Feb. 27, 2000
LEXINGTON, Kty. – Kentucky bid farewell to five seniors on Sunday in a 63-46 loss toMississippi State in Lexington. Playing their last regular season gameon the Memorial Coliseum hardwood were Tiffany Wait, Shantia Owens,Natalie Martinez, Erica Jackson and Katie Vieth.
As expected on Senior Day, the Cats came out fired up and tookan 8-0 lead in less than three minutes. However, the Bulldogs quicklyregrouped after a timeout and clawed back to claim a two-point lead with12:55 remaining in the first half. The Cats stayed close throughout therest of the opening half on another stellar performance by Martinez. The5-6 senior guard, who received her first season start versus Louisvilleand nailed a career-high five three pointers in last week’s win over OleMiss, connected on two three-pointers while Jackson dished out fourassists. However, the Lady Bulldogs stayed focused and took aseven-point lead into the locker room, 33-26.
Kentucky got further behind early in the second half but cut theBulldog lead back to seven with 16:30 left on the clock. However, theycould get no closer. Shooting 31.6 percent from the field in the secondstanza and turning the ball over 11 times prevented a Kentucky comeback.
“We made some shots when we had them early, but I felt like welost confidence in our shooting late in the game,” UK Coach BernadetteMattox said. “We must now regroup, get ready for the SEC Tournament andgo out and win that thing.”
Sophomore LaTonya McDole added 11 points and seven rebounds tothe UK effort, her 16th double figure scoring game of the season.Martinez charted 10 points for her second straight double-figureperformance. Wait, who was held to only six points in the game, startedher 113th consecutive and 115th of her illustrious career, a career thatincludes 120 total games. With UK’s first game in the SEC Tournament,Wait will break the all-time UK record for games played with 121, arecord currently held by Patty Jo Hedges.
Mississippi State (20-6, 7-6) was led by the SEC’s leadingscorer freshman LaToya Thomas. She finished with 19 points while NitraPerry added 17 and Angela Harris 10.
Kentucky finished its regular season 14-13 and 5-9 in the SEC.UK, which received a No. 9 seed in the SEC Tournament, will face No. 8seed Alabama on Thursday, March 2 in the first round of the SECTournament in Chattanooga, Tenn. Game time is slated for 1 p.m. at theUTC-Arena. The winner of the game will face No.1 seeded Georgia onFriday, March 3 at 1 p.m.
