LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 9/9 University of Kentucky women’s basketball team continues Southeastern Conference action when it heads to Oxford, Miss., to take on the Ole Miss Rebels on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network with Cara Capuano and Steffi Sorensen on the call. The game can also be heard live on the UK Sports Radio Network with Neil Price on the call for the 11th straight season.
The Wildcats (14-2) have suffered two losses since opening up SEC play, the only two of the season. UK dropped its SEC opener in Auburn, 66-61, and also suffered a 73-62 setback to No. 2/2 South Carolina last Thursday. Ole Miss (9-9) and Kentucky have yet to face a common opponent in the 2016 SEC slate, with the Rebels winning the conference opener against Vanderbilt, 55-52, before dropping four straight against LSU, No. 22/23 Florida, No. 13/12 Texas A&M and No. 10/10 Mississippi State.
“Tough game vs. Ole Miss tomorrow night and they are very, very good, one of the best in the country, at turning people over and being disruptive to other team’s offense. We have had some trouble in those areas, clearly, and we just want to try to go down there and work hard and try to earn a victory,” UK head coach Matthew Mitchell said. “It is going to be a tough game, we know that and we got beat down there last year and we need to make sure we understand what a tough game this will be. So we are going to prepare really hard today. We had a good practice yesterday and see if we can go down and earn a very important road victory.”
Thursday night will mark the 38th meeting between the two programs, with Ole Miss leading the all-time series, 21-16. The Rebels also have a 12-6 record in games played in Oxford, but the game will be the first clash between the two schools at the new Pavilion at Ole Miss. Kentucky has won eight of the last 10 meetings against the Rebels, with both losses during that stretch coming in Oxford.
Last year, Kentucky and Ole Miss met twice with each team protecting its home court. The first meeting on Jan. 4 in Lexington resulted in a 64-58 victory for the Wildcats, led by Janee Thompson’s 17 points. When the two met up later in the season in Oxford, the Rebels snapped a six-game losing streak to the Wildcats with a 67-59 victory.
The Wildcats are coming off a 1-1 week, falling to highly ranked South Carolina before taking down Auburn in a rematch from the SEC season opener. UK remained at No. 9 in both the Associated Press Top 25 and USA Today/Coaches Top 25, continuing its program-record streak of being ranked in the top 25.
The Wildcats are averaging 75.6 points per game, while shooting .460 from the field and holding opponents to 54.4 points per game. Kentucky is also averaging 41 rebounds per game in league play and forcing 18 turnovers. Defensively, the Wildcats have an average of 8.2 steals and 5.0 blocks per game.
Junior post player Evelyn Akhator enters Thursday’s contest averaging a double-double with 12.1 points and 10.1 rebounds per game, while holding the second best field goal percentage on the team of .523. Junior guard Makayla Epps leads the team in scoring with an average of 15.9 points per game, while shooting .495 from the field during her 35.5-minute average. Following Epps in double-figure scoring average is Thompson with 12.5, who also leads the team in assists with 86 on the season.
Ole Miss is averaging 72.4 points per game this season, limiting opponents to 65 points per game. The Rebels are only allowing opponents to hit 3.8 3-pointers per game and are forcing teams into 24.8 turnovers per game for a +8.7 turnover margin. In league play, Ole Miss is averaging 57.2 points per game and allowing opponents to score 74.6 points per game.
Shandricka Sessom leads the team in scoring with 16.1 points per game, hitting .317 from 3-point land while also averaging 6.0 rebounds per game. Erika Sisk is the only other Rebel averaging double-figure scoring with 10.3 ppg and leads the team in assists with 57.
The Rebels are coached by Matt Insell, who was an assistant coach at Kentucky from 2008-13 before moving to Oxford to take on his first head coaching job. During his time as an assistant, Kentucky posted a 127-46 record, advanced to four straight NCAA Tournaments, including three Elite Eights and won the 2011-12 SEC Regular Season Championship.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @UKHoopCats on Twitter and Instagram, or Kentucky Women’s Basketball on Facebook.
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