2018–19 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team

The 2018–19 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team represented the University of Kentucky in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The team played its home games in Lexington, Kentucky at Memorial Coliseum with two home games being played at Rupp Arena. The team was 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 tournament, second round
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 21
APNo. 17
Record25–8 (11–5 SEC)
Head coach
Associate head coachKyra Elzy
Assistant coaches
Home arenaMemorial Coliseum
Rupp Arena
Seasons
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

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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

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Departures

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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

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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

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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: RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN:    ESPN grade: 97
Blair Green
W
Middlesboro, KY Harlan County 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) N/A  
Recruiting star ratings: RivalsN/A   247SportsN/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

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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
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: September 15, 2018

Schedule

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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
Rivalry
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

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415161718Final
AP25191818181616161519191716111318Not released
CoachesRV2519-T2018-T17151615121517181713141721

See also

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References

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