The Wildcats will play the winner of Vanderbilt and Alabama on Thursday, March 5
*Video: UK Athletics
LEXINGTON, Ky. – After completing a 10-6 season in Southeastern Conference action capped off by a win over No. 2/2 South Carolina in front of a sold out Memorial Coliseum on Sunday afternoon, the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team earned the No. 6 seed in the 2015 SEC Tournament, and will face the winner of Vanderbilt/Alabama on Thursday, March 5. The game will tipoff around 9:30 p.m. ET and be televised live on the SEC Network with Paul Sunderland and Carolyn Peck on the call.
Fans can follow Twitter updates on @UKHoopCats and use hashtag #SECWBB to talk about the game.
“I think it’s a really exciting tournament, the SEC Tournament,” UK head coach Matthew Mitchell said. “I think it’s very difficult to win and we’ve had a chance several times to win it and we’d love to taste victory in that tournament. It would really be a big accomplishment if we could win it, so we have to take them one game at a time obviously and no matter who it is, Vanderbilt or Alabama, it’ll be a tough test. We will do everything we can to get prepared. We’ll leave tomorrow night and head down to North Little Rock with high hopes to win the tournament.”
Vanderbilt (14-15, 5-11 SEC) earned the 11th seed after falling to Co-SEC champions Tennessee on Sunday afternoon to cap off a 5-11 season in SEC play. In the team’s only meeting of the year, Kentucky beat the Commodores at Memorial Gym in Nashville back on Feb. 8 behind 22 points and five rebounds from sophomore Linnae Harper.
Alabama (13-18, 2-14 SEC) finished 14th in the SEC this season after dropping an 80-73 decision to Auburn on Sunday afternoon in Auburn, Ala. The Crimson Tide and Wildcats met in the SEC opener on Jan. 2, and Kentucky used an 18-0 second half run to win 78-66 down in Tuscaloosa.
Vanderbilt holds a 21-27 lead over Kentucky in the all-time series record, but the Wildcats have won the last eight in a row. UK beat Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals in 2011 and 2013 and the series record for neutral-site games is knotted up at 3-3. UK is 3-3 all-time against Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament and 2-0 under Mitchell.
UK leads the all-time series with Alabama 25-17, and the Wildcats have won nine of the team’s last 11 meetings. Kentucky is 4-0 all-time against the Crimson Tide in the SEC Tournament, but they have never faced each other in the Matthew Mitchell era.
Overall, Kentucky is 29-35 in the SEC Tournament, including 12-12 in quarterfinal games. UK has finished in the top four of the SEC standings six out of Matthew Mitchell’s eight seasons and has earned a first-round bye in seven of the last 10 tournaments, including five of the last six.
Additional information on the tournament, including game times and online ticket links, can be found at www.secsports.com.
