Wildcats Look to Build on Strong Performance

After seeing his team lose to Texas A&M at home last Sunday, Kentucky women’s basketball coach Matthew Mitchell was visibly upset. During the postgame press conference, he questioned his team’s effort and toughness, as the Wildcats fell to 10-6 on the season and 1-2 in SEC play.

Mitchell went back to the drawing board, trying to figure out a way to convey to his team how they needed to play. It wasn’t just about X’s and O’s, it was also about hard work and desire. He knew the team had more to give, and he hoped to emphasize that to the players in the practices leading up to Thursday’s game at Alabama.

Whatever Mitchell said, did, or both, worked, as the Wildcats put together one of their best performances of the season in a 71-54 win over the Tide in Tuscaloosa Thursday night. Mitchell hopes that the team can build off of that strong performance.

“We need to build on it,” he said of Thursday’s road win. “I thought it was probably the most tenacity we’ve had on defense in quite some time, and I was really proud of that.”

And while he was pleased with how the team played against Alabama, the Kentucky mentor knows that there is still room for improvement.

“I don’t know if we’re ever going to feel like we played as well as we can when we have these low shooting percentages in a quarter,” Mitchell said of his team’s 23.8 percent shooting from the floor in the second period. “The second quarter, we just couldn’t get any shots to fall. So I think there’s still room for improvement there.”

However, Mitchell was pleased with how his team responded to the adversity of just a few days ago.

“Coming out of last Sunday, we knew there were some things we needed to correct, and a lot of that was from the energy and effort standpoint,” Mitchell said. “(The team) really did that Tuesday and Wednesday, and we had a good practice (Thursday) ahead of the Alabama game.”

The Wildcats shot 64 percent from the field in the second half against the Tide, including a sizzling 72.7 percent in the fourth quarter. Senior forward Evelyn Akhator led the way with a career-high 29 points and a season-best 15 rebounds.

“We did a good job of getting her the ball,” Mitchell said of his senior forward. “She played with tremendous poise last night. She read the defense well, made her shots, but most of them were around the basket, so that’s good. She needs to make those. Great night, she was real aggressive on the boards.”

And while the Wildcats played well on Thursday, the SEC schedule offers no chance to rest or to feel good about yourself. That’s the case for the Wildcats, who return home to host Georgia on Sunday at Memorial Coliseum (3 p.m. ET, SEC Network).

“Georgia is a very formidable opponent for us,” Mitchell said. “We’ll have to work hard the next couple of days to see if we can get prepared for a very athletic team, great rebounding team.”

The Bulldogs are 10-7 on the season and 2-2 in the SEC, having lost a heartbreaker to fifth-ranked South Carolina on Thursday night. Georgia beat the same Texas A&M team that won in Lexington earlier in the month.

Mitchell knows what his team needs to do to be prepared and confident not only for Georgia, but for the rest of the SEC slate. 

“Confidence is something that I feel is really going to come from practices,” he said. “I’m trying to tell the team now that we’re going to win these games on Tuesday and Wednesday and Friday and Saturday. That’s when you’re going to win those games, and that’s what I felt like we did really well (Thursday). We had enthusiasm and some fire and tenacity in practice on Tuesday and Wednesday. That’s where this team has to take steps forward.”

The plan worked against Alabama, and Mitchell hopes that trend will continue in Sunday’s game against Georgia.