Three Games Inside Rupp Arena Completes 2017-18 WBB Schedule
LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the first time in over a decade, the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team will play three regular-season games inside Rupp Arena, facing Tennessee on Dec. 31, South Carolina on Jan. 21 and LSU on Feb. 4 in the historic building.
All three games will tip at noon ET with the Tennessee and LSU games to be televised on SEC Network, while the South Carolina game will be on ESPNU. The Dec. 31 game vs. Tennessee will be a doubleheader with the Kentucky men’s basketball team, who will play Georgia at 6 p.m. at Rupp Arena. Both games will be ticketed separately. Single-game tickets to all of Kentucky’s 16 home games this season will go on sale Tuesday, Oct. 24 at 9 a.m. ET through Ticketmaster.com.
“We are very excited to be playing three games inside Rupp Arena this season,” UK head coach Matthew Mitchell said. “The atmosphere we’ve had in past games we’ve played there has been incredible and I know the Big Blue Nation will give us a great advantage again this year. There are few venues in the world with more history and tradition than Rupp Arena and I know our team will be excited to hit the floor.”
This will mark only the sixth time in program history and the first time since the 2007-08 season that the Wildcats have played three or more regular-season games inside Rupp Arena. UK played five games at Rupp in 2007-08, four games in 2006-07 and 2005-06, three games in 2004-05 and three games in 1979-80. Kentucky played two regular-season games and one NCAA Tournament game in Rupp in 2015-16.
Kentucky has played Tennessee, South Carolina and LSU before at Rupp Arena, defeating Tennessee on Jan. 26, 2006 before dropping contests to South Carolina and LSU in 2007-08. Rupp Arena, which has hosted an NCAA Women’s Tournament Regional each of the last two seasons, will host the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight again this season in March.
In addition, the Southeastern Conference announced television selections and game times for Kentucky’s 16-game conference slate Wednesday. Eleven of UK’s 16 SEC games will be televised nationally with eight games on the SEC Network, two games on ESPNU and one game on either ESPNU/ESPN2. The SEC Network will announce additional non-conference games at a later date.
Two conference games moved from Sunday to Monday due to TV selections. The Wildcats will play at Vanderbilt on Monday, Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. ET on the SEC Network and at Arkansas on Monday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. ET on the SEC Network. In addition, Kentucky’s SEC Network games include at Texas A&M on Jan. 4 at 7 p.m., vs. LSU on Feb. 4 at noon, at Missouri on Feb. 8 at 9 p.m., at South Carolina on Feb. 18 at 3 p.m. and at Ole Miss on Feb. 22 at 8:30 p.m. UK will play on ESPNU vs. South Carolina on Jan. 21 at noon and at Mississippi State on Feb. 11 at 2 p.m. UK’s Senior Night game vs. Mississippi State on Feb. 25 will either be on ESPNU/ESPN2 at noon or 4 p.m. All other conference games will be shown on the SEC Network+. A complete schedule can be found online at UKathletics.com.
The SEC Tournament will be played Wednesday, February 28 through Sunday, March 4 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. The SEC Network will televise the first three days of the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament, while the semifinals will air on ESPNU and the championship game on ESPN2.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, or Kentucky Women’s Basketball on Facebook.
