Kentucky Women’s Basketball Postgame Notes
No. 19/15 Kentucky vs. No. 16/18 South Carolina
Memorial Coliseum – Lexington, Ky.
 
No. 19/15 Kentucky 70, No. 16/18 South Carolina 74 – FINAL
 
Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky moves to 17-5 on the season and 4-4 in the league while South Carolina is now 16-4, 7-1 in the SEC.
  • The Wildcats will return to action Sunday vs. Florida at 2 p.m. ET inside Rupp Arena. The game will be televised on ESPNU while Darren Headrick will have the call on radio on the UK Sports Network.
• Kentucky leads the all-time series in games played against South Carolina, 33-31.
  • UK owns a 20-10 mark in games played in Lexington.
  • South Carolina has won nine straight meetings in the series.
  • The two teams will meet against on Feb. 21 in Columbia.

• UK is now 815-537 all-time in its 45 years as a program.
  • Matthew Mitchell is in his 12th year with the Wildcats and holds a 273-122 record. Mitchell is 303-151 overall in 14 years as a head coach.
• Kentucky is ranked No. 19 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 15 in the USA Today/Coaches Top 25.
• South Carolina is the seventh ranked opponent that Kentucky has played this season.
  • The Wildcats own a 3-4 record against ranked teams with wins against Missouri, South Florida and Tennessee and losses to Mississippi State and Louisville.
  • This concluded a three-game stretch of facing a ranked opponent each game for the Wildcats.

 
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.
  • The Wildcats are 15-4 with those starting five this season.
• South Carolina took a 31-28 lead into the break at halftime after the Wildcats lead for 17:38 in the first half.
  • The Gamecocks went on a 7-0 run to end the second quarter, keeping Kentucky scoreless for the final 4:13 of the period.
  • Kentucky scored just eight points in the second quarter, which tied its second fewest in a quarter this season.
  • UK shot just 3-of-14 from the field in the second quarter, while South Carolina went 6-of-13. UK made just one of its last 10 attempts from the field in the second quarter.
  • Morris scored six of Kentucky’s eight points in the second quarter, hitting two 3s.
• After Kentucky took a 20-10 lead with 1:35 left in the first quarter, South Carolina went on a 40-15 run to build a double-digit lead over the next 18 minutes of play.
  • UK went just 5-of-27 from the field during that stretch for 18.5 percent.
  • Kentucky had a five-minute scoreless drought during that time leading to a 9-0 South Carolina run between the end of the second quarter and start of the third quarter.
• Kentucky outscored South Carolina 26-19 in the fourth quarter to cut the Gamecocks lead to one possession in the final seconds before a South Carolina free throw sealed the win with 3 seconds remaining.
• The Wildcats shot 38.9 percent from the field in the game and have shot less than 40 percent from the field in each of their last three games.
• South Carolina had a 10-0 advantage in fast-break points in the game.
• The Gamecocks outscored UK 44-28 in the paint.
  • The 44 points in the paint were the second most the Wildcats have surrendered in a game this season.

 
Player Notes

• Senior guard Maci Morris scored a game-high 21 points with three 3s, five assists and three blocks.

  • Morris now has 1,562 career points, which ranks ninth most in program history. She needs 1 more point to tie Sara Potts for 8th all-time in school history in points scored.
  • Morris has 233 career 3-pointers made which ranks second in program history. She needs 38 more 3s to tie Sara Potts for most all-time.
  • Morris has hit at least one 3-pointer in 99 of 118 career games played.
• Senior guard Taylor Murray scored 12 points with five assists and two steals. 
  • Murray now has 1,223 career points and ranks 20th all-time in points scored. She needs 95 more points to tie Bria Goss for 19th with 1,318. 
  • Murray has 407 career assists which ranks eighth most in program history. She needs one more to tie Makayla Epps for seventh.  
  • Murray has 255 career steals which ranks seventh most in program history. She needs 17 more steals to move into the top five in program history.

• Sophomore forward KeKe McKinney scored six points with 10 rebounds and one block.

  • The 10 rebounds were a season high for McKinney.
  • McKinney had five offensive rebounds, which was one off her career best of six.
• Freshman guard Rhyne Howard scored 16 points with three rebounds and hit two 3s.
  • Howard has scored 10 or more points in 17 games this season, including 15 or more in 13 games.