The Kentucky women?s basketball team welcomes No. 20/18 Auburn to Memorial Coliseum Sunday, Jan. 20 in the Wildcats? second straight Southeastern Conference home matchup against a ranked opponent this week. The Wildcats are looking for their second straight win over Auburn but their first over the Tigers in Memorial Coliseum since 2000. The game will tipoff at 1 p.m. EST and will be broadcast live on the Big Blue Sports Network (radio/TV) and FSN South (TV).
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).
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.
Kentucky (8-9, 2-1 SEC) is coming off a tough 65-40 loss to No. 2 Tennessee on Thursday at home. Despite holding the SEC scoring leaders to a season-low 65 points, including just 27 in the first half, the Lady Vols went on a 17-3 run in a span of 5:45 to take a 63-35 lead with two minutes remaining in the game. The 40 points were a season-low for the Wildcats. Senior Samantha Mahoney (Detroit) led UK with 12 points and was the only Wildcat to score in double-figures. Freshman point guard Amber Smith (Winter Haven, Fla.) followed with nine points and a career-high tying six rebounds.
?We need to bounce back quickly from a tough loss to Tennessee,? UK Coach Matthew Mitchell said. ?Auburn is off to a great start to the season. Auburn in a veteran team that is extremely athletic and extremely quick. They will pose some real challenges for our team but I think we are excited to see if we can continue to make progress. Defensively, we had some very good moments in the Tennessee game. Auburn will be a tough test and we look forward to a playing another good SEC team. It is another game that we have to get up and get ready to play our very best to get a win.?
Mahoney leads a balanced scoring attack, averaging 14.5 points per game. Senior center Sarah Elliott (McKee, Ky.) follows with 10.9 points and is tied for first in rebounds with 6.3 rpg. Freshman forward Victoria Dunlap (Nashville, Tenn.), the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week, also pulls down 6.3 rpg along with 7.9 ppg.
No. 20/18 Auburn (13-4, 1-1 SEC) enters the game after an impressive 82-52 upset over No. 10 Georgia last Sunday. The Tigers were off from competition on Thursday. The victory was the Tigers’ first over a Top 10 team in five years. Auburn had five players score in double figures and held the Lady Bulldogs to just 30 percent shooting.
Junior forward DeWanna Bonner, the SEC?s second-leading scorer and rebounder, leads Auburn in both categories, averaging a double-double with 17.6 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. Bonner also leads Auburn and is fourth in the SEC in free throw percentage as she makes 78 percent of her attempts. Junior guard Sherell Hobbs follows in the scoring column with 11.7 ppg.
This will be the 34th meeting in the all-time series with Auburn owning a 23-10 advantage, including a 10-3 lead over Kentucky in Lexington. The Wildcats snapped an eight-game losing streak to AU last season, defeating the Tigers in Auburn, Ala., 68-65. However, UK has lost the last three home meetings against AU, including a 71-57 loss in Rupp Arena in 2006.
UK?s last win over Auburn was in Lexington on January 6, 2000. LaTonya McDole hit a running one-hander in the lane at the buzzer to give the Cats a 71-69, upsetting the fifth-ranked Tigers in the Cats? SEC home opener. It was UK?s first win over a top-five opponent in 15 years.
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES – JAN. 18
Head Coach Matthew Mitchell
Opening Statement?
?We need to bounce back quickly from a tough loss to Tennessee last night. So, we will practice tonight at six and turn our full attention to Auburn. They are off to a great start to the season. They have had a lot of success in their non-conference schedule – 13-4, 1-1 in the SEC. Auburn in a veteran team that is extremely athletic and extremely quick. They will pose some real challenges for our team but I think we are excited to see if we can continue to make progress. Defensively, we had some very good moments in the Tennessee game. Auburn will be a tough test and we look forward to a playing another good SEC team. It is another game that we have to get up and get ready to play our very best to get a win.?
On getting more offense?
?After watching the game film from last night?s game it is clear to see that Tennessee affected the way we played. We were not able to finish inside because of their size and strength. I think we have a better chance of finishing a little better against other teams in the league. I don?t think there is anyone with the combination of size and strength of Tennessee in the league. It is not to say that other teams in the SEC do not have a great inside presence. We are looking for Sarah (Elliott) to step up and have a great game against Auburn. Amani (Franklin) had a real tough shooting game last night and we don?t anticipate that to happen every night. I give Tennessee a lot of credit with their defense. I think we will bounce back and play better offensively this Sunday. We are trying to establish a culture in our program where kids take responsibility for their game. We want everyone to get in the gym and work on shots that they will be making in the game and work on being successful. There are many fundamental things that are very important. At this point in the season our players that getting minutes are the players who will be getting minutes for the rest of the season. It has to be a combination of everyone to get more points night after night. We have young players trying to find their footing in the Southeastern Conference and you will see us play some good offensive games. We need to still focus on our defense because that will keep us competitive.?
On defense so far this season?
?I am very pleased with the way we have played defense and our commitment to defense. We made some defensive adjustments after the Louisville game and we have had some real progress there. I have been happy with the way the players have embraced the challenge of playing defense at the level you have to play at to be competitive in the SEC.?
On Victoria Dunlap?
?In high school, she was an outstanding defensive player and rebounder. That may have given her cause to not develop her overall offensive package. One thing that excites me about her is her ability to get better on the offensive side of things. She has shown progress at handling the basketball and getting more confidence in her outside shot. She is fundamentally very good and has the ability to be very good from about 15-17 feet. Her offense has suffered a little because she has been so dynamic defensively and rebounder. She is one of the people that I am very excited about her offensive future here at Kentucky.?
On lessons learned from last night?
?The biggest thing that we learned last night was we can rebound at a very high level and we caused a lot of problems for one the best offensive teams in the country at certain times in the game. We should gain confidence from that immediately. We set expectations of how we should rebound for the rest of the season last night.?
