UK women readying for SEC Tournament semifinals

LEXINGTON, Ky. – After defeating Alabama to advance to the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament for the eight straight season, which is the longest active streak in the league, the No. 20 University of Kentucky women’s basketball team will face top-seed No. 5 South Carolina on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET inside Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C.

Kentucky (21-9) earned the No. 4 seed in the tournament after finishing the league slate tied for third with Missouri. Kentucky’s top-four finish in the league marks the ninth time in Matthew Mitchell’s tenure that the Wildcats have finished top four in the SEC’s final standings. UK ended the regular season with an 11-5 conference record, marking its most wins in the league since going 13-3 in 2012-13. UK has won 10 or more league games eight straight seasons. The Wildcats have only won 11 or more games in the league five times with all of those occurring during Mitchell’s tenure.

Every game of the tournament will be televised nationally with the semifinals on ESPNU and the championship on ESPN. Saturday’s game will be broadcast on ESPNU with Pam Ward on play-by-play, Gail Goestenkors as the analyst and Steffi Sorensen as the sideline reporter. The game can also be seen through WatchESPN on computers, smartphones and tablets. Now in his 12th season, Neil Price will have the call on the UK Sports Network. Fans in Lexington can hear Price’s call of the game on WLAP 630 AM, while free audio and live stats will be available online at ukathletics.com. For more information on the event, including ticket information, visit ukathletics.com’s tournament central site.

The tournament began with two first-round games Wednesday before four second-round games Thursday and four quarterfinal games Friday. South Carolina started the action Friday by defeating ninth-seeded Georgia, 72-48, before Kentucky earned its win over Alabama. In the night session, second-seeded Mississippi State defeated seventh-seeded LSU, 78-61, while third-seeded Missouri and fifth-seeded Texas A&M were still playing at the time of this release.

The Wildcats used another impressive performance from senior forward Evelyn Akhator to get past Alabama. The senior posted 23 points – including 17 in the first half – with nine rebounds and three assists. Fellow senior Makayla Epps posted 12 points with five rebounds and one assist, while junior center Alyssa Rice posted a career-high 11 points with five rebounds. Sophomore guard Maci Morris scored 11 points with three rebounds, while fellow sophomore guard Taylor Murray had eight points, five assists and four rebounds.

South Carolina enters Saturday’s semifinals with a 25-4 record after a 72-48 victory over ninth-seeded Georgia on Friday in the quarterfinals. The Gamecocks are coming off a 14-2 run through the conference, earning the SEC regular-season title. South Carolina is the No. 1 seed in the tournament and ranked top-five nationally in both national top 25 polls.

In the Gamecocks win over Georgia, three players scored in double-figures with junior forward A’ja Wilson posting a game-high 18 points with seven rebounds and seven blocks. Allisha Gray scored 17 points with four rebounds, while Doniyah Cliney posted 11 points. The Gamecocks shot 44.2 percent from the field, limiting UGA to just 28.1 percent from the field. South Carolina forced UGA into 17 turnovers and scored 22 points off those Bulldog miscues.

As a team, South Carolina is averaging 76.4 points per game, limiting opponents to just 56.6 points per game. The Gamecocks are hitting 46.7 percent from the field and 32.6 percent from 3, while opponents hit just 35.3 percent from the field against the Gamecocks. South Carolina has a +7.2 rebounding margin this season and is averaging 15.2 assists per game. Wilson paces the Gamecocks with 17.4 points per game, adding 7.6 rebounds and a team-best 65 blocks, while senior center Alaina Coates is averaging 13.4 points and a team-best 11.1 rebounds per game. Coates is second on the team with 39 blocks. Two other South Carolina players are averaging double figures with Gray posting 13.1 points and junior guard Kaela Davis earning 11.7 points.

Saturday’s meeting with South Carolina is the 61st all-time in program history with the Wildcats leading the all-time series 33-27. South Carolina has won each of the last five meetings between the two teams, which is the longest winning streak in the series for either team since Kentucky won nine straight from 1982-1995. If the Gamecocks win Saturday, they will be the first SEC school to defeat Kentucky in six straight meetings since Matthew Mitchell took over the program in 2007-08. Kentucky leads the all-time series in games played at a neutral site 4-1, including a 2-1 mark in the SEC Tournament. Mitchell is 1-1 against the Gamecocks in the SEC Tournament.

The two teams have met in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament three times in the last four years with each team earning a win. In 2014, Kentucky defeated the Gamecocks 68-58 to advance to the championship game before South Carolina returned the favor with a 93-63 victory last season in Jacksonville. UK’s last win against South Carolina came March 1, 2015 in Memorial Coliseum when the Wildcats took down the second-ranked Gamecocks 67-56. Mitchell is 11-11 all-time as a head coach against South Carolina.

South Carolina defeated the Kentucky in both regular-season matchups this season, earning a 75-63 victory in Lexington on Feb. 2 and a 95-87 victory in Columbia on Feb. 26. In the meeting in Lexington, the Gamecocks used a 22-8 advantage in the second quarter to earn the win, although the Wildcats outscored the Gamecocks 40-33 in the second half. South Carolina shot 50 percent from the field in the game, including 7-of-19 from 3, while the Wildcats shot 33.9 percent and 6-of-19 from 3. USC outrebounded UK 40-29 and won the battle in the paint 34-20. Makayla Epps paced Kentucky with a game-high 23 points, adding nine rebounds, while Maci Morris had 14 points and Alyssa Rice had 10 points. A’ja Wilson scored 20 points with nine rebounds, while Alaina Coates had 20 points and 18 rebounds.

Last Sunday in Columbia, the Gamecocks shot an impressive 61.8 percent from the field to score 95 points, which was the most UK has allowed to an opponent this season. The Wildcats shot 44.8 percent from the field, including 9-of-26 from long range in the game with 12 assists. A’ja Wilson paced the Gamecocks with 25 points, adding 10 rebounds, three assists and two blocks, while Kaela Davis had 20 points and three assists. Allisha Gray scored 17 points with three rebounds, while Tyasha Harris scored 13 points with eight assists.