The Kentucky women?s basketball team hit clutch free throws down the stretch to take a 70-63 win over Ole Miss Sunday in Memorial Coliseum. Four Wildcats scored in double figures led by senior Sara Potts? 17 points. Sophomore Nastassia Alcius came off the bench for 13 points while freshman Chante? Bowman registered her first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman Sarah Elliott added 10 points. It was the Wildcats? second consecutive Southeastern Conference victory and the Cats? 12th-straight home win.
?It?s just a great win for us tonight,? UK Coach Mickie DeMoss said. ?I thought it was a very hard-fought battle and was probably a little ugly at times. I thought we just grinded it out in the second half. Our offense went a little stale, but we were still able to make stops on the other end and were able to pull out a win at home. It?s a great way to start out the conference with a 2-1 record right now.?
Kentucky (13-5, 2-1 SEC) led 39-28 at the half thanks largely to the heady play of Alcius, who came off the bench and poured in 10 first-half points. Ole Miss (11-5, 1-2 SEC) responded out of the break, jumping out on an 8-2 run to pull within five, 41-36, with 16:44 remaining in the game. Alcius, nailed one of her two three-pointers to push UK?s lead out to five, 48-43, at the 13:07 mark and the Wildcats eventually pulled ahead by 11 points (66-55) with 1:09 to go. The Lady Rebels wouldn?t back down, however, as they put together a late run to come within four, 67-63, with 35 seconds left. Bowman made three clutch free throws in the final seconds to preserve the win.
?Some of our starters tonight I didn?t think started with real good energy,? DeMoss said. ?I thought Nastassia (Alcius) came off the bench and really provided a spark for us. Keiko Tate came in and really worked the boards hard when Jennifer Humphrey wasn?t rebounding like we wanted her to. Sam Mahoney came in and did some good things, but just was not her usual self. We were able to go to the bench, not only because of foul reasons but because of other reasons, as well. We were able to go to our bench, and we didn?t lose a lot. That?s huge, to have the depth.?
Kentucky?s bench outscored Ole Miss? bench 28-13. The Cats? bench has now outscored the opponents? bench in all 18 games this season.
?Every time we made a mistake on the defensive end it seemed as if Kentucky?s players made us play and that?s again what good teams do,? Ole Miss Coach Carol Ross said. ?It takes the wind out of your sail when you feel like you?re giving all you?ve got and yet it?s not enough to stop (Sara) Potts or (Chante?) Bowman. Kentucky?s done a phenomenal job of really making their home court into an advantage. Their fans are great. They really protect their court, which was obviously well documented this week with their big win over Georgia.?
The Wildcats broke out to a 6-2 lead at the 16:10 mark of the first half after Mahoney and Potts each hit three-pointers. The Lady Rebels were stagnant from the floor in the early going, missing six of their first seven shots. After Ole Miss tied the score, Kentucky went on a 7-0 run over the next 1:03 to push its advantage to 13-7. The Lady Rebels came as close as four points several times in the half, but the Wildcats were able to match each of Ole Miss? runs in the opening period.
Bowman made 9-of-12 free-throws to lead the Cats from the charity stripe. UK shot 63.2 percent (12-of-19) as a team and 48.1 percent (25-of-52) from the floor. The Cats also hit an impressive 57.1 percent (8-of-14) clip from three-point range, marking fourth time UK has hit over half its shots this season from beyond the arc.
Ole Miss (11-5, 1-2 SEC) was led by sophomore guard Armintie Price?s game-high 21 points as the Lady Rebels connected on 40.3 percent (27-of-67) of their shots. Ole Miss thrived on its inside game, out-scoring the Cats 36-18 in points in the paint. The Wildcats tied a season-high with 23 turnovers, resulting in 22 Ole Miss points.
Kentucky returns to action Thursday as it travels to Starkville, Miss., to face the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Tip off is set for 8 p.m. EST and the game will be carried live on WLXG 1300 AM with Chris Cross.
