Game six: Women vs. Kentucky

The #14/12 women's team faces Kentucky (1-0) at the Smith Center this afternoon. GW (2-0) is less than two days removed from a 70-68 win at Virginia in which all five starters reached double figures in scoring, led by Antelia Parrish, who had her first career double-double (18 points, 10 rebounds). In that contest, the Cavaliers outscored GW 31-2 in bench points.

Kentucky is in its first season under coach Matthew Mitchell, who was previously an assistant with the Wildcats, Tennessee, and Florida, and the head coach at Morehead State. UK is coming off of a 20-14 season that saw the program reach the third round of the WNIT. The Wildcats lost eight games by 10 points or less a season ago, including three in overtime.

Kentucky, selected to finish sixth out of 12 teams in the SEC, returns four starters, most notably three-time All-SEC selection Samantha Mahoney (12.4 points per game last season), a 5-10 senior guard. She is joined by 5-8 junior guard Carly Ormerod (9.8 points, 3.6 assists), an All-SEC selection, 5-11 senior guard Chante' Bowman (3.5 points), and 6-6 senior center Sarah Elliott (13.5 points, seven rebounds). In addition, Kentucky welcomes the ninth-best recruiting class in the nation according to the All-Star Girls Report.

On Saturday, Kentucky beat South Carolina Upstate 74-59 in Lexington. 5-11 freshman guard Carly Morrow led the way with 11 points and six rebounds, while Elliott added 10 points, five rebounds, and two blocks in her first action after missing both of the team's exhibition games due to nagging injuries. In that contest, the Wildcats connected on 10 three-pointers, the most for the program in almost two years.

This is the second-ever meeting between these programs; GW is 1-0. The lone contest came on December 14, 1991, as Joe McKeown's squad triumphed 71-62 at the Smith Center. Kristin McArdle led the way for GW, notching a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Kentucky has the talent to hang with the Colonials, especially since GW is playing on short rest. When I spoke with McKeown in Charlottesville on Monday night, he said he was banking on the home crowd helping GW overcome any fatigue. This one could be close late, but with a 14-game home winning streak on the line, you have to think McKeown and company will find a way to win.

Sammy Gelfand and Ross Romano have the call for WRGW with Ben Sugarman and Scott Trocchia handling production duties. You can listen here starting at 4.55 p.m.

Game notes: GW's 14-game home winning streak is the eighth-longest in the nation...The program's longest home winning streak is 35 games from February 1995 to March 1997...Sarah-Jo Lawrence needs 30 points to become the program's 24th 1,000-point scorer...McKeown is 16 victories shy of 500 for his career...GW moved up a spot in this week's ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll, and remained at #14 in the Associated Press Poll...Kentucky received votes in both polls...The Wildcats haven't beaten a ranked opponent since they knocked off #25 Florida in the quarterfinals of the 2006 SEC Tournament...This is the first game of a doubleheader, as the men face Boston University in the nightcap.

Starting lineups and other notes to follow from the Smith Center once we get closer to tip-off. Julian Gompertz and I will be blogging throughout the contest, so please check back later.

Update, 5.10 p.m. - Here are the starting lineups:

Kentucky
G - Carly Ormerod (5-8 junior from Louisville, KY)
G - Samantha Mahoney (5-10 senior from Detroit, MI)
G - Chante' Bowman (5-11 senior from Detroit, MI)
F - Victoria Dunlap (6-1 freshman from Nashville, TN)
C - Sarah Elliott (6-6 senior from McKee, KY)

GW
G - Kimberly Beck (5-8 senior from Fairburn, GA)
G - Sarah-Jo Lawrence (5-11 senior from Rhoadesville, VA)
F - Whitney Allen (5-11 senior from Woodbridge, VA)
F - Antelia Parrish (6-0 junior from Washington, DC)
C - Jessica Adair (6-4 junior from Washington, DC)

Update, 5.30 p.m. - Kentucky scored the first five points of the game before Parrish answered with back-to-back lay-ins. GW has gotten off to a sloppy start, settling for some bad shots on the offensive end. Interesting to see Lisa Steele as the first substitution for McKeown.

Update, 5.35 p.m. - Kentucky 10, Parrish nine. I've said this a few times, but she has the style of a men's player; she can take her defenders off the dribble and extremely smooth in transition. Some strange officiating calls early on. McKeown just got a warning for throwing his jacket onto a chair.

Update, 5.40 p.m. - Beck sits with two extremely questionable fouls. Erica Rivera steps in with some big early minutes. Let's see how the freshman handles herself on both ends of the court. In Beck's three plus years, she hasn't had a capable backup at the point. This could be Rivera's chance.

Update, 5.45 p.m. - Parrish might be the luckiest shooter in GW history. She had two shots take shooter's rolls and go in at Virginia, and now she just hit a desperation three as the shot clock expired. The basket puts Parrish in double figures (12 points) with nine minutes still to play in the first half. Unbelievable.

Update, 5.57 p.m. - Kentucky is 5-11 from three. The Colonials have given the Wildcats a ton of open shots. GW really seems to be struggling on both ends of the court, but are only down by two at the final official timeout of the first half.

Update, 6.02 p.m. - With seven minutes left in the first half, Parrish already had a double-double. Now she's at 14 points on 5-7 shooting and 11 rebounds at the half. GW leads by three at intermission.

Update, 6.28 p.m. - A beautiful left-handed lay-up by Lisa Stelle gave GW its biggest lead of the night with a 43-35 lead but Kentucky's Carly Morrow came right back to drill a right-wing three as GW is up five going into the first official timeout of the second half.

Update, 6.39 p.m. - GW is pulling away here as they lead by ten heading into the second official timeout. Antelia Parrish and Jessica Adair have accounted for 72% of the team's scoring (36 of the 50 points) and Parrish has also added 14 rebounds to go with her 21 points. Mckeown can continue to under-sell her and claim she is not at full speed but if this is half-speed the rest of college basketball better watch out because she is the most talented player on the court.

Update, 6.49 p.m.- Jessica Adair has taken over this game, scoring GW's last six points as the Colonials continue to maintain a steady 8-10 point margin as they lead 55-47 with seven minutes to play.

Update, 7.02 p.m.- Interesting to note that Adair, Parrish and Steele have scored all 29 points for the Colonials in the second half as GW now has a 15 point lead.

Update, 7.05 p.m.- With her basket before the final official timeout, Jessica Adair now has a new career high in points, as she has 27 with 2:58 remaining.

Update, 7.19 p.m.- And that is a wrap here for the women's game. They defeat Kentucky 75-65. The story of the game was certainly Jessica Adair's career high 29 points, but Antelia Parrish would not be outdone with her 24 and 15. Great game and stay tuned for the men's game here in 30 minutes.

Update, 11.29 p.m. - Postgame audio:

Adair and Parrish

McKeown


Solid performance by GW tonight. Now we look ahead to the Rutgers battle on Sunday.