Women's Basketball

Kentucky Women’s Basketball Postgame Notes
No. 18/20 Kentucky vs. Middle Tennessee 
Memorial Coliseum – Lexington, Ky.
Saturday, December 15, 2018
 
No. 18/20 Kentucky 72, Middle Tennessee 55 – FINAL
 
Team Records and Series Notes

  • Kentucky moves to 10-1 on the season while Middle Tennessee is now 7-3.  
    • The Wildcats will return to action Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET vs. Western Carolina inside Memorial Coliseum. The game will be streamed on the SEC Network+ while Darren Headrick will have the call on radio on the UK Sports Network.
    • The Wildcats are in the midst of a five-game home stand.
  • Kentucky leads the all-time series in games played against Middle Tennessee, 16-5.
    • UK leads the series in games played in Lexington, 10-1.
    • Kentucky has won six of the last seven games in the series.
    • UK is now 60-32 all-time against teams from Conference USA.
  • UK is now 808-533 all-time in program history.
    • Matthew Mitchell is in his 12th year with the Wildcats and holds a 266-118 record. Mitchell is 296-147 overall in 14 years as a head coach.
  • The Wildcats hold a 445-156 all-time record in Memorial Coliseum, including a 154-27 mark under Coach Mitchell.
  • Kentucky is ranked No. 18 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 20 in the USA Today/Coaches Top 25.

 
Team Notes

  • Kentucky used the starting combination of senior guard Taylor Murray, senior guard Maci Morris, freshman guard Rhyne Howard, sophomore forward KeKe McKinney and sophomore forward Tatyana Wyatt.
    • Kentucky is now 9-1 this season with this starting combination.
  • UK led 20-11 at the end of the first quarter thanks to shooting 8-of-12 from the field, including 3-of-5 from long range.
    • Freshman guard Blair Green was 2-for-3 from the field with both being 3s in the first 10 minutes.
    • UK forced MTSU into five turnovers in the first quarter and scored seven points off those miscues.
  • Kentucky took a 22 point lead into the half thanks to ending the second quarter on a 13-0 run.
    • Maci Morris had 12 points in the first half on 3-of-4 shooting, including 5-of-5 from the free-throw line.
    • Blair Green had 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting, including 3-of-3 from long range.
  • The Wildcats shot a season-best 71 percent from the field in the first half, going 15-for-21 from the field, including 5-of-7 from long range. UK was also 10-of-11 from the charity stripe in the first half.
    • The 45 first-half points were the third most in the first half this season for Kentucky.
    • UK had 10 assists on 15 first-half field goals.
  • Middle Tennessee outscored Kentucky 18-11 in the third quarter going 8-of-10 from the field, while the Wildcats went just 5-of-16.
  • The Wildcats shot a season best 56.8 percent from the field in the game. It was only the second time this season that UK has hit over 50 percent from the field.
  • UK forced MTSU into 18 turnovers and scored 21 points off those miscues.

 
Player Notes

  • Senior guard Maci Morris scored 14 points with four rebounds and two steals.

    • Morris now has 1,391 career points, which ranks 16th most in program history. She needs 42 more to tie Jodie Whitaker for 15th all-time in school history in points scored.
    • Morris has 206 career 3-pointers made which ranks second in program history. She needs 65 more 3s to tie Sara Potts for most all-time.
    • Morris has hit at least one 3-pointer in 24 straight games.
  • Senior guard Taylor Murray scored 12 points with six assists and three steals.
    • Murray now has 1,124 career points and ranks 27th all-time in points scored. She needs 21 more points to tie Karen Mosley for 26th all-time.
    • Murray has 373 career assists which ranks ninth most in program history. She needs 27 more to tie Rita Adams for eighth.  
  • Freshman guard Rhyne Howard scored eight points with four rebounds and three assists.

    • This was the first game this season that Howard has not scored in double figures.
  • Sophomore forward KeKe McKinney scored a career-high 13 points with a career-high five blocks.
    • This is the second time this season that McKinney has scored 10 or more points.
    • McKinney has scored 10 or more points six times in her career.
  • Freshman guard Blair Green scored 11 points in the first half.
    • She ended the game 3-of-3 from long range, which was a career-high in 3 makes.

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