Junior Kentucky guard Samantha Mahoney (Detroit) shined in the 16th-ranked Wildcats? first exhibition game of the 2006-07 season, scoring a personal-best 28 points Wednesday in a 77-60 win over perennial NCAA Division II power Northern Kentucky in Memorial Coliseum.
Mahoney was one of three players in double figures for the Wildcats, who shot an impressive 52.8 percent (28-of-53) from the floor and limited Northern Kentucky to just 43.8 percent (28-of-53) shooting from the field.
?Sam played well tonight,? UK Coach Mickie DeMoss said. ?I was pleased with her offensively. She came up with some steals on the defensive end. I think she is playing with a lot of confidence right now and she played like an all-star. I thought she really stepped up and took lead of the team and shot the ball extremely well.?
Senior guard Jenny Pfeiffer (North Vernon, Ind.) added 13 points, including a perfect 6-for-6 mark from the charity stripe. Sophomore point guard Carly Ormerod (Louisville, Ky.) added 12 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the field. Senior forward/center Jennifer Humphrey (Memphis, Tenn.) led the rebounding effort with seven boards.
Kentucky, which held a slight 48-45 lead with 16:06 remaining in the game, went on a 10-4 run over the next five-and-a-half minutes to go ahead 58-49 on a resounding three-pointer by Pfeiffer. From there, the Wildcats continued to roll. Leading 62-54, UK went on a 9-0 run to go ahead 71-54 with 3:55 remaining in the game on a basket by Pfeiffer. Mahoney had four points during that stretch.
After getting off to a slow start, Kentucky took a 41-33 lead into the locker room at halftime after closing the opening period on an 8-2 run. UK shot 59.3 percent (16-of-27) from the floor in the opening period and was led by Mahoney?s 17 points.
?Northern Kentucky obviously prepared for us and I know our players depend a lot on scouting reports and we just gave them a few things because we didn?t get any tape on them,? DeMoss said. ?It was good that we saw it and I am glad we won the game, but I was more disappointed in our defense and our rebounding.?
The Wildcats and Norse battled evenly to begin the game before Kentucky took a 17-15 advantage after back-to-back three-pointers by Ormerod and Mahoney. Mahoney?s trey sparked a 5-0 Kentucky run that put the Cats ahead 19-15 on a jumper by Pfeiffer just inside the arc at the 11:27 mark. The Norse didn?t give up however, rallying to go back in front 22-21. Sophomore Jenn?e Jackson (Radcliff, Ky.) answered with a crafty lay-up and registered a block on the other end to give UK back the ball.
Each of Kentucky?s 12 active players saw action in Wednesday?s game, including the first collegiate action for freshmen Brittany Edelen (Springfield, Ky.), Amani Franklin (Decatur, Ga.) and Lydia Watkins (Hopkinsville, Ky.). Watkins saw 18 minutes of action, scoring five points and bringing down two rebounds.
?I was pleased with Lydia [Watkins],? DeMoss said. ?We just moved her to the four, which I wasn?t sure about because she hadn?t had a lot of reps there. They really threw some different looks at her. Overall, I was pleased with her. She came in with a lot of confidence shooting the ball. She got her hands on several passes on the defensive end, several deflections, which led to easy baskets on the other end. I thought Amani Franklin, in the short period she was in there, did some good things and we just have to get them some minutes and game experience.?
Kentucky closes its 2006-07 exhibition slate on Tuesday, Nov. 7 when it plays host to NAIA member Shawnee State (Portsmouth, Ohio). 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.
