Freshman Samantha Mahoney and senior Sara Potts each scored 19 points and the Kentucky women?s basketball team shot an impressive 52.5 percent (32-for-61) from the field to lead the Wildcats to a 79-68 win over Eastern Michigan in the first round of the Sportsview.tv WNIT Friday in Memorial Coliseum. The Wildcats improve to 16-15 on the season, marking the squad?s most victories in six years.
?We?re really excited about this win,? UK Coach Mickie DeMoss said. ?We shot the ball extremely well and took care of it better. Eastern Michigan is a solid basketball team, but we were able to answer their runs. It was a total team effort tonight.?
Eight of the nine Wildcats that saw action scored at least four points, including 25 points from UK?s bench.
The two teams battled evenly to begin the game before Eastern Michigan (23-8) pulled ahead by as many as five points (23-17) on a lay-up by Nikki Knapp at the 7:55 mark. UK slowly chipped away at the EMU lead, trading baskets with the Eagles for the next few possessions. A jumper in the lane by sophomore Angela Phillips gave the Cats a 29-28 advantage with 2:54 left until halftime and Kentucky would hold on to take its largest lead, 38-30, at the intermission. The Cats shot an impressive 50 percent (16-for-32) from the floor in the opening stanza and limited EMU to just 38.2 percent (13-of-34). The Cats also forced eight turnovers, resulting in nine UK points. UK led at the half for just the third time in its last 13 games. Mahoney had 13 of her team-high tying 19 points in the opening stanza.
?I thought Sam played really well tonight,? DeMoss said. ?I don?t even look at her as a freshman anymore. She does so many things for us, and I just look at her as a veteran player. She was outstanding tonight.?
The Cats came out in the second half to build a 12-point (61-49) advantage before watching their lead dwindle to seven (75-68) with 1:08 remaining in the game. EMU leading scorer Ryan Coleman posted two of her 30 game-high points to lead the Eagle charge but the Cats would not relent. Phillips made 4-of-4 clutch free-throws down and UK held on for the victory.
?Kentucky makes one good play and it seems like they just won the game,? EMU Suzy Merchant. ?It just gets you out of rhythm and it felt like their crowd really helped them. Clearly, it was pretty loud and it made it seem like Kentucky just went on a 15-0 run and you have no chance, and it?s only a three-point game. I thought that was a factor. We don?t see those kinds of crowds or that kind of noise unless it?s in the NCAA Tournament. The MAC (Mid-American Conference) just doesn?t have that.?
UK advances to Sunday?s second round to face the Chattanooga Lady Mocs (25-4) who defeated Villanova 50-40. Tip off is set for 2 p.m. EST in Memorial Coliseum and the game will be carried live on WLXG 1300 AM with Chris Cross.
Potts, who now has 1,471 career points, made 8-of-19 shots from the field in the game, while Mahoney connected on 7-of-12 shots and made 5-of-6 free throws. Mahoney also brought down a team-high six rebounds and dished out three assists.
Kentucky employed a stifling full-court press that forced Eastern Michigan into 16 turnovers. The Wildcats were able to score 23 points off of EMU?s miscues. The Cats made 85.7 percent (12-of-14) of their free-throws and limited the Eagles to just 40 percent (28-of-70) percent shooting from the floor.
Freshman center Sarah Elliott, junior forward/center Jennifer Humphrey and Phillips each scored eight points in the game, while Phillips dished out a team-high five assists.
Kentucky improves to 6-1 all-time in WNIT postseason action.
To purchase tickets call the UK ticket office at 859-257-1818 or 1-800-928-CATS (2287). Ticket office hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST. Ticket prices are: $7 for all reserved seats regardless of age. General admission tickets are $7 adults/$4 for UK students, senior citizens and children ages 18 and under. The Memorial Coliseum ticket office will be open Saturday, March 19 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET and Sunday, March 20, beginning at noon.
