[B][/B][B][I]Cats will travel to Kingston, R.I., to meet the Bulldogs for first-ever matchup[/I][/B]
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 12/11 University of Kentucky women’s basketball team, fresh off its thrilling 65-62 win over No. 10/10 Green Bay on Monday, will face 11th-seeded Gonzaga on Sunday, March 25 in the NCAA Sweet 16 at the University of Rhode Island’s Ryan Center. Game time is TBA.
Tickets are currently on sale through the Ryan Center Ticket Office at [URL=”tel:401-874-7267″]401-874-7267[/URL] or order online through Ticketmaster:[URL=”https://oss.ticketmaster.com/html/pack_home.htmI?l=EN&team=riu”]https://oss.ticketmaster.com/
UK has compiled an outstanding résumé en route to one the most successful seasons in school history. The Wildcats won their first Southeastern Conference regular season championship since 1982 with a school-record 13-3 mark in league play. They are 27-6 overall and have now won 25-plus games for three consecutive seasons for the first time ever. UK has advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second time in three years, and third time ever, after wins over McNeese State (68-62) and No. 10 Green Bay (65-62).
UK, now 10-8 all-time in the Big Dance, looks to advance to the Elite Eight for the second time since 2010. That year, the Wildcats fell just one win shy of the Final Four, bowing out to 12th-ranked Oklahoma, 88-68.
SEC Player of the Year and All-America candidate A’dia Mathies (Louisville, Ky.) has paced UK to its record-breaking season. The 5-foot-9 junior guard leads the Wildcats in scoring (15.2 points per game), 3-point field goal percentage (.372) and steals (2.6 steals per game). The Louisville, Ky., native is second on the team in rebounds (5.2 rebounds per game), 3-point field goals made (48), and assists (2.6 assists per game).
Amongst her SEC peers, Mathies is second in the league in scoring, third in 3-point field goal percentage, fourth in steals, 10th in 3-point field goals made and 13th in offensive rebounds. Mathies has reached double figures in scoring in every game but seven this season, and has 11 games of 20 or more points. Also, having an impressive senior season is shooting guard Keyla Snowden (Lexington, Ky.). Snowden has averaged a team-high tying 14.5 points off the bench in UK’s four tournament games (SEC and NCAA) combined and was a key catalyst in Monday’s game as she scored UK’s final six points, giving UK the 65-62 victory. Overall, Snowden is the Wildcats’ third leading scorer with 9.6 points per game and she has netted a team-high 54 3-pointers which ranks ninth on UK’s single-season list.
Gonzaga, which received votes in the final Associated Press poll and ranked No. 24 in the ESPN/USA Today final poll, earned its third consecutive Sweet 16 bid after upset wins over sixth-seeded Rutgers (86-73) and third-seeded Miami (65-54) in the first and second rounds, respectively.
Gonzaga is led by senior forward Kayla Standish, who averages a team-high 16.1 points to go with her team-high 7.7 rebounds per game. Standish is also a defensive stalwart, blocking 1.5 shots per game and grabbing 1.3 steals per game.
The Bulldogs went 28-5 during the regular season and 14-2 in West Coast Conference play. The Bulldogs made their way into the tournament as an at-large bid after winning the conference tournament. Kentucky is 1-1 against the WCC all-time.
