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Four Wildcats scored in double figures and Kentucky?s seniors combine for 36 points and 24 rebounds as UK snapped a six-game losing streak and defeated Alabama 62-59 on ?Senior Day? in Memorial Coliseum on Sunday. Freshman Angela Phillips led the Cats with 14 points while seniors SeSe Helm and Shambrica Jones added 13 and 12 points, respectively. Junior Sara Potts, who followed with 10, broke the all-time record for three-pointers in a career, hitting two three-pointers for a total of 178. Stacey Reed (1991-95) previously held the record with 176.
The Wildcats, who had just honored six seniors; Racquel Ellis, Jenerrie Everette, Kristen Grassi, SeSe Helm, Shambrica Jones and Danyelle Payne, in an emotional pregame ceremony, came out inspired as Phillips and Potts teamed up to give UK an early 7-2 lead. The Tide answered back, scoring seven straight points to pull ahead 9-7 on a Monique Bivins? trey. Potts then nailed her 177th career-leading three-pointer in the midst of a 17-4 UK run, giving the Cats their largest lead of the game, 30-17, with 6:31 remaining in the half. UK went into the break up 38-27 as the Tide shot a mere 9-of-37 from the field for 24.3 percent while the Cats went 15-of-32 for 46.9 percent.
Alabama (12-13, 4-8 Southeastern Conference) found its rhythm in the second half and came out to rattle off 10 consecutive points. The Tide trimmed a 50-37 UK lead to just three, 50-47, with 10:51 left in the game. Another long bomb from Potts gave UK (10-15, 2-10 SEC) a six-point (53-47) advantage, but the Tide surged back again with a 6-0 run to tie the game at 53 each with 6:34 to go. The teams saw three ties in the final six minutes, but Helm gave UK the lead for good, 59-57, on a bank shot with only 1:10 on the clock. UA?s Dee Merriweather had a chance to tie the game with free throws in the final minute, but the Cats, who were outrebounded 50-45, grabbed the crucial rebound on the first miss. Phillips made 3-of-4 shots from the charity stripe down the stretch for the final margin. The Tide outscored UK 32-24 in the second half but UK connected on 7-of-11 free throws compared to their 2-of-7 to seal the victory.
?I am very happy about the outcome of the game today,? UK Coach Mickie DeMoss said. ?It was good to win at home and it was good to win on ?Senior Day.? We were doing all the right things. It was certainly not an easy game, but I was proud of the way we handled their last run down the stretch. All the close games that we have played in certainly gave us some experience to handle this game. The team handled the pressure situation a lot better today. It was a total team effort with balanced scoring.?
Phillips went 9-of-10 from the free throw line, including 5-of-6 in the second half, as the Cats hit 13-of-22 for the night. Alabama hit just 8-of-17.
Senior Danyelle Payne, who could receive a fourth year of eligibility as a partial qualifier, brought down a career-high 11 rebounds along with six points. Senior Racquel Ellis came off the bench for five points while junior Keiko Tate added two points, four rebounds and two blocks. All together, four of the six seniors that saw action combined for 36 points and 16 rebounds.
Alabama?s Katie Sipe hit four treys in the game and led UA with 18 points. Bivins finished the contest with 15. Tawana Freeman led the Tide on the boards with 11 rebounds.
?You have to give Kentucky a lot of credit,? UA Coach Rick Moody said. ?I knew they would come out and play with a lot of emotion today because it was ?Senior Day.? They had six seniors who I would like to congratulate personally for hanging in there with this program for as long as they have through some ups and downs. It?s a good lesson for a lot of kids in the country about perseverance. They deserve to win the game because I thought in the last two minutes that they wanted the ball a little worse than what we did. They got several key offensive rebounds in the last two-and-a-half minutes and it wound up being a very good game. I congratulate Kentucky for a fine effort and making the plays that they had to make to win the game.?
UK now leads the all-time series with the Tide 15-14, including an 8-5 mark when playing in Lexington. The win was the third straight over the Tide and the second win for the Cats in the SEC this season. It also was UK?s first SEC victory at Memorial Coliseum since Feb. 20, 2003, when UK defeated Florida, 49-47. UK is now 2-3 this season when the game is decided by less than five points.
The Cats return to action on Thursday, Feb. 26, for their final home game of the season vs. South Carolina. The Cats defeated the Gamecocks earlier this year in Columbia, 75-61. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET.