By Kevin Erpenbeck

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UK Hoops head coach Matthew Mitchell calls it the most special place to play in the country.

The Cats relished in the magic that Memorial Coliseum gives them, winning their season opener 111-74 over Appalachian State.

“Great to be back in Memorial Coliseum to start another season,” Mitchell said. “The crowd was great, and the players started the game with a lot of excitement.”

The win marks the sixth consecutive time UK has won its home opener, and is now 33-8 all time in season openers.

UK raced out to an early lead over Appalachian State, scoring 10 points before the Mountaineers even had a basket, and led 18-2 before allowing the first opposing field goal.

The Cats never looked back after that.

“We certainly have some weapons offensively,” Mitchell said. “We’re going to try and put the pressure on you, and run the basketball back at you. We have an opportunity to be a really explosive team.”

Seven UK players scored in double digits, with senior point guard Jennifer O’Neill leading the team with 20 points. O’Neill was impressed with the triple-digit point effort from her team to begin the new season.

“A lot of the team came out to play today,” O’Neill said. “It’s the beginning of the season though. So once we get further along, we’ll see how much potential we really have. We do have potential now, but we’ve just got to go fulfill it.”

Another player to score in double digits was sophomore forward Kyvin Goodin-Rogers. After missing all of last season with a pulmonary embolism, Rogers began her first game as a Cat knocking down two consecutive three-pointers and two free throws to help UK roll off the early 10-0 run. She would eventually end the night with 11 points.

Rogers said she was glad to finally be back with her teammates on the court.

“It was really special for me,” Rogers said. “They supported me through everything. Coming back to the first day, I just trusted them. So I knew I was going to be okay.”

Appalachian State battled back late in the first half to cut the Cats’ lead to 13 thanks to a dominating performance by senior forward Maryah Sydnor. The 6-foot-1 player had 23 points in the first half, more than double than any other player on the court.

“I thought she brought a competitive spirit to our team that she has bringing every day in practice,” said Appalachian State head coach Angel Elderkin. “She’s a special player, and I’m so happy that she was able to come on this stage, in this environment, and perform the way she did.”

Mitchell didn’t want to see a repeat performance of Sydnor’s domination in the second half though, and put senior forward Bria Goss on the Mountaineers’ leading scorer as a defensive adjustment. The move worked wonders, as Sydnor was only 2-6 from the field with 10 points in the second half.

The Cats will stay in Lexington for their second game of the season when they face No. 8 Baylor at Rupp Arena. While it isn’t their home court of Memorial Coliseum, Mitchell still expects a high level energy both on the court and in the stands.

“It’s a tough game to play for the second game of the season,” Mitchell said. “We need to make it an up-tempo game, and be tough and disruptive on defense. It’ll be a fun game; ticket sales were over 20,000. The (players) will be excited.”