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MINNEAPOLIS – The Wildcats women’s basketball program will begin their first true road game of the season, as Kentucky squares off against Minnesota on Wednesday, December 7 at 8pm ET at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The game, which will be only the second all-time meeting between the two teams, will be televised on Big Ten Network+, with Emma Carpenter and Hunter Bertram on the call.
Darren Hedrick will also call the game on UK Sports Network at 630AM WLAP in Lexington. Free live audio will also be available online at UKathletics.com and live statistics will be available online at KentuckyStats.com.
The Wildcats are 6-1 this season, including 5-0 at home and 1-1 at neutral sites. Kentucky is coming off a win over UNC-Greensboro, 82-56, last Sunday, marking its first game in 10 days and its first home game in 17 days. In that matchup, Kentucky shot 58.2 percent on 32-of-55 from the field. It marked the first time a UK team had shot at least 55.0 percent from the field under head coach Kyra Elzey.
Jada Walker, a sophomore guard, led the team in scoring for the fourth time this season with 20 points. She had one of her most efficient games yet, going 7-of-9 from the field and 5-of-6 from the line. Robin Benton, who has scored in double figures in every game this season, added 14 points, while Ajay Petty contributed 10 points.
In fact, Petty had his first career double-double at 10 points and 12 rebounds, adding two blocks, two steals and an assist. He has scored in double figures in three consecutive games.
Adebola Adeyeye, who made his third start in blue and white against the Spartans, scored eight points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field, adding five rebounds, four steals and an assist in 15 minutes of action.
Three players are averaging double figures in scoring in 2022-23, including Walker (14.9), Benton (14.3) and Blair Green (10.3).
Kentucky is shooting 44.0 percent from the field, while averaging 74.7 points per game this season. His 127 assists have been a product of more than 62.0 percent of his 204 field goals. The Wildcats are second in the Southeastern Conference and 17th nationally in assists per game (18.1).
Maddie Sher, a junior transfer from Oregon and native of Florence, Kentucky, is responsible for most of those dimes, leads the SEC and ranks 13th nationally in assists per game (6.4). She also leads the conference and ranks 13th nationally in assist/turnover ratio (3.21).
Meanwhile, as a team, the Wildcats are causing a stir on the defensive side of the ball, leading the league and ranking in the top-10 nationally in both turnovers forced (25.6) and turnover margin (9.2). The Cats have won the turnover battle in every game this season, while they have forced their opponents into at least 20 turnovers in the last six straight games. Walker has proven to be a terror on that side of the ball, pacing the league in both steals (24) and steals per game (3.43).
Kentucky is holding its opponents to less than 37.0 percent from the field and 58.0 points per game.
Minnesota is 5-3 on the season, including 4-1 at Williams Arena. A double overtime win over Penn State, 98-96, at home. In that game, the Golden Gophers went 28-32 from the line, including 13-of-13 in the fourth quarter to help force overtime. Four players scored in double digits in that game, including Mara Braun’s team-high 26 points.
Four Golden Gophers are averaging double-digit scoring, including Braun (19.7), Elana Michaux (13.3), Katie Borowicz (10.1) and Amaya Battle (10.0). Micheaux is leading the team with 8.4 rebounds per game.
Minnesota is averaging 75.6 points per game on 41.3 percent shooting, while holding its opponents to 66.3 points per game on 39.4 percent from the field in 2022-23.
The two teams have met just once before, with Minnesota leading the all-time series with Kentucky 1-0. The last time the two teams met, the Golden Gophers defeated the Wildcats 92-80 at the Rainbow Wahine Classic on November 23, 2007, at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com Or follow @KentuckyWBB Twitter, Instagram And Facebook.
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