One lucky fan at Sunday’s game will win the chance to own a race horse for an entire year
*Photo by Regina Rickert
LEXINGTON, Ky. – No. 5/6 Kentucky women’s basketball looks to continue its winning ways and chart its best start to a season in school history when it plays host to No. 2 Duke in a sold-out Rupp Arena for its annual “Pack the House” game. The game will be televised live on the UK IMG Sports Network and Fox Sports South with Garry Gupton and Christi Thomas calling the action. The game also will be broadcast on the UK IMG Sports Radio Network with Neil Price.
For the first time in school history, UK has sold out Rupp Arena for a women’s basketball game. It marks the second sellout for UK Hoops this season as the Cats vs. intrastate rival Louisville in Memorial Coliseum on Dec. 1 also was sold out. With a seating capacity of 23,000, the Wildcats look to break the single-season attendance record of 18,488 set last season vs. DePaul in Rupp Arena. They also hope to record the largest crowd to ever watch a women’s basketball game in the Commonwealth, surpassing the attendance of 22,152 set in the first Kentucky-Louisville game played in the KFC Yum! Center on Dec. 5, 2010.
UK students will still be admitted free of charge, while faculty and staff will also receive admittance for themselves and a guest. UK students must present their valid UK Student ID and faculty and staff must present their UK Employee identification card in order to enter Rupp Arena. Please enter through the main Rupp Arena entrance located off High Street.
The Wildcats (11-0), one of just 14 teams in the country still undefeated, have several winning streaks on the line Sunday. UK has won 11 straight games, including eight at home. They have won 44 straight home games vs. nonconference opponents and 21 overall regular season games vs. nonconference opponents.
“It’s going to be a very tough game,” UK Hoops Coach Matthew Mitchell said. “Duke has an outstanding team, outstanding players. They are extremely dynamic both offensively and defensively, so we’ll be tested every way imaginable. We’re going to work extremely hard to try to prepare for a victory. One more time, I couldn’t be more excited about the response we’ve had from this community and Big Blue Nation and our fans. We’ll be real excited to take the floor at 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon.”
The Wildcats matched their best start in school history at 11-0 with a 73-56 win over East Tennessee State last Sunday. Freshman Linnae Harper (Chicago) came off the bench for the second straight game to spark the Wildcats. After scoring a career-high 18 points at DePaul, she netted all 10 of her points against the Buccaneers in the first half, hitting 5-of-6 attempts. She was one of three Wildcats in double figures as senior forward Samarie Walker (West Carrollton, Ohio) and sophomore point guard Janee Thompson (Chicago) led with 12 points apiece. Harper was named Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week for her performances last week.
Overall this season, senior forward DeNesha Stallworth (Richmond, Calif.), who is sidelined three-to-four weeks following arthroscopic surgery on her left knee, leads a very balanced scoring attack this season as one of five players in double-digit scoring. She averages a team-high 14.2 points per game, while junior point guard Jennifer O’Neill (Bronx, N.Y.) adds 13.8 points per game. Senior forward Kastine Evans (Salem, Conn.) averages 12.1 ppg and Thompson and Walker follow with 10.7 and 10.5 ppg, respectively.
The Blue Devils (11-1) are coming off an 80-51 win over Albany on Thursday at home. Prior to that matchup they were coming off a tough loss at home to top-ranked Connecticut, 83-61.
Duke, which returns 11 letterwinners and all five starters from its Elite Eight team in 2012-13, is led by senior guard Tricia Liston with 17.5 points per game. Sophomore guard Alexis Jones and junior center Elizabeth Williams average 14.2 and 13.4 points per game, respectively. Senior guard Chelsea Gray posts 12.8 points and 7.8 assists per contest, while senior guard/forward Haley Peters averages 12.7 points and a team-high 8.6 rebounds per game.
UK is 1-3 all-time vs. the Blue Devils. The Wildcats won the last meeting between the teams, 72-65, in Rupp Arena on Dec. 8, 2011.
One lucky fan at the game on Sunday will win a one-of-a-kind horse racing experience. Fans who attend the game will receive one numbered card per person as their ticket is scanned upon entry. The winning card will be randomly drawn in the second half of the game. The winner must be present with his or her card to win a chance to be a part owner of a 3-year-old filly named Patinka owned by Dr. Stuart Brown, a prominent Lexington area veterinarian. The winner will receive 10 percent of the owner’s winnings from any of Patinka’s races from Jan. 1, 2014 until Dec. 31, 2014 and also will receive travel expenses for two to at least one of Patinka’s races. The lucky winner will also be able to meet Patinka this winter before the 2014 race season at Dr. Brown’s farm in Versailles, Ky.
Patinka (pronounced pa-TINK-ah) is trained by H. Graham Motion, the trainer most notable for his work with 2011 Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom and Better Talk Now.
Matthew Mitchell pre-Duke press conference
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