Senior Day Sunday in Memorial as No. 19 Kentucky Hosts Ole Miss
LEXINGTON, Ky. – One of the more special days of the year will commence Sunday as the No. 19 University of Kentucky women’s basketball team welcomes Ole Miss to Memorial Coliseum for a Noon ET tip. Prior to, during and after the game, UK will honor two senior managers along with guards Chasity Patterson and Kameron Roach for their commitment and dedication to the Wildcat program.
The game vs. Ole Miss will be televised on SEC Network with Paul Sunderland and Andraya Carter 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.
Patterson is having a great final season for the Wildcats, starting every game this season and playing over 40 games in her career. This season, Patterson is averaging 13 points per game with 62 assists. The guard leads the Southeastern Conference and ranks top-five nationally with 70 steals, which has made her a semifinalist for the 2021 Naismith Women’s Defensive Player of the Year award. The native of Houston, Texas, will graduate in May with a degree in media arts and studies and plans to pursue professional basketball at the end of the season.
Roach, who has played in 34 career games, has been the ultimate teammate since arriving on campus four year ago. The native of Hopkins, South Carolina, has played in six games this season and her best performance came against Wofford where she scored five points and hit a 3-pointer. A three-year member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll, Roach is a member of UK’s prestigious Frank G. Ham Society of Character. Roach graduated in December of 2020 with a degree in kinesiology and health promotion and is currently pursuing her master’s degree in the same field.
Seniors KeKe McKinney and Tatyana Wyatt have elected to return for an additional year of eligibility in 2021-22 and will not participate in Sunday’s Senior Day ceremony. McKinney plans to pursue a master’s degree and play for the 2021-22 squad, while Wyatt will continue her academic career and is still unsure on her athletic career for 2021-22. Both McKinney and Wyatt plan to participate in Senior Day in 2022.
Kentucky (16-6, 9-5 SEC) put together one of its better performances of the year Thursday, defeating No. 17 Georgia in Stegeman Coliseum. It was Kentucky’s fifth win against a ranked foe this season and put the Wildcats in a position to control their own destiny for a double-bye in the SEC Tournament. Howard was the star for UK In the game, scoring 27 points with four rebounds, four steals and two assists. The guard went 4-of-4 from long range in the game and hit two huge 3s in the fourth quarter when UK needed them most, moving a two-point UK lead to five and then a four-point lead to seven and seal the win. Chasity Patterson scored 15 points in the game, while Wyatt scored 11 points and led UK with six rebounds.
The other storyline for Sunday will be the Wildcats looking to avenge an earlier loss this season to Ole Miss down in Oxford. In one of its worst offensive performances of the year, UK shot just 31.8 percent from the field and went 6-of-26 from long range. The Rebels outrebounded the Wildcats 49-34 and had a 42-20 advantage in paint points. Rhyne Howard went for a double-double in the game, scoring 26 points with 10 rebounds but was 2-of-10 from long range in the game. Ole Miss was led by Shakira Austin, who scored 21 points with 12 rebounds, while Donnetta Johnson and Mimi Reid each had double figures.
Sunday will be the 44th all-time meeting between Kentucky and Ole Miss in women’s basketball. The Rebels lead the all-time series 24-19 and added to that total with a 72-60 win over Kentucky earlier this season in Oxford. UK leads the all-time series in games played in Lexington 10-9. Ole Miss won the last meeting between the two teams in Lexington, 55-49 on Jan. 13, 2019. Kentucky is 34-11 all-time in regular-season home finales (1974-75 season not included). The Cats have won 14 of their last 17 games on Senior Day.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
