FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. ? Sophomore Kentucky forward/center Eleia Roddy (Columbus, Ohio) came off the bench to post her fourth career double-double with a career-high 17 points and 11 rebounds Sunday, as the Wildcats notched their first win in Fayetteville in school history with a 79-50 victory over Arkansas in Bud Walton Arena. The 29-point margin of victory marked UK?s biggest Southeastern Conference win in school history.
The Cats (17-6, 6-4 SEC) have their most overall and conference victories since the 1998-99 season, when UK finished 21-11 and 7-7 in the league. The Wildcats shot 54.2 percent (32-of-59) from the field, their second-highest shooting mark of the season, and held the Lady ?Backs (13-11, 5-6) to just 27.9 percent (19-of-68) from the floor.
?This win was huge for us,? UK Coach Mickie DeMoss said. ?It was a total team effort. Our team came out focused and we were able to get a win. In February, every game becomes that much bigger. I thought it was a pivotal game for both teams and it certainly puts us in great position.?
Kentucky, which used a late 13-5 run to enter the locker room ahead 34-24 at halftime, opened the second half on a 19-7 tear to put the Wildcats up 53-31 with 14:11 remaining and close the door on Arkansas. The Cats out-rebounded the Lady? Backs 46-33, and Kentucky scored 22 points off of 16 Arkansas turnovers. Every UK player saw action in the game.
Roddy provided a key spark off the bench in the paint after starting post players Sarah Elliott (McKee, Ky.) and Jennifer Humphrey (Memphis) each were forced to the bench in early foul trouble. Roddy made 6-of-12 shots from the floor and was a perfect 5-of-5 from the free-throw line. Roddy directed a dominant UK post presence that out-scored Arkansas 50-16 in points in the paint.
?Eleia Roddy was super today,? DeMoss said. ?She had 17 points and 11 boards, and really put in a day?s work. She really came up huge for us with some key baskets and turnaround jumpers. I was very pleased with the way she played.?
Freshman point guard Carly Ormerod (Louisville, Ky.) led all scorers by tying a career-high with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting. The 5-foot-8 freshman also tied her career high in rebounding with seven boards. Elliott and sophomore guard Samantha Mahoney (Detroit) each added 10 points.
Kentucky shot a blistering 54.2 percent (13-of-24) from the floor in the opening half and took a 10-point (34-24) advantage, its largest SEC halftime lead of the season, into the locker room at intermission. The Cats out-rebounded the Lady ?Backs 20-12 in the first period, and made a perfect 7-of-7 free-throws in the opening stanza.
The Wildcats streaked to an early 6-2 advantage at the 17:45 mark of the first half behind two baskets from Elliott. The Lady Backs, however, used an 11-2 run to move ahead 13-8 with 13:06 left in the half on a bucket by Sherree Thompson. Kentucky continued battling and five consecutive points by Roddy, capped off by a hoop at the 11:21 mark, tied the score at 13. After two more ties, junior guard Jenny Pfeiffer (North Vernon, Ind.) was fouled shooting a three-pointer and knocked down each of her three charity shots to move ahead 21-18. Pfeiffer and Ormerod hit back-to-back baskets to extend UK?s lead to 25-20, as the Cats closed the half on a 13-5 run.
Out of halftime, the Cats scored nine consecutive points, including five by Ormerod to give them a 19-point (43-24) advantage with 18:26 left in the game. Back-to-back baskets by Elliott extended Kentucky?s lead to 20 points, 51-31, with 15:04 remaining, and a jumper by Mahoney on the next possession capped a 19-7 run by the Cats. Arkansas was never able to get any closer, as the Wildcats led by as many as 32 points (76-44) with 1:56 remaining.
Kentucky returns to action Thursday when it returns home to play host to the Ole Miss Lady Rebels. Tip-off in Memorial Coliseum is set for 7 p.m. EST and the game will be carried live on the Big Blue Sports Network (radio) with Neil Price.
Single-game general admission tickets are available for $5 adults/$2 senior citizens and children ages 18 and under. UK students, faculty and staff are admitted free with valid identification based on availability. For ticket information, log on to ukathletics.com or call the UK ticket office at 859-257-1818 or 1-800-928-CATS (2287).
Live audio and statistics for all UK Hoops games will be available on ukathletics.com.
