The Kentucky women?s basketball team will open its 30th season of varsity basketball with three straight home games in five days. The Wildcats begin their three-game homestand against first-time opponent IPFW on Friday, Nov. 21 at 6 p.m. ET in Memorial Coliseum. Tickets are $5 for adults and $2 for senior citizens and children ages 18 and under. UK faculty and staff are admitted free with a valid ID.

The Cats also meet Big 10 opponent Northwestern just two days later on Sunday, Nov. 23 at 2 p.m. and ACC foe and 14th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels on Tuesday, Nov. 25 at Rupp Arena at 7 p.m. First-year Kentucky Coach Mickie DeMoss is anxious to see how her squad will react to the busy schedule.

?We are just ready to play,? DeMoss said. ?We are excited, we are anxious and hopefully playing all of these games at home will be an advantage to us. We had some great crowds at our exhibition games and we want Memorial to be packed for the regular season games. We?ve got some great competition coming to Lexington and want the atmosphere to be electrifying.?

The Cats are 22-7 in season openers, including wins in the last five. UK is 18-2 when opening the season in Memorial Coliseum.

Season openers also have been kind to first-year coaches at Kentucky. UK coaches have a record of 4-1 in their first games with the Wildcats.

Kentucky finished 11-16 overall last season, 4-10 in the Southeastern Conference. Eight letter winners return, including four starters and six seniors.

IPFW (Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne) is located in Fort Wayne, Ind., and is a joint campus of two internationally recognized Big Ten schools. IPFW grants both Indiana University and Purdue University degrees. IPFW is Independent and is not affiliated with a conference. Kentucky and IPFW have never met.

The Mastodons return four starters from last year?s squad that finished 9-19 overall. Senior forward Amy Gearlds averaged a team-high 14. 3 points last season and returns as the Mastodons’ go-to player. Leading rebounder Verea Bibbs also returns after averaging 6.3 rebounds per game last season.

Bruce Patterson enters his second season as head coach of the Mastodons. He has a 13-42 overall record.