Women’s Basketball Begins 45th Season Wednesday vs. Alabama State
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky women’s basketball team will begin its 45th season of varsity basketball and the 12th under head coach Matthew Mitchell on Wednesday when the Wildcats play host to Alabama State at 7 p.m. ET inside historic Memorial Coliseum.
The game will be streamed on SEC Network+ with Christi Thomas and Jeff Piecoro on the call. The action can also be seen through WatchESPN on computers, smartphones or tablets. Darren Headrick will have the call on the UK Sports Network on 630 WLAP in Lexington. Live stats and free live audio will be available online at UKathletics.com.
Single-game tickets are $10 (all ages) in reserved seating areas, while general admission tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for children (ages 6-18) and seniors (age 65+). Children ages five and under do not require a ticket in general admission areas. Purchasing season tickets offers the best option and price savings for fans. New season ticket purchases are available in upper-level reserved chairbacks (sections AA-JJ), lower-level reserved bleachers (sections R-Z) or general admission bleachers (sections RR-ZZ) for $69 per ticket. Lower-level reserved chairbacks (A-J) sections are sold out again this season.
Freshman guard Rhyne Howard is scheduled to sign autographs following the game on the main concourse near the Lexington Avenue entrance. Other game day experiences include the massive new LED video board and LED ribbon board featuring a 5.2 mm display with a 4800-hertz refresh rate and additional snack options from Kroger’s popular Simple Truth brand, including peanut butter filled pretzels, chocolate covered almonds and gummy worms will be available at concession stands. Young fans are encouraged to take advantage of the Kid Zone pregame with games, poster making stations, coloring stations and more.
Spectator parking is located in all E-lots surrounding Memorial Coliseum and are off control 3 hours prior to tip. Additionally, the South Limestone Garage (PS#5) and the Rose Street Garage (PS#2) are available 2 hours prior to tip. With the Gatton Student Center lot and expansion of North Craft lot there are 238 additional parking spots for spectators this season around Memorial Coliseum. The Bill Gatton Student Center is available as a pay-to-park option. Availability is based on the Gatton Student Center Event Schedule.
The Lexington Parking Authority Transit Center Parking Garage, located between High Street and Vine Street is available for parking after 5 p.m. during the week and all day on the weekends. Additionally, a free shuttle service will pick up in the High Street lot beginning 2 hours prior to tip. UK Athletics Event Staff will be at the Transit Center Garage Entrance to assist with directing patrons to the correct shuttle pick-up location.
Parking is prohibited in any R (Residential) lots. Vehicles parking in R lots without a proper permit, along yellow curbs, grass spaces, or other non-specified and unapproved areas may be subject to ticket and/or tow. Disabled spectator parking is available with a valid, state issues disabled hangtag in the E lot North of the Craft Center. These spaces are available on a first-come, first-served basis until full.
Shuttles are available beginning 2 hours prior to tip off and pick up and drop off near the South Limestone Garage (PS#5) and near the Transit Center Parking Garage and High Street Lot. Shuttles will start back up after halftime to return guests to their parking areas, the shuttle will discontinue service 1-hour post-game.
Doors to Memorial Coliseum open 1.5 hours before tip and UK Athletics encourages women’s basketball fans to arrive early to ease traffic and parking congestion around the Coliseum. For more information on parking around Memorial Coliseum and other game-day questions visit UKathletics.com.
Behind a disruptive full-court defensive effort that allowed the Wildcats to force 31 turnovers and score 41 points off those miscues, UK defeated Lincoln Memorial 101-64 in its lone exhibition of the season last Friday. Kentucky used a strong effort on both ends of the court to earn the victory, shooting 48.8 percent from the field on 41-of-84 shooting while LMU shot 42.4 percent. The Wildcats limited their miscues with just seven turnovers and allowed just five points off those turnovers.
True freshman Blair Green led Kentucky in scoring going 8-of-17 from the field for 17 points. The native of Harlan County, Kentucky, added four rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block. Howard scored 15 points with five assists, five rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Five Wildcats scored in double figures in total, including 16 points from sophomore Tatyana Wyatt, who went 6-of-10 from the field with nine rebounds – eight offensive – and three blocks. Senior guard Taylor Murray had 14 points and a team-best six assists, while fellow senior guard Maci Morris had 11 points, five rebounds and four assists.
UK is 36-8 all-time in season openers, including winning nine in a row. Last season, UK defeated Sacramento State 101-70 in its season opener at Memorial Coliseum. The Wildcats are 40-4 all-time in home openers and have won nine in a row as well.
Alabama State comes into Memorial Coliseum following an impressive 81-56 exhibition victory over West Georgia last week. Three Lady Hornets posted impressive scoring performances with freshman Ayana Emmanuel posting a game-high 26 while fellow freshman Jayla Crawford had 21 and four rebounds. Another freshman, Taylor Aikerson had 18 points and hit four 3s. The Lady Hornets shot 53.6 percent from the field while limiting West Georgia to just 35.2 percent from the field. The Lady Hornets were picked to finish seventh in the SWAC this season after finishing 8-22 last season, including 6-12 in SWAC play.
Coach Freda-Freeman Jackson enters her 21st season for the Lady Hornets and welcomes nine new faces to the program. Returning guards Courtney Lee and Arleatha Gipson will bring maturity to the frontcourt, while Tatyana Calhoun and Victoria Harvey will provide a strong presence on the interior.
Kentucky leads the all-time record in games played vs. Alabama State, 1-0, with the lone game being a 75-46 win inside Memorial Coliseum in December 2006.
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.
Kentucky Women’s Basketball Pregame Quotes
Kentucky vs. Alabama State
Memorial Coliseum – Lexington, Ky.
Nov. 6, 2018
Kentucky Head Coach Matthew Mitchell
Opening statement…
“We’re very excited about this portion of our journey. You know, our journey is a team started back in June and we knew we had 10 plus months together, and our goal was really, very clear – for us to have a great year together learning. We want our players to have an outstanding educational experience this year, one that really adds value to their life now and helps them be their best now, and is something that they can draw on as they progress through life trying to become the people they want to be. So, the reason I’m so excited about this portion of the regular season is this portion is a very, very important part of our journey. This game versus Alabama State is the beginning of that, so that’s very important. But, I’m so excited just because of the work that our players have put into that process. They have really developed a lot up to this point. We had a great preseason and there is still room for us to grow, but I think this team has great potential and we’re very excited to get it kicked off tomorrow night in Memorial Coliseum. We have a lot of respect for Alabama State and know that they will play up tempo. They’re well coached and athletic, and they shot the three great in their exhibition game. So, we’ve got a real challenge ahead of us tomorrow night to try and see if we can get the season started off with a victory, and that is what we’ll work hard in practice to prepare for today.”
On how he will measure the team early in the season…
“Well, we have so much room for growth. We have real potential where I think everyone got better in the summer. I think our team got better form a developmental standpoint. I feel like the additions of the new players helped our team get better. So, we’re excited about that, and the style of play is going to be a very exciting style of play. I was proud that they hustled enough to force 31 turnovers in the exhibition game. That does not mean that that is going to happen tomorrow night, we’ll have to go all out and really be sharper than we were in the exhibition game. So, when you’re implementing that style it’s exciting at times and then it can look a little rocky at times, and some things can definitely go wrong when you spread the court and really are setting a lot of traps and trying to be aggressive. So, just trying to get better – we need to get a lot better on our own ball defense. That was not up to the level it needs to be for us to be a championship basketball team in March. We really need to work hard on our own ball defense. The rotations out of the press, the traps need to get better, the rotations need to get better, but those will be real keys that I’ll be looking for – and then our tempo. I think our tempo is not just on defense, we need to press the issue on offense. We’ve got a lot of playmakers where we can get out and spread the floor and we can attack the rim and we can create some open threes. But, we just need to sharpen up and make sure that we’re staying on the attack constantly. So, you know a lot of it is a mentality that you’ll see shine through in your play. Any challenges you might meet in the game will be because we’re maybe not hustling the way we need to, and they’re trying to figure all of that out. I’ve been pleased with it so far, but there is a lot of room for growth here early in the season.”
On if he likes playing teams that display a similar tempo and style…
“Yeah, I do. I think that they will come in well prepared and are looking to start their season with a victory. I’m sure they’ve been working hard all summer to get ready for a successful season. It’s like I tell our players, there is nobody sitting around in the locker room right now talking about having a bad season. Everybody has worked hard, everybody has prepared well, everyone has a high expectation and so we’ve got to go put it together tomorrow night.”
On Ogechi (Anyagaligbo) coming off an injury…
“She just had a few minutes in the exhibition game last year, and so essentially that was such a success. I told her that she played 20-some minutes in a college basketball game for the first time in two years, essentially. That’s a real victory for her. Ogehci has high expectations of herself, we have to manage those properly. That desire that you have needs to be a strength, and sometimes our great strengths can become a weakness and we really got to work hard on that. She’s doing a great job. Her expectation level is so high that there is a potential for her to not view it properly, so it’s a process right now. She’s still shy of 12 months out and that is usually a big mile stone, we’ve found in our program for a player, and I think it just gets better form here for her. But, we really have to make sure her mentality stays positive and stays curious as to where her improvement can come. The difficult part is if you judge it on the best you’ve ever played, that’s going to be some frustrating times as you work your way back. So, basketball is a dynamic game – a lot of timing, a lot of change in direction, the ball comes at you from different tangles. Reps matter in basketball; you just don’t pick it right back up. So really pleased with her and I think it’s going to just keep getting better form here. She has to make sure she stays positive, resilient and really focused on improvement right now.”
On the team sharing the numbers this season …
“Yeah, I think that this is a very close team. I think we took advantage of the opportunity we had in preparing to go on our Italian tour. We didn’t just show up at the airport, fly over there, and spend 10 days… you’re closer because you’re in close proximity for ten days and in the same hotel and on the same bus. We really worked hard on our communication, worked hard on developing meaningful bonds that will show up on the basketball court. It’s very important that we’re a cohesive team this year. We understand that our strength can be coming together and there is real power in the group, and so I thought they did a great job taking advantage of all the preparation we made and leading up to Italy, and then during Italy we took advantage of the opportunity. So, I thinks it’s a group of people that are not flawless at all. We still have conflicts and we have things that we have to work at doing better as far as the way we treat each other. But, I just think as an overall group I really like the level that they care about each other and we need to translate that as we pull it together here and play some great basketball, and strive for great basketball, as we work our way through the early season. But, I don’t sense any selfishness on the team and that’s a very positive going into the season. I think it’s exciting, and should be exciting for all the players, coaches and especially the fans. I think this could be a really fun team to watch.”
On the depth he expects to see early in the season…
“Well, I think there is going to be times where our depth may show up early in the season, but we just have to keep working. The thing to know about Maci (Morris) and Taylor (Murray) is that they have been through the fire, they are proven, and they have been tested. You know when the chips are down that they can come through. They are absolutely top-line players, top-notch players, and All-Conference level players, and I think it’s really important that what they’re doing right now, as far as leadership goes, they’re really trying to make sur everybody understand what needs to happen. They are not selfish, they are wanting everyone else’s game to flourish. There will be times where, I’m sure early on, that we will need to lean on them as we’re trying to work through some players who maybe are inexperienced in certain situations. They are not, they are top level and have done well. The thing I am excited to see form them is they are bouncing back from adversity. You know, there is going to be some adversity tomorrow night. It’s going to hit in every basketball game. It hit us with Lincoln Memorial, we did not have a good second quarter. We really had a lot of breakdowns. But, the ability for those leaders to not back down and be resilient sends a good message to our team and no matter what the stat sheets says, they are majorly important to our team.”
Closing statement…
“It’s such an exciting time of the year and we’re grateful in the athletic department. We’ve got a $69 season-ticket package that is still available. For all of the fans out there, I cannot stress enough how impressed I am with this team and how excited I am about this team and their depth and their potential. They are playing hard and I think this is going to be one of the teams that the Big Blue Nation will really enjoy watching, so we want to make sure that people get into Memorial Coliseum. It is a huge advantage to our players when we have that place filled up and the fans can really be a big part of the successful season this year. So, I’d urge everyone, if you don’t have your season tickets to get out there and get those. Also, if that’s not in the plans then we have tickets for tomorrow night’s game. So, big crowds for every game matter and can help this team be successful. So, look forward to see everyone tomorrow night and we’re excited to see the season started.”
