Women’s Basketball Ready for Virginia Thursday at Rupp Arena

LEXINGTON, Ky. – After posting impressive wins in its first two games of the season, the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team looks to keep its winning ways alive Thursday as it heads downtown to historic Rupp Arena to play host to 2018 NCAA Tournament participant Virginia at 8:30 p.m. ET.
 
The game will be televised live on the SEC Network with Brenda VanLengen and Andraya Carter 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.   
 
Tickets are just $3 for the game when using the offer code “KROGER” at ticketmaster.com. Fans who attend the UK men’s basketball game vs. North Dakota on Wednesday, Nov. 14 can bring their ticket stub back to the women’s basketball game on Nov. 15 for free admission. The first 4,000 fans will receive a free pom Thursday, while the incredibly popular Senior Center Dance Team will perform at halftime.
 
Matthew and Jenna Mitchell have announced that they will pay the 2019 spring tuition for one UK student in attendance Thursday. Students receive free admission to all Kentucky women’s basketball games using their official UK student ID. Students can enter Rupp Arena through the Triangle Park Entrance or High Street Entrance 1. UK faculty and staff can receive free admission for themselves and one guest to the game Thursday. Faculty and staff can enter Rupp Arena through the Triangle Park Entrance or High Street Entrance 1 and sit in general admission seating areas.
 
UK students will check into the Virginia game via the BBN Rewards app, which is sponsored by American Campus Communities. Students who check in at the Virginia game with a fully completed profile, including their student ID number, will be eligible to win. Students are also encouraged to enable notifications on the app to receive news about exclusive experiences, coupons and other important updates. The winner will be randomly selected and announced at the completion of the game. They must be present to win. Prior points earned through BBN Rewards will not factor into this drawing. In the event of an out-of-state or graduate/professional student winner, the spring semester in-state undergraduate tuition amount will be applied.
 
Kentucky (2-0) is coming off back-to-back dominating wins to start the season, taking down Alabama State, 87-35, and Southern, 91-41. Both wins were by 50 or more points, marking the first time in program history that UK has won consecutive games by 50 or more points. The Wildcats earned both wins with strong performances on both ends of the court. In the two games, UK has forced 72 turnovers and scored 92 points off those miscues. Offensively, UK has shot 43.1 percent from the field, 46.0 percent from long range and racked up 44 assists on 62 made baskets.
 
Freshman guard Rhyne Howard, who was named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week on Tuesday, is leading the team by scoring 22 points per game with 5.0 rebounds per game and 3.5 assists per game. The native of Cleveland, Tenn., is shooting 53.6 percent from the field and 62.5 percent from long range. Against Southern, Howard hit seven 3s which tied the program record for 3s in a game. Fellow freshman Blair Green is averaging 8.0 points per game with four total rebounds and three steals.
 
Between the two rookies are UK’s senior guards Taylor Murray and Maci Morris, who are both off to great starts. Murray is averaging 13.5 points per game with a team-best 12 assists and nine steals, while Morris is averaging 11.5 points per game and has hit five 3-pointers. Junior guards Jaida Roper and Amanda Paschal as well as sophomore forwards KeKe McKinney and Tatyana Wyatt are all averaging over six points per game.
 
Virginia enters the game with a 0-1 record after falling in its season and home opener, 72-44, to fellow SEC foe Mississippi State. The Bulldogs built a 45-17 lead at halftime before UVA won the third quarter 18-10. The Cavaliers shot just 26.2 percent from the field in the game, going 16-for-61 overall and 5-for-13 from long range. UVA had 23 turnovers and State scored 26 points off those miscues.
 
Dominique Toussaint led the Cavaliers with 19 points on 7-of-18 shooting with three rebounds and two steals. Felicia Aiyeotan had four points and 16 rebounds with four blocks, while Brianna Tinsley had six points and two rebounds in the game.
 
UVA is in its first season under head coach Tina Thompson, who was named the fifth head coach in program history in April after serving as an assistant coach at Texas. Last year, UVA went 19-14 (10-6 ACC) and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Virginia returns four starters and eight letterwinners from that squad.
 
This is the first all-time meeting between Kentucky and Virginia in women’s basketball. UVA is the first of three ACC teams that UK is scheduled to face this season with the other two being Louisville and North Carolina.
 
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.
 
Rupp Arena Game Day Information

• There is ongoing construction at Rupp Arena that will affect parking and entry. Fans are highly encouraged to review changes closely and arrive early to future games. Fans can review and monitor all game-day changes at www.UKathletics.com/GameDay.
• Among the changes that will affect fans is to the Manchester parking lot. Construction along the back of Rupp Arena, near the Jefferson Street bridge, will eliminate a majority of parking in the Manchester Street lot. This will cause a number of spaces in the High Street lot and the Langley Garage to now be utilized for game-day operations.
• Due to reduced parking in the High Street lots, fans are encouraged to use alternative game-day parking options. UK Athletics will continue to work diligently with Rupp Arena and Lexington parking officials to maximize the parking areas that are available on game day.
• The Transit Center Parking Garage (150 E. Vine St.), the Helix Parking Garage (15-160 W. Main St.) and Courthouse Garage (105 Barr St.) have been made available for the 2018-19 season in addition to the Victorian Square Parking Garage (350 W. Short St.) from prior seasons. Other Lexington parking garages will be an option for fans.
• Effective Oct. 1, Rupp Arena is now a tobacco-free facility. Designated smoking areas outside of the arena will no longer exist as those areas will be affected by the ongoing construction. Patrons who wish to use tobacco products will be asked to do so off of the Rupp Arena grounds.
• To ensure fan safety, previous game-day operation changes will remain in effect, including the continued use of walkthrough metal detectors. UK and Rupp Arena will continue to implement a bag policy that requires that bags do not exceed 12 inches by 6 inches x 12 inches. Prohibited bags include, but are not limited to backpacks or any bag larger than the permissible size. An exception will be made for medically necessary items after proper inspection at a gate designated for this purpose.
• UK Athletics and Rupp Arena are encouraging patrons to travel light for quicker entry. Express lanes for guests with no bags will be provided to assist in expediting the security process.

UK ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
KENTUCKY WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
KENTUCKY PRE-VIRGINIA NEWS CONFERENCE
NOV. 13, 2018
JOE CRAFT CENTER – LEXINGTON, KY.

UK Head Coach Matthew Mitchell
Opening statement…
“Well, great opportunity ahead for our team to improve. A tough opponent in Virginia, coming in to play us on Thursday night. They have tremendous size, tremendous athleticism, they’re aggressive – I’m so impressed with their physical strength and ability to play physical basketball. It’ll be a real test for us to step up in competition. I thought our team improved over the first two games, but we will really work hard to improve in practice over the next two days and see where we stand with a good Virginia team. We’re looking for a great effort and I know the team will give that. I think the key for us in this game is we have to, over the next couple of days in preparation, we really have to emphasize defensive intensity. They will have more size than we will have around the basket, so were going to have to work really hard to be solid and aggressive defensively to try and combat their advantage in height. So, big challenge for us, we’re excited to be playing in Rupp Arena. We’ve been out in the community, inviting people to come see us play. If we haven’t seen you personally, here is another invitation to come out and watch us play Thursday night. We’re very excited about the turnout we know it’ll be a great one and it’ll be an exciting place for Kentucky basketball Thursday night. So, looking forward to it and excited to get better this week.”
 
On Rhyne Howard making her way into the record book early, after 29 points vs. Southern…
“Yeah, it was a great night for her shooting the basketball and a great night for her overall improvement. She’s a work in progress, two games in college under her belt, and you can see there is still potential for growth. We’re working hard with her every day in practice and making sure she understands the tremendous opportunity she has to improve and can be a great key for our team. It was fun watching her shoot the ball the other night, 7-of-11 from the 3. You know, the thing that Rhyne has to understand is that as we progress through the season and are trying to work in the preconference portion of our schedule, there will be no secrets about what we’re doing come January. So, she’s got to work everyday hunting for improvement, striving to get better, figure out all of those little things that will help her make that transition from high school to college. But, tremendously gifted, great character, great attitude, great teammate, fun to be around, so we’ll be excited to watch her grow over the coming weeks.”
 
On how to combat our size…
“Well, we are not particularly tall at one position, but we’ve got pretty good length and athleticism, so we will need to guard them in the full court and try to make sure it’s tenacious and an up-tempo game. I think it’s very important when you’re playing a team that has advantages in size, I think you’ve got do everything you can to keep them out of rhythm, and you have to be disruptive. So, there’s no secret there that our team, I don’t think ever is going to go into the game and we’re just going to be the most powerful team to go one-on-one and in individual matchups. Our power will come from the team, so we really need to be disruptive and to do that you’ve got to put tremendous pressure on the ball and that’s something that we need to improve on quite frankly. We need to get much better at that over the next two days to handle quality opponents like Virginia. And so, some of those turnovers that we were able to create in the first two games, won’t be available if we don’t just really play hard on the ball. So, we’ve got to try to be disruptive and keep them out of rhythm, because if you just let them come down, set up and throw it inside, they just have some advantages there that are heard to match up with. So, great opportunity over the next couple of days for our players to get better defensively and test themselves against the quality opponent that Virginia is, and try to take another step forward in being the team we need to be when it comes conference time.”
 
On how Jaida Roper looks…
“She looked really good this morning, the team lifted weights this morning. So, we got a good report on her ankle. She biked some this morning and looks like she’s trending toward having a good week so, really appreciative of Courtney Jones who is our athletic trainer and does a great job with our students and their health, and our medical team, so Jada is looking good today and we’re headed in the right direction.”
 
On playing in Rupp Arena…
“Yes, very exciting. We’re so fortunate to have the best of both worlds – to play in our regular home, Memorial Coliseum, such an iconic place and means so much to this building, means so much to the people of the Commonwealth, and then that occasional trip downtown to Rupp Arena, one of the great arenas for basketball, for entertainment, you name it. Everybody in this country knows about Rupp Arena. So, there is excitement when you get to go down there and have the opportunity to play, and I know this team is very excited to go down and were appreciative of the opportunity.”
 
On getting to a point where you win two straight games by 50 points or more…
“Well, I was happy that at the end of the Southern game I thought we were better than the beginning of the Alabama State game, so that’s really what I take from the two games. What I tell the team is, statistics and records and those kinds of things, are maybe something you’ll look back on and you’ll maybe be able to say ‘I was a part of something special’ and they’re important after a time of reflection. Right now, what I think is so important for our team is staying focused on improvement every day, and that was the biggest takeaway I took from the first two games. We’re not flawless, we still have things where we can improve, but I thought we were better at the end of the Southern game than when we tipped it off against Alabama State. For that, I’m excited that they have that presence of mind to make sure that got done and that it’s on the players to go out and focus and perform in the game, and I thought they made strides in the first two games. So this will be a much greater challenge, it’ll be a greater challenge than we have had in the first two games, and it’ll be exciting to see how much we can progress between now and then and go out and compete really hard and work real hard to earn  victory before Thursday night.”
 
On how Rhyne and Blair (Green) are meeting expectations…
“I’m not shocked by it. You don’t ever know exactly how people are going to show up and everything they’ve gone through and how they might prepare for it. I’m thrilled with the way these two showed up on campus. The focus they had and the preparation they’ve put in, we believed they were talented when we recruited them and we were really excited when both of them committed here, very excited. And now, it’s a lot of fun to watch them get better every day because of how much they want it, how bad they want to be good and how strong their desire is for improvement. So, thrilled, appreciative that they’re at this level where they can really take in information and get better day-to-day. Sometimes a freshman is kind of fighting you a little about what used to work, they’re living in the past, they’re thinking about the good ole days of high school and they don’t get on with the business, it takes a while to break that down and have them more on toward improvement. That’s the thing about Blair and Rhyne that help us progress, because they have shown up with such a coachable spirit. So, that’s exciting.”