LEXINGTON, Ky. – Six Kentucky players scored eight or more points Saturday and the Wildcats won their ninth consecutive season opener with a 74-59 win against South Carolina-Upstate in front of 4,901 fans in Memorial Coliseum. As a team, UK made 10 three-pointers, the most since sinking 12 against Stetson on Nov. 22, 2005.
?I am very happy to start the season out with a win,? first-year UK Coach Matthew Mitchell said. ?I am very pleased to win and we saw a lot of bright spots in the game. At different times, we played extremely well, at other times we didn?t. So, I think it was clear to see that we played a lot of people, had a lot of different combinations, and really played a lot of kids. We have a challenging schedule ahead but we are happy that we won this game tonight.?
Freshman guard Carly Morrow (Chattanooga, Tenn.) led the way for Kentucky (1-0) with 11 points and six rebounds. Sophomore center Sarah Elliott (McKee, Ky.), making her first appearance this season after sitting out both of the Cats? two exhibition games with nagging injuries, followed with 10 points, five boards and two blocks in 18 minutes.
?Carly is in the gym more than any other player on our team,? Mitchell said. ?She works extremely hard, she commits to getting better and the one thing she does is that she stays very steady mentally and emotionally. She didn?t get a lot of minutes in the Ohio Legends game or the Kentucky Wesleyan game, but you couldn?t tell. She is very steady from that standpoint. I think we will see a lot of zone from teams, and she is a player who can really put some pressure on that defense.?
Senior guard Chelsea Chowning (Berea, Ky.) came off the bench to post nine points and six rebounds, while senior guard Samantha Mahoney (Detroit), junior point guard Carly Ormerod (Louisville, Ky.) and freshman point guard Amber Smith (Winter Haven, Fla.) each added eight points. Smith dished out a game-high seven assists and added four rebounds.
Kentucky scored the first nine points of the game and opened to a 15-4 advantage after back-to-back three-pointers by sophomore Amani Franklin (Decatur, Ga.) and Smith with 12:34 left in the opening half. With the Wildcats leading 19-7 at the 11:24 mark of the first half, South Carolina-Upstate went on a 9-0 run that brought the Spartans within three, 19-16, with 9:58 left and forced Mitchell to burn a timeout.
Out of the break, senior guard Chant? Bowman (Detroit) knocked down a jumper to stop the Spartans? scoring streak. That basket sparked an 8-0 run by the Wildcats that extended their lead to 29-16 on a resounding three-pointer by Mahoney at the six-minute mark. The Spartans closed within seven, 29-22, with four minutes left until halftime. The Cats closed the half on a 14-4 run to take a 43-26 advantage into the locker room at intermission. UK limited Upstate to just 27.8 percent (10-of-36) shooting in the opening period and the Wildcats benefitted from eight three-pointers in the first half.
The Wildcats quickly widened their lead out to 18 points, 49-31, early in the second half on a lay-up in the paint by Smith. Leading 49-33, Kentucky went on a 9-1 run that was sparked by a basket by Elliott to go up by 25 (59-34) with 9:07 remaining in the game. UK?s freshmen scored the other seven points of the run. The Cats led by as many as 26 points, their largest lead, (71-45) after three consecutive free throws by Chowning with 4:11 left. South Carolina-Upstate was never able to get closer than 13 (72-59) the rest of the way.
The Wildcats shot just 38 percent (27-of-71) from the floor in the game, but held the Spartans to just 29.2 percent (21-of-72) from the field. The two teams each brought down 47 rebounds in the game and both squads shot 62.5 percent from the charity stripe.
Thirteen of Kentucky?s 14 players saw action in the game, including each of the squad?s five freshmen. Rookie Victoria Dunlap (Nashville, Tenn.) notched her first career start and junior forward Jenn?e Jackson (Radcliff, Ky.) made just her second all-time start. Eleia Roddy (Columbus, Ohio) did not see action to rest a sore knee and Brittany Edelen (Springfield, Ky.) did not play due to illness.
Kentucky returns to action Wednesday, Nov. 14 when it travels to Washington, D.C., to take on No. 14/13 George Washington. Tip-off is slated for 5:15 p.m. EST and the game will be carried live on the Big Blue Sports Network (radio) with Neil Price.
