The Kentucky women?s basketball team looks for their first win in the Southeastern Conference when they travel to Starkville, Miss., to face Mississippi State on Thursday, Jan. 22 at 8 p.m. ET. Both teams are looking for their first win in conference play.
The Cats (8-8, 0-3 SEC) are coming off a near-upset of No. 14 LSU on Sunday at Memorial Coliseum. UK led by 12 points in the first half and hit 10 three-pointers in the game but couldn?t overcome the play of the Lady Tigers down the final stretch, falling 70-69. The Lady Bulldogs (5-10, 0-3 SEC) are riding a six-game losing streak after dropping to their intrastate rival Ole Miss on Sunday, 69-60. MSU?s last win came on Dec. 20, 2003 vs. McNeese State in the finals of the Mississippi State Classic.
?Every game in this conference is tough,? UK Coach Mickie DeMoss said. ?Even both teams are winless in conference play I don?t think that is a good indication of how good the teams are. Mississippi State has some very good talent and they are a very athletic team. They always play hard and we?ll have to play well against them. It should be a good matchup.?
UK and MSU meet for the 26th game in the all-time series. The Wildcats own a slight 14-11 advantage overall but trail 6-4 when the game is played in Starkville. UK?s last win in the Humphrey Coliseum was in 1997. The Cats are 5-6 vs. MSU since former UK coach Sharon Fanning took over Mississippi State program in 1995.
SeSe Helm is the Cats? leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 15.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Sara Potts and Jenny Pfeiffer follow in the scoring column with 14.4 and 11.5 ppg, respectively. All three players had impressive games on Sunday with Potts leading the way with 16 points vs. the Lady Tigers. Pfeiffer and Helm followed with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Freshman point guard Angela Phillips also hit the mark by knocking down a career-high tying 3-of-3 from three-point land for 11 points.
Former Kentucky coach Sharon Fanning is in her ninth season at MSU and her 28th year overall as a head coach. She has compiled a 144-108 record at State and a 467-334 overall record and has led MSU to six consecutive postseason appearances, four NCAA and two WNIT. She guided the Lady Bulldogs to their best regular season record in school history last season with a 22-6 overall mark.
Junior guard Tan White, who was named first team All-SEC by The Associated Press last season, is leading three players in double-figure scoring. She is averaging 17.5 points a game while junior Tiania Burns and senior Seneca Anderson follow with 14.2 and 10.3 ppg, respectively.
