2018–19 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team

2018–19 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball
2018–19 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball
Paradise Jam Island Division Champions
NCAA tournament, second round
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 21
AP	No. 17
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
	Seasons ← 2017–18 2019–20 →

2018–19 SEC women's basketball standings
v t e	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 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.

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

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight
Rhyne Howard G	Cleveland, TN	Bradley Central	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	N/A
Rhyne Howard G	Star ratings: 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
Blair Green W	Star ratings: 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)

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 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

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Final
AP	—	—	—	25	19	18	18	18	16	16	16	15	19	19	17	16	11	13	18	Not released
Coaches	—	—	RV	25	19-T	20	18-T	17	15	16	15	12	15	17	18	17	13	14	17	21

References

[1] Morris Scores 24 as Kentucky Rolls Past Marghera Select in Italy Finale

[2] 2018-19 Kentucky Women's Basketball Schedule

[1]

[2]

v t e Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball
Venues	Memorial Coliseum (1971–2023, 2024–present) Rupp Arena (select games 2006–present, temporary 2023–24) Clive M. Beck Center (temporary 2023–24) Joe Craft Center (practice)
Rivalries	Indiana Louisville Tennessee
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25