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Thursday, Jan. 6 7:00pm ET
McDole seizes moment, upsets Auburn | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) -- Kentucky's LaTonya McDole saw an opportunity and took it. It meant the Wildcats' biggest win in 15 years. McDole's running one-hander from the middle of the lane with four seconds remaining gave Kentucky a 71-69 upset of Auburn (No. 8 ESPN/USA Today, No. 5 AP) on Thursday night in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams. With the Wildcats (9-4) inbounding the ball with 11 seconds remaining, their set play broke down. McDole found herself with the ball and guarded by Auburn freshman LeCoe Willingham. So she drove the lane as the seconds ticked down. "I've told players anytime there's a mismatch, you've got to take them one on one," Kentucky coach Bernadette Mattox said. "That's a big-time play." Even as point guard Erica Jackson called for the ball, McDole stayed focused. "I penetrated and I heard 'E' calling my name, but I saw I had a mismatch so I shot it," she said. The off-balance shot found the basket as the Memorial Coliseum crowd screamed. Tiffany Krantz rushed the ball up the floor with a chance to give Auburn (11-2) the tie or win, but her desperation shot from 16 feet was off the mark and the Wildcats bench rushed the floor in celebration. Auburn is the highest ranked team Kentucky has beaten since Jan. 29, 1985, when Kentucky upset fifth-ranked Georgia 61-57 at Memorial. McDole finished with 21 points despite playing much of the game in foul trouble. Natalie Martinez scored all 16 of her points in the second half, as her four 3-pointers kept Auburn within reach of Kentucky's final rally. Tiffany Wait added 11 points for the Wildcats. Shana Askew led the Tigers with 18 points, while Conswella Sparrow had 17 and LeCoe Willingham 10. "Our free-throw shooting didn't come to bat for us tonight," Auburn coach Joe Ciampi said after watching his team go 8-of-17 from the line. "We have to become a better team. We now understand you can't take anything for granted. You can't throw a bad pass in the first half and not be concerned. You have to play smart basketball." With Auburn leading 67-63, Kentucky's Martinez hit a 3 from the top of the key with 2:04 left. McDole then stole the ball from Sparrow as she brought it upcourt, going in for the layup and a 68-67 lead with 1:46 left. After Krantz hit two free throws to give Auburn back the lead, Kentucky missed a shot, with the rebound going out of bounds to Auburn. As Krantz brought the ball out, Jackson stripped it and drove for the basket, giving Krantz no choice but to foul. Jackson made one of two free throws with 37 seconds left to tie the game at 69. With time running down, Auburn worked the ball underneath to Willingham, with Wait fouling to stop the easy layup. Willingham, however, missed both free throws before McDole scored the game-winner. "That's a freshman for you, playing in the Southeastern Conference," Ciampi said of the missed free throws by Willingham. "We have given her an opportunity to play a lot of minutes, so she has to come through for us." Kentucky lost starting center Shantia Owens to a sprained ankle with 17:09 left in the first half. Tanisha Seaton came off the bench to replace Owens and tied Laura Meadows for the team high with eight rebounds. "Anytime you win a game like that it's an emotional lift for your team," Mattox said. "It gives you more confidence, especially without our starting center, because she's very important to us." Kentucky's only other win over a team ranked fifth or higher came on Feb. 5, 1983, when the sixth-ranked Lady Kats beat No. 5 Old Dominion at Memorial in a game that set a national attendance record for the time of 10,622. | ALSO SEE Womens College Basketball Scoreboard
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