The Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team represents the University of Kentucky in the Southeastern Conference. The Wildcats have four Elite Eight appearances and seventeen appearances in the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. They have won the SEC tournament twice and SEC regular season championship once.
The first University of Kentucky women's basketball team was organized in 1902, and competed for the first time on Feb. 21, 1903. However, in 1924, despite a perfect 10-0 season, the University Senate passed a bill to abolish women's basketball in part because, according to state politicians, "basketball had proven to be a strenuous sport for boys and therefore was too strenuous for girls."
After 50 years, women's basketball was granted varsity status in 1974, and most of the official records maintained by the university only reflect games since that time. The team, coached by Sue Feamster, was given the nickname "Lady Kats", which continued to be used until May 1995.
The team's current head coach is Kenny Brooks, who was hired from Virginia Tech after Kyra Elzy was fired in March 2024.
Contents
Facilities
Since the restoration of the program in 1974, the Kentucky Wildcats have played their home games in the 6,250-seat Memorial Coliseum, and their record attendance in that building is 10,622, set on February 5, 1983 against Old Dominion; they also led the nation with an average attendance of 3,645 that season. In recent years, the team has also played occasional games in Rupp Arena, which had a capacity of 23,500 before a renovation completed in 2019 reduced the capacity to 20,545.
In January 2007, the university opened the Joe Craft Center, a $30 million state-of-the-art basketball practice facility for both the men's and women's teams, named after businessman and philanthropist Joe Craft.
In July 2022, athletic director Mitch Barnhart announced that Memorial Coliseum would be receiving extensive upgrades during the 2023-2024 athletics season. Most notably, air conditioning would be added to the building for the first time, as well as seating upgrades, and the addition of new event space. The renovations are expected to last for one year, displacing all four teams who call the arena home, including women's basketball. On April 18, 2023, Barnhart announced that the majority of the 2023-2024 women's basketball season would be played at Rupp Arena, with a select number of games being played at Transylvania University's Clive M. Beck Center when Rupp Arena was unavailable. The Wildcats returned to Memorial Coliseum, now with a reduced capacity of 6,250, for 2024–25.
History
Led by UK all-time leading scorer Valerie Still, Patty Jo Hedges, and Lea Wise, the Lady Kats won the SEC Tournament in 1982. The following year, the same trio led the team to a #4 ranking in the country, the highest in the team's history.
Head coaches
Jane Todd Watson (1903)
C.P. St. John (1904 - ?)
Thomson Bryant (? - 1907)
C.W. Leaphart (1907–1908)
Walter C. Fox (1908 - ?)
John J. Tigert (? - 1915, 1916–1917)
William Tuttle (1915–1916)
Jim Park (1917–1918)
Andy Gill (1918–1919)
Sarah Blanding (1919–1922)
Happy Chandler (1922–1923)
Bart Peak (1923–1924)
Sue Feamster (1974–76)
Debbie Yow (1976–80)
Terry Hall (1980–87)
Sharon Fanning (1987–95)
Bernadette Locke-Mattox (1995–2003)
Mickie DeMoss (2003–2007)
Matthew Mitchell (2007–2020)
Kyra Elzy (2020–2024)
Kenny Brooks (2024–present)
Year by year results
Year Record Coach
1903 1-0 Jane Todd Walton
1904 2-0 C.P. St. John
1905 Unknown
1906 0-1 Thomson Bryant
1907 No Games Thomson Bryant
1908 3-0-1 C.W. Leaphart
1908–09 4-1 Walter C. Fox
1909–10 7-1 No Coach Listed
1910–11 No Record
1911–12 4-1 J.J. Tigert
1912–13 5-0 J.J. Tigert (State Champions)
1913–14 4-2 J.J. Tigert
1914–15 5-1 J.J. Tigert
1915–16 2-2 William Tuttle
1916–17 5-0 J.J. Tigert
1917–18 1-4 Jim Park
1918–19 2-0 Andy Gill
1919–20 0-3-1 Sarah Blanding
1920–21 1-7 Sarah Blanding
1921–22 2-4 Sarah Blanding
1922–23 7-3 A.B. "Happy" Chandler
1923–24 10-0 Bart Peak (Champions of the South)
Total: 65-30-1
NCAA tournament results
Kentucky has appeared in the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament nineteen times. They have a record of 25–19.
Accomplishments
2009–10
SEC Player of the Year (consensus): Victoria Dunlap
SEC Freshman of the Year: A'dia Mathies
SEC Coach of the Year: Matthew Mitchell
2010–11
SEC Player of the Year (AP): Victoria Dunlap
SEC Defensive Player of the Year: Victoria Dunlap
2011–12
SEC Player of the Year (consensus): A'dia Mathies
SEC Freshman of the Year (consensus): Bria Goss
SEC Sixth Woman of the Year (shared; awarded only by coaches): Keyla Snowden
SEC Coach of the Year (AP): Matthew Mitchell
2012–13
A'dia Mathies Drafted in the First Round of the 2013 WNBA draft
SEC Co-Player of the Year : A'dia Mathies
2018–19
USBWA National Freshman of the Year: Rhyne Howard
2019–20
SEC Player of the Year (consensus): Rhyne Howard
All-American players
Valerie Still, 1983 (Coaches; Street & Smith)
Victoria Dunlap, 2010 (AP; USBWA; Coaches')
A'dia Mathies, 2012 (USBWA), 2013 (AP; Full Court)
Rhyne Howard, 2020 (AP, USBWA)
Player awards
SEC Awards
Player of the Year
Victoria Dunlap - 2010, 2011
A'dia Mathies - 2012, 2013
Rhyne Howard – 2020, 2021