Another Top-10 Ranked Opponent on the Road Sunday for No. 21 Kentucky
LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the fourth time this season, the No. 21 University of Kentucky women’s basketball team will hit the road to face a top-10 ranked opponent as it travels to No. 5 Tennessee on Sunday for a 3 p.m. ET tip inside Thompson-Boling Arena.
Sunday’s game will be broadcast live on ESPN with Courtney Lyle and Carolyn Peck on the call. Darren Headrick will have the call on the UK Sports Network (630AM in Lexington). Live stats and free live audio will be available online at UKathletics.com. Sunday’s game is part of the Southeastern Conference’s We Back Pat week.
Kentucky is coming off a 1-1 week last week, earning a win over No. 15 Georgia at home before falling at No. 1 South Carolina last Sunday. As a team, Kentucky is averaging 77.8 points per game this season, shooting 46 percent from the field and 34 percent from long range. The Wildcats rank 10th nationally in assist-turnover ratio and are first in the SEC in scoring offense and third in the league in field-goal percentage. UK was scheduled to play Mississippi State on Thursday but that game was postponed due to COVID issues within the Bulldog program.
Senior guard Rhyne Howard leads Kentucky with 18.8 points per game, adding 6.5 rebounds per game with 48 assists and 38 steals. Redshirt junior forward Dre’una Edwards is averaging 16.7 points and 8.0 rebounds per game with 15 blocks and is hitting 54 percent from the field. Senior guard Robyn Benton is averaging 12.3 points per game and hitting 39 percent from long range, while freshman guard Jada Walker is averaging 10.8 points per game with 28 assists.
Tennessee (16-1, 5-0 SEC) is the only unblemished team in league play so far this season and is coming off a 65-51 win at Vanderbilt on Thursday. The Lady Vols are averaging 71.3 points per game this season while limiting opponents to 54.2 points per game. Tennessee has a +16.3 rebounding margin, hitting 42 percent from the field and 28 percent from long range. Jordan Horston leads the team averaging 15.5 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, while Tamari Key is averaging 10.4 points and 8.8 rebounds per game with 66 blocks.
Sunday is the 72nd all-time meeting between Kentucky and Tennessee in women’s basketball. The Lady Vols lead the all-time series in games played, 56-15. Tennessee leads the all-time series in games played in Knoxville, 26-4. Those four wins for Kentucky on Rocky Top came in 1983, 1985, 2014 and the last one was a 73-71 win on Jan. 10, 2019. Kentucky has won four of the last five meetings, which is its best stretch in the series ever. Last year, the two teams met twice with each defending its home court. UT won in Knoxville, 70-53, with UK returning the favor in Lexington, 71-56.
UK is 12-49 all-time against a ranked Tennessee team. Only one of those 12 wins came vs. a top-five ranked Tennessee team. UK defeated Tennessee when it was No. 1 in the nation on Jan. 26, 2006, 66-63 under Mickie DeMoss. UK’s last win against a top-five ranked team was Feb. 23, 2017 against No. 3 Mississippi State inside Memorial Coliseum. UK has never defeated a top-five ranked team on the road, but does have two neutral-site wins against top-five ranked foes.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
