May 18, 2001
The University of Kentucky women’s basketball team defeated a tough French Division-A team, Sceaux, on Tuesday, 78-59, to complete its tour of Europe with a perfect 5-0 record.
Junior LaTonya McDole and freshman SeSe Helm each recorded a double-double as McDole notched 11 points and 11 rebounds while Helm led the Cats in scoring for the second straight game with 20 points and a game-high 12 boards. Also pouring in double-digits was freshman Kristin Connolly and sophomore Rita Adams with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Junior newcomer Shareon Patterson, who sat out last season with a torn ACL, helped in the rebounding effort, grabbing an impressive nine rebounds in only 17 minutes of action.
The Wildcats were originally scheduled to face INSEP in their final game, another French Division-A team, but the French team was forced to cancel after four players were injured in a practice on Monday. Sceaux, who defeated INSEP earlier in the year, gave Kentucky everything it could handle, coming out on fire in the first quarter. Despite two ties and numerous lead changes, the Cats fought to pull ahead 17-14 at the end of the first. UK held on to take a 36-28 lead at the half after six different players connected for UK.
“I’m pleased with how we stayed poised throughout the game,” UK Coach Bernadette Mattox said. “We took care of the ball and shot well tonight. We had only 11 turnovers in the game, zero in the fourth quarter. I thought that was the key to the game.”To begin the third quarter, the Cats went on an 11-1 run pulling ahead 47-29. Helm then went on a scoring spree, scoring 10 of her 18 points while Adams contributed seven of her own. UK outscored Sceaux 18-8 in the final quarter for the win, shooting 40.9 percent in the second half compared to Sceaux’s 29.6 percent. UK also outrebounded the French team, 57-22, its fifth straight game to outrebound its opponent by double-digits.
CAT SCRATCHES: Before the game with Sceaux, the Wildcats went on a bus tour of Paris, visiting the city’s most famous sites such as the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and the Louvre.
