Kentucky Women’s Basketball Postgame Notes
No. 18/17 Kentucky vs. Sacred Heart 
Memorial Coliseum – Lexington, Ky.
Saturday, December 29, 2018
 
No. 18/17 Kentucky 71, Sacred Heart 43 – FINAL
 
Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky moves to 13-1 on the season while Sacred Heart is now 4-7.     
  • The Wildcats will return to action Thursday for their SEC opener vs. Vanderbilt at 7 p.m. ET 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. This was the fourth game.
• UK ends its non-conference portion of the schedule with a 13-1 record. The 13 wins mark the most in a season before Jan. 1 in program history.
  • The 13-1 start ties the second best start under Matthew Mitchell for Kentucky. UK also started 13-1 in 2015-16 and started 18-1 in 2012-13.
• This was the first all-time meeting between Kentucky and Sacred Heart in women’s basketball. 

• UK is now 811-533 all-time in program history.
  • Matthew Mitchell is in his 12th year with the Wildcats and holds a 269-118 record. Mitchell is 299-147 overall in 14 years as a head coach.

• The Wildcats hold a 448-156 all-time record in Memorial Coliseum, including a 157-27 mark under Coach Mitchell.
• Kentucky is ranked No. 18 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 17 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 12-1 this season with this starting combination.

• The Wildcats led 17-13 at the end of the first quarter even after shooting 25 percent (6-for-24) from the field. SHU shot 46 percent (6-for-13) from the field in the first 10 minutes.
• Kentucky’s 33 first-half points were the fourth fewest in a first half this season for UK.
• The Wildcats limited SHU to just 20 points in the first half. The Wildcats have limited four opponents this season to 20 points or less in the first half. The fewest UK has allowed was 18 vs. Southern.
  • UK ended the half on a 10-0 run to grab a 13-point lead at 33-20.
• Kentucky went on a 14-0 run in the third quarter to take control of the game.
• Kentucky scored 18 points off 17 SHU turnovers.
• The Wildcats won the rebounding battled 57-35.
  • It is the first time UK has had 20 or more rebounds than a team since November 2017 vs. Marshall.

 
Player Notes

• Senior guard Maci Morris scored a team-best 17 points with three 3-pointers adding five rebounds and three assists. 

  • Morris now has 1,434 career points, which ranks 15th most in program history. She needs 12 more to tie Tiffany Wait for 14th all-time in school history in points scored.
  • Morris has 214 career 3-pointers made which ranks second in program history. She needs 57 more 3s to tie Sara Potts for most all-time.
  • Morris has hit at least one 3-pointer in 27 straight games.
• Senior guard Taylor Murray scored 11 points with six rebounds.
  • Murray now has 1,158 career points and ranks 26th all-time in points scored. She needs 12 more points to tie Jocelyn Mills for 25th all-time.
  • Murray has 388 career assists which ranks ninth most in program history. She needs 12 more to tie Rita Adams for eighth.  

• Freshman guard Rhyne Howard recorded a career-best 15 rebounds in the game. 

  • Howard is the first player with 15 rebounds in a game since Evelyn Akhator had 23 rebounds against Ohio State on March 19, 2017.
  • This was the first game of Howard’s career at UK that she has not hit a 3-pointer.
• Freshman guard Jaida Roper scored 12 points with five assists in the game.
  • Roper has scored in double figures in six games this season, including three straight.
  • Roper has led UK in assists five times this season and 15 times in her career.