UK Hoops used big games from Jennifer O’Neill and A’dia Mathies as Matthew Mitchell has landed back in the Elite 8 for the third time in the last 4 seasons with a 69-62 win over ESPN’s, Elena Delle Donne’s, Delaware Blue Hens.
Here is the story from UK Athletics.com:
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) – The Kentucky Wildcats and their “40 minutes of dread” were too much for Elena Delle Donne and Delaware.
Jennifer O’Neill scored 19 points and A’dia Mathies added 16 to help Kentucky hold off the Blue Hens 69-62 on Saturday in the Bridgeport regional semifinals, bringing to an end the stellar career of Delle Donne.
It’s the second straight season that Kentucky (30-5) has advanced to the regional final. The Wildcats, who already have a school record for victories, lost to Connecticut last season by 15 points.
Delle Donne had 33 points for Delaware (32-4) and finished her career as the fifth all-time leading scorer in NCAA history with 3,039 points. She passed former stars Cheryl Miller, Chamique Holdsclaw and Maya Moore on Saturday.
DELAWARE vs KENTUCKY
3/30/13 12:04pm at Bridgeport, Conn. – Webster Bank Arena
At Bridgeport, Conn. – Webster Bank Arena
KENTUCKY 69, DELAWARE 62
DELAWARE (32-4)
Delle Donne, Elena 11-23 11-11 33; Lucas, Trumae 3-9 5-5 11; Carra, Lauren
3-5 3-4 10; Parker, Danielle 3-9 0-0 6; May, Jaquetta 1-6 0-0 2; Richards,
Akeema 0-0 0-0 0; Leon, Stephanie 0-0 0-0 0; Buchanan, Kelsey 0-0 0-0 0;
Miller, Kayla 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-53 19-20 62.
KENTUCKY (30-5)
O’Neill, Jennifer 6-14 3-6 19; Mathies, A’dia 5-13 5-7 16; Evans, Kastine
3-9 0-0 8; Walker, Samarie 3-8 2-3 8; Stallworth, DeNesha 2-5 0-0 4;
Thompson, Janee 1-2 2-2 4; Goss, Bria 2-6 0-1 4; Henderson, Brittany 1-1 0-0
2; Bishop, Azia 1-2 0-0 2; Sidney, Jelleah 1-1 0-0 2; Pinkett, Bernisha 0-1
0-0 0. Totals 25-62 12-19 69.
DELAWARE…………………. 27 35 – 62
KENTUCKY…………………. 41 28 – 69
3-point goals–DELAWARE 1-6 (Carra, Lauren 1-1; Lucas, Trumae 0-1; Delle
Donne, Elena 0-4), KENTUCKY 7-24 (O’Neill, Jennifer 4-9; Evans, Kastine 2-5;
Mathies, A’dia 1-6; Goss, Bria 0-2; Bishop, Azia 0-1; Pinkett, Bernisha
0-1). Fouled out–DELAWARE-Carra, Lauren; Lucas, Trumae, KENTUCKY-None.
Rebounds–DELAWARE 40 (Carra, Lauren 10), KENTUCKY 35 (Walker, Samarie 11).
Assists–DELAWARE 7 (Lucas, Trumae 3), KENTUCKY 9 (O’Neill, Jennifer 4).
Total fouls–DELAWARE 21, KENTUCKY 18. Technical fouls–DELAWARE-None,
KENTUCKY-None.
NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Regional Semifinal
UK advances to Bridgeport Regional Final
UK Hoops Postgame Notes
Webster Bank Arena
Bridgeport, Conn.
NCAA Tournament – Regional Semifinals
March 30, 2013
Final Score: No. 7/7 Kentucky 69 – No. 15/16 Delaware 62
Team Records and Series Notes
Kentucky improves to 30-5, while Delaware ends its season at 32-4.
UK extends its school-record win total to 30.
UK advances to its fourth Elite Eight in program history, including second consecutive and third in the last four years.
Kentucky is in its 39th year of varsity play and owns an overall record of 686-476 (.590).
This is the Cats’ 10th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and now own a 14-9 (.609) record in postseason play.
The Wildcats are 65-199 against ranked foes, including 24-32 under head coach Matthew Mitchell.
Mitchell improves to 10-3 in the NCAA Tournament.
With the win, UK extends its school record for wins over ranked opponents to eight.
UK is now 4-0 in regional semifinal games, including 3-0 under Mitchell.
UK is now 1-1 all-time vs. Delaware and 11-10 vs. teams from the Colonial Athletic Association.
UK snapped the Blue Hens’ 27-game winning streak.
Team/Game Notes
UK’s starting lineup featured A’dia Mathies, Kastine Evans, Jennifer O’Neill, Samarie Walker and DeNesha Stallworth. This lineup is 10-2.
After Delaware cut the Kentucky lead to 17-15 at the 9:42 mark in the first half, UK went on a 24-12 run to close the half leading 41-27.
The Wildcats outrebounded the Blue Hens in the first stanza 24-11.
UK is now 25-3 when leading at the half.
With UK leading by just two (62-60) with 2:47 to play, junior Kastine Evans hit a 3-pointer to give the Cats a 65-60 lead it would never relinquish.
UK’s bench outscored Delaware’s 14-13 in game and are now 24-1 this season when outscoring the opposing bench.
UK forced 19 turnovers giving the Cats 835 on the year, which is the second-most school history.
The Cats have now forced double-digit miscues in 152 consecutive games. The Cats are 115-37 during that span.
With seven made 3-pointers, the Cats added to their school record with 236.
· Kentucky recorded two blocks, upping its single-season record total to 176.
The Wildcats extended their streak of consecutive games with a triple to 327.
· UK had 10 steals, totaling 420 on the season, which ranks second in school history.
Individual Notes
Redshirt sophomore point guard Jennifer O’Neill scored a team-high 19 points and made four 3-pointers.
Tied for fourth on the single-season 3-point fields goal list with 66.
Her sixth game of the season with four or more 3-pointers.
Her fourth straight game with double figures.
Senior guard A’dia Mathies scored 16 points, becoming the second player in UK Hoops history to reach 2,000 in her career.
Fifth player in UK history, men’s or women’s, to reach 2,000 career points, joining Dan Issel (2,138, 1967-70), Kenny Walker (2,080, 1982-86), Jack Givens (2,038, 1974-78) (men’s) and Valerie Still (2,763, 1979-83).
Tied a season-high with nine rebounds.
Has reached double-figures in 32-of-35 games, including two straight.
Junior guard Samarie Walker scored eight points and corralled a team-high 11 rebounds, marking her 12th double figure rebounding game of the season.
With two blocks in the game, Walker now ranks third on UK’s single-season list with 54.
Sophomore forward Jelleah Sidney played a season-high 20 minutes, while grabbing a season-best four rebounds and tying a personal best with two steals. She also added two points.
