Women's Basketball
Makayla Epps - Women's Basketball - University of Kentucky Athletics 25

MakaylaEpps

  • position Guard
  • height 5-10
  • class Senior
  • Hometown Lebanon, Ky.
  • High school Marion County HS
  • SEC Academic Honor Roll (2014, 2015, 2017)
  • First-Team All-SEC by league coaches/AP (2015, 2016, 2017)
  • SEC All-Tournament Team (2015, 2016, 2017)
  • SEC Co-Player of the Week (Feb. 16, 2015)
  • espnW National Player of the Week (Dec. 14, 2015)
  • SEC Player of the Week (Dec. 15, 2015)
  • NCAA Starting Five (Dec. 16, 2015)
  • Dawn Staley Award Mid-Season Watch List (2016)
  • Naismith Trophy Midseason 30 (2016)
  • Wade Trophy Watch List (2016)
  • First-Team All-American by CollegeSportsMadness (2016)
  • WBCA All-Region Team (2016)
  • WBCA All-America Honorable Mention (2016)
  • AP All-America Honorable Mention (2016, 2017)
  • Preseason All-America First Team by CollegeSportsMadness.com (2017)
  • Preseason All-America First Team by The Sporting News (2017)
  • Preseason All-America Second Team by Athlon Sports (2017)
  • Preseason All-SEC by league media (2017)
  • Preseason All-SEC by league coaches (2017)
  • Nancy Lieberman Award Watch List (2017)
  • Naismith Trophy Top 50 Watch List (2017)
  • Wade Trophy Watch List  (2017)
  • John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 30 (2017)
  • Dawn Staley Midseason Watch List (2017)
  • SEC Player of the Week by league office (Dec. 6, 2017)
  • John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 (2017)

2016-17 (Senior)
An All-America season for the Wildcats, leading Kentucky with 17.7 points per game … Finished tied for first with 118 assists, tied for third on the team with 4.5 rebounds per game, third on the squad with 34 steals, second in three-point field goal percentage at .355 and third in overall field-goal percentage at .459 … Ended her career with 1,790 career points, which ranks fifth most in program history … Had 408 career assists, ranking seventh most all-time in UK history … Only player in program history to rank top five in scoring and top seven in career assists … Ended her career with six games of 30 or more points, which is third most in program history … For her career, she averaged 13.5 points per game which is ninth best in program history … Finished the season as the only player in the SEC to rank top 10 in points, field goal percentage and assists … Scored 10 or more points 30 times, 15 or more points 19 times and 20 or more points 14 times … Had three games of 30 or more points, including a season-best 31 points against South Carolina in the SEC Tournament … Had five or more assists in 11 games … Led Kentucky in scoring 16 times, in rebounds four times, in assists 14 times and in steals nine times … Against ranked foes, averaged over 20 points and shot over 45 percent from the field … Had a then-season high performance against No. 12 Oklahoma on Dec. 1, scoring 30 points … Scored 29 points, including 22 in the second half and 18 in the fourth quarter in the season opening win over Miami … Scored a season-high 31 points against No. 4 South Carolina in the SEC Tournament … Followed that performance with 30 points vs. Belmont in the NCAA Tournament … Had 21 points against Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament with four assists … Had a stretch of four straight games of 20 or more points during SEC play with 20 against Ole Miss and Missouri and 23 against South Carolina and Vanderbilt … Ended her career ranking top 10 in program history in assists, assists average, field-goals made, free-throws made and scoring average … Became only the second player in program history to earn All-SEC First Team honors three straight seasons. 

2015-16 (Junior)
Great season being named first-team All-America by CollegeSportsMadness.com and All-America Honorable Mention by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and Associated Press … On several player of the year watch lists, including the Naismith Midseason 30 and Wade Trophy Watch List … Became the 31st player in program history to reach 1,000 points and was the third-fastest player under Matthew Mitchell to reach the 1,000 point club … Ended the season with 1,207 career points to rank 19th all-time on UK’s career points scored list … Was named the SEC Player of the Week, espnW National Player of the Week and to the NCAA Starting Five for her strong play against Louisville and Middle Tennessee State where she scored a combined 41 points with six steals, eight assists, 11 rebounds and was 18-for-24 from the field … Was the first UK player since Sara Potts in 2004 to record at least 20 points in four consecutive games … Tied the third-most efficient performance in school history, going 10-of-11 from the field in the victory over Louisville for the best field goal percentage since 1987 … Played in 32 games, averaging a team-best 17.1 ppg, hitting .473 from the field with 4.5 apg and 4.8 rpg … Scored 20+ points 12 times on the season, while scoring in double digits 29 times …  Posted the second triple-double in program history with 21 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds against Morehead State … Shined on the biggest of stages this season against highly-ranked Louisville, Duke, South Carolina (twice), Tennessee, Mississippi State and Texas A&M, averaging 18.4 ppg, hitting .486 from the field with 29 assists and 33 rebounds … Named to the the SEC All-Tournament Team for the second straight year after leading the team averaging 18.3 ppg with 5.3 rpg, 12 assists and an impressive .553 clip from the field in three games played in the event … Paced the team in the NCAA Tournament, averaging 22.3 ppg to go with 4.3 apg and 5.0 rpg … Increased her regular-season output not only in points per game, but efficiency from 3 as well as it increased to .438 in the tournament compared to shooting at a .250 prior to the event … Ended her junior campaign with 546 points and 143 assists, becoming the only player in school history to have at least 500 points and 100 assists in two consecutive seasons … Her 546 points scored were the ninth-most in a single season by a Wildcat. 

2014-15 (Sophomore)
Named First-Team All-SEC by league coaches and The Associated Press … SEC All-Tournament Team member after averaging a team-high 16.3 ppg in three games … Named to the SEC Winter Sports Academic Honor Roll … Played in all 34 games with 22 straight starting assignments … Led the team and fifth in the SEC in scoring with 14.9 ppg … In SEC-only games, she led the league with 15.1 ppg … Ranked as the third-highest sophomore scorer in school history with 477 points … Averaged a team-high 16.9 points per game and 4.7 rebounds per game vs. ranked opponents … One of 30 point guards on the Nancy Lieberman Award watch list … After becoming the starting point guard vs. Florida on Jan. 15, she averaged a team-high 16.3 points to go along with 4.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game … Had a +1.49 assist/turnover ratio (101 assists to 69 turnovers) … Led the team with 101 assists … Attempted a team-high 165 free throws and shot .691 percent (114-of-165) … Has 32 career games in double-digit points, including 27 her sophomore season, and closed with four in a row … Scored a career-high 42 points, including 15 of UK’s 18 overtime points in win over Mississippi State (2/12/15) … First player to score 40+ points in a game since Jen O’Neill’s 43 vs. Baylor last year … Set career highs in points (42) FGM (18), FGA (30) and minutes (44) … Scored 31 points in UK’s rematch with the Bulldogs in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals, for a total of 73 points in the two games … Owned two of the SEC’s top three scoring performances of the season … Averaged a Paradise Jam-high 20.3 points per game in three-game tournament … Named the MVP of the 2014 Paradise Jam’s Reef Division.

2013-14 (Freshman)
Played in 34 of UK’s 35 games as a true freshman, while making one start … Averaged 4.6 points and 1.4 rebounds per game … Finished with five games in double-figure scoring … Charted 46 assists with just 21 turnovers … Was a key cog off the bench in UK’s win over top-seeded South Carolina (3/8) in the SEC Tournament semifinals, finishing with 10 points … Recorded all 11 of her points in the win at Texas A&M (2/23) from the free-throw line… Scored a career-high 16 points on a career-best 6-of-8 shooting in 17 minutes vs. South Carolina (2/20) … Played a career-high 28 minutes vs. Grambling State to go with 10 points and seven rebounds … Received her first career start vs. No. 2 Duke (12/22/13)… Was a key spark off the bench in 4OT win vs. Baylor (12/6/13) with nine points … Drilled back-to-back 3-pointers late in the first half to help cut UofL’s lead to eight in the first half and finished with six points on a career-high 2-of-3 shooting from 3-point range to help UK secure the win … Named to the SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll.

High School
Listed as the 10th-best guard and 32nd best player in the nation, according to ESPN.com … Was the first in Lady Knight school history with that distinction … 2013 Kentucky Miss Basketball … 2013 Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year … 2013 WBCA All-American Honorable Mention… 2013 AP Girls’ Player of the Year … Three-time All-State honoree who compiled over 3,300 points in her prep basketball career … Led the top-ranked Lady Knights to a perfect 39-0 record in 2013 and Marion County’s first state tournament title in eight appearances … The Lady Knights became the first undefeated state champ since Marshall County in 1984 … Averaged a team-high 23.0 points, 5.5 assists, 4.3 steals and 5.5 rebounds per game as a senior … Chose Kentucky over Louisville.

Personal
Parent(s): Angela Mattingly and Anthony Epps … Siblings: Two brothers (Jaren and Jamison,), two sisters (Denisha and Antaya) … Major: Social work, minor in Family Science … Shooting Hand:  Right

The Cats’ Cause
Volunteered at Dixie Elementary’s Field Day … Participated in God’s Pantry Backpack program every year on campus … National Student-Athlete Day Event volunteer … Helped 2014 UK Blanket Project and delivered blankets to UK Children’s Hospital.

Read more