UK Hoops picked to win SEC
November 6, 2012
In a poll of coaches from the conference Tuesday, No. 6 UK Hoops was voted to win the SEC regular season title.
Senior guard A’dia Mathies was voted preseason first team All-SEC, and junior forward Samarie Walker and sophomore guard Bria Goss were voted into the preseason second team.
Mathies, last season’s SEC Player of the Year, led the team in scoring (15.0 ppg), steals (2.6 spg), assists (2.7 apg), and 3-point field goal percentage (37.8%). She received nine of the 13 votes for Player of the Year votes. The Louisville native is also on this season’s “Wade’s Watch” list for top performers in the nation.
Walker led the team in rebounds (7.2 rpg) last season, as she was an NCAA Tournament All-Region team selection. She was also second on UK’s squad in field goal percentage (48.4%) and blocks (22), and third in scoring (9.7 ppg).
Dubbed the 2012 SEC Freshman of the Year, Goss was second on the team in scoring (11 ppg) last season, and third in steals (1.43 spg), rebounds (4 rpg), and assists (1.49 apg).
Kentucky received 167 first-place votes, 18 points more than second-place Georgia. The Cats finished last season in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament after winning 13 games in the SEC, a school record.
The votes of the coaches back up votes by the media that have UK winning the SEC this season, as well as naming Mathies and Walker to the All-SEC first- and second-team, respectively.
Matthew Mitchell began his sixth season as UK head coach when the Cats defeated Bellarmine 113-33 in an exhibition last Monday night. His squad plays next on Saturday, Nov. 10, when they take on Delaware State at 1 p.m ET in Memorial Coliseum.