2018–19 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team

The 2018–19 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team represents the University of Kentucky in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The team plays its home games in Lexington, Kentucky at Memorial Coliseum with two home games being played at Rupp Arena. The team is led by Matthew Mitchell in his twelfth season as head coach. They were a member of the Southeastern Conference. They finished the season 25–8, 11–5 in SEC play to finish in fourth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the SEC Women's Tournament to Missouri. They received an at-large to the NCAA Women's Tournament where they defeated Princeton in the first round before losing to NC State in the second round.

2018–19 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball
Paradise Jam Island Division Champions
NCAA Women's Tournament, Second Round
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 21
AP	No. 17
2018–19 record	25–8 (11–5 SEC)
Head coach	Matthew Mitchell (12th season)
Associate head coach	Kyra Elzy
Assistant coaches	Niya Butts Amber Smith
Home arena	Memorial Coliseum Rupp Arena

2018–19 SEC women's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 4 Mississippi State †	15	–	1		.938			33	–	3		.917
No. 15 South Carolina	13	–	3		.813			23	–	9		.719
No. 14 Texas A&M	12	–	4		.750			26	–	7		.788
No. 17 Kentucky	11	–	5		.688			25	–	8		.758
Missouri	10	–	6		.625			24	–	11		.686
Auburn	9	–	7		.563			22	–	10		.688
Georgia	9	–	7		.563			18	–	12		.600
Tennessee	7	–	9		.438			19	–	13		.594
LSU	7	–	9		.438			16	–	13		.552
Arkansas	6	–	10		.375			22	–	15		.595
Alabama	5	–	11		.313			14	–	17		.452
Ole Miss	3	–	13		.188			9	–	22		.290
Florida	3	–	13		.188			8	–	23		.258
Vanderbilt	2	–	14		.125			7	–	23		.233
† 2019 SEC Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 2018–19 season opened up with a 10-day trip to Italy, where the team won two out of three games against international competition.[1] The non-conference regular season also featured a trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands, where the team participated in and won the Paradise Jam Tournament.

Previous Season

The 2017–18 team finished the season 15-17, 6-10 for ninth place in SEC play. They defeated Alabama in the second round of the SEC Tournament before losing to the #1 seed Mississippi State in the quarterfinals. The Wildcats failed to make a postseason appearance for the first time in eight seasons.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Notes
Alyssa Rice	45	C	6'3"	Senior	Reynoldsburg, OH	Graduated
Jessica Hardin	15	G	5'8"	RS-Senior	Monticello, KY	Graduated
Makenzie Cann	22	G	6'1"	Senior	Lawrenceburg, KY	Graduated; Transferred to Southeastern University

Incoming Transfers

Name	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Nae Nae Cole	C	6'3"	Senior	Gainesville, VA	Transferred from NC State. Will sit out a year due to NCAA transfer rules.
Sabrina Haines	G	5'10"	Senior	Phoenix, AZ	Transferred from Arizona State. Will sit out a year due to NCAA transfer rules.
Chasity Patterson	G	5'5"	Sophomore	Houston,TX	Transferred from Texas. Will sit out a year due to NCAA transfer rules.

Newcomers

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Rhyne Howard G	Cleveland, TN	Bradley Central	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	N/A
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 97
Blair Green W	Middlesboro, KY	Harlan County	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	N/A
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 95
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2018.

Roster

2018–19 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown F 0 Lashae Halsel 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Sr Warren Central Bowling Green, KY G 1 Sabrina Haines  5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) RS Jr Desert Vista Arizona State Phoenix, AZ G 2 Paige Poffenberger 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Sr Morgantown Morgantown, WV F 3 KeKe McKinney 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) So Fulton (TN) Knoxville, TN G 4 Maci Morris 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Sr Bell County Pineville, KY G 5 Blair Green 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Fr Harlan County Harlan, KY G 10 Rhyne Howard 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Fr Bradley Central Cleveland, TN G 12 Amanda Paschal 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) RS Jr Chipley Gulf Coast State Brooklyn, NY F 14 Tatyana Wyatt 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) So Columbus Columbus, GA G 15 Chasity Patterson  5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) So North Shore Texas Houston, TX C 20 Dorie Harrison  6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) So Hillsboro Nashville, TN F 21 Ogechi Anyagaligbo 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) RS Jr Miami County Day Stony Brook Miami, FL G 23 Kameron Roach 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) So Lower Richland Hopkins, SC G 24 Taylor Murray 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Sr Annapolis Area Christian Odenton, MD G 32 Jaida Roper 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Jr Houston Memphis, TN C 44 Nae Nae Cole  6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) RS Jr Paul VI NC State Gainesville, VA	Head coach Matthew Mitchell (Mississippi State) Assistant coach(es) Kyra Elzy (Tennessee) Niya Butts (Tennessee) Amber Smith (Kentucky) Lin Dunn (Tennessee–Martin) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: September 15, 2018

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
11/02/2018* 7:00 pm		Lincoln Memorial	W 101–64		Memorial Coliseum (1,203) Lexington, KY
Non-conference regular season
11/07/2018* 7:00 pm		Alabama State	W 87–35	1–0	Memorial Coliseum (3,676) Lexington, KY
11/11/2018* 7:00 pm		Southern	W 91–41	2–0	Memorial Coliseum (3,870) Lexington, KY
11/15/2018* 7:00 pm, SECN		Virginia	W 63–51	3–0	Rupp Arena (4,989) Lexington, KY
11/18/2018* 2:00 pm		High Point	W 71–49	4–0	Memorial Coliseum (4,064) Lexington, KY
11/22/2018* 1:00 pm		vs. No. 17 South Florida Paradise Jam Tournament Island Division	W 85–63	5–0	Sports and Fitness Center (874) St. Thomas, USVI
11/23/2018* 1:00 pm		vs. UCLA Paradise Jam Tournament Island Division	W 75–74 ^OT	6–0	Sports and Fitness Center  St. Thomas, USVI
11/24/2018* 1:00 pm		vs. North Carolina Paradise Jam Tournament Island Division	W 85–75	7–0	Sports and Fitness Center (814) St. Thomas, USVI
11/29/2018* 12:00 pm	No. 25	Morehead State	W 87–57	8–0	Memorial Coliseum (3,912) Lexington, KY
12/06/2018* 7:00 pm	No. 19	Rhode Island	W 75–52	9–0	Memorial Coliseum (3,744) Lexington, KY
12/09/2018* 2:00 pm	No. 19	at No. 5 Louisville Battle for the Bluegrass	L 75–80	9–1	KFC Yum! Center (13,786) Louisville, KY
12/15/2018* 1:00 pm	No. 18	Middle Tennessee	W 72–55	10–1	Memorial Coliseum (5,076) Lexington, KY
12/18/2018* 7:00 pm	No. 18	Western Carolina	W 99–39	11–1	Memorial Coliseum (3,903) Lexington, KY
12/21/2018* 12:00 pm	No. 18	Murray State	W 88–41	12–1	Memorial Coliseum (4,312) Lexington, KY
12/28/2018* 11:30 am	No. 18	Sacred Heart	W 71–43	13–1	Memorial Coliseum (4,079) Lexington, KY
SEC regular season
01/03/2019 7:00 pm	No. 16	Vanderbilt	W 77–55	14–1 (1–0)	Memorial Coliseum (4,030) Lexington, KY
01/06/2019 5:00 pm, SECN	No. 16	at No. 7 Mississippi State	L 71–86	14–2 (1–1)	Humphrey Coliseum (8,830) Starkville, MS
01/10/2019 7:00 pm, SECN	No. 16	at No. 13 Tennessee	W 73–71	15–2 (2–1)	Thompson–Boling Arena (8,145) Knoxville, TN
01/13/2019 1:00 pm, SECN	No. 16	Ole Miss	L 49–55	15–3 (2–2)	Memorial Coliseum (4,577) Lexington, KY
01/17/2019 7:30 pm	No. 16	at LSU	W 64–60	16–3 (3–2)	Pete Maravich Assembly Center (1,452) Baton Rouge, LA
01/24/2019 6:30 pm, SECN	No. 15	No. 25 Missouri	W 52–41	17–3 (4–2)	Memorial Coliseum (4,174) Lexington, KY
01/27/2019 5:00 pm, SECN	No. 15	at No. 24 Texas A&M	L 71–73	17–4 (4–3)	Reed Arena (4,752) College Station, TX
01/31/2019 6:30 pm, SECN	No. 19	No. 16 South Carolina	L 70–74	17–5 (4–4)	Memorial Coliseum (4,247) Lexington, KY
02/03/2019 2:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 19	Florida	W 62–51	18–5 (5–4)	Rupp Arena (10,031) Lexington, KY
02/07/2019 7:00 pm	No. 19	at Auburn	W 78–68	19–5 (6–4)	Auburn Arena (1,604) Auburn, AL
02/11/2019 7:00 pm, SECN	No. 17	at Alabama	W 68–53	20–5 (7–4)	Coleman Coliseum (2,102) Tuscaloosa, AL
02/17/2019 2:00 pm	No. 17	Arkansas	W 61–59	21–5 (8–4)	Memorial Coliseum (5,680) Lexington, KY
02/21/2019 7:00 pm, SECN	No. 16	at No. 13 South Carolina	W 65–57	22–5 (9–4)	Colonial Life Arena (11,887) Columbia, SC
02/24/2019 2:00 pm	No. 16	LSU	W 57–52	23–5 (10–4)	Memorial Coliseum (6,911) Lexington, KY
02/28/2019 7:00 pm	No. 11	No. 19 Texas A&M	L 55–63	23–6 (10–5)	Memorial Coliseum (4,532) Lexington, KY
03/03/2019 1:00 pm, SECN	No. 11	at Georgia	W 58–53	24–6 (11–5)	Stegeman Coliseum (3,461) Athens, GA
SEC Women's Tournament
03/08/2019 2:30 pm, SECN	(4) No. 13	vs. (5) Missouri Quarterfinals	L 68–70 ^OT	24–7	Bon Secours Wellness Arena (4,431) Greenville, SC
NCAA Women's Tournament
03/23/2019* 11:00 am, ESPN2	(6 G) No. 17	vs. (11 G) Princeton First Round	W 82–77	25–7	Reynolds Coliseum  Raleigh, NC
03/25/2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN	(6 G) No. 17	at (3 G) No. 10 NC State Second Round	L 57–72	25–8	Reynolds Coliseum (2,683) Raleigh, NC
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. G=Greensboro Region. All times are in Eastern Time. [2]

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Final
AP	NR	NR	NR	25	19	18	18	18	16	16	16	15	19	19	17	16	11	13	18	Not released
Coaches	NR	NR	RV	25	19-T	20	18-T	17	15	16	15	12	15	17	18	17	13	14	17	21

See also

• 2018–19 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team

References

1. Morris Scores 24 as Kentucky Rolls Past Marghera Select in Italy Finale
2. 2018-19 Kentucky Women's Basketball Schedule