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Kentucky 90, Mississippi Valley State 51
UK Head Coach Matthew Mitchell
Opening Statement …
“Good win for us today and I was glad that we were able to play with some energy in the first 30
minutes of the game and put the game away pretty early. We had some good moments in the game
today and we are happy to be 7-0.”
On Amber Smith’s play today …
“I think that Amber’s experience and just her talent helps us a lot. She is slowly but surely getting back
closer to full speed. She had some really good moments today with five assists and two turnovers that
is a really good ratio. I think when she is shooting the ball well like she has the last couple of games that
helps us a lot. I was just pleased. I thought that her energy level the first 30 minutes was just so different
than what it was two nights ago. I was happy with the start.”
On Amber Smith going over the press table after a loose ball and if he’s comfortable with her doing
that…
“That is just sort of the way we play. No, I would not like for her to go over tables and I would not like
for her to run into a chair or anything like that, but I have accepted that that is sort of what we have
instilled in them in practice. That is sort of what happens in practice every day because we don’t blow
the whistle a lot and we have a lot of collisions and things like that. That is part of how we play so I
would rather see that than someone not hustling for it. I hold my breath a lot on different plays out
there like when Bria Goss had that collision out there and hit her head. It is a pretty physical style of play
so you just have to go full speed and see what happens.”
On Jen O’Neill and how she is recovering from injury …
“Yes, she is getting closer. She is out of the boot now and shooting now. The last hurdle we have to clear
here is that there is a pin in her toe now and just for the bone around the toe to get used to that pin
being in. That is a little bit painful, but it is normal and just part of the process. We are looking for her
to come back and see what she can do this week. We are still on target for the first week of December,
second week of December. That was our target. She is progressing nicely. The doctors really like how
her foot looks now. She is raring to go and fired up to be back out there. Her attitude is really good.
Obviously I don’t know what she can do or what impact she can be but if her attitude remains good I
think you are putting another weapon out there on the court for us.”
On the depth of the team …
“I think that we have numerous weapons. On the court at one time, when you have those kind of
players and a lot of guards that can make plays in the open floor and they can create for other people.
I thought for the first half and the first 10 minutes of the second half they were really getting the ball
into gaps and kicking the ball out to open people. The last 10 minutes it didn’t look very good and we let
down mentally. When you have those kind of weapons on the court it gives you some confidence that
no matter what situation you are in you can score enough points to win a ballgame. For a long time here
we tried to see who could score the fewest points and now we have a team that could score enough
points even on an off night defensively. We hope that continues to develop and people keep taking
steps forward. I do think that we have assembled some talent on this team.”
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