Feb. 22, 2010
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Once again, Kentucky has swept the Southeastern Conference weekly awards as women’s basketball players Victoria Dunlap and A’dia Mathies were named the SEC Player and Freshman of the Week. The duo received the honors after leading the Wildcats to wins over Florida and South Carolina last week, the league office in Birmingham, Ala., announced Monday.
Dunlap, a 6-2 forward from Nashville, Tenn., earned her fourth Player of the Week award this season after averaging a team-high 15.5 points on 11-of-19 shooting (57.9 percent) to go with 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 2.0 blocks in UK’s two wins. The victories gave UK a school-record 11 SEC victories and its first undefeated home season (17-0) since 1980-81. It also set the school mark for home wins in a season with 17.
Dunlap scored 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting to go with four rebounds and four steals in UK’s 77-51 win over Florida. She just missed her eighth double-double of the season in UK’s 71-50 win over South Carolina as she contributed a game-high 16 points and nine rebounds on 5-of-9 shooting to go with three steals.
Her combined seven steals last week moved her up to No. 5 all-time on UK’s career steals list with 84. Dunlap moved into 21 st place on UK’s career scoring list with 1,106 career points and also moved up in career rebounds (seventh-739), career blocks (third-113), and single-season blocks (tied for third – 50).
Mathies, a 5-9 guard from Louisville, Ky., earned her third FOW honor this season after averaging 11.0 points and 6.0 rebounds to go along with 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals in the wins. She recorded 11 points with a three-pointer, four free throws, five rebounds and two steals against Florida and had 10 points with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals vs. South Carolina.
She has scored 10 or more points in nine of 14 SEC contests, including seven in a row. She also has recorded 68 steals this season and is just one shy of tying UK’s freshman steals record of 69 set by Stacey Reed in 1991-92.
Dunlap and Mathies also swept the SEC awards on Feb. 1 after leading the Wildcats to back-to-back road wins over No. 18/19 LSU and Mississippi State.
Kentucky (23-4, 11-3 SEC) currently ranks second in the league standings with two road games remaining in the regular season. The Cats will look for their first win in Knoxville, Tenn., since 1985 and their first-ever win in Thompson-Boling Arena when they take on the fifth-ranked Lady Vols Thursday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. EST. The game will be televised live on FSN (Fox Sports South, Fox Sports Southwest and Sun Sports). The Cats’ last win on the road vs. Tennessee came on Jan. 23, 1985 in the Stokely Athletics Center.
Following the UT game, UK will head to Auburn, Ala., to take on the Tigers in Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Sunday, Feb. 28 at 3 p.m. EST.
