Memorial Coliseum: Home of Kentucky Women's Basketball
• Basketball Seating Chart
Situated along Euclid Avenue on the University of Kentucky campus, Memorial Coliseum is the home of one of the richest basketball traditions in the nation. It is also home to the University of Kentucky women's basketball team, a team determined to return glory and excitement to a facility that has known a wealth of both.
For 24 years, the historic coliseum housed the renowned Kentucky Wildcats men's team which won two national championships and 24 Southeastern Conference titles while playing in the facility under the direction of legendary coaches Adolph Rupp and Joe B. Hall. When the Wildcats moved downtown to 23,000-seat Rupp Arena in 1976, the then-11,500 seat Coliseum became the exclusive basketball home for the womens team.
Although the Coliseum is nicknamed "the house that Rupp built", University President H.L. Donovan is credited with beginning the plans for the Coliseums construction in 1941 when he recommended a building that would properly take care of our athletics, our health services, our physical education and our recreation. Memorial Coliseum was completed in 1950 at a cost of $3,995,000. The huge building was dedicated to serve as a memorial to the nearly 10,000 Kentuckians who lost their lives in World War II and the Korean conflict. The Coliseum covers an entire city block and has as much space as a seven-story office building. The facility underwent renovations in 1990 to include a state-of-the-art weight room, basketball and administrative offices, a team meeting room and first-class dressing and locker rooms.
The Coliseum is used primarily for womens basketball games, volleyball matches, gymnastics meets and is the site for UKs annual Midnight Madness Basketball Practice. It has also served as the site of other sporting events, including tennis exhibitions and high school tournaments, and has served as a site for lectures, concerts and graduations.
The highlight of the Memorial Coliseum era for the womens basketball team came on a cold winter night in 1983. The date was February 5 and the opponent was No. 5 powerhouse Old Dominion, with 6-foot-8 All-American center Anne Donovan. A record crowd of 10,622 fired-up fans packed the Coliseum that Saturday evening and roared hysterically as the sixth-ranked Lady Kats came from 10 points down in the second half for an 80-66 upset win. After the victory, the team, which was led by All-American Valerie Still, climbed to No. 4 in the national poll. In their three remaining games, they averaged 7,600 fans and easily led the nation in attendance that year. Other exciting and notable games played in the Coliseum were:
February 16, 2006 - Kentucky outrebounded Ole Miss 44-30 and used a 13-2 run late in the second half to hold off the Lady Rebels 65-61, in front of a season-high 5,965 fans. The win gave UK seven conference wins to tie the school-record for most SEC wins in school history. It also gave the Cats their third consecutive SEC win marking the first time UK had won three consecutive regular season conference games (in a single season) since the 1994-95 season.
March 24, 2005 - Senior Sara Potts sank a jumper from the left wing with 35 seconds remaining, as Kentucky rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit to defeat Xavier, 67-62, and advance to the semifinal round of the Sportsview.tv Women’s National Invitation Tournament. The shot by Potts, who scored 29 of her 31 points in the second half, gave the Wildcats their first lead since the 17-minute mark of the first half.
January 29, 2004 - It was an exciting and emotional conference matchup, as border rival and top-ranked Tennessee met Kentucky in the second-largest attended women’s basketball game in Memorial Coliseum history. After spending 18 seasons on the sidelines at UT, Coach Mickie DeMoss went head-to-head with her former boss Pat Summitt. Trailing by only five points with two minutes remaining and despite a career-high 29 points from Sara Potts, the Wildcats fell to the Lady Vols 81-72.
January 6, 2000 - LaTonya McDole hit a running one-hander in the lane at the buzzer to give the Cats a 71-69 upset over No. 5 Auburn. It was UKs first win over a top-five opponent in 15 years.
January 24, 1999 - UK defeated No. 18 Alabama, snapping a five-game losing streak to the Crimson Tide.
February 7, 1999 - Playing host to Coach Bernadette Mattoxs alma mater Georgia, in front of an estimated crowd of 4,083 fans, the Cats defeated the 8th-ranked Bulldogs, 80-76. It marked UKs first win over UGA in six years and Coach Mattoxs first win over a Top-10 opponent and her first win over former coach and boss Andy Landers.
February 20, 1994 - Considered a huge underdog, UKs womens team managed to take then top-ranked Tennessee into overtime before losing 95-89 in front of an estimated crowd of 5,727 fans.
January 19, 1993 - Sophomore Stacey Reed drove to the Coliseums midcourt and made a three-point desperation shot as the final horn sounded to push UK to a 62-60 win over nationally-ranked intrastate rival Western Kentucky.
December 5, 1992 - This was the date when Kentucky beat nationally-ranked Connecticut 75-54 to win its 13th UK Invitational Tournament. It was not an easy feat for UK which had to face a sizable young sophomore Rebecca Lobo who would later become one of the most heralded female players ever, leading her team to an undefeated season and a national title in 1995.
From 1980-82 the Cats posted a record 31 consecutive homecourt victories. The streak was broken on January 31, 1982, with a 70-69 loss to Memphis State.
Home Attendance Averages
Year Games Total Attendance Avg.
2006-07 15 87,943 5,863
2005-06 15 77,411 5,161
2004-05 19 90,663 4,772
2003-04 14 75,533 5,182
2002-03 13 22,024 1,694
2001-02 11 12,681 1,153
2000-01 12 17,746 1,479
1999-00 12 29,643 2,470
1998-99 10 18,443 1,844
1997-98 11 15,728 1,430
1996-97 10 6,817 682
1995-96 11 8,456 769
1994-95 13 15,540 1,195
1993-94 13 17,649 1,358
1992-93 13 19,511 1,501
1991-92 13 17,087 1,314
1990-91 14 16,011 1,143
1989-90 14 18,777 1,341
1988-89 13 14,575 1,121
1987-88 16 13,400 837
1986-87 13 18,025 1,386
1985-86 16 18,887 1,180
1984-85 16 23,990 1,499
1983-84 17 18,880 1,110
1982-83 17 61,975 3,645*
1981-82 19 41,000 2,158
1980-81 15 29,224 1,948
1979-80 15 22,500 1,500
*Led Nation
1974-79 attendance not available
