The Kentucky women’s basketball returns to action Thursday in hopes of capturing its first Southeastern Conference road win of the season when the Wildcats travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to take on the Crimson Tide. The game will be played Thursday, Jan. 11 in Coleman Coliseum at 9 p.m. EST. The matchup will be televised live on FSN South and broadcast on the Big Blue Sports Network (radio) with Neil Price.

The Wildcats (12-4, 1-0 SEC) are coming off a brutal stretch that saw them play three games in five days. They went 2-1 on the week, defeating Texas-Pan American (77-45) and South Carolina (59-55), before nearly pulling off an upset of No. 7/8 Ohio State. UK rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit against the Buckeyes and tied the score at 51-51 before Ohio State won the game on a basket from the free-throw line with 16 seconds left to give Kentucky a 53-51 loss.

“We are looking forward to opening up the league road schedule tomorrow at Alabama,” UK Coach Mickie DeMoss said. “Last time we were down there, we lost a heartbreaker in overtime, so it would be good to go down there and get a “W.” They are in a rebuilding situation and putting together a solid team and a solid program. I think any time you go on the road in the SEC, it is going to be a challenge.”

UK, which has held nine consecutive opponents to 55 points or fewer, was led by junior Sarah Elliott (McKee, Ky.). She averaged an impressive squad-best 16.0 ppg and 1.7 bpg during the three-game stretch. The 6-6 center had a team-high 18 points in the near-upset of Ohio State, including 16 of those points in the second half. Junior guard Samantha Mahoney's (Detroit) game-high 19 points helped the Wildcats hold off a stingy South Carolina squad for their first SEC victory. Senior sharpshooter Jenny Pfeiffer (North Vernon, Ind.) had a team-high 19 points to lead the Cats over Texas-Pan American, while senior forward/center Jennifer Humphrey (Memphis, Tenn.) brought down a season-high 16 rebounds in that game.

Elliott, who has scored in double-figures in 12 of the team's last 13 games, leads UK in scoring with 13.7 ppg, while Mahoney follows close behind with 13.0 ppg. Humphrey, who has brought down double-figure rebounds in five consecutive contests, leads the Cats with 9.9 rebounds per game. She now ranks fourth all-time at UK in career boards. Elliott leads the team with 18 blocks and ranks second on UK's all-time blocks list with 107 career rejections.

Alabama (10-7, 0-2 SEC) enters Thursday’s game on a two-game losing streak after dropping its first two league games last week. The Tide are led by senior guards Navonda Moore and Kate Mastin who average 13.5 and 12.8 points per game, respectively. Kentucky native Nikki Davis (Frankfort, Ky./Lexington Catholic High School) is third on the team in scoring with 7.3 ppg. UA’s leading rebounder is freshman Talisha Chandler who averages 6.2 rpg.

UK leads the overall series 16-15 after defeating the Tide last season in Rupp Arena, 80-60. The Wildcats have won seven of the last nine meetings but trail 9-5 when the game is played in Tuscaloosa. UK’s last win on the road against the Tide was in 2003, a thrilling 73-71 overtime victory. In the 2005 game at Alabama, the Wildcats lost in overtime, 69-63.

“We are opening up the league road schedule tomorrow at the University of Alabama. Last time we were down there, we lost a heartbreaker in overtime, so it would be good to go down there and get a ‘W.’ They are in a rebuilding situation at Alabama with a second-year head coach, Stephany Smith. She is putting together a solid team and a solid program. They lost a close one the other night to Auburn. I think any time you go on the road in the SEC, it is going to be a challenge.”

On the youth of Alabama and how it resembles Mickie DeMoss’ early teams at UK…
“They had a huge loss last year with players and [Stephany Smith] had to sign a big class last year. It is a pretty good combination. She has two seniors leading her in scoring in Navonda Moore, who had a great game against us last year, and Kate Mastin who is one of the top three-point shooters in the conference. They’re both seniors, and then they go from seniors to three freshmen starting. It’s a combination kind of like what we had a couple of years ago.”

On Alabama’s defensive scheme against UK…
“They did zone us for almost 40 minutes last year. This year, we’ve seen about 70 percent man and about 30 percent zone. Ironically, a lot of teams have been zoning us this year. I don’t know if they feel like they can’t match up with our size. At this point, I have no idea. I am looking to see probably half-and-half. We have a good attack against zones because we’ve had to see them so much this year. We’ve had to tweak our zone offenses and we work a lot against it.”

On how the players have responded to the loss at No. 7/8 Ohio State…
“I think they were a little disappointed. I felt like the first day they came out to practice that maybe morale was just a little low. We had those three games in five days. We gave them a day off on Sunday, and sometimes they come back from that day off a little sluggish. Today I thought we had good energy, good focus and I think that we’ve put that game behind us and are looking forward to conference play.”

On the team not being satisfied with playing No. 7/8 Ohio State closely…
“I think it’s a great sign for this program. I look back two or three years ago when we would be excited to have played them that close. I think our players now are to the level where we wanted to beat them and were disappointed that we missed an opportunity. I think that is a good sign for that program.”

On the team’s defensive success…
“Defense is something that I stress every day in practice and it’s part of my coaching philosophy. It transcends through the team because we spend a lot of time on it. I think my assistant coaches do an excellent job of scouting. We’re very well prepared when we go into play an opponent. Our man-to-man defensive system is very sound. We know how to guard different schemes, and then with a veteran team, they know how to recognize things. We have made a commitment to the defensive end and are smarter on the defensive end. We have gotten better. We were fouling too much earlier in the year. We have worked on staying disciplined in our defensive system and not fouling so much.”

On the match-up problems Sarah Elliott and Jennifer Humphrey pose in the paint…
“That is a strength for us that we do have good size in our starting lineup. When we have to go to our bench, our size drops off, but it does cause problems for a lot of people. People in our league without the exception of about three or four teams aren’t real big. We can capitalize with our size. I think that Sarah and Lanky play extremely well together. They have a feel for each other. They pass post-to-post passes very well. Jennifer has really taken a lot of pride in her board play and that is really something that she relishes doing. When you’ve got a player that just takes so much pride in their rebounding, you have a good one-two punch. Sarah has got a soft touch around the basket and she plays to her strengths, and Lanky plays to her strengths.”

On Jennifer Humphrey’s strong offensive rebounding at Ohio State…
“I think she anticipates the shot going up well. She gets early board position and that’s something that we do work on and drill on. She does a good job. We go to Sarah a lot on offensive sets, so Lanky’s usually on the weak-side boards. She has got more opportunities to rebound. She does a good job of getting position. She has a long reach and has good timing on the boards.”