Feb. 28, 2002, Southeastern Conference Tournament in Nashville, Tenn.
FINAL SCORE: Kentucky 75 – Mississippi State 72
?UK is now 9-19 overall this season. Tonight’s win broke a 13-game losing streak.
?UK now leads the all-time series against Mississippi State 14-10, including 3-2 in SEC Tournament play.
?UK’s win marked only the second time in SEC Tournament history that a 12th-seed defeated a fifth seed (Ole Miss defeated Georgia in 1998 in the opening round.)
?UK’s all-time SEC Tournament record is now 16-21, including 9-7 in first round games.
?UK will advance to the second round of the tournament for the third time in the last four years, including 1999, 2000, and 2002. UK has a 5-10 record in the second round of the SEC Tournament.
?Key run: trailing 65-61 with 4:09 to play, UK went on an 8-0 run for a 69-65 lead that was not relinquished.
?UK outrebounded MSU 40-26. The Lady Bulldogs were limited to five offensive rebounds and just two second-chance points.
?UK won the battle of bench points 17-2.
?UK had 19 assists, most by the Wildcats this season against an SEC opponent.
?Sophomore center SeSe Helm led the Wildcats with 19 points, marking her 26th double-figure scoring game in 28 outings this season.
?Sophomore forward Shambrica Jones tallied a career-high 18 points.
?With Rita Adams in foul trouble, sophomore guard Danyelle Payne came off the bench for a career-high 12 points, her first double-figure game as a Wildcat. Five of those points came in the final minute of the game.
?Senior forward LaTonya McDole had eight assists tonight, tying her career high.
?McDole had nine rebounds tonight, giving her 709 boards in her career and moving past Jocelyn Mills (703) for sixth place on the UK career rebounding list. McDole had four points, giving her 1,175 to remain in 14th place on the UK career scoring list. McDole remains in fifth place in UK career steals with 241.
?Junior guard Rita Adams had two steals. She is three thefts shy of the UK single-season record held by Wildcat assistant coach Leslie Nichols, who had 104 in 1979-80. She remains in fifth place on the career steals list with 247. She is in eighth place on the career assists chart with 332.
?Kentucky has an all-time record of 7-16 against the fourth seed LSU, including 2-4 in the SEC Tournament. UK fell to No. 16/17 LSU in the first round of the tournament last season in Memphis, 72-57. The Cats also fell to the Lady Tigers in regular season play this year in Lexington, 75-59.
