Nov. 27, 2014

Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery 

Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky is in its 41st season of varsity women’s basketball.
• Matthew Mitchell is in his eighth season as the head coach of the Wildcats. He already ranks first on UK’s all-time wins list with 174 and winning percentage (.716).
• This was the sixth meeting between Kentucky and Illinois. Illinois leads the series 4-2, and has won four straight.
• Kentucky falls to 716-487 (59.6) all-time.
• Next up: UK will play Oklahoma on Friday at 6 p.m. ET in the second day of the Paradise Jam.

First Half Notes

• UK started with the lineup of Jennifer O’Neill, Janee Thompson, Kyvin Goodin-Rogers, Bria Goss and Azia Bishop.
  • Kentucky is 4-1 with this lineup.
• Kentucky trailed by as many as 12 points (17-5), before going on a 15-1 run to take its first lead at 20-18.
• Illinois closed the half on an 11-2 run to take a 34-33 lead into the locker room.
• Azia Bishop led UK with 10 points and five rebounds.
  • Kyvin Goodin-Rogers also grabbed five boards.

Second Half Notes

• UK began the second half with the same starting five who started the game.
• Makayla Epps scored 15 points in the second half.

Team/Game Notes

• UK’s last loss to an unranked team at a neutral site was vs. LSU 72-61 on March 3, 2012 in the SEC Tournament.
• Kentucky’s 367-game streak with a 3-pointer came to an end tonight. The last time was Nov. 29, 2003 against San Francisco.
• Kentucky forced 25 turnovers in the game and scored 23 points off turnovers.
  • UK has forced 20-plus turnovers in all five games this season.
• Marked UK’s first regular-season loss away from home since falling at top-ranked Baylor on Nov. 13, 2012.
• Illinois hit 53.2 percent from the field for the game, the first opponent since South Carolina (52.6 percent) on Feb. 20, 2014 to shoot over 50 percent against the Cats.

Individual Notes

• Sophomore Makayla Epps came off the bench to record a career-high 20 points. Her previous high was 16 points vs. Appalachian State on Nov. 14, 2014.
  • Hit a career-high seven field goals and her 11 attempts tied a career high.
• Senior Jennifer O’Neill posted 17 points in the game, passing Kim Denkins (1994-98) on the all-time scoring list for No. 26.
  • Now has 1,067 career points.
  • Marked her 51st-career double-digit game, and fifth this season.