Mitchell Hopes Time Off Equals Rest, Not Rust, for Wildcats

When the Kentucky women’s basketball team takes the court on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, it will have been 15 days since the Wildcats last played in an actual game. That came on Friday, March 8, in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals when the Cats lost to Missouri 70-68.

Kentucky (24-7) earned the sixth seed in the Greensboro Regional of the 2019 NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats are headed to Raleigh, North Carolina, where they will meet Ivy League champion Princeton on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. ET.

With such a large period of time between games, coaches generally worry about their teams losing momentum, condition and timing, among other things. But UK head coach Matthew Mitchell thinks that, for this particular group of Wildcats, the time off has done them quite a bit of good.

“For this particular team, this particular year, I think it’s really good for us,” Mitchell said. “Coming down the stretch, we were playing tough, tough games, we were trying to position ourselves. (The last) five games, in a real grind, I thought had depleted us a little bit from an emotional standpoint and an energy standpoint.”

Knowing his team could use a break, Mitchell provided the Cats with just that.

“We were able to get three days off, completely off, from basketball and school, it was spring break,” Mitchell said. “I thought that was great (for the team).”

In addition to the much-needed rest, the Wildcats were able to heal some of the bumps and bruises that happen during the regular season. Most notably for this team was the leg injury that hampered senior guard Maci Morris for the second half of the season. Morris thinks the time off last week helped her immensely.

“Time is on your side when it comes to trying to heal yourself,” Morris said. “Luckily, we’ve had time for my leg to be able to heal up. I’m just excited to get back out there and play like I used to.”

With all of the time off, Mitchell and his team have been able to look inward rather than focusing on the next opponent.
“We’ve been able to focus on us,” Mitchell said. “You don’t know who you’re playing (in the NCAA Tournament), so all you have is to work hard and really try to come together and be the best version of Kentucky.”

Mitchell hoped that his team would come back rested and not rusty, and that’s exactly what happened.

“We were able to come back with some bounce,” Mitchell said. “We scrimmaged on Saturday to try to keep some rust from setting in and I thought they were very energetic. So, I think the time off helped us.”

Senior point guard Taylor Murray didn’t think rust would be an issue for this team.

“I wouldn’t say rust, because we’ve been in the gym since we lost in the SEC Tournament, getting up shots,” Murray said. “We’ve been getting up shots, scrimmaging a lot. So, we should be good conditioning-wise.”

The rested Wildcats will get a tough opening round test in the 22-9 Tigers, who have won their last 12 games. But Kentucky seems to be rejuvenated not just by the rest, but also by the bid to the NCAA Tournament after missing the field last year.

Now that they are feeling better physically and mentally, the Cats are ready to make a postseason run.