Wildcats look to tie school record for best start to a season
*Photo by Regina Rickert
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 5/6 Kentucky women’s basketball team returns to the friendly confines of Memorial Coliseum on Sunday, Dec. 15 when it plays host to East Tennessee State at 2 p.m. ET in the first of three-straight home games to conclude nonconference play. The game will be televised live on the UK IMG Sports Television Network and Fox Sports South. Fans can also listen to the UK IMG Sports Radio Network with Neil Price or follow Twitter updates on @UKHoopCats.
Single-game reserved tickets cost of $9 for all ages. General admission tickets for adults are $8 while single-game general admission tickets for seniors and children (ages 6-18, 65 and over) are only $5. UK faculty, staff and children ages five and under are admitted free in the general admission seating area, while supplies last. Season tickets are also still available for just $65. Lower-level chair back seating ($80) is sold out.
The Wildcats are looking to tie the school record for the best start to a season at 11-0 set in 2009-10. They also look to chart their 44th consecutive win at home vs. a nonconference opponent.
“We have a tough game coming up here Sunday afternoon,” UK Hoops head coach Matthew Mitchell said. “East Tennessee State has all their really top players back this year. They have a new coach and they’re playing with a lot of energy, a lot of effort. They’ve played a tough schedule. They have a point guard Brianna McQueen who can really push the pace. They have some really guard-like players all over the floor which will make it very important for our post players to be down in a stance and play some great defense. We are not going to have a lot of time to prepare because we got in late last night from Chicago. It was a good victory there and players will be off today, so we really have to focus in practice tomorrow. I would love for a big crowd to come out Sunday afternoon for an important game against East Tennessee State. We need to keep this train rolling down the tracks in the right direction and we’ll need a big crowd to help us get a victory on Sunday.”
The Wildcats are coming off a hard-fought 96-85 win over DePaul in Chicago on Thursday. UK overcame an 11-point first-half deficit thanks in large part to the gritty play of freshmen Linnae Harper (Chicago) and Makayla Epps (Lebanon, Ky.). Harper netted a career-high 18 points in her homecoming, 12 coming in the decisive second half. Epps added a career-high 10 points and six rebounds in just 15 minutes of action. Also in double digits was senior Kastine Evans (Salem, Conn.) with 14, senior Samarie Walker (West Carrollton, Ohio) with 13, along with a team-high eight rebounds, and junior Jennifer O’Neill (Bronx, N.Y.) with 12 points. All 10 available players scored at least one point and the Wildcats shot a season-high 55.9 percent from the field, their highest shooting performance since hitting a 57.1 percent clip vs. Miami (Ohio) on Dec. 1, 2009. UK has already hit 50 percent or better from the floor five times in 10 games, after totaling five all of last season.
O’Neill leads a very balanced scoring attack. She averages a team-high 14.4 points per game and is one of six players to average in double-digit scoring this season. Senior forward DeNesha Stallworth (Richmond, Calif.), who is sidelined three-to-four weeks following arthroscopic surgery on her left knee, follows close behind with 14.2 points per game. Evans averages 12.5 ppg and three Wildcats, sophomore point guard Janee Thompson (Chicago), Walker and junior guard Bria Goss adds 10.6, 10.3 and 10.1 ppg, respectively. Walker is also grabbing a team-high 9.8 rebounds per game which ranks second in the Southeastern Conference.
Located in Johnson City, Tenn., the East Tennessee State Buccaneers enter the game at 2-5 after wins over Appalachian State (81-72) and Alabama A&M (82-65) and losses to Memphis (77-74 OT), Morehead State (77-69), Saint Francis (92-79), Western Carolina (58-56) and Vanderbilt (92-71).
ETSU is under the direction of head coach Brittney Ezell, who became the eighth head coach on May 8, 2013. The former two-sport athlete at Alabama (women’s basketball and softball), has a career record of 120-113 after spending three seasons at Belmont. She also spent three seasons as head coach at Okaloosa-Walton Junior College (now Northwest Florida State College) in Niceville, Fla.
Junior guard Cara Bowling leads the team in scoring at 13.3 points per game. Redshirt junior forward Serena Clark averages 12.3 points and a team-best 12.1 rebounds per game, while sophomore guard Brianna McQueen chips in 12.2 points per contest.
UK is 1-1 all-time vs. ETSU. The last meeting was a 59-50 loss on Dec. 12, 2008 in Memorial Coliseum. The teams first met on Dec. 11, 1982 with UK winning 97-52 in Memorial Coliseum.
For parking information, please visit www.ukathletics.com/wbbgameday.
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