UK Women Face Unknown, Unorthodox Hornets in Opener
College basketball season openers can be tricky. That’s especially the case when playing a team that has a lot of new faces, or when playing a team with an unorthodox style.
The Kentucky women’s basketball team opens its 2017-18 slate on Friday night by facing a team that not only has a ton of new faces, but that also plays their own unique style. Sacramento State, coached by Berea native Bunky Harkleroad, visits Memorial Coliseum on Friday night (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network+) in the season opener for both teams.
Sacramento State has just two returning starters and has seven players (out of 13) who did not play on the team last season. That group includes five newcomers and two players who sat out last season.
Add to that the fact that the Hornets are a prolific three-point shooting team, and you have a tough combination for Kentucky head coach Matthew Mitchell and his squad.
“A great challenge for us,” Mitchell said of the season opener. “It has put some great pressure on us to get ready in practice. It’s a major challenge at this point in our development.”
And that’s not just Mitchell hyping his opponent. Sacramento State has, in fact, led the nation in three-point field goals made per game in each of the last four seasons. The UK coach expects nothing less of the Hornets on Friday night.
“They’re going to really play extremely hard, unorthodox style, shoot as many threes as they can, get the pace really fast, disrupt us with a bunch of different presses,” Mitchell said. “We could have a lot less challenging game than what Sacramento State is going to give us.”
In Kentucky’s only exhibition game, the Wildcats struggled at times against the press of Division II Southern Indiana before cruising to an 87-56 win. UK turned the ball over 22 times in the game, something that does cause Mitchell some concern.
“(The press break) gave us some trouble against Southern Indiana and (Sacramento State’s) ability is much greater to be able to affect it,” Mitchell said. “I don’t know that we will look flawless against their pressure, but we have to hang in there and do better than we did against Southern Indiana. A little more organization will help us.”
Junior Maci Morris was Kentucky’s leading scorer in the win over USI with 19 points. Classmate Taylor Murray had 11 points while freshman Tatyana Wyatt added 10.
Mitchell has been able to use the tape from Sunday’s exhibition as a teaching tool, and he likes how his team has responded this week in practice.
“The players have responded well to our preparation,” Mitchell said. “We’ll have to work to win and that’s what this team needs to learn right now is how to go out and earn victories.”
This time of year, it’s about getting better every day. Mitchell likes that he sees that in his team.
“We are improving, and that’s what we have to try to seek every single day.”
On Friday night, facing a team with new faces and a less-than-common style of play, Mitchell hopes he sees his Wildcats take another step in their development.
