Jen Smith on UK women’s basketball

Cats sweep SEC honors, move up in poll

Published on December 12, 2011 in Uncategorized. Closed

Two straight wins over top 10 opponents Louisville and Duke and then a blowout over Arkansas Pine Bluff helped two Kentucky players earn top honors from the Southeastern Conference this week. A’dia Mathies was named Player of the Week for the second straight week and Bria Goss was named Freshman of the Week for the second time this season.

Mathies leads unbeaten UK (10-0) in scoring (16.8 ppg) and steals (4.6 spg) and she had a season-high 23 points in its win over Duke last week. Goss is second on the team in scoring with 12.3 points.

Kentucky’s two big wins moved it up to No. 8 in the Associated Press poll this week with a game at No. 3 Notre Dame looming on Sunday. The No. 8 ranking is UK’s highest since the third week of the season last year. But it’s the highest rating the Cats have achieved since the 1982-83 season when they went as high as No. 4.

UK offers dollar ticket deal

Published on December 5, 2011 in Uncategorized. Closed

Kentucky’s women’s basketball has started a ticket special for its three remaining home games in December called “Dollar in December.” The special starts on Thursday for the No. 10 Cats’ game against No. 6 Duke at Rupp Arena. UK also will host Arkansas Pine-Bluff on Sunday and then Samford on Dec. 21 at Memorial Coliseum.

In order to get the $1 ticket special, they have to be purchased in advance at the Joe Craft Center Ticket Office. Tickets for $1 will not be available online unless for a group of 20 or more. Tickets for $1 also will not be available for purchase on game day at the Rupp Arena or Memorial Coliseum ticket office.

UK is reporting that reserved tickets for the lower section of Rupp Arena (capacity 10,317) is sold out. As of Monday afternoon, 11,082 tickets have been sold. The UK women’s attendance record at Rupp is 13,689 in 2006 when they beat top-ranked Tennessee. The second-highest attendance 10,622 at Memorial Coliseum when UK played Old Dominion in 1983.

capacity in lower is 10,317

UK moves into top 10; Mathies honored

Published on December 5, 2011 in Uncategorized. Closed

After its 20-point win over Louisville on Sunday, the UK women moved into the top 10 for the first time this season in the Associated Press poll, which was released on Monday afternoon. That new rating will be tested in the next two weeks with a game against No. 6 Duke at Rupp Arena on Thursday and then a trip to No. 3 Notre Dame on Dec. 18.

Also announced Monday, UK’s A’dia Mathies is the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week for her performance in the win over the Cardinals. Mathies, a junior guard, had her third 20-point game of the season. The Louisville native shot 66.7 percent from three-point range and better than 50 percent from the field.

UK’s Mathies named to Naismith Trophy watch list

Published on November 30, 2011 in Uncategorized. Closed

Kentucky junior A’dia Mathies was named to the Naismith Trophy watch list on Wednesday afternoon. Mathies, a 5-foot-9 guard from Louisville, was a pre-season Southeastern Conference selection by both the coaches and the media. Mathies averaged 12.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.1 steals a game last season.

Other names of note on the list include former Lexington Catholic star Natalie Novosel and her Notre Dame teammates Skylar Diggins and Devereaux Peters. Louisville’s Monique Reid and Shoni Schimmel are on the list as well. Other UK opponents that are on the watch list include Duke’s Chelsea Gray.
SEC players on the watch list include LaSondra Barrett (LSU); Jasmine James (Georgia); Glory Johnson, Shekinna Stricklen and Meighan Simmons (Tennessee).

UK women sign Janee Thompson

Published on November 11, 2011 in Uncategorized. Closed

One of the nation’s top point guards signed her letter of intent with Kentucky this week, the school said in a release.
Janee Thompson, a 5-foot-7 guard from Whitney Young High School in Chicago, is rated as the No. 6 point guard in the class of 2012 by ESPN’s HoopGurlz and the 35th player in the nation overall. All-Star Girls Report has her listed as the No. 12 player in the nation.
“There were very few point guards in the Class of 2012 who we thought could handle the demands that we place on our point guards,” Coach Matthew Mitchell said in a release. “We are very fortunate to get the player who fits our style better than anyone else and that player is Janee Thompson.”
After returning to action last January from a torn ACL, Thompson averaged 7.4 points and 2.3 assists in the final 14 games for Whitney Young.
Kentucky was believed to be in the hunt for two other top players in the country, but they have opted to play elsewhere. Brianna Butler, the 13th-best player in the nation according to HoopGurlz, signed this week to play for Syracuse and 16th-ranked Alexis Prince of Florida is headed to Baylor.

UK picked second; Mathies makes First Team

Published on November 8, 2011 in Uncategorized. Closed

Kentucky was picked to finish second overall in the league in the pre-season coaches’ balloting by the Southeastern Conference. The Cats, who went 25-9 overall last year and 11-5 in SEC play, were picked to finish behind Tennessee, which returns four starters from last year’s SEC champion.

In the voting, the Lady Vols earned 120 points, with Kentucky (100), Georgia (98), LSU (96), Florida (92) and Vanderbilt (85) rounding out the top half of the league. South Carolina (62), Arkansas (57), Auburn (39), Alabama (29), Mississippi State (25) and Ole Miss (16) at the bottom.

UK swing player A’dia Mathies from Louisville was a First Team All-SEC selection by the coaches as well. She was on the first team with Tennessee’s Shekinna Stricklen, Glory Johnson and Meighan Simmons as well as Georgia’s Jasmine James, LSU’s LaSondra Barrett, Arkansas’ C’iera Ricketts (also a Louisville native) and Stephanie Holzer of Vanderbilt.

UK women No. 15 in coaches’ pre-season poll

Published on November 1, 2011 in Uncategorized. Closed

The coaches’ pre-season basketball poll was released this afternoon and has UK at No. 15. Louisville comes in at No. 9, also its ranking in the Associated Press poll.

The Cats return 10 players and four starters from a team that went 25-9 overall last season, including 11 SEC victories.

Cats ranked No. 18 in pre-season

Published on October 29, 2011 in Uncategorized. Closed

I’m back from maternity leave …

In other news, the Associated Press poll released on Saturday has UK rated No. 18. It’s the first time in school history that the Cats earned a pre-season ranking in back-to-back seasons. UK is one of four Southeastern Conference teams rated including No. 3 Tennessee, No. 13 Georgia and No. 21 LSU. Three other UK opponents are in the top 10, including No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 7 Duke and No. 9 Louisville.

1. Baylor (33)
2. Notre Dame (6)
3. Tennessee
4. UConn
5. Stanford
6. Texas A&M (1)
7. Miami
8. Duke
9. Louisville
10. Georgetown
11. Maryland
12. Penn St.
13. Georgia
14. Florida State
15. Oklahoma
16. Rutgers
17. Purdue
18. Kentucky
19. DePaul
20. North Carolina
21. LSU
22. UCLA
23. Southern Cal
24. Texas
25. St. John’s

Vols’ Summitt has dementia

Published on August 23, 2011 in Uncategorized. Closed

Tennessee Coach Pat Summitt, 59, confirmed on the record to Dan Fleser of the Knoxville New Sentinel that she has early stages of dementia and that she will try to continue coaching this season. Here is a link to his well-reported story:

http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2011/aug/23/pat-summitt-diagnosed-early-onset-dementia

Summitt has 1,071 career victories and eight national titles.

UK women add swing player

Published on August 19, 2011 in Uncategorized. Closed

Kentucky picked up an unexpected commitment on Friday when Bra’Shey Ali decided to enroll in school and join the Cats.
Ali, a 6-foot swing player from Plainfield, N.J., originally had signed with West Virginia but was granted a release from her commitment.
She landed at Kentucky, where she will play alongside her former Saint Michael Academy teammate Jennifer O’Neill.
Ali was rated the 36th best guard in last year’s senior class, according to ESPN’s Hoopgurlz.com. BlueStar recruiting service lists her as the 19th best forward in that class.
She will be eligible to play for UK immediately. Originally, Ali had offers from the Mountaineers, Kentucky, Louisville and Rutgers.
Ali averaged 12 points, five rebounds and two steals a game in her senior season.
Her high school coach Apache Paschall told the New York Daily News in February that he thought he had his next McDonald’s All-American on the roster when he met Ali her freshman year.
But she was slowed by a foot injury that season and missed her sophomore season completely with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.