UK ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
OLE MISS vs. KENTUCKY
JAN. 13, 2018
MEMORIAL COLISEUM – LEXINGTON, KY.
UK Head Coach Matthew Mitchell
Opening statement…
“You have to give Ole Miss so much credit for coming in here and out hustling us today. That’s what makes the loss really sting is that they just had more effort and more energy. We were really lacking in energy today. It was a very tough day, so hats off to Ole Miss. We will have to play much harder to get the results we want.”
On Kentucky’s 17-of-64 shooting…
“It’s not typical of what we’ve been doing, we’ve shot the ball really well this year. I just think mentally we were clearly not at the standard we’ve set as a team. They are such a great group of kids who work so hard, so a day like this is very unexpected. We couldn’t get anything going for us because we just couldn’t get out of the gate and play with effort and energy, so everything as far as what we were lacking today, it really starts and ends there. I think we missed a lot of layups, and just lacking focus and energy. Clearly, we have to do a better job.”
On Maci Morris’ absence affecting Kentucky…
“Not really, it didn’t affect. Maci is struggling with some knee pain. She practiced Friday and Saturday. She was warming up before the game before she didn’t feel like she could go. She’s so tough so you know it was really bothering her for her not to play. I think the timing of it maybe affected our energy, but as far as us attacking our zone, I thought we got the ball in the right places. We just couldn’t make shots today.“
On why Maci sat out…
“It’s just knee pain. It’s knee pain.”
UK Student-Athletes
#10, Rhyne Howard, Fr., G
On when the team found out Maci wasn’t playing today…
“She told us right before we did the starting lineup that she wouldn’t be participating.”
#24, Taylor Murray, Sr., G
On aggravating the same injury…
“The screen, I didn’t see it coming. She got me, but I’m fine, I’m walking and will do whatever the coaches and training staff need me to do so I can prepare for Thursday’s game.”
On still being there for the team despite injury…
“I just needed to be there for them, anything they need me to do. I was just able to go out there and give whatever I could even though I wasn’t 100 percent.”
On what her initial plan for today was…
“My plan was not to really do anything, but I have been doing stuff with my team just to see how I’ve been going, but there were just times where we got into foul trouble and I had my jersey on and he needed me to go in so I had to go in.”
On how the loss stings after beating No. 13 Tennessee…
“It stings, but we as a team just have to stick together and stay positive. We just have to come up with better energy and better hustle and we can’t allow a team to just come in and disrupt us of what we’re supposed to do. We have to just be Wildcats and continue what we need to do.”
Ole Miss Head Coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin
Opening statement…
“First of all, Kentucky is a great team, alright. So, I don’t think one game in the SEC should sway your thoughts. When they beat Tennessee… this is the SEC. You have to come to play every night, and so it just happened to be our night and I’m extremely proud of my team.”
On the point in the game when she felt they were going to win…
“I can never feel that before because we’ve been in games and we’ve lost it, and actually, I don’t even talk about winning the game until the last four minutes, three minutes of the game, because there are so many steps to get there to start talking about winning the game. But, when we got a rhythm and started making shots, and I was able to look in my players’ eyes and even when we didn’t get that call out of bounds and they assured me everything was going to be ok, I felt like we would be able to pull it out.”
On if Maci Morris not playing affected her game plan…
“It didn’t. They didn’t tell me. they did a great job and that’s good. Our game plan didn’t change because they’re a good team, like they didn’t get there because of Maci, they got there because of their whole team. We wanted to limit Rhyne (Howard), but we thought that Maci was the key and we didn’t know until the official came over to me and said she wasn’t playing and we just kept it business as usual.”
On comments on Rhyne Howard…
“Oh she’s a stud. When I saw USA Basketball, I told everybody I thought that kid had a chance to be freshman of the year. I mean she has my vote and we got a lot more basketball. She understands the game, but she’s a freshman. Did Maci not being there hurt them? Probably, because I have a personal belief that you cannot just depend on them the whole game, but that’s why she impressed me so much because she showed to be dependable when she was in. She made big shots for them and I’m not happy she’s a freshman.”
