Kentucky Hosts Auburn on Thursday Night for We Back Pat

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky women’s basketball program will play host to Auburn on Thursday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. ET inside Memorial Coliseum. The game, which will mark the program’s annual We Back Pat game, will be broadcast on SEC Network+, with Jeff Piecoro and Christi Thomas on the call.

Kentucky has a 9-10 overall record and a 1-6 Southeastern Conference record this season, with Robyn Benton leading the team in scoring with 17.1 points per game. She has scored in double digits in all 18 games 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 13.5 points per game. After five straight double-digit scoring games, including two straight 20-plus scoring games, Maddie Scherr is now averaging 10.5 points per game.

Each of those starting guards have reset their career high in scoring over the last three straight games – Scherr (25 points vs. South Carolina on Jan. 12), Benton (29 points at Florida on Jan. 15) and Walker (22 points at Mississippi State on Jan. 22).

Kentucky and Auburn are tied in the all-time meetings, 26-26, in a series that began in 1980. Meanwhile, UK leads AU in games played in Lexington, 12-10.  The Wildcats have won 15 of the last 16 matchups against the Tigers, including the last eight 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.

We Back Pat & SEC Win Challenge

• Kentucky is celebrating We Back Pat week when it hosts Auburn on Jan. 26.
  • It is a week-long initiative focused on bringing awareness and recognition to the Pat Summitt Foundation, which supports nonprofit organizations delivering care to patients with Alzheimer’s disease, providing resources for caregivers and families and conducting research for treatment and care.
  • The cause is near and dear to the UK women’s basketball program, as Kyra Elzy and Niya Butts are products of the Pat Summitt era.
• During the Wildcats-Tigers matchup, the Pat Summitt Foundation will be rewarding UK’s Sanders-Brown Center on Aging with a $25,000 grant.
• In conjunction with We Back Pat week, University of Kentucky women’s basketball head coach Kyra Elzy and her husband Dexter Lander created the SEC Win Challenge.
  • For more than 10 years now, the SEC Win Challenge calls on coaches and fans in the league to take part in the initiative by pledging an amount per win of their favorite team. As a result, the SEC Win Challenge has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Pat Summitt Foundation.

I’ll Have the Combo

• Returning sophomore guard Jada Walker and junior transfer guard Maddie Scherr have taken on familiar, yet new, roles this season, playing as combo guards.
  • Walker is known for her speed, attacking and explosive play making, while Scherr is known for being methodical, picking a part the defense and making opponents pay for their defensive mistakes.
• Fun Fact: Both guards have had games recording double-digit assists this season.

Freshman Fever

• Kennedy Cambridge, a freshman guard from Nashville, Tennessee, has won the heart of Big Blue Nation for her gritty and scrappy style of play.
  • It may never show up on the stat sheet, but Cambridge is going to get on the floor and make momentum-changing hustle plays.
• Some of her single-game career highs this season include nine points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals.
• Fun Fact: There are seven Cambridge brothers and sisters, including her, and they’re all athletic. Her two older brothers, Desmond and Devan, are playing basketball at Arizona State. Her older sister, Jordyn, is an All-Southeastern Conference Defensive Teamer at Vanderbilt and her younger sister, Jaloni, is ESPN’s Class of 2024 No. 1 high school girls basketball player in the country.

Trackin’ Turnovers

• The Wildcats have won or tied the turnover battle in 14 of 19 games this season.
  • The Cats have forced 17 of their 19 opponents into at least 17 turnovers.
  • The Cats have forced 12 of their 19 opponents into at least 20 turnovers.
  • The Cats have forced six of their 19 opponents into at least 25 turnovers.
  • The Cats have forced two of their 19 opponents into at least 30 turnovers.
• Kentucky leads the Southeastern Conference in turnovers forced per game (22.0).
• More than 32.8 percent of the Cats’ points have been off turnovers.
  • The Wildcats have outscored their opponents in points off turnovers, or on one occasion, tied their opponent in points off turnovers, in 13 of 19 games this season.
  • The Wildcats have outscored their opponents, 436-332, in points off turnovers in 2022-23.