Women’s Basketball Returns Home, Wildcats and Spartans Battle Sunday on National Sock Day, Trivia Day
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Back from its tropical trip, the University of Kentucky women’s basketball program will play host to UNC-Greensboro on Sunday, Dec. 4 at 1 p.m. ET inside Memorial Coliseum. The game, which will mark Kentucky’s first in 10 days and first at home in 17 days, will be broadcast on SEC Network+, with Jeff Piecoro and Christi Thomas on the call.
The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a free pair of Kentucky-themed socks to celebrate National Sock Day, while Big Blue Nation is also encouraged to participate in Trivia Day activities by downloading the BBNFX app.
Doors to Memorial Coliseum will open one hour prior to the tip time. Bags must adhere to the UK Athletics Clear Bag policy, and 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 tipoff 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 No. 2 will 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 for limited mobility/handicap parking. No shuttles are being offered at this point in the season.
Darren Headrick will have the call on the UK Sports Network on 98.5 FM in Lexington. Free live audio will be available online at UKathletics.com and live stats will be available online at KentuckyStats.com.
The Wildcats are 5-1 this season, after they returned to the stateside with a 1-1 record at the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship in Nassau, The Bahamas, last week. There, Kentucky attempted to put together a comeback against then-No. 14/14 Virginia Tech, but despite tying the second quarter and outscoring the Hokies by 13 points in the second half, it lost in the end, 82-74, on the first day of the championship. However, UK rallied back against Dayton, earning a 70-44 triumph on the final day of the championship, just in time for Thanksgiving on the resort. The Wildcats held the Flyers to the fewest amount of points they have held a team to all season.
Sophomore guard Jada Walker has led the team in scoring three times this season, including against the nationally ranked Hokies, while graduate guard Robyn Benton has produced double-digit scoring in all six games. Three players are averaging double-digit scoring in 2022-23, including Benton (14.3), Walker (14.0) and Blair Green (10.5).
Kentucky is shooting 42.1 percent from the field, while its averaging 73.5 points per game this season. More than 63.0 percent of its 172 field goals have been a product of its 109 assists. The Wildcats are second in the Southeastern Conference and are ranked 16 nationally in assists per game, averaging 18.2.
Maddie Scherr, a junior transfer from Oregon and a Florence, Kentucky, native, is responsible for a bulk of that work, leading the SEC and ranked 11th nationally in assists per game (6.7). She also leads the conference and is ranked 13th nationally in assists/turnover ratio (3.33).
Meanwhile, as a team, the Wildcats are wreaking havoc on the defensive side of the ball, pacing the league in turnovers forced (25.3) and turnover margin (9.5). Walker has proven to be a menace on that side of the ball, pacing the league and ranked fourth nationally in steals per game (3.83).
Kentucky is holding its opponents to 37.5 percent from the field and less than 60.0 points per game.
UNC-Greensboro (4-3) has three players averaging at least 10 points per game, including Nasia Powell (10.9), Kennedy Simpson (10.7) and Faith Price (10.1). Khalis Cain is averaging 10.1 rebounds per game for the team. UNC-Greensboro is coming off a loss in overtime against Presbyterian, 67-54, at home last Wednesday. In that game, the Spartans erased a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force an overtime with the Blue Horses.
The two teams have faced one common opponent this season in Radford. The Spartans garnered an 18-point win against the Highlanders in mid-November, while the Wildcats rallied for a four-point win in their season-opening matchup.
This will mark the first all-time meeting between UNC-Greensboro and Kentucky.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
