Wildcats to Face Top-Ranked Gamecocks on the Road on Monday
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The University of Kentucky women’s basketball program will play host to No. 1/1 South Carolina on Monday, Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. ET at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina.
The game will be broadcast on SEC Network, with Courtney Lyle and Steffi Sorensen on the call. Big Blue Nation also can listen in to the play-by-play on UK Sports Network and / or 630 AM WLAP (locally), with the Voice of the Wildcats, Darren Headrick on the mic.
Kentucky is 8-9 on the season, including 1-2 in the Southeastern Conference. Kentucky began league action with a triumph over Arkansas, 73-63, in Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center on Jan. 4, before falling on the road at Tennessee, 87-69, on Jan. 7 and to a ranked and rising Vanderbilt team, 95-73, last Thursday.
Despite UK’s loss to VU, Ajae Petty had a historical game, recording 23 points and a career-high 21 rebounds, which marked the first 20-20 game in program history since Valerie Still accomplished that feat in 1982. Petty (one instance) and Still (two instances) are the lone two players in program records to have recorded a 20-20.
Petty, a senior forward from Baltimore, Maryland, leads the team in both scoring (16.5) and rebounding (11.3), while Maddie Scherr, a senior guard from Florence, Kentucky, is second on the team in both scoring (14.9) and rebounding (3.9). The Wildcats are averaging 71.1 points per game and 37.8 rebounds per game through three conference games, both of which are improved numbers compared to their overall season performance.
Unique to the upcoming game, Kentucky and South Carolina have played the most challenging schedules of any other program in the SEC to date.
The Wildcats and the Gamecocks are the lone pair of programs in the conference to have played at least six Power 5 opponents during the nonconference schedule – UK with six and USC with seven. Despite UK’s rigorous schedule prior to SEC action, UK has won six of its last 10 games, including four of the last six games, a stretch that included a season-best four straight wins up to Jan. 4.
The Wildcats narrowly trail the Gamecocks, 39-35, in the all-time series, including 24-10 in games played in Columbia.
South Carolina is 15-0 on the season, including 3-0 in the conference in 2023-24. It leads the nation in scoring margin (37.3), three-point percentage (42.6) and blocks per game (9.1). It also ranks second in the nation in rebounds per game (49.33).
The Gamecocks have four players averaging double-digit scoring, including Kamila Cardoso (13.1), Te-Hina Paopao (12.6), Bree Hall (11.0) and MiLaysia Fulwiley (10.9). They have two more players averaging at least nine points a the game. The Gamecocks also are led in rebounding by Cardoso (10.5).
Scherr and Paopao played with each other at Oregon as freshmen in 2020-21 and sophomores in 2021-22.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on X, Instagram and Facebook.
