UK ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
WOMENS BASKETBALL
#14 KENTUCKY VS GRAMBLING STATE
NOV. 26TH, 2019
MEMORIAL COLISEUM – LEXINGTON, KY.
Kentucky Head Coach Matthew Mitchell
Opening statement…
“Good win for the Wildcats, really proud of the team. Worked hard, I thought Grambling hustled and played hard. Put us in some tough situations in the game that we can learn from and get better from. I think the team is working hard and fighting every day to improve, so that’s what we have to keep doing and really happy with the victory tonight.”
On shooting performance…
“We’ve been working hard at it, been working really hard at it. I felt like we were underachieving with our fundamentals and our focus around the basket, and it was leading to some poor shooting performances. Feel like we are capable of being a good shooting team. Was really pleased in the second half. Took better care of the basketball. Thought we really just got off to a rough start tonight, but we rallied and did some good things. It’s very important that we get some finishes around the basket because we are not the biggest team. We have to be technically sound. We are athletic enough that if we do use the proper technique, we can finish around the basket.”
On defensive improvement throughout the game…
“It’s such a long season you’re just going to have some nights where maybe you lack focus early in the season and that’s a great time to learn because I didn’t think we were very focused to start the game. So, we talked about a couple things there at the quarter. You can’t let your offense affect your defense; we weren’t attacking on either end. I thought they hustled much more in the second quarter. I thought we showed some improvement. We want to get off to great start and play games constantly well through forty minutes.”
On Blair’s (Green) shooting improvements…
“Out of all of our players, she has spent the most time in the gym and has taken the most shots outside of practice. She has worked really hard on her shooting. I wasn’t as much concerned, I feel like she’s proved to be a very good shooter. We’ve been focused with her on just trying to hustle more, make some hustle plays, rebound a little bit stronger, become a better defender, and I think she’s working hard on all of those things.”
On how well the backcourt is performing…
“We are really pleased with it right now, I’m not surprised. They are still big shoes to fill as we progress through our season. I think Sabrina (Haines) benefits from a few different things. She was here last year, so she has some experience. This isn’t her first go-around, she is a veteran player so she was able to be in the program for a year and I think that has helped her transition and being tremendously competitive. Has a real strong desire to play the game and be successful. Our backcourt, and all of our players, work really hard. We got our position groups, have a focus plan every day and our coaches are dedicated to improvement and fill like we give our players an environment to improve every day and they’ve taken advantage of that.”
On Jaida’s (Roper) spark off the bench…
“She’s a high, high talent from an IQ prospective. Just able to make up for a lack of size sometimes. Her mind is much stronger than the normal person and her skill level is really high. She is another one that has work really hard on her physical body, her strength. She is really maxing out her opportunities.”
On what Sabrina (Haines) brings to the team…
“I’m so proud of her defensive progress. We played a scrimmage against another team and that was really her first game in a couple years. She had the injury at Arizona State, and she had to sit out last year. The progress from that first game to right now has been amazing. It’s a real credit to her hard work. She’s a big weapon for us.”
UK Student-Athletes
#1 Sabrina Haines, Senior, Guard
On playing with someone like Rhyne Howard and how they stay focused around her …
“I think because movement will help her be even more successful, if we stand around and watch, (we’ll be like) sorry we didn’t do anything. Plus, Rhyne is a great player, but we also are basketball players, so we know we have to move and everything.”
On how it feels to be playing again …
“It feels great, just the fact that were into the season, it’s amazing. I think those two years really helped give me a different perspective on basketball as a sport. Just being here at Kentucky and learning from my coaches and everything, I mean it’s been a wonderful experience and I’m so glad to be back”
On how the experience has compared to what she expected …
“It’s exceeded, definitely. I mean it’s just been the best and I’m so thankful to be here and I’m just so thankful that the coaches brought me here and everything, I love it.”
#32 Jaida Roper, Senior, Guard
On playing with someone like Rhyne Howard and how they stay focused around her …
“With be being the great scorer that Rhyne is, she’s also a great passer so if we are standing there watching she might hit us in the face with the ball, because she’s looking to score but she also looking to get her teammates involved, so just always moving is probably helping her out. “
On giving the team a spark coming off the bench …
“I always try to bring energy, whatever were lacking, I try to bring to my game, whatever my team needs from me, just for them to pick up the energy and to continue to bring energy was something special for tonight.”
On the biggest improvement in her game …
“I would say just watching a lot of film. I made a lot of mistakes last year trying to force things or trying to create things that I see that my teammates didn’t see, but sometimes were just not on the same page. So watching film and also communicating with them is really helping me.”
