Wildcats and Tigers will tip at 7 p.m. ET Thursday on SEC Network
KENTUCKY GAME NOTES | SEC NETWORK | LIVE STATS | FREE AUDIO
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 13 University of Kentucky women’s basketball team will continue its stretch of three games in six days Thursday when it travels to Columbia, Missouri, to take on the Missouri Tigers are 7 p.m. ET inside Mizzou Arena.
The game will be broadcast on SEC Network with Courtney Lyle and Christy Thomaskutty 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 (16-3, 5-2 Southeastern Conference) is coming off a 68-61 win against Auburn on Monday. The Wildcats held a 20-point lead in the first half and 16-point halftime lead before the Tigers stormed back by going on a 14-0 run – the most consecutive points scored against UK this season – to eventually tie the game early in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats would end the game outscoring Auburn 17-10 down the stretch to secure the win. Senior guard Sabrina Haines led Kentucky with 17 points, hitting four 3s while junior forward KeKe McKinney scored 13 points with eight rebounds, going 6-of-6 from the field. Sophomore guard Rhyne Howard scored 10 points in the game, missing much of the second half with a finger injury.
Howard leads UK this season by averaging 23.2 points per game and 6.3 rebounds per game while she has hit 61 3-pointers with 49 assists, 45 steals and 22 blocks. Haines is averaging 10.9 points per game and is hitting 43.5 percent from 3 while junior guard Chasity Patterson is averaging 9.1 points per game and has 16 steals in eight games. McKinney is averaging 7.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while leading the Wildcats with 25 blocks. As a team, UK is averaging 72.5 points per game and is limiting teams to just 55.5 points per game. UK has hit 168 3s this season and ranks top-20 nationally in 3s made and 3-point field-goal percentage.
Missouri enters the game sitting 5-15 overall and 2-5 in SEC play. The Tigers are 4-6 at home, 1-7 on the road and 0-2 in neutral-site games. Missouri is coming off a 72-53 loss at No. 15 Texas A&M, but prior to that the Tigers performed well on the road at Ole Miss, defeating the Rebels 71-57. As a team, Missouri is averaging 65.8 points per game, hitting 40.5 percent from the field and 34.7 percent from 3 this season.
Aijha Blackwell is leading the team in scoring averaging 13.0 points per game with 5.8 rebounds per game and a team-high 51 assists. Amber Smith is averaging 12.1 points per game and is leading the team with 5.9 rebounds per game. Hayley Frank is the only other Tiger to average double figures at 11.9 points per game, while Jordan Chavis has hit a team-high 37 3s and is averaging 7.1 points per game with a team-best 22 steals.
Kentucky leads the all-time series in games played against Missouri, 7-4 while the series is tied in games played in Columbia, 2-2. Missouri has won three of the last four meetings against the Wildcats, including each of the last two in Columbia. Last season, the two teams met in Lexington during the regular season with UK earning a 52-41 win over the Tigers. In the rematch in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament, Missouri defeated the Wildcats in overtime 70-68. Matthew Mitchell is 6-3 in his UK tenure against Missouri.
