A'dia Mathies could be the star of a deodorant commercial.
Kentucky's sophomore guard is "never let them see you sweat" personified.
Whether the opening tip is in the air or the game is on the line, her demeanor never changes.
She seems to stay calm, cool and collected no matter what.
"We call her the quiet assassin because she doesn't really talk at all. She's kind of shy," fellow sophomore Brittany Henderson said. "But she's very aggressive on the court."
It was a few short games ago that Henderson was the recipient of a short Mathies pass that got the forward a wide-open layup and a win over Louisiana State.
On Thursday night, the exact same play was scripted: two flat ball screens and let Mathies have the ball and create.
"I'm not going to write any books with that play," Coach Matthew Mitchell said, laughing.
But that's become the Cats' go-to play for their go-to player in late-game situations.
Thursday, for the second time in four games, Mathies made the play to win the game against Arkansas. This time she weaved around four defenders and put the ball in the basket herself with 4.4 seconds to play.
"I have all the faith in her to make that play," senior Victoria Dunlap said of Mathies, who is second on the team in scoring (13.4 ppg), rebounding (5.1 rpg), steals (2.2 spg) and field-goal percentage (46 percent).
"She just likes having the ball in her hands," Dunlap continued. "She has that mentality that she's going to score no matter what happens."
Because of her calm demeanor, she's an asset at the end of a game, Mitchell said.
"I was very calm once we got the turnover and I knew we were going to get the ball to her," he said. "I had total confidence she was going to get it done."
At other times, Mathies drives her coach crazy.
Mitchell's motor is constantly, outwardly running. It runs on fire and raw emotion.
Mathies' motor is constantly running, but it's more of a purr.
"Her not being real excitable helps in those situations," he said. "It drives me nuts in other situations, but I think I'll take her in those situations and just deal with being driven nuts from time to time."
The sophomore and reigning Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year doesn't believe in getting too up or too down no matter the situation or game clock.
"Too much energy and it might mess you up and make you play real crazy," she explained. "Letting the pressure get to you can mess you up. I just try to stay calm and just play the same throughout the game."
Mathies seems to have a wisdom about the game that comes from years of playing it and years of playing multiple positions.
"I can see the court a lot differently than some people do," she said when asked to explain her mind-set in late-game situations.
"I try to make sound decisions and be the go-to player. I'd rather have the ball in my hands. ... If there's going to be a mistake made, I'd rather it be made by me than anyone else."
Mathies will tell you that she's had her share of mistakes late in the games.
"When we lost to Georgia by two, I had the ball in my hands and didn't make the shot," she said.
But she's as Zen about the misses as she is about the makes.
"Sometimes it just doesn't go the way you want it to go," she said.
As important as Mathies' demeanor is at the end of the game, her skill set is important, too.
After the loss, Arkansas Coach Tom Collen said Mathies is difficult to defend, especially at the end.
"You've got to defend her from the outside because she's going to knock down a three if you don't guard her," he said. "You have to guard her off the dribble drive. She's explosive, has great balance and she just got in the lane and made a play on us. I'm not sure what we could have done different.
"We could have stayed between her and the basket but we were hanging on for dear life to do that."
