Oct. 17, 2014

LEXINGTON, Ky. – After its school-record fifth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament and fifth consecutive season with 25-plus wins, the Kentucky women’s basketball team has earned top-15 preseason rankings in several preseason publications, including Athlon Sports Magazine, Lindy’s Sports Magazine and Sporting News.

Kentucky, which finished 26-9 in 2013-14 and advanced to its third straight Sweet 16, is ranked No. 11 by Athlon Sports, No. 12 by Lindy’s Sports and No. 15 by Sporting News.

Seven letter winners return from last season’s squad, including top scorer and Southeastern Conference Co-6^th Woman of the Year Jennifer O’Neill (Bronx, N.Y.), and starters Bria Goss (Indianapolis) and Janee Thompson (Chicago). O’Neill, a 5-foot-6 senior guard, dropped in a team-high 12.6 points per game last year, while Goss, a 5-10 senior guard, was the team’s third-leading scorer with 10.2 ppg. Thompson, a 5-7 junior point guard, averaged 8.6 points per game a year ago, while dishing out a team-best 107 assists. Also returning is senior center Azia Bishop (Toledo, Ohio) who saw action in all 35 games last season with five starts and senior forward Jelléah Sidney (Queens Village, N.Y.) who averaged 3.1 points and 3.0 rebounds per game and was second on the team in steals with 41. The dynamic sophomore duo of Linnae Harper (Chicago) and Makayla Epps (Lebanon, Ky.) look to pick up where they left off last season. Harper, a 5-8 guard and member of the SEC All-Freshman team and SEC All-Tournament team, averaged 6.9 points per game overall, including 9.5 ppg in postseason play. Epps, a 5-10 guard, was one of the team’s best shooters, hitting .483 percent from the field (56-of-116).

New additions to the roster this season include junior college transfer and 6-foot-6 center Ivana Jakubcova (Bratislava, Slovakia), freshman shooting guard Jaycee Coe (Gainesboro, Tenn.), freshman and forward/center Alexis Jennings (Madison, Ala.) and freshman center Alyssa Rice (Reynoldsburg, Ohio). Sophomore forward Kyvin Goodin-Rogers (Lebanon, Ky.) also will be available for action after sitting out last season with a pulmonary embolism.

The Wildcats open up the 2014-15 season with an exhibition game against Pikeville on Thursday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. ET in Memorial Coliseum. Admission is free and the game will be streamed live on SEC Network +. Events on SEC Network + are exclusively available on SECNetwork.com  and on WatchESPN via computers, smartphones and tablets.

Follow UK Hoops on Twitter and Instagram at @UKHoopCats and on Facebook by liking University of Kentucky Women’s Basketball.

Athlon’s

1. Connecticut

2. South Carolina

3. Texas A&M

4. Notre Dame

5. Michigan State

6. Stanford

7. Tennessee

8. Baylor

9. Texas

10. Iowa

11. Kentucky

    
    

    
    

12. Duke

13. North Carolina

14. Nebraska

15. California

16. Louisville

17. Dayton

18. West Virginia

19. Maryland

20. Georgia

21. DePaul

22. Oregon State

23. Rutgers

24. Syracuse

25. Albany

Lindy’s Sports

1. Connecticut

2. South Carolina

3. Notre Dame

4. Stanford

5. Tennessee

6. North Carolina

7. Maryland

8. Baylor

9. Texas A&M

10. Louisville

11. Duke

12. Kentucky

    
    

    
    

13. Oklahoma State

14. West Virginia

15. DePaul

16. Nebraska

17. California

18. Purdue

19. Gonzaga

20. Michigan State

21. Brigham Young

22. Penn State

23. Oregon State

24. Texas

25. Iowa 

Sporting News

1. Connecticut

2. Norte Dame

3. South Carolina

4. Stanford

5. UCLA

6. Baylor

7. Texas A&M

8. Tennessee

9. Louisville

10. Texas

11. Duke

12. California

13. DePaul

14. Nebraska

15. Kentucky

    
    

    
    

16. Michigan State

17. Oklahoma State

18. North Carolina

19. Maryland

20. West Virginia