Free admission to UK’s exhibition vs. Union University on Sunday at 5 p.m. ET
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 17/18 University of Kentucky women’s basketball team will play host to Union University in its lone exhibition game of the season on Sunday at 5 p.m. ET inside Memorial Coliseum. Admission to the game is free of charge.
The game will be live streamed on the SEC Network+ with Jeff Piecoro and Christi Thomas calling the action. SEC Network+ is available through WatchESPN. The game can also be heard live on the UK Sports Radio Network with Neil Price calling the action for the 11th consecutive season. Fans in Lexington can hear Price’s call on 630AM WLAP.
Kentucky is in its ninth season under head coach Matthew Mitchell, who is the winningest head coach in program history. Last year, the Wildcats posted a 24-10 record and earned a school-record sixth-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament, hosting the first and second rounds for the second consecutive season.
Mitchell and Co. return two starters from last year’s team that defeated six ranked opponents, including three ranked top-10 nationally at the time UK defeated them. Senior guard Janee Thompson, who has recovered from an injury that sidelined her for the final 17 games last season, and junior guard Makayla Epps are the returning starters for Kentucky. Thompson was averaging 10.1 points per game at the time of her injury, while Epps led the Southeastern Conference in scoring during league play and was named First-Team All-SEC by league coaches.
The Wildcats also return junior forward Kyvin Goodin-Rogers, sophomore post players Alexis Jennings – a member of the All-SEC Freshman Team last year – and Alyssa Rice. Senior center Ivana Jakubcova returns as well after missing last season due to injury.
Five newcomers complete the roster for Kentucky, including last year’s WBCA Junior/Community College Player of the Year Evelyn Akhator. True freshman guards Maci Morris and Taylor Murray join true freshman forward Batouly Camara and look to make an immediate impact in their first season with Kentucky. Cincinnati transfer Makenzie Cann will sit out the 2015-16 seasons due to NCAA transfer rules.
Kentucky will begin the year ranked No. 17 in the USA Today/Coaches Preseason Top 25 and No. 18 Associated Press Preseason Top 25. The preseason rankings mark the sixth consecutive season the Wildcats have been ranked inside the top 20 of both major polls to start the season. UK has been ranked in each poll since week 13 of the 2009-10 season, the longest ranking streak in program history.
The Union University Lady Bulldogs finished the 2014-15 season with an impressive 28-4 mark, including 19-3 in Gulf South Conference action. Under head coach Mark Campbell, Union has won five NCAA Division II National Championship titles, the most recent in 2014.
The Lady Bulldogs won both the GSC regular season title and the automatic bid to the NCAA Division II National Tournament after a 62-50 win over Delta State (Miss.) in the GSC Tournament championship game. Union advanced to the NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen last season, falling in the South Region championship game to Nova Southeastern, 67-62.
Though UU lost the Daktronics NCAA Division II Conference Commissioners Association Women’s Basketball South Region Player of the Year, Amy Philamlee, to graduation, the Lady Bulldogs return five members of last year’s team and boast the addition of key freshmen and transfers.
Union’s roster features three players who transferred from an NCAA Division I institution. Both Jordan Johnson and Tiara Caldwell transferred from Tennessee Martin, where Caldwell started in all but three games as a sophomore. Carnecia Williams is a familiar face for the Wildcats, as she spent two seasons with Southeastern Conference foe Mississippi State and started in all but five games for the Bulldogs.
Last year, Kentucky defeated in-state foe Pikeville in its lone exhibition game at Memorial Coliseum. UK is 7-1 in exhibition games under Coach Mitchell.
Season tickets and single-game tickets for the 2015-16 season are on sale now through Ticketmaster. Season tickets (including Rupp Arena games) are available for $65 online at UKathletics.com/tickets or by calling the UK Ticket Office at (859) 257-1818 or (800) 928-2287. Single-game reserved tickets are $9 for all ages, while adult general admission single-game tickets are $8. For those aged 6-18 or 65-and-over, general admission costs are $5 per ticket. Children age five-and-under are admitted free in the general admission seating area, and UK students, faculty and staff are admitted free with valid identification.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, follow @UKHoopCats on Twitter and Instagram, or like Kentucky Women’s Basketball on Facebook.
Spectator parking is located in the following areas:
- All E-lots surrounding Memorial Coliseum are off control beginning 3 hours prior to tip. This includes the College of Education E-lots, located off Scott Street.
- The South Limestone Garage (PS#5, adjacent to Kennedy’s Bookstore) and the Rose Street Garage (PS#2) are available 2 hours prior to tip-off.
- Lexington Authority Transit Center Parking Garage is available after 5 p.m. ET on weekdays and all day on weekends.
- When parking in the Transit Center, pull a yellow token from the dispenser and keep in your vehicle. See the event staff attendant at the entrance near Lexington Avenue/High Street to receive a free parking voucher before the game. When exiting the garage after the game, place your yellow token in the machine, then scan the barcode on your free parking voucher to exit.
- Disabled parking is available in the E-Lot (Employee Lot) north of the Joe Craft Center, adjacent to the metered spaces running along the front of the Craft Center with a valid, state issued disabled hang tag. These spaces are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis until full.
Please note: parking is prohibited in any R-lots (Residential). Vehicles parked in Residential lots without a proper permit, along yellow curbs, grass spaces, or other non-specified and unapproved areas may be subject to ticket and/or tow.
Shuttle Information:
- Free shuttle services are available beginning 2 hours prior to tip off from the South Limestone Garage located off Limestone and Upper Street and the Transit Center Parking Garage located off High Street and Vine Street.
- The Parking Structure #5 shuttle (blue route) picks up/drops off on Administration Drive, at the end of the pedestrian sky bridge accessed from the 3rd floor of the parking garage. The pickup/drop off point near Memorial Coliseum is at the Euclid entrance.
- Transit Center Parking Garage (green route) picks up/drops off near the corner of High Street and Martin Luther King. The pickup/drop off point near Memorial Coliseum is near the Ticket Office at the Lexington Avenue entrance.
- Shuttles will start back up at halftime and continue until 1 hour post-game to return guests to their parking areas.
Game day Information:
- Doors to Memorial Coliseum will open one (1) hour prior to tip-off.
- UK Athletics encourages women’s basketball fans to arrive early to ease traffic and parking congestion around the Coliseum.
Surface lots (i.e. Joe Craft Center North, Rose Street lot and the Alumni Center lot) reach capacity approximately 1.5 hours prior to tip-off, at which point vehicles should proceed directly to the South Limestone Garage (PS#5), Rose Street Garage (PS#2), the E-lots near the College of Education or the Lexington Authority Transit Center Parking Garage near High Street and Lexington Avenue.
For more information on parking around Memorial Coliseum and other game-day questions visit http://ukathleticsgameday.com/hoops/.
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