Fresh off its first Southeastern Conference win of the season Thursday at Florida, the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team looks to continue its momentum Monday as it travels to face Vanderbilt at 7 p.m. ET inside Memorial Gymnasium.
The game will be broadcast live on the SEC Network with Brenda VanLengen and Carol Ross on the call. The action can also be seen through WatchESPN on computers, smartphones or tablets. Darren Headrick, in his first year with the program, will be calling the game on the UK Sports Radio Network. Fans in Lexington can hear Headrick’s call on 630AM WLAP. Live stats and free audio will be available online at ukathletics.com.
Kentucky (9-9, 1-3 SEC) used a strong defensive effort and some clutch shooting to end an eight-game losing streak and get back in the win column with a 56-53 victory at Florida on Thursday. The Wildcats shot 58.3 percent from the field in the fourth quarter and 51.8 percent in the second half to earn the win. Junior guard Taylor Murray scored a team-high 19 points with six rebounds going 8-fo-12 from the field, while junior guard Amanda Paschal went 5-of-8 from the field to score 12 points off the bench. The Wildcats had a 22-18 advantage in points in the paint, 13-9 advantage in second-chance points and 23-4 edge in bench points.
Murray along with fellow junior guard Maci Morris – who is day-to-day with a knee bone bruise and only played 20 minutes each of the last two games – are the leading scorers for the Wildcats this season. Murray is averaging 10.1 points per game while sitting second in rebounds at 5.2 per game and leading the team in assists and steals. Morris is averaging 15.4 points per game with a team-best 39 made 3s. Morris ranks top 20 nationally in 3-point field-goal percentage at 44.8 percent.
Vanderbilt leads the all-time series in games played against Kentucky, 27-24. The Commodores own a 14-8 record in games played in Nashville. UK has won the last four meetings between the two teams in Nashville, while this is the first meeting in Memorial Gymnasium between the two teams since UK earned a 71-55 victory on Feb. 14, 2016. Kentucky has won 11 of the last 12 meetings, including two straight. Vanderbilt’s last win in the series came in Memorial Coliseum on Jan. 28, 2016, 71-69. Matthew Mitchell is 12-4 against Vanderbilt as a head coach at Kentucky.
Vanderbilt enters Monday’s game looking for its first conference win of the season after a 0-4 start. The Commodores are 4-14 overall this season, including 2-7 at home. VU has lost four straight games with the last win coming Dec. 28 against Lipscomb, 92-82, in Memorial Gymnasium.
The Commodores are averaging 69.5 points per game this season, while allowing opponents to score 79.7 points per game and hit 45.8 percent from the field. VU has a -5.2 rebounding margin and is averaging 18.1 turnovers per game. As a team, Vanderbilt is hitting 44.4 percent from the field, including 38.9 percent 3 and averaging 6.9 made 3s per game.
Freshman guard Chelsie Hall is leading the Commodores with 13.8 points per game to go along with 45 assists and 19 steals. Senior guard Rachel Bell is hitting 41.3 percent (31-for-75) from long range this season and averaging 13.4 points per game, while fellow senior guard Christa Reed is averaging 8.9 points per game and is hitting 47.5 percent from the field. Sophomore guard Cierra Walker has hit a team-best 35 3s and also paces the team with 49 assists. Freshman forward Autumn Newby is the team’s leading rebounder with 7.0 per game.
Kentucky defeated Vanderbilt, 71-63, in the team’s lone meeting last season inside Memorial Coliseum on Feb. 5. Makayla Epps scored 23 points in the game, while UK also got great performances by Evelyn Akhator and Murray. Akhator had 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Murray scored 18 points, dished out seven assists and pulled down five rebounds. VU’s Kayla Overbeck led the Commodores with 19 points, while Reed had 12.
The Wildcats were able to get to the basket with great regularity in the game, scoring 42 points in the paint, compared to just 22 paint points for the Commodores. Vanderbilt did win the rebounding battle, 41-29, but the Commodores only had two more second-chance points than the Wildcats (12-10).
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, or Kentucky Women’s Basketball on Facebook.
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For more information contact:
Evan Crane