ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
KENTUCKY WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
No. 18/18 KENTUCKY vs. MURRAY STATE
DEC. 21, 2018
MEMORIAL COLISEUM – LEXINGTON, KY.
UK HEAD COACH MATTHEW MITCHELL
Opening Statement …
“Great win for our team today. Real proud of them hustling their way to a victory. You have to give Murray State a ton of credit. They really came out inspired and playing very hard. As I said yesterday in our preparation, they run some really good stuff and had us confused there early, and you have to give them a lot of credit for being prepared, excited and inspired to play. I thought they really out-hustled us for the first seven minutes of the game and then I thought we were able to get our feet under us and get our attitudes right and then we were able to get some good hustle plays out there. So, real proud of the team. It’s been a very, very long semester, and they’ve worked hard, earned a 3.2 GPA as a team and has worked hard in the classroom. 12-1 going into the Christmas break is a really great accomplishment, so I’m very proud of our players, very proud of how they work, very proud of how much they care about each other. They’re a high-character group that wants to win, and I’m really happy that they can head into the holiday with a big victory over Murray State.”
On Rhyne Howard’s play in the second half …
“Well, we’re always aware of our players that can produce a lot of points and everybody has a role on the team. We wanted to attack Murray State and get our players in positions that we want them. I thought Taylor [Murray] did a really good job of attacking, and I thought we were able to sharpen up a few things at halftime. We wanted a real good start, but I felt like Murray came out so inspired and were gaining confidence as the game went on and what we didn’t want was a lull coming out of halftime, so we did talk a lot about attacking that first five minutes. The way they were playing some of our plays was opening Rhyne up, and she was just shooting the ball great. She’s really shooting the ball well. I thought Jaida Roper is really shooting the ball well right now, so I was happy to see us hustle and make some plays and set Rhyne up for some good plays, and I thought she passed the ball well and found her teammates a few times. We did get what we wanted out of the offense early in the third.”
On making adjustments on Murray State’s Evelyn Adebayo after she scored 12 points in the first period …
“We were just not matching her intensity. That’s what we talked about. I think she came out really intense and played with a lot of hustle and a lot of fire, and I thought her confidence was really growing as she played well. We were a step slow, and we’re not a very good team when we’re a step slow. We have to commit to max effort, and we just weren’t able to match her intensity early on. So, I was really proud of the team for getting a handle on that and not letting them just run away from us. We were able to kind of reel them back in and get our feet back underneath us. I think she just had a terrific start, and you have to credit her for that. She’s a good player.”
On gaining some momentum at the end of the first period to tie the game …
“It was big, and I thought her [Taylor Murray] hustle is able to make up for some plays that weren’t very positive for us that could have deflated us, and she came right back and make a play with her quickness and her speed and her tenacity so really big. I thought her energy at the end of the half. It was eight points, and we were able to stretch it out to 14 right before that. I just thought she continue to hustle even though she was frustrated, missed a few layups. A year ago, I think she may have hung her head a little bit. It just shows her growth and maturity. I just thought she continued to play hard on defense, and it made a big difference for us. Really, really proud of Taylor Murray’s hustle.”
On being able to put the game out of reach after multiple momentum switches in the first half …
“I thought they just came out and did a great job attacking us. They clearly didn’t come out with any fear or it didn’t look like they had any nerves or anything it looked to me like they showed up to win the game today, and I was really impressed with that. It’s something to be said for a team that will attack you, and they just went on the attack. I thought we were able to adjust our energy, just a little bit off, a step slow, and to our player’s credit we were able to get it back together. Rough first quarter, but we’ve had some tough times throughout the season that we’ve always been able to bounce back from, and today was another example of our ability to do that. Proud of our players, and they worked hard today.”
On Chasity Patterson’s addition to the team …
“We’re excited that Chasity is joining our program. She’s a player that I got to know when she was in high school. We recruited her, and we got to know her and her family, so there was some familiarity there, a prior relationship, so I think that helped her feel comfortable. Then, she’s a really great fit. She and her family are high-character people. That’s important to us, and we just love the way she handles herself. We had some really good conversations, and I think what she does really well, she’s very quick, very fast, very athletic, can use her speed as a great weapon, and we value speed. We love players that have speed, and that’s something we put a high value on, and she’s got a really good skillset. She can handle the ball well. She can get to the rim for a quick guard. She’s got a nice pull-up. She can make the 3, the ingredients are there for her to continue to develop. She certainly has some room to grow, and we’ll be excited to work with her and help her grow into the player she wants to be. Good student, good person, good player, good fit for our program. We’re glad she’s here.”
KENTUCKY STUDENT-ATHLETES
#32, Jaida Roper, Jr., G
On getting more confident in games …
“Credit to my teammates because they help my confidence every game. They tell me to either take the shot, or if I’m open, make the play that I know I can make. A lot of credit goes to them because they boost my confidence and I’m just trying to put in the extra work that builds my confidence.”
On the explosive offense and another win…
“We’re so versatile that anybody can have that big night. It definitely helps when Rhyne (Howard) is having a very good night especially. When teams start double teaming her, it leaves our shooters wide open. Just playing off of your teammates helps get you buckets.”
On when coach tells you to pick up the defensive intensity…
“It gives us more layups and that builds our confidence if we aren’t shooting well. Just getting stops on the defensive-end builds confidence and gets our team going. It gives our team energy to score on the offensive end.”
#4, Maci Morris, Sr., G
On the explosive offense and another win…
“We just have such a versatile group that brings different packages. It’s really hard to guard us because if one person is off, then another is on. Everybody can shoot on our team and we’ve really been working hard on the guard through the post. Just being able to have that versatility helps our game more because it gives us the chance to spread the floor.”
On seeing Rhyne have a dominating performance…
“It’s just fun, Jaida and I were actually just joking about how we think Rhyne shoots better when she’s tired. It just seems like she’s trying her hardest to run up and down the floor and when she get’s the ball, she always finds a way to score. It’s very fun to watch and I’ve enjoyed playing with her this season.”
On overcoming the first-quarter struggles…
“Yeah, we just had to come in and refocus. We knew what we’re capable of doing. We just had to get back on track and execute by picking up the intensity on the defensive end as well as the offensive end.”
#10, Rhyne Howard, Fr., G
On the explosive offense and the team winning by double digits often…
“We have a very fast point guard in Taylor (Murray) and Jaida. We always try to push it up the floor, which always gets us extra shots.”
On the big performance in the third quarter…
“Whatever Coach Mitchell sees, he will call the play. So if I feel like I have a mismatch then I will say, ‘Hey, let’s run this,” so I can get me a look and even if they do double team me, like Jaida said, then that gives me the chance to get my teammates involved because the opposing team is more focused on me.”
