UK women ‘make a statement’ in NCAA win over UNC Asheville

Kentucky didn’t want to just win its first NCAA Tournament game.

The Cats wanted to leave a lasting impression.

“We wanted to come out and make a statement for everyone who was watching us tonight that Kentucky’s here and we want to make a good run at the tournament,” junior guard Makayla Epps said after UK’s 85-31 demolition of UNC Asheville in the first round at Memorial Coliseum.

The 54-point victory was the Cats’ largest in NCAA Tournament play.

Epps did her part to put an exclamation point on Saturday’s statement with a game-best 24 points to go with five assists and three rebounds.

Many times early in the game, the guard had as many points as the Bulldogs, including her 16 points at the half, which was as many as UNC Asheville had trailing 37-16 at the break.

“She really was aggressive and prepared well,” UK Coach Matthew Mitchell said of his leading scorer. “I thought she was very aggressive and had a good day.”

Epps was one of four Kentucky players to score in double figures, but it was the Cats’ defense that stole the show, holding the Big South champion Bulldogs to 31 points and 20.6 percent shooting, including 12 percent three-point shooting, all lows for a UK opponent in NCAA Tournament history.

Kentucky (24-7) closed out the game scoring 15 unanswered points and held UNC Asheville without a point for the game’s final 5:28. The Bulldogs shot just 12.5 percent in the fourth quarter.

“Since coming off that loss to South Carolina, we didn’t want people to go to sleep on us,” UK freshman Maci Morris said, recalling that 30-point loss to the Gamecocks to end UK’s Southeastern Conference Tournament run two weeks before.

“We just wanted to come out and make a statement that we’re serious about March and ready to play.”

Kentucky looked serious from the jump, running out to a 12-4 lead early and never looking back. The Cats outscored UNC Asheville (26-7) in the paint 50-16, including a 16-0 advantage on fast-break points.

“We were trying to execute the best we could with what they were doing, but what they were doing was exceptional,” Bulldogs Coach Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick said. “Their intensity and their defensive pressure took us out of some things.”

Chatori Major, the Big South Player of the Year, was held to seven points and four rebounds. She missed 12 of her 15 shot attempts and made just one of her eight three-point attempts.

“We lost the ball in the paint, particularly Major who’s been an awesome player for us this year,” Mock Kirkpatrick said. “They really had good pressure on her. They did a good job of defending her.”

Kentucky’s coach, who has won seven straight first-round NCAA Tournament games, could pick out many flaws in the victory.

But he couldn’t fault the Cats’ effort.

“Today was not perfect,” said Mitchell, whose team made 50 percent of its shots from the field and long range. “We don’t have to be perfect. We just have to have great attitudes. I thought we had great attitudes today.”

No. 3 seed Kentucky will try to have a similar outlook on Monday night when it faces sixth-seeded Oklahoma, an easy 61-45 winner over Purdue in the early game at Memorial Coliseum.

The Sooners (22-10), ranked No. 24 in the final Associated Press poll, have won four of their last five. They had a big win over No. 7 Texas during the regular season.

Against UNC Asheville, Kentucky had a balanced attack, with four players finishing in double figures, including Janee Thompson’s 13 points. Evelyn Akhator added 10 points and seven rebounds.

Freshman forward Batouly Camara had a game-high 11 rebounds for the Cats, who dominated the boards battle 50-31 against the smaller Bulldogs.

Reserve Taylor Murray had one of her best all-around games with 11 points, five rebounds and four assists. Morris pitched in nine points and matched her career high with six rebounds.

Morris and Epps combined for six of the Cats’ eight three-pointers in the game, their most makes from long range since Nov. 29.

“It was great to see her shoot the three well today,” Mitchell said of Epps. “If we can keep shooting the ball well, we’ll have a chance to win every game we play.”

This story was originally published March 19, 2016 at 6:07 PM with the headline "UK women ‘make a statement’ in NCAA win over UNC Asheville."