Kentucky, Mississippi State Battle in Starkville on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET

STARKVILLE, Miss. – The University of Kentucky women’s basketball program will face Mississippi State on Sunday, Jan. 22 at 1 p.m. ET inside Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Mississippi. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network, with Sam Gore and Tamika Catchings on the call.

Kentucky has a 9-9 overall record and a 1-5 conference record this season, with Robyn Benton leading the team in scoring with 16.7 points per game. She has scored in double digits in every game that she has played in in 2022-23. Jada Walker, who has led UK in scoring in five games this season, is also averaging double-digit scoring with 13.0 points per game. After four straight double-digit scoring games, including two straight 20-plus scoring games, Maddie Scherr is now averaging 10.2 points per game.

Kentucky leads in the all-time meetings with Mississippi State, 31-22, in a series that began in 1979, while UK leads MSU, 11-10, in games played in Starkville. The Wildcats have won four of the last five meetings with the Bulldogs, including the last three straight.

Darren Headrick will have the call on the UK Sports Network on 630AM WLAP in Lexington for the sixth straight season. Free live audio will be available online at UKathletics.com and live stats will be available online at KentuckyStats.com.

Comeback Cats: Back in the “W” Column

• Kentucky is coming off a huge road win at Florida, 81-75, to snap a five-game losing streak and earn its first win in the Southeastern Conference this season.
• The Wildcats, who were down 16 points in the second quarter and six points at halftime, only led the game for 10 minutes and 33 seconds.
  • It marked Kentucky’s largest deficit overcome in a win against an SEC opponent in program history (16 points).
  • It marked the fourth comeback of 16 points in a win against an SEC opponent in program history, most recently on Feb. 14, 2013 against South Carolina.
  • It tied Kentucky’s largest deficit overcome in a win in an SEC road game (16 points). Kentucky also came back from 16 points down at Ole Miss on Feb. 8, 2007 in a victory.
• For the first time this season, three Cats scored at least 15 points.
  • Graduate guard Robyn Benton led Kentucky with a career high 29 points, while she scored 17 of those 29 points in the fourth quarter alone. Benton also went 10-of-10 from the line, which marked the second instance this season she has knocked down as many free throws.
  • Jada Walker added 19 points, while Maddie Scherr contributed 18 points.
• The Wildcats forced the Gators to commit 24 turnovers, while committing just 15 themselves, while the Cats outscored the Gators, 28-13, in points off turnovers.
  • Kentucky made a season-high 17 steals in the game.

Scherr Effort: Stuff the Stats

• Junior guard Maddie Scherr is coming off three straight games scoring at least 18 points including back-to-back games of resetting her career high in both points scored (22 pts, 25 pts) and field goals (10 FG, 10 FG). Meanwhile, both of those 20-plus scoring games came against top-five ranked opponents (LSU, South Carolina).
• The Florence, Kentucky, native is the only player in the Southeastern Conference averaging at least 5.0 in at least three statistical categories. She is also the only player in the SEC that has at least 90 assists and 40 steals.
  • 10.2 points per game
  • 5.6 rebounds per game (leads the team)
  • 5.0 assists per game (leads the team)
• She is in the league’s top three in four statistical categories:
  • Second in the SEC in assists per game (5.0).
  • Third in the SEC in assists (90).
  • Second in the SEC steals (40).
  • Second in the SEC in steals per game (2.22).

Primetime or Showtime

• Her nickname is primetime, but coach calls her showtime.
  • Regardless of what you call her, Robyn Benton is known for turning on in big moments.
  • She is averaging 22.0 points per game in UK’s four true road games this season.
• Benton is coming off a game where she scored a career-high 29 points, including 17 points in the fourth quarter, at Florida on Jan. 15.
  • She also went 10-of-10 from the line in that game. It marked the second time this season she has made 10 free throws (first at Missouri on Dec. 29). Meanwhile, she is shooting 87.9 percent from the line in SEC action this season (29-33).
  • She made at least one 3-pointer for the 12th straight game.
• The graduate guard has scored in double digits in all 17 games that she has played in this season, and she has led Kentucky in scoring in eight games in 2022-23.
  • Before this season, she had only led UK in scoring on two instances.
• She eclipsed 1,000 career points at Georgia on Jan. 5.
  • She is the only current Wildcat with at least 1,000 career points.
• Fun Fact: Benton has a degree in broadcast journalism and is currently working on a masters in business administration.