Kentucky Women’s Basketball Postgame Notes
No. 16/16 Kentucky at No. 13/13 Tennessee
Thompson-Boling Arena – Knoxville, Tenn.  
Thursday, January 10, 2019
 
No. 16/15 Kentucky 73, No. 13/13 Tennessee 71  – FINAL
 
Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky moves to 15-2 on the season and 2-1 in the league while Tennessee is now 12-3, 1-2 SEC.   
  • The Wildcats will return to action Sunday vs. Ole Miss at 1 p.m. ET inside Memorial Coliseum. The game will be televised on the SEC Network while Darren Headrick will have the call on radio on the UK Sports Network.
• Tennessee leads the all-time series in games played against Kentucky, 55-12.
  • UT leads the series 23-4 in games played in Knoxville.
  • This was Kentucky’s first win in Knoxville since 2014.

• UK is now 813-534 all-time in program history.
  • Matthew Mitchell is in his 12th year with the Wildcats and holds a 271-119 record. Mitchell is 301-148 overall in 14 years as a head coach.

• Kentucky is ranked No. 16 in the Associated Press Top 25 and USA Today/Coaches Top 25.
• The Lady Vols were the fourth ranked foe UK has faced this season. UK has a win over then-No. 17 South Florida before a loss at No. 5/4 Louisville and No. 7/6 Mississippi State.
  • Both of Kentucky’s losses this season have come to top-10 teams on the road.
  • UK is 2-2 on the season against ranked foes.

 
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 14-2 this season with this starting combination.
  • Jaida Roper started the second half for Taylor Murray, who left the first half with an injury and did not return with knee pain.

• Kentucky started the game with a 22-5 run and ended the first quarter with a 27-16 lead. The Wildcats shot 55% (11-for-20) from the field in the first quarter, while Tennessee shot 28% (5-for-18).
  • The Lady Vols had a 17-6 edge in rebounds in the first quarter, including 9-1 on the offensive glass.
• Tennessee won the second quarter 12-11 and took a 33-17 edge on the glass with nine second-chance points into the locker room at halftime.
  • UK led 38-28 at halftime and held a double-digit lead most of the first quarter.
• UK hit six of its first 11 shots of the second half and grabbed six of the first 10 rebounds of the second half to increase its lead to 51-36 with 3:54 left in the third quarter.
• Tennessee started the fourth quarter on a 10-2 run to cut Kentucky’s lead to 60-56 with 5:39 left in the game.

 
Player Notes

• Senior guard Maci Morris scored a game-high 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting and 4-of-6 from long range.

  • Morris now has 1,495 career points, which ranks 10th most in program history. She needs seven more point to tie Sarah Elliott for 9th all-time in school history in points scored.
  • Morris has 224 career 3-pointers made which ranks second in program history. She needs 47 more 3s to tie Sara Potts for most all-time.
  • Morris has hit at least one 3-pointer in 30 straight games.
  • Entered the game hitting 21 straight free throws but missed her first two attempts.
  • Morris also added three steals in the game.
• Senior guard Taylor Murray played a season-low nine minutes after leaving and not returning due to knee pain. She ended with nine points on 4-of-8 shooting with one assist.
  • Murray now has 1,180 career points and ranks tied for 22nd all-time in points scored. She needs  seven more to tie Maria Donhoff for 21st.
  • Murray has 395 career assists which ranks ninth most in program history. She needs five more to tie Rita Adams for eighth.  

• Freshman guard Rhyne Howard played 14 minutes and fouled out in the fourth quarter but scored six points with an assist and a steal.
• Junior forward Ogechi Anyagaligbo scored a UK career high 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting with three rebounds and one steal.
• Junior guard Jaida Roper scored 10 points with three assists and one steal.
  • Roper’s biggest shot of the game came when she hit a 3-pointer with :55 left in the game to give UK a five-point lead he would not relinquish.