Senior guard A’dia Mathies recognized on preseason All-America Teams
LEXINGTON, Ky. – After its third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history, the Kentucky women’s basketball team has earned top-10 preseason rankings by Lindy’s Sports Magazine and Athlon Sports Magazine, which were released recently.
The Wildcats are coming off a year where they finished 28-7 and won just their second regular season Southeastern Conference title in school history and their first since 1981-82. After advancing to the 2012 Elite Eight, UK is ranked No. 7 by Lindy’s Sports and No. 9 by Athlon Sports.
Senior A’dia Mathies, the 2012 SEC Player of the Year was selected to the All-America First Team by Athlon Sports, while also being recognized on the All-America Second Team by Lindy’s Sports. Mathies, who was one of 25 players named to the preseason “Wade Watch” list, led UK last season in scoring (15 ppg), assists (2.7 apg), steals (2.6 spg) and 3-point field goal percentage (.378). The 5-foot-9 guard ranked second on the team in rebounds (5.1 rpg), 3-point field goals made (51) and was third in blocks (21). The Louisville, Ky., native has climbed to No. 12 on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,435 points and is sixth on the career steals list with 251.
UK head coach Matthew Mitchell welcomes back four starters from last season’s squad, including Mathies, SEC Freshman of the Year Bria Goss (Indianapolis) and NCAA Tournament Kingston All-Region team member Samarie Walker (West Carrollton, Ohio). UK will also welcome back Jennifer O’Neill (Bronx, N.Y.), who sat out the 2011-12 season due to injury, and DeNesha Stallworth (Richmond, Calif.), an All-Pac-10 selection, will see her first action after sitting out last season due to transfer regulations. New faces to the roster next season are sophomore junior college transfer Jelleah Sidney (Queens Village, N.Y.) and freshman McDonald’s All-American Janee Thompson (Chicago, Ill.).
The Wildcats open up the 2012-13 season with an exhibition against Bellarmine on Monday, Nov. 5 at 6:00 p.m. ET in Memorial Coliseum.
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Lindy’s Sports
1. Baylor
2. Connecticut
3. Duke
4. Maryland
5. Stanford
6. Louisville
7. Kentucky
8. Penn State
9. Notre Dame
10. Delaware
11. Georgia
12. St. John’s
13. Oklahoma
14. California
15. Oklahoma State
16. West Virginia
17. Purdue
18. Texas A&M
19. Nebraska
20. Vanderbilt
21. Texas
22. Iowa State
23. Tennessee
24. Middle Tennessee
25. San Diego State
Athlon’s
1. Baylor
2. Duke
3. Connecticut
4. Ohio State
5. Stanford
6. Maryland
7. Georgia
8. Notre Dame
9. Kentucky
10. Penn State
11. Louisville
12. Vanderbilt
13. Delaware
14. California
15. Miami (Fla.)
16. DePaul
17. West Virginia
18. Green Bay
19. Texas A&M
20. Oklahoma
21. Nebraska
22. Michigan
23. St. John’s
24. Middle Tennessee
25. Tennessee
