– Kentucky is entering its 42nd season of varsity women’s basketball, sitting 736-495 (59.8) all time. 

– Matthew Mitchell is entering his ninth season with Kentucky. Mitchell is 224-110 overall as a head coach and 194-81 during his tenure at Kentucky. 

– Kentucky is 113-24 all-time in Memorial Coliseum under Mitchell. 

– UK has advanced to a school record sixth straight NCAA Tournaments and has 20 or more wins six straight seasons. 

– The Wildcats enter the season ranked No. 17 in the USA Today/Coaches Preseason Top 25 and No. 18 in the Associated Press Top 25. 

– Today’s attendance was 2,095.

– Kentucky will open the regular season on Friday, Nov. 13 vs. Rice at 7 p.m. ET inside Memorial Coliseum.              

 

– Kentucky secured a 95-63 victory over Union University.

– UK had six different Wildcats (Alexis Jennings – 20, Janee Thompson – 17, Batouly Camara – 15, Evelyn Akhator and Kyvin Goodin-Rogers 12, Maci Morris – 10) score in double figures.

– Kentucky used the starting lineup of forward Evelyn Akhator, forward Alexis Jennings, center Ivana Jakubcova, guard Janee Thompson and guard Maci Morris.  

– The Wildcats held a dominant advantage in the paint, scoring 50 points compared to Union’s six points in the post.

– Union scored all but four of its field goals from beyond the arc, going 17-of-37 on three point attempts.

– UK forced 26 turnovers, converting those into 28 points.

– The Wildcats also had a sizable edge in rebounding, 37-26, including a 25-17 defensive rebounding advantage.

– After a 3-pointer by Janee Thompson with 7:48 remaining in the first quarter, UK retained the lead for the remainder of the contest. 

– Kentucky closed the first quarter on a 21-9 run.  

o   Included in that was a 16-0 string of points.

o   The largest lead was 15 points, when the Wildcats had a 22-7 edge with 3:23 remaining in the quarter.

– Union scored all of its points in the second quarter from 3-point range, hitting 5-8 attempts.

– UK led 44-27 at the half.  The team outscored Union in the paint, 18-0, and forced 13 turnovers that were converted into 16 points.  

o   Thompson and Akhator led the team in the first half with eight points apiece.  Akhator was a perfect 4-4 from the field and also led the team in rebounding with Jennings, as both pulled down five.

o   As a team, UK out-rebounded UU 23-14, including a 16-9 advantage in defensive rebounds. 

o   The Wildcats combined for 11 assists thanks to six from Thompson and three from Taylor Murray.

o   UK held Union to a 30% clip from the field, but the Lady Bulldogs earned 24 of their 27 points from 3-pointers.

– The Wildcats started out the third quarter going 5-for-6 from the field, with a different player scoring on each of the five field goals.

– Kentucky ended the game on a 10-0 run. 

 

– Alexis Jennings hit a double-double with 3:20 remaining in the contest.  She finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds.

o   It would have been her second career double-double had the effort not been in an exhibition game.  

o   Jennings’s nine defensive rebounds would mark a career high, besting her previous career mark by three. 

– Janee Thompson went 7-of-10 from the field for 17 points, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range.  

o   She also had a team-high seven assists.

o   The game was Thompson’s first since missing the last 17 games of the 2014-15 season with an injury. 

– Batouly Camara had 15 points, with seven coming from behind the free-throw line.  

o   Camara led the team with three blocks.

– Evelyn Akhator scored 12 points on 6-of-8 from the field.  

o   Her 12 points were made on consecutive attempts on 6-of-6 shooting.

o   Akhator also pulled down seven rebounds and had three steals.

– Kyvin Goodin-Rogers had 12 points, which would have marked the third time in her career that she has surpassed the 10-point mark.

– Maci Morris was the final player in double-digits with 10 points.

– Taylor Murray just missed out on double digits with nine points and led the team with four steals, while also dishing out four assists.