Wikipedia - Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball
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.
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.
Kentucky kvinner har en rik historie og tradision innen basketball og har vunnet flere nasjonale mesterskap og olympiske medaljer. Laget er kjent for sin tøffe og konkurransedyktige spillestil, og spillerne deres er ofte blant de beste i landet.
Noen av de mest kjente spillerne som har spilt for Kentucky kvinner inkluderer:
- Tamika Catchings
- A'ja Wilson
- Victoria Vivians
- Rhyne Howard
- Shakira Austin
Laget ledes for tiden av hovedtrener Kyra Elzy, som har vært med laget siden 2019. Under Elzys ledelse har Kentucky kvinner opprettholdt sin status som et av de beste lagene i landet og har konkurrert om mesterskap regelmessig.
Kentucky kvinner er en stolt representasjon av Kentucky og USA. Laget er en inspirasjon for unge basketballspillere over hele verden og fortsetter å være en kraft å regne med i basketballverdenen.