UK ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
NO. 15 KENTUCKY VS. NO. 25 MISSOURI
JAN. 24, 2019
MEMORIAL COLISEUM – LEXINGTON, KY.
Kentucky Head Coach Matthew Mitchell
Opening Statement
“Well, such a tough win for our team tonight. I’m real proud of them. Missouri is a very, very tough team, a very physical team, always well-coached, always play their guts out and it is just a very difficult game for us each and every time we get together. And so I give them a lot of credit. They played really hard and I just couldn’t be prouder of our team. You know, we talked about tonight. Tonight was going to be a lot about our grit, a lot about our toughness, so much about our intensity and our defense and I thought they just really showed up on all four categories and I’m just really proud of our team. That was an important victory for us.”
On what he said to Taylor Murray at halftime…
“I didn’t say anything directly to her. I’m not taking credit for her spectacular play. She came out. We talked about how we had to get more disruptive and we had to make something happen with our defense because they were packing that lane and they were making it tough to score around the basket and her ability to force some turnovers up high on the floor where they couldn’t transition back and we were able to get some layups off of our defense—I thought that really sparked our team. You know, she’s been struggling with her knee and I just thought she just started rounding into some form that you all have seen from her this season. It was an outstanding performance and she really was a catalyst that sparked the entire team, so a great performance by Taylor.”
On Taylor’s game from the first half to the second half…
“Well the thing that they try to do is just try to bait you into taking some fifteen footers and you just have to have the patience and the grit just to continue to drive the ball. Those early plays from her where she just kept driving to the basket were so important for our team and they were not easy shots to make. They were really tough, contested shots and she found a way. But we did talk about it at halftime. We had to drive the ball on them and we had to get somebody tough at the rim to make a shot because they just were not giving anything up tonight, so those were important plays in the game, no question.”
On how healthy Maci Morris, Rhyne Howard, and Taylor were tonight…
“Well, you just think, the time that they missed from practice and games has affected them. Maci gutted through the game last Thursday night and then we tried to get her some treatment. She’s really been off. We’ve been trying to get her feeling better. And so, I think it’s going to take a little time to knock the rust off. I think tonight was a good step toward that. Rhyne was in a difficult game for her tonight. The strength of her game is shooting 3s and the mid-range jumper. It’s tough for her around the basket right now. That’s what I told her, these are the games she grows up in. This is where you learn how tough the game is, how physical it is. Missouri’s a great, great team for Rhyne Howard to play against because they just aren’t going to give you anything. So I think the time missed probably affected them, but they contributed in so many other ways besides scoring and it’s awesome to win a game tonight that you had to grind out.”
On how well Kentucky rebounded tonight…
“Very pleased with that… we were amazed, we finally out rebounded somebody. It was a lot of hard work. It certainly wasn’t because we hadn’t worked on it because we did. We have kids that just give tremendous effort. We’ve started every practice with it. We started our game day practice today with full speed box outs and rebounding. We’re committed to trying to improve there. Tonight was a good development for us. I can’t tell you how proud I am with the offensive rebounding because it was a night were baskets were hard to come by and possessions were valuable. They got out there and made some huge plays when it really mattered. It was an outstanding night for us on the boards.”
On the “We Back Pat” influence…
“It’s an important time to honor coach. I am so proud of the Southeastern Conference for being behind the initiative. The Pat Summit Foundation is doing great work. It’s raising money for research and also to improve the quality of life for patients who have already been diagnosed. I am really, really proud of the work that the Pat Summit Foundation has done. Coach (Pat) would have been proud of the way we won tonight with tenacious defense and with rebounding. Those two things, she valued so much. She was so consistent with that every day in practice. She’s just impacted so many people. We’ve trying the best we can to honor her legacy and her memory by showing up each day and teaching our players the same things she taught us. All of us here are appreciative of the contributions she made to our lives.”
On Tatyana Wyatt’s play tonight…
“She played one of her best and toughest games since she’s been at Kentucky. I am so proud of her, she’s just worked and worked and worked. She’s another one of these players that hasn’t felt great. She battling some nagging injuries and she toughed her way through it. She played huge tonight, she really battled. That’s something that she’s had to grow into. She made some tough buckets around the goal that were contested. That 3 she made was a big play but she battled. She went to war on the boards. She had a real tough performance defensively. I thought she made some really good switches. Our defense was getting switched off on some guards and she did a really good job. Huge night for Tot Wyatt.
On Maci’s selection to coaching program…
“It’s funny she got selected to that because I’ve been calling her Coach Morris for quite some time now. She’ll often stop me in practice and tell us what we need to do. I finally refer to her as Coach Morris. I think she has a very bright future as a coach. We are so honored that she got selected to that program. Only 60 kids around the country get selected so Coach Morris will do fine with that.”
Kentucky Student-Athletes
#24 Taylor Murray, Sr., G
On taking over the third quarter…
“I was one of two and I needed to get my team some spark and I was able to do that.”
On feeling like herself since injury at Tennessee…
“Yes, I do feel like myself. I have new legs! I’m able to give whatever my team needs. Whether it’s on the defensive end or offensive end.”
On seeing Maci chase her dreams as an aspiring coach…
“She would make a great coach. I will probably be her assistant coach. She has her dad and other people like Coach Dunn and Coach Mitchell, which are two really good coaches. So, this would be great for her.”
On the team recovering from injuries…
“I think it’s important to get rest. We needed this and it came at the right time. As you can see, by having that rest, we were able to accomplish a lot of different things for each other.”
On her college career winding down…
“I never think about that. I realized that I have more games to play with these two (Tatyana and Maci) and my other teammates. We take it each day at a time and we’re going to have fun!”
#14 Tatyana Wyatt, So., F
On Taylor Murray taking over the third quarter …
“At halftime, we were just talking about taking the transitions. When we came out in the third quarter to see her apply that to the game, it was amazing. Taylor is really fast, so it’s hard for me to guard her. She was making it happen out there and I was really proud of her.”
#4 Maci Morris, Sr., G
On Taylor Murray taking over the third quarter …
“She gave us a real big spark. She was doing it on both the defensive and offensive end. She was getting steals and finishing on the other end, just making plays. Layups, jumpshots, whatever. It was a nice spark and the momentum that gave us, we just kept rolling with it.”
On the influence and guidance of Coach Mitchell…
“Learning from coach, the different tactics and the way he applies different strategies. I am also learning from the other coaches as well. He’s inspired me, as well as my family, other people.”
Missouri Head Coach Robin Pingeton
Opening statement…
“Thanks for coming out tonight. What a great environment and great crowd support. I thought defensively we did a really great job for the most part. I thought there was a possession where Taylor (Murray) just got away from us. She’s such a good player and so explosive. For the most part, defensively I thought we did a nice job. We gave up way too many offensive rebounds in the end. That was one of our keys coming in tonight. Two of our three keys was taking care of the ball and making sure we didn’t allow second shot opportunities. When you look at the stats we gave up eight of those points – we didn’t do our job very well on those ends. I thought we had some looks we didn’t convert on. Kentucky is a really good team and you have to bring your “A” game for 40 minutes and that didn’t happen today for us.”
On how you felt about your chances of winning the game…
“I think some of the baskets we gave them, we gave them momentum baskets with their defense and getting their hands on the ball, those transition buckets are hard and you can’t really do a lot about that. Again, what they have in transition points was 21 off of our turnovers. I would still have thought going in to tonight that if we could hold them to 52 we would have a really good shot, and we just didn’t convert them on offensive possessions. We got some really good shooters and unfortunately we weren’t able to knock them down tonight.”
On if there’s anything specific that is different this year from past years…
“Well, I think Rhyne (Howard) is such a great player, she is a great addition, just her ability to take you off the bounds with the 3, high basketball IQ, really really talented player. I love Maci (Morris), she is tough as nails, she’s someone that demands a lot of attention from teams, then obviously Taylor is really, really talented, but I think everybody else on that roster – I think they know their role and they are really good at it. No one is trying to do too much or force the issue. They know who needs to get the shots. But, when they have opportunities they aren’t afraid to step up and take advantage of their opportunities that they have. It just seems like they are in a really good flow right now in regards to just the balance of their team.”
On if Sophie (Cunningham) guarding both Rhyne and Maci all game hurt them in the long run …
“Yeah, probably a little bit. I probably should have gotten her a sub here and there. She is just such a great offensive player for us and you know she makes so much of what we do go. In hindsight, I felt like there was enough timeouts that allowed her to catch her second wind and you know she’s a senior she doesn’t want to come out of the game. This is her last go around, did it take away from her legs at the end? Maybe a little bit but I don’t know.”
On what happened to them after they came within five points in the fourth quarter…
“I think we had some possessions where we had some pretty good looks. I don’t know what the score was when we had a transition and then Amber (Smith) did a spin move and Taylor came in from the backside and breaks away for a layup, I know we missed a really good shot under the rim. I think Lauren got something on a cut to the basket. There were just a couple empty possessions that they were able to capitalize on and that’s what great teams do and Kentucky certainly did that to us tonight.”
On what makes Taylor so disruptive and good on defense…
“She’s just so quick isn’t she? She is quick, quick hands, high basketball IQ, relentless, pursues the ball so well, she doesn’t seem to get fatigued too much. She is just a great experienced player and she makes it a long night for anyone and is able to wear on them throughout the game. Everybody in the league has a ton of respect for Taylor. We all understand what a great player she is, she is really good at her craft and she just makes it hard night in and night out. I watched a lot of film on Kentucky and we talked about her a lot in the way she’s able to get her steals and she is just relentless in her pursuit. If it’s not the full court, it’s the half court and as soon as you get loose with your handles it’s going to be a pick and two points on the other end.”
