Jan. 12, 2003
Lexington, Ky. – Senior Rita Adams nailed four three-pointers in the second half to lift the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team over Alabama in its Southeastern Conference opener on Sunday at Memorial Coliseum.
Adams scored 13 of her game-high 16 points after halftime to lead three Wildcats in double figures. Center SeSe Helm notched her second-season and seventh-career double-double in the contest as she scored 14 points on six-of-nine shooting and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds. Sara Potts followed with 10 points.
“Rita was just solid,” UK Coach Bernadette Mattox said. “I thought she came in the first half and just ran the offense. In the second half she knew she had to pick up and that’s where Racquel (Ellis) comes in. She came in and ran the point and let Rita cut loose down the stretch and that really helped us.”
With the score knotted at 43, Kentucky (8-5, 1-0 SEC) used a 7-0 spurt sparked by Adams’ fourth trifecta of the half to take a 50-43 lead. After the Crimson Tide pulled back within four at 52-48, Ellis hit a driving layup in the lane with just over a minute remaining to push the lead back out to six. Ellis hit three-of-four from the line down the stretch to ice the victory for the Cats. Adams’ four three-pointers matches her career-high set versus Western Kentucky on Dec. 7, 2002.
The UK defense held Alabama (10-4, 0-1 SEC) to 34.5% shooting from the floor, including just six-for-23 from the behind arc. Kentucky outscored UA 24-16 in the paint and outrebounded the Tide 41-37. UK has not allowed any team this season to shoot over 50 percent from the field.”Adams came out in the second half and in one stretch just took over the game,” Alabama Coach Rick Moody said. “She was a big-time player for Kentucky today and she made the shots that gave them the cushion they needed to win.”
UK trailed by two, 26-24, at halftime after closing the first half on a 6-0 run sparked by a “three” and layup by Sara Potts. Potts led the Cats in the opening stanza with seven points. Kentucky scored the first six points of the game, but went scoreless for the next five minutes as Alabama used a 10-0 run to take the lead at 10-6. The Crimson Tide led for the rest of the half.
The win was Kentucky’s fourth in the last five against the Crimson Tide. Each of the last seven games between the two teams has been decided by seven points or less. The two will battle again this season on Feb. 23 in Tuscaloosa. Kentucky snapped a two-game losing streak in conference openers with the win.
Kentucky will be back in action on Thursday, Jan. 16, as they travel to Baton Rouge, La., for a date with No.2/3 LSU Tigers. That game is slated for an 8 p.m. ET tip-off.
At halftime UK great Valerie Still’s jersey was retired in a special ceremony. Along side husband Rob Lock, son Aaron, UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart, UK President Lee Todd and former First Lady Gloria Singletary, Still also was honored with the key to the city of Lexington by Mayor Teresa Isaac. Still is the all-time leading scorer (2,763) and rebounder (1,525) for both the men and women at Kentucky. She is the first female letterwinner in any UK sport to have her jersey retired.
