Wildcats look for third straight win over Tigers
LEXINGTON, Ky. – After a much-needed bye week, the 14th-ranked University of Kentucky women’s basketball team returns to action Sunday, Jan. 25 when it travels to Columbia, Mo., to face Missouri. The Wildcats look to get back on the winning track and chart their third straight win over the Tigers when the teams tip off in Mizzou Arena at 4 p.m. ET. The game will be televised live on the SEC Network and WatchESPN with Cara Capuano and Steffi Sorensen calling the action. It also can also be heard live on the UK Radio Network with Neil Price.
“Well, we have a very tough game coming up with Missouri,” UK Hoops head coach Matthew Mitchell said. “They are a team where their strengths will definitely stretch our defense and we have been working hard this week to make some headway in the area of our defense. We will sure get some sort of indication of how we have done this week because they will test us in every way possible. Very, very tough game coming up on the road and we need to be ready for it and see if we can go over there and earn a victory.”
Turnovers were the issue last Sunday as UK (15-4, 4-2 Southeastern Conference), known for its own “40 minutes of dread” pressure defense, struggled to take care of the ball in just the second game without starting point guard Janee Thompson, who is out for the season with a broken left fibula. The Wildcats committed 26 turnovers, the second-highest total of the season, which resulted in 27 points for LSU.
On the bright side, the Wildcats welcomed the return of senior guard Bria Goss (Indianapolis) who missed six games due to a broken left thumb. Goss scored 12 points and added five rebounds in her second game back from injury. Four other players scored in double figures, including two with double-figure rebounds. Senior guard Jennifer O’Neill (Bronx, N.Y.) led the way with 19 points. She netted three 3-pointers to move up to No. 4 on UK’s all-time 3-pointers made list. Sophomore Linnae Harper (Chicago) charted her fourth career double-double with 16 points and career-high 15 rebounds, the most rebounds for a player under 6-foot-0 in the Matthew Mitchell era, while freshman forward Alexis Jennings (Madison, Ala.) inked her first career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore Makayla Epps (Lebanon, Ky.), who has moved to the starting point guard spot, added 10 points and five assists. In league games only, Epps leads the SEC in assist/turnover ratio at 2.3 (23 assists/10 turnovers).
Overall this season, O’Neill, who is on the Naismith Watch List, is the team’s leading scorer off the bench with 14.6 points per game. She has scored double figures in 15 of 18 games played, including six of the last seven. Epps and Harper follow with 13.2 and 11.2 ppg, respectively.
Despite standing at just 5-foot-8, Harper is the team’s leading rebounder with 7.2 boards per game. She has pulled down a team-high 63 offensive boards and is the shortest player to rank in the top 10 of the SEC rebounding statistics. She also is one of just four players in the NCAA to stand at 5-8 or under and average at least 7.2 rebounds per game. In SEC games only, Harper also is the league’s leader in steals with 3.0 per game. Senior center Azia Bishop (Toledo, Ohio), who ranks second on the team in rebounding with 6.3 rpg, has swatted a team-high 33 blocks and currently ranks second in the SEC in blocks per game (1.7).
Missouri (11-8, 1-5 SEC) also enjoyed a bye on Thursday. The Tigers have lost six of their last seven games, including two in a row. Two players are averaging in double digits led by sophomore guard/forward Jordan Frericks and senior guard Morgan Eye with 12.9 and 10.2 ppg, respectively. Frericks also is pulling down a team-high 9.5 rebounds per game which ranks second in the SEC.
Missouri leads the SEC in 3-point field goals made per game with 7.4 as Eye is the key catalyst beyond the arc with 2.7 per game. Teammate Maddie Stock comes in at 12th with 1.5 per game.
The Tigers, led by fifth-year head coach Robin Pingeton, are 0-4 vs. ranked teams this season with losses to Tennessee (63-53), Mississippi State (53-47), Georgia (69-48) and South Carolina (60-49).
Sunday marks just the fourth all-time meeting between the teams. UK leads the series 3-1 and is 1-0 in Columbia. UK has won the last two meetings, including the last game in Mizzou Arena, 69-43, on Jan. 13, 2013.
