity and a heart to be tough. This was a game today. A lot of things didn’t go our way. To sum it up, we weren’t able to play very good defensively in the first half, some of it was having tough plays that didn’t go our way, and to find a way to win it does speak to their ability to stay focused. Taylor missed some free throws there, but she was able to level off Dungee who is an incredible player and hold her to five points in the second half and there at the end had a really big, big defensive play where she shot a little bit short, trying to keep her off the foul line today. So as bad as you may feel like you’re playing, you’ve got to keep going, you must keep hustling. So credit our team for that.”
On adjusting play on Dungee…
“We were just having a tough time with them and I thought we would before the game, they are just so well coached and so dynamic and they just played fearlessly with the ball, really drove hard, so we tried to mix in more 2-3 zone to try to close some of the gaps and force some outside shots and limit the free throws. We were very fortunate that they missed some shots around the perimeter but we were having a mighty tough time there in the second quarter guarding them.”
On the smaller lineup…
“Yeah, it’s versatile. It’s somewhat challenging on defense because you still have two freshman still trying to find their way, but offensively it does put five people on the floor that can make perimeter shots and also can put the ball on the floor, get in the paint and make some shots around the basket. We’re decently athletic with that small lineup so we were able to still get some work done on the boards. They did what they had to do to win today and we’re real grateful for the victory.”
On playing for cancer tonight…
“I was one of those very fortunate souls that knew Coach Yow and was able to spend some time with her in my career and just such an inspirational woman and she beat it back so many times. I remember asking her back when she started the KL Fund, what could we do? She told me every chance we get, we have to try and find a cure, raise some money and bring awareness to it. So it’s outstanding on this day that we can bring awareness to it and raise some money for it. Meant a lot to have some survivors here in the crowd today and we have so much great work going on at the Markey Cancer Center. So we’re real proud of the contribution UK’s making in the fight.”
On the bench play…
“They are contributing in major ways that might not show up on the stat sheet tonight. This was a really tough matchup for us, I knew it was going to be tough, really believed going into the game we were going to need a contribution from every single person and so that’s what I told them in the locker room.”
On how Howard played…
“She’s extremely gifted and showed great poise for a freshman, didn’t panic, didn’t force it, stayed patient until the end and had the guts to take the last shot, impressive. The thing that I’m most happy about with her not only the big shot that she made, but seven offensive boards, seven defensive boards in a game when we needed to have it. It’s just a complete performance and obviously it would have been hard without her. She’s a great teammate, teammates love her, coaches love her and she loves everybody else so it’s really awesome having her here and she’s making a great contribution.”
Kentucky Student-Athletes
#4, Maci Morris, Sr., G
On being the sixth all-time scorer …
“I’m thankful. I couldn’t do it without my teammates. They’ve helped me all four years, different people. I’m not really focused on that, but people are telling me about it. I’m really thankful for it. I just give glory to God for all that happens for me.”
On if getting shut down by other teams gets frustrating …
“I usually get more frustrated at myself because I’m not producing the way I know I can produce, but I’ve been used to it. Last year kind of prepared me for how people were going to guard me this year. They don’t really frustrate me. It’s usually myself frustrating myself. I usually don’t try to let it bother me, and my teammates do a really good job of lifting me up and keeping me positive.”
On why the team is using Rhyne Howard more …
“Because people can’t guard Rhyne.”
On if the bye week affects the score …
“You have to get into the flow. We just had to get back into the flow of it, and we just have to put the time in. If we start off slow, we just have to refocus and make up for it in other areas.”
#10, Rhyne Howard, Fr., G
On the game winner …
“Something like that. It was originally a play for Maci [Morris] and then they broke it up, so I just took it myself.”
On how it felt to have the game winning shot …
“It’s a great way to end it. The crowd was loving it so that just kind of pushed us to another level to get the win.”
On how she decides to make the big plays …
“I just have a lot of confidence in my play, so I just try not to let anything affect me.”
On the inbound-pass steal …
“I knew they were going to try to get it to her because she had the hot hand for most of the game, so when she curled, I knew it was coming.”
On if the steal was bigger than the shot …
“I think the steal was better. They didn’t have the chance to get a shot up to have a chance to win the game or tie it.”
#24, Taylor Murray, Sr., G
On the responsibility of being a senior …
“I’ll spot some in the defensive end. Energy, I think I did a lot of that for us. I help my team on the defensive end, so that’s what started us going. When you have jobs like that you just have to keep communicating with each other and uplifting one another. Shots are not always going to go in, but you just have to keep shooting and then hopefully it will go in.”
On rebounding …
“It’s very important. We’re not big. We’re small, but we have small people that can get up there and get some rebounds. So, it’s very important because in our league there is a rebounding night each and every night. One thing we try to take out of a game is to be better on the boards. That’s what we try to do each and every game we have.”
On why the team is using Rhyne Howard more …
“And we can push the ball a lot into position. She can play one through five, so it just helps us out spacing the court.”
Arkansas Head Coach Mike Neighbors
Opening statement…
“Really good Kentucky team, I think we battled them about as hard as we could. Rhyne Howard, the play of the game wasn’t the basket, the play of the game was the steal at the end. Did you see how far she came to steal that ball? She came from nowhere. She looked like that receiver in the super bowl. Chelsea (Dungee) was open and Howard made a tremendous play to steal that ball. I’m not saying the shot would have gone in but, for her to come in and dominate this league as a freshman, it’s hard to do. It’s obvious her teammates have accepted her, they have got a really good team. I think this is the best Kentucky team that I have seen in a long time.”
On what they did to try and contain Maci Morris today…
“Well I mean she still got 14 or 15 shots up, well 11 plus her free-throws so she shot 19 times but yeah it was hard. I think we put Malica Monk on her for the first time. Monk has never guarded her in the past and we tried Jailyn Mason on her so, Monk is pesky I promise you y’all don’t want her running around with you for 40 minutes. She is going to be in your space and I thought she did a good job of forcing her to be really creative off the bounce. I thought Maci got it to the rim a lot, we fouled her too much trying to play in her space. I do think she is still the key for trying to beat them but the second you start doing that their other players start doing what they do. Taylor Murray was also really good today.”
On if he noticed anything UK did on Chelsea in the second half to slow her down…
“Well they picked her up in transition and there may have been some stuff…I don’t watch it as much in the live game as I do when I get home but I’m sure they made an adjustment on her. She had 15 in the first half, she can be really explosive. I thought they were there on the catch a little bit more, they were in her catch and shoot rhythm and she was having to dribble a little more. If there was something tactical, I’m sure Matthew Mitchell will tell you but I thought they obviously payed attention to her and picked her up earlier in transition.”
On what sets Rhyne apart from the other freshman in this conference…
“Her versatility, I mean you can’t really put a position on her. She’s a tough matchup, she is poised beyond her age and I think that comes from some of her experiences with USA Basketball. She just plays at such a calming pace. She would be the kid I would pick in a pickup game. I think she’s just a tough matchup for every player in the league and I think she’s mature beyond her classification. She is confident, and they have put her in great position to be successful and don’t ask her to do too much because she has great players around her. If she came in a year later and they wouldn’t have Maci or Taylor Murray, it might be a different situation. I think she is just able to take what comes… she doesn’t have to force her game or rush it and like I said she has dominated the SEC. She had my vote a long time ago for freshman of the year but she really has it now.”
