Kentucky Women’s Basketball Postgame Notes
FINAL (OT): #17/18 Kentucky 68, #15/15 Arizona State 64
Wells Fargo Arena – Tempe, Ariz.
Nov. 15, 2015
Team Records and Series Notes
– Kentucky moves to 2-0 on the season and 1-0 all-time against Arizona State.
– UK is now 4-6 all-time against teams in the current alignment of the Pac-12 Conference.
– The Wildcats are in their 42nd season of varsity basketball, holding a 737-495 (.598) all-time record.
– Matthew Mitchell is in his ninth season with Kentucky and the win moves him to 226-110 over, including a 196-81 record while at Kentucky.
– Mitchell is now 54-41 in road games with this being his 37th win against a ranked opponent.
– Mitchell is now 9-2 in overtime games at Kentucky.
– The win against a ranked foe was Kentucky’s 78th in program history, including the third against a team ranked No. 15 in the nation.
– The win against a higher ranked opponent was Kentucky’s first since taking down No. 11 Mississippi State on Mach 6, 2015.
– It is also the first time since Dec. 7, 2014 that the team defeated a top-25 non-conference opponent on the road, when UK had a 77-68 victory over then-No. 7 Louisville.
Team Notes
– Kentucky trailed by 12 at the half, marking the first time since Dec. 7, 2014 against Louisville that the Wildcats have won a game on the road when trailing at halftime by double digits.
– UK won its first overtime game of the season. The Wildcats have not lost an overtime game since Jan. 7, 2010, when UK dropped a 61-60 decision to Georgia.
– At halftime, UK trailed 29-17. The last time the team won a game after trailing at the half on the road was against Alabama on Jan. 2, 2015, when the Wildcats trailed 36-28 at the half.
– UK outscored ASU in the paint, 44-26, and also a 19-10 advantage in points off turnovers. Additionally, Kentucky scored eight fast-break points, while not conceding any fast-break points to the Sun Devils.
– The team shot 21.4% from the field in the first half and drastically increased its offensive output in the second half, shooting at a 59.3% clip. In the overtime period, UK went 4-of-5 from the field for 80%.
– The Wildcats only led for 6:15 in the entirety of the contest, trailing for 34:58 of the time.
– Kentucky led 12-10 at the end of the first period.
– By halftime, the Sun Devils had taken a 29-17 lead, thanks to a 10-0 run that had the Wildcats in a scoring drought for more than five minutes.
– It was the first time since 2013 against Georgia that UK has been held to 20 points or fewer in the first half.
– The Wildcats used an 11-2 run in the third period to get within a point of the Sun Devils. Janee Thompson hit a last-second 3-pointer to bring the score to 39-38.
– Kentucky went on a 6-0 run in 35 seconds to knot the score at 54-54 with 40 seconds remaining in the contest.
– ASU took advantage of the new NCAA rules and chose to advance the ball off a timeout with seven seconds remaining at 56-56.
o The Sun Devils were unable to score, sending the game into overtime for the first time since Feb. 2, 2015, when UK won a 92-90 game against Mississippi State.
– UK last trailed with 2:15 remaining, tying the game off a Taylor Murray layup at 1:35 to knot the score at 64-64. This started a 6-0 run to close the game, with Epps scoring the remaining four points.
Individual Notes
– Makayla Epps led the team with 20 points.
o 12 of her points came in the second half, with eight in the overtime period alone.
o Epps had a tremendous effort from the free throw line, going 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. She came up clutch with two made free throws at the end of regulation play, and clinched the win with two more free throws with three seconds remaining in overtime.
– Janee Thompson added 11 points, seven of them in the second half.
o The senior also led the team in assists with four.
– Batouly Camara had a career-high 10 points, going 4-of-5 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free throw line.
– Alexis Jennings broke her career mark in blocks, with four all coming in the first period.
o Jennings also added eight points to the scoring effort along with six rebounds.
– Evelyn Akhator led the team in rebounding for the second consecutive game with 10 grabs.
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