Feb. 19, 2003
Lexington, Ky. – Half of the city of Lexington may be without power but Memorial Coliseum will be electric when the Kentucky women’s basketball team takes on the Florida Gators on Thursday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. ET.
UK (9-13, 2-8 Southeastern Conference) is looking to snap a five-game losing skid and chart its first win of February while the Gators (8-15, 0-10 SEC) are riding a school-record 11-game losing streak after falling in a heartbreaker on Sunday to Alabama, 65-69. Florida searches for its first win since defeating Virginia (81-68) on Dec. 29.
The Cats trail in the all-time series 14-17 against Florida but the series is tied at 7-7 when playing in Lexington. Florida has won two straight games against the Cats and four straight in Memorial Coliseum. UK’s last win over the Gators was a 72-58 decision in 2000 at the O’Connell Center.
“We’re just ready to play,” UK Coach Bernadette Mattox said. “With school cancelled this week due to the ice storm, we haven’t had a typical week. We’ve had some intense practices and I think everyone is looking forward to getting back to normal. We need to get a win under our belt before we hit the road again for our next two conference games. We are also glad to have Rita (Adams) return for the game after her loss last week.”
The Cats were without leading scorer and starter Rita Adams (death in family) for both the Arkansas and Mississippi State games. Adams will return to the starting lineup versus the Gators. Starting shooting guard Jenny Pfeiffer has been out since Jan. 21 and could possibly be back for UK’s final home game versus Tennessee on March 2.
Kentucky has four players averaging in double-digit scoring this season. Adams leads with 14.3 points per game and Sara Potts follows with 12.2. Potts also leads the SEC in three-pointers made with 2.55. SeSe Helm and Jenny Pfeiffer are averaging 10.7 and 10.3 ppg, respectively. Helm is UK’s leading rebounder, grabbing 6.8 boards a game.
Freshman starter Bernice Mosby is UF’s leading scorer with 13.3 points per game. Junior center Vanessa Hayden leads the team in rebounding with 9.8 bpg.
Coach Carolyn Peck is in her first season at Florida after coaching the WNBA’s Orlando Miracle. Peck, who served as an assistant coach at Kentucky in Mattox’s first season at the helm of the women’s program (1995-96), has seven years of experience in the SEC (four as a player at Vanderbilt; two as an assistant coach at UT; one as an assistant coach at UK) and is the only head coach in the SEC who also played four years at an SEC school.
