WildcatRick
03-03-2006, 03:52 AM
By Jennifer Smith
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Ninth? Really, ninth? Seriously?
That was Samantha Mahoney's reaction when she spotted Kentucky's pre-season ranking at the Southeastern Conference Media Days in October.
She flashed back to UK's post-season run to the WNIT semifinals the year before. But that didn't seem to matter to the media voters.
It was still Kentucky women's basketball, which had camped out on the dirty ground floor of the SEC for years.
"I was really surprised, especially how we finished out last year," Mahoney said.
Coach Mickie DeMoss reminded her team that it had won just seven conference games in the past two seasons.
She told them they had something to prove, not only to the naysayers but to themselves.
"Sometimes these players want instant respect," DeMoss said earlier this season. "They want that respect given to them, and I'm like, you've got to earn it."
DeMoss's players have taken those words and the three words the coach writes on the board before every game ("Respect is earned") to heart.
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/sports/14005907.htm
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Ninth? Really, ninth? Seriously?
That was Samantha Mahoney's reaction when she spotted Kentucky's pre-season ranking at the Southeastern Conference Media Days in October.
She flashed back to UK's post-season run to the WNIT semifinals the year before. But that didn't seem to matter to the media voters.
It was still Kentucky women's basketball, which had camped out on the dirty ground floor of the SEC for years.
"I was really surprised, especially how we finished out last year," Mahoney said.
Coach Mickie DeMoss reminded her team that it had won just seven conference games in the past two seasons.
She told them they had something to prove, not only to the naysayers but to themselves.
"Sometimes these players want instant respect," DeMoss said earlier this season. "They want that respect given to them, and I'm like, you've got to earn it."
DeMoss's players have taken those words and the three words the coach writes on the board before every game ("Respect is earned") to heart.
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/sports/14005907.htm