Hoop Cats start season strong

By Anthony Crawford

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The UK Women’s basketball team kicked off its season against Union University in its only exhibition game before beginning the season on Friday against Rice University. The Cats put on an impressive offensive display in their first outing of the season, beating the Lady Bulldogs 95-63.

It was the Cats’ defense that set the tone early in the first half. The size advantage was noticeable and an advantage for UK. The Lady Bulldogs made only one two-point field-goal in the first half, and only made eight of their 20 three-point attempts in the first half.

Freshmen were the story early in the game as guard Maci Morris made her first career start for the Cats. Morris wasted no time showing why she was recruited by UK, as the Kentucky-born guard had two threes in the opening quarter in her first colligate game for the Cats, and finished with ten points.

Two more freshmen, Batouly Camara and Taylor Murray, also made impacts in their first game. Defensively the combo combined for six steals, with Camara also chipping in three blocks.

Both contributed on offense with Murray adding five assists, taking over ball-handling responsibilities and showing she could be a force on offense, scoring 15 points and getting to the foul line 10 times.

Head coach Matthew Mitchell liked what the freshmen were able to do in their first game and is excited about how they can contribute to the team this season.

“They are extremely coachable, very hard workers, and you can show them a piece of film and they respond,” Mitchell said.

The veterans also showed up, especially senior Janee Thompson in her return from injury. Thompson showed confidence in her role of running the offense turning in 17 points and seven assists on 7-10 shooting.

The Cats were able to get back on track in thanks to a dominant stretch by forward Alexis Jennings. The sophomore scored 12 of her team-high 20 points in the fourth quarter and also finished with 12 rebounds.

Mitchell hopes this type of performance can become the norm for Jennings and credits the performance to a change in attitude and her maturing over the summer.

“Over the summer you could really tell that she was engaging people more and just had a better presence about herself,” Mitchell said.