Women’s Basketball Opens SEC Play Against Kentucky

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Missouri women’s basketball team commences SEC play with a matchup against Kentucky at Mizzou Arena. The game will tip off at 8 p.m. and will be broadcast on SEC Network and KTGR.

Missouri begins conference play with an 11-2 record following a home loss to Illinois. The Tigers continued their trend of strong starts, as they led their border rivals through the first quarter, marking the 11th time in 13 contests Missouri has held the lead after 10 minutes.

Against the Fighting Illini, senior forward Hayley Frank (Strafford, Mo.) led the Tigers with 18 points while grabbing five rebounds. With her performance, Frank upped her streak of scoring 10+ points to six games.

Senior guard Lauren Hansen (Long Island, N.Y.) also continued her string of strong scoring efforts by recording 17 points along with three assists and two rebounds. Hansen has reached double figures in scoring in her last seven contests.

Off the bench, junior guard Sara-Rose Smith (Victoria, Australia) dropped a career-high 15 points while leading the Tigers with six rebounds. Smith has held a share of Missouri’s rebounding lead in nine games this season and has scored at least 10 points in six games this year.

Through non-conference play, the Tigers are one of the most efficient offenses in the nation. Missouri ranks 21st in the nation and third in the SEC with a field goal percentage of 46.7%.

Missouri is also one of the top shooting teams from beyond the arc in the conference. The Tigers make 8.0 3-pointers per game and shoot 35.7% from long range, which rank third and fourth in the SEC, respectively. Frank and Hansen spearhead this deep shooting success, as they both rank in the top 10 in 3-point makes per contest.

On the other side of the ball, Missouri has played stifling defense with opponents shooting just 35.9% against the Tigers, which ranks 48th in the country.

Thursday marks the 15th contest between the Tigers and the Wildcats with Missouri’s record in the all-time series sitting at 4-10. Missouri dropped its lone matchup against Kentucky last season in a 78-63 contest at Mizzou Arena on Feb. 24, 2022.

Kentucky, the reigning SEC champions, enters its conference opener with an 8-4 record. The Wildcats got back in the win column in its most recent contest against Ohio on Wednesday. Prior to that game, Kentucky lost three games in a row.

Head coach Kyra Elzy leads the Wildcats in her third season in Lexington. After four years as assistant head coach, Elzy stepped up to lead Kentucky beginning in 2020 and has led the Wildcats to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

The Wildcats’ top three scorers this season are returners from their conference championship squad last season. Senior guard Robyn Benton leads Kentucky with 16.1 points per game, a mark tied for sixth in the SEC. Benton has also scored 10+ points in every game this season.

Season tickets for the 2022-23 campaign are on sale now and can be purchased by visiting ticketmaster.com/Mizzou. For more information, call the Mizzou Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800-CAT-PAWS.

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