KENTUCKY WBB POSTGAME NOTES
Kentucky at Texas A&M
Reed Arena – College Station, Texas
Jan. 4, 2018
 
FINAL SCORE: Kentucky 70, No. 19 Texas A&M 74
 
Team Records and Series Notes
-Kentucky falls to 8-8 overall, including an 0-2 record in Southeastern Conference play this season, while Texas A&M rises to 12-4, 1-1 SEC.
-Matthew Mitchell is in his 11th season as head coach at Kentucky. He is the winningest head coach in program history at 249-108.
-The all-time series between the two programs is now tied 4-4, but the Wildcats still own a 3-1 edge in games played College Station.

• Prior to tonight’s game, the road team had won the last five games in the series.

-Kentucky will return to Memorial Coliseum this Sunday at 2 p.m. to take on Georgia. The game will be shown live on SEC Network+ and will be broadcast on the UK Sports Radio Network with Darren Headrick calling the action.
 
Team Notes
-Kentucky used the starting combination of senior Alyssa Rice, senior Makenzie Cann, junior Taylor Murray, junior Maci Morris and freshman Dorie Harrison.

• UK is 6-1 with that starting-five combination.
• It was Harrison’s first start since Nov. 26 vs. Marshall.

-The Wildcats trailed 24-18 at the end of the first quarter as the Aggies were hot from the start, shooting 7-of-13 (.538) from the floor including 3-of-3 from long range.

• Texas A&M led by as many as eight in the first quarter.

–Maci Morris hit a buzzer beater just before halftime to cut the deficit to three, 39-36.
-Less than a minute into the second half, Makenzie Cann hit a 3 to give Kentucky a 41-40 lead.

• The lead was UK’s first since the 8:30 mark of the first quarter.

-The third quarter was back and forth, with six lead changes, but the Aggies held onto a 59-55 advantage at the end of the period.
-In the fourth quarter, Texas A&M surged ahead, stretching its lead to as many as nine, but with 10 second left in the game Alyssa Rice hit a layup to cut the Aggies’ lead to two, 72-70.
-The Wildcats quickly fouled, but Texas A&M’s Anriel Howard hit both free throws on the other end to go up four and that would be the final score.
-The game saw 10 lead changes overall.
-UK shot 27-of-61 (.443) from the floor in the game.

• The 44.3 percent shooting marked its best shooting performance since Dec. 21 vs. No. 3 Louisville when the Wildcats shot 44.9 percent (22-49).

-The Wildcats outscored the Aggies in the paint, 26-18.
 
Player Notes
–Maci Morris led all scorers with 22 points to go along with three rebounds and four assists.

• Morris matched a career-high nine made field goals in the game, shooting 9-of-18 from the floor.
• It was her fifth 20+ point performance of the season.
• The performance marked the 11th time she’s led UK in scoring this season.
• Morris now has 936 career points for the Wildcats, and is just 66 points away from becoming the 33rd member of UK’s 1000 point club.

–Makenzie Cann added 14 points on 4-of-8 3-point shooting.

• Her four 3s matched a season high after going 4-of-6 from long range in the season opener.
• Her 14 points marked her highest scoring performance since Nov. 22 vs. Morehead State when she scored 15 points.

–Taylor Murray recorded seven points, four rebounds and a game-high six assists.

• It was the tenth time she’s led UK in assists this season.

–Alyssa Rice scored 10 points to go along with eight rebounds in the contest.

• It was the sixth time she’s scored in double digits this season.
• She’s led UK in rebounds six times this season.