No. 14 Kentucky 63, California 61 – FINAL
Team Records and Series Notes
- Kentucky is 11-1, while California is 7-3.
- Kentucky is 3-0 away from home this season.
- Kentucky is 834-541 all-time, including 234-271 all-time in true road games.
- This was the second all-time meeting between Kentucky and California in women’s basketball.
- The all-time series is now tied 1-1.
- This was Kentucky’s first trip to Berkeley.
- Matthew Mitchell is in his 13th season as the head coach of the Wildcats.
- Mitchell is 322-155 overall in his career and 292-126 during his tenure at Kentucky.
- UK is 57-23 all-time in the month of December under Matthew Mitchell.
- UK is 9-10 all-time against teams from the current alignment of the Pac-12. This was the fifth straight season that UK has played a team from the Pac-12. UK holds a 5-3 record during that stretch against Pac-12 teams in regular-season action.
- Saturday’s game concluded non-conference play for Kentucky with Wildcats returning to action Jan. 2 at South Carolina.
- Kentucky is ranked 14 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 and No. 13 in the latest USA Today/Coaches Top 25.
Team Notes
- Kentucky used the starting combination of sophomore guard Rhyne Howard, senior guards Sabrina Haines and Jaida Roper and junior forwards KeKe McKinney and Tatyana Wyatt.
- This is the first time this season that the Wildcats have used this starting combination.
- UK lost the tip for only the third time this season. UK is 1-1 when it losses the tip.
- Tatyana Wyatt scored first in the game for Kentucky. This was the fourth time this season that Wyatt has scored first in the game.
- Both teams started slow offensive missing their first three shots of the game. UK led 12-10 at the end of the first quarter.
- Kentucky went on a 8-0 run thanks to 3s by Howard and Patterson to take a 12-4 lead with 3:28 to go in the first quarter but Cal answered by ended the stanza on a 6-0 run.
- Both teams took 17 field-goal attempts in the first quarter with UK hitting four shots while Cal hit three shots.
- Cal continued its run into the second quarter by making the first bucket and tying the game 12-12.
- The run in total was 8-0 by Cal keeping the Wildcats scoreless for 4:49 of game play.
- Kentucky and California were tied 22-22 at halftime tying the fewest points UK had scored in the first half of a game this season. The Wildcats also scored 22 points in its previous two road games at Middle Tennessee and at Virginia.
- The 22 points ended a stretch where Kentucky had scored 40 or more points in the first half of seven straight games.
- UK went 9-of-32 from the field in the first half for 28 percent while Cal was 8-of-31 from the field for 26 percent.
- Kentucky was 2-of-12 from 3 in the game while Cal was 0-of-10.
- UK forced Cal into 10 first-half turnovers and scored 12 points off those miscues, while Cal forced UK into six turnovers and had six points off those turnovers.
- Cal ended both the first and second quarters on 6-0 runs.
- This was the first time this season UK has been tied at the half.
- The Wildcats took control of the game in third quarter building its lead to double digits multiple times, however Cal finished on a 5-0 run to make it 42-37 heading into the fourth quarter.
- UK scored 20 points in the quarter going 6-of-16 from the field and 2-of-5 from 3.
- Kentucky was up 55-44 with 4:57 left in the game but Cal answered with a 17-6 run to tie the game 61-61 with 9.0 seconds remaining.
- Howard hit a jumper with just over :03 remaining to win the game.
- Kentucky forced Cal into 22 total turnovers and scored 23 points off those miscues.
- UK has forced 20 or more turnovers in every game but two this season and scored 20 or more points off turnovers in every game but one this season.
- UK hit six 3s in the game, ending a streak of four straight games with 10 or more 3s made.
- Kentucky went 5-of-5 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter to help seal the win.
- UK scored 41 points in the second half, marking the third time this season UK has score 40 or more in the second half.
Player Notes
- Sophomore guard Rhyne Howard scored a game-high 29 points in the game, including 24 points in the second half.
- Howard has hit at least one 3-pointer in 39 of her 44 career games.
- Howard has scored 10 or more points in 37 of her 44 career games.
- Howard has scored 20 or more points in 17 of her 44 career games.
- Howard has led UK in scoring in 25 of her 44 career games.
- Scored 24 points in the second half marking the first UK player to score 20 or more points in the second half or overtime since she had 21 against Missouri in the SEC Tournament last season.
- Howard was 10-of-24 from the field and 4-of-10 from 3 in the game with five rebounds and three assists.
- Senior guard Sabrina Haines scored three points in the game, ending a streak of double-digit scoring performances.
- This was the first time this season that Haines has not hit a 3 in a game.
- Senior guard Jaida Roper scored six points with three assists in the game.
- Junior forward Tatyana Wyatt led Kentucky with eight rebounds and has led Kentucky in rebounds in five games this season.
- Junior guard Chasity Patterson saw her first career playing time for the Wildcats, coming off the bench to play 24 minutes.
- Patterson’s first shot of her UK career was a made 3-pointer in the first quarter.
- Patterson scored nine points in the game, going 3-of-11 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line.
- Led the team with four steals.
