The eyes of the women's basketball world will be trained on Bridgeport, Conn., this weekend.

The Bridgeport Regional features a pair of programs with national-championship pedigrees in Connecticut and Maryland. Joining them are a six seed with one of the nation's top players - Delaware and Elena Delle Donne - and one of the game's ascendant programs - Kentucky.

"I think it's fantastic to be in that environment," UK head coach Matthew Mitchell said on Thursday. "I think it is very important that you recognize excellence in your sport and you strive for that in your sport and that's what we're trying to do."

The storylines are too many to count, but they will all be explored in the coming days. And as thankful as Mitchell is for his team to have the chance to play on such a stage, he knows guarding against potential distractions is a must with important basketball yet to be played.

Mitchell is always mindful of such things, but his concern is minimal. Kentucky (29-5) has had its missteps, but the Wildcats have overcome all sorts of obstacles to reach their third Sweet 16 in four seasons. They have taken on five teams still alive in the NCAA Tournament and the Cats feel as prepared as any team reasonably could.

"It is a fine, fine line now about winning and losing and advancing, so I have no doubt we can compete as far as what's happened up to this season," Mitchell said. "I think we've proven we can play at a high level, now we just have to go do it."

At perhaps no point this season has UK overcome more trying circumstances and played at a high level than Tuesday in the second round. With seventh-seeded and No. 18/15 Dayton waiting, a stomach virus spread rapidly among the Wildcats.

A'dia Mathies, Kastine Evans, Azia Bishop and Samarie Walker were among the players confirmed to be under the weather at some point during the game, but UK was undeterred. Mathies tied her career-high with 34 points and the Cats turned an impressive overall effort in an 84-70 victory to keep their season alive. After everything they dealt with, the Cats help but look back on Tuesday night with pride.

"I think (it was UK's most satisfying win) because it could have been an easy game where we went down and just gave up and not fought and just said that we've got people sick and came out with a loss (against) a great Dayton team," Mathies said. "We definitely pushed through that and made it to the Sweet 16."

Two days later and hours away from flying back to the Northeast, the Cats were fully healthy and without any lingering effects from the illness than struck with speed reminiscent of UK's "40 minutes of dread" defense.

With the bug behind them, the Cats shift their attention to sixth-seeded and No. 15/16 Delaware (32-3) for a game on Saturday (noon ET on ESPN). Winners of 27 in a row, the Blue Hens are led by Delle Donne, the 6-foot-5 do-it-all star. She is unquestionably one of the nation's best players, posting per-game averages of 25.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks.

"She's just an all-around talent," Mathies said. "She has great post-up moves and she's got guard skills. She can rebound, block shots. She can pretty much do everything, especially for somebody to be 6-5. We're just looking for a great game and she's going to be a great matchup for whoever has to check her."

In the midst of her senior season, Delle Donne has been arguably the top story of the tournament, averaging 33 points and 7.5 rebounds in two games. But as good as she is, the Cats know viewing the game as one on five is the quickest road to defeat.

"To me, I think you're making a big mistake if you put it solely on one player," Mitchell said. "She's very important obviously to what they want to do because she's so talented, but we'll be really trying to make this more about our team and the Kentucky team and how we do what we do well."

That's a lesson UK learned the hard way two games into the season. The last time the Cats took on a team with a player as highly regarded as Delle Donne, they fell in blowout fashion against Baylor and Brittney Griner.

"I think it's more so based on what we do instead of worrying about what they do and us making open shots and doing things like that that we didn't do when we played against Baylor," Mathies said. "I think that can really help us out a lot and if we just focus on us then we should have a good outcome in any game we play from here on out."

It's no accident that Mathies says "from here on out" rather than just "against Delaware." She and the Cats are different in that they don't hide their Final Four goals behind a veneer of "one game at a time." They, however, don't allow that attitude to be a burden.

"We think we have a chance to do it," Mitchell said. "We think we have a fighting chance going up there that we could possibly do it with the four teams that are up there. (There are) Certainly no guarantees. I wouldn't call it pressure; I'd call it just a burning desire to try to get it done."

Particularly for Mathies, the best descriptor is "quiet confidence."

"We're just going to go out there and play," Mathies said. "If we give our best effort, then we should be able to advance to the Final Four, but it's no pressure. We're just going to go out there and do what we're used to doing."

Head coach Matthew Mitchell



Senior guard A'dia Mathies



Junior guard Kastine Evans

Through three-and-a-half innings, Kentucky was without a hit and down 2-0 to Marshall on Wednesday. To overcome the deficit, the Wildcats relied on the bottom third of their lineup.

No. 8 UK (19-5) scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth on singles by first baseman Thomas Bernal and shortstop Matt Reida and five more in the fifth en route to an 8-2 victory over visiting Marshall. Reida finished the game with two hits, two runs and two runs batted in, while No. 9 hitter and catcher Greg Fettes went 2-for-2 with two walks and two runs. Fettes is now batting 8-for-14 (.571) in seven games (five starts).

The Cats will next take Georgia for a three-game series beginning 6:30 p.m. ET Friday at Cliff Hagan Stadium. In the meantime, here are video interviews with head coach Gary Henderson, Reida and Fettes.

Henderson



Reida



Fettes

After hearing for the last week and a half about the pace with which Kentucky is practicing under Mark Stoops, the media got a chance to see it up close.

On Wednesday, Stoops opened the Nutter Field House to the media for the entirety of UK's Wednesday practice, the sixth of the spring. Those in attendance saw an energetic coaching staff lead a still-learning team through a two-hour-plus indoor session. There were positives, there were negatives and everything in between, but it all happened with speed and enthusiasm.

"Both sides had some good and had some bad," Stoops said. "I thought the offense did some really good things early and then the second half of the practice they dipped a little bit."

The big news from Wednesday, however, was an injury sustained by senior defensive tackle Donte Rumph. Rumph had been UK's most consistent player on the defense according to Stoops, but went down with an unspecified injury on Monday. The injury is being evaluated on Wednesday.

"It looks like it's fairly a significant," Stoops said. "He may be out for a while and he may require some surgery. We'll see."

Further details on the injury will be released later, but the Wildcats will go about the business of trying to replace Rumph in the meantime.

"He was consistent and was playing extremely well and he's a leader," defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot said. "He's a senior and he's been there, so we're just going to have to fill that void for the rest of the spring until he gets back."

Stay tuned over the next day or two for more on UK's open practice. Until then, here are video interviews with Stoops and Eliot.

Stoops



Eliot

John Wall is reminding everyone why he was the clear-cut No. 1 overall pick back in 2010.

The third-year Washington Wizard point guard is having the best month of his NBA career. He's fresh off of being named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the first time since entering the pros out of Kentucky. And after Monday night, Wall is making a pretty strong case to win it for the second time in three weeks.

On Monday night, he set a career high by scoring 47 points in an impressive 107-94 win over the playoff-bound Memphis Grizzlies. He needed just 22 field-goal attempts to do it, hitting 19 of 24 from the free-throw line. He also added eight assists, seven rebounds, a steal and a block along the way.

Wall is now averaging 21.8 points, 8.0 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals in 14 games this month. The Wizards (26-44 overall) are 8-6 during that stretch and now 21-16 since Wall made his return from an offseason knee injury.

A former teammate of Wall's had a career night of his own, as New Orleans Hornets rookie Darius Miller started at shooting guard in place of the injured Eric Gordon. He played 26 minutes as the Hornets ended the Denver Nuggets' 15-game winning streak, scoring a career-high 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range. Anthony Davis, meanwhile, battled foul trouble and posted 14 points and six rebounds in the 110-86 win.