Martinez nails five 3-pointers in Thursday’s 59-57 victory.
OXFORD, Miss. (Feb. 24, 2000) — Senior guard Natalie Martinezdrained a career-high five three-pointers for 15points to lead the Kentucky women’s basketballteam over Ole Miss, 59-57, in its last regularseason road game.
Senior guard Tiffany Wait and junior forward LauraMeadows followed with 13 points apiece.Sophomore forward LaTonya McDole pulleddown a game-high 10 rebounds for her secondstraight game with double-figure rebounds.Meadows became the 21st Wildcat to record1,000 points in a career.
Kentucky (14-12, 5-8), who hadn’t won in Oxford,Miss., in nine years, won the battle of the boards43-31 and shot 57.9 percent from the floor in thesecond half to inch back after a 26-25 deficit at thehalf. UK led by eight with 29 seconds remaining inthe game when the relentless Lady Rebels foughtback to within 59-57 with three seconds to go. TheCats held on to win their second straight game andfirst win in Oxford since 1991.
“We took control of the game in the second halfand made some crucial jumpers at the end,” UKCoach Bernadette Mattox said. “Natalie shot with alot of confidence and Laura made some shots downthe stretch. After winning our last two games, Ithink this is a momentum shift for us.”
The Lady Rebels (11-15, 0-13) jumped out to a12-3 lead in the first half but thanks to the sharpshooting of Martinez, the Wildcats inched backwithin 26-25 at the intermission. Martinez nailed three three-pointers to leadUK with nine points in the first 20 minutes of action. Senior guard EricaJackson tied her season-high assists, dishing out seven in the first half. Sheended the night with a new season-high of eight.
“Ole Miss is a team that won’t quit,” Mattox said. “They just keep coming atyou and coming at you. They are a good team.” Three Lady Rebels scoredin double-digits as Chandra Dorsey and Frankie Boyd led with 12 pointseach. Becky Myatt followed with 11 points.
Kentucky plays host to its final regular season game on Sunday, Feb. 27 at 2p.m. in Memorial Coliseum versus nationally-ranked Mississippi State. UKwill recognize five Wildcat seniors during Senior Day ceremonies prior to thegame.
