Kentucky Starts Home Stretch Tuesday vs. Mississippi State
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Looking to continue its momentum from Sunday’s road win at Alabama, the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team begins a two-game home stretch Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET vs. Mississippi State inside Memorial Coliseum.
This is the third time the game has been scheduled with the first two meetings getting postponed due to COVID protocols. The original Jan. 3 contest was postponed due to UK COVID protocol. The two teams agreed to reschedule for Jan. 13 in Lexington before that game was postponed due to COVID protocol within the MSU program. Tickets purchased for either the Jan. 3 or the Jan. 13 date will be valued tomorrow.
Single-game tickets are $10 (all ages) in reserved seating areas, while general admission tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for children (ages 6-18) and seniors (age 65+). Children aged 5 and under do not require a ticket in general admission areas. Tickets are available for purchase at UKathletics.com/tickets. For more on mobile tickets, visit UKathletics.com/mobiletickets.
Tuesday’s game will be broadcast live on SEC Network+ with Jeff Piecoro and Christi Thomas 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.
Regardless of vaccination status, all guests will be required to wear a mask while visiting Memorial Coliseum. Fans will not be required to show proof of vaccination to enter, but face coverings – covering the nose and mouth – are required for all fans as they watch the game from their seat and enter, exit, and move around Memorial Coliseum. Children 2 and younger will not be required to wear a mask. If spectators are unable to wear masks, they are encouraged not to attend in person for the sake of their health and the health of others.
Doors to Memorial Coliseum will open one hour prior to tip. All bags must adhere to the UK Athletics Clear Bag policy. All bags and items will be searched. To avoid additional touch points, fans are strongly encouraged to not bring unnecessary bags to Memorial Coliseum. More on UK Athletics’ Clear Bag policy can be found online, here.
Parking for games is available starting three hours prior to tip off in a majority of surface lots surrounding Memorial Coliseum, including the High Street Lot, East Maxwell Lot, Joe Craft Center Lot, College View Lot, Alumni Center Lot and Career Center Lot. The Cornerstone Garage and Parking Structure 2 open two hours prior to tip. The Gatton Student Center Lot is pay-to-park while all other parking options are free. The JCC Lot is primarily used limited mobility/handicap parking. No shuttles are being offered from any lot this season.
Senior guard Rhyne Howard leads Kentucky this season in scoring, rebounding, 3-point shooting, blocks and steals, while she is second on the team in assists. Howard is averaging 19.9 points per game with 7.7 rebounds per game, adding 68 assists with 28 blocks and 57 steals. Redshirt junior forward Dre’una Edwards is averaging 15.1 points per game with 7.4 rebounds per game, while freshman guard Jada Walker is averaging 10.1 points per game.
Kentucky is coming off a win at Alabama on Sunday, snapping a four-game losing streak. Edwards did her best offensively off the bench, scoring 24 points – 16 in the second half – and sophomore Nyah Leveretter provided the spark with eight points, seven rebounds, three steals and a block. The 20-point game for Edwards was her fifth of the season and ninth in her career, while it was the fifth time this season she has led UK in scoring. For Leveretter, it was a career-high point total and a career-high steal output. Howard made an impact on the game with nine points and nine rebounds, adding three blocks and a key steal with seconds remaining. She then hit two free throws to seal the win.
The Kentucky bench scored 39 points in the game, which was UK’s highest bench point total on the season. It was the biggest bench point total for UK since 41 vs. Ole Miss (2/20/20). Although UK shot worst from the field, the Wildcats forced 18 turnovers and scored 18 points off those miscues. UK also had 16 offensive boards and had 17 second-chance points. All nine Wildcats on the roster scored in the game for the first time this season.
Tuesday will be the 52nd all-time meeting between Kentucky and Mississippi State in women’s basketball with the Wildcats holding a 29-22 all-time record in the series. UK leads the series 13-9 in games played in Lexington and won the last meeting between the two teams in Memorial Coliseum, 73-62. Last season, the teams met once with UK earning a 92-86 overtime win in Starkville. UK has won two of the last three meetings with the lone loss coming in the SEC Tournament semifinals on March 7, 2020 in Greenville, S.C.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
