After three-straight heartbreaking losses and eight of the last nine games being decided by 10 points or less, head coach Mickie DeMoss looks to lead her Wildcats back into the winning column when they play host to Florida Sunday, Feb. 4 at Noon in Memorial Coliseum. The game will be carried live on the Big Blue Sports Network (radio) with Neil Price and FSN South (TV). Sunday is Alumni Day and over 30 former Wildcats will be honored at halftime.
Single-game general admission tickets are available for $5 adults/$2 senior citizens and children 6-18. Ages five and under are admitted free. UK students, faculty and staff also 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).
The Wildcats (14-9, 3-5 SEC), who are seeking first win over Florida in Memorial Coliseum since 2003, are coming off a gut-wrenching one-point loss to No. 15 Vanderbilt in Memorial on Thursday. UK took a 62-61 lead with 11 seconds remaining in the game after a layup by freshman reserve Amani Franklin. Vanderbilt called a timeout with less than six seconds to go. Commodore Dee Davis dribbled the court and made a driving layup with 1.6 seconds left to give Vanderbilt the one-point win. Seniors Jennifer Humphrey and Nastassia Alcius led the Wildcats in scoring with 16 and 14 points, respectively. Humphrey also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds as the Cats won the battle of the boards 35-20, their largest margin in SEC play.
?I know Florida?s coming in here very hungry to get a win, and we are too,? DeMoss said. ?We?ve lost some very close ones at the buzzer, and we?re ready to get back on the court to get a win. Florida?s hungry and young and they want a win. So we?re going to have to focus and work hard.?
Junior center Sarah Elliott, who became the 26th member of UK?s 1,000-point club on Thursday, leads the team in scoring with 13.0 ppg. Junior guard Samantha Mahoney follows close behind with 12.7 ppg, including a team-high 13.0 ppg in SEC games. Senior guard Jenny Pfeiffer and Ormerod are near the double-digit scoring mark with 9.3 and 8.8 ppg, respectively. Humphrey is UK?s leading rebounder with 9.8 rebounds per game. She ranks third in the SEC statistics in rebounding and is just 40 boards shy of reaching No. 2 on the all-time rebounding list.
Florida enters Sunday?s game after a close matchup with Ole Miss on Thursday. UF fell 72-64 despite only trailing by two, 32-30, at halftime. The Gators have lost 10 straight games and are 6-17 overall, 0-8 in the SEC.
Sophomore Sha Brooks leads three Gators in double-figure scoring. She averages 15.1 points while Depree Bowden and Marshae Dotson follow with 13.3 and 13.2 ppg, respectively. Bowden is UF?s leader on the boards with 7.7 rpg.
UK and Florida meet for the 38th time in school history. The Gators own a 20-17 lead in the all-time series, including a slight 9-8 lead when the game is played in Lexington. Florida has won two straight over the Wildcats in Memorial. UK?s last win over Florida in Lexington was Feb. 20, 2003 (49-47). UK won two of the three meetings with Florida last season.
Kentucky has played 14 times on Super Bowl Sunday and owns a 4-10 record. This marks the second straight season Florida has visited Kentucky on Super Bowl Sunday.
Fans are encouraged to park in Parking Structure 5 located next to Kennedy?s Bookstore on Limestone Avenue. Parking within Parking Structure 5 will be available free of charge. A shuttle bus service also will be provided and begins one hour prior to game time until one hour after the game. Additional game day parking is available in the E lots surrounding Memorial Coliseum including the Martin Luther King Parking Lot and the Student Center Parking Lot.
