UK Hoops seeking 700th win in program history
UK head coach Matthew Mitchell gets DeNesha Stallworth fired up during the first half of the UK hoops game versus Eckerd College at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Ky., on Sunday, November, 3, 2013. Photo by Jonathan Krueger
January 4, 2014
By Tyler Spanyer
Fresh off an opening conference win over the University of Alabama, UK Hoops will look for their 700th win in program history when they host the University of Florida in their SEC home opener on Sunday.
UK comes into the game with a program record of 699-478 in their 40th season of varsity basketball.
The No. 6 ranked Cats beat the Crimson Tide 85-63 on Thursday. Junior guard Jennifer O’Neill scored a team high 17 points and added four assists. O’Neill scored a season high four three-point field goals on eight attempts.
Florida comes into the game after beating SEC foe Mississippi State University on Thursday. The Gators have lost six in a row to UK, including five straight in Lexington.
“It certainly doesn’t feel like we’ve run six in a row against them,” UK head coach Matthew Mitchell said. “They’re just always so tough. I think we have really good games because they always have tough players and their coach gets them ready to play.”
The Gators are led by senior guard Jaterra Bonds who leads the team with 16.8 points per game and 4.6 assists per game. Bonds is one of four Gators who average over 10 points per game.
“We have a very tough challenge ahead Sunday afternoon,” Mitchell said. “If you think about the series over the last seven years, it’s been a really, really difficult game for us and Florida always has really good players.”
UK senior forward DeNesha Stallworth has missed the last five games. She leads a balanced scoring attack for the Cats, averaging 14.2 points per game. Six players averaging double figures in scoring. Senior guard Kastine Evans has tallied double-figures in 10 of the Cats 14 games this season, including a 15 point performance against Alabama earlier this week.
The game is set to tip-off at 3:00 p.m. Sunday in Memorial Coliseum.
