No. 20 Kentucky Hits the Road, Faces Florida Monday in Gainesville
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Coming off arguably its most complete performance of the year on both ends of the floor vs. No. 16 Tennessee, the No. 20 University of Kentucky women’s basketball team is looking to keep that aggressive mentality going as it travels to face Florida on Monday at 7 p.m. ET inside Exactech Arena in Gainesville, Fla.
The game vs. Florida will be televised on SEC Network with Courtney Lyle and Steffi Sorensen on the call. The action can be seen through WatchESPN on computers, smartphones or tablets. Darren Headrick will have the call on the UK Sports Network on 630AM WLAP in Lexington. Live stats and free live audio will be available online at UKathletics.com.
Kentucky (14-5, 7-4 Southeastern Conference) put together one of its best performances of the year Thursday against No. 16 Tennessee, earning a 71-56 victory inside Rupp Arena. The Wildcats dominated the game except for the third quarter. UK won the first quarter 13-11, the second 24-15 and the fourth 25-9, but lost the third quarter 21-9. UK went 10-of-16 from the field in the fourth quarter, including 5-of-5 from long range to seal the win.
Senior guard Chasity Patterson scored 21 points for Kentucky, adding five rebounds, while junior guard Jazmine Massengill had her best game as a Wildcat with 11 points. Massengill went a career-best 3-of-5 from long range in the game. Junior guard Rhyne Howard scored eight points and effected the game in a variety of ways with seven rebounds, six assists and seven steals.
On the season, Howard is leads Kentucky by averaging 19.0 points per game, adding 7.1 rebounds per game and a team-best 62 assists. Howard also has 34 steals. Patterson leads the nation with 64 steals and is second on the team with 59 assists and 13.1 points per game. Sophomore forward Dre’una Edwards is averaging 10.8 points per game with 7.1 rebounds per game and a team-best 20 blocks.
Florida (10-8, 3-7 SEC) is also coming off one of its best performances of the year, traveling to LSU to earn an overtime win against the Tigers. The Gators wins this season in league play are against LSU, Auburn and Ole Miss. Florida is 7-3 at home, including a 1-3 mark at home in league action. In their last outing against the Tigers, the Gators were led by Lavender Briggs, who scored 21 points with 10 rebounds, adding three 3s. Kiara Smith scored 19 points with 10 rebounds and six assists. As a team, Florida hit 44 percent from the field and went 4-of-14 from long range.
As a team, Florida is scoring 72.6 points per game, hitting 41.2 percent from the field and 29.8 percent from 3. Florida has a +2.0 rebounding margin and +1.6 turnover margin. Briggs leads the team by averaging 19.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. She also adds 46 assists, 23 steals and has hit a team-best 32 3s. Kiara Smith is averaging 16.9 points per game with 6.6 rebounds per game and a team-high 70 assists.
Kentucky and Florida will meet for the 59th time in program history Monday with UK leading the all-time series 32-26. The Wildcats hold a 13-10 mark in games played in Gainesville. Kentucky has won five of the last six games in the series but have lost two of the last four games played in Gainesville. The two teams met twice last season with UK earning a 65-45 win at Florida last January before falling in Memorial Coliseum to the Gators, 70-62. It is worth noting that Rhyne Howard did not play in the rematch in Lexington due to injury.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
