Sept. 23, 2014
The University of Kentucky women’s basketball team continued its fall workouts Tuesday morning at the Joe Craft Center in Lexington, Ky. The Wildcats focused on speed and execution during the one-hour session, and head coach Matthew Mitchell and Kyvin Goodin-Rogers (Lebanon, Ky.) talked with the media after practice about how the session went.
Kentucky’s up-tempo style of play and signature “40 minutes of dread” defense has wreaked havoc for opponents over the past five seasons. The Wildcats have ranked in the top five nationally in turnover margin, having forced more than 800 turnovers in four of the last five seasons. Since 2009-10, UK has compiled an impressive 118-27 record when forcing more turnovers than the opponent.
The Wildcats, who were ranked No. 6 in an early preseason poll by ESPN.com columnist Charlie Crème, returns seven letter winners from last season, including key players in
Bria Goss
(Chicago) and Jennifer O’Neill (Bronx, N.Y.), returning starting point guard junior
Janee Thompson
(Chicago) and sophomore guards
Linnae Harper
(Chicago) and
Makayla Epps
(Lebanon, Ky.). Adding depth to the post position are seniors
Azia Bishop
(Toledo, Ohio) and Jelléah Sidney (Queens Village, N.Y.) New additions to the roster this season include junior-college transfer and 6-foot-6 center
Ivana Jakubcova
(Bratislava, Slovakia), freshman shooting guard
Jaycee Coe
(Gainesboro, Tenn.), freshman forward/center
Alexis Jennings
(Madison, Ala.) and freshman center
Alyssa Rice
(Reynoldsburg, Ohio). Sophomore forward
Kyvin Goodin-Rogers
(Lebanon, Ky.) also will be available for action after sitting out last season with a pulmonary embolism.
The Cats will open the 2014-15 regular season with an exhibition home contest vs. Pikeville on Nov. 6 followed by a three-game homestand beginning with Appalachian State on Nov. 14. It will mark the first game between the Wildcats and the Mountaineers in school history. Following the home opener, UK will play host to the Baylor Lady Bears in Rupp Arena on Nov. 17 for its annual “Pack the House” event. UK and Baylor have become familiar opponents having played each other three times in the last two seasons, including twice last season. This year’s game is part of ESPN’s seventh annual College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon and set to tip at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Season tickets are available for purchase for $65 online at UKathletics.com/tickets or by calling the UK Ticket Office at 859-257-1818 or 1-800-928-2287. Lower level reserved tickets for UK’s game vs. Baylor in Rupp Arena on Nov. 17 are also available for only $9 by calling the UK Ticket Office. Seats will be assigned in September after the season ticket renewal deadline. All other single-game tickets will go on sale in late October.
For continuing coverage of UK women’s basketball, log on to UKathletics.com.
