Looking to continue its momentum after the come-from-behind victory Sunday vs. top-15 ranked Indiana, the No. 9 University of Kentucky women’s basketball team returns to the Memorial Coliseum floor Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET to play host to Marshall.
With attendance limited to 15% of normal arena capacity, the majority of tickets have been sold as full-season packages for women’s basketball and UK does not expect any general public ticket sales at this time. Fans are encouraged to check Ticketmaster.com for any ticket allotments that are returned and released closer to game days, as well as for verified resale tickets.
The game vs. Marshall will be streamed on SEC Network+ with Clay Ables and Christi Thomas on the call. The action can also be seen through WatchESPN on computers, smartphones or tablets. Darren Headrick will have the call on the UK Sports Network on 630AM WLAP in Lexington. Live stats and free live audio will be available online at UKathletics.com.
Kentucky has started the season 4-0 for the fourth straight season. This is the seventh time in interim head coach Kyra Elzy’s nine seasons on the UK staff that the Wildcats have started at least 4-0. The strong start is the third best in program history for a first-year head coach. Terry Hall started 9-0 in 1980-81, while Sharon Fanning started 5-0 in 1987-88.
UK is coming off a huge 72-68 victory over top-15 ranked Indiana on Sunday, coming from behind to earn the early season victory. UK trailed by 13 at halftime and by as much as 14 in the first half before outscoring the Hoosier 49-32 down the stretch, including 28-14 in the fourth quarter. Junior guard Rhyne Howard scored 22 points, hitting three 3s in the game, while three other Wildcats were in double figures. Senior guard Chasity Patterson scored 13 points with seven rebounds and six assists, while sophomore forward Dre’una Edwards recorded her third straight double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard Robyn Benton came off the bench to score 12 points including a huge 3 and two free throws late in the fourth quarter as part of UK’s 11-0 run to take control of the game.
The win moved Kentucky up to No. 9 in the latest Associated Press Top 25, which marks the first time UK has entered the top-10 in the listing since 2015-16. This is the 90th week all-time that UK has been ranked inside the AP Top 10. UK’s highest ranking is No. 4 in 82-83.
Three Wildcats are averaging over 14 points this season, paced by Patterson who is averaging 16 points with a team-best 14 assists. Howard is averaging 15.0 points, while Edwards is averaging 14.8 points with 9.5 rebounds. Benton is averaging 9.8 points per game and has 16 total rebounds, while junior Blair Green is averaging 7.8 points and has hit five 3s. Senior forward KeKe McKinney is playing 32.4 minutes per game this season and is averaging 6.5 rebounds and 5.8 points.
Marshall started its season Sunday by defeating Radford 69-58 inside Cam Henderson Center. The Thundering Herd were leading 49-47 heading into the fourth quarter before outscoring Radford 20-11 in the final 10 minutes to claim the win. MU shot 38.5 percent from the field and went 5-of-24 from long range in the game. Marshall was led by preseason all-conference honoree Savannah Wheeler, who scored 25 points with three rebounds, going 7-of-16 from the field and 3-of-9 from 3. Wheeler went 8-of-12 from the free throw line with three rebounds and two steals. Sophomore forward Alexis Johnson scored 12 points with nine rebounds, hitting two 3s, while junior forward/center Lorelei Roper scored nine points with eight rebounds. Nine players played in the game with eight scoring points. Last season, Marshall went 13-17, 7-11 in Conference USA play averaging 62.9 points per game. Marshall returns three starters from that team and seven total letterwinners. Marshall welcomes seven newcomers to the squad.
Thursday will be the 17th all-time meeting between Kentucky and Marshall and the 10th time the two schools have met in Lexington. UK is 14-2 all-time against the Thundering Herd, including a 9-0 mark at home (8-0 inside Memorial Coliseum). This will be only the fourth meeting since 2003 between the two program with UK winning each of the last three. Marshall’s two wins were both in Huntington in 1996 and 1988. The last meeting was on Nov. 26, 2017 when UK earned a 69-39 victory inside Memorial Coliseum. The Wildcats shot 41.3 percent from the field and went 7-of-15 from long range. Several Wildcats that are on the team now played in the game, including KeKe McKinney scoring seven points with five rebounds. Kameron Roach played six minutes in the game. Kristen Mayo is the only play for Marshall that played in that game, starting and contributing 30 minutes with five points, three rebounds and two assists.
Kentucky owns a 62-33 all-time record against teams that make up the current alignment of Conference USA. Marshall is the only C-USA team that UK is scheduled to play this year.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
