UK Hoops Flogs South Carolina, Finishes Home Season Undefeated
by ALLBLUCAT on Feb 21, 2010 8:02 PM EST
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Ladies and gentlemen of A Sea Of Blue, we have two basketball teams at UK. If you did not get a chance to witness the UK Hoops team play at home this year, then you have missed out on something special. Today they completed an undefeated home season by obliterating the South Carolina squad 71-50 at Memorial Coliseum today. And the game was awesome with a capital A from start to finish.
The UK Hoops squad jumped out to a 9-1 lead early on and never looked back as the inside game of this squad played what might have been it's best game of the season. The combination of Victoria Dunlap, Senior Lydia Watkins, and Freshman Brittany Henderson, who coincidentally brushed by me as I stood in the sun on Lexington Ave waiting to enter Memorial, shut down the inside game of South Carolina and put 28 points on the board to boot. They played tough, in spite of a couple of questionable calls in the second half ( I really hate make-up calls by the way, and they are even worse in person) and Dunlap's 4 fouls. The game was never in question, and the Lady Cats played smart, opportunistic and complete basketball in front of a large(over 7700) crowd for Senior Day at Memorial. John Wall, DeAndre Liggins, and Jon Hood looked on from the balcony as the women showed them how to really put away an opponent, and hopefully give them the formula to do the same to the men's squad when they come to Rupp.
This was my first time being in Memorial since I was a small child, and for some reason it seemed much bigger in 1969. If you watched the game, I am convinced the TV crew got me on full screen dancing away with the crew of young women whom I chauffeured to the Coliseum, wearing my Sea of Blue inspired T-shirt( which brought a myriad of questions from the crowd both inside and outside Memorial), AND the hat which has now brought victory to the women's squad as well as the men's. This hat may get bronzed after the season if we win out.
The Lady Cats shot 43.1% for the game, and 33.3% from the 3-pt mark. They also scorched the FT line at 18-19 for 94.7%. They held South Carolina to a dismal 32.3% from inside the arc, and a paltry 8.3% from outside it. FT's were no help for the South Carolina squad as they only hit 56.3%. Coach Matthew Mitchell accomplished all of this while only dressing 8 players for the game as the injuries have started to pile up for the Lady Cats and 4 players were either on crutches or hurting else-wise. Our other Senior Amani Franklin contributed another 9 points as both Seniors were fantastic on the floor today. Coach Mitchell was emotional as he addressed the crowd afterward and congratulated his squad on quite an accomplishment, as the undefeated home season has only happened once before in team history. The 17 straight home wins in a single season is a new mark.
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They will lose a little bit in the two seniors, because they both contributed a lot to the game
but I think you are right. Mitchell is trying to turn Memorial into a really tough place to play again as it was when the men’s squad ran the floors. If he can get that place selling out for the girls team, it is really going to be something. From what I understand his incoming class is really going to be something also. But let me tell you this…..Victoria Dunlap is a she-beast inside…..she fights for every loose ball, every rebound, and makes the rest of those girls so much better. She and Watkins made like miserable for the center for SC, and she had at least an inch on both of them.
Remember, we're having fun now!!!
ABC
I got to attend many games in Memorial when it was new. All of those were well before the remodel. I take it by the numbers you gave and others I read on line that it seats much less than originally. My memory is of between 11,000 and 12,000. I have sat anywhere from row 48 to row1. Never sat in the balcony,but did walk up there once. Well back to your post. Real proud of our lady Cat’s. Glad you wrote. Go Big Blue!
Happy Days are here again The sky is all ways BLUE again Happy days are here again !
They did not have any bleachers on either end of the floor for this game
and from what I understand the upper level where the scoreboard sits is now only opened up in case of a sell-out, a lot of the seats were taken out at floor level when the remodel put all of those suites on the end of the floor away from the main entrance. From what I understand that area alone used to seat about 3500 from floor to roof. And The last time I was there it was that way too, although I just remember it seeming soooo big to a 4 yr old boy. But I did get to walk the floor this time. Our seats were in section X row 4, I believe.
The only thing negative about the whole experience was that the girls went over to try to get the boys autographs or a picture during halftime, and they were run off by a very curt and borderline hateful security guy. Now, none of the guys could see what was going on, and they all had on headsets, so they probably couldnt hear either, but the security guy, who was probably just doing his job, had no reason to get hateful with a bunch of kids just trying to get an autograph or a picture. It kind of disappointed me, although as I said I understand he was probably just doing his job, he just needs to learn to do it with a little more understanding of his own.
Remember, we're having fun now!!!
Photos from the game
can be seen here……the wife got her picture taken with the kids’ sign, and then they got a pic of all of us together…..
Remember, we're having fun now!!!
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